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rosietrace · 1 year

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Sarah Marigold

"Tch, these fools... If I were Vivi-chan, I'd have their head on a platter by now."

Very important note: Sarah was actually created by one of my friends, @mintychocolate04

Full Name: Sarah De Gracia Marigold

Japanese Name: サラデグラシアマリーゴールド

Romaji: Sara De Gurashia Marigorudo

Twisted from: The hunter's dagger/The lightning that struck the beautiful queen

V/A: Asami Seto(瀬戸麻沙美)

Age: 18

Birthday: November 1

Horoscope: Scorpio ♏

Species: Human, (alleged) Demoness

Height: 180 cm

Hair color: Ink black

Eye color: Red(normal), purple(using magic)

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Homeland: Shaftlands

Position in Shard clan: distant family member, house Marigold

Dormitory: Pomefiore, transferred to Ignihyde

Class: 3-D (seat no. 19)

Sexuality: Pansexual/Demisexual

Dominant hand: Ambidextrous

{ Family:

Hawthorne(Father)

Shuella Meilin Marigold(Mother)

Velveteen Belladonna Marigold(Aunt)

Ivan Marigold(Uncle)

Vivian Marigold(Aunt)

Florian Shard(Uncle)

Yona Von Monarch(Aunt)

Minami Rhys Von Monarch(Uncle)

Ludwig Von Monarch(Grandfather)

Grimhilde Shard Von Monarch(Grandmother)

Camilla Marigold(Cousin)

Aurelie Marigold(Cousin)

Mercury Von Monarch(Cousin)

Kiara Rhys(Cousin)

Victoria Shard(Cousin) }

Best class(es): Physical education

Worst class(es): Alchemy, incantations, herbology

Likes: Victoria, her cousins, her parents, sparring/training, honing her abilities, swordsmanship, spending time with her family, reading, Zen(platonically), Ignihyde's advanced technology, modifying her weaponry to her liking

Dislikes: False rumors, paparazzi, noble society, rumors surrounding her family, Malleus Draconia, Aurelie Marigold, Koral Larrane, rusted swords, blurry vision, alchemy, Camilla's singing

Hobbies: Swordsmanship, meditating, reading, walks in the forest, sparring, listening to music during class, slandering the Draconias to filth, helping Victoria with her "plans"

Talent(s): Agility, flexibility, dexterity, speed, strength, predicting attacks, swordsmanship, combat in general, ambidextrous, photographic memory

Flaw(s): Judgemental, overprotective, aggressive, (partially) manipulative, defensive, easily annoyed

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Personality

Making her appearance in NRC in the middle of the second semester, Sarah is what one would call…. A bit unpredictable.

She's a very complicated young woman, especially considering she transferred to Ignihyde a couple of months into her stay in Pomefiore. Even though the latter dorm had her beloved cousin as a resident.

Speaking of which, Sarah's entire mindset is family oriented. She loves and cares for most of her family, practically unconditionally, and would do anything to protect them.

Hell, she admits to being influenced by Camilla and Mercury when it came to her insistence on willingly killing for her family's sake.

She's passionate, doting, carefree, and unabashedly fun-loving with all of her cousins, excluding Aurelie.

Although that does come at the cost of Sarah being rather overprotective of her cousins. Victoria specifically, since Sarah's admired Victoria since they were children.

When family isn't involved, Sarah remains closed off and painfully blunt, often coming off as sassy at times. And for whatever reason, she seems to have a vendetta against men.

Sarah is judgemental. With little to no shame, she's always saying things she probably shouldn't be saying aloud, and it barely bothers her as much as it bothered everyone else around her.

No matter who you are, family, friend, or foe. Sarah will shamelessly speak her mind with as little care as possible.

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Unique magic: Thunder strikes(落雷)

Song: Thunder(Imagine dragons)

Like thunder, Sarah strikes fast, and in a flash, is able to hurt others at unspeakable levels, so it isn't a surprise that her unique magic reflects so much of her personality

This ability, though limited, allows Sarah to summon an occasional strike of thunder every time she snaps her fingers

Unfortunately, Sarah's energy will rapidly deplete the more she uses this ability, so she prefers not to use it unless the situation calls for it

As a child, Sarah would often use her unique magic to joke around with Zen and her cousins, but she decided to stop once she came to realize how much it was affecting her health

When they were children, Aurelie mocked Sarah for not being strong enough to control her abilities, which was enough motivation for the (at the time) 8-year-old to almost electrocute Aurelie into nothing but ash.

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Name meaning

Sarah: In Hebrew, Sarah (שָׂרָה‎) is the feminine form of the noun Sar (שַ��ר), which commonly translates to "chief", "ruler" or "prince"

De Gracia: "Of grace" in Spanish

Marigold: Marigolds were often linked to the powerful strength of the sun and represent the power, strength, and light that lives inside of a person

Trivia

Sarah was homeschooled up until she managed to convince her parents to allow her to attend night raven college

She didn't have a personal reason to transfer to Ignihyde, she just personally preferred being there compared to Pomefiore (Which was enough for Crowley to let her transfer)

She won't admit it but her favorite cousin is probably Victoria

Calls Victoria "Vivi Chan" as her term of endearment

Sarah has an intense level of second hand embarrassment every time Camilla sings, it's just excruciatingly painful to listen to

One time she jokingly put on some of Mercury's corsets and realized just how fucking snatched his waist actually was

She originally took up swordsmanship in order to learn how to protect her cousins, but she eventually saw it as a hobby after a while

Due to the fact that most Marigolds had blonde hair, Sarah saw herself as a genetic defect and had a bit of trouble fitting in growing up in the Marigold side of the family

Victoria became Sarah's beacon of light because she convinced her to be more confident in herself

Absolutely hates what Aurelie did to inflict Camilla's curse, which is why she isn't as keen on protecting Aurelie compared to the rest of her cousins

Her father, Hawthorne, is a man who often smiles at all times and for whatever reason, doesn't have a last name

Sarah never questioned her father's lack of a surname, at least not out loud

Liked reading with Yona as a child and they continue to have reading sessions together whenever they find time in their schedules

One of the first people to notice signs of Grimhilde's abuse toward Victoria, but unfortunately no one believed her when she tried to tell others about it

Hates Ludwig and especially hates Grimhilde for what she did to Victoria

The only person she probably hates more than Grimhilde is Malleus Draconia, and that's saying something because Sarah proclaimed that she hated Grimhilde more than life itself

Sarah (after eventually meeting Roya) would relate to Roya's insecurities over his horns, as she also dawn's a pair of horns as well

Had to be convinced to wear a different pair of glasses when she was 15 because she was using the same pair for 6 years (Only because Victoria gave her the glasses to begin with)

Denies any protectiveness she has over her cousins especially Victoria

Treats Zen like an annoying little brother even though he's technically older than her

Chose not to participate in the swordsman solstice because she wanted to support Victoria and try to memorize the players' techniques

Accidentally exploded her family laboratory when she was 5

Mostly ties her hair up, but doesn't mind having it styled

Threatened to rip Koral's throat open but had to be restrained before that could happen

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journalofimprobablethings · 3 years

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take me back to the start

That idea about the Chalice and Lucretia would not leave me alone, so here's the full dang thing. Turns out Lucretia's temptation takes about 4k words.

