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gimmethatagustd · 3 months

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oxygen | jjk

If you get caught, you'll both die. Jungkook wants to be yours anyway.

○ Pairing: Mafia!Jungkook x f!Reader

○ Rating: Explicit/18+

○ Genre: Mafia, established relationship, angst, smut

○ 9 / 100 Drabble Challenge (Mafia)

○ Word Count: 2,053

○ Warnings: Organized crime, toxic relationship, emotional manipulation, infidelity (MC's boyfriend is Yoongi *gasp*), MC is actually kind of sick in the head lowkey lmfaooo, marijuana (is it a jai fic if weed isn't at least mentioned?), casual conversation about being murdered, dom!reader, sub!Jungkook, gunplay, consensual sex while under the influence of alcohol, unprotected vaginal sex, orgasm control, hair pulling, rough sex, pain kink

○Notes: I was never here. I repeat, I WAS NEVER HERE.

○ Post Date: February 13, 2024

○ Masterlist |

○ What was Jai listening to? Oxygen - Jackson Wang

“I fucking hate you.”

Jungkook tastes blood as he watches you stumble up the marble stairs, break-ankle stilettos grating into the stone like his molars grate against each other when he chews the inside of his cheek.

It takes three steps before you give up, bending to slip your finger under the thin black strap that hugs each ankle to keep the red bottoms in place. Off-balanced from holding your leather jacket balled up under one arm, you teeter on one foot, and Jungkook has to fight the urge to grab your waist.

Air rushes out of Jungkook’s nostrils, a scoff that mixes with the wind. It’s one of the last days of summer before autumn cuts the nights short and chills the air. If Jungkook could have his way, he would be sitting out on his balcony right now with a fat blunt and his phone on silent.

Instead, he’s dealing with you.

“Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna fucking help me?” you snap, words slurring together when you pout through them.

Jungkook tongues the inside of his cheek where he’s bitten into the fleshy skin. The metallic flavor mixes oddly with the aftertaste of his half-smoked blunt from earlier.

“Thought you said you hate me,” Jungkook sucks his teeth, tattooed fingers squeezing your bicep to steady you while you unclasp your shoes.

“I do.”

“Hmm.” Jungkook exchanges a grip on your arm for the heels, black and deadly like the Glock clipped to his waist.

Your dress rides up far enough that your asscheeks are exposed when you bend down again, your skimpy black thong doing nothing to cover you. The sheer pair is one Yoongi bought you for Valentine’s Day last year. Yoongi hadn’t batted an eye when he dropped thousands of dollars on a lingerie set that he isn’t even patient enough to appreciate on your body before he rips it off.

Not Jungkook, though. Jungkook is patient.

“Carry me,” you whine, pushing up against Jungkook’s side, nimble fingers wrapping around his wrist and tugging.

Jungkook knows not to look up at the columned overhang, but the many cameras lining the mansion's exterior weigh heavily on him as he helps you up the stairs to the front door.

“I can’t,” Jungkook grits his molars, jaw flexing beneath taunt skin, “And you know that.”

The keypad at the front door unlocks with Jungkook’s thumbprint. Inside, the foyer is dark. It’s nearly four in the morning, and the rest of the guards are either monitoring the cameras or asleep. They’re all lower-level and easily bend to Jungkook’s will, meaning none of them will rat you out for slipping off in the dead of night to go party with your friends despite being under strict orders not to leave the house until Yoongi returns from his business trip.

As second-in-command, Jungkook should be in Japan with Yoongi, handling what will likely be one of the largest arms deals in Bangtan’s history. But Yoongi is paranoid, and paranoid men don’t leave their girlfriends with just anyone. Especially when their girlfriends are trouble.

And you? You’re trouble in a tight little black dress, hips swaying as you walk with new purpose through the foyer, your leather jacket thrown on the floor for Jungkook to pick up as he trails behind you — always trailing, following just a half step behind you, only in front when he puts his life on the line over yours. And he does, has the scars on his body to prove it, scars you like to bite to remind him of everything he’s willing to lose for Yoongi. For you.

There are only three types of rooms in the house that don’t have cameras installed: bedrooms, bathrooms, and arms rooms. You like to have Jungkook fuck you in all of them.

Tonight, it’s one of the basement-level arms rooms, the one Yoongi likes to use for entertainment because there’s a full bar and a conference table typically littered with guns, drugs, and money.

And sometimes, if Yoongi is in a shitty mood, girls.

You don’t care what Yoongi does, though it wouldn’t matter even if you did. As Bangtan’s leader, there’s no room for criticism of the boss — unless someone wants to lose a limb or their life, and Yoongi is known to be trigger-happy.

You learned that from him.

Jungkook lets out a shuddered breath as you drag the muzzle of his gun from the middle of his sternum down his abdomen. The metal is cold, and you move slowly, taking your time over every hill and valley of his muscles, painting goosebumps across his skin until you reach the waistband of his underwear.

The chamber is empty, but it still makes Jungkook’s heart jump in his throat when you press the gun against his clothed cock.

“Yoongi is going to kill us one day,” you whisper, rolling your bottom lip between your teeth to bite back a smile.

Jungkook leans back with his elbows against the table where you’ve sat him at one of the chairs. You’re in your heels again. Jungkook loves it when you stand over him, a powerful force far too often squandered by Yoongi’s overbearing leadership and desire to be the most feared person in the room. It’s one of Yoongi’s greatest mistakes.

You’re gorgeous, stripped down until all you’re wearing is another man’s Valentine’s Day gift, your own body a present Jungkook has the unholy pleasure of opening again and again — but only after you’ve opened him up, gutted him like a fish.

Or blown him open, a bullet bursting like shrapnel to cut him from the inside out. Jungkook would let you do it.

Jungkook stares up at you with innocent eyes that tell nothing of the secret horrors his hands have done, of the horrors he has endured and inflicted upon others. He stares up at you with innocent eyes and his lips wrapped around the muzzle of his gun that you hold with your finger on the trigger.

“Bang, bang,” you giggle as the gun clicks, and Jungkook lets you slide it further into his mouth, the tangy taste too similar to blood and nothing he hasn’t tasted before.

Maybe it’s fear that makes Jungkook crave you. Maybe Jungkook has a death wish. Maybe Jungkook likes the idea of you being his lifeline, the sole decider of whether he lives or dies. All it would take is one tiny confession twisted into a lie, and you could convince Yoongi that Jungkook came onto you and tried to seduce you.

Jungkook knows Yoongi would enjoy making him suffer if he thought Jungkook was treating you unkindly. Yoongi would enjoy violently murdering Jungkook even more if he knew just how good Jungkook treated you.

You don’t pull the gun back until Jungkook gags. Tears collect along his eyelashes, but he blinks them away as you toss his gun onto the table.

“You’d let him kill you.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook’s voice is hoarse from the gun, and it cracks when you sit on the table in front of him and spread your legs. “I would.”

“You’re fucking stupid.”

“So are you.”

Jungkook’s cock throbs as he watches you slip your thong down your legs. You drag his spit-slicked gun along your dripping pussy, parting your folds and getting the muzzle shiny with your arousal. When his eyes flit up to meet yours, you let out a broken moan, tongue slipping out to lick your bottom lip.

“Come here,” you beckon, the curl of your finger tugging Jungkook forward like a red string tied in a noose around his neck. He fits perfectly between your thighs, his clothed cock pressing against your exposed pussy.

“Can I kiss you?” Jungkook whispers against your lips. His body crowds yours, forcing you to tip your head back to look into his pretty doe eyes.

“Be a good boy and clean this up first,” you say as you hold up the gun in front of Jungkook’s face.

Jungkook doesn’t look away as he licks a stripe up the length of the gun’s muzzle, too turned on by how intensely you watch him lick and suck your juices off it. How eagerly he bends to your will is pathetic, but he doesn’t care.

When you toss his gun away to dig your nails in his hair and tug him into a bruising kiss, Jungkook feels like he can finally breathe.

You taste sweet, like whatever fruity cocktails you’d been drinking with your friends. Jungkook sucks your tongue, and he feels the vibration of your moans go straight to his leaking cock.

“Fuck me,” you moan with nails in his back, “And make it hurt.”

Jungkook helps you off the table to bend you over it. He may prefer sex that is slow and face-to-face, but Yoongi is coming home in a few hours, and sometimes, you like to punish yourself by denying yourself the sweet, sensual care that Jungkook prefers to give you. Sometimes you like it dirty and fast like this, Jungkook fucking into you with your wrists behind your back and your face pressed into the conference table’s cold, sleek surface.

You look forward to the tender bruise you’ll have on the apple of your cheek and against your hips from where Jungkook fucks you hard enough that you slam into the edge of the table. It’s a gamble, wondering if this will be the time Yoongi finally notices.

Sometimes Jungkook wonders if Yoongi already has noticed, and he’s just biding his time, waiting for the opportune moment to kill you both.

“Fuck, jagi,” Jungkook moans. The table squeaks and grunts as the force of Jungkook fucking you pushes the table back and forth across the floor.

“Do I feel good, baby?” you gasp, twisting your hands in Jungkook’s so you can wrap your fingers around his wrist, too, to have something to hold onto.

“So good,” Jungkook whimpers, tightening his grip on your wrists. “Can I cum? Please?”

Your skin is probably chafing from how hard you’re being bounced against the table, but all you do is moan and clench around Jungkook’s cock, taunting him.

“Jagi, please,” Jungkook begs, hips faltering slightly. You’re so wet and creamy. There’s something about fucking you in the arms room that always makes you feel and sound better.

“You wanna cum? Baby boy wants to cum?”

“Wanna cum so bad, you feel so, fuck, so, so good.”

Jungkook lets go of your wrists to dig his fingers into your hips and pull you onto his cock with each thrust. You lift off the table slightly so he can wrap one arm around your waist and slip his fingers through your folds, playing with your clit as he fucks you. He knows he needs to make you cum first before you’ll let him.

"Just like that, you're doing so well," you pant, pussy clenching and pulsing around Jungkook's cock so hotly that he knows you're going to cum soon.

Luckily, it doesn’t take long. Jungkook has you so worked up that you cum once he pinches your clit, rolling it between his fingers while you writhe and squirm on his cock, whimpering his name.

“Come on, baby,” you moan, “Cum for me, now.”

Tilting your head up, you let Jungkook kiss you. He squeezes his eyes shut as he cums inside you, mouth hanging open and completely useless to kiss, so you press light kisses along his sweaty throat instead.

“Thank you,” Jungkook whispers once his body has calmed down, gently easing out of you. His hands shake as he collapses into the chair and pulls you into his lap.

You kiss him properly this time, sliding your hands through his sweaty hair. He’s pussy-drunk, fucked dumb, nothing but static in his head as your lips glide with his. He could stay like this, pliant like clay in your hands, let you mold him into whatever you want him to be. Let you make or break him. Jungkook doesn’t care.

“Tell me you love me,” you demand, nails sharp against Jungkook’s scalp.

“Jagi,” Jungkook whimpers when you pull his hair, “I love you so much. I love you more than anything.”

“More than yourself?”

“More than myself.”

You hum into the next kiss, and Jungkook feels his body melt.

Disclaimer: All my writing is fictional and for entertainment purposes only. None of these characters are meant to actually represent the real people mentioned in the stories.

All rights reserved © @gimmethatagustd - Do not copy, repost, modify, or translate any of my writing. Do not use my writing for any AI purposes whatsoever. Do not use my fics for anything aside from reading and commenting on them. My fics will only be posted on this Tumblr and on AO3 (gimmethatagustd & daddytaehyungie). Request an AO3 account here.

#jungkook x reader #bts x reader #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #bts smut #bts angst #bts fanfic #100 drabble challenge #jai writes #gimmethatagustd #oxygen

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wonlvkay · 27 days

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TOUCH HER AND YOU DIE ──── (mafia's angel)

SYPNOSIS. heeseung won't let people who hurt you to live in peace. | mafia au, angst, violence, fluff, mentions of blood and death |

Comments, likes and reblogs are highly appreciated

heeseung tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for you to show up. your mother had been admitted to the hospital in poor conditions. you were frantic with worry and he had work loaded in his hands so he sent his personal assistant to accompany you as the trip to your mother's town was quite far. only for you to completely disappear. he had called you and his assistant for numerous times but nobody picked up. heck your location was turned off.

he sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his locks. he sent his team to search for you. an hour had gone and they found nothing. that's when a message popped up, lighting his screen. his hand flew to his phone and his eyes darkened and the atmosphere went hostile when he saw what it was.

there was a picture of you. you were chained to the wall somewhere, bruised and unconscious. and a voice message of a man who he recognized once the man's voice reached his ear. it was his enemy. he had kidnapped you through his most trusted assistant who turned out to be an assassin. filthy, he thought. the extent they would go to get him to surrender. they made a wrong move. a very wrong one.

raw anger surged through his veins as he thought about their dirty hands on you. he burned more than a thousand suns. he smirked as he formed a diabolical plan in his mind. oh the twisted things heeseung would do to him for touching you.

he swiftly shot everyone in his way once he reached the lair of the enemy. they were going to suffer in his wrath. he reached the living room and found the old hag with a blunt between his lips and immediately launched towards him, taking a hold of him by his collar. "where's y/n?" heeseung asked, he jaw was clenched and his knuckles were white by how tight his grip was.

the man chuckled "in a rush heeseung? why don't we talk over it over a cup of tea? she's far too pretty to hand her back to you-" he was cut off short as heeseung shot his knee. "where. is. y/n." heeseung demanded through gritted teeth.

the man wailed in pain as he called out for his people which made heeseung's face contort into a twisted smile. "look who's calling for help now? i thought you said you were the most powerful one out here?" heeseung tsked.

"she's in the basement! please i truly apologize heeseung this won't happen again-" bangs echoed throughout the house as heeseung shot him mercilessly before kicking the dead body and coming to get you.

the first thing you noticed when you regained your consciousness was that you were back at heeseung's mansion, tucked away safely in his bed and your wounds were treated.

the door opened slowly and heeseung came in to sit beside you as you reached out for him. he wasted no time dissolving you in his embrace. "shh love, i'm right here. no one can hurt you and they know what will happen if they do".

