#WHAT THE FUCK WAS WINTERS GONNA DO ONCE HE GETS OUT OF HIS VAULT. HE'S GONNA BE SMASHED INTO A FINE PASTE BY THE FIRST SUPERMUTANT HE MEETS
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I just KNOW you've got a fandom you're waiting for someone to say. Do that one.
UHHHHHH FALLOUT. not because i strongly care abt fallout but because of this guy:
#ask game#fallout#nick valentine#ok thats a lie i do like fallout a lot#however i mostly know abt it via fallout 4. which is#well#not a well written game#ive been battling a rewrite comic for long time coming for YEARS now bc that mission SUCKED ASS#ITS NOT JUSTICE NICK. JUST CALL IT MURDER. YOU CAN HAVE SOME MURDER AS A TREAT#WHAT THE FUCK WAS WINTERS GONNA DO ONCE HE GETS OUT OF HIS VAULT. HE'S GONNA BE SMASHED INTO A FINE PASTE BY THE FIRST SUPERMUTANT HE MEETS
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I'll be summer sun for you forever (Basil Stitt x Reader)
Warnings: Suicidal ideation
Words:786
A/N: Fluffy Basil? Definity not what anyone was expecting....
Basil is pretty sure this is a dumb idea, so far he’s called his now ex-girlfriend, and his parents, neither have responded, he plugs the phone back into the wall of his ruined apartment to make one last desperate call. His childhood Friend, the girl next door who moved across the country after high school, he’s dials the number, and it only rings once before she picks up.
“Hello?”
“Hey! Uh I don’t know if this is a goo-”
“Basil! Oh my god I haven’t heard your voice in forever! How are you?”
“Uh, well not great, there’s some… really weird stuff going on with me.”
“Weird like the time you got your head stuck in the railing or weird like the time that guy on the history channel had you actually convinced Aliens existed?” She asks with a slight laugh. He kinda laughed back.
“Uh…weirder than both of those.”
“Well Shit Baz…Didn’t think that was possible.” He hears her set something down, It was clear he had her undivided attention now.
“Well yeah. Um…well you remember my girlfriend? I told you about her right”
“Mhm, we actually met briefly the last time I was in town. She didn’t seem to like me much.”
“Well apparently she’s been cheating on me for like a year and some change…” he was deflecting the real problem here, the lightning, the scar, the mental breakdown. Probably good to start on the easy part right?
“That bitch! I’m so sorry Basil, that’s just not right, you’re the best guy I know, you worshiped the ground she walked on. Why the fuck would she do that?”
“I don’t know, but that’s just the beginning of my bad luck…” something about his tone of voice triggered the “Mom friend” in her
“Okay let me sit down and you’re gonna tell me everything…” he could hear her footsteps on the floor in over the phone and it’s all he can do to not start crying again.
“You’re not going to believe me when I tell you.” He says
“I don’t care, you’re going to tell me anyway.” She was always good at getting him to do what she wanted. From playing the board game she wanted to as kids to asking out the girl he liked to prom, she had a way of convincing him that he just couldn’t resist. So he gave up fighting her years ago. So he breaks down and tells her… Everything.
“All this time I didn't know you were breakin' down…” She whispers into the phone reviver. “I-I don’t know, I’m thinking of just…Ending it all. It’s really bad…I look like a monster, and I feel like I’m going more insane every day…”
“Basil…I'd fall to pieces on the floor if you weren't around…” He can hear the tears in her voice. “I’m coming to see you, I’ll help you get it all figured out.”
“No. Please don’t I don’t want to be seen like this, I just want it to be over okay?”
“I don’t care how bad it is or what you look like Basil. I’m getting on the next plane to New York. I refuse to lose my best friend.” That tone of voice the one he knows he can’t argue.
“Okay…” He’s kinda glad she’s coming. But doesn’t know how to face it.
~
By the next day she’s standing in his apartment helping him clean stuff up. She had arrived on the red eye, early in the morning. She hadn’t shied away from the Scarring on his face or the how his eye had gone white. She didn’t care. She had just held him in her lap as he had cried. She had run her fingers through his hair and hummed sweet melodies.
“Why are you helping me?” He asked
“You’re my best friend Baz.”
“I haven’t been a good friend, I haven’t called in a year why on earth…”
“It doesn’t matter Basil, You’re still my friend. And I love you even at your darkest.” She tried to smile at him but he can’t look at her
“I don’t believe that.” He grumbles. She puts aside the broom she was using and carefully took his face in her hands looking him directly in the face, before softly kissing him, he’s shocked but he kisses her back, his hands, shaking, end up on her waist. Every move she makes done with determination but with a gentle quality that Basil hadn’t felt from anyone in a very long time. As they break the kiss more tears falling from his face. She wipes the tears away and softly tells him the one thing he needed to hear more than anything.
“Believe in one thing, I won't go away”'
__
TS Series Masterlist
Basil Series masterlist
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#basil stitt x reader#basil#basil stitt#lightningface fanfiction#lightningface#fluff#oscar isaac fic#taylor swift#Red#forever winter#Spotify
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i was tagged by @duquesademiel to share the current first lines of my wips so you are once again forced to take a look at what I'm writing, #sorrynotsorry
so here we go!
star-crossed
Our story begins with a world. It’s not a new world, but it isn’t old either. Its history books count with a considerable amount of pages, its entries recalling generations and generations of human lives who’ve left their mark in this world’s ground.
halloweentown
Harry has the worst friends in the entire world.
Alright, maybe that’s not right. But oh, boy; don’t they try to earn the title.
reputation
The December ice-coloured sky hides behind a wall of cinderblock clouds. Outside, the tops of the trees shudder violently, a whistle audible even through the double glass. A dull thought strolls past his mind. 'The wind must be fierce outside.' Harry tries to hold onto those words, even if they don't mean anything, perhaps because they don't mean anything. Either way, it's useless. They're gone as soon as he reaches out to grab them.
thank you future ex
Winter in London is a beautiful sight. Snow glistens while it falls from the sky in cotton tufts similar to white bunny tails. On-walkers get their hats blown by cold breezes of air, the sound of chatter and laughter carrying them away. The city comes alive under the lights of a Christmas that comes early when businesses put up the first decorations to prompt passersby to consider walking in.
Table for Two
“Fucking hell,” Louis mutters under his breath, the curse muffled by the cigarette dangling from his lips.
It’s a cold night out. The people who walk past him chat amicably with each other, bundled in coats and scarfs that they take off as soon as they cross the restaurant’s double doors. Louis isn’t so lucky.
Not the Jealous Kind
Laughter fills the dressing room as soon as the main doors open. A bunch of security guards and management interns come in first with a rush. ‘Oh, Simon is gonna be so cross about this,’ they say. ‘We need to call the PR team to make sure this is nothing but a small mistake.’ ‘Look, I know this job is supposed to be hard, but these guys, I swear…’ After them, and with much less stiffness in their bodies, four men enter the room cackling.
take what's broken (make it whole)
“And you’re really, really sure you can’t come even for a few months? Not even one?” Harry grimaces while he waits for an answer. “Yes, Gemma, of course I’m being serious!”
He stands up from the couch, running a hand through his tangled hair. The tips tickle his shoulders when he releases it, and Harry frowns a little. He needs to get it trimmed soon.
“Okay, but surely the company understands you aren’t leaving for no reason. This is an emergency, an important part of your life is in danger here.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “What do you mean which part? Me! Your little brother!”
and because of who tagged me, here's a bonus snippet
the Divine Series long fic (From the Vault)
Look, Charles wanted to be a demigod.
In fact, not only did he want to be a demigod—he wanted to be the demigod, like the figures that were at the front of the legends that passed from mouth to mouth at Camp Half-Blood. Legends, that’s what they were: heroes who fought against terrifying monsters, overcame impossible missions and defied the Gods with a powerful look that seemed to say ‘Come on, try to kill me. I’m not afraid of you.’
oof! there we go. so many projects, so little time to write them. as usual, i'll tag @nooradeservedbetter, @enchantedlandcoffee (if you want to participate), @larrysballetslippers, @red-pandaaa and @hellolovers13. have fun with this! can't wait to see what you're working on
#tag game#writing game#first lines#the one who says first lines says first paragraph#ajsdhajsd#also apparently i like winter too much#so many cold weather mentions
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how this is gonna go
rowaelin month day 5, prompt: “I accidentally hit you with my car.”
vigilante!Rowan & thief!Aelin au
wordcount: ~2.9k
tw: language, hella light violence?
part 2
It was hour six of his stakeout. There was a crook in his neck from hour two, his stomach had been rumbling since hour four, and he’d had to piss for the past forty-five minutes.
Needless to say, Rowan Whitethorn was not a happy man.
All of that would be worth it, though, if the night panned out like he needed it to.
Or, at least, if it ended better than the last time he thought he was closing in on Ardalan’s Angel.
That night had ended in a trap, with the museum vault doors slamming down just as he caught a glimpse of a lithe figure by the entrance on the other side, covered head-to-toe in black, fucking wiggling their fingers at him. He’d had to escape by the skin of his teeth when the cops arrived.
No, whoever the famed thief was, they were certainly not an angel.
But this time was going to be different, he could feel it.
Just like he knew, deep down, that this obsession of his was probably more trouble than it was worth.
But in the four years he had been doing this, the four years he had been on his little crusade of justice, nobody had evaded him as well as the so-called Angel had, or for as long as they had, and he couldn’t deny the thrill whenever he showed up at a crime scene just to see a pair of taillights disappearing in the dark, the way his heart raced when he deciphered their next move, the way he felt more alive than he had in years whenever he played this little chess match of theirs.
Even more so when the thief had started taunting him, when they had started leaving not only their own calling card at the scenes of their impossible thefts—a small, carved wooden figurine of a stag, no bigger than his thumb—but also a carved hawk, like they were teasing him for the nickname the public had bestowed upon him. The Silver Hawk. He scoffed now just thinking of it, even while cursing himself for letting a civilian catch a glimpse of his bright hair when leaving a crime scene after he had deposited a criminal at the feet of the cops with them none the wiser. No pictures, thank the gods, but the nickname had stuck.
And it seemed his target had found it as ridiculous as he had, and he wasn’t sure if that kinship was thrilling or terrifying, but he knew he had to catch them just so he could one-up them once and for all.
And get a little revenge for the whole museum incident.
Hence the six-hour stakeout in his car in the alley behind the jewelry store, heat blasting to ward off the winter chill, waiting for some movement from at the end of the alley.
He had stalked the perimeter earlier, knowing that the only way out was the door in the alley, or the front gate, and the Angel wasn’t stupid enough to go with the latter.
They might be bold enough, though.
But whatever exit they planned on using didn’t change his plan. He would incapacitate them the way he had all his targets in the past four years—using as little violence and force as possible, make them turn themselves in to the nearest police station, and their little game would finally come to an end.
He tried not to think about how that filled him with a sinking feeling not unlike dread. Instead, he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to keep the yawns at bay.
Where were they? Every one of their crimes had take place in the early hours in the morning, and it was nearing three a.m.
He was getting antsy. After months, he thought he had finally cracked the pattern in the Angel’s hits while the police had done nothing but chase their tails, but as the clock on his dash kept ticking, he wasn’t so sure.
He shook his head, running through what he had learned in the past eight months. While seemingly random, all of the Angel’s thefts had one common thread: veiled through layers and layers of shell companies, the targets were all owned by Arrobyn Hamel, and each theft, whether of jewels, gold, art, had been enough to bleed each place dry. Hamel was at the head of one of the largest crime syndicates in Rifthold, and while Rowan had tracked down a couple of his cronies over the years, he had never gotten close to the man himself. Just identifying this place as the next target had taken Rowan days of research, several bribes, and one break-in to the city’s record facility.
Rowan cracked his neck. He had done his work, and he had down it well. The Angel would be here.
As if on cue, a screech of tires on pavement interrupted his musing, followed a beat later by the blaring of alarms, and before he could blink, a car tore by the mouth of the alley way.
In all his planning, he hadn’t counted on the fucking roof, which the Angel had undoubtedly scaled down to get to their getaway vehicle.
Which he should have thought of, because he had used roof-access countless times in his own missions, his own escapes.
Stupid.
Rowan cursed, and threw his car into drive, swinging onto the main drag, where a pair of taillights glared in the distance.
He sped up. This could still work. He could trail from a distance until the Angel felt safe, follow them back to whatever little hidey-hole they crawled into, and grab them there. His fingers flexed on the wheel, and he leaned forward in his seat, a grin splitting his face as he pressed down on the gas. This could work.
The city was deserted, nobody out at such a late hour, especially with the bitter cold. Soon, the Angel slowed to a reasonable speed, likely considering themselves in the clear and trying not to attract any unwanted attention, while he cruised about a quarter mile back, only starting to close the distance when his target flipped their turn signal on, taking a right onto a different street.
Steeling himself, fingers tightening on the wheels, he turned right.
And let out a sigh of relief when he saw the outline of the same taillights in front of him.
He followed for another several miles, the city whizzing by outside his windows, keeping far enough back not to draw suspicion, but not far enough to lose them.
As the scenery changed, the city gradually bleeding into the suburbs, Rowan’s excitement grew, his left leg bouncing up and down. Close. We’re getting close.
Sometimes, he thought that this was what he loved about what he did, his old promise to himself be damned. It was the feeling of his heart in this throat, blood pumping in his ears, as he did something, accomplished something, that made him feel free, alive.
And he would be damned to let the Angel take it away from him.
At a red light near the outskirts of the city boundaries, the Angel’s car, a little red sedan without plates, rolled to a stop, and Rowan pulled up behind them, trying to calm his pounding heart, sure, somehow, that they would hear it. They were the only two cars at the intersection, likely the only two cars within a few miles’ radius.
Rowan thought he saw the outline of the figure in the front seat glimpse in the rearview mirror. He averted his eyes, pulling the black cap lower on his forehead, and pretended to look out his window while keeping the car in his peripheral vision.
A beat passed. Then two.
Then, his target revved their engine, and before Rowan could realize what was happening, they whipped into the intersection, ignoring the red light and banging a u-turn to speed back toward the city.
He was made.
Fuck, fuck.
Rowan cut hard to the left, his back tires spinning out as he tried to get back onto the other side of the divided road.
The Angel, likely seeing him in the rearview mirror, began to floor it, speeding down the main drag in an attempt to get rid of him.
Rowan only gritted his teeth and slammed his foot on the gas.
He was so close, and he was not losing them.
He sped after them, closing the gap between the two cars inch by inch, until the sedan cut a hard left. Rowan, going nearly too fast to follow, almost side-swiped a streetlight in his attempt to make the turn.
It was then that the car started weaving back and forth between lanes, and Rowan was immensely grateful there was no oncoming traffic from the other direction. The car whipped a few more hard turns, Rowan nearly snapping his steering wheel in an attempt to keep up, and as they neared the slums of Rifthold, where the roads were full of potholes and hard curbs, the first seed of doubt trickled in. He knew the streets of the city, his city, but still, without the easy, neat grid of streets of the downtown, it would be infinitely easier for his target to lose him in the tangle of streets in this district.
Though Rowan wouldn’t make it easy for them.
There were maybe a hundred feet between them now, Rowan closing fast, when suddenly, the car slammed on the brakes, and Rowan, swerving to avoid rear-ending them, overshot them by enough that in the time it took for him to turn back around, they had turned down a side street off the main drag.
Then, the power of the few streetlights cut out—because of course it did—blanketing the street in an inky darkness only broken by the weak beams of his headlights and the stray lit window in the run-down apartment buildings bordering the road.
So, then, whoever the Angel was—they weren’t not working alone, if they were able to cut the power like that, because there was no way in hell that was a coincidence.
He caught a glimpse of red taillights just before the Angel, just out of reach of his own high beams, cut their own lights, disappearing into the night, and he lost a visual.
Shit.
He sped down the narrow road, swearing again when he came to an intersection where the road branched into three with no way of knowing in which direction the Angel had gone.
He paused, easing up on the gas and breathing hard, fists white on the steering wheel, trying not to let the weight of defeat crush him. He had just started to lower his head to the steering wheel when—
There, to the right, a flicker of movement in the dark.
As he rolled down the street on the right, he flicked his own lights off even though it effectively left him blind, hoping, maybe, to sneak up on them when they were vulnerable, when they were likely thinking they had lost him.
He knew the hours spent poring over maps of the city would come in handy, knew that this particular road went on straight for at least half a mile before he’d have to worry about the street curving west. He allowed a grin to cross his face as he picked up speed again to make up ground, knowing he could probably navigate with his eyes closed, so driving in the complete darkness was no different.
Which is why the unmistakable thump of his car hitting something caused his heart to drop.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He slammed to a stop and flicked his lights back on, taking in the crumpled form lying on the pavement in front of him, already trying to push to their feet.