Tags: Mentioned Lup, Mentioned Magnus Burnsides, Stolen Century Spoilers, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Manipulation

Summary: The Chalice makes Lucretia an offer, and she has to decide whether she's willing to pay the price for a second chance.

Full thing below but you can also read it on AO3 here

Lucretia wakes up in a white space.

She blinks, and as the room comes into focus, she can see it's not just an undefined void. There are shapes around her: furniture and plants, pillows and blankets and a coffee table, all so familiar—and she realizes with a pang that she's in the lounge of the Starblaster. But it's like she's in a ghost version of the room; everything is washed out, somehow insubstantial. She reaches out and touches a pillow, and even though she can feel it, there's something not quite there about it.

She looks around, torn between confusion at her surroundings and a sort of painful joy at the familiarity of it all. Then she jumps as a voice speaks behind her.

"Hey, Luce."

She turns and there, sitting on one of the couches, is Magnus.

Unlike the rest of the room, he's not washed out or ghostly. He's all there, solid, full-color. He's leaning back against the cushions, his arms spread over the top of the couch. He looks so relaxed, totally at home in a way she hasn't seen in a long time. Something about the whole scene bothers her, but she can't put a finger on what it is.

"Magnus? Where—what is this?"

"I thought we should talk. Since you finally found me and all."

"Finally found you? What are you—?" She looks at him more closely. There's something...off about him. The way he's sitting, the way he holds his head—it's like someone doing an impression of Magnus: the broad strokes are there, but the details are not quite right.

Then she realizes what it was that bothered her just now:

He'd called her Luce.

It's been years since anyone has called her that. Magnus always used to, before. But the Magnus she knows right now, at the Bureau, has never used that name for her. He's forgotten that he ever did.

She takes a step back.

"You're not Magnus."

He smiles, and there's a sharpness in it that sends a shiver down her spine. "No, I'm not."

"Who are you?"

Magnus—or the thing pretending to be Magnus—leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees.

"What were you doing just now? Before you came here?"

She thinks back. The boys had just gotten back from Refuge, had told her the story of the time-stuck town and all their loops—all their deaths. (And she'd wondered then whether it had felt familiar, all that dying. But she'd said nothing.) They'd told her, in broad terms, about the thrall of this most recent relic, how it was different from the others.

And then she'd gone back to her office, to channel the Light out of the relic into her staff.

She looks at not-Magnus again, a mix of fear and fascination roiling inside her.

"The Chalice," she says. "You're the Chalice."

He smiles, wider this time, and a smile that is distinctly un-Magnus-like.

"That's right," he says. "And I want to show you something."

Lucretia closes her eyes against that smile, takes a breath to steady herself.

The Chalice.

When she’s thought about what it would take to collect the relics, this is the one that has always worried and frightened her the most. The others have their thrall, but the things they offer—riches, power—are things that she has an easy enough time rejecting. She’s never wanted those things, not really.

But the Chalice holds something that she has always wanted desperately: the opportunity to fix your mistakes. The idea of second chances.

She’d worried about sending Magnus and Merle and Taako after it—even without all their memories, there are plenty of things they might wish were different. They didn’t go into detail about what the Chalice offered them, but she knows it can’t have been easy. She's proud of them for resisting it.

She's not sure she'd be as strong.

Lucretia opens her eyes, and summons every bit of the gravitas and distance she has cultivated in the last decade, pulling her professional mask back into place.

“Thank you, but I’m fine,” she says. “I know what I’ve done. And even if there are things I wish were different, I know you’re not the solution.”

His face twists into a wry smile. “Look at you, Luce. We used to think you were such a wallflower. And now here you are: Madam Director. You're so...sure. So certain that everything you've done is for the best."

She shouldn't let it hurt her, the hint of judgement in his voice. This isn't Magnus, after all. But she can't help feeling stung.

"I did what I had to do," she says.

"And it's worth it? Worth the price you made us pay?"

"Don't say us," she snaps. "You're not him."

"You're avoiding the question."

He stands, and she resists the urge to step away from him as he approaches her.

“Come on,” the Chalice says, with Magnus’s voice, Magnus’s earnestness. “There really isn't anything you'd change? You really don't want a second chance to get it right?”

She could almost laugh at the question. Of course she wants a second chance. Of course there are things she wants to change. Every day when she looks at Davenport, when she watches the boys train and notes the difference in how they treat each other, she longs for what used to be. She can’t say she hasn’t thought about what she could do with the Chalice’s power, wondered what it would be like if she--

Wait.

There’s something missing here, something she’s forgetting. It’s a terrifying feeling, like missing a step on the stairs, putting your foot down expecting solid ground and finding only empty air. (Is this what it felt like? a tiny part of her whispers. Is this what she did to them?)

She does back away from the Chalice now, just a few steps. Her heart is beating hard in her chest, and she closes her hands into fists to stop them shaking.

"Why am I here?" she asks. “You shouldn’t be able to do this.”

"Oh, Luce." He smiles again, that same, awful, sharp smile. “You know why. You picked me up.”

She—

Oh.

Oh, no.

She had been in her office, getting ready to channel this piece of the Light into her staff, to join it with the others. She didn’t need to take the relic out of the iron ball it had been placed in to do this. No need to touch it, to risk being thralled. That was the point.

But she had been so curious.

This relic, of all of them, has always held such fascination for her.

“You wanted to see what I can do," the Chalice says. “And here I am.”

And with that, the lounge around them disappears. The ghostly furniture vanishes, leaving only the white void behind—and the Chalice standing next to her, still wearing Magnus's face. He reaches for her hand, but she jerks away before he can take it.

"Let me show you," he says. "I promise I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. Just let me show you."

Then he gestures, and the void around them bursts into life.