#kayla writes!!!#enhypen #heeseung #park jongseong #sim jaeyun #park sunghoon #kim sunoo #jungwon #niki #enhypen x reader #enhypen fluff #enhypen fanfic

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six-eyed-samurai · 1 month

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WHAT IF GENYA COULD WRITE?

It's canon that Sanemi can apparently read but not write, but they never mentioned anything about his younger brother now, did they?

I'd like to think that Genya, in fact, CAN actually read and write, and here's my ridiculous reasoning:

Genya has to repeatedly go to the Butterfly Mansion for checkups due to his demon snacking. I imagine Shinobu Kocho would be very curious about the terrifying Wind Pillar’s brother he refuses to acknowledge, and so would engage him in conversation every now and then.

Sure, Genya is shy around women, but eventually he would have to talk to her anyway, right?

Shinobu will find out about his illiteracy at some point, and offer to teach him the basics. Grudgingly Genya accepts, because perhaps if his brother refuses to talk to him he could write an apology letter.

Gyomei would even ask him to read things out to him, due to his blindness and Genya’s newfound literacy, maybe in between breaks of their intense training because there’s nothing like reading out prayers after a long hard day of standing under waterfalls.

Muichiro would probably also be in the Butterfly Mansion for checkups on his amnesia, meaning he and Genya surely would’ve bumped into each other a couple times (Genya mistaking him for a girl the first time they met and proceeds to short circuit). Befriending him, Genya would start writing short notes for Muichiro to stick on things to help him remember stuff he was supposed to do, after five minutes of wondering who wrote it.

But we all know how hot tempered he is, so he probably blew up multiple, and I mean MULTIPLE, times struggling to get through spelling and wording and grammar and strokes and kanji and-

Which leads to my theory that one of the reasons he’s so flustered around the Butterfly Girls is because they’ve all seen how he’s exploded and sobbed over the most basic of reading and he’s internally praying they won’t expose him to the Kamaboko Squad, because let’s be honest, Zenitsu would laugh until he died from asphyxiation and Inosuke would declare him a loser (before freezing and realizing he too, cannot read or write). Going back to his apology letters, I imagine once he mastered writing, he'd write about a thousand letters detailing his apologies, regrets and begging for forgiveness to Sanemi, with Shinobu kindly passing on the letters and making sure (forcing) the Wind Pillar opens and reads them all. He refuses to give an answer, even though Shinobu suggested she pass on the message for him verbally seeing as he can't write (he nearly strangled her for even saying that), but one day when he came back from a mission and was recovering in the Butterfly Mansion Shinobu discovered a bundle of Genya's letter neatly tied and arranged in his pocket. I think Genya would also write letters to his dead siblings, talking about how he wished they were here, places he's been to that he wished he could've taken them, his slayer training, the people he met, new things he's tried out, his darkest thoughts, how he wished Aniki would at least acknowledge him, would they still love him the same if they knew he ate demons and became one, that he called their brother a murderer, that he was utterly useless in the Corps because he couldn't master a breathing technique? After his death, Sanemi discovers the stack of letters when he was going through Genya's things. Shockingly, it seems that the Wind Pillar still has tears left to cry.

If you guys enjoyed this please check out Letters to Sanemi! Leave a comment, it means the world and beyond for me

#genya shinazugawa #kny genya #shinobu kocho #demon slayer #thoughts #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #kamaboko squad #sanzuyaps

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tamarrud · 3 months

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To the anons asking me about Arafat, I had previously shared my thoughts so hyg:

I personally believe it should not be too obscure to figure out why anyone would be too critical of Arafat (and I use “critical” to be nice here). But I also would not place the entire weight on every-day Palestinians who indeed saw in Arafat a great leader and there is a good number of reasons behind this. Many would argue that the manner in which Arafat emerged as a symbolic leader in the Arab world was in the same manner as that of Gamal Abdelnasser. Arafat arguably founded Palestinian nationalism and was the first president of the PA after the British mandate; he popularised the struggle, put Palestine on the world’s agenda by taking the issue to the UN, and was therefore the voice of Palestinians in Palestine and the diaspora. …Or so thought the public. Because not until Oslo in 1993 did many Palestinians start to denounce Arafat and his actions as those of a “traitor”. The reason behind this is that many of the negotiations were happening in secret before they were taken publicly. As a matter of fact, Arafat had been begging for secret lines between him and the Israelis years before signing the Oslo accords. Another reason is that this peace treaty was a rather obvious defeated agreement. Besides it being a treaty with a brutal occupier, signed during the first Intifada so as to stand in the way of popular uprising, the Oslo accords was also a declaration with no principles and it had no reference or a single mention to international law. What this means is that things like land and water, which international law would divide between the two parties equally, would now be divided unequally in favour of the occupier (for example, it lists the majority of East Jerusalem settlements as “legal” and only 20% of water from the main aquifer which 60% of it runs through the West Bank will be going to Palestinians while the remaining 80% of it goes to illegal settlers). So, knowing that Arafat pushed for this agreement to be signed, need I say more as to why he is resented by many? Afterall, Arafat did recognise UN resolutions 242 and 338 which means that he did give diplomatic recognition to Israel as a legitimate state. Arafat’s government was corrupt and it was only gradually that Arafat came up as an authoritarian leader much like his successor, who would go so far to appease to the occupiers just so they can stay in power in their Ramallah mansions. The PLO was practically dead before Oslo and these treaties served Arafat’s interests greatly rather than, you know, the interest of people of Palestine who, decades later, are still paying for these concessions made in their name. Many focus on Oslo for good reasons, but let us not turn a blind eye to the imprisonment and torture of Palestinians in PA prisons that goes unreported, or the latter handing Palestinians to the Israeli government. Let’s also not forget to always question where the billions of dollars of aid money have gone to. Let’s also not ignore Arafat’s vain trust in the US, Israel and Saddam Hussein. His unwavering support of Saddam Hussein was not shaken at any point of the late dictator’s time; not when Hussein invaded Kuwait or Iran nor when he massacred thousands of Kurds. So to answer your question (ahem), and just like someone else was saying, Arafat in my opinion functioned best as a symbol and worst as a leader.

#i say this while some family members worship him lmao #so just adding this in the tags so that we also keep in mind why those older gen palestinians like him #and it can be summarised in the kind of symbol he represented to them

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on-my-vigilante-sht · 1 year

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Capitol Punishment XIV

Haymitch x Reader ~ Completed

Summary: The Capitol continues to torture it’s victors no matter how long ago they won through punishment, exploitation, and worst of all; their relationships.

A story in which Haymitch’s lover is a plaything for the Capitol.

Warnings: Canon level violence, rape, alcohol, murder, systemic poverty, exploitation, rebellion (?), more reliance on movie than book, suicidal thoughts, swearing, illness, pregnancy, miscarriage, torture, sexual torture, medical stuff

Word Count: 2.6K

Part XIII | Masterlist

A/N I’m radically changing the ending because I hate the ending of Mockingjay

You didn’t watch most of it, too terrified to see your friends be maimed by whatever fucked up creations the game makers could come up with. Plutarch told you, Haymitch, Beetee, and Johanna horror stories of all the planned mutts they had sitting in archives that would likely be brought out for this.

Those four days were some of the worst you had experienced. The only words that released the tense hold of worry on your mind came from Coin. “We’ve taken the Capitol,” she announced to the remaining victors in 13. “Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick are all okay,” she mentioned with a kind yet forced smile.

But you didn’t care to read into that. Your friends were okay.

The next day you were entering the president’s mansion again. The first time in two years when Haymitch the was brought here and nearly executed for punching a Capitol man. Remembering the circumstances of being here last time Haymitch pulled you a little bit closer.

As you entered a grand meeting hall you were greeted by Coin and Enobaria. Beetee immediately got defensive. “What is she doing here?” he asked, remembering the knife in the back he had received from one of her district partners.

“Enobaria here is the last victor alive apart from the ones that made it to 13. The rest were killed shortly after 12 was bombed,” Coin explained calmly as if she weren’t explaining a massacre.

“I was the only one left in the arena that wasn’t a part of your alliance. They knew I wasn’t a part of the rebellion so they let me live if I did propo,” Enobaria explained with a shrug.

The doors then opened, revealing Finnick and Peeta. Annie immediately went to her new husband, embracing him. Peeta, now de-muttified, came to you and Haymitch. You hugged him first. “Thank god,” you whispered, having feared for his life and mental state.

“I’m okay,” he assured you, pulling away gently. He then faced Haymitch, his mentor bringing him into a quick hug.

“Where’s Katniss?” you asked as Johanna and Beetee approached to greet Peeta.

“Talking with Snow in the greenhouse. He had something to say to her I guess,” Peeta explained.

Nodding at his explanation you turned to Finnick. He was already two steps away from you, pulling you into a hug. “I guess you win shittiest honeymoon of all time,” you joked.

“Yeah, we do,” Finnick laughed, pulling away to greet the others.

The door then swung open, bringing everyone’s attention to Katniss. You were first in line to greet her with a hug.

“You did it,” you muttered against her shoulder. You felt her wrap her arms tightly around you, enjoying your comfort.

“Snow wants to see you,” she said.

You were a little taken aback but nodded anyways. You looked over your shoulder at Haymitch who looked hesitant. “I’ll be okay,” you assured before exiting, headed for the garden.

An armed guard followed you wordlessly, never averting his gaze towards you, only staring straight ahead. Shrugging it off you continued on until you reached the greenhouse, another two guards allowing you to enter.

You were immediately met with warmth and a very strong scent from the thousands of white roses that grew around you. “Ms. L/N, I’m glad you came,” Snow smiled.

“It’s the least I can do to honor a dead man’s final wish,” you returned his smile.

“Ah yes,” he chuckled. “And I’m sure Katniss will be the one to do it. Tell me, does that bother you that she’s the one to do it? After all I put you, Haymitch, Peeta, Johanna, and Finnick through much worse. Don’t one of you deserve to do it more?”

You practically spat a laugh out. “You really are desperate aren’t you? You’re not going to turn us against Katniss. Her executing you as The Mockingjay is bigger than our grievances with you.”

“Still, I bet you’d like to put a knife in my throat after everything you’ve endured.”

“The knowledge that you’ve been brought down to your knees by the people you considered to be less than the dirt on your boot is enough for me. And you’ll be executed by the girl I trained for the games, the very same girl who started all of this,” you sneered. “You know you could still be in power. You could’ve just stopped the games, said the districts paid their penance and been done with it. Or at the very least let the victors live in peace, treat them well. But no, you just had to have a group to be a scapegoat for all of the Capitol’s and Panem’s problems in order to harbor as much power as possible.”

“Do you really think Coin will be different?”

“I’m not interested in the politics. If she fucks up like you did, well the country’s so bloodthirsty right now I’m sure she’ll be gone within an hour of he decision. Goodbye Coriolanus.” And with that you existed, leaving in his prison of roses.

As you approached the meeting hall again you saw Katniss and Gale walking in the same direction as you. “Do you know what this is about?” she asked you.

“What what is about? I just left Snow’s greenhouse.”

“Coin has asked all the victors to meet,” Gale explained.

Shrugging, you followed them into the meeting hall, being greeted with all the victors plus Coin sitting around a table, two spots left for you and Katniss. You took your seat next to Haymitch and Coin began.

“I have invited you all here for several reasons, but first, I have an announcement. I have taken the burden and the honor of declaring myself interim president of Panem.”

“Interim?” Haymitch interrupted with a scoff. “Exactly how long is that interim?”

“We have no way of knowing for certain. But it's clear that people are far too emotional right now to make a rational decision. We'll plan an election when the time is right.”

Haymitch sent an astonished look towards you, as if saying, ‘Can you believe this?’

“But I have called you here for a far more important vote. A symbolic vote,” Coin continued. “This afternoon, we will execute Snow.” Everyone’s gaze slipped towards Katniss, including yours. “Hundreds of his accomplices also await their deaths. Capitol officials, peacekeepers, torturers, game makers. But the danger is, once we begin, the rebels will not stop calling for retribution. Thirst for blood is a difficult urge to satisfy. So I offer an alternative plan. Majority of five may approve it. No one may abstain. The proposal is this:” A pregnant pause mad everyone hold their breaths, “in lieu of these barbaric executions, we hold a symbolic hunger games.”

Everyone was taken aback, Haymitch even having his mouth wide open. Well everyone except for Johanna who was laughing. “You wanna have another Hunger Games with the Capitol’s children?”

“You’re joking?” Peeta calmly asked, a touch of outrage in his voice.

“Not in the slightest,” Coin answered.

“Is this Plutarch’s idea?” Haymitch asked.

“It was mine. it balances the need for revenge with the least loss of human life. You may vote,” she declared, settling back against her seat a little.

“No,” Peeta said immediately. “No, obviously not this is crazy.”

“I think it’s more than fair,” Johanna jumped in eagerly. “Snow’s got a granddaughter. I say yes.”

“So do I,” Enobaria agreed. “Let them have a taste of it.”

“You guys, this way of thinking is what started these uprisings,” Peeta protested.

“I vote no, with Peeta,” Annie chimed in.

Next to her Finnick was staring at the table, uncomfortably. “I vote yes,” he said softly. “They’ve taken so much from the districts. They should know what they did to us.”

“No,” Beetee answered. “We need to stop viewing each other as enemies.”

Everyone was looking at you now. You weren’t sure. On one hand these were innocent children who did nothing wrong and who had happened to be born into the Capitol. But you also wanted their parents who were so complicit, and even perpetuated, your torture to feel your and the the districts’ pain. You turned to your husband, completely unsure what to say. He gave you a nod, his expression telling you to vote however you feel. “No,” you answered. “Those children are innocent, the same way we were. They don’t deserve to pay for their parents’ sins.”

“It’s down to Katniss and Haymitch.”

Katniss sat there for a minute, an unreadable expression on her face. “I get to kill Snow,” she declared.

“I expected no less of you,” Coin agreed.

“Then I vote yes,” she answered, shocking almost everyone. “For Prim,’ she explained.

“Haymitch?”

He and Katniss shared a look before he turned his gaze to you. His expression read something along the lines of ‘trust me.’ “I’m with the Mockingjay.”

“That carries the vote,” Coin said. “Excellent. We’ll announce the games tonight after the execution.”

You were all then dismissed, everyone leaving without a word. Unsure of where to go you just followed Haymitch into what you presumed was your bedroom for as long as you were in the Capitol. “What the hell is going on?” you asked as soon as the door was closed.