Fucking shit.
A tiny, small part of him, a part he hated, wanted to keep going after the Angel, not wanting to let them slip through his fingers again.
The louder, more human part of him screamed that he had just fucking hit someone with his car, and that the Angel could wait.
With another litany of curses, he threw the car in park and braced himself against the slap of cold air as shoved his car door open and jogged around to the front, where the person—a woman, he could tell now—had finally pushed to her feet, though her hands were braced on her knees.
“Are you al—?“
She whirled on him, “What the actual fuck, man?”
He froze at the icy fury in her gaze, her turquoise eyes—the only part of her face visible with a beanie pulled low to cover her ears and a scarf wrapped around her neck—blazing. As he stared at her, he swore her eyes widened a hair, and he pulled his cap lower on his head, tucking any strands of hair that escaped under behind his ears.
He needed to dye his hair.
He shook his head. “I’m so—“
“I mean, who the hell drives around at night without their fucking headlights?”
He shook his head again.
“Are you—?”
“I should fucking sue you, asshole.”
His winced, and he jerked his head to the side, even as he took her in, making out the running leggings and a thermal long-sleeved tee in the glow from his headlights. She had one of those phone holders for running strapped on her arm and earbuds dangling from her ear. A jogger, then. And she didn’t appear to be hurt, even if she was holding herself a bit stiffly.
Even so, she was stunning. And confusing as all hell.
“You should.” At that, a bit of the tension went out of her shoulders. “But, if I can ask, why the hell were you running around this part of town at this time of night when it’s fucking freezing out?”
The stare she pinned him with could’ve fried the balls off a man. “I’m sorry, who are you, my mother?”
He winced again, holding his hands up. “Listen, are you alright? Let me drive you to a hospital—“
She shook her head before he even finished, bracing her hands on her hips with her eyes aimed at the sky. “No hospital. I’m fine, you only caught my side. Will bruise like hell, but nothing I can’t handle.”
Rowan stared at her, and she shifted under the weight of his gaze, still not looking at him, her fingers drumming against her thigh. “I really think I should take you to—“
“Listen, man.” she looked anywhere but his eyes, almost like… almost like she was anxious. “I just want to finish my run and head home. Is that okay, mom?”
No, it wasn’t okay, not when he was about to be sick from guilt. He could’ve killed her.
He began to shake his head, and she continued. “Let me rephrase. If you do not let me go home, I will sue you, or call the cops at the very least, and I don’t think that’ll be fun for either of us.”
He knew he shouldn’t relent, but the night had gone to shit as it was, and he didn’t feel like adding a lawsuit to the list. He nodded, and a bit more of the tension leaked out of her. She eased away from him, before pausing.
“Where the fuck is my phone?”
It must’ve been knocked from its holder in the impact, and they both turned in circles, looking for it on the ground.
He spotted it first, the cracked screen glinting on the gravel at her feet. “Got it,” he muttered. He closed the distance between them to bend down to grab it, the scent of jasmine wafting to him, and he shook his head before he could inhale deeper. As he bent down, he caught a glimpse of the strip of exposed skin of her ankles above her running sneakers.
His breath caught.
Because, on one ankle, was a tattoo of a stag. The stag.
Which wouldn’t have been all that damning if it wasn’t for the gun strapped in the ankle holster on the other leg.
He froze. She froze. He swore he could hear her breath catch, and then, so low he knew he wasn’t supposed to hear it: “Fucking hell.”
Before Rowan could move, before Rowan could even think, the woman—fucking Adarlan’s Angel—was driving her knee up into his face, crunching his nose. He felt a gush of warmth leak down his chin as he stumbled back. He tried to catch his balance, vision blurry, but then his feet were being swiped out from underneath him, and he fell hard, breath getting caught in his chest. He forced himself to his elbows just in time to see the woman dive into his car through the door he had stupidly left open. She had barely slammed it shut before she was throwing the car into reverse, and peeling off in the direction he had came from, tires spitting gravel in his direction.
Rowan could only stare after her.
She must have dumped her car somewhere, thinking she had lost him for good, then posed as a runner to avoid suspicion should anyone run into her. Which he had. Literally. Only he would hit his target with his fucking car as she was making her getaway. And then get said car stolen by said target.
Some vigilante he was.
As her taillights—his taillights, really—faded in the distance, Rowan, ass still firmly planted on the pavement, dropped his head in his hands.
Shit.
He was in such deep, unending shit.
a/n: Rowan gets an A for effort. he tried his best.
#sneaking it in under the wire AGAIN#do I hate these names? yes so if you cringed I’m right there with you#not crazy about this but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#also yes the title IS from a taylor swift song we've established that in this house we are simps for ts#ready for it#rowaelin#rowaelin au#rowaelin fic#rowaelin ff#rowaelinmonth#rowaelin month#rowan whitethorn#aelin ashryver galathynius#aelin galathynius#aelin x rowan#rowan x aelin#tog#throne of glass#tog fic#rowan#aelin#aelin and rowan#rowan and aelin
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Penny being trans + autistic coded made me resonate with her as I am nonbinary and autistic myself. Her being a robot felt like me when I have to hide my neurodivergent traits. Her getting confirmation that she wasn't just a robot/machine but a real girl felt so validating. I don't have to look like everyone else to still be considered "real".
Ironwood's semblance being literal hyperfixiation, something I've dealt with since I have ADHD + autism would have made me feel better about myself. This is a man who, despite everything: his PTSD, being an amputee, still was a kind-hearted man. This is something rarely seen in media. I was happy.
Then they fucked up both Penny and Ironwood in ways that struck me. Penny is hacked into and forced to comply with basically forced suicide- she was to open the vault, then self-destruct.
Ironwood, oh dear god. They couldn't wait to fuck him over. He was so HAPPY to see team RWBYJNROQ. He told them everything about his plan, trusting them with literal GOVERNMENT secrets, giving them a place to stay, FREE weapon upgrades (Atlas is known for its advanced technology), hell even gave them their HUNTRESS LICENSES THREE-ISH YEARS EARLY (which Ruby later uses as a credibility source in her broadcast, which was eerily similar to Cinder's in Volume 3, when she says IRONWOOD CANNOT BE TRUSTED.)
Not to mention that she conveniently forgot she was calling for help from OTHER KINGDOMS. OF COURSE they wouldn't arrive soon enough. And no one had reason to trust her. She's a nobody. She was at the Vytal Festival and her team made it all the way to the singles? Cool. Ruby wasn't the final fighter, hell after the 4 vs 4 match she didn't compete further.
Blake would have obviously been a bad choice: she's a faunus and if anyone knows about the White Fang, they might recognize her.
Yang is more known than Ruby, but the world saw her kick an unarmed teen in the finals round. She doesn't have too good a reputation.
Weiss? She's well known as the Heiress, but also her singing. Having her give the speech is a mixed bag: on one hand, she's a recognizable face. On the other, that's a problem. Her father, the CEO of the SDC, is known for his cruelty. Blake said it herself way back in Volume 1: questionable business practices and partners.
So... How about no broadcast at all? What did her broadcast accomplish?
Nothing. Help didn't arrive and likely caused more panic. Plus, people still had a negative view of Atlas, as the last thing the world saw was Atlesian soldiers turning against civilians.
The last broadcast was before Beacon fell. So likely another hacker giving a message would be met with fear.
And what attracts Grimm? Negativity.
Ruby's broadcast could have been a DEATH SENTENCE to so many. But no, this is treated as the... Right course of action?
Ruby and co. hates Ironwood's plan, yet it's clear they don't have one. RWB spends a lot of time moping around the manor drinking tea. Team YOJR (Yang, Oscar, Jaune and Ren) actually DO SOMETHING. Oscar gets kidnapped and they chase after him. Ren rightfully points out that NONE OF THEM SHOULD BE DOING THIS. But that goes against the Hivemind™, so he must apologize and agree to whatever the fuck Ruby decides to do.
Which is NOTHING! RWBY didn't even take down the hound: WILLOW and WHITLEY did. A drunk woman and an unarmed teen defeated it.
Oscar is the one who blows up the whale (with his time bomb? huh??)
Ruby whines that it's all too much, cries on a staircase while her sister (remember that Ruby and Yang are related????) comforts her. The scene has no emotional depth because the two barely interact anymore.
OH GOD AND WHEN YANG TAKES A HIT FROM NEO THAT WAS MEANT FOR RUBY IT TAKES HER OUT COMPLETELY. AURA? GONE. HELL, SHE'S EVEN UNCONSCIOUS. I swear it's like the animation budget could only afford to have ONE character react, and it's Blake "sad kitty face" Belladonna. Not Ruby, who is her sister. WHO HAS A SPEED SEMBLANCE. But no, they just watch her fall, not knowing if she's alive.
Ruby has more of a reaction to CRESCENT ROSE, HER FUCKING WEAPON falling.
Which is retconned so hard in the Vol 9 trailer, where she tells Neo "I hope it was worth it" before falling into the void. Huh??
Anyways I'm rambling again but I am so angry!
-🎼
Never, ever, EVER apologize for rambling. I LOVE hearing peoples thoughts and sometimes it's a really nice feeling to let out your frustrations and anger towards something that has caused you harm and it really REALLY sounds like this caused you a lot of harm and so I do not blame you one bit for being hurt and angry. I should apologize for this taking so long. This was a lot and I needed to sort my thoughts and even so I probably missed some points so I also apologize for that.
Penny and Ironwoods biggest mistake was trusting and being kind to RWBY. They lied and betrayed James and treated him like garbage even though he showed them nothing but kindness and did whatever he could to help them and listened to them. Penny was told what to do and think far more so then James ever supposedly did. Ruby decided to give her a new body, decided she didn't like how James was treating her and that she thought James was a bad person, and decided that Penny was better off with them. Penny stopped being able to make her own decisions once she started hanging out with RWBY and co.
Really though what did they all think was going to happen when they sent out a message that matched beat to bear a lot of what Cinder said before Atlas fell? Did she think about the panic that would cause? Did she forget she was worried about Ironwood telling everyone back in Volume 7 because of the panic it would cause everyone??? Did that just conveniently slip her mind?
I honestly think Weiss would have been the best choice to give the broadcast of them all but I don't think they should have sent out the broadcast in the first place. It should realistically only cause panic and death but the narrative is gonna yadda yadda right past all of that.
Oh god yea RWBY and co complain and whine and scream that Ironwoods plan is bad whilst offering up no alternatives then just taking his plan and acting like it was theirs the whole time. They even did this in Volume 7 when in episode 2 they where worried about James telling Atlas about Salem and then turning around and acting all happy and shocked when James told everyone near the end of the season as if they wanted him to the whole time and not the other way around.
Man RWBY really did jack shit all volume huh? As you said all the major things side characters did:
Fight James TWICE: Winter, Emerald, and JNRO.
Try and rescue Oscar: JRY
Blow up the Whale: Oscar
"Redeem" Hazel and Emerald: Again Oscar
Defeat the hound: Whitley and Willow
Launch the tower: Penny
Help defend Mantel against the swarm of Grimm: FNKI and the soldiers that all died trying to buy Ruby time while she cries in a mansion.
Like what does this girl do to help any of the people SHE trapped???
Oh god Ren, poor Ren, he's finally seeing the light but he can't stray from the Hivemind so he needs to get back in, we can't question the pure and perfect Ruby her plans are always right even if it causes Salem to get two relics and destroys the only kingdom with an army or the technology to restore global communications in the process.
Yea you're right like CRWBY can make excuses all day for why Ruby didn't react to Yang falling and MAYBE I can buy her not using her Semblance because she's in shock but not crying or reacting at ALL to her supposed death?? Why does her weapon get a more emotional response then her SISTER? Why is only BLAKE allowed to be sad about Yang supposedly dying? Why does fucking WINTER have more of a reaction to her sister dying?
Why are all the people we are supposed to be rooting for so fucking unlikeable???
#RWDE#Pro Ironwood#James Ironwood#RWBY Bashing#Pro James Ironwood#ironwood Protection Squad#penny polendina#Sorry for MY rambling#and more rambling to come most likely
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My first theory for volume 9 while the second half of volume 8 is fresh in my mind!
Volume 9 is gonna be the therapy season, but in the most traumatic you'll need different therapy afterwards kind of way. Instead of paying a therapist they're all just be bargaining with the universe like "yo I've had this trauma for a while, and I'm feeling pretty done with it. Here you take it back and uhhh I'll take a new guilt complex. Maybe a fear of falling? IDK, fuck me up bro."
The foreshadow-y Alice in Wonderland-esque fairy tale Oscar told to himself/Oz while in captivity is my guide post here.
Aaaand this is gonna get long so! 10 ideas of shit that's gonna go down next volume beneath the readmore, each one about 1-2 paragraphs each.
In the fairy tale the girl runs away from her problems into a new land, but because she never learned from her problems they just followed after her. Yeah? So first--second? First discounting the volume therapy theme theory.
FIRST BIG THEORY: The girl from the fairy tale was real, and she used the Spear of Creation. And like Weiss and the crew, she was fucking smart about her wording. She offered up materials that'd last even after someone else inevitably used the staff. IDK what materials she woulda used. Maybe there's a story about a missing continent we just haven't heard of yet? Maybe the Brother of Light's pool, since Salem seens to have claimed the Brother of Darkness's one but no sign of BoL's these days. Maybe there is a reason the land beyond Menagerie is so uninhabitable beyond desert + grimm? idk. Point is, it's a thing that happened, and since Ambrosius can't destroy/directly kill she's still in her wonderland. For themes sake I'm gonna call her Alice from here on out.
So Alice made a pocket dimension to flee from her problems from.
SECOND BIG THEORY: Her problems were relic related. She needed to hide em, and hide herself from Salem. Tbh I'm not sure how into this one I am. Maybe she had other shit going and some version of Oz was like "hey you don't want to be here, I have some property that I don't want to be here, lets make this happen!" THE POINT IS, the little pocket realities the relics are in, are aalllllll places in her pocket reality. When the team said "hey Ambrosius just make the middle ground into one of these type places" that's what he did, cause that's how he do. What better way to make sure it works like those places than to be kinda connected to em?
THIRD BIG THEORY: Ambrosius was buds with Alice once upon a time, but knew staying in her pocket world ultimately drove her crazy. He knew his middle ground worked like the pocket dimensions because it touched em or something, so he gave a vague ass warning not to fall, because he knew where they'd fall to.
Back to the fairy tale. It's implied Alice was never able to leave/give up her wonderland because she never learned from her mistakes.
FOURTH BIG THEORY VERSION 1: RWBY + Jaune can't figure their way back to reality until they adress a major personal issue and break out of whatever cycle it's got them in. This one I feel is shaky because they all have such different issues and are in very different places with each of them, trying to do one big arc on em would be too much of a mess. Plus it doesn't account for saving any of the many civilians that may have survived the fall.
FOURTH BIG THEORY VERSION 2: nobody can leave until Alice either leaves, dies, OR is convinced to let them go. As we're following good kind people this means we watch the kids try to give someone else therapy that THEY need. RWBY+J work through their shit through variations & combinations of witnessing mirrors of their struggles in Alice/other wonderland inhabitants, and just having time and space to slow down and breathe whether they want it or not.
FIFTH BIG THEORY: Alice is the "antagonist" of the underworld because she is the obstacle to overcome.
What about Neo you may be asking. Well I want her to let go of the revenge schtick, or at least redirect it back onto Cinder thus calling a truce with Ruby. However it's more than likely she's gonna be on team keep Alice as an obstacle at least as long as it takes to kill Ruby, and so Neo will be the "real" Antagonist™ within wonderland.
SIXTH BIG THEORY: Neo because of her unwavering determination to enact revenge is gonna die this volume. She'll be the comparison against which RWBY+J will be measured. As they grow and get closer to leaving she'll become more wrapped up with whatever strange classic wonderland logic this pocket universe has. Potentially depending on how things go with helping Alice, Neo may just end up trading spots with her, and end up trapped while everyone else goes back. But dead or trapped, I have a sad feeling this could be our last volume with Neo. My only hope of her surviving at this point is that she like Emerald switches sides, and in doing so joins Winter as a Cinder foil. While Neo grows and lets go of revenge and thus survives, Cinder stays dedicated to her own desires for revenge and other self serving instincts ringing her own death toll for either the end of the volume, or maybe somewhere in vol.10.