At first, there is so much at once the Lucretia can't parse through the chaos of colors and images. But as her eyes grow more accustomed, she realizes that they are surrounded by her memories. She sees snippets of herself over the last weeks, sitting in her office at the Bureau, talking to Avi in the cannon bay, visiting Johann and Fisher downstairs. She sees herself at the spa with Merle, trying Taako's macarons at the Candlenights party. The memories move farther and farther back in time, and as they do they begin to fly by faster and faster until the images blur together and the specifics are lost in a swirl of color. The flash and movement of it churns Lucretia's stomach, and she tries to turn away, to block it out, but the Chalice takes her by the arm and will not let her turn.

"Look," he says.

The blur of memories is slowing again, enough that she can once again pick out individual images—and as they resolve, the memories they show hit her like a knife in the gut.

Lucretia is surrounded, suddenly, but images of the day she broke their family apart.

She sees herself leaving Merle in the house she found for him on the beach

walking away from Magnus's carpentry shop in Raven's Roost

leaving Taako asleep in the back of his caravan

finding Barry's body in a field outside Neverwinter

collapsed on the floor beside Davenport's bed as he curls under the covers, clutching his temples.

Each image is clearer than the last, and each one twists the knife in her gut a little deeper. She wraps her arms tight around herself, trying to steady herself, to hold herself together, but she can't keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Please," she says. "I don't want to see this."

"Why not? I thought you did what you had to do." There is no pity in his voice. "I thought this price was worth paying."

The memories keep coming, and she sees herself finding each of her family after the redaction, reaching out to try and calm and comfort them. She sees Magnus walking into her room, the journal floating in Fisher's tank, a duck painted to look just like her dropping to the floor. She watches herself catch Magnus as he staggers, watches as her knees give out under his weight, as she catches his head before it can hit the floor and whispers assurances and love that he is too lost to hear.

The Magnus standing next to her watches too, expressionless.

It feels like they linger on that scene for an eternity before it, too, fades away.

Then, finally, the flashes of memories slow and stop, exactly where Lucretia knew they would.

They're standing in her quarters on the Starblaster, the glow from Fisher's tank casting the room into shades of grey and blue. Along one wall, the bookcase where she kept all her journals is half empty, each shelf pockmarked with holes. The desk is a mess of papers and journals and mugs of tea long gone cold. Lucretia looks to the corner where Fisher's tank sits, and even though she knows what to expect, the sight still takes her breath away.

She sees herself, wearing her red IPRE jacket, her hair longer than she's had it in years, stray curls escaping from the cord holding it in place. She's standing frozen in front of Fisher's tank, holding a blue journal bound in silver trim in both hands. Her grip on the journal is so tight that her knuckles are white.

The Chalice looks over at Lucretia. The whole time he was scanning through her memories, his face had been blank, dispassionate. But now, for the first time, he's looking at her with compassion and understanding in his eyes.

“This was the moment, right? The moment you changed everything.”

Lucretia nods. She remembers the feeling of this moment: like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, getting ready to jump. The terror of it, and the possibility.

She looks at her past self, standing at Fisher’s tank clutching the journal in her hands. Gods, she forgot how young she used to look. Her face is lit by the glow of the tank, her lips pressed tight together and eyes shining. There’s fear there, but there’s also hope—hope that this will be worth it, that she will be able to help her family be happy again. Hope that she will be able to fix everything.

She’s not sure when that hope transformed into a need; when the belief that her plan would work morphed from a quiet determination to a desperate desire, a story she told herself because to believe otherwise would break her.

Would she still have that hope, if she had made a different choice?

You can change it," the Chalice says. "Everything you just saw. All that pain you caused them. It doesn't have to go that way."

Lucretia looks at the frozen memory of herself, a version of her that thought she knew the cost of what she was doing. Who had no idea what loneliness and heartbreak she held in her hands.

What would it mean, if she had the chance to try again?

She could talk to the others about her plan, try to get them on board. She could still go through with the redaction, but she could make sure her family were inoculated first. The worst thing, the hardest thing, about what she’s done has been seeing what it did to the others. Seeing the sharp, cold person Taako’s become without Lup; the way that Davenport’s been left a shell of himself. Knowing that Barry is out there somewhere, alone and angry and afraid. The fact that the lives that she built for them fell apart one by one, and she could only watch.

She could save them that pain, if she changed this moment.

Everything she just had to watch, everything they've lost, everything they've suffered because of her.

She could fix it.

She could—

Could she?

The last time she tried to fix everything with one big decision, she ended up here.

If she did this, what new pains would come instead—what unintended consequences would such a choice unleash? If there’s anything she’s learned in the past decade, it’s that she can never fully predict the effects of her decisions, no matter how hard she tries. What if this decision only leads to new regrets?

Lucretia drops her head in her hands, all her desires and wishes and hopes warring inside her with a dreadful fear at what other hurts she might inadvertently cause.

The price of using any relic is so high; she's not even sure what exactly the price of this one would be. She has spent the last ten years working so hard to keep others from using them, to collect them so that she can cast her barrier and stop the Hunger once and for all. Would she really sacrifice all that to fix this one mistake?

She wants to say she would. She wants to say that if she knew she could spare her family pain, she would sacrifice everything else she’s done. But when she asks the question bluntly, the same answer that has gotten her through the last ten years comes up.

She did what she did for a reason. It cost them all so much more than she ever thought it would. But she’s not sure what else would be lost, if she tried to change this moment—and there is too much at stake for her to risk getting it wrong again.

No. She can't fix it. Not this way.

Lucretia lowers her hands, slowly, and shakes her head.

“I made my choice,” she says. “It hasn’t turned out exactly like I thought it would, but...I did what I had to do. I have to see it through.”

She lets her hands fall to her sides, staring at the still-frozen form of her past self. That's it, then. She should feel proud of herself, she supposes, for resisting the Chalice’s thrall. But instead she just feels empty.

She looks up at the Chalice, expecting him to be angry, or frustrated, or at least disappointed. This was his last big play, after all. The temptation of Lucretia.

But the Chalice only smiles, and she hates the way that smile looks on Magnus’s face, all condescension and smug knowing.

“I thought you might say that,” he says. “You’re nothing if not stubborn."

What?

She had thought she knew what was happening here: a temptation, an offer that the Chalice hoped she would take and that she would have to resist, and if she did, then she would win. If that's not what this was--reliving those memories was bad enough, but to do it for no purpose?

Lucretia does her best to hide her confusion, to let only anger show in her voice. "Why did you show this to me if you knew I wouldn't change it?"

He shrugs. "It was worth a try. You might have surprised me. And it's important that you saw this first."

"What do you mean?" She doesn't like the sound of first. "I thought we were done."