Haymitch breathed deeply before answering. “Coin isn’t trustworthy. She’ll become just like Snow.”

“So why’d you let her have her games?” you asked. “The Capitol will be rising up against us in a couple years.”

“I needed to back up Katniss so she knows I’m with her. Coin is already distrustful of Katniss, that wasn’t a vote to see if we wanted another games, that was a loyalty test.” Suddenly all the pieces fell together. “Right now Coin thinks her biggest threat to her power is Katniss. The best thing she can do right now is to play her part as Coin’s Mockingjay.”

“So what does that mean for those of us who voted no?” you asked, afraid of Coin’s ambition.

“Don’t worry, she’ll feel safe as long as she has Katniss’ loyalty. And even if she tried anything, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you again.” He paused, struggling with the next words. “I couldn’t protect you from Snow, and for that I’m sorry. But I can protect you from Coin and I promise nothing will happen.” He sealed his covenant by pressing his lips to yours which you melted into.

When you both pulled away you rested your hand on his jaw. “Don’t do anything to get yourself hurt.”

Later that afternoon you and the other victors were marched out onto the Avenue of the Tributes, where you had been paraded around 8 years ago as well as just over a month ago.

Snow was strapped to a whipping pole in the center of the ring at the end of the avenue. Above you in the stands were both district citizens and Capitol citizens who were being forced to watch. Stood along the avenue, waiting for Katniss were the surviving rebels who had fought in the Capitol and the Districts. On the balcony overseeing everything were the other leaders of the rebellion, including Plutarch and Paylor. The eight victors were divided on the ground, they would be flanking Katniss as she fired her shot at Snow. Peeta, you, Haymitch, and Johanna all stood to one side, facing Snow. On the other side were Enobaria, Finnick, Annie, and Beetee.

As the drums began you could see Coin above you, walking onto the platform with her arms open, reveling in her victory. Down the Avenue was Katniss dressed in battle gear, the rebels following her as she passed.

Haymitch took your hand, squeezing it as Snow took a second to meet every victors’ gaze. You stared back coldly, fulfilling your promise to him that this was enough for you.

You all gave Katniss nods as she finally reached her spot, a silent promise that you’d follow her no matter what. You watched as Snow and Katniss met each others’ gazes, a silent understanding of hatred between the two.

“Welcome to the new Panem,” Coin announced, her voice echoing over the ave making you shiver. “Today, on the Avenue of the tributes, all of Panem, a free Panem, will watch more than a mere spectacle. We are gathered to witness an historic moment of justice. Today, the greatest friend to the revolution will fire the shot to end all wars. May her arrow signify the end of tyranny and the beginning of a new era. Mockingjay, may your aim be as true as your heart is pure.” With those words she opened up her arms, as if embracing the moment.

Katniss wordlessly and flawlessly pulled an arrow from her quiver, notched it and took aim. The entire stadium held their breaths as she paused before suddenly aiming up, firing the arrow into Coin.

You heard yourself audibly gasp as Coin fell from her platform with an arrow sticking out of her heart. The crowd was clamoring in shock, you began to look around worriedly. ‘What the hell did Katniss just do?’

You could hear Snow laughing as Haymitch began tugging you away from the crowd that was now rushing at Snow, determined to finally kill him.

You could see some guards dragging Katniss away, the rest pulling the other victors towards you and Haymitch who was leading you into another room. The room was immediately filled with the sound of a million questions, trying to figure out what was going on and what would happen next.

The sound was only ended by Plutarch entering, letter in hand. “What is going on?” Finnick asked.

He took a breath, holding up his hand in a pause. “With Coin and Snow both dead the district leaders and I have agreed to hold a free election. Katniss will be sent away for now and will be pardoned once everything has calmed down. For now I need you,” he looked at Haymitch, “to give her this letter for me.”

“What about us? Where do we go?” Johanna asked.

Plutarch shrugged. “Your job in the rebellion is done. It’s time to form a government now. You’re welcome to stay in the Capitol now or return home.”

“What even is home anymore?” you asked, remembering what Katniss told you about 12.

Haymitch wrapped an arm around you, pulling you into his side with a kiss to the top of your head. For the first time since you met him, he didn’t have an answer for you.

“I’m sorry,” was all Plutarch said before exiting.

“So what now?”

7 Years Later

You sat on a bench, facing out into the harbor of District 4, Haymitch by your side with his arm around you. Peeta and Katniss were sat together on the other side of the bench, cooing at their new baby as their older son played on the beach with Finnick and Annie’s son. The couple inside preparing drinks for you and the other victors. Johanna and Enobaria sat at the table together, discussing the furniture that would go in their now shared home. Across and to the side of you was Beetee with his two year old daughter in his lap, playing with a small metal logic game as she tried to figure out the puzzle.

You smiled in content, enjoying the future you fought for. You had fought for this in the arena for the first time 15 years ago and you had fought for it again during the rebellion. You felt a finger reach under your chin, pulling your gaze towards your husband. “I love you,” he whispered against your lips before pressing his lips to yours.

A/N And that’s the end of Capitol Punishment. Thank you so much for everyone who read and supported this, I had absolutely no clue so many of you would love this so much

Part XIII | Masterlist

#haymitch abernathy #haymitch abernathy x reader #Haymitch #haymitch x reader #THG #The Hunger Games #the hunger games x reader

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kookblurx · 7 months

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1920 - jjk [ chpt 5. ]

→ SUMMARY: a photo of a beautiful smiling boy; an old tree in your grandparents garden ... and a feeling of sadness. all those things are connected to each other ...

→ GENRE: time travel au; changing fate au; rencarnation au; university au; death; sickness; historical setting; trigger topics; smut; dirty talk; switching between present and the past.

→ chapt. 4 / chapt. 6

→ RATING: 18+ [ I HIGHLY RECOMMEND MINORS DNI with this chapter! ]

→ NOTE: HUGE DISCLAIMER, this story plays in a fantasy setting. the world YN lives in doesnt exist, neither jungkooks. so please dont mention anything just because its not historically correct. this is piece of art. so yes, jungkook wears armor like a knight and no there are no guns in his time period. thanks.

JUNGKOOK MASTERLIST ♡.°₊ˎ PLAYLIST FOR THIS CHAPTER

The Past:

everything was quiet as you closed your eyes, apperantly thats something you need to do, before the reaching the said destination in the past. slowly more and more sounds were travelling to your ear ... but something was strange. i didnt sounded like people running around in a mansion, or villagers on busy streets ... it was loud, there were screams. iron clang into each other, as soon as a hurtful scream reached your ears, you finally opened your eyes. right in front of you was pure horror, a scene you only had seen on the tv screen. you were hidden behind a large rock as you peeked over the edge. there it was, a hundred, no thousand of man running into each other with their swords. many of them were laying on the ground, you couldnt tell if they were dead of unconscious. some of them surely werent breathing anymore.

with terrified eyes you turned around to the fairy "what is this?! i thought you would bring me to the place were that picture was taken!"

"i-i dont know what happened really! maybe this ... place called for you"

"called for me?! im a damn woman on a freaking battlefield, i will get killed within seconds ... or worse" a shudder ran through your body as you remembered all the stories about war in one of your lectures.

"I-Im sorry, i will try to figure out how to bring you back ... just, just stay here" with those words the fairy vanished into thin air. leaving you between dead bodies and fighting man.

the whole situation was terrifying. shaking in fear you leaned against the sone with your back, hoping that no one would find you here. another scream was heard, you could hear how the blood gushed out of his mouth.

"hurry .." your voice was only a whisper as you waited for the fairy to return.

at the same time a familiar voice catched your attention "I got him! without them their front will be weak. we should hurry before they call for back up!"

slowly your head appeared from behind the stone. a few metres away from you was a man, he pulled his sword out of the other man's chest. the sound it made was disgustin. with a smile the man turned to the side so you were able to see his face. in front of you stood jimin, he cleaned his sword on his leg.

"good work jmin"

hooves could be heard on the ground as a horse drew near. heavy boots made the mud on the ground splatter into different directions. the man who just jumped down from his horse was no other than jungkook. same as jimin he wore a heavy armor with an iron plate around his chest. jungkook looked fine, his body was covered in blood but it wasnt his. on his cheek was a deep cut, however he seemed overall fine to you. a relieved sigh escaped your lips as you kept watching them. this must be the "war" jimin spoke about before you were thrown out of Jungkook's bedroom.

"damn fairy ..." you mumbled to yourself. if you were able to stay longer, maybe he would had stayed back.

the two man in front of you kept laughing as they moved the corpses near the stone you were hiding. automatically you held your breath, hoping they wouldnt see you. you were supposed to be somewhere else, it was too risky to reveal yourself now. maybe something like this could change the future into a negative direction.

suddenly the horse got nervous. his hooves scraped on the ground, dugging deep holes into the muddy ground.

"whats wrong buddy?" jimin walked over to the horse. no one was around and he couldnt see anyone.

"maybe hes just hungry, its been a while since we ate something" as usual jungkook was more than optimistic. he also didnt sensed any kind of danger in that moment.

you saw how jimin just shrugged before he got back to moving the dead bodies to the side. you didnt knew why they did that but the nervous horse made you nervous too. something was wrong. an animal would never react this way if there isnt any danger. while the boys were busy you kept looking around. at least someone should keep watch.

"but ... how will i be able to help.." you mumbeled to yourself.

at the same moment the horse let out a loud "scream". with a heavy thud it fell to the ground. an arrow had hitted it right into its left leg. the wound wasnt fatal but enough to made the horse panic. it was squirming on the ground as jimin was quick enough to pull the arrow out of its leg.

"jungkook! we need to go!"

jimin tried to push the horse up again, he was successful but the animal had other plans. as more arrows were raining down it made a break for it. leaving the man behind. jungkook turned his head which made you dissapear behind the stone again.

"well too late i guess" he drew his sword as 5 man approached them. they werent too friendly.

the next thing you heard were sounds of swords getting smashed into each other, mixed with screams. deep inside you prayed that those screams didnt belonged to jimin or jungkook.

"fuck!"

slowly you peaked again. the ground was painted in red, there was so much blood that it moved towards your stone. as you lifted your head a gruesome scene played right in front of you. jimin was bleeding heavily as he held his stomach. one sword in his shaky hand, he was standing in front of something, or rather in front of someone. your fingers dug deep into the mud as you finally moved your head to the body jimin was protecting. at the same time your heart sunk deep into your stomach. on the ground was jungkook, a puddle of blood had formed underneath him. his breathing was faint but still there.

"go and fuck yourself" jimin couldnt do more than only standing his ground.

the man in front of him chuckled. this is it. they will both die here. so many thoughts were running through your head as a second man tackled jimin to the ground. he held his arms as the other guy slowly moved forward to jungkooks body.

"finally, finally we will kill the war hero. his legacy will end here and us ... the Min Clan will rule over this country"

"no! i wont let you assholes kill him!" jimin was still struggling underneath the second soldier.

you could tell by the draining colour of his face that he already lost a lot of blood. the struggling just made it worse. the man in front of jungkook lifted his sword, ready to pierce it right through his heart. jungkook coughed on the ground, eyes still closed.

" .... no ... i cant .. NO!"

new strength went right into your legs as you leaped forward from behind the stone. your shoes sank into the mud as you ran into the direction of jungkook. you nearly stumbled a few times and to your suprise you managed to crash into the soldiers body, making him stumble to the side.

"YN?!" jimin's eyes widen "are yoz stupid?! what are you doing here?! run! hide!"

the moment the man regained balance you immediately kneeled down into the mud, both of your arms wrapped arounds jungkooks body as you pressed him close to you.

"i cant! you wont hurt him!"

both of them man were laughing now as the one came back to you, sword lifted "i wont mind killing you both honey".

you pressed your face against Jungkook's cheek. it didnt mattered if you died here, as long he can survive its fine. but there was still one chance and you decided to take it.

"please ... stop this! bring me ... bring us home! please bring us home and save him!" you shouted at the top of your lung. a warm and cozy light started to surround the both of you.

it was so calming and warm that you closed your eyes. against your chest you could feel jungkook's heartbeat, steady and strong as you succumbed to the darkness.

The Present:

"YN?! YN wake up!" someone shook your body, hard.

a grunt left your lips as you slowy moved your body to the side. something heavy was laying on your arm so you forced your eyes open. right in front of you was jimin, looking terrified.

"jimin...?"

"What .. what the fuck is this YN?! what the fuck.. WHO IS THIS!"

slowly you moved your head to your left side. it was hard to notice something as your eyes needed to adjust to the brightness in the room. jimin kept shaking you as another grunt was heard. this time it wasnt from you. the moment you heard that your body was up and wide awake. finally you manage to see who was right beside you and for a moment you thought you were dreaming.

"tell me this is a fucking sick joke" jimin was still talking with you but you really didnt heard him.

right beside you was jungkook, still bleeding. another jolt went through your body as you pulled your arm out from underneath him. the next thing you did was pushing jimin away from you.

"shut up and help me!"

"W-what?!"

"he is bleeding. stop acting like an idiot. next to the library is a bathroom get the first aid kit from there" you sat right beside jungkook, trying to get the iron plate off of him.

"fine. but you owe me a fucking explanation" mumbling to himself jimin made his way to the bathroom next door.

in the meantime you were able to remove all the armor from his body. kook's white shirt was drenched in blood as you unbuttoned it with shaking hands. you were scared that his wound might be untreatable. taking him to a hospital wasnt an option, you didnt had a drivers license and jimin doesnt seem like he came by car.

your hands were completely covered in blood as you opened the shirt. there was a deep wound in his abdomen but it didnt looked fatal. it was just bleeding a lot. examining the wound further jimin finally came back with the first aid kit.

"so?"

as you tend to his wounds, wrapping bandages around his body, jimin still had a big question mark on his face.

"would you believe me if i tell you that i can travel back in time and .. this is Jeon jungkook?"

"with every other scenario i would say you are freaking crazy but this-" jimin pointed at the bleeding jungkook "this isnt damn normal. so yes, for now i believe you"

a sigh escaped your mouth as you explained the whole situation to jimin. he really believed you, at least for now. after kook was all bandaged up, jimin helped you to get him into your bedroom. the hardest part would be to hide him from your grandparents. before jimin went home he helped you to hide the armor in the back of the basement. no one went there for years so it was well hidden there. the blood on the library floor was something you insisted to clean by yourself. it was your fault in the first place that he got here.

exhausted you finally got into your room around 4am in the morning. to your relief kooks breathing was stable and the wound stopped bleeding. you leaned against the bed with your back thinking about everything that just happened. you saved him but what now?