SEVENTH BIG THEORY: Ruby is gonna be grieving and maybe even getting full on angry about being expected to fix everything just because she's the optimistic one. She shouldn't have to deal with this brand and advanced level of childhood stealing just because she wanted to do what was right and won(lost) a genetic lottery for magic powers type anger. Jaune is going to have SO MUCH GUILT to work through, mostly the survivors kind. The bees will be experiencing couples therapy, they've both been pretty solid about individual growth leading up to this, Underworld will be them learning what it means to them to be partners now that they are so different to who they were. Weiss is different. Weiss is at first gonna feel like she's there just because it was a way to really shove all the other Schnee's into their therapy arcs and gave RBY+J neutral presence to rely on. Weiss is gonna go in the most stable of the bunch. But then, slow boil style, she'll start to realise how fucked up basically her whole life has been, especially upon realising that her "good years" with her new family have been spent getting sucked into being the last line of defense against the apocalypse, but will be too busy helping the others, so at the end of the volume when everyone else is actually doing pretty good and refreshed for the fight against Salem she'll only just be beginning her breakdown.
EIGHTH BIG THEORY: All this therapy shit is gonna be mirrored back on Remnant by the others grieving the percieved loss of the hearts of the team. Both sides of these story are gonna deal with some heavy shit, but the Remnant side is gonna be the depressed side, at least as long as it takes for Oz to tell them maybe the other's aren't dead leading to desperate attempts to get the staff OR the make desperate attempts to get the relics back anyways and inadvertently find out from Ambrosius what is up. But anyways. Winter is gonna be dealing with survivors guilt and the loss of both her little sisters (friends are great but Penny was little sister zoned and it's a hill I am prepared to die on. good sisterly relationships are friendships too). Nora is gonna be doing her self discovery thing. Ren is gonna be building on his end of vol.8 developments. Oscar will continue his grappling with the merge stuff. Qrow and Willow might get forced into AA. Whitely is gonna learn his own definition of being a Schnee instead of what his dad taught him.
NINTH BIG THEORY (OR FOURTH VERSION 3): The other way they get out is QORN obtain and use the staff to bring them home, potentially by trading enemy lives for them.
BONUS CONSPIRACY THEORY: QORN if presented with needing to trade for their loved ones & lost civilians have a lightbulb moment and decide hey why not trap Salem in a pocket universe since that is a thing Ambrosius can make? Like, if this bitch hasn't budged on her not learning to appreaciate life and humanity or whatever (which I'n pretty sure is the other way to break her curse instead of stopping remnant from turning) then she's a prime candidate for shoving into a personal reality that you can only escape if you can face your problems long enough to break the cycle they have you in. It'd be really fucked up but I think it might actually be possible to run the place using her as her own material component. Like kill her over and over and redistribute the energy to make the pocket world, but because god given power + Ambrosius can't actually destroy she just reforms anyways. MIght take a few hundred thousand deaths but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Or use the BoD oasis/grimm pools to make a world that mirrored the one she chose to live in on Remnant really make it hard for her to break that cycle....
Anyways.
TENTH BIG THEORY: Working on the idea that the relics are actually hidden in secret protected pockets of the underworld RWBY+J are gonna have a secondary quest of trying to get the relics from this side, and either finding a new place to hide them ages away from their vault doors. If you wanna make it a FOURTH VERSION 4, they're specifically gonna seek out the sword of destruction (HOLY VORPAL BLADE ALLUSIONS BATMAN) either with the intent of cutting their way out underworld--ahem wonderland--or with the assumption that someone is inevitably gonna have to open the vault door, because that's just how things be these days and they'll be able to cross to Vacuo from there.
#chirping wren#rwby#rwby theory#hello hiatus my old friend#ruby rose#weiss schnee#blake belladonna#yang xaio long#jaune arc#neo politan#ambrosius rwby#lie ren#nora valkyrie#emerald sustrai#winter schnee#cinder fall#schneeblings#bumbleby#salem rwby#oscar pine#whitely schnee#willow schnee#qrow branwen
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Branded - Chapter 44
Pairing: Demon!Bucky Barnes x Reader
(This is a fan AU of Falling’s Just Another Way to Fly by araniaart . Please check out this incredible series for all of your demon Bucky needs.)
Chapter Warnings: I won't give specific chapter warnings because it would spoil it. Just... brace yourselves. I mean that, truly. The entire fic has been leading up to this moment, so... take a deep breath. It's going to be okay.
AO3
Demonic claws striking vibranium metal reverberated painfully around the room, like a gong being struck directly next to your head. You couldn’t cover your ears because your hands were occupied with clutching your shirt, helpless to do nothing but watch as Rogers tried to fight off the Winter Soldier.
And he was losing. Each slash kept Rogers on the defensive, holding up his shield to ward off the next brutal attack. Bucky was ruthless and far faster than Rogers was equipped to handle.
It wasn’t long before Bucky managed to land some blows. Talons left trails of bleeding scarlet, whether from his hands or feet, and even his wings had managed to buffet Rogers more than once.
Bucky’s tail, fast as a whip, grabbed for something at Rogers’ hip. A pistol, yanked out of its holster and deposited into Bucky’s grip, he fired several shots at Rogers who barely managed to get his shield up in time. When the clip was emptied, Rogers bashed it out of Bucky’s hands, following it through with his first solid punch.
Bucky didn’t so much as stumble. Instead, he ripped Rogers’ shield out of his hands, threw a pointed, ridged elbow into his face, and sent him rolling backwards across the floor.
Zemo had remained quiet for the fight, but now he moved closer, a glittering hunger in his eyes.
“It seems you have met your match, Captain. And it turns out, even you can bleed. How nice to find a flaw.”
Rogers rose to his hands and knees, glaring up at Zemo as he wiped blood from his mouth. He gained his feet and held his hands into fists like a pugilist.
“I can do this all day,” he quipped, giving a bloodied smile that was all sharp and no humor. He looked exactly like Bucky had in the HYDRA torture video.
That’s what finally snapped you out of it and got you moving.
Bucky was also on the move, striding toward his friend like a hunter stalking prey, and then he delivered a savage kick to Rogers’ face.
Rogers crashed against the wall behind him, hitting it hard enough to slightly bounce off before collapsing onto his knees. He wasn’t going to win this, and from the pained expression, he knew it, too.
Bucky descended on him. You got there first.
Placing yourself squarely between them, you braced your hands in front of you as if to physically stop Bucky.
Surprisingly, he did, head slightly tilted like a curious animal.
“Bucky. Bucky, please, listen to me.” Your hands shook but somehow your voice was steady. “I know you can hear me. I know, because I’ve been there, with you, in your head when you’re him. The Soldier. He’s just another part of you, Bucky. You’re still in there.”
He simply stood there, immobile as a stature except for his tail. It twitched, restless and agitated, different from its controlled, languid movements during the fight.
But he wasn’t moving. He was listening. There was a chance.
“You can feel it, can’t you? Here.” You touched one hand to the middle of your chest. “Zemo tried to break the bond, but it’s there. Faint and dim, but I can feel it. You must feel it, too. Please, Bucky. Fight him!”
Tears flooded your vision and your throat burned.
“Come back to us.”
Eyes as cold as eyes didn’t so much as blink. If Bucky heard you, he gave no sign of it.
“You gotta get out of here,” Rogers said from behind you. He could barely speak, and a glance over your shoulder told you he was holding a particularly large gash across his stomach. “Go! I can take care of myself!”
You ignored him and faced the demon standing before you. You weren’t leaving Bucky to face his worst nightmare all alone. You weren’t leaving him to be someone’s pawn again. And you definitely weren’t leaving him so he could kill the only other person he loved.
All you could hope was that the animus still tied you to Bucky, and that he wouldn’t harm the human he was bound to.
It was a huge gamble, but there were no other cards to play. Everything depended on whether you could reach Bucky. Not a human slave reaching out to its master.
You needed Bucky.
“You belong to me, Barnes,” you whispered.
You somehow got your legs moving and walked forward until you were standing right in front of him.
“And I belong to you.”
Bucky said nothing, his eyes gaze on you in their entirety. Meanwhile, Zemo appraised you for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
“Kill her.”
Bucky raised his demonic arm, claws extended. You didn’t move.
Even as your heart raced and your limbs trembled, you didn’t move.
The arm didn’t come down. Bucky stayed like that, poised to strike while you braced for the killing blow.
But his eyes. The icy blue searched your face, brows pulled into a confused line, and there was a faint glimmer of something within their depths.
He slowly lowered his arm.
“Sergeant, what are you doing?” Zemo glanced between you and Bucky, his expression darkening. “Obey my command! Kill her!”
Bucky’s ears twitched but his focus was completely on you, eyes narrowed and blinking, as if on the verge of remembering.
It was enough for hope to surge through your limbs, and you couldn’t help but give a small, timid smile.
Studying your expression, Bucky seemed dazed, his eyes widening, and his lips parted as he said your name, raw with roughness.
It was the most beautiful thing you’d ever heard.
Zemo clicked his tongue.
“Pity.”
You didn’t understand; Zemo sounded more annoyed than angry. Bucky also frowned, and began to turn to face the man who had enslaved him.
It was when Bucky turned just far enough that his left arm was no longer shielding you that Zemo pulled the pistol from his holster.
You didn’t hear the shots. You didn’t see the flash of a muzzle, either. But you were still knocked backwards by a brutal force ripping through your stomach, and then next thing you were looking at was the vaulted ceiling and the lights glittering above you.
They were oddly beautiful.
You expected the floor to be as cold as the table, but you were wrapped in something warm and strong. A familiar silhouette leaned over you, blocking out the lights with a pair of curved horns and brown hair, and you had an eerie case of déjà vu.
Had it all been a dream? A hallucination? Had you imagined the whole thing and was Bucky only now rescuing you?
No. It wasn’t a dream. Bucky’s face was etched in unimaginable horror. He gripped one hand tightly with his armored claws, the other pressed against your stomach. You could barely feel it, feel any of it, past the cold wetness, as if you’d tumbled into a frozen pond and you couldn’t get warm again.
You opened your mouth to say his name, but nothing came out. Bucky shook his head frantically, and looked somewhere over his right shoulder as he yelled for Rogers to find the fucking sorcerers.
You tried once more, but only a gurgling noise came out. Your mouth filled with iron. It was getting harder to breathe.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, it’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay—“
He repeated the mantra but the tears in his eyes alarmed you. It was bad. It had to be for Bucky to look at you that way.
You tried to lift your head to look down, but Bucky told you not to, his large hand still pressed to your stomach as he pulled you close. He was so warm, his scent earthy and alive, but it wasn’t enough. The world was beginning to fade at the edges. You were so tired.
“No, no, don’t close your eyes, don’t—please, please look at me.”
You wanted to obey him, if only to show him you were fine and he had nothing to cry about, but your eyelids were like iron weights.
Trapped in darkness, the cold numbness was winning, robbing you of your connection to Bucky. All that was left were the sounds of his muffled sobs. It was agony to listen to, but you couldn’t find him in the dark.
All that was left was the fading golden thread, and the slowing beat of your heart.
And then, that too, was gone.
***
You were immediately assailed by heat and stinging wind.
You shielded your face as you sat upright, drawing your shirt up to cover your mouth on instinct. The air was so dry and hot it hurt to breath, and when you opened your eyes, you immediately wished you hadn’t.
There was nothing beyond the endless dune of red.
Next Chapter
#branded#bucky barnes x reader#demon!bucky x reader#demon!bucky barnes#bucky barnes fanfiction#my fanfiction#my writing
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HI!!! Just finished reading the Dangerous Gift and boy do I have thoughts!!! Gonna put them below a cut for spoiler reasons
OK SO
general thoughts I had were that It was pretty good! Not my favorite book but it was a necessary piece of the puzzle. from the snippets I had seen before, I definitely didn’t like snowfall. I was kinda tired from having a caps lock protag from 13 so I wasn’t looking forward to it. I get why Snowfall was that way but I would have preferred to see a more “cold” approach to her personality. I LOVED her character arc and how she grew tho.
Lynx is perfect. As always
NOW ONTO SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF 14
Glacier: I was in the camp that thought Glacier dying was stupid since we didn’t know much about her and I shipped her with Blaze. I still do, but seeing Snowfall’s POV made Glacier’s death more emotionally impactful. Still wishing for a Glacier winglet
Jerboa II (III) : Holee shit where do I even start. Like, Darkstalker was fucked up but Jerboa was FUCKED UP. Like, maybe this showed us what Darky could have become if he was allowed to continue but...sweet lord....and the last spell??? The actual Jerboa II like what happened to her?? and Jerboa III is basically a clone now, AND she has a Jerboa scroll. I haven’t reread it but does it still exist?? Because that’s a Problem.
Animus Magic: So its permanently gone. How we feelin bout that? Like, it makes sense that Jerboa II would do something like that but part of me is a bit salty because I had ocs and adopts I was making that are set in the future and this just throws it all out the window. For the sake of my ocs, I will pretend there is some solution to this eventually.
Humans+Sky: Ok so I didn’t think we were getting main plot humans this soon, but works with me. Honestly I was waiting for the moment Winter learned that scavengers were sentient. Bit worried about the implications of the epilogue, like.. Abyss??? Feeding a dragon to it? F e a r. Still waiting on that Sky and Peril reunion scene, but until then maybe I can finally write that fic I had about it.
The Gifts: Ok so I originally thought the “a secret buried far below” was the Forbidden Vault dont @ me. I Love Opal and I want MORE DETAILS. Who was the Queen she served? How far before Diamond was she? Appearance? Come on Tui I thrive on details. Also I loved Snowfall with the tiara like Yasss Queen tear down that wall!!! Go Girl!!
The sisters: I had no idea that Glacier had other children until this book and It honestly feels like the two were an aftersight. They probably were added later but you think Winter would have thought about them once right? Crystal was ok I guess. Mink is precious and also the ENCHANTED CROWN OH MY GOD. Fucking Diamond worst Mother-In-Law ever. I can’t wait to see the baby squad arc now that there’s five of them (Cliff, Auklet, Peacemaker, Bumblebee, Mink). Wish we knew who their father was, or if he’s still alive, but let’s be honest he’s probably dead and we all think Battlewinner did it. At least give us a name Tui please.
There was gonna be another section on how I didn’t like Snowfall’s crush(?) on Sky but I realized Snowfall is 7?? I thought she was the same age as Winter (5). And Lynx is 6. Sky is 8 so I guess there isn’t a problem but I could have sworn Snowfall was 5. It would have made sense narratively, with not being ready for the throne. IDK I think I may be remembering things wrong.
P.S. heres the age conversion rates I use
5= 14/15
6= 15/17
7= 17
8= 18
#sunny speaks#the dangerous gift spoilers#the dangerous gift#wings of fire#character analysis#discussion
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An OBJECTIVE look at James Ironwood
A much needed TL;DR: Ironwood’s story is sad. But it doesn’t excuse his actions just cause we’ve known him longer.
So I’ve made it.... abundantly clear on many many posts that ever since the end of volume 7 and into volume 8, I’ve hated General James Ironwood. I’ve made SOME posts “throwing him a bone” but I usually end up still emphasizing his flaws. So... Here’s a post where I DON’T focus solely on his flaws. Here’s a look at Ironwood’s actions from his introduction in volume 2, to now. And I’ll try to be as, well, objective as possible.
So James’ first appearance is in episode 2 of Volume 2 where he talks to Ozpin and, briefly, Glynda. He clearly has some history with Glynda, maybe a romantic relationship that I personally support 😗... Well I mean not NOW but I did. So Ironwood seems to be a bit of a 3rd wheel to Oz and Glynda, Glynda dismissing him and his compliment and Oz not being PARTICULARLY happy with him and his army’s presence in Vale and after a bit of arguing, James says the infamous line, that’s even quoted in his theme track, “Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?” James bringing his army to Vale, and then later going behind Oz’s back to the Vale counsel to get permission to protect the kingdom, and also get Ozpin in the Counsel’s bad graces? He... meant well. But it was still a betrayal of Ozpin’s trust. Which is ironic considering trust is Ironwood’s whole... thing.
And it also tells us something interesting. He UNDERESTIMATES the capabilities and potential of humans. I know that may sound a bit like I’m reaching but think about it, Atlas mostly sends soldier bots to take care of Grimm attacks instead of humans. And even when he DOES send human soldiers, they rely on surprise attacks to get the job done, like the Ace Ops arresting RWBY and friends at the beginning of Volume 7. And when they DON’T have surprise attacks, Atlas’ huntsman lose. The Ace Ops lost to RWBY, they basically lost to Penny in a 1v4 fight, which Harriet admits in saying “Good work would’ve been capturing Penny.” So yeah they lost, Clover lost to Tyrian and Qrow, which I know is a different scenario but still if he were among the best of the best he would’ve either recognized the bigger threat in Tyrian, or would’ve been able to hold them both off, or, 3rd option, would’ve retreated and let Qrow and Tyrian have it out then come back to arrest them both, or the remaining one considering Qrow vs Tyrian, when we get it again, is GONNA end in a death. Fair Game bias aside, everyone blames Qrow but Clover also could’ve been smarter in his final moments.