“Not quite," the Chalice says. "There’s one other moment I want to show you."

The images around them are already blurring again, the vision of her standing in front of Fisher’s tank disappearing into flashes of color and memory. Lucretia braces herself for another onslaught, but it's only a few seconds before the blur slows, and when it stops, they are once again standing in her quarters on the Starblaster. It’s nighttime, the room lit only by a candle on her desk, and the glow from Fisher’s tank.

The younger version of her sits at the desk, her head leaning on one hand, the other hand twirling and pulling at a loose curl. She's reading one of her journals. Two more journals sit to one side on the desk, and there is a pile of several more at her feet. The young Lucretia’s leg is jiggling, and her hand pulls on her hair hard enough to hurt. Her posture might seem relaxed, but present Lucretia can feel her anxiety.

Her heart sinks. She remembers this night. It was the night after Lup had told them about the gauntlet’s latest death toll in Cordelia—and one of the first nights she really thought about what it would take, to use Fisher to erase the relics. She remembers the weariness on Lup’s face, the despair at what these things they’d made were doing to the world. How much she wanted to wipe that weariness away, how she’d thought that there had to be a way to fix it. She had sat up late into the night, a growing pile of journals surrounding her as she read through her records of the last year, and then further and further back into the century. Eventually she had fallen asleep at her desk, her head pillowed on an open journal, her mind spinning with questions—whether such a plan would work; whether it was worth it.

The next morning, they had found Lup’s note on the kitchen table.

"You think about this night a lot," the Chalice says. "The last night you were all together."

He walks over to the desk, looking down at the memory of her, and Lucretia resists the urge to step between them, to protect her younger self from the future looming over her.

“You didn’t know it at the time, but you were awake, when Lup left,” he continues. “She waited until she thought everyone would be asleep, and then she left her note on the table, and she slipped away. She thought she would only be gone a few days.

“And while she did that you were sitting at your desk, reading, thinking it might be time to take a break soon, but not ready to put down your work just yet."

Past Lucretia turns a page and sighs. Even more than the last version of her, Lucretia thinks, she has no idea what's coming.

"You never did end up taking a break, that night. And by morning she was gone.”

The scene shifts, and suddenly it’s like they’re standing inside the wall between her old room and the corridor outside. She can still see herself, sitting at her desk. But she can also see a figure in a hooded red robe making her way along the hall, her footfalls carefully soft. The scene freezes just as Lup passes Lucretia's door.

“Right now, in this moment, she’s walking past your room on her way to the kitchen. If you get up now, you’ll run into her, and you’ll be able to talk.”

Lucretia stares, frozen, at her younger self, at the cloaked figure of Lup outside the door. She had been right there. She had been so close. She never even thought—

What would have happened, if she and Lup had talked before Lup left?

If she had told Lup what she was thinking, of her plan to use Fisher to stop the war?

If she had asked Lup for help, tried to get her to stay?

What would have happened to them all, if they hadn’t lost Lup?

Suddenly, all her earlier firm resolve dissipates like mist. Lucretia looks at the figure silhouetted in the dim light of the corridor, and her heart aches and her stomach clenches with longing.

Lup.

It shouldn't change anything. All her arguments from before still stand.

She doesn’t know what consequences such a change would have.

She’d be sacrificing everything she’s done, everything she’s worked for the past ten years.

The price of using a relic is still so very high.

But Lup.

There’s a sudden, gentle touch on the back of her wrist. She startles, but this time she does not pull away as the Chalice takes her hand in his. His fingers are rough and calloused, the exact feel of Magnus’s hands, and the sensation brings tears to her eyes. It’s been so long since she’s felt anything like this.

“You can save us, Luce,” the Chalice says—Magnus says. “You know we fell apart, after Lup left. You can stop it. You can persuade her to stay, and we can find some other way to stop the war. Together.”

"Don't say us," she says, but there is no fire in it. She can see it, the future he describes. She can see it so clearly.

"Please, Lucretia." His eyes meet hers with such an earnest look. "You can save her."

And despite herself, despite all her caution and well-honed arguments, Lucretia can feel herself faltering.

When he made his first offer, she had been able to push her own desires aside. However much she might want to change what has happened since the redaction, she knows she did what she did for a reason, and she is too practiced at setting aside her guilt to let it sway her.

But this. This is different.

Lup's disappearance had no reason behind it, no purpose. She might have left with an intention in mind, but Lucretia is certain her not coming back was not part of any plan.

And now, she's being given the chance to make it right.

If she can keep Lup from leaving, then Barry will never have to waste away on a fruitless search, Taako will never be reduced to moving through the ship like a ghost, half empty. If she can talk to her, maybe they can keep their family together, keep them from falling into that place where the redaction felt like the only option. With Lup still with them, maybe the Chalice is right—maybe they can find another way to save the world.

There will be a price to pay. She knows this. The stakes are just as high as before, the uncertainty in some ways even higher. But by now she is used to calculating the costs of her decisions, and the prices she has to pay herself are always the easiest to bear.

And to save Lup? To bring her back? She's willing to pay just about anything.

Lucretia looks up at the Chalice, and though she knows he is not Magnus, he is so like him that just for this moment, she can pretend that there is nothing else lurking behind his earnest expression. She takes both of the Chalice's callused hands in hers, and she looks him dead in the eye, and she makes her choice.

"What do I have to do?”

#taz balance #taz lucretia #taz fanfic #taz #taz au #temporal chalice #grand relics #there's more to explore here in terms of alternate timelines #and maybe i'll do it someday #but time manipulation is Complicated and makes my head hurt D:#scribblings #long post #taz balance spoilers

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leamy-world · 3 years

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Some afterthoughts on The Devil Judge (spoilers for all the drama!)

Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing well!!

I wanted to write my thoughts after the finale aired because ep. 13-14 made me a mess and were too nerve-wracking! After these two episodes, i only wanted the week to go by fast to see how the finale unfolded (but at the same time, this drama entertained me sm i didn’t want it to end haha).

Watching this drama each week and reading your reactions and thoughts made me enjoy it even more, i’m glad i came back on tumblr! It was a really nice ride (more like an emotional rollercoaster haha)! It motivated me to write my thoughts and analyses on fictions i watched in the future, especially My Mister and Beyond Evil!! I forgot how much fun it was to do that and putting my thoughts into words gave me a little closure to my watch haha

These are just some afterthoughts & personal interpretations i had and were maybe probably already discussed, but i couldn’t get them out of my head haha

See you around and take care!!!

THE CAST. It left a strong impression on me and i can’t see other actors playing their respective roles!