"we are in big trouble.." from the corner of the room the fairy finally made herself noticable. you had sensed her a while ago.

"i know ..."

"i dont even know how you managed that ... bringing him with you. because this wasnt my doing" with a serious expression the fairy looked over to the bed.

"well ... it is what it is now ... I just dont know what will happen now"

suddenly the fairy looked a little bit cheerful "dont worry, i will go back and check what this ... incident will cause in the past. for now, make sure he will feel better soon. i wont be able to send him back like this"

with those words the fairy vanished again. hopefully nothing bad will happen and hopefully jimin is fine. at least jimin still exist in your time so that must mean he was saved back on the battlefield. maybe the light caused auch a disturbance that he was able to free himself?

your mind was going crazy as you leaned your head back. your whole body was aching from worry. it didnt took you long before you succumbed to the darkness. the last thing you notices was, how something shifted on your bed and how someone placed a hand on the top of your head. it felt soothing, making it easier for you to fall asleep.

Taglist:

@junecat18 @hellbornsworld @stupendouscookiehumanmug

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shadowbriar · 2 years

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Fred Weasley - Stuck on the Puzzle

Pairing : (F/M) || Fred Weasley x Reader Word Count : 2.0k Warning : Drinking. Harsh language. Angst. Notes : Inspired by Stuck on the Puzzle by Alex Turner. Having arrived late to the mansion after every attempt of stalling time, Fred finally gathered his last fragment of courage and joined the pre-wedding party, keeping in mind to drink every cocktail on sight so that he’ll be hammered enough tomorrow to skip the wedding.

The mansion was filled with familiar faces and though he’s been surrounded with people he’d proudly call as family, Fred’s heart is still hung heavy. The alcohol on his hand helped nothing to ease his mind, only acting as a catalyst to the thunder blaring and heavy storm plaguing his mind. He wishes to leave the place. Apparate himself back to his loft and hide under his worn and full of holes blanket until the end of the month comes.

He would never forget how he could physically hear the sound of his heart dropping, shattering into a million pieces as the periwinkle envelope arrived at his doorstep. He recognises the comforting colour and how the paper was decorated with all sorts of flowers she’d once told him were her favourites. Her name was written proudly on the cover, along with another man’s.

It was her wedding invitation letter.

Fred wasn’t sure he’d be able to hoard so much hatred for himself until that day. Every what-if scenario was crushing his brain to a pulp. What if he’d asked her first for the Yule Ball? What if he didn’t get a cold feet that weekend before the Hogsmeade trip in 5th year? What if he didn’t hesitate and ask to sit next to her during their classes? What would happen then if he had just an ounce more of bravery? Would his name be the one standing next to her on their wedding invitations?

Everyday since he had to fight the irrepressible urge to burn said invitation. The sight of the innocent letter laying on his table was driving him mad. He wanted to shatter it into pieces, throw it into a bucket of thousand firecrackers, and bury the ash in a place where he would never return to. But the thought of disappointment on her face to have him be absent on such a special day haunts him. He needed to be there, even if it meant he would pulverise the last remaining strains of his fraying soul.

And so here he is, with George physically and mentally acting as his sole pillar of support, Fred puts on his best suit and most believable facade, acting like he’s happy for the couple. He dreaded the next two days. Having arrived late to the mansion after every attempt of stalling time, Fred finally gathered his last fragment of courage and joined the pre-wedding party, keeping in mind to drink every cocktail on sight so that he’ll be hammered enough tomorrow to skip the wedding.

“You seem to never grow out of your partying self, Freddie.” Alicia comments, noticing the empty glass he swaps with a new one every other minute “Years after school and you still act like the animal you are.”

Fred shrugs, chugging his drink before lifting the empty glass, “Cheers for the couple.”

The people surrounding him were starting to eye him in pity. It was common knowledge for the small group of friends that Fred was in love with her. Her name remains the only one name ever rolled off his mouth with such delight and adoration. The way his eyes sparkled whenever she was mentioned or how silly he would play during Quidditch practice whenever she watches. The fixation he had for her was enough to fuel a lifetime romance.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Angelina interrupts before Fred could take another glass from the server “You’ll be dead pissed before we get the chance to greet the couple.”

“That’s the mission, Darling.” Fred winks, drinking George’s drink instead.

Not a minute passed and the said couple finally came out of the mansion. The noises died down as every eye turned and watched the lovebirds with glee. Smiles were decorating every guest’s faces, including Fred’s. The sight of her after what seems to be forever felt like a long awaited rain after a drought. She’s still as beautiful as he last remembered her. If anything, even more charming now with her mature posture and a touch of makeup, enhancing every delicate feature she has.

Fred’s breath was taken away as their eyes met. Her smile turns wider as she waves her hand at him, looking grateful and beyond happy to see him there. And just with that trivial moment, Fred’s worry and dismay evaporates into thin air. For the first time since he arrived, he was glad to have come to the party.

His quest to get plastered tonight has now been aborted. If there is just a slight chance for them to exchange a word, he would want it to happen with his mind completely clear. He’d want to memorise every giggle, the crinkles around her eyes whenever she smiles, and the pleasant voice of hers when she calls his name. He wants to keep every detail of her and have it engraved in his head for after tonight, he would have to bid his last goodbye to her.

“Fred,” Her melodious voice calls from behind “You came.”

Her smile was intoxicating, making his head spin and chest filled with warmth that he could only reply with a nod and a smile he hopes isn’t freaking her out.

“I’ve missed you.” She says, coming in with an open arm as she pulls him for a hug “It’s been so long since I last saw you.”

Fred couldn’t utter a word. He rests his head to the crook of her neck, praying that he could pack away this very moment and have it hidden under his bed. The smell of her perfume and body heat was melting him. The void forming in his chest the moment she lets go would be the nightmare that’ll haunt him for the rest of his life.

“You’re awfully quiet.” She says with a chuckle “Did you drink the wrong tonic or something?”

He shakes his head, smiling, “Just basking the moment before you’re finally gone tomorrow.”

“Oh, come on, now. You’re talking like I’m about to die.” She rolls her eyes, playfully nudging on his shoulder “I’m not gonna die tomorrow, Freddie. I’m just getting married.”

Fred smiles. Just getting married. As if that wasn’t something he should be grieving about. The word came out of her with such ease, not realising the heavy earthquake it’s giving to his tottering heart. If only she knew all the torments she’d unconsciously made him go through, would she still be as cheerful as she is right now?

“Congratulations.” Fred says, forcing a smile “Flint is a one lucky bastard.”

For a second there Fred thought that he’d seen a glimpse of sadness on her eyes. The kind of bitterness you have when you watch the person you love letting go. But as instant as it came, the emotion was swapped back into her default merriment that Fred had to convince himself that he was just seeing things. The alcohol might be taking its toll on him.

“Thank you, Fred.” She replied, her hand still clinging on his forearm “I’m parched. Would you accompany me to get some drinks? I’m feeling rather tired to greet and have small talk with other guests, so can you please be my wingman?”

Fred nods, following her step to get away from the crowd and into the champagne table.

The redhead boy no longer cared for the fact that people could see him staring. He’s thrown out his self-respect out the window. If people want to talk about the longing gaze and how pathetic he’s looking right now, he’ll let them. Let the whole world know the fool who’s been loving the girl for so long yet never had the courage to let her know that she’s now finally with another.

“Is there something on my face?” She asks, anxiously touching her face.

Fred shakes his head, “No, you’re just so beautiful tonight.”

“Oh, come on now, don’t be such a flirt.” She rolls her eyes, cheeks tainted with redness “Had you said that to me a couple years earlier we would’ve been the one getting married.”

The smile on is face diluted. She said it with such a remote manner yet the side eye she gave as she gulped another glass of champagne made him question her intention. Those aren’t the things you said to someone casually, especially not at the night before your wedding. Could her words hold any more meaning than the aloof gesture she’s showing?

“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.” Marcus said, disregarding the fact that she was standing with Fred “We’ve got guests to greet, why are you pissing yourself by the champagne table?”

Fred wanted to take Marcus right there and then. How could he say such words to the girl who deserves the world. The lack of affection he’s shown to her has always made Fred question, what does Flint have that made him the one she surrendered her heart to? Did she even want him to be the one she marries?

“I was just getting some drinks, I’ll be right out in a minute.” She says with a forced smile, attempting to plant a kiss to her fiancé's cheek but failing miserably as he dismisses her and walks back out, not sparing a glance to Fred.

“Why are you marrying him?” Fred asks, the boiling anger in his head slowly taking the best of him “He’s a vile man, Marcus Flint. We used to make fun of him from all the stupid things he’d done and you would always scold me whenever we got in a fight. Why are you marrying the man you said you’d hate for life?”

She remains quiet, eyes locked on him as if she’s trying to convey a message her lips couldn’t deliver. There was regret, guilt, and despair evident on them. How her shoulders shuddered in an attempt to contain her welling tears was tearing him apart. He wanted to rescue her, take her hand and leave the party. Rescue her and hide her under his wing from the life she certainly doesn't deserve if she were to marry Flint. She’s supposed to marry someone who would worship her, someone who would bleed themselves to death for her, and Marcus Flint is certainly not that man.

But who was he kidding? Sure she deserves someone better than Flint but does that mean the man is himself? He couldn’t even ask her out for a silly date. What makes him think he’ll have the balls to kidnap her from her own wedding?

“People are complex beings, Freddie. Marcus isn’t always as cold as how he reacted just now. He’s just feeling stressed over the wedding.” She says at last, struggling to find an excuse for her fiancé's rude actions “I better get back and greet the guests. It’ll be bad for the family if people begin to talk about the bride’s disappearance.”

Placing her empty glass to the table, she reaches for Fred’s cheek and kisses it gently. The sigh she let go as her lips parted from his skin was dragging him deeper to the trench of desolation. With one last smile, she squeezes his forearm and begins walking away.

Fred watches as her figure soon disappear in the sea of people. A thousand questions running across his head at the same time. What’s to do now? What's he supposed to do now that he’s seen it firsthand that she isn’t getting the fairytale she very much deserves? And what is left of him to do after she defends her despicable fiancé?

What is it that Marcus had that made her stay? Was it because of his name and luxury? No, she isn’t the type to trade love for money, that couldn’t be the reason. Was it because of their family? She did mention how badly it would reflect on them if she were to show just a flaw tonight. So was that the true answer?

Fred takes one of the champagne glasses, gulping down the liquid before tossing the glass away with no regard. The mystery and scenarios screaming at each other in his brain were dementing. For the millionth of time, Fred Weasley has found himself stuck on the puzzle.

#fred weasley #fred weasley angst #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley scenario #fred weasley oneshot #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley preference #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x oc

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thedisdainfullysilentvisitor · 22 days

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That's awesome; the new Haunted Mansion is kinda sorta like how OUAT should've been written.

The mass murdering psychopath that holds a thousand grudges against innocent people is actually framed as the bad guy that made their victims do everything for them. Still a fashionista as well.

The mother and son meet the man who lost his wife, and they become found family with the others. Not to mention the missing father is dead and the son has to turn away from his grief to survive.

And the man is willing to give himself to the bad guy in order to save the mother and son.

Absolutely adore this movie, man.

#Haunted Mansion #OUAT #anti-regina mills #CS #Captain Cobra #Found family #The boy is younger than Henry #and is unsocial #But still #it's very Family Swan-Jones coded #Haunt Mansion spoilers #spoilers

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charmquarkstrangequark · 1 year

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Young Agent Lockwood

My HC About Young Agent Lockwood That I Hold to be Incontrovertibly True Despite No Supporting Evidence Whatsoever

(Also, Spoilers from the books, so don't read on if you want to remain pure)

-Gravedigger Sykes sought young Lockwood out. He read in the paper about Jessica's death, saw the mention of the earlier deaths of Celia and Donald, and realized Anthony was all alone. Having gotten into ghost hunting himself for similar reasons, he realizes he can offer young Anthony a mission, something to focus and be active on to assuage his guilt.

-Sykes had friends at DEPRAC who filled him in on the back story, namely, that young Anthony had managed to use a rapier to destroy the ghost that killed Jessica despite the obvious shock of finding her very blue and dead just seconds before. Impressed by his early and natural talent, Sykes encourages young Anthony to continue to pursue fencing, and signs him up for every competition.

-Prior to recruiting young Anthony, Sykes ran a small independent firm, mostly dealing with cemetery issues, hence his nickname. He isn't very polished, and the wealthier clients thus choose to engage larger firms rather than Sykes.

-Once he meets young Anthony, with Lockwood's natural grace, manners, and posh accent, Sykes realizes Anthony is his ticket into better earning jobs. He takes Anthony to a shop to buy him a suit, but upon seeing the boy's shock at the expectation of buying something off the rack, Sykes pivots and takes Anthony to a tailor instead. Thus begins Anthony's obsession with bespoke suits. Sykes encourage the tailor to make the suits just a half size too small, to emphasize the boy's height, and young Anthony gets used to the feel. Sykes has less than zero knowledge about fashion, so he gets a subscription to a men's fashion magazine, tells Lockwood to memorize the season's looks, and bases the boy's wardrobe on what's in the glossy pages. To this day, Lockwood carefully peruses the fashion magazines to make sure he's not out of touch.

-Young Anthony becomes the face of Sykes Psychical Investigations. He learns to use his natural good looks to charm the dowagers into hiring his company for their higher paying jobs. This is the start of viewing himself as a "mansion specialist" rather than a graveyard agent. It was Sykes who felt mansions were a better job, and Anthony looks up to the man.

-One day, Sykes hands young Anthony a copy of the Times with a story about Rotwell gracing the front cover. "You're a thousand times better than him," Sykes tells Anthony. "One day, it'll be your face on the papers and in the gossip rags." Hence young Anthony's prurient interest in gossip magazines and his burning desire to be on the front page of the newspapers. It's Lockwood's "This will be us" moment.