In fact EVERY major Atlesian we’ve seen has lost a fight at least once. Winter lost to Qrow in Volume 3, if you count that AS a fight, and Cinder in Volume 7, Ace Ops lost to RWBY and Penny, Clover, as mentioned, lost to Tyrian and Qrow, Watts lost to Ironwood, and Weiss has, notoriously, lost a lot of fights but among the first was against Banesaw, the White fang lieutenant in Volume 2, and most recently, Rhodes lost to Cinder, if you count him. Whyyyy? I’m personally of the belief that it’s because of Atlas’ over reliance on its tech, and I know I’m not the only who thinks this 😗. Atlas has the best Tech on remnant and can easily create robosoldiers or mechs to protect the pilot while also allowing the pilot to still fight. What use is training humans to fight when they have mechs and robots to do it for them?
Phew. That was a little off topic. I’m sorry, anyway, so in volume 3, James brings Penny to Vale to participate in the Vytal festival which, speaking of trust, he didn’t tell anyone about. I understand not making it public knowledge. Soldier bots are one thing but a robot that looks like a little girl? I don’t think that woulda sat right with people. So, yeah not making it general knowledge, makes sense. But not trusting your 3 closest allies, and FRIENDS, in Oz, Glynda, and Qrow? Like Glynda said, it’s time to stop talking about trust and start showing it. That aside, things go decently well. No DIRECT signs of any conflict *looks at Cinder* and the festival goes well until the one on one finals. Yang attacking a “defenseless” student, in James’ mind, is horrible yes, but people’ll move past it, especially cause he disqualified her. But then shortly after that, Pyrrha, Ozpin’s chosen one for the Fall Maiden’s power, dismembers Penny on national TV. That is a huge blow for both the festival and him personally.
Continuing with Volume 3, while he’s calling for reinforcements, the robosoldiers that’re in his plane with him are hacked and cause him to crash land. Also a hit to him personally, HE ordered these be created and the fact that they were so easily turned against him and the people he swore to protect? Yeah... Kinda get it. Although, something else interesting in Volume 3, when he DOES rendezvous with Qrow and Glynda, Qrow immediately turns his sword into Scythe form for the first time in the show. And James’ immediate reaction? “Qrow! This wasn’t my doing!” and preparing his gun for a fight, before turning around and realizing that Qrow actually just saved him from a Griffon. This is........ interesting. Why would he assume a colleague he’s worked with for so long would suddenly be turning on him? I dunno. Just seems a little... paranoid wouldn’t ya say?
Volume 4, we see a new side of James. We see that he cares for Weiss, at least somewhat. More than Jacques, but granted a squirrel cares more about the Schneeblings than Jacques. But yeah, James has some pretty sweet moments with Weiss in volume 4, standing up for her at Jacques’ party, offering her a place at Atlas academy, he’s a pretty stand up guy to Weiss. But, big picture? This volume shows the signs of his paranoia being something serious. He completely shuts down Atlas. In his own words, “No one in. No one out. Not without the Counsel’s permission.” now, he knows about Salem. But he doesn’t know what she’s CAPABLE of, as implied by Qrow last volume. So, from James’ perspective, this DOES seem like the safest course of action. But this is exactly what Salem wants. Separation. Anxiety. Paranoia. FUEL for the Grimm. And this is the first sign of a common theme of James inadvertently playing into Salem’s hands.
Jumping to Volume 7, we don’t see him in 5 or 6 😗, James is still hella, HELLA paranoid, but he’s still happy to see Qrow and happy to have new allies. Now this is where we get a little dicey because volume 7 is a.......... divisive volume 😓. I’m gonna talk about JAMES’ perspective of events. Not necessarily my thoughts because... well... I’ve done that already lol. Many times 😓. So JAMES’ perspective on Volume 7. James sent the Ace Ops to investigate a stolen air ship and arrest the ones responsible for... ya know... stealing the air ship. So the Ace Ops do. And then they go back and take them to James’ office, and it’s the general’s old friend Qrow and his niece’s team and her friends, and a mysterious young man. We can see that James is happy to see Qrow, especially cause of the hug :3, and he’s especially happy to see Oscar, the new Ozpin. He trains Ruby and her friends with his Ace Ops, and allows Winter to help Weiss. And he DOES start to relax more. He starts to, dare I say it, let loose. He allows some lenience, he lets RWBY have the night off. Ruby going to Robyn’s celebration, Yang and Blake going on a double date with Flynt and Neon, and let’s the boys and Weiss have a movie night. He even gives RWBY and their friends their huntsman licenses. These are really great things to do :3
But where things start to crumble is after he announces that Amity is ready, which is a whole speech full of half truths, that he didn’t tell any of his allies about once again, to lure out Watts. It works, they fight, he wins, and we see THIS face.
This is a man who is completely CONTENT. He is happy in this moment. He’s arrested a man who’s always, by his own admission, been a pain in the ass, he has Clover, Qrow, and Robyn on the way back with Tyrian Callows, everything is great right now. He KNOWS that Ruby and her friends lied to him because Oscar told him, but he can sort that out with an honest conversation right? In my opinion, THIS screenshot is Ironwood’s last GOOD moment in the series. That thought process of everything is great goes to shit when he sees the Black Queen piece that Cinder left expressly to fuck with his head. And THEN he gets irrational and, once again, plays into Salem’s hands. He directly ORDERS the divide of the people. He plans to abandon Mantle, leaving them to die in the process, and he plans to completely sever Atlas from all of Remnant basically by launching it into the atmosphere to keep the Vault safe. That only ACTUALLY accomplishes one thing, being keeping the vault, which IS important. But it isn’t more important than keeping the people, ALL of the people, calm and prepared to face this threat, like he did at Beacon. He should have remained calm, like an experienced military official should, and made an announcement to all of Atlas and Mantle saying kind of what he did in Volume 3. “Grimm are all over the kingdom. You can either stay and protect your kingdom, or save yourself. No one will fault you if you leave.”
Ironwood has a thing with fear. He doesn’t want to admit he’s afraid of Salem. As evidenced both times he’s shot someone....... interesting 😓. In the last episode of Volume 7, The Enemy of Trust, this exchange happens. Ironwood: You still think I'm afraid? Oscar: We all are. It's what we do in our fear that reveals--Ironwood: That's easy for you to say!
And then later, in the first episode of Volume 8 Divide, he shoots and kills Sleet once he says... Well... His last words “And what’s this about martial law? Have you lost your damn mind?! Are you that scared of what-- “ And notice, Ironwood shoots after Sleet goes to say “Are you that scared of what might happen?” And he IS right about one thing. It IS easy for Oscar to say “It’s what we do in our fear.” Because Oscar is child who can AFFORD to be afraid. James doesn’t have the luxury. He’s denying his fear because he’s the general. He’s James Ironwood. He can’t AFFORD to be afraid. If he’s afraid, everyone is going to be afraid. And, well, he can’t have that. That would attract the Grimm. He thinks he HAS to have a level head at all times for the sake of the kingdom. But James even generals in the military have feelings.... and sometimes need therapy to talk through some shit 😶. But... well... Maybe too late for that 😶😓.
In conclusion: James Ironwood is indeed a tragic character. A character who has taken A LOT of blows. A character who has always been paranoid. ALWAYS been ready for an attack. But even though he’s always been ready, he still wasn’t PREPARED. He wasn’t prepared for the sheer strength and AMOUNT of Salem’s forces. If he was more calm and more rational, he could have prepared better. He could have had Mantle and Atlas united against Salem, and that’s what can beat Salem, like Ruby said. James Ironwood is a tragic character, he has had it rough. But that doesn’t mean we should overlook his OBJECTIVELY horrible actions through out these last 2 volumes. Like ya know... Murder.
Phew .-. This is DEFINITELY my longest post. This better get attention I didn’t do all this for nothing >_>
#RWBY#RWBY2#RWBY3#RWBY4#RWBY7#RWBY8#RWBY analysis#James Ironwood#General Ironwood#Siddy Rambles#Side note: this whole time I thought Sleet's name was Slate .-.#Turns out Slate is an entirely different character from After the Fall 😶#I have to go back and edit some posts even though it's kinda...#Too little too late .-.
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March 16, 2021: Legend (1985) (Part One)
Hi, Tim Curry. How are you doing today?
Yeah, that tracks. Been a while, always good to see you. Man, actually, when is the last time I saw you? Clone Wars? I think so, although I don’t know if that really counts. I think, in person, it was...oof, Criminal Minds in 2012?
Yeah, dude, you were FUCKING TERRIFYING, HOLY SHIT. I feel like people don’t talk about that performance as much, but you were goddamn amazing, buddy. Sorry I didn’t open with this, but...you were my childhood, Ti. Like, from Clue to The Wild Thornberrys to Muppet Treasure Goddamn Island GOD I LOVE YOU IN THAT MOVIE TOO
Amazing. And let’s not forget Ferngully, of course. Look...I love you, OK? You’re beautiful. And I know that recently, you’ve been through a lot of health struggles, and I wish you the absolute best, I sincerely do. You’re the best, man. Hang in there.
Actually, while I have you...settle a bet for me, I’ve got it with myself. Have I...have I already seen this movie? Because I feel like I might have, but I don’t think so. It’s like the Mandela effect, y’know? I mean, if I’d seen it before...would I not remember you in this get-up?
I mean...come ON, RIGHT? I know FOR A FACT that I’ve attempted to watch this movie with friends before, and that didn’t happen. Then, I tried to watch it on my own, and that didn’t pan out because I’m pretty sure I fell asleep after 15 minutes. It had been a long day, I’m sorry. But...I don’t get it, Tim Curry? What the hell happened?
Well...whatever. I guess we’re going to take care of this ONCE AND FOR ALL. Now, who directed this movie?
Oh shit, REALLY? RIDLEY SCOTT! Kick-ass, he did Alien, and this -
And then this -
OOH, and this!
Oh, and we can’t forget this!
And also this!
And...and this...
...And this...
Oh. Fuck, and this.
...
OH GOD STOP I FORGOT ABOUT 1492
...OK, this could either be a very good movie, or a very VERY bad one. I mean...it’s got Tim Curry in it, so it can’t be that bad? And hey, Scott was on a hotstreak at the time, right? What could go wrong? Let’s do this!
SPOILERS AHEADOH FUCK IS THAT TOM CRUISE
Recap (1/2)
...Ahem. Um. OK. Maybe I imagined that image, or it’s from a different movie. Cool. Let’s keep going, nothing to see here.
The opening text scroll tells us that once, long ago, before time was even a concept, the world was shrouded in darkness. But Darkness hid from the light, which brought to the world laughter, love, and...unicorns. Yeah, really. Unicorns harbor the Light in their souls, as the most mytsical of all creatures. They’re safe from Darkness, and can only be found by a pure-hearted mortal, like Jack, a denizen of the forest. He is loved by Lily, and both believe only in goodness. But not for long, as a struggle for the balance between Darkness and Light is about to commence, and in that struggle will be born...Legend (1985), dir. Ridley Scott.
As the opening credits roll and confirm that Tom Cruise is in fact in this movie, I take a brief moment to vomit lightly.
At night, walking through the forest, there is a creature with some...bad-ass makeup and costume design GODDAMN. Like, yeah, that category’s already looking good. Anyway, the creature goes through the forest, and finds a den of fire and torture, all lorded over by a horned man, who speaks Mother Night, asking for her protection.
This is Darkness (Tim Curry), and...fuck me, holy shit, I GET it. Like, this dude began an entire movement and aethestic, and it makes a fuckton of sense. THis dude must have given birth to, like 10,000 goth children, goddamn. Anyway, he commands his goblin henchman Blix (Alice Playten) to find a unicorn and kill it, and to bring its horn back to him. Blix, the rhyming cretin, asks how to find them. And Darkness answers with the perfect lure: innocence.
That innocence is symbolized by Princess Lily (Mia Sara), a maiden cavorting happily about the wood, without a care in the goddamn world. She visits her friend Nell (Tina Martin), and briefly has a vision of winter in the cottage. Nell notes that it’s time for her to grow up a bit, but Lily’s only concerned with finding her sweetheart, Jack.
And Jack is...well, Jack o’ the Green (Tom Cruise) is a young man who lives in the forest, with his animal friends. An innocent himself, he’s basically Peter Pan, with Lily playing his Wendy. Except, well, they’re not THAT innocent, because they, like, IMMEDIATELY make out on the forest floor. Which has to be uncomfortable, real goddamn talk.
Jack teaches Lily to speak with the birds, then takes her to see something wonderful and rare. All the while, they’re being followed by Blix, who believes that their innocence will attract the mystical unicorns. And, uh, yeah, Blix is entirely correct about that, because here they come! And they’re making whale noises?
Apparently, as long as unicorns roam the Earth, evil can never harm the pure of heart. They express only love and laughter, and dark thoughts are unknown to them. Which Lily takes as an opportunity to go hang out with them, despite Jack’s urgings.
But the unicorns seem receptive to her, to Jack’s...frustration? He just kinda leaves her behind for some reason. And Blix takes the opportunity to hit one of the unicorns with a poison dart, causing them to be startled and storm off. Lily flees into the forest, and is immediately scolded by Jack, saying that what she did is forbidden by magic forest law. OK. She’s as confused about that as I am, but she still apologizes to him.
The two kiss, and Lily makes a promise to him and the universe, I guess, and says that whomever finds her ring will have the right to marry her. She throws it, and Jack IMMEDIATELY JUMPS OFF A CLIFF AFTER IT GODDAMN MY MAN! Lily screams hysterically after him for...some reason?
However, this isn’t great timing, because Blix and the goblins have caught up to the poisoned unicorn, and they cut off its horn, immediately plunging the forest into a fierce winter, similar to what Lily saw in her vision. Jack, in the river looking for the ring, is trapped underwater, beneath ice. By the time he breaks out, Lily’s already run away, to Nell’s place. Nell is frozen solid for some reason, and the goblins are also coming off after Lily for...some reason.
Lily hides, as Blix and his two companions Pox (Peter O’Farrell) and Blunder (Kiran Shah) exposit the whole thing so that Lily’s caught up on her fault in all of this, and once they leave, she promises to make it right. No idea how she’s gonna do that, but sure.
Jack, meanwhile has collapsed in the woods and snow. He’s woken up by a spirit of the forest named Honeythorn Gump (David Bennent), who is...interesting. He asks Jack what in the FUCK happened, and Jack admits that Lily, a mortal, touched a unicorn, which is apparently the ultimate no-no. Gump’s pissed, but the ACTUAL SECOND that Jack says that it was for love, Gump’s just...totally cool with it? They have a drink with Brown Tom (Cork Hubbert), and agree to help him find Lily...like, immediately.
They quickly find the dead unicorn, and yeah, the unicorn is FUCKING DEAD after losing its horn, and its mate shows up to mourn. Jack and Gump mourn with the magical creature, which looks REALLY BIG for a horse, Jesus. She stays with her fallen mate, and Jack goes back to the group, delivering the news that they’re cursed? No idea where that came from.
To lift the curse and get the horn back, they must find a champion bold in heart and spirit. Gump IMMEDIATELY nominates Jack, and takes him to some cave where he can find weapons and armor. He’s guided by Oona (Annabelle Lanyon), a fairy who is LITERALLY NAVI FROM ZELDA, I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH
Oona reveals her true form to him secretly, then notes that she could be anything he wants her to be, even his heart’s desire. COMIN’ ON A LITTLE STRONG THERE OONA. Anyway, in the vault of golden weapons and armor and...gold, Jack grabs a sword.
Meanwhile, Lily follows Blix and his group, where Blix uses the magic of the Unicorn Horn (or the Alicorn) to demonstrate his newly found prowess. But as he’s claiming to take over Darkness’ kingdom. Just then, Darkness shows up and claims the Horn for himself, and kills Blunder when he talks back. Darkness asks whether or not the Unicorns are both dead, and reveals that his power will not be complete until the female Unicorn is also dead.
Lily runs off and makes her way back to the Unicorn and Brown Tom, and warns them of the Goblin’s approach to kill the Mare. Brown Tom, who I think is either a leprechaun or a brownie, fends the Goblins off, while Lily and the Mare...DON’T RUN? FUCKING RUN YOU ASSHOLES!
Tom gets shot by an arrow...in the hat. He immediately falls dead, despite being totally fine, the dick. And Lily and the mare are captured, BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T FUCKING RUN WHEN THEY SHOULD’VE. Jack, Gump, and the leprechaun/gnome/brownie/halfling Screwball (Billy Barty) come to “rescue” him. He tells them that Lily’s alive, and Gump takes Jack to the Great Tree for the next step, accompanied by Screwball and Tom. There, they find...