— Yohan portrayed by Ji Sung … i have no words, this devil judge left me speechless! His character, to his Devilish Smile (and hollow laugh in front of CKH and his son, or Gaon), his variating voice intonations (like damn, he’s a living ASMR like Lee Sung Kyung), his held back emotions and touch-starved and even desperate touches when it came to Elijah and Gaon, to his rage and unhinged moments!

I winced seeing him contort in pain when Sunah revealed Elijah accidentally lit the church fire, and the two times he hugged Elijah totally destroyed me. His last scene with Gaon showed how gazes & micro-expressions alone could convey unspoken words as strongly. I’m weak for these kinds of scenes, My Mister for example did it and killed me haha

For this post, i rewatched some scenes and damn, Elijah and Yohan’s support of Gaon after Soohyun’s death was really emotional …

(They had no business in making Gaon have this kind of dream, those german scissors left a ... strong impression on him haha)

— Kim Min Jung’s depiction of Sunah’s was hauntingly beautiful, a femme fatale who kept a broken child deep inside (and at the same time surfacing on her manners and personality) and a strong businesswoman. It’s a fascinating character i loved hating as a villain but still sympathized with. The scene where she murdered the former foundation’s president sent me chills down my spine (i still have her shot of her, sitting at his bureau and manipulating his speech video)!

The melancholy slipping through her facade when she visited the mansion the first time in a while, as well as her devastation in front of the President’s scheme, by the young girl’s bed at the hospital were memorable. The tension between her and Yohan was incredible: they both managed to keep a very disturbing but enthralling aura, tangled with nostalgia at the same time each time they met.

(Looking at her reflection is a recurring pattern for Sunah’s character, i found this shot above interesting, divided in the two ends of the mirror, as if her self can’t be found on the other side anymore)

— This was the first time i saw a drama with Jin Young and i really loved his playing! Never thought I’d say one day i enjoyed someone’s tears and rage on screen, but his crying scenes stuck with me, especially in the prison yard and the last episode (he deserves therapy after all he went through, really) … And his letter to Elijah … (i’m glad nobody harshly revealed the truth to her, i’m really glad!)

I loved to see how his gaze evolved through this journey with Yohan. His endearment to Soohyun, Elijah and Yohan was very precious ;; Even though Yohan was the one who was first seen feeling lonely, Gaon’s loneliness since his parents’ death slipped through his seemingly fine world, i found that interesting! (And on a lighter note, i’ll always remember the truth behind Mrs. Ji’s cooking, Gaon’s epic reaction, and the pure comedy she gets to own a healthy food shop thanks to Yohan!!)

I also enjoyed his supportive friendship with Jinjoo!!

— Park Gyu Young’s acting was also on point! It’s really too bad she didn’t get more screen time because i wanted to know more about Soohyun!! I felt robbed haha, because when TDJ began airing, they introduced her as one of the ‘main’ characters of this story ;; The scene when she was on CKH’s suicide scene really left a mark on me + when she was confronting Yohan, especially after she took Elijah out!

— Elijah. Just Elijah, our best girl!!! Apparently it’s one of Jeon Chae Eun’s first roles, she did so well!! Along with Ji Sung and Jin Young, she gave a whole new definition to the Domestic Scenes, i swear. These scenes will keep a special place in my heart for a long time! Her adorable smile and cheekiness were a refresher in this show!

(They could change TDJ’s concept in a second season and make us a domestic slice of life series, i wouldn’t mind AT ALL! Take my money!!)

Seeing her complicated relationship with her uncle unfold before us deeply moved me. The complete loneliness she silently depicted moving to her bed in the wheelchair, after Gaon left the mansion was heart-wrenching. And also the scenes after Soohyun’s death, hurting with Yohan seeing Gaon’s pain (the way she spoke her worry for the two of them, Yohan couldn’t let the words out properly to Gaon).

— CKH’s character, played by Jang Young Nam, was amazing. Her acting already shattered me when i watched Nobody Knows! Her cold gaze, her harsh tone, she was badass i have to admit!

The narcissistic rage was well depicted in her character, and even though i get where many’s opinions on her death come from (i share it too sometimes, but i feel it more for Sunah), i found this final decision fitting to the character, especially if you look how she treated her own son (each hold felt like a grip from rage eg. in ep. 3, as she maybe felt her son was the cause of her demise).

(HUGE SPOILERS FOR BEYOND EVIL BELOW!!!!)

She reminded me of HKH’s ending: seeing his path to success was crushed with no way out of it except death on his own accord (in his eyes, because it was his absolute life aim, every single being, to his own wife and son, and means, even bending the justice independence, were his expendable ways to pave his path), HJW’s father was set on suicide before his son barged in.

(Funnily enough, the filming spot for CKH’s house is the same for HKH’s house haha)

— And also … Lawyer don’t-worry-i’ll-get-you-out-on-probation Ko deserves a round of applause for the best lawyer he is hahaha

THE STORY’S DEVELOPMENTS (AND SCRIPT). I feel like this story could very well have been developed on 20+ episodes! Even if i know some scenes in a script are sometimes (bound to be) cut in the drama, TDJ’s script leaks make me feel there was SO much more to be told, and so much more to explain some plot events in the airing drama!

Because the story was ambitious, both character and plot(twists which give you whiplash)-driven (and also the filming context with the pandemic), i feel like some choices were made.

The lines of thought about justice and the drama’s attempts at its ‘true’ definition are not lost on me. It was really interesting!

On a side note (there will be many, bear with me haha), the symbolic behind the app’s name, DIKE, which i’m pretty sure (correct me if i’m wrong, i only have some very rough basics in korean haha) is the korean romanization of Nikè, or in ancient greek Νίκη, the greek divinity of Victory ( ‘ㄴ’ in korean sounds like an ’n’ but its pronounciation is more abrupt/brisker, to the point of what could be sounding to ears like a ‘d’).

Nikè is most of the time represented as an attribute to other greek divinities who also embody the victory eg. Zeus or Athena, thus seen as a bestower of victory (in any domain, be it war, games = interestingly enough, the live court is set in a colosseum-like room, arts, …) to the humanity on behalf of these gods (Nikè sometimes stands in her palm as an attribute of Athena, like the owl or the helmet). But sometimes Nikè was also revered an independent protective divinity.

Nikè is represented as a winged divinity in a long robe, flying above the victorious, assisting the humans in their works/challenges eg. handing them a laurel crown as a sign of victory, or a helmet, etc. Its mostly known representation is the Winged Victory of Samothrace (or The Nike of Samothrace) sculpture in the Louvre. The brand Nike also used it in its logo.