-Sykes dies on a job because of a mistake made by the other junior agent in his company. The other boy is overcome by fear and cannot act quickly enough; Sykes jumps in to save him, but due to his age, does not have enough talent to truly see the ghost, and is killed. Young Anthony is not there because he's competing in a fencing competition (the one in which he poked Kipps in the bottom, and Flo took the championship). Feeling guilty that he wasn't there to save the day, Lockwood never signs up for another competition. He hangs the newspaper clipping about the competition on the wall to remind himself what happens when he pursues his own interests instead of the Job. He also decides he will never be overcome by fear; he will always be the first one through the door, the one to keep his cool, the brave one.

-With Sykes gone, the boy whose fear caused Sykes' death quits ghost hunting and becomes a relic boy, and it's really just Lockwood left. He goes to DEPRAC to see if he can take over the company, but for legal reasons, he can't carry on without a "Sykes" at the helm, so he decides to learn how to create his own agency.

-He's researching the process at the Archives when he meets a newly fired George. George hasn't told his parents that Fittes fired him yet; instead he sneaks out every morning and spends the day at the Archives. He sees Lockwood struggling to figure out where to start. Feeling sorry for the slightly younger boy, George helps him locate the necessary books and documents, negotiate the red tape, and find the loopholes that will permit a 14 year old to start an Agency AND qualify for DEPRAC insurance. Along the way, Lockwood's charisma and enthusiasm infect George, and he signs on, telling his parents he's found a better job offer, one with more upward mobility than stuffy old Fittes. George and Lockwood are spending a lot of time at Portland Row, getting things in order, and at some point Lockwood just offers George the empty bedroom on the landing that used to be Celia and Donald's study, and George accepts it. Being used to the domesticity provided by his family, George begins to take on simple cooking and cleaning chores. George's mum also takes pity on young, orphaned Anthony Lockwood and insists George invite him to all their family holidays.

-Eventually the boys take on an assistant, Robin. But Robin is a bit older than either of them, and doesn't take orders well. One of these incidents results in Robin's unfortunate passing, and Lockwood immediately decides he will not tolerate any agent under his leadership to buck his orders in the field; it's just too dangerous. Also, having three teen boys in an agency run by the youngest among them resulted in too much peacocking. Thus, Lockwood places an ad in the papers, looking for an agent, preferably female, and not above fifteen years in age. The first few interviews are disasters, and Lockwood is feeling frustrated and defeated. Then the door to the living room opens and in walks George. Behind him, in a jumper, skirt, leggings, and a little cap, with hair cut short in a bob to avoid ectoplasm burns, is a wide-eyed girl with a northern accent, a feisty temper, and the ability to save him from himself.

#lockwood & co #lockwood and co #anthony lockwood #george karim #lucy carlyle #l&co character analysis #There's no supporting evidence for any of these but it just feels right #renew lockwood and co #I just know George's mom gives Lockwood Christmas gifts every year

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metfell · 1 year

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things to know about the bedrockverse blogs i run aka @tmmyrp and @latenightmining

tmmyrp:

has backstory of being grown in a lab, escaped, and lived with wilbur and schlatt before the smp.

is a shapeshifter. his hybrid features change based on whoever he is connected with most at the time.

he is much closer to ranboo in this than in canon. alliumduo are really funny and stupid. they have had the prison tnt conversation already.

tommy has suffered exile 2, and c!dream was killed by tubbo with the help of ranboo and emerald duo. dream is dead.

had a brief bout of being the server's therapist, since canonically puffy fucked off and made tommy the therapist. he has a therapy book which can be read through here

he has two pets. one is gertrude, a dreamon disguised as a chicken with mary-sue level powers. the chicken has canonically killed dream, and infected subtotechno with a disease that slowly killed him. gertrude can do whatever he wants as long as it's funny. he's also trans.

his other pet is tulip, an old tamed wolf therapy animal who is trained to sniff out mental illnesses, and regularly will run across the server to track down whoever is feeling mentally ill that day.

shroud isnt mentioned much at all because the mod has a fear of spiders.

tommy and tubbo have a small base out thousands of blocks away called Petalsbrough, which is a real- though uninhabited- spot on the smp's seed. a tour of petalsbrough can be found here

latenightmining:

has died twice, once with the november 28th death, and once again after a deal with kristin ended on new years eve.

romantic c!beeduo.

they have a second child with tubbolul named mae, who is a baby enderman. she speaks in sign language.

enjoys metalworking and smithing. can be found in the mansion- that they live in- regularly repairing tubbo's things and crafting new small items out of netherite.

he has matching rings with tubbo saying "for the earth" and "for the moon", and a friendship ring with amethyst in it for tommy who's says "for the sun"

ranboo is mending their relationship with quackity, and is still good friends with wilbur as of right now. the canon timeline sadly uses the prison break timeline, and not the hitting on 16 timeline.

ill add more if i remember them but here's a bit of background info going in!

#text #bedrockverse

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cleolinda · 1 year

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Varney the Vampire: Chapter 10

Chapter 9: Flora Bannerworth blasted a vampire, twice, then swooned into an Undisclosed Someone's arms, and personally, I think she earned it.

CHAPTER X.

THE RETURN FROM THE VAULT. -- THE ALARM, AND THE SEARCH AROUND THE HALL.

James Malcolm Rymer actually has a fairly cinematic eye despite this being the 1840s; just after Flora dramatically raising her arm to shoot a vampyre in the face (okay, it didn't say "in the face," but I live in hope), we cut over to:

George and Henry Bannerworth, along with Mr. Marchdale, had just reached the gate which conducted into the garden of the mansion when they all were alarmed by the report of a pistol. Amid the stillness of the night, it came upon them with so sudden a shock, that they involuntarily paused, and there came from the lips of each an expression of alarm.

Whereupon her brother Henry SPRINGS THE FUCK INTO ACTION,

he cleared the gate at a bound, and at a terrific pace he made towards the house, passing over beds, and plantations, and flowers heedlessly

legit ducking bullets and my laughter the whole way, and flails back into the family mansion only to discover his SISTER in the ARMS of a STRANGER:

To grapple him by the throat was the work of a moment, but the stranger cried aloud in a voice which sounded familiar to Henry, -- "Good God, are you all mad?" Henry relaxed his hold, and looked in his face. "Gracious heavens, it is Mr. Holland!" he said.

THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S CHARLES MOTHERFUCKIN HOLLAND, BABY

You... you know...! The guy! The guy they couldn't move away for! Who saved Flora when she swooned off a cliff! He's come to reunite with his beloved and he has no idea what the fuck you people are going on about.

Such a strange scene as that small room now exhibited had never been equalled in Bannerworth Hall. There was young Mr. Holland, of whom mention has already been made, as the affianced lover of Flora, supporting her fainting form. There was Henry doing equal service to his mother; and on the floor lay the two pistols, and one of the candles which had been upset in the confusion: while the terrified attitudes of George and Mr. Marchdale at the window completed the strange-looking picture.

Listen, I give Rymer a lot of shit, but the man can paint a picture (which is, in fact, worth one thousand words).

Having exhausted all his executive function, Henry goes limp again:

"What is this -- oh! what has happened?" cried George. "I know not -- I know not," said Henry. "Some one summon the servants; I am nearly mad."

I also give Henry a lot of shit, but I'm not packing a whole lot of spoons on a daily basis, either, so: fair enough. Although he could do better than subsequently telling the servants, "Flora's dead, or fainted, or whatever, someone else figure it out."

Marchdale, however, is focused on The Stranger Present in the Room, straight-up pointing his finger at Charles Holland. Like, he might as well be snarling. Charles Holland retorts, "Sir, I may be a stranger to you, as you are to me, and yet no stranger to those whose home this is," so who the fuck are YOU? Henry tries to placate everyone by fawning over Charles Holland (you have to say his full name. It just sounds right. I don't make the rules), and it... does not work.

"I am proud to know you, bitch sir," said Mr. Marchdale. "Sir, I thank you," replied Holland, coldly. It will so happen; but, at first sight, it appeared as if those two persons had some sort of antagonistic feeling towards each other, which threatened to prevent effectually their ever becoming intimate friends.

I want to say this might actually pay off later, but I can't remember for sure. Meanwhile, the servants WAIT! WAIT THE FUCK A MINUTE! I THOUGHT THEY ALL QUIT? Sorry, going back to chapter 6 to check this—

[Henry] calmly paid the servants, and allowed them to leave him at once without at all entering into the matter, and, for the time being, some men were procured, who, however, came evidently with fear and trembling, and probably only took the place, on account of not being able to procure any other.

Well, at any rate, Some Guys don't know what happened with the fainted ladies and the vampyre, which well they might not if they're just there for the paycheck and are staying out of this. I know all these thinkpieces nowadays are giving people shit about "quiet quitting," but listen, if I am working for the Bannerworth family just to scrape by with ye olde healthe insurance, I am keeping my head down under the bullets flying and my nose out of their vampyre business. So, exit the unconscious Mrs. Bannerworth, borne away by Some Guys, because she only functions to scream and faint. (It's not an issue Stoker much improves on with Mrs. Westenra fifty years later.) Flora, on the other hand, begins to revive in the mansome arms of Charles Holland, who is, uh, still embracing her. Like. You could set her down in a chair or something? No?

"Oh, do not now take her from me, after so long an absence. Flora, Flora, look up; do you not know me? You have not yet given me one look of acknowledgement. Flora, dear Flora!" The sound of his voice seemed to act as the most potent of charms in restoring her to consciousness; it broke through the death-like trance in which she lay, and, opening her beautiful eyes, she fixed them upon his face, saying, -- "Yes, yes; it is Charles -- it is Charles." She burst into a hysterical flood of tears, and clung to him like some terrified child to its only friend in the whole wide world.

Maybe I've just gotten maudlin in my middle age, but: ;_;

Has Flora been ill?? Oh, brother, we've ALL been ill, say George and Harry Henry (Rymer, buddy, pay attention), and "nearly mad," because no one has ever gone through anything as terrible as having a sister bitten by a vampyre. And in the middle of Charles Holland standing there with his erstwhile ladylove sobbing on him, like, what the fuck are you two talking about, Flora suddenly "extricates" herself and demands that Charles Holland break up with her, now, immediately, posthaste, forever!!! NEVER LOOK UPON MINE ANGUISHED FACE AGAIN!!

"I -- I am bewildered," said Charles.

Ayyyy, it's a reader proxy. Flora and Charles Holland argue about about this a weepy minute, until Henry interrupts to ask Flora what happened in the previous chapter while the menfolk were looking for matches, in an exchange that I would call wonderfully naturalistic if I did not want this book to hurry the fuck up and get on with it:

"Has it been again?" "It has." "You shot it?" "I fired full upon it, Henry, but it fled." "It did -- fly?"

That is to say, the vampyre has fled; it did not fly like a bat per se, because that would have actually been cool. I did forsooth merc that motherfucker, avers Flora, but surely it will come again! Marchdale ventures to suggest that perhaps she actually killed it, maybe for good this time. And meanwhile Charles Holland is like,

…you

you did what now

George offers to explain ("'You seem to be the only rational person here,' said Charles"), but Flora interrupts to break up with Charles Holland again:

"Hear me, Charles," said Flora. "From this moment, mind, I do release you from every vow, from every promise made to me of constancy and love; and if you are wise, Charles, and will be advised, you will now this moment leave this house never to return to it." "No," said Charles -- "no; by Heaven I love you, Flora! I have come to say again all that in another clime I said with joy to you. When I forget you, let what trouble may oppress you, may God forget me, and my own right hand forget to do me honest service." "Oh! no more -- no more!" sobbed Flora. "Yes, much more, if you will tell me of words which will be stronger than others in which to paint my love, my faith, and my constancy."

If you tell me of... stronger... I don't know how Rymer manages to say something that I can technically understand, but still makes me go all blonde math lady dot gif. Dig the emotionally available love interest, though. But Henry's like, buddy, not now—

"Nay, upon such a theme I could speak for ever paid, by the printed line. You may cast me off, Flora; but until you tell me you love another, I am yours till the death, and then with a sanguine hope at my heart that we shall meet again, never, dearest, to part."

What happened to me since 2010 that I kind of love this now? It's 2023, I've had covid five thousand times, and I want this man to sweep in, go "You live like this?," and start swearing his eternal love to me while promising to fix everything. And I'm not even straight.

Flora sobs that him being such a dreamboat just makes it harder to break up with you, Charles [Holland]—

"Oh, say that word again!" he exclaimed, with animation. "It is the first time such music has met my ears."

What—his first name? That she's said seven (7) times since he got here…?

See, this is the thing. Continuity aside, the problem with Varney the Vampire is that it's not difficult to summarize a chapter in maybe three sentences, tops, if you really put your mind to it. But you start explaining it, and paying attention to it, and then the quicksand gets you. You start quoting it for the absurdity and then... the endless, real-time dialogue... you just... start... sinking:

"It must be the last [time I say your name, Charles] [Holland]." "No, no -- oh, no." "For your own sake I shall be able now, Charles, to show you that I really loved you." "Not by casting me from you?" "Yes, even so. That will be the way to show that I love you." She held up her hands wildly, as she added, in an excited voice, -- "The curse of destiny is upon me! I am singled out as one lost and accursed. Oh, horror -- horror! would that I were dead!"

Love it. Quality gothic content. Had to wade through fearsome verbiage to get there. Charles Holland blanches, he staggers, he reels! "Is -- is she mad, or am I?" Henry, tell him I'm mad! No, Flora, I'M mad! Mad at the very thought! MAAAAAAD!! You'd think they were all clawing their eyes out over some cosmic Lovecraftian horror and not one (1) tatty vampyre falling on his ass, over, and over, and over. Seriously, they've already shot him three times and killed him at least once, the Crawling Chaos over here ain't that deep.

At any rate, it's time for Henry, as the head of the family, to take his would-be brother-in-law aside and Tell Him All!!

Never was mortal man so utterly bewildered by the events of the last hour of his existence as was now Charles Holland, and truly he might well be so. He had arrived in England, and made what speed he could to the house of a family whom he admired for their intelligence, their high culture, and in one member of which his whole thoughts of domestic happiness in this world were centered, and he found nothing but confusion, incoherence, mystery, and the wildest dismay.

Can you imagine—you've spent a couple years off doing fuck knows what, and now you're finally returning to look up your apparent fiancée, only to have her wild-eyed brother buttonhole you in a tiny side room and start ranting about matches. That's going to be the entire next chapter. Good luck, Charles Holland!