WOW. THAT SHIT IS COOL. This is Meg Mucklebone *Robert Picardo), and this thing is absolutely my favorite thing in the movie so far...AND THEN JACK KILLS HER IMMEDIATELY. JAAAAAAACK, WHAT THE HELL, she was really cool. Goddamn it.
The group gets to the great tree, then falls into an underground prison, where Blunder is also held. The group is NOT where they want to be, right in Darkness’ lair. Nice job, Gump. In the prison, the guys, now joined by fellow brownie/dwarf/gnome thing Blunder, hide from one of Darkness’ men, as he takes Blunder away to the torture table.
Stuck in the cell, Jack suggests that Oona go and get the keys. However, her ability to transform into a humanoid form was a secret between her and Jack, and she’s upset by him revealing it. Gump’s also upset by the secret in and of itself, but she defends that her secrets are hers to keep. You tell him, Oona!
She then says that she’ll only do what Jack wants if he kisses her, GODDAMN IT OONA. NOW IS NOT THE TIE TO GO ALL TINKERBELL IN HOOK! He gives her a little peck, but she transforms into Lily to make him give her a real kiss, dear lord that is CREEPY, OONA! Jack almost kisses her, but refuses at the last second. He notes that human hearts can’t be won over that way, which greatly upsets Oona. Still, she ends up getting the keys for them regardless, and sets them free.
And at this point, we are halfway through, so FUCK IT. PART TWO! See you there.
#Legend#legend 1985#legend film#ridley scott#tom cruise#jack o' the green#jack o the green#mia sara#tim curry#darkness#lord darkness#david bennent#honeythorn gump#alice playten#blix#billy barty#cork hubbert#annabelle lanyon#fantasy march#fantasy film#fantasy genre#user365#365 movie challenge#365 movies 365 days#365 Days 365 Movies#365 movies a year#mygifs#my gifs#usercoppola#useramyc
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Ok so what the actual fuck ironwood??????????????????????????????
Just finished the episode and ummmmmmmmm I honestly did not think he’d sunk so low.
First of all wow that sure is one way to blow up a whale, so I guess now we know what long memory does. I really appreciated that they put a tw at the start for flashing lights too iirc it’s the first time they’ve done it, and I think it’s a good thing. Really cool effect on the explosion too! (rip Hazel i guess, and tbh i just. wonder how long it’ll take Salem to come back? She was blown up *pretty badly*)
Love to see that they don’t really trust emerald yet, nor do they immediately forgive her for her part in Beacon & the current situation in Atlas (also love how ren does trust her, considering he can see how sincere & scared she is)
I’m so glad they’re all back together finally!! that song was great, the reunions were so soft, but alas, they don’t know about nora yet... that’s gonna be fun.
Now! as for Watts & Cinder, well he certainly hit it where it hurts for her uh? I don’t think we’ve ever seen Cinder actually cry like that before (that I recall). but also Watts for all your talk of being clever, maybe angering a Maiden while she dangles you from way, way high up isn’t quite as clever as you think it is!!
Love to see that Neo is using the Lamp as a bargaining chip to get cinder to kill ruby, so she has no questions to ask, but she knows Jinn’s name, and even though Cinder has been ordered not to kill ruby... she’s likely to at least try & lead Neo to her to get the lamp & password.
Also yay Qrow and Robyn are out!! we love to see some jailbirds on the loose, wrecking havoc!
Now. ironwood. He’s really losing it uh?? Between legit planning to *threaten to kill to team jyr just to get to penny*, smashing that table, his reaction to winter.... and just. Fucking up mantle like that??? Those transport ships weren’t harming anyone, just trying ti help people and not only is he blowing them out of the sky, but he’s attacking mantle??? And planning to blow it up??? Like wow.
That whole transmission was chilling, he’s really a terrifying villain uh.
And interesting how he says he’d do anything to protect his kingdom.... but he never once included Mantle in that.
I was wondering how they’d all end up in the vault tbh, I guess now I know!!! Cause they can’t sit back and let Ironwood blow it up with so many innocent people.
I mean. This is the logical conclusion of literally everything about him. But damn if that wasn’t still shocking to hear him say it. The worst is? he still thinks he’s doing it for the greater good. he still thinks he’s righteous.
And they became monsters indeed
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RWBY Volume 8 Chapter 10 Review/Remix
WHAT the ever loving FUCK was that just now RT?? You give us several great answers and scenes we really wanted to see, and then rip all that joy away in the last 3 minutes!!! I want to sue for emotional damages, but I really can’t be mad cuz it’s very masterful writing on their part. After years of shows doing redemption arcs we finally have it... the bastardization arc~
We open, perhaps to the disappointment of some, on Ironwood staring out the windows of his office at the battlefield and city in turmoil below. He’s being given a situation update on the destruction of the cellblock two episodes back, and he takes the news a little differently than might have been expected (read: worse). Jacques apparently stayed right where he was and let himself be put back into custody, while Qrow avoided much harm by being a bird and ending up in a spot where the rubble wasn’t landing directly on him. Robyn was only slightly lucky, she was under some large debris but doesn’t seem terribly hurt and is actually conscious when Atlas soldiers uncover her and say she’ll be moved to a new cell elsewhere. Qrow isn’t about to be put back in a cage though, and flies right at the soldier who finds him. Behind a conveniently placed piece of wall he turns back and, as I was somewhat praised for phrasing it in a discord chat, he tackled that man as a man. We can assume he knocks out the guy about to apprehend Robyn, and the two make a getaway. Ironwood doesn’t like this news one bit, though he focuses more on recapturing the two huntsmen he had arrested on paranoid treason charges than the actual war criminal he lost an arm catching whose dangerous work on the city of Mantle still hasn’t been undone. Not cool, dude. He yells at the soldiers who had come to report this, and they leave to try and find the jailbirds. He stares out the window again in contemplation and tries to calm down a little before turning on his earpiece to get an update on the status of some thing or another, probably the bomb, when something massive happens.
With a blinding flash and an array of gold and green, Oscar’s staff goes off with whatever he was charging up. It’s as bright and forceful as you’d expect a nuclear bomb to be, and it knocks Winter and the Ace Ops off their feet as they were heading towards Monstra lugging their own bomb. Weiss and Nora see it from Schnee Manor, and it seems to do a real number on the Grimm around Monstra and in the city. Rooster Teeth had to give a flashing lights warning at the start of the episode for those it would adversely affect, and I can totally understand why after the crazy display this gave us. When the light fades and the noise settles, Monstra has been snapped and is fading away to dust, and in that dust cloud we hear and barely see Neopolitan skipping away with the Lamp in hand. What a little punk... Winter gets back on her feet and is quick to ask her squad for their status, she doesn’t want to have lost anyone or suffered serious wounds from whatever the hell they just saw/felt. No one is hurt, though Elm’s ears seem to still be ringing. But Marrow is very distressed, realizing they still hadn’t heard back from Jaune and the others and they may have been killed in that blast. Nobody has anything to say that would appease him, so they stay silent. Vine tries to put a reassuring hand on Elm’s shoulder but she brushes him off. Guess after they got called out by Ren she wants to show even less emotion and sentimentality than before. Ironwood contacts them under the false assumption this was the result of their bomb, and requests they return to HQ for an update on the new problem he wants to deal with. Marrow naturally points out that the destruction wasn’t their doing, and Winter decides that will be news best delivered in person, so they load the bomb back on the airship and take off.
Cutting into the city, we see Watts and Cinder viewing the destruction of their mobile HQ from a distance. Nobody is returning Cinder’s calls but they know Salem will be back so Watts suggests they come up with a plan in the meantime. But Cinder is fully confident that they can still do what they originally intended, that being having her kill Penny and take the Winter Maiden powers after Watts brings the synthezoid to her. But this was a plan made under false assumptions, because apparently she misunderstood the terminology in his message and thought he could puppeteer Penny to go wherever he demands when really he just laid a new prime directive to send her straight to the Vault as we saw two episodes back. Hearing this pisses Cinder off immensely, especially the part about Penny being set to self destruct as soon as the Vault is open since that means the next recipient of the powers will be randomized again and she’ll have lost her chance to yoink them. Watts is too busy grumpily musing to himself about Penny having free will and a spirit that doesn’t want to succumb to his leet hacks to notice Cinder growing more and more enraged, until he turns around and she pulls him in close to yell at him. But Watts is having none of that, he works for Salem not her, and his plans weren’t made to give this flaming whining goth what she wants every single time. He’s just supposed to get the Vault open for Salem, and this is how he’s doing that. This is not the kind of answer Cinder wanted to hear, and she stretches her arm out to shove Watts to the edge of the roof and leave him on the verge of falling over to his demise. He doesn’t seem terribly fazed, calling her bluff and saying her mission was to bring him back and Salem won’t be a bit pleased if he dies. But you know what Salem is not? Here right now to stop Cinder from dealing with this arrogant self righteous prick once and for all. So she fully intends to drop him and then tear up Atlas on a fiery path to the Vault where she can intercept Penny and steal the Winter powers before tearing her to pieces herself and being the triumphant follower getting everything done that Salem really needed. And Watts just... laughs. Chris Sabat must have had a great time in the VO booth for this one, because he gets to have an absolute roast session the likes of which he hasn’t delivered since Majin Vegeta tore that clown Kakarot a new one. Naturally Cinder’s plan would be to brute force her way to victory and get glory for none but herself with her every whim satisfied along the way. Because that’s always her plan. And it always fails. She tried to storm Fria’s hospital room like that and got her ass handed to her by some teenagers and a dying woman before Penny took the powers before she could. She did the same damn thing 2 Volumes ago when she tried to massacre all her enemies under one roof in an alliance with a woman she thought she could outwit, but ended up blindsided by a surprise Maiden reveal and almost died while her outnumbered forces were on the verge of surrendering without her. And did anyone warn her not to do that? YES! WATTS DID!!! WATTS IS ALWAYS RIGHT, YOU FOOL!!! Well, okay, he’s really not. But he’s more clever and meticulous so he saw the flaws her arrogance left her blind to. And then Watts really tears into her by saying she isn’t smart, she isn’t worthy, and she isn’t entitled to what she wants because she’s suffered in the past. The one thing she is is a goddamn migraine. I’m a little mad Tyrian stole the show’s first cuss 4 years back cuz I really would have liked for Watts to cap this off by calling Cinder a bitch. This roasting literally lights a fire under Cinder and she seems ready to snap and kill Watts here and now, but instead she pulls him back onto the roof and stares off blankly into space before her fire fades and she walks off to sit on the ledge of a different side of the building to really think about his harsh words and shed a single tear. It’s a little unclear if she’s just feeling sorry for herself and realizing she’s more of a failure than she wanted to admit, or if she’s just overwhelmed by Watts reminding her of her childhood trauma. Maybe she’s realizing how powerless she’s truly remained all this time after fighting so hard for her own freedom and independence, and crying at the fact that she seems unable to escape that role she hates so much. Whatever the case, it’s real rough for her but I don’t feel like shedding any of my own tears for her sake. She doesn’t seem like she’s gonna change her allegiances so I don’t feel much need to cheer for her, but maybe she’ll reevaluate her strategy and become a force to be reckoned with as a villain because of this. I wouldn’t mind that. We’ll have to wait and see.
Back in the ruins of Monstra, we see Yang Ren and Jaune are all doing alright, and Oscar seems to be as well. Jaune is using his Semblance to help Oscar heal up quicker so that’s good to see too. Yang answers a call and sees Blake anxiously hoping she’ll pick up. The biggest smile comes to her face when she does, and the two halves of the group are ecstatic to hear the other is still alive and well. Neither are quite ready to tell the full tale of what they’ve been up to, but Weiss pulls up a map of the city and lays out a safe route through the subway tunnels that will take OYRJ straight to the mansion so they can actually reunite. Oscar isn’t about to leave Emerald behind though, and we see her knelt in the chaos holding out her hands as if hoping to catch some of the dust that was once her father figure. Yang is vocally against the idea of bringing Emerald with them, but Oscar advocates for her being every bit against Salem as them so the enemy of their enemy should be their friend. Emerald actually doesn’t seem to want to keep hanging around them and says they should just part ways, but Jaune isn’t about to let her walk free without facing any kind of justice for her past crimes. Ren thinks they need to be able to see past their emotional hang ups and consider the value in having her as an ally, and Yang is quick to remind them all that Emerald is part of the reason she lost her arm. Technically that is true, Adam was working with Cinder and if Yang hadn’t been framed as a brutal criminal she would have been around the rest of the team when everything popped off so maybe that first fight would have gone differently. But I do feel like it’s a bit of a stretch. Yang keeps going about why she can’t just forgive and forget when Em had been such a snake in the grass back at Beacon, but that’s not what Oscar is asking of her. He just wants her to try and give the girl a second chance to be better. He gets a little cryptic about how they’ve already gotten help from someone they haven’t had the best track record trusting, and Ren perfectly guesses he means that Oz has reemerged in his mind. This takes the blondes by surprise, and Oscar stands up for the old soul by saying he took the brunt of the beatings and told him how to impede Salem like he did just there. Turns out we’ll be finding out the secret of Ozpin’s cane today: It’s been made into a magical repository for kinetic energy stored over dozens of past lives to be made into a sort of bomb to set off when needed. I don’t know quite enough about physics to describe how exactly that would work, but it seems to make sense that it does. But the blast that took out Monstra used up the majority of what was in there so he can’t rely on it for that kind of attack again. It seems likely that was what Ozpin used against Cinder in the Beacon Vault, but didn’t use very much of it, and again what Oscar used to bust a hole in the bottom of the pit Ironwood shot him into. Oscar finishes making his case that Oz really does want to aid them, and the others seem convinced. What’s worth noting is that all eyes had been on him during this, but Emerald made no attempt to run away or even lower her hands. Guess she might really want to stick around after all... The moment is interrupted by the not so distant sound of a crying baby, and they all run further down the tunnel to find a subway station where the people of Atlas are taking shelter on Ironwood’s orders. Emerald starts to feel the weight of her action and those she used to side with, especially when she sees kids scared and hungry like she was before Cinder found her. They continue past the station on their way to the manor, and Oscar offers some encouragement to Emerald that they need her help in this war considering what she’s capable of. Considering the feats she performed under stress back in Volume 5, I’m inclined to agree.
We fade away from that scene to Ironwood’s office and the camera rises up the stairs as if being held by the Ace Ops as they and Winter come through the still broken doors to give their report to the general. He’s looking at multiple holographic screens projecting from his table: one with graphics telling him the status of all the airships mechs and soldiers, one pulling up news articles and any other info they can get on Monstra presumably for the purpose of cataloguing it in case they ever need to worry about another one, the third seems to be a map of city to monitor the damage so far, and the last is all the info they have on Cinder. He congratulates the team for their work destroying the Grimm, but Winter admits it wasn’t their bomb that did the job, they still have it intact for him. This confuses Ironwood greatly, but he sees an opportunity in this twist of fate. Penny hasn’t come to the Vault like he wanted her to be programmed to do, so he assumes Watts did a shit job of reprogramming her or just intentionally screwed them over. Yet the truth is something he can’t seem to imagine, she has free will and doesn’t want to do as she’s told. Who’s the real tool now Jimmy? He informs them that Cinder broke Watts out, and he seems to consider Qrow and Robyn escaping to be an even worse consequence. Harriet seems ready to sprint out of the room and haul them back here herself, but Ironwood stays her hand... or foot in this case. With Salem temporarily halted, now is the best time they’ve got for him to have the Winter Maiden open the Vault and use the Staff to lift Atlas higher than she can reach like he wanted so badly. So he wants Winter to bring him Yang Jaune and Ren. Winter doesn’t see the purpose of that, or she does and hates to imagine it’s truly what he intends, but either way she knows she can’t do what he’s asking. He plans to make full use of the lives they hold in their hands, and he’s going to use Jaune and the others as leverage to make Penny do what he says. He acts as if he’s actually proud of himself for realizing this is an option available to him, and I think it’s his Semblance that’s partially blinding him to the moral reasons why it should not be an option worth considering. Winter is left wilting under his unaware and proud gaze, and then Harriet pipes up to tattle on her commanding officer. Winter gave the kids a chance to try and rescue their friends from inside the whale(they don’t mention that friend was Oscar so he still doesn’t know the kid survived his attempted murder), and they weren’t seen exiting before it blew up. I want to say I’m shocked and disgusted that Harriet snitched on Winter just for the brownie points of being honest and taking Winter down a peg, but I’m really not. She’s been a loyal bootlicker since this time last Volume, and this feels like payback for that whole “I outrank you so you can’t stop me from giving them a chance” thing in chapter 7. Ironwood removes the proud and probably intended to be comforting hand he had placed on Winter’s shoulder, as if ashamed to be touching her after she let him down like this. This was his last plan for his definition of success, and now it’s ruined so he can’t do anything. In a fit of rage he smashes his table like the goddamn Hulk and the Ace Ops are left to watch and wonder just how in his right mind he actually is. As he tries to catch his breath, the general gets an urgent transmission that dozens of non-military aircraft have shown up on radar. I and probably a few dozen other people watching this hoped this was an Avengers Endgame moment of tons of allies coming to the rescue of the down and out heroes. But no, its the Schnee Dust Company ships Whitley sent out. Almost forgot about that plan, whoops. Ironwood immediately recognizes this as Weiss’ handiwork for the sake of saving Mantle, because nobody would have guessed Whitley would show some humanity and make this plan himself. Winter immediately shows attentive concern hearing her sister has done this, and Harriet gives her a look as if to say “you are such a bleeding heart for these little criminals...” Ironwood makes the very one dimensional assumption that everything Ruby and the others have been doing is simply to protect Mantle, as if they didn’t have a serious conversation with May about helping Atlas as well as Mantle 3 episodes back. With that knowledge in mind, he decides he needs to make a call.