It calls back to Yohan’s line: « I make sure i win before the game starts », and in fact, since the beginning, unbeknownst to everybody witnessing the trials and participating to them, the app was his way to win. It foreshadows the ending of the story, Yohan finally taking down the foundation. It also adds to his god/devil image: he assumes the role of the intermediary/abyss of the « gods » (the Justice), taking in all the hubris of the society in order to bring the justice (well, guess we could say it put some hold to the cycle of the powerful culminating to chaos?) back, in some sort of catharsis through DIKE.

It might be a stretch, but Nikè’s winged representation could be found on Gaon’s tattoo (at first to me, it looked like a phoenix/winged angel, which symbolizes a ‘reincarnation’/new beginning for Yohan finding peace, a second chance to his past and Elijah thanks to Gaon & Gaon finding a new world even if his first crumbled ie. his parents and Soohyun’s death and professor Min’s betrayal).

(The whole virus plot by the end of the story made me feel a little uncomfortable given the actual context and the conspiracy theories that are spreading, but it wasn’t used carelessly and served the commentary of the powerful and how far they would go, i think? That said, a fiction, especially a dystopia like this, stays a fiction but when they used it, it gave me a forced laugh haha)

Now, if someone gets to translate some script bits, i’m really looking forward to:

K’s backstory!!!!!

Isaac and Yohan’s past!!!!

More about Elijah!!

Where’s the cat???

What was the script saying for Gaon and Yohan’s confrontation in ep. 12? When Yohan faced the window, waking up from a nightmare after Gaon left?

ABOUT SOOHYUN’S BACKSTORY. (Now, this will get long, i’m sorry but i needed to let my thoughts out haha) The drama introduced her as one of the four main characters with Gaon, Yohan and Sunah. I had so many expectations for her character! Especially from the three scenes we got of her:

➔ In the first episode, we see her save a young girl in the street from two men, looking up at the poster « A safe Korea will be realized from now on. »: it was a great introduction to the blatant lie of the ‘safe’ dystopian world that was being created in the story. It also showed how Soohyun felt in front of this insecure world. A side note, but seeing her hug the young girl like that reminded me the hugs she gave Gaon: she wanted to protect him from this unjust world with all her might (especially the scene in the restaurant where she hugs him). ➔ Her two confrontations with Juk Chang! ➔ Her dilemma and emotional turmoil when she erases Gaon’s presence in CKH’s office.

She was portrayed in the story as Gaon’s pillar since his parents’ tragic death and his moral compass. She’s the lawful citizen, despite feeling helpless to the world’s changes, who hopes it could be saved as long as the rule of law is preserved by everyone, and this begins by respecting it themselves.

But she was not standing around and i kind of regret this was not shown more in the story: she kept doing her best in the « system », fighting from the inside the injustice hoping the little changes could make a difference someday. Because she couldn’t take Yohan’s path, in no way: the system/the law must be respected for it to be sustained. And i’m glad they addressed this point in the drama: Yohan chose to take on the role nobody wanted or even dared to assume, knowing fully well he became a criminal the second he began his plans (just as lawyer Ko said he was no longer a lawyer once he sided with him).

This must not be glorified, nor vilified. As he said, it was a choice he decided to make. She mirrors his choices to some extent and i would have loved to see more of their interactions or her thoughts about that! And how she worked through the system to change things, her vision of the justice. They showed us the flashback of her career choice in high school, and it could have been interesting to learn more about her!

A backstory about her saving the youth and meeting Sunah by accident would have been very interesting (given Sunah knew all about her since the beginning and ordered to kill her). Their meeting wouldn’t have foreshadowed Sunah’s plans, quite the opposite, and it would have given more ‘substance’ to her plans. We were robbed of this relationship haha!

And of course, seeing her side with Yohan & Gaon for a short while (because seeing her team up with them all along the way could’ve been a little ooc) would have been dope. Her arresting Juk Chang while the two of them stop the gang was the closest thing we had to their teamwork ;;

Among the drama’s main focuses (the self-pity of the powerful and the never-ending cycle of their greed, the power displays it ensues which come in many forms in the system’s game), the conception of justice was developed all along the drama. It would have been really interesting to see whether Soohyun’s conception of justice could have changed in her own way!

And professor Min’s potential manipulation of Soohyun!!! Some scenes on their interactions could have been nice to see and explain why she focused solely on Yohan, the only side of the whole story she knew! Her reporting to the professor about her investigation (and him feeling she got too close to the truth) would have made sense because, as she saw Gaon growing apart from her as he was getting closer to the Kangs (especially since she saw him interact with Elijah when they invited her to the café, like Sunah saw how Gaon fit in their family at the dinner scene), she would’ve wanted to protect him without him knowing because she knew it’d have hurt him. It could have paralleled Gaon’s reports on Yohan to the professor at the beginning of the drama. And that could have explained (aside from the whole love triangle dynamics they had) her reluctance to tell Gaon Yohan was the one who told her his whereabouts when he was in danger in ep. 13 ; this scene also was one of the only moments addressing the lack of communication in their relationship. Seeing her feeling confused over Yohan could have been interesting!

(This also got me wondering whether in the script, Yohan’s injury was ever addressed.)

Also, i’m curious about her family, if the script mentions something about them: did they know Gaon?

About the loveline between Gaon and Soohyun: while the friendship could have stayed as is (it already felt pretty genuine in my opinion and strong friendships also deserve to be portrayed in stories), i’m convinced this drama wanted to set Gaon as the center of a subtext love & morality triangle between Soohyun and Yohan (and K and Sunah on Yohan’s part). I think i would’ve appreciated Gaon and Soohyun’s loveline so much more if they developed it more! And it had to develop in the very same episode she died: apart from the confession and kiss scene (i’m curious about the scene’s description in the script), the flashback of their moments, seen from Gaon’s pov, came just right in to ‘explain’ it!

Of course it wasn’t the main focus of the story and there was already so much happening, but their new relationship development and her death almost had no impact on me even if it was set as a turning point for Gaon (and K for Yohan, as a cement to their respective decision to fight the system and how they would do it), and it made me really really sad! Of course it was a plot device (and i now wonder what would’ve happened if she or K wasn’t dead), but if it was bound to happen, the emotional impact was lessened!

Jinjoo’s character development and her relationship with Sunah happened really really fast, and i wonder how the script describes it!

Sunah’s involvement with the juvenile care center!!! Her scene at the hospital left me really sad.