(Chapter 11 will go up Friday, April 21.)

#varney the vampire #vampires #recaps #vampire studies

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hazbinextgeneration · 8 months

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Demon Bride Ch25 Don't Stir The Sleeping Bear

(DISCLAIMERS AND IMPORTANT INFO!!!: EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'll be keeping it as SFW. Some backstories have been slightly altered for this particular story, and some characters cannonically dead or harmed is alive and well. I own nothing.

Credit to @flanelltees for the designs I based the demons off to look more demon-like with tails and pointed ears.

This story will be sfw, but there will be some blood, implied death, fighting, some gore mentioned, and a few other things that will be made aware by warnings. Pay attention to warnings at the top of any chapters just under the summery please.)

Once in the mountain villages it was a custom that once a year on the night of the new year's first moon, an unlucky young lady would be selected and left for the demons to become one of the unlucky few who married such a husband. In exchange for this offering the demons would protect the villages and leave the humans in peace. Until one day a powerful warrior drove the demons away freeing the humans of them. Now 2,000 years later, it's become a tradition that once a year, a new young lady would be picked and wait for her future husband to retrieve her from a shrine in the mountains. And now the lucky tradition would fall upon Y/n L/n. It would be her own turn to take on the tradition and not have to worry about demons. After all that part of the old tradition was just fake, made up by paranoid ancestors. Everyone knew demons didn't exist.

...Right?

(WARNINGS!!!: Karaku IS his own warning, some innuendos, reader getting blown out of the mansion and crash landing, Karaku's head nearly gets snapped off and his neck and nose broken, Urogi's head nearly gets snapped off too near the end, possible blood and gore, head being sliced off when Kaigaku appears.)

First Part Here:

Demon Bride Ch 1 Thus It Begins

(WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS!!! EVERYONE in this story is in their early 20s-30s! This story will contain mentions of past abuse and death! I'l

TUMBLR

Last Part Here:

Next Part Here:

(Thanks to EVERYONE who voted. It was hard to keep track of them all but I've counted every single vote on all platforms I posted the 'first kiss" poll and tallied up all the votes. Without further ado the votes are-

Kyogai in first place with 21 votes

Kaigaku in second place with 16 votes

And Gyutaro in third with 15 votes

Anymore votes commented after I counted them shall not be taken as I write the chapter. So get ready to smooch some demons.

If anyone else is curious about how many votes the others got-

Douma:14 votes

Sekido: 1 vote

Urogi: 0 votes

Aizetsu: 3 votes

Akaza: 9 votes

Enmu: 1 vote

Kokushibo: 10 votes

Karaku: 3 votes

This will be deleted later and reuploaded along with the new chapter. Just wanted to share this updated.

**************"†************************************************************

Precious moonlight serenity was shattered by the oncoming storm. Hundreds of tiny voices yelling at the unconscious mind to wake up and be aware of everything. It worked as purple flashed open to the world and watched the serenity be stained with the red paint of chaos and disorder.

"FIRE!! FIRE!! THE GARDEN IS ON FIRE!!"

A thousand footsteps approached like an army rising amongst the nightfall and chaos, thundering down every pathway possible and snapping awake the dazed Brain to it's fully awake state. The bed loosing it's warmth the moment discarded blankets were found.

RUI WAS GONE

"Rui?!" You sat straight up with a jolt of panic pulsing through your veins and your stomach dropping at the sight of the missing boy. A quick scan of the mostly empty room showed no signs of him either. "RUI?!"

FIND HIM instincts screamed on some primal level you didn't understand. DANGER screamed another one despite things being quiet outside your door you could hear and feels thousand souls or more in fear. A sickening sin of someone dangerous creeping ever closer. You don't remember finding him so quickly. You just remembered a strange smell akin to that of the air just after it rained. One moment you were shoving the door open frightened, the next you were coddling a small figure in relief snatching him out of the arms of a much larger presence.

"Mother!" The small figure squirmed arms waving about. "You're crushing me!"

Kyogai blinked.....and slowly blinked again at what he had just witnessed.He heard the screams and gotten here via his back drum only to discover half his garden on fire according to a frightened servant. Of course he ordered them to pump the well for water quickly and does it. Next thing he knew, he nearly tripped over a cowering mass trying to hide in the same garden. It was the child. Because OF COURSE it would be. He had half a mind to ground the little larva from any contact with you after this. He just scooped up the squealing larva in one hand holding him up to start scolding him after bringing him inside away from the dangers- Next thing he knew there was the frightening smell of narcissus flowers and a second later the child was...No he wasn't gone as he was still in front of him right now squirming and pouting in the grip of Y/n. But...How? When?! He still slowly blinked...before shaking his head. His mind must've been too preoccupied by the emergency at hand to notice her coming is all.

"Just what were you thinking running off like that?!" , You shouted holding out the boy in front of you with a scowl. Rui looked almost panicked back. "Do you know how worried I was when I saw you were gone?! Everyone's yelling about a fire and you're exploring the dark!"

"I-Im sorry. I couldn't sleep and went to walk."

"Well then next time wake me up wh-" You didn't have time to finish talking when about ten other demons came charging up the hallway giant buckets in their arms, and if Kyogai hadn't pulled you out of the way, you would've been run over by them all. Each and every one of them looked some kind of worried or scared as they rushed up towards the garden. Thick splashes of water hit the floor in trails as they went sending droplets everywhere. "....W-What's happening?!"

Kyogai groaned as you snapped to him for answers. You looked so lost to him. "There's a fire in the garden. It's NOT a big emergency." He assured holding up a hand when your face gained a look of panic. "Lightning struck one of the plants and it spread out a bit. We'll have it contained soon-" A woman's high pitched shriek echoed down the halls making him snap up. "....Make that eventually." You flinched as he suddenly snapped back to you with a light scowl, no. Not you. Rui. "You! Stay. HERE!" He pointed a single claw at the child who blinked. "You almost got yourself killed out there! Any longer and you would've became a pile of ashes!!"

Rui only blinked before looking away. "It's not my fault lightning struck that tree!"

"Ugh! You must've done something! It's not even storming!" Kyogai facepalmed once more but didn't notice the way you slowly looked at him. A sudden thankfulness taking over you. "The both of you go near the front of the mansion! If it spreads then I'll have to put your safety fir-"

"You saved Rui?" Rui blinked as he was slowly slid down until his feet touched the floor, letting him give off a sigh of relief. Finally.

Kyogai however paused as you took a step forward. "*ahem* W-W-Well I mean i-it was M-My duty a-as a h-h-high ranking-" He stopped as two soft hands reached up to grab his cheeks and pulled him down. "....m-member...U-Uh-"

OH GODS!! TOO CLOSE TOO CLOSE!! WHY WAS HE SUDDENLY A FOOT AWAY FROM HER FACE AND CLOSING IN?! WAIT WAIT WAIT!! WHY WAS SHE GETTING CLOSER?!CRAP-His heart was beating a mile a minute and his throat felt like someone was choking him as he found himself closer and clo- HE FROZE BODY RIGID. Something soft touched his lips. Something warm embraced his face. Something small was holding his head up. His eyes crossed down his nose and before he knew it it was gone. The contact was quick and only lasted a few seconds before it was gone but it felt like an eternity to him-

"MWAH!!" You gave Kyogai the quickest of thankful kisses before pulling away and again scooping Rui up happily in your arms to which he accepted this time but gave you a deadpanned look.

"I thought you said you weren't trying to kiss him.''

"Just this once because I'm thankf-?!" You leapt back as even MORE hordes of demons ran past with sloshing buckets and Kyogai finally snapped out of his frozen phase when a giant slosh of cold water spilt out of one bucket and fell all over his right side.

"Let's go to the front." Rui said with a point to the hallway before you and you nodded.

You watched the many demons disappear around the corner and Kyogai scowling at his soaked form. Kyogai was strong. Surely he'd handle the fire. Right now your instincts screamed for Rui's safety. He was much more weak and fragile compared to everyone else around here. With more demons running past you turned and began jogging off in the direction Rui pointed. The movement catching the attention of Kyogai whom held out a quick arm to your retreating figure.

"Y-Y/n-"

"MY LORD!! THE FIRE'S SPREAD TO THE ENTIRE GARDEN!!"

"OH FUCK!!"

The panic really set in when you got closer to the entrance. Your brain fully turned off your auto pilot for finding Rui and finally let you understand the situation around you.

ALL. HELL. HAD. R E A L L Y. BROKE. LOOSE.

A woman screamed somewhere as demons of all kinds ran around ina flurry of panic. You kept getting knocked around or tripped over nearly falling from either someone panicking and pushing you or from the giant amount of water sloshed everywhere. Your ears ring. Your body stings. Hands tightened around Rui who seemed to know where to go only silently pointing in many directions in the dark. You couldn't see. Blind to everyone and everything around you and that's what really scared you. You couldn't do anything for anyone in this condition. Only try to get out of the way and get Rui to safety. Feet wobbled forward, onward. Until the world tumbled over and a second later you had found yourself falling through the world flung from your feet. Whirled around and around the wind tumbling around. Sounds muffling and whirling together thanks to the loud ringing in your ears, although you vaguely remembered a few screams, maybe a lot of cracks that sounded just like when Akaza punched through Kyogai's flooring, and then tumbling.

Light as a feather you felt tumbling through the dark wind and sky. Time seemed endless for a short while. Had you fallen down a flight of stairs? Slipped out an open window? Maybe you were still fast asleep and this was all asleep?

But then why were you in such pain?

You shrieked letting the air leaves your lungs and your eyes met white hot flashes of light as hellfire hot and poking you like fire hot you in many places as your body hit the ground and rolled and rolled until it could no more. Feeling burning pain in your ankle, left shoulder, head, neck, lower left back, middle toes on your right foot- Over and over until it stopped and in a slump you plummeted into the darkness and accepted your fate.

The abyss welcomed you into it's wicked embrace and allowed the warmth to be put out like a gentle light.

★★★★★★★★

"AHAHAHAHA!! Did you see the way all those little ants went flying?! I haven't been able to blow away a small crowd in a while! The farthest one went about twenty feet! Except for these two of course. I targeted them to go a lot farther.~"

"KARAKU, YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO EXTRACT THE DAM BRAT WITHOUT DRAWING ATTENTION TO YOURSELF!!! NOW THE EVIDENCE OF US IS LITERALLY SPRAWLED ALL OVER THERE!!!"

"I-I-I have to agree with Sekido on this one. He made that distraction for a reason. Hmmm. T-The Master is going to be R-Really mad we tore apart one of his most vital assets."

"Oh lighten up you two. That old librarian can rebuild everything. Urogi's making sure the damage wasn't too serious if it makes you feel better.~ Bessiiiiides we have the kid he wants so badly don't we? That's WAY more important than any damage that can be rebuilt anyways. Plus...We have this beautiful thing here.~ Mmmmmmm.~ Father was right about her being beautiful.~ For a human." Something touched a soft cheek.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HE ENGAGED US OFF TO A PATHETIC HUMAN!! LOOK AT HER!! THERE'S NOTHING TO EVEN MAKE HER STAND OUT FROM ANY OTHER PATHETIC HUMAN!!"

"Except her smell. Smell her, Sekido. She smells heavily of Aster flowers.~"

"I KNOW THAT!! I HATE THAT SICKLY SWEET SCENT!!"

"I-I don't think aster flowers smell that bad."

"STOP IT!! STOP IT!! GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MOTHER!!"

Rui! That was Rui's voice. Slowly feeling started to return to your body and the first thing you felt was pain all over. Like you had rolled down the mountain and hit every single to rock no matter how small on the way down. It caused a hiss of pain to escape. You were vaguely aware of something touching your sore cheek poking a sharp digit over and over into it annoyingly. Before purple eyes snapped open in time to meet green ones attached to a smug face.It was attached to a long slightly wavy black hair, two horns sticking out of his forehead, and darkened skin. After tilting it's head at you it laughed again.

"Hahaha! Aw.~ Look at that.~," a new voice cooed and a claw pulled some of the hair away from your face. Your eyes slowly blinked registering that this man was closer now eyes half lidded. "She's waking up. Such pretty eyes.~ Precious little girl.~ Hello swee-"

C R A C K!!!

One minute he was staring there smiling at her, the next he found his head snapped at an awkward angle with a snap of his neck. His hands awkwardly made grabs at his snapped back head before he fell over right on his ass and it it's place was a raised boot. ....You blinked. Foot immediately dropping at the sight. Whoa. Did you do that? It happened so fast you weren't even thinking - You squealed when the scrambling body grabbed your foot lightly and on instinct you shook it off before scrambling back and forcing yourself to stand on your own two feet with the help of a...tree? Your head snapped to the mighty plant.. Blinking your hand patted the rough bark a few times to actually make sure you were actually feeling what you were seeing, before looking up at the sky and along it's extended branches and leaves. All the way until you made your way back down and saw yourself inside the woods. With four other demons surrounding you.

And three of them looked almost exactly alike.

Three heads of long scruffy black hair, and horns on their foreheads greeted you and they all looked alike but different at the same time. There was the first one who you kicked on instinct. He wore a dark green almost black pair of pants held up by a red belt around his waist, and had sort of green sashes thrown over his shoulders covered in white pom poms. He still stumbled a bit as one of the other demons helped him stand back up on his feet. The one who helped him stand was decked out in blue with a few white strips on his clothing and thick blue rope clung to his back, the thick rope held a long spear like weapon to the blue eyed demon's back as he gently held the green eyed one up.

"I told you to be careful," blue eyes said to the head bent backwards. "You probably scared her."

"What kind of kick was that for a human anyways?!," Green eyes shouted angry but im a nasally way as if he was pinching his nose as he talked. "She broke my nose and my neck!"

"Just shut up and get his head back on already!", A third voice shouted and you looked at it's source. It came from a third demon with red eyes and a deep angry scowl. He wore sandles of some sort and a red yukata except for one part which was patterned along his shoulder. In his hand he gripped a staff like weapon that jingled when he pointed it at the first two. "This is why we FOLLOW THE PLAN!!"

The blue eyed demon helped grab the green eyes's head and with a small grunt and sickening crack, green eyes's head was snapped back up and it looked as if you never even kicked him aside from the blood trickling from his nose which a hand immediately gripped.