Speaking of phones, Cinder gets a cheeky text and an accompanying selfie from Neo revealing she has the Lamp and she knows Salem will tear Cinder to pieces if she doesn’t bring it back to her. So she’s proposing a trade; Cinder gets the name to activate the Lamp, and in return she has to bring Neo to Ruby for the revenge she so deeply craves. Watts can’t see Cinder’s screen so he wonders who among their comrades has survived. Unclear if Cinder is going to tell him.
At last, we see Ruby throw open the front doors of Schnee Manor with Weiss and Blake flanking her, to see Yang and the others on the front steps. The sisters immediately embrace and Ruby sheds a tear of relief and joy that they’re all okay. Yang tells her she missed her too, and that seems to be that for the distrust and argument they had back in chapter 1. Ruby goes to greet the guys, and Yang gives Weiss a nice hug too. Then she sees Blake has taken a few steps away from the group and seems ashamed or embarrassed, unable to even look in their direction in Yang’s direction. Yang puts a hand to her cheek, her thumb softly stroking up and down as she turns Blake’s head to meet her gays gaze. Yang blushes and smiles, Bake returns the smile, and the two softly press their foreheads together. The intense sapphic energy of this deeply intimate moment was almost overwhelming, and many couldn’t help but adore it. I know I couldn’t stop myself from being a little giggly. Ren notices Nora isn’t there to greet them, and Weiss seems like she’s going to bring him up to her room and possibly even explain what happened along the way. Ruby takes this chance to go and greet Oscar with a hug, but stops short when she sees Emerald behind him. She seems real mad and is about to go on the attack, but Oscar steps between them and insists he can vouch for her, or maybe he’s saying he can explain? We don’t quite know because they get cut off by the sound of Ruby’s Scroll ringing. May is calling from the crater to say that the SDC freighters aren’t the only thing in the air right now, and she seems very panicked by what she sees. She yells for everyone to run into the mines for shelter, and an explosion is hear before the call is cut short. Before anyone has time to try and puzzle out what they just heard, a loud alarm tone goes off on all their Scrolls. It’s a fun detail that as a Faunus Blake covers her ears cuz the loud noise is especially bad for her. An emergency CCT broadcast is coming in for everyone in the kingdom, and Ruby magnifies her Scroll’s playing of it to be projected into the air for all of them to watch. The cargo ships are shown being shot down by military ships, and then the feed cuts to Ironwood standing ominously under a single light to deliver a downright villainous speech. He claims he has been trying his best to protect the technology and future of the kingdom from those who would do it harm, but I think it is VERY telling he never mentions protecting the people. Because that’s not what matters to him anymore. Not really. He says the only person stopping him from finishing his plans of making sure the currently crippled Salem can’t hurt them anymore is Penny. So he has an ultimatum for Penny and her friends, because he knows they will be listening right now. Either she turn herself over to him so he can have her do her “duty” and save as much of the Kingdom as possible and forget about trying to save Mantle, or he will nuke Mantle as punishment for her selfishness. The more he talks the more angry Ruby and the others get, and we are right there with them. He somehow thinks that if Mantle is destroyed then Penny will be free to only care about Atlas and its protection and will gladly work with him to do so. What a delusional bastard. And if anyone tries anything other than what he has said to do, he will use the bomb. 1 hour to decide how they will respond, and a hell of a lot riding on that choice.
There can be absolutely no question now, Ironwood will be the villain for the rest of the Volume and Salem will probably return at the end to ruin whatever hope putting him down will have raised in our heroes... And I’m kinda excited for how that’s gonna play out. Let’s see how team RWBY get out of this one~
#rwby reviews#general ironwood#winter schnee#marrow amin#elm ederne#harriet bree#vine zeki#weiss schnee#neopolitan#yang xiao long#jaune arc#lie ren#oscar pine#emerald sustrai#blake belladonna#ruby rose#cinder fall#arthur watts#nora valkyrie#penny polendina#no one can argue about it anymore#ironwood is a villain now#the tyranny of king ironwood
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You Give Love a Bad Name (Three)
MASTERLIST
**************
Chapter Three: Somewhere Between “Oh Shit I’m Gonna Die” and “Ho Ho Holy Crap I’ve Never Been So Horny”
“Hon?” It was late by the time Bucky made it back to the house, his head spinning from the shock of it all, the information overload that began with Natasha and ended somewhere fuckin’ crazy. His fingers were shaking on his gun but he held it anyway, his nerves were shot but he walked through the door anyway, his heart breaking but he forced it away so he could be cold and calculated and everything the Winter Soldier always was.
“You’ve got twenty four hours to make that woman disappear or the company will step in and do it for you.”
“That’s my wife, Rumlow.”
“Does it matter?”
“...No.”
“Hey Tasha, did you make it home yet?” He called faux cheerfully, easing the safety off on his gun. “Sorry I missed dinner, but I can’t wait for left overs! Your cooking is always mm-mm-good!”
A quiet laugh from somewhere in the house, up the stairs and echoing in the hall and Bucky closed his eyes for a split second because Christ he loved Natasha’s laugh, but right now it was just a precursor to what promised to be a painful death at the hands of the Black Widow.
“Oh hello darling.” Natasha called and in the quick silence that followed came the unmistakable sound of a shot gun being loaded. “I skipped making dinner tonight, thought we could order take out!”
“Take out.” Bucky darted across the open hall and took cover again behind the huge china hutch. “Is that some sort of assassin joke?”
“I don’t know, is you demanding to keep the house at some frosty sixty five degrees some sort of Winter Soldier joke?”
“Natasha--”
“You lied to me!”
BOOM a hole the size of Bucky’s head tore apart the wall in front of him, and he yelped, ducked and rolled out of the way.
“I lied to you?” He shouted in disbelief. “Tasha, they literally call you the Black Widow! How long was it going to be until you killed me anyway? Strung me up in some web of last seasons jewel tone scarves and ate me for dinner?!”
“I’ll have you know I never once killed a husband, and honestly I’m offended you think so.” Natasha loaded another shell and blew out a deep breath, counted to ten so she wouldn’t burst into tears. “My worst crime against you is being hot enough to make your brain short circuit so you missed every sign of me not being a housewife!”
“Yeah, and my worst crime--” Pop pop pop Bucky lay down cover fire as he advanced through the house and tried to get closer to the stairs. “--was apparently being hot enough to attract your attention! What exactly did I do to deserve you stringing me along for three years?”
“Stringing you along?” Natasha cursed when a bullet whizzed by her head, then vaulted over the railing and down into the living, tucking and rolling to lessen the impact. “And how exactly was I doing that? By having dinner ready every night? By buying you new toothbrushes?”
“Newsflash sweetheart.” A quick flash as Bucky ducked into another room. “Your cooking is fuckin’ terrible. Pot roast on Tuesday was so tough I needed a damn chain saw to get through it.”
“Newsflash, sweetheart.” Natasha swallowed back the devastation clawing up her throat and snarled, “I’ve never cooked a day in my life! I order in catering and my world famous pies come from a bakery in Jersey!”
“Oh, so she shoots and she lies.” Bucky picked up one of those infernally shiny decorative trays Natasha had always insisted on and in a rare moment of gratefulness for his wife's horrible taste in decor, used it to peek around the corner to see where Tasha was posted up. “What else don’t I know about you? Are you really a 34 B cup?”
“My love.” Natasha caught sight of the glimmer at the corner and leaned further out of sight. “If you’d spent more time getting to know the girls instead of rabbit humping away at the final destination, you’d be fully aware I am a perky two sizes bigger than a B-cup.”
“Damn it.” Bucky rubbed his hand over his face because damn it he was not going to laugh right now. Not when he was trapped in his house with the Black Widow and fighting for his life. He was not going to laugh, even though the sarcasm from Natasha made him think of that one night in the hotel and how she’d been so funny and so damn sexy all at once. He was not going to laugh even though this was the first time in almost three years Natasha sounded like the woman he’d fallen in love with.
“You still alive, baby?” Natasha called, mocking and teasing and so damn sad and that was enough to pull Bucky from his more morose thoughts. “Let’s finish this already, I have drinks and pedi’s with Maria in the morning.”
“Call her and tell her you won’t make it.” Bucky breathed in once, twice, then yanked his other gun from his back holster. “Come out of hiding, Widow. vykhodi i poigray so mnoy. Come out and play.”
*************
The battle destroyed the house.
Bullet holes in the walls and through the expensive flooring they’d put in just last summer. The china hutch knocked over and thousands of dollars of dishes shattered. Drywall punctured and a television sized hole contorting a door frame when Bucky hadn’t bothered to check his strength and launched the sixty inch thing towards the hail of bullets from Natasha.
Wires frayed from speakers that had been torn down and used as projectiles. Curtains in tatters after Natasha had launched into one of them and used it as a rope to kick Bucky square in the face. Knives from the kitchen everywhere, the wall of the den missing after Bucky had chucked a grenade, blood smeared on the wall when Natasha cut her hands on glass and lost her balance.
A shotgun snapped in half because Natasha winged it at Bucky and he simply broke it before tossing it away. A dagger in the hall where it landed after carving a line across Bucky’s cheek bone. Thousands of spent ammo cases that glowed copper in what was left of the lights. The door to a hidden safe ripped away because Natasha was far stronger than even the most in depth intel had suggested, the weapons inside turned on the advancing Winter Soldier who had stuttered mid step because he hadn’t known Natasha could do that.
The house was destroyed and when the guns clicked empty and the knives were out of reach, the fight turned physical, master assassins trading punches and kicks, dodges and jabs, retreating and advancing and staring into the face of the enemy with the same steely resolve they’d faced down countless other opponents.
Except Bucky pulled his punches when Natasha didn’t, held back from sure blows when Natasha climbed his body like a tree and threw him to the ground with her thighs clamped around his neck. She was shockingly strong but Bucky was stronger and only when the redhead pulled another knife from somewhere and held it to his throat did Bucky let his strength surge again and grab her wrists in a single bruising grip to force her still.
“Let me go.” Natasha kneed him in the side and Bucky wheezed, but didn’t break his grip even as Natasha rolled them over and got those deadly legs around his neck again, effectively burying Bucky’s face at the vee of her hips and missing the hilarity entirely.
Bucky didn’t miss it though. “Ooh, it’s been a long time since you let me eat you out.” he grinned and Natasha snapped, “Well maybe if you’d done it more often, I wouldn’t be tempted to snap your fucking neck!”
“Take your own advice, sweetheart.” Bucky lunged to his feet but Natasha didn’t let go, he shoved her into a wall hard enough to crack the plaster and the vicious redhead only winced and sassed, “You saying I don’t give you enough blow jobs, Bucky?”
“I’m saying--” Bucky was starting to see spots when her legs tightened at his jugular. “M’sayin’ if you spent more time deep throatin’ and less time doing hot yoga with the girls--”
“You’re such a pig!” she screeched and Bucky only, “Oink oink oink!”ed until Natasha arched her back to break his hold and connected a swift kick to the side of his head.
“Ow! Fuck!” Bucky didn’t mean to throw Nat half away across the room-- or maybe he sort of did?-- but boy howdy did he knew he messed up when she slowly, painfully got to her feet and wiped the blood from her bottom lip, eyes blazing. “Oh shit. Okay. Sweet heart, that was actually an accident. Bullets and everything aside? I’d never just throw you across the room, I promise.”
“Well I fully meant to kick you in the head.” She countered, and Bucky’s heart sank when Natasha reached behind and pressed at a spot on the wall and a handgun dropped out into her waiting palm. “No harm no foul, darling. Both just doing the job.”
“Just the job.” Quick as a flash, Bucky tucked and rolled towards the fireplace, wrenched the sawed off rifle from behind the bricks and whirled around with it ready to fire--
--and met Natasha face to face, her pistol pointed squarely between his eyes.
“Tick tock, husband.” There were suddenly tears in Natasha’s eyes, and Bucky squared his jaw, straightened his shoulder and told himself to be strong. “Either your company comes in to finish the job, or mine does. Tick tock.”
Be strong, Widow. She told herself, and tightened her grip on her gun. Be strong, you don’t love him, you don’t love him, he’s just a job.
“Tick. Tock.” she bit out through clenched teeth. “Or are you going as stupidly chivalrous as always and tell me ladies first?”
You don’t love him, you don’t love him, you don’t love him.
“Damn it Tasha, don’t test me.”
A shot gun shell locking into place was a sound every person in the world recognized, and it made Tasha’s blood run cold in her veins.
You don’t love him, you don’t love him, you don’t love--
“Tick. Tock.” she said again, mocking and devastated and all the other things she didn’t want to be feeling right now. “Come on, Soldier. Show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”
“Show me--” Bucky huffed what sounded like a laugh and Natasha blinked at him. “Ah fuck, this shouldn’t be funny, Tasha. This ain’t funny.”
“Then stop laughing.” she hissed. “What are you doing?”
“It’s not funny.” the words were whispered now, nearly breathed and Natasha narrowed her eyes uncertainly. “Jesus Tash, this isn’t funny but all I can think about right now is how much I miss you.”
“How much you-- you what?”
“This is the closest I’ve felt to knowing who you are since the first day we met.” Bucky’s gun lowered inch by inch and Natasha’s heart caught up in her chest. “You’re beautiful like this. Wholly in your element, bein’ funny and sassy and fuck, I miss you. The last three years have been packed full’a lies, Tasha but the beginning wasn’t. I love you. And I miss you.”
The rifle dropped away, clattered to the floor and Bucky put both hands up. “I won’t do this. I won’t.”
“Damn you.” Natasha put both hands on her pistol, widened her stance and snarled, “Don’t be like that! You don’t love me and I don’t love you and we are just each other’s jobs! Fight me!”
“No.” Bucky shook his head, took a few steps away. “No, babydoll. If you want this, take it. But I’m not going to do it. I love you.”
“You are not allowed to say that!” Natasha was shouting now, almost screaming. “That night at the beach you were working a mission that I set up! You showed up and you fucked my mission up and I brought a building down on you! You are not allowed to say you love me, because I watched the Winter Soldier through the scope and ordered a building blown around you! You don’t love me. You are supposed to be dead and instead you showed up in New York and I was a job so you made me fall in love with you but you-- you don’t--”
Bucky took a step forward and she jerked the gun back up. “--no don’t you dare. Don’t you come near me. You made me love you--” she stuttered, stammered, bit at her lip until it bled and then cursed, “--damn it, Bucky. You made me love you viciously and now I hate you for it. I hate you for it. This is a job, so finish it.”
“I won’t.” Bucky said hoarsely. “Vy ves' moy mir, you are my whole world, Tasha. I never meant to love you, but now it’s too late and I do. So I won’t do it. You want to finish it, then finish it, but I’m done fighting you.”
“You cannot be the bigger person right now.” Natasha protested, begged. “Three years you’ve been petty and sort of obnoxious, don’t change now. You unscrewed the toilet lid and took it off just so I’d stop bothering you about leaving it up. Do not be the bigger person right now.”
“You said you love me viciously.” Bucky took another step forward, hands up so she wouldn’t jerk away again. “It’s been so long since you said that I almost forgot how good it sounded. Say it again. Please.”
“No.”
“Tasha.”
“I--” the gun wavered, tears slipping out the corner of Natasha’s eyes as her resolve crumbled and the self control she’d been clinging to started to shred. “I love you.”
“Viciously.” Bucky stripped the guns from Tasha’s hands and tossed it away, framed her face in both his hands and pushed her into the wall. “Say it. Say you love me viciously.”
“I love you.” They weren’t sure which one was crying when their lips met, tentative kisses that tasted of sweet sweet sorrow and full of everything they hadn’t ever said to each other in three years of marriage. “Bucky, yes.”