(Also, on the love plot, Gaon and Yohan jealousy bits weren’t used later as an expression of their envy towards the other’s status/life/etc. and were actually directed to people outside ie. Sunah/K/Soohyun in the plot, which makes me think they really wanted to set it as a love triangle!)

ABOUT SUNAH’S DEATH. I feel really really conflicted on this point. Her story was a parallel to CKH (and of course Yohan, i’ll talk about it below): two women — coming from totally opposite backgrounds — climbing their way up by their own means in this power circle. And despite all their accomplishments unnoticed (because they were the ones seeing through their plans while the others were mainly seen tearing each other into pieces), they could still be ruthlessly ejected from this world any day, part of it because they were belittled as women all the same, and chose to end her life on her own accord, still having agency over it.

As someone else pointed it out, it also acts as a « poetic » retribution for her murder of Soohyun and K. BUT her exiting the scene in some other way staying alive could have contrasted with CKH’s suicide (especially since she overthrew the president who was the only one on her side getting in her way and even killed him in the end). Especially in a show that deals about how the justice can be carried out!

Of course, Yohan and Sunah were a foil to each other in their respective fights and traumatic past: the drama showed us how having someone to reach out to and protect (Elijah, Isaac and Gaon to Yohan ; Soohyun, Yohan and Elijah to Gaon) can become a driving force. Sunah, despite thinking this could be a weakness, also longed for companionship (from Yohan mainly, but also from Jaehee), and had no one to stop her crossing the line and preserve her from herself and the world. At least someone hearing her story, staying by her side and trying to understand her.

Each time she said ‘can you be a little nicer to me?’ to Yohan made me feel for her (and also that one call with Jaehee), it was the only cries of loneliness she silently let out!

On a totally random note, i would have loved to see her interact more with Gaon (especially by the end of ep. 15, when Yohan was arrested)!

The story gladly didn’t end Yohan’s traumatic past and growth in death, but what about Sunah? In any case, Sunah was a really good and complex character, i enjoyed her character!

What about Jaehee? How did she react to Sunah’s death???

What about CKH’s family after her death???

I would have loved to hear more about Sunah’s plans as well! Scenes where she would play with Gaon for example (in Yohan’s presence or not, like at the photoshoot)!

(This comment above foreshadowed, along with the dinner scene in ep. 11, she used him all along!)

Her involvement behind the scenes was only exposed in ep. 15 but i wanted to know more about her (motivations aside from her focus on Yohan, what did she plan to do before finding out a look-alike to Isaac, ...)! Given the elements in the plot, i get the idea she planned this whole business with the foundation first to reach the top and wanted to bring Yohan up with her (eg. leading the foundation or becoming the president) or down without her along the way, because she wanted his companionship. Maybe the script expands on it more? Did she really believe in the Dream Home project? Because as we saw her speech in the juvenile care center and her strong reaction to the youth being harmed in these schemes, i believe she kinda wanted to protect them as the best revenge on her past, because nobody could do it for her?

THE ENDING SCENE. The ending was pretty good and didn’t give us an all-out tragedy, so i’m really glad! I still can’t believe Gaon was ready to blow his life away once he learnt Yohan’s death AND wanted to die with him (falsely) realizing Yohan wouldn’t change his mind, dead set on his decision (no pun intended!). And Yohan’s reaction to this ............... Now, their last scene is left to the viewers’ interpretation, but it felt to me like a new beginning to Yohan and Gaon’s relationship! As it was already said by many people on tumblr, Yohan wasn’t sure if Gaon would still be by his side despite it all, and he didn’t expect Gaon to feel this way. They’ll definitely meet again, it’s a promise of more in the future (especially Yohan’s nod, on the verge of tears and Gaon’s two relieved/endeared smiles, full of forgiveness). Gaon will join his new world once he’s done or they’ll come back to him once Elijah’s recovered.

And this game of hide and seek/hunt reflected their relationship development: Yohan felt unattainable at first, but he chased after him in the maze that was his devilish game, symbolized by the crowd, chasing him motivated by his suspicion, curiosity, anger and hate, disbelief and disappointment, empathy, worry, affection, desperation and love, until he finally reached him and they understood each other among all the crowd, living metaphorically in the same time, facing each other on the same (ground) level.

(A scene in the first episode, Gaon seeing a maze of Yohan’s reflections, maybe symbolizing he could not see through his facade in the beginning, being an enigma to him at first sight ; the choice of the reflections in the mirrors through the drama is interesting and reflects the story: depending on the angles, a story can hold as many meanings as there are points of view, the complete image surfacing once everybody’s story is told)

(Just like how, in ep. 4, Yohan shows Gaon the wicked system right under their noses, Gaon’s enraged and confused gaze directed right at Yohan after they all block his view by clinking glasses ; Yohan hoped he would understand what lies beneath but Gaon understands it fully through his own past in ep. 7-8)

(The crowd is cleared from their/our view in the final scene, leaving the two of them facing each other without any obstacle/reflection on their path)

Gaon kept Yohan’s watch all the time even in moments of doubt, sorrow and rage (the best PPL in drama history so far haha), Yohan finally got to Gaon and entered his world as Soohyun did, reaching out when he needed it the most, to stop him doing something he would regret deeply. It was symbolized by the scar he got on his left hand from preventing Gaon from stabbing him (that’s also why he caresses his scar in a bittersweet way, lost in thoughts, reminding him of their last meeting).

As @i-guess-it-rains said + according to the BTS’ editing (it passed off as a joke but i can’t erase it from my brain now haha), the way the scene where Yohan defused Gaon’s bomb was framed looked at the same time like Yohan was also carefully handling Gaon’s heart (the bomb countdown clock radiating a red glow on his chest), on the verge of exploding. Now i have The Nights lyrics in my head haha (« My heart is going back to you, i just don’t know »)

On another note, i realized that in ep. 12, after Gaon left, he’s seen trying to call Soohyun in order to reach for her since their last confrontation, but right before, his finger glides over his contact, hesitating on Yohan’s contact before choosing to call Soohyun.

While in ep. 8, he only reaches out to Soohyun after his breakdown in the prison yard (without thinking to call Yohan because he was in the core of his doubts and pain at that time and needed space to reflect on all the events):

And it parallels to Sunah attempting to reach out to Jaehee in her loneliness at the top, hesitating before deciding to call her.

Now i hope TDJ will be on Netflix! It’d be very nice to get to watch the drama in high quality and have more people to see it!

I heard it got a webtoon adaptation so i also look forward to it once it will be translated!