"Uh. I'm going to feel that for a while. HOO!" Green eyes shook his head before smiling again. "Head rush!"

"Are you alright? Seeing you hurt saddens me."

Green eyes waved off blue eyes. "I'm fffiiiiiinnnee. But it's sweet our baby brother is so worried about us!~"

"I'm only younger by a few minutes!"

"MOTHER!!" Time all froze as a teeny voice called out. Your eyes snapped over. There was Rui. Laying face down and clawing at the ground with a hiss escaping his throat but the foot from the red eyed demon was too strong for him to escape. "Mother, help me!"

"RUI!!" You ran at him only to become encaged when a strong arm grabbed around your waist and pulled you against a burly chest, a second arm snapping up across your chest and right shoulder. Pulling you back and easily holding you back away from the struggling child. "RUI!!" PANIC busted through your veins when you couldn't reach him. Couldn't reach your child. Desperate hand grabbed at the arms pulling you back. "GIVE HIM BACK!! GET OFF HIM!!!"

A voice laughed from green eyes who held you tightly. "Sorry, Sweetums.~ We have higher orders. But while you're here, we might as well just take you a long.~" You pulled your head forward when you heard someone inhale deeply. "You really do smell nice.~"

"GET. OFF. ME!!" You struggled against his body which only made him laugh louder.

"We're going to have to bring her along now!! Morons!" Red eyes hissed jabbing his staff into the ground with a few jingles. "Hold her still! I'll just shock them both and we can sort out her later once we deliver the boy and meet back with Urogi!"

You had that sense again. The sense of danger being near and something about the jingling staff scared you. Struggling now you screamed. Not sure what behind you fueled it. Fear? Anger? Maybe frustration? Or perhaps it wasn't a scream at all but a cry for help because unbeknownst to all of you someone did hear it. Someone nearby heard. Someone nearby knew who it was.

And thunder came to intervene the lightning to answer that distressed call.

You continued screaming even as the staff was lifted and made to slam down and would've made contact with the ground if there wasn't a metal flash and a moment later the head of Red Eyes fell. The scowl open mouthed in a silent scream as it hit the ground with a thud, his body frozen mid jab, his head rolled a few times before completely stopping at the black boot of some one who kicked the Red Eyed beheaded body over with one firm kick which Also fell with a sickening thud revealing another scowling angry demon. His voice hissing as blue-black eyes narrowed. Rui wheezed free of the foot painfully holding him down and crawled away from the body.

"What the hell are you bastards doing in my domain?!"

You eyes popped open. You recognized that pig's arse anywhere. "KAIGAKU!!" The demon snapped it's gaze to you and immediately gained a face like he was slapped seeing you struggling in his grip. With each tug and pull you gave the grip never loosened. "HELP ME!!"

The demon stood there stunned for A second before immediately his reaction was what you expected. A deep growl and bared fangs. The long katana that scared you when you first saw it was already stained red with blood. Red Eyes gave a curse when a black boot kicked his head away from the body crawling after it, before stepping forward.

"What the absolutely FUCK are you doing here?!"

"I'm running off with a potato farmer- IM BEING KIDNAPPED!! WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING?!," you shouted back to him angrily.

No one but green eyes noticed the wingbeats drawing closer overhead as Blue Eyes gave a gasp and scurried around you all in aid to his beheaded brother. The anger in Kaigaku's eyes just being met with amused green ones as the man holding you chuckled.

"The child, human, and now Lower Moon Two? How exciting! I haven't had this much fun since Sekido was stupid enough to challenge Akaza to a blood battle!"

"Shut up, Karaku!!," A voice shouted somewhere behind them to the far left.

"GET YOUR DAM HANDS OFF OF HER!!!" The demon holding you still cooed as Kaigaku gave a sound between a dog bark and a demonic wail a sharp blade pointed at Green Eyes head. "N O W!!"

The man holding you hummed for a moment before clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Nah. I have a better idea.~"

You screamed as something grabbed you by the waist and with power behind those arms, up you went. Thrown up not very far into the air, you were only thrown up maybe five feet into the air, and something else grabbed you by the arms. Something big with a powerful wing beat and eagle like talons gripped you as you watched the figures below disappear between the trees.

"Y/N!!"

The desperate voice of Kaigaku was drowned out by wingbeats and happy laughter as you struggled and kicked out. Stomach dropping the higher and farther you went. Looking up you were met with yellow eyes and a joyful smile.

"Haha! Karaku wasn't lying when he said you were cute! Look at how terrified your face is! Guess I'll be the one to call dibs first!"

"Put me down!" Your voice was drowned out by the wind.

"Nah. Sorry, Feather. But we have to deliver that brat to the higher ups, but don't worry." He smiled wider. "He won't be hurt...Too much.~ Ha ha ha!!"

There was silence. Nothing but the wind but there was something else he felt. It was the body in his talons going limp. The hard and rigid like that of a rock. Then he felt muscles expanding, getting bigger, and his ears twitched when his excellent sense of hearing caught the sounds of bones creaking and popping. Then the arms where he gripped stop growing but they now felt more...strong and firm. Then there was something that almost made him stop. The unmistakable sounds of a demon giving a warning hiss.

"Now what has happened here?" He turned his head upside down. "Did yo-"

C R A C K!!

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iamafanofcartoons · 2 years

Text

Defending Team RWBY’s decisions during Volume 8, while also defending CRWBY’s V8 Writing.

Let me put this basically as I can.

This was something that apparently was discussed... in a WR Chat.

Then we get to this https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/w7qeag/what_are_some_common_comments_that_make_you_go/ From R/RWBY.

As you might expect? Dextixer the “Grand Corruptor of R/RWBY” (that’s literally his label/tag in the subreddit, the admins/mods still allow him to post hate and harass members, don’t ask me why) Started up the typical “Robyn hill is a terrorist, team rwby are war criminals, Ironwood was ruined”

Anyway, so many people started screaming at CRWBY for “bad writing” based on Ironwood’s military formation against Salem’s grimm invasion.

Did people seriously forget that Glynda and Qrow called out Ironwood for not having strategies, and basically only having “military bravado? Ironwood liked to act like he was the smartest guy in the room, and removed anyone criticizing or disobeying/disagreeing with him.

This is why so many people love him like they do Adam...they project themselves onto him while hating on four idealistic hopepunk women.

But honestly, lets just consider that MAYBE CRWBY knew what they were doing to a respectable point, and that James Ironwood defenders deliberately overlook so many things, exaggerate others etc.

And for god’s sakes, can we stop calling Robyn Hill a terrorist or “Somebody that should have been one of Salem’s Moles”

“Team rwby had no reason to see Ironwood as a villain”

I think they had a reason to see him as a villain since he straight up admitted he's leaving thousands for dead, which is exactly what RWBY was trying to prevent. But James certainly was a victim of his crumbling mental state

He was sacrificing millions to save far fewer. It was not a "needs of the many" situation. He intended to abandon all of Remnant, not to mention that Mantle's population is probably a fair bit bigger than Atlas's. It was a move of desperation.

Seriously, idk where people get this 'pragmatism' stuff from. Ironwood gave up. He was admitting defeat. People actually want a future where the entirety of humanity is just like, 500,000 rich elitists on a floating rock, waiting for Salem to inevitably figure out how to reach them?

If Atlas ran off to the upper atmosphere, everyone in Atlas would eventually die due to lack of supplies. Meanwhile Salem would just move on to the other kingdoms are start burning them down. And who's to say she couldn't just concoct a grimm capable of flying that high and then destroying Atlas herself

Ruby still wanted to help Mantle, but they agreed on splitting the group up so they could also get Amity up...RUBY was seeing the big picture...Ironwood just saw the forest for the trees.

“Look, a fleet to evacuate everyone! It would be a shame if something happened to it...”...Here was the SDC ships trying to evacuate people...Ironwood abandoned them because he felt he could no longer control the people he was oppressing as far back in v7. But then he realized that Team RWBY wasn’t simply disobeying him...they cared about Mantle...Hence why he did his “hands together sit in chair” pose...so he decided that the best way to force everyone to obey him is by forcing mantle to choose between him blowing them up or obeying salem.

As for Sleet? Kill one, warn a thousand. He cowed Carmila and all Atlesian military into obedience by showing that he had no problems carrying out his threat to qrow from v3.

“Ironwood is a tragic figure, CRWBY made him unsympathetic, unlike Cinder Fall and the writers' attempt”

What are y’all talking about? Cinder’s a tragic figure, but that doesn’t make her a sympathetic one. Ironwood was set up this way since the minute he was introduced. Cinder is more sympathetic than adam...she at least is honest about her goals, while Adam dresses himself up as an edgelord savior....Who just wants to kill humans.

“Rwby was drinking tea instead of helping ironwood”

The Mansion: You realize they were being hunted by both Salem and Ironwood right? Qrow was in prison, Harriet threatened to arrest Ruby simply for talking back? They had arrest orders on them? Ironwood shot oscar for calling James out on being a coward and hypocrite? So why help Ironwood if he’s going to either shoot you for not obeying him...or shoot you in the back while you’re trying to help him? Ironwood is his own worst enemy...he regularly sabotages himself, something that Watts with his hacking, Cinder with her manipulation of the chess piece, and Salem with her reputation of being a force of nature (by controllling the grimm and not getting directly involved and being immortal and unkillable, she comes off as unstoppable to ozpin’s allies, hence why lionhart betrayed them. They needed a safe place to avoid getting ruined while hoping for help to come from Amity’s message.

Ruby and co didn't have an issue with Ironwood flying Atlas away, their issue was him leaving people to die in Mantle, it was Ironwood's refusal to evacuate the rest that forced RWBY to use the staff to get everyone to a safe location. Ironwood was literally abusing Mantle throughout v7, which was why Robyn Hill ran for office in the first place! To get Ironwood to treat the non-rich elitists of Atlas like people.

If atlas left mantle would have been consumed by the grim with no hope for evacuation. Ironwood was condemning all of those people to die.

Team RWBY did have a plan, btw. Ask for help. The first plan in season 8 involved her using amity arena to ask the other kingdoms for help. Granted, it did not work...but how would Ironwood have done it? Talk about Glory of Atlas? Demand the kingdoms respect his authority? Team RWBY improved on his plan by providing people as resources, explaining the danger, and explaining how to keep an unstoppable force at bay. All things that Ironwood failed at. Despite Vexed Viewer angrily claiming that Yang and Ruby’s v8 reconciliation should not have existed, it did point out that Yang and Ruby were willing to take risks, while Ironwood would always force others to take risks for him. Given VV is a HUGE misogynist, I’m not surprised he would hate these scenes.

Ironwood tried stopping them at every single turn. They had a second plan, use the schnee company to evacuate mantle so ironwood’s army could focus on the Grimm. Ironwood instead diverted his army to destroy the schnee fleet. The third plan involved trying to save all of mantle and atlas, and ironwood tried stopping them instead of helping with the evacuation.

Ironwood is at fault for not trying to understand a plan other than his own when there was little reason to do so. He’s the one who threatened to nuke a civilian populace rather than try and save them. He sees himself as the smartest person in the room...when often he's called out on his bad ideas by Qrow, Ozpin, Glynda, Nora.

And as ironwood said, at any point they could have turned Penny in.

Also, let’s discuss how bad Ironwoood's plan was. Firstly, while there is a ‘current’ upper limit on Grimm mobility, Salem is a bloody witch, who unlike Ozpin, regularly uses her magic. There is no guarantee she can’t reach them. Secondly, Even if she couldn’t, it’s effectively become a siege where ironwood wouldn’t be able to get resources because Salem would fill the sky’s below atlas with flying Grimm, which can and do pose significant threats to air ships. Thirdly, this leaves Salem to pursue vacuo basically unopposed most likely being able to claim the SWORD OF DESTRUCTION which would likely be pretty useful in besieging the castle. She also would have the lamp in this scenario, which still has a question left she can use to try and attack atlas.

Ironwoods plan is doomed to failure, so I don’t really consider it an escape route. Even if it was, the plan could have been enacted at any point by team RWBY if they felt it necessary. As the proved by being the ones to use the staff. And having creativity, which Ironwood lacked.

“Team RWBY had no plan”.. Actually? They did have a plan, ironwoods original plan. Call for help and fight to evacuate mantel. But instead ironwood chose to abandon mantle and actively fought against any attempt to save them. The entire time he was waiting he could have tried to save as many people in mantle as he could. He could have let the schnee fleet so it’s thing. He could have done something, anything, to compromise with Ruby to get the maiden back. But instead he further antagonized them and refused to cooperate. Because Ironwood is all about proving himself right above all else. Hence why he ratted out Oz to the council in v2. And hid Penny's identity in v3. Both of which backfired. Ironwood apologists went HARD on defending both.

Also, they were drinking tea because Nora then Penny were injured and they needed to take time for them to recover. Did people forget that Ironwood was literally trying to arrest/kill them, Harriet threatened Qrow in front of RWBY, and that two of their friends were injured and they were taking care of them?

Demand that the people you tried to arrest/kill help you out? When you'll just try to backstab them later? How do Ironwood apologists seriously think people should help him while he's trying to kill them?

Rwby did not destroy their credibility, nor did they cause mass death? How would they have? Trying to cooperate with Robyn to stop the theft of amity supplies? The reason they had to do that was because ironwood was convinced anyone moving against him could only be Salem’s agents, treating the person advocating for restoring mantles defenses like the enemy.

In fact?

Multiple members of R/RWBYCritics, Twiins Iink and Judgmental Critter fans actively claim they wanted Robyn to be a Salem Mole.

These people aren't just Ironwood fanatics, they actively embrace his mindset.

Ironwood already destroyed his credibility and was acting completely unreasonable before salem came through, so I don’t blame rwby for trying to act as a mediator with an obvious ally. And ironwood was perfectly happy to accept Robyn’s help until he learned that cinder had made it into atlas, at which point he made a massive jump in logic and assumed Robyn and rwby had something to do with it. ...at which point he ordered their arrests.

And at which point CLOVER prioritized arresting Qrow over tackling Tyrian.

Robyn was just trying to defend her people, which Ironwood had no interest in...and then Clover threatened to arrest her for standing up for Qrow. Police Brutality much.