“C’mere.” Tasha was so little and for once Bucky didn’t check his strength when he swooped his wife up, when he grabbed her tight into his body and crushed their mouths together, when he got his left hand on her shirt and just tore it away, breathing a curse over the myriad of cuts and dried blood on her perfect skin. “Oh babydoll, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“It doesn’t hurt.” Natasha tossed her head back and gasped ragged over each tender kiss on the cuts. “But don’t stop, don’t stop, I’ve missed you. I love you.”
“Viciously.” Bucky pleaded hoarsely. “Say it, Tasha please.”
“Viciously.” she half sobbed. “Bucky, I love you viciously.”
Don’t stop.
Bucky didn’t stop, not when they tumbled onto the broken couch and Natasha felt around for a knife to slash at his jeans and shove them off his hips. He didn’t stop when Natasha scored fire down his back with her nails, when her ankles locked around his waist and brought him in deep sooner than either was ready and the burst of pleasure pain popped light behind their temples.
“I’ve missed you.” Bucky dug bruises into Tasha’s waist as he held her down, closed his eyes and hissed when she bit at his pulse, at the hinge of his jaw, when her teeth scraped his tongue in a messy, brutal kiss. “Fuck Tasha, I’ve missed you. Missed my wife. Need you.”
“You weren’t a mission at first.” Natasha promised when they fell off the couch and Bucky brought her up on top of him. “You weren’t, I swear. When Fury told me to chase you I thought-- I thought--”
“Pierce told me the same thing. I know. I know.” Bucky murmured as they moved together, running his hands up her perfect body, over the barely there scars her nightgown always covered, the tense of muscle and flex of power that made him wonder how he’d ever thought she wasn’t every bit as powerful as him. “I never meant to lie to you, Tasha. Not like this. Never like this.”
“I never meant to lie to you either.” she reached for him and Bucky came willingly, sat up to chase a kiss, wound their fingers together and held tight so Tasha knew he would hold her, take care of her, ground her when she fell apart.
Oh I love you viciously.
***********
***********
“I can’t feel anything in my left hand.”
Later, after they’d fought and fucked and finally tore apart gasping for air, later they lay amid the destruction of their home and what was left of their fake marriage and just talked. The comforter from the guest bedroom was spread out on the floor, Natasha wrapped up in Bucky’s shirt, and Bucky with a throw pillow over his dick because he was too hot to bother with clothes.
“No?” he rolled over onto his side and picked up Natasha’s left hand, kissed each of her fingers and then her palm. “Why not?”
“Shrapnel.” Natasha was soft and rumpled, her lips swollen and cheeks still flushed red and Bucky couldn’t resist leaning in to kiss her. She was intoxication and he would never have enough. “Carved into my left side. Took a plastic surgeon to fix the damage but we never fixed the nerves.”
“Ain’t no thang, baby.” Bucky rotated his left shoulder purposefully. “Remember my wind surfing accident?”
“Mm-hmm?” Natasha swept her tongue along the line of Bucky’s jaw and practically purred when her husband shuddered beneath her. “What about it?”
“Not a windsurfing accident.” Bucky tugged a few times to disconnect the cling that kept his silver arm quite literally under wraps, and watched Natasha’s mouth drop open as it fell away. “That building you brought down on me caused some pretty serious damage, and old man Pierce is all about building terminators these days.”
“This is my fault?” Natasha touched the silver limb carefully, up to scars that had been revised at least three different times to make them all but invisible. “Bucky, I--”
“Didn’t say it was your fault.” Bucky shook his head. “Not your fault, just like you trying to take a shot at me yesterday morning wasn’t your fault. Plus it’s not the first time I got good and hurt. See this line right here?” he traced a faint line low on his body. “Botched appendix removal, my body kept trying to heal over mid surgery, I almost died from the shock.”
“Super solder serum saved you?” she guessed and he nodded. “That’s both gross and amazing.”
“Speaking of amazing.” Bucky pinched at her bicep playfully. “I saw you rip that safe door off. You juiced too? Always heard rumors that the Black Widow got a pint sized dose of what they gave me.”
“I’m strong enough.” Natasha said dismissively. “But sure, that’s why we’ve been chasing each other for decades on end. Why most of my scars heal up quick too. This one was Bogota. I fell off a helicopter during a rescue.”
“Afghanistan.” Bucky craned his neck so she could see the thin white scar at his hairline. “Bullet about took my head off.”
“Our first wedding anniversary I was so high on tranquilizers to deal with almost getting run over, I don’t even remember the night.”
“S’alright, sweetheart, Valentine’s Day last year when you wore that pretty pink lace thing?” Bucky pointed down at the dick-covering throw pillow meaningfully. “I slid down a banister thinking I was real slick chasing after someone, turns out there was a big ol ball on the end of the railing and it connected with my tenders. I could barely walk much less get it up in the way you deserved.”
“My love, I think tonight has been the first time in years you’ve gotten it up in the way I deserve.” she teased, and Bucky shot back, “Well maybe if you didn’t wear granny night gowns all the time my dick wouldn’t be so shy!”
“I wear granny night gowns to cover all my bruises from work!” she laughed out loud. “What’s your excuse for wearing tighty whities and long sleeves to bed?”
“I like they way they cup my package, and also to hide my arm.” Bucky shrugged. “Why do I get th’feeling that if we’d kept doing the deed like we did at the beach, all this would’a come out sooner?”
“I almost wish it had.”
“Me too.” Bucky wound his finger around a strand of Natasha’s hair and tugged lightly. “Was it you in Saint Paul last winter? One damn time we were sure the Widow had come out of hiding long enough to fuck up my mission.”
“The week I said I was visiting my mother and you said were at Brock’s bachelor party.” She confirmed. “I didn’t know the Winter Soldier was in Saint Paul.”
“Yeah well, apparently wearing polos and playing golf is the world’s best cover. Turned me from Most Wanted to Most Ignored over night.”
“By the way?” Natasha raised her eyebrow, then smiled when Bucky leaned in and kissed it. “I hate your khakis. If you don’t stop wearing them, I’ll burn every last pair.”
“That’s fine, I only wore them so the neighbor women would stop ogling me.” Bucky admitted. “Figured you were the only one I wanted looking at me anyway, plus it’s easier to stay under the radar if no one notices me for any reason, right?”
“Same reason I started wearing modest dresses and got rid of any high heel over two inches.” Natasha agreed. “Easier to blend in if I look like the rest of the pretty plastic housewives.”
“There’s nothing plastic about you.” Bucky brushed over Natasha’s nipple and grinned when it hardened beneath his thumb. “And you could wear a potato sack and still be the most beautiful woman on the planet, Tash.”
“I’ve missed you being ridiculously sappy with your compliments.” she admitted, and Bucky admitted softer, “I miss feeling like you want me to say that sorta stuff.”
And later still, when they’d ordered delivery pizza and laughed until their stomach hurt because the poor delivery kid looked so damn confused over the destruction and then over Natasha wearing a lot of not much, Bucky inhaled most of a pepperoni slice and asked, “Not to put a damper on our sorta spectacular make up sex but um-- you know what I’m thinkin?”
“You’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking, which is that it seems highly suspicious that we cohabited for three years together and somehow never really ran into each other on any missions and that it almost seems too much of a coincidence that we both ended up on the same mission on the same day.” Natasha wiped a bit of cheese from his chin. “That’s what you’re thinking.”
“Actually I was thinkin’ that when you sit cross legged like that I can see all of your hoo-hah.” Bucky admitted and Natasha practically cackled with laughter. “But yeah, it’s sorta weird that we used’ta interrupt each others missions all the damn time but the whole three years we were together, other than Saint Paul we didn’t even check into the same time zones.”
“Last week one of my techs went missing in a quick snatch that literally should have never happened.” Natasha pointed out. “My company has some of the highest levels of security out there, and yet he was snatched and tossed walking home from a bar he’d never been to with a woman he’d never seen?”
“One of our gals.” Bucky confirmed. “No idea how she stumbled on an actual tech for your end of things, but she did, called it in and we moved quick. Easiest kidnapping of my life.” And then after a pause, “Too easy, maybe.You guys couldn’t find him at all.”
“And we tried for the better part of a week.” Nat took a drink straight from the two-liter of mountain dew. “We tried but he was gone.”
“We weren’t even being all that stealthy.” Bucky said slowly. “And he gave up his information real quick. Told me about you being active again and about the hostage situation taking place at the border. I didn’t even have to get scary with him, just threatened to eat him is all.”
“That’s not scary?”
“I’m the Winter Soldier, Tash. You think threatening to take a bite outta someone is my scariest version of torture?”
“Touche.” She took another drink. “So one of my guys got snatched way too easily, you got the information with barely even a threat and after three years of missing each other, you and I were on the same mission, staring at each other through a rifle scope from a thousand yards away. If you were reading this file as an outsider, what does it look like to you?”
“Like the powers that be were fully aware of us but made sure we were never aware of each other until the time came t’knock us both off.” Bucky answered immediately, and then, “Oh fuck me.”
“How much time do you have left on your directive to get rid of me?” Natasha asked quietly. “Cos my clock is down to two hours and some change.”
“Two hours and some change.” Bucky confirmed.
“Shit.”
“So what are we gonna do?” Bucky sat back against the couch and hauled Natasha up into his lap, getting rid of the pillow so he could set her pert butt right against his thighs. “You wanna run? You wanna fight? What?”
“...you want to do this together?” Natasha blinked at him a few times. “Really?”
“You’re my wife.” Bucky smoothed his hand down her back and rested it at the curve of her hip. “And more than that, the first time you pinned me down and rode my face--”
“Bucky!”
“--I knew I’d do anything for you. So what’s it gonna be, baby? Three years of marriage for nothing? Or are we gonna Bonnie and Clyde this shit?”
Natasha looked down at their entwined hands, at the ring on her left finger and the gleam of Bucky’s silver palm. “Didn’t Bonnie and Clyde die?”
“Yeah, right before they went down in the history books as one of the best stories out there.” Bucky nipped lightly at her earlobe. “I could go down in history with you, especially if it means fucking with Fury and Pierce after they tried to trick us into this whole thing. What’d’ya say? Wanna blow some shit up?”
“I could blow some shit up.”
Bucky pulled her into a sweet kiss, slow and nearly tender as the last of the walls between them came tumbling down.
“Shot to the heart.” he sang softly, teasingly, as they parted. “And you’re to blame. Sugar, you give love a bad name.”
“That used to be our song.” Natasha laughed and hummed the next line. “I can’t believe you remember that.”
“It’s still our song.” Bucky corrected. “And we got about two hours before someone else comes and tries to finish the job neither one’a us finished. So why don’t we find some clothes, steal us a car and get the fuck outta here?”
“I’m with you.” Natasha got to her feet, then leaned down to give him one last kiss. “And I’m sorry for trying to kill you.”
“I’ve had uglier people try a lot worse.” Bucky said solemnly. “Finding out you’re a total bad ass instead of a super boring housewife is the best anniversary present ever.”
Natasha tossed her hair behind her shoulder and finger gunned at him and Bucky clapped his hands over his heart, laughing out loud as she ran for the stairs to change, singing along to their song as she went.
Darlin’ you give love a bad name.
********
A mile west of Mr. and Mrs. Barnes’s house, Brock Rumlow sat in the back of a van with a rifle held tight to his chest, watching the countdown clock on his next hit tick down to zero.
“This seems wrong is all I’m saying.” one of the other men said. “I worked with Barnes for damn near ten years now, how come all the sudden he’s on the hit list?”
“None of your business.” Rumlow grunted. “You see the guy, you put a bullet in the guy, you get another mission tomorrow and do the same thing.”
“But it’s Bucky.”
“Yeah, and now it’s Bucky’s time.” Rumlow racked in a round in the chamber. “Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing just how many bullets the mighty Soldier can take before he bleeds like the rest of us. What do you think, twenty? Twenty five?”
“I think you’re a sick bastard.”
“And that’s why I’m next on Pierce’s list of soldiers to super juice.” Rumlow grunted. “T-minus one hours and forty minutes boys. Stay steady.”
***************
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Why Is She Not Good Enough? - Draco x Reader
A/n: This was a suggestion by @neoculturalshit : Draco starts liking a non-pure blood Slytherin so he begins to question his morals.
Summary: Draco had never really noticed you before, even though he and you both started at Hogwarts the same year, and were both sorted into Slytherin together. Now that you are both in 6th year, he’s finally started to notice you.
Warnings: Angst, fluff, swearing.
Word Count: 2.6k
You had known Draco since your first year at Hogwarts. You had both started the same year, and had been sorted into the same house. Slytherin. You had never felt like you fit in with the other Slytherins, and they made sure to let you know. Draco would never join in on teasing you for your muggle parents, but he never stopped his friends Crabb and Goyle from doing it relentlessly sometimes. He would just stand back and smirk as his friends degraded you and your magical ability. You had always had a bit of a crush on Draco since the first year, and a part of you thought maybe one day he would too. But you knew his family would never approve. So you tried your hardest to get over him, until one day in potions class.
“I’ll be assigning your partners for the polyjuice potion assignment,” Professor Slughorn stated. You weren’t really paying attention to Professor Slughorn while he was calling out the names, knowing that your partner would come to you, the seat beside you was always empty. Once Professor Slughorn is finished you look up to see Luna Lovegood making her way over to your desk.
“Looks like we’re partners,” she says while taking a seat beside you.
“Ah! Draco, come in my boy,” you look up to see Professor Slughorn heading towards the door to welcome Draco into the class. You roll your eyes, like you needed to be in another class with him.
“I forgot that you were transferring today, I would have assigned you a partner for the assignment I just handed out,” you put your head back down and work, trying to avoid the wandering eye of Slughorn.
“Ah!” Slughorn snaps. “I have the perfect partner for you,” he says.
“Y/n, she is the smartest student in this class,” Slughorn says as leads Draco over to your desk.
“Luna please go join Ron’s group,” he instructs Luna. She collects all her things and heads over to Ron’s desk clump.
“There isn’t a ton of time left in class now, but I’m sure you’ll be able to work on this tonight in your common area, Y/n you’ll need to fill Draco in on the assignment,” Slughorn says.
You nod your head in agreement. Draco drops his stuff down, and the two of you sit there in awkward silence.
“I’ll fill you in on the assignment back at the common room,” you say to Draco coldly as Professor Slughorn dismisses the class. You pack up your stuff quickly and leave before Draco can respond.
~
Back in your dorm, you look over some of your notes trying to organize them so Draco can have something to help him understand the assignment, when there is a knock at your door. Your dorm mate goes to answer it.
“Draco’s here Y/n!” she shouts behind her.
“Tell him I’ll meet him out there,” you say. You can hear her repeat your words to Draco and shut the door behind her.
“What’s that all about,” she asks.
“Slughorn put us together for an assignment, he just joined the class today,” you state as you pick up your things to head out into the common room.
“Have fun,” she says. You roll your eyes at her comment.
Once out in the common room, you find Draco sitting at one of the tables by the fireplace. You set your stuff down across from Draco so you are both facing each other.
“The assignment Slughorn gave out is about polyjuice potions, I took all my notes I had on them and organized them from oldest to most recent so you can read them and understand more about the potion,” you set the large stack of notes in front of him. He stares widely at them.
“You wrote all these,” he asks, referring to the notes.
“Ya, I like to have a thorough understanding, so I do some of my own research too,” you say as you go back to reading the assignment over again.
“So the assignment is to try to master this potion because it is very complex,” you start, watching as Draco frantically flips through pages, dumbfounded by the amount of work you’ve put into them. You try to hold back a giggle, but it doesn’t work and you laugh at his face.
“What?” he asks playfully.
“You just look funny,” you chuckle.
“You take very detailed notes love, I’m just overwhelmed,” you are a bit shocked with the nickname.
“Ok,” you say calculatedly. “You read those over the winter holiday, and when you get back we’ll start,” you say, starting to pack any materials you need to take back.
“Are you not going home for the holiday?” he asks.
“No, my parents decided they were gonna take a cruise, that just so happened to extend over the holiday,” you say almost sadly.
“Oh,” he sighs. “Well I guess I’ll see you when I get back,” he says. You give him a quick nod before excusing yourself back to your dorm. Draco sits there and watches as you walk back up to your room before picking up the notes you left him and heading back to his room.
As he’s in his room packing, he can’t get the look on your face as you laughed at him out of his head. But he can still hear the sound of his father telling him that the Malfoys are a pureblood family, and it must stay that way. He slams his suitcase shut in frustration. He sits down on the edge of his bed, digging the heel of his palms into his eyes.
“Ugh,” he lets out a frustrated sigh. “Why her,” he says. He sits there for a minute in his thoughts and finally gets up, zips his suitcase closed and heads for the train.