Ironwood choose to lift Atlas early because of Salem, and he then dismissed RWBYs points about how he's leaving Mantle to die, and after snapping he shot down SDC planes trying to evacuate people. He wasn't allowing RWBY to help Mantle

Ruby said no because that would leave thousands for dead, Ruby just wanted Ironwood to help those that still needed evacuating but he refused

James is responsible for putting her in the position where it was her only choice

He started and participated in the chain reaction, that’s what is meant by causation

There were literally Grimm all over Mantle by the end of V7 Salem was going to kill everyone. She tried turning everyone against ironwood.

There were way more there than there usually are during attacks, and Grimm are naturally going to kill people they see, like the Manatalese that Ironwood left with no military personnel to protect

You goes know of the Train Track Analogy? Liets make it into a boat analogy, like this.

I think the boat analogy should go like this

Mantle is sinking and Atlas is sending lifeboats to help the survivors, but the captain decides to stop helping the people because a big wave is coming in 5 minutes, some of the crew tell the captain they should still help the survivors but the captain decides against it, the crew go against the captain's orders and still help survivors to which the captain orders their arrest.

When the crew successfully gets some passengers on lifeboats, the captain orders the boat to be sunk to prevent the crew from further helping them. The crew's only option left is to get everyone on a third ship, Vacuo, that isn't as good as Atlas but, it can still hold both sets of passengers, but that can only happen if they sink Atlas

Ruby kept trying to stop Ironwood from lifting Atlas into the atmosphere... Because they left mantle. If they didn't leave mantle to die then Ruby would've been fine with lifting the city. She wanted to evacuate everyone into atlas and THEN it could safely go into the sky or whatever. If ironwood had just continued the evacuation, none of this would've happened.

If ironwood had also not stopped the evacuation, then it would've happened because Ruby would never have tried to stop him. The only reason she stopped him was because he refused to even try to save what was left of mantle, if he had continued saving them then they probably would've got everyone on in time - especially if they commandeered the SDC ships - but nooo Ironwood was so obsessed with his little trolley problem that he didn't realise that there was a way to save BOTH atlas and mantle.

I really doubt Salem would just be like "Oh, ok, guess i lost" and depart Atlas the second it started gaining altitude. She is more than capable of knocking Atlas out of the air. So no, either way, it wouldn't be "High in the atmosphere".

And Salem's goal being the relics, one of which they’re trying to float away with? Also, besides the fact that the whale isn’t Salem, whales don’t have any aerodynamic properties for icing to affect. The bigger issue is atmosphere being potentially thin enough for breathing to be an issue. Which shouldn’t be a problem for the Grimm, considering they don’t seem to even have organs, let alone a need for oxygen. And Salem is immortal, the second she’s on Atlas it wont matter.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my rant, I really needed to get all of this off my chest.

#rwby analysis #rwby character analysis #rwby volume 8 #rwby v8 #james ironwood #general ironwood #rwby #ruby rose #rwby ruby #team rwby #robyn hill #rwby salem #penny polendina #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #weiss schnee #rwby discussion #iamafanofcartoons

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 5 months

Text

Breaking down the comics: Just a Spector (issue # 5)

Moon Knight, Issue #5: Ghost Story

Written by Doug Moench and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz

Let’s go further back. Back to early 1981 and back to the start.

Before things were set in stone, designs were still settling and the characters were still being fleshed out.

Back when Moon Knight was still very much a supernatural sort of comic.

I skipped this one originally because it is just a story and there was no real development here. But don’t be fooled, I do love this one. And perhaps, with enriched eyes, we may see a little more than just a story.

And with any good ghost story, we start with two teens goading each other on to sneak into the locally haunted house.

We see a large house on a hill with red windows.

"It's filled with all the ghosts from the red hunter's killin'--And I've seen the shadow of the red Hunter himself, movin' past the windows, holdin' his shotgun..."

And of course the one kid forces the other to go inside to prove themselves. When the kid refuses, the other decides to prove himself and go in.

Just as they are about to sneak inside, a real spector eclipses the moon, terrifying the boys into taking off at a run.

Yeah... He did that on purpose.

"Sorry I had to do that... But if Creach and Parkins are here, it's better if those kids keep running for miles..."

He is indeed a Spector on a hunt. A family cemetary sits just off to the rear of the house and before mentioned Creach and Parkins are making their way up through it.

There used to be three of them.

"I don't like it, Parkins--It's such a creepy old place! Maybe we should just be satisfied with what we've got and --"

"Are you kiddin', Creach? No way! Not after what Redditch did to us! We ain't leavin' till we find him and get the rest of his lousy 'treasure'!"

"But how do you know he even came here?"

"Because he's hurt and he's crazy, that's how. And because he always used to talk about the perfect hiding place for loot-Buried under his mother's house."

They found Redditch's car out in the woods leading up to the house so they know he's there.

Parkins grew up with Redditch and was forced to run in his pack due to the small rural area and lack of options.

It would seem Redditch was known to be pretty crazy.

"There were some disappearances around here back then. They stopped after Redditch's old man was killed! And they never found the other "Hunter" who shot him. The theory was that after the guy killed him, he panicked--didn't think the cops would believe it was self defense--and never came forward with his story. Anyway, at the time I was too young to care about the gossip."

He's pretty sure that Redditch killed his own father. He notes he was a real Momma's boy who often stayed home with her rather than going out to play.

In fact, earlier in the day we see Redditch talking to the other two as he reads the paper.

"My Mom... She's dead... I hadda put her away nine years ago... Never got a chance to see her again cuz the stinkin' cops woulda grabbed me...And now she's dead...and they didn't even tell me..."

The other two note that Redditch's mom had thousands of dollars hidden away in an old shoe box and a sealed lockbox missing a key.

Having just robbed a liquor store and wanted by the cops, Redditch can't go claim his mother's inheritance.

Pissed off, Redditch decides to go rob the bank and steal his inheritance and he demands that the other two help him.

Apparently it didn't go well.

Now they're looking for Redditch and his money.

"They're trapped inside now--And if what Parkins said is true, all three of them could be in there... But it's odd that both the kids AND the crooks should be so obsessed with ghosts-- Especially after what happened this afternoon." Moon Knight watches them enter the house from the rooftop.

EARLIER back at Grant Mansion….

Now, this is a few issues before Jake Lockley figures out he can wear a fake mustache. So it’s weird looking at that incredibly handsome face in his trademark clothes without his friendly ‘stache.

Also I love Jean-Paul. “Time for zee Moon Knight’s prowl, no?”

“Eh–? Oh…Yeah…Sure. Listen–Can I tell you something weird, Frenchie–Something that makes me sound even more crazy than I am?”

“Oui, Marc–tell me. We are all crazy born into madness.”

One has to admire Frenchie’s approach to life. How willing he is to go with the flow. How accepting he is for any and everything that may be thrown at him.

"It's got nothing to do with birth, Frenchie--Maybe rebirth, but it's mostly about death. It's this statue of Khonshu--From the tomb where I 'died', And was reborn as the Moon Knight.

He's supposed to be the Egyptian God of the Moon...And also some kind of an avenging Angel of Death, well, the weird thing is... Sometimes I believe it.

I get a chill when I pass the thing--All kinds of weird vibrations... ANd when I stare at its face, I could swear I'm in contact with something inside it... With its ghost, I guess...

And it makes me aware of my own spirit, something restless stirring inside me... My own ghost, even though I'm not dead yet."

Oh yeah, we’re dealing with Marc Spector here, and his constant struggle with his death, rebirth, religion, and personal spirit.

"Now that you mention it, Marc, it has always conjured a touch of zee strange for me as well. Perhaps it is not so crazy after all."

"Yeah, well, let's move. I'll be Lockley tonight--start out in the cab. You follow in the chopper--Fairly close in case I need you."

Now this early on, he would always announce aloud who he was going to be. Usually when going to Jake. It also almost felt like a sheepish announcement to me, but perhaps I’m reading too much into it. This is so early in the comics that it’s before they even realized their own individuality. To them, they were all still Marc pretending to be someone else. They were almost shy about trying to strike out on their own and be their own people.

Anyways, it's always interesting how spooked Moon Knight often got early on when it came to dealing with ghosts, considering that he himself often thought of himself as a sort of ghost.

Back to the creepy house, Moon Knight is still feeling spooked.

"And little did we know that the night's patrol in Manhattan would end up out here...But it has so let's hope I can really end it--before dawn."

Knowing that the team is armed with a shotgun, Moon Knight moves silently and carefully through the house.

The two criminals are nervous as they too explore the house.

This is normal. Owls get caught in curtains all the time.

Creach and Parkins are spooked.

"We ain't givin' up that loot, not after all we went through today to get it!"

Earlier in the day:

The estate lawyer is going through the effects from the Redditch estate. One of the people notes that "How can they be sure she's dead? She vanished, but..."

"After non years, Miss Belvins, she is legally dead, and legality is all that concerns us."

Just then, the three men barge in with their shotgun and demand the money.

Just as the two are discussing what to do with all the cash in the office, Redditch busts in.

Miss Belvins pleads for them not to shoot, she has an old mother she cares for. This enrages Redditch and he shoots.

Creach and Parkins are horrified and make a run for it.

Redditch meets up with a security officer as he makes a run for it. He is shot and he shoots in return.

They dive into their get-away-car and make a break for it, but Redditch is hurt.

Jake has his police scanner on in the cab and picks up the call for help. He makes a quick decision to head there in his cab.

Crashing his cab to avoid a collision with the get-awa-car, he changes to Moon Knight and takes off.

But now the three men are desperate. They take off across the bridge and open fire on the cops in pursuit.

They make a mess of things, causing some nasty accidents.

The Moon Copter follows, trying to catch up.

Back to the present!

Back to the chase!

They stop for gas now that they've lost the cops.

Redditch struggles to open the lockbox and manages to jimmy it open.

He is excited once he sees what was hidden inside.

"Listne-You guys can have the shoebox--I'll take this!" He gives up the money without a second thought.

The other two are confused and demand to see what's inside the lockbox, thinking it's something more valuable.

Redditch cries out that the treasure is his and bolts from the car. He jumps into another car and takes off.

Moon Knight catches up and follows the car up to the old spooky house. And this brings us back to the point where Moon Knight scares off the two kids from before.

Back to the present! Creach and Parkins find a locked door marked "Eddie's Room". It's Redditch's old bedroom.

They kick down the door and find:

There is also fresh blood on the floor.

"Quit actin' like you're gonna have a heart attack, Creach! Ghosts don't bleed--but Redditch does. That cop nailed him good in the side. Don't you see--? All's we gotta do is follow the blood till we find Redditch..."

The blood trail leads them to a cracked door.

Redditch must still be inside!

Oh, wait, no. It’s more Skeleton.

The Skeleton fires the shotgun!

The men are spooked. A skeleton did just take a shot at them.

Wait a second...

They’re doing fine.

The men head down stairs to the basement, still in search of the treasure.

And where is Moon Knight in all this gunfire?

“Someone else IS here–I can FEEL it–And somehow I know it’s not Redditch! But since I’m not quite ready to believe it’s a ghost, I’d better make my move now–Before someone innocent gets hurt…”

Moon Knight… Surrounded is a strong way to phrase that. The three of you (four) aren’t surrounding anyone.

Creach and Parkins freak out, thinking it's the cops. Thinking that if the cops don't catch them with the evidence (money), they can't charge them.

They frantically light the furnace and throw the box of money in.

The furnace, however, hasn't been maintained in a very long time and can't handle the sudden fire or build up of smoke. In fact, it starts to shudder and shake.

It explodes! The explosion reveals a hidden trap door in the cellar floor!

Still thinking the police are after them, they flee down under the floor and find themselves in a narrow tunnel.

"It could still lead to whatever Redditch ran away with. He always said he had a perfect hiding place under the house --and I feel a breeze up ahead! Maybe we can find the box AND escape the cops! Keep goin'!"

The tunnel does take them outside, but it leads right to the cemetery. And a waiting Moon Knight.

Spooked by his ghostly appearance, Creach makes a run for it only to take a truncheon to the back of the head.

Now it's Moon Knight vs. Shotgun.

A crescent dart sinks into the hand that holds the shotgun. Moon Knight is in no mood.

"You were wrong, Parkins! The ghost of the Moon...The avenging ghost of DEATH!"

He punches Parkins hard.

Frankie Parkins is out before he hits the ground.

Parkins' dropped flashlight illuminates a headstone that belongs to Edward Redditch.

"Redditch?! Redditch is dead?" Moon Knight can't believe it. "There's a tombstone and an open grave for him?!"

And yes... There in the open grave lays Redditch. His hair is pure white and not only has he lost a lot of blood from the police bullet, but he also has a fresh shotgun blast.

"Just like his dad." An old woman comes up behind Moon Knight. "...Always out hunting for something...Only coming home when he needed something...Covered in fresh blood...Red...COuldn't ever see anything but red...Then leaving right away...Leaving me alone again..."

Ah….A sort of Norman Bates situation.

He finds the open lockbox that Redditch had been after. Inside, the treasure: The deed to the house.

"He was named Edward too, you know...His dad was... Got hurt in a shooting accident, he did... Never came home...Then they put me away...But I had to come back home. So I could go out and get him...Bring him home for good....Take care of him... And now the boy's come back all red...covered in fresh blood like his hunter dad... All you can see...No matter which window you look out.."

Seems she was waiting at home for Redditch and when he got back, he wasn't expecting to find his mother, who he thought was dead. Scared to death, the gun went off and accidentally shot him.

Yeah, what I’m getting out of this is that he used to help his mom clean his father’s kills. (all the skeletons). His father was then killed by accident or in self defense by either the son, the mother, or one of his prey. She then went and collected his body and cleaned it to skeleton perfection, dressed it up in his hunting gear, and did a little Norman Bates.

Now, her son is dead in his father’s empty grave, she goes to fetch his body too… But the house is burning and it’s time to end it.

This was a fun little ghost story! Action, good storytelling, and a little spooky! Kinda felt like an episode of Twilight Zone or something.

It also really sets the stage for how a lot of Moon Knight is going to go through the rest of Moench’s run. The story is more about the people fighting past demons, traumas, and their own ghosts. And his own fear/exploration that he himself is nothing but a Ghost out for vengeance.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Marc Spector #Jake Lockley #Steven Grant #Early Moon Knight had a skill of just telling a little tale #Also of getting a nice spooky story sometimes #I appreciated this one

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