~
While on the train Draco is deep in his thoughts. He likes you, but his family would disown him, or worse. He shook the thought out of his mind and went back to staring out the window. He was alone in the train compartment, he just wanted some peace and quiet while his mind was racing with thoughts of you. Then, Crabb and Goyle burst in laughing so hard Draco thought they might choke on their own saliva.
“What’s so funny,” Draco asks.
“We heard Y/n when she thought she was alone in the common room, crying over how her stupid muggle parents left her alone for Christmas,” Goyle laughs harder while Crabb is telling the story. Draco’s face reddens with anger.
“Why would you laugh at that,” it was almost terrifying how calmly he asked.
“Because her parents are stupid muggles,” Goyle chimes in.
“That’s no reason to laugh at her when she’s crying!” Draco shouts.
“What’s up mate,” Crabb asks. “It’s almost like you like her.”
“I-I- don’t, I’m going for a walk,” Draco says as he hastily gets to his feet.
He leaves the compartment in a hurry and pushes past the Trolley Witch.
“Watch where you’re going love,” she says.
“Sorry,” he says, he finally makes it to another empty compartment and flings himself into it. He has never felt such anger, Crabb and Goyle always make fun of you, why does it hurt him so much to see it now. The only thing Draco can feel is the blood as it pumps through his whole body. It takes him a minute to regain his composure before he heads back to Crabb and Goyle.
~
“Mum! Dad! I’m home!” Draco shouts to the large open foyer of his house. He can hear the click-clack of his mother’s heels as she walks across the marble floor.
“Welcome home,” his mother says, bringing him into a warm embrace. “Hi Mum,” Draco looks up to find his father standing at the top of the main stairs.
“Draco,” his father says coldly. “Hi… Dad,” he responds looking to the floor. He waits to hear the sound of his father leaving before Draco picks up his bags and head towards his room. Narcissa stops Draco before he can leave.
“He is happy you’re home,” she says, holding her hands against his cheeks.
“I know,” he says before continuing towards his room. ‘I think I’m gonna call it a night,” he says over his shoulder as he leaves.
He drops his stuff down on the floor and falls onto his bed. With his back against the mattress, he looks up at his vaulted ceiling, thinking about how lonely it must be back at Hogwarts all by yourself. Most everyone in Slytherin left for the holidays.
“Ugh, my parents would kill me,” he whispers to himself. “She’s not even a pureblood,” he tells himself as he tries to lull himself to sleep with dreams of a better life than the one he’s living.
It was about two in the morning when Draco was pulled back into consciousness by his restlessness. He swings his legs over the side of his bed, getting up he feels the cold tile under his feet as he makes his way towards his desk. He plants himself into the desk chair and pulls out the stack of notes you gave him. He lays them on his desk. He starts to examine them, trying to use them to fall back asleep. But he finds himself getting distracted by thoughts of you.
“She’s so intelligent,” he says to himself. “But she's filthy, father would never approve,” he puts his head in his hands as he stares at your perfect handwriting, and his breath quickens.
“Ah!” he screams as he shoves everything off his desk.
“Draco! Are you alright!” his mother shouts at him from down the hall. He looks around at the mess he made, huffing and sees how he crumples your notes.
‘Oh fuck.” he says under his breath. “Just knocked something over!” he shouts back, scrabbling to pick up the note before they are ruined. He tries his best to flatten them out.
“Oh shit,” he mumbles under his breath. “She worked so hard on these.” he looks around his room for a heavy textbook that he could use to flatten your notes back out over the night.
“Aha!” he exclaims as he finds some dusty old book he hasn’t opened in months. “Perfect.”
He gingerly sets the book down on top of the crumpled notes, before going back to bed.
In the morning Draco rubbed his eyes as he slowly woke up, he stretched out his stiff muscles before he got out of bed. He pads around his room for a minute, looking for one of his morning robes to throw on before going downstairs to enjoy some breakfast.
As he leaves his room he is hit with the scent of bacon and eggs, he breathes in deeply, and slowly starts to make his descent down the stairs. As he rounds the corner to the dining room he finds his mother and father sitting at the far ends of the long table, he looks in front of him to find a plate filled with food has been set out for him.
“Morning,” he says as he enters.
“Good morning dear,” his mother responds. “Morning son,” his father says, not bothering to look up from his daily paper. Draco takes his seat at the table and begins to eat.
“How’s school going boy?” his father asks.
“Fine,” he says quickly. “I have this potions class project with another girl from my house.” he states.
“What’s her name?” his mother asks kindly. Draco was actually surprised that his mother asked him a follow up question, usually he gets some generic response and the conversation continues.
“Um… no one you would know-”
“Who is the girl,” his father interrupts him coldly.
“Y/n… Y/n Y/l/n,” he says looking down at his plate of food. Silence falls upon the room, the tension so thick it could be cut with a knife.
“The muggles child,” his father asks sternly as he re-adjusts the newspaper in his hand.
“Yes,” Draco says.
“Why were you hesitant to tell us?” Lucius asks.
“I-! Don’t know what you-” Draco is cut off by the sound of his father slamming the newspaper down on the table.
“Because to me…” Lucius pauses. “It seems like he has feelings for that dirty witch,” his father says coldy.
“It’s not like that-”
“I was not finished,” his father bellows. “You know how we Malfoy’s feel about keeping the bloodline pure,” he says strangely calmly.
“Yes, I do-”
“Then why waste your time pining after some girl, if she's not what you're looking for Draco?”
Draco’s blood starts to boil.
“She’s not good enough-”
“How do you know!” Draco shouts over his father. “How do you know she wouldn’t be enough for me?” he asks, still angry with his father. “You are judging her based off of her ancestry, father we have generations and generations of inbreeding!” he jumps to his feet quickly in anger. He storms his way over to his father.
“She is the most intelligent girl I have ever seen when it comes to potions,” he states matter-of-factly.
“Enough!” his father shouts. “If you are going to behave like this maybe you should go back to school, today,” Draco was stunned by his father's words. Sure the man was cold and emotionless, but he had never kicked Draco out.
“Fine,” Draco huffs. He storms up towards his room to grab his trunk, luckily for him, he hadn’t unpacked yet.
Once in his room, he looks for the floo powder, he’s never travelled back to Hogwarts this way, but he knows that there is a special fireplace in school that no one really uses. He spots the powder on top of his desk and grabs it quickly. He makes his way over to the fireplace with his trunk. ‘I hope this works’ he says to himself. He raises his hand high above his head.
“Hogwarts!” he shouts as he throws the fist full of powder to the ground.
~
When he appears again, he finds himself in the great hall. He drops his trunk, and rushes towards the common room. As he’s running down the halls all that can be heard is the sound of his shoes clacking on the old stone as he runs to you. Once he reaches the common room he flings the door open. Draco frantically looks around trying to find you.
“Draco! What the hell,” you shout as you look over the back of the couch at him.
“Y/n,” he marches his way over to you. “What the hell are you-” You’re cut off my Draco grabbing your shoulders and shaking you a bit.
“No, it's my turn to talk,” he says. “Y/n, you are so smart, and funny, and beautiful, and you have a great personality,” his eyes are trained on yours. “And I don’t care if my father doesn’t approve, what he wants doesn’t matter.” he takes a pause for a moment. “What I want does, and Y/n, I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you first year, and I’ve loved you everyday since.” you can see the love in his eyes as he looks deep into your soul. “And I-” you cut Draco off by pulling him down and pressing your lips to his. He slowly starts to realize what's happened, and he sinks into the kiss, his hand raises to hold your face as you move together.
When you both finally let go, he pulls you into his chest, and holds you there.
“I love you too,” Your words muffled by his chest, you breath in deeply and savor the moment. You lower the both of you down to the couch, and sit there in a comfortable silence as you hold each other.
#harry potter#jk rowling#draco malfoy#draco malfoy x you#draco malfoy x y/n#draco malfoy x reader#hogwarts#magic#slytherin
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Plus Ultra
Cold wind blew into his apartment as he opened the door. And in his door stood a disheveled, shivering man, a shaky smile pulling on a pale face that was partially obscured by goggles and a green mask. A steel mouth guard hung around his neck, laying on the fur collar of a bomber jacket, which was bloodied mid-torso. Katsuki hardened his gaze and set his jaw, willing himself not to blow a hole in the door frame.
"Hi, Kacchan! Um, I was stabbed. Do you think you can help me?"
Kacchan?
Katsuki's resolve slipped and his palms smoked, the scent of burning sugar permeating the winter air. His eyes narrowed as he took in the man before him-- who was now trying to take off his headgear while still clutching a bleeding stab wound.
"Fucking Deku," Katsuki growls. "Get inside, holy shit."
He doesn't wait for an answer. He pulls Deku inside, forcing himself to operate on autopilot because this was a situation he was not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with. He could, however, deal with stab wounds. One didn't become a Pro Hero without learning some emergency first aid, after all.
"Your apartment's really nice, Kacchan! Wow..."
Whatever else Deku says is lost to his damaged ears. He kicks open his bathroom door and flicks on the light, snatching up a bulky first aid kid in the same motion. He nudges Deku-- carefully-- to sit on the toilet seat. Then he sets upon him with a vengeance.
"Woah, hey! I can- I can take this off myself, you know, oh, okay--"
Katsuki slipped the bomber jacket off his shoulders. From there, he rolled the torn fabric over Deku's stomach, revealing the wound, which was messy enough that he couldn't tell if the bleeding had stopped yet or not.
"Why the fuck aren't you at a hospital? Put pressure on that, idiot," Katsuki snarls, getting up to find a wash cloth. He dampens it, squeezing out the excess water, and descends upon his patient once more. As he cleans up the wound, he's relieved to find that the blood has stopped.
"They'd arrest me," Deku laughs, gasping in pain when the hiccuping giggles disrupt his wound. He winces again as Katsuki continues to work with the damp wash cloth.
They transfer hands again. Deku holds down on the wound while Katsuki pulls something out of the first aid kit-- gauze, saline, disinfectant, tape.
"Not gonna stitch it cause it ain't long, and it ain't deep, right?" Katsuki growls, shooing Deku's hands away. "Grit your fuckin' teeth."
-
After his wound was cleaned, Deku found himself to be exhausted. And Katsuki was cradling him with his two strong arms, against his broad chest, and was carrying him with more tenderness and care than Deku thought possible of him. He couldn't help the giggle that escaped him as Katsuki set him on his bed.
"Really, all this for me? When did you learn first aid?" Deku asks, smiling broadly. He melts into the soft layers of the bed despite himself, sighing.
"Shut up and sleep, Deku," Katsuki sighs.
-
When Katsuki awakes, and finds his apartment devoid of blood and gauze and green, curly hair, he writes off last night as a particularly bad dream and goes to work.
As his day shift stretches to a night shift, he's rudely reminded that his dream was not a dream.
It was very real.
And the heroes weren't the first to respond to this incident. A villain-incited bank fire that burned hot and green and sticky, its perpetrator striking from the lobby of the bank, spitting sizzling jelly at whoever dared to step closer. It forced Katsuki off the front lines and into crowd control, directing emergency responders, heroes, and victims alike to where they would be most needed. He kept this up so Creati didn't have to, so he could keep his back to her and shield her from the villain's focus.
(after all, she was the only one who knew how to confront the jelly, and her safety was therefore priority)
"There's someone up there!"
Katsuki looks up, eyes widening in surprise. From the bank's second floor, a window had been busted open, and a man crouched in its guts. He shot through the colored smoke and landed among the heroes, past the wall of flames. Several moments later, he shot back through.
Another Hero-- Cellophane-- ran up to Katsuki, offering a person.
"Ambulance 3 is open," Katsuki growls. He twisted his head around when Creati pulled on his pant leg. She looked too weak to stand, but the message was clear.
"All Heroes, to me! Grab one and put it over a fire. Red Riot, you're good to go in, got it?"
Katsuki can feel himself checking out as the group explodes around him. Fabric is taken and dragged, choking out the fires, and another window shatters above, and Katsuki doesn't hear himself assign Cellophane and another hero to getting inside the bank and helping rescue people, god dammit--
The mystery man shoots back down, this time dropping in front of Katsuki.
"Ambulance 3," Katsuki repeats, then stares as he recognizes the burned garb. His jaw snaps shut, even as he points at the truck.
Deku.
"I stopped the guys below, but the Greek Fire villain-- he came later," Deku gasps into his ear, then leaves.
-
What Deku said was true. By the time the villain had been apprehended-- Incense, Quirk: Greek Fire-- and the Heroes had gotten to the vaults, their targets had already been apprehended, the payload sat innocently on a table. Katsuki was dismissed, told to rest, and offered tomorrow off.
He rejected the offer, of course. As soon as he got home, he stabbed a number into his phone.
It rang twice.
-
Izuku was nursing his wounds when his phone rang. Surprised, he stares at it for several seconds, stomach twisting as he sees the Caller ID.
"H- hello?" Izuku says, abandoning the burn across his left arm.
"You're a Goddamn Vigilante," Kacchan snarls, voice loud as if shouting. "What the fuck, Deku?"
"Do you have a problem with that, Kacchan?" Izuku says immediately, hands shaking. His legs tremble and he drops onto his bathroom floor, hissing in pain. "The first time you call me in years and it's to harass me about my life choices..."
"I thought you worked at fucking Icy Hot's agency!" Kacchan snapped. "You made his costume, or some shit--"
"I still work with Shouto!" Izuku snaps back. "And I'm a Vigilante. Is that a fucking problem?"
Silence on the line. A sigh rocks his body, straining the injuries he's accumulated. Then, with a loud blast:
"You were fucking stabbed last night, what are you doing trying to work?!"
"Be quiet, Kacchan! I'm fine, I've had worse, can you please let me bandage myself--"
More silence. Heavy breathing, measured.
Izuku sighs and continues tending to his burns and cuts. Antiseptic, band aids, covers for the blisters. More gauze for the stab wound that probably reopened. Forgetting Kacchan is on the phone so that when he tries to get up, he falls back down, swearing--
"I'm going to hunt you down, Deku, and you are going to tell me everything--"
"That's not very Heroic, Kacchan!" Izuku whines. "How do I know you're not gonna turn me in, huh?"
"Why in the hell would I do that, you're not breaking any goddamn laws--"
Izuku froze, staring at the ceiling. Before he could stop himself, he was laughing, high and a little off-kilter. Fuck, fuck, he wasn't expecting that from Kacchan from all people...
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I saw a bit of your discussion about Ironwood but it's getting so heated, I can't go through it. So I'm gonna say something anonymous, hope you don't mind. Ironwood probably thinks everyone is going to die if they end up fighting Salem. So both Atlas and Mantle. He's saying he's saving everyone whom he can. You see, I think he's not thinking straight but he's sorta making rational decisions on wrong info, because paranoia. That plan isn't going to safe them because Salem knows and planned this.
Listen, running away from a more powerful enemy is not the right solution, not in this setting. Pyrrha gave her life for the off chance she could stop Cinder before she could hurt anyone else, and she did. She didn't survive but she held out long enough for Ruby to arrive, freeze the wyvern and cripple Cinder. Pyrrha didn't run away to save the many and abandon the few, she fought to save everyone
She fought like a Huntress, the same thing Ironwood should be doing as well. The needs of the many over the needs of the few is a good rule if the few get to choose to stand in the way of disaster. And Mantle isn't even the few, they are the many.
Ironwood is abandoning thousands of people, who he was evacuating earlier, to open the vault and raise Atlas, which will only save Atlas for so long
He's dividing his entire kingdom more than ever, using civilians as canon fodder to stall Salem because he can't think of anything else. But if he allowed Mantle and Atlas to actually band together, they'd have a much better chance against Salem. Grimm are dangerous when they outnumber their prey but if he could at least try to have everyone willing pick up a weapon to fight, to fix the wall, to unite the people, Salem wouldn't have nearly as much of a chance as she does now
Everything he's done this volume, and before that too, has only served to weaken his position against Salem and allowed her to play him so effortlessly. He's not being rational, he's blinded by his own fear and would risk opening the Vault while Cinder is right fucking there. He's basically making Winter hold up a sign that says "this way to the Winter Maiden" and LEADING Cinder to what she wants. And once Cinder has what she wants, it won't matter how high he plans to raise Atlas. She'll just grab what she came for and use her magic to save herself while Atlas plummets down towards Remnant
Fria has been hidden away for years, but now he's leading the enemy straight to her, reduces the fighting force in Mantle to Robyn and her Huntresses and whoever is willing to stay behind, and risks Atlas destroying everything when Cinder gets her hands on the staff
None of that is rational. He's terrified and he's spiraling and it's gonna destroy them all.
True Huntsmen, the few, would stand between Salem and her forces while the people, the many, get away.
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