A SECOND SEASON? When i first saw the ending, i thought it got wrapped up nicely and didn’t « need » another season, but it also left some parts open and laid out a new background for further developments (the system repeats itself but in another form, Yohan leaves the scene with his signature smile, maybe up to something else again, saying metaphorically or irl to Gaon he’ll come back if he doesn’t do well), kinda like Stranger/Forest of Secrets s1 or The Guest ending (the corruption doesn’t end there). I also heard it got high viewing rates in SK, so maybe it will be taken into account? And well, i’ll miss the cast so i would welcome the idea haha

THE SOUNDTRACK. The whole OST was stellar (and their titles are on point really!)! Getting to hear it without voices or noise over and with my headphones on made me realize it was even more beautiful! Because I Have You, Warmth That Melts Loneliness and If Only… are the end of me (especially If Only aaaaaaa)! Don’t get me started on Enemy of Truth’s title to the OST playing for the church fire because it’s devastating ;;;

If Only’s title … It leaves us filling in the blank space, the dots to Gaon’s thoughts when he learns about Yohan’s past and how it impacts him to this day.

The 4 songs were amazing (there’s also Different from the Outside but i still didn’t get its lyrics). Tempest was definitely etched in my mind as TDJ’s main theme haha And The Nights was my favorite!

➔ Tempest was Yohan’s iconic theme and depicted his lonely path to revenge after the tragic events in his life, and his (fated) encounter with Gaon, how deeply it will change him in this journey in ways he didn’t expect. It perfectly introduces (with Chet Faker and Flume’s Drop the game) and concludes the drama!

➔ What you gonna do was THE revenge epic song making everyone revel in the ‘bad guys’ despair and Yohan’s badass moves!

➔ The Nights felt like it was both Yohan and Gaon’s theme and Gaon’s sorrow after Soohyun’s death: at first i thought it was only Yohan’s, but his revenge and the last episodes proved me wrong! The song’s lyrics mirrored themselves (‘my/your night shines on you/me’), as if a complete understanding between Yohan and Gaon was found on their dark road. Yohan’s night shines on Gaon: Yohan’s broken past and all his misunderstood or hidden sides, his dedication to Elijah. Yohan’s rage (almost wrath since the biblical and god symbolism are there haha) and desire to take the inique system down waked Gaon’s own rage, buried deep inside, and made him move forward too. Gaon’s night shines on Yohan: all the time he spent with the Kangs, Gaon’s deep empathy and understanding, helping him reconnect with his niece, their dinners at night, his rage exploding when the truth about his parents was revealed, his desperation on the last two episodes (in ep. 15, seeing Gaon’s realization everything was a lie and Yohan was innocent, and in ep. 16, Gaon wanting to die by his side). Gaon’s night also shined on Soohyun, who wanted to protect him with all she got each time she saw him crumbling down.

There was still light on their dark road (which looks like a callback to Nightmare’s lyrics, « Save me from myself / Save me from this darkness that has lost its light »).

➔ Nightmare felt like it was Yohan and Sunah’s theme. When it last played when Sunah’s death happened on screen, it left me speechless (and if i remember correctly, the ‘save me from myself’ bit was played right when she shot herself … o u c h)!

#the devil judge #tvn drama #my ramblings

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stubbornness-and-spite · 3 years

Text

With Friends Like These...

Happy holidays! This is my gift for @sunflowerstalks for the Sanders Sides Gift Exchange @sanderssidesgiftxchange

Thank you @authorgirl0131 for beta reading!

Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Remus-typical raunchiness, kissing, mild gore, mildly graphic injuries, mild angst, swearing

Genre: fluff, hurt/comfort(emphasis on the comfort)

Characters: Janus, Patton, Roman, Logan, Remus, Virgil

Powers/Magic Focus List:

Janus- studies potions, has scales on half his body

Patton- fire powers, studies energy manipulation

Remus- witch, studies mind magic

Roman- witch, studies nature magic

Logan- alchemist

Virgil- hedgewitch, studies medicinal magic

Word Count: 5156

Summary: All Janus wanted was to have a nice dinner with Patton, but when you live with a crazy alchemist and a witch with a penchant for dramatics and your boyfriend is literally the hottest person in the room at any given moment, sometimes life gets in the way.

AO3 link in reblog - story continues under the cut

“Roman, Logan, I swear to god, if you’ve ruined the dinner I made for Patton in the five minutes I left the room, I will dismember you and use your remains for potions,” Janus snarled at the sight of smoke coming from the kitchen.

“Ummm,” a voice came from the kitchen. “Roman and Logan didn’t ruin anything?”

Janus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, walking into the kitchen blind, not wanting to see the disaster.

“Hi, Patton,” he said calmly. “You’re here early.” Janus opened his eyes to see a blushing Patton standing in front of a smoking stove.

“Hi, Janus,” Patton chirped. “I missed you!”

Janus sighed fondly, letting go of any pretense of frustration. “What did you do?”

Patton flushed. “I let myself in and saw that the kitchen was empty and the stove was off. I wanted to make sure the food stayed warm, so I tried to heat it up.”

“My stove is not complicated, Patton,” Janus sighed. “You could have just turned it on.”

“Yeah,” Patton admitted. “But I’ve been getting better at heating things myself! So I picked up the pan-”

“And torched dinner,” Janus finished.

“And torched dinner,” Patton agreed.

“Are you two lovebirds done trying to make the scalded remains of that monstrosity romantic?” Roman called from the doorway. Roman was one of Janus’s roommates and had been since their sophomore year of college. They both were suspiciously quiet about their freshman year roommates but no one had ever managed to piece together any of that mystery.

“I called my brother and he said we could go over there for dinner,” Roman said with a smirk. “Something about assuming that between the two of you, something was going to go wrong.”

Patton scowled good-naturedly. “Was that what he meant when he told me to keep my hands to myself when I left earlier?”

Janus slipped a gloved hand into Patton’s. “I assure you, it was not.”

“That wasn’t either,” Roman snapped with a grin, gesturing at their hands.

“Oh?” Patton asked, his eyes wide with faux innocence. “Did Remus mean I should put my hands on parts of your body that aren’t covered in heat-proof cloth? Because that would be very irresponsible.”

Janus stammered and almost swallowed his tongue as Patton dragged his fingers up Janus’s fire-resistant jacket and hovered them by the jacket’s collar where he could feel the burning heat scalding the wisps of hair on his neck and heating the scales on the left side of his face.

Roman coughed loudly. “I’m going over to Patton, Remus and Virgil’s place. You’re welcome to join me if you aren’t planning to do it in the kitchen. And if you do, make sure that you fully burn whatever you touch.” Roman looked over his shoulder into the hall and called. “Logan! It’s time to go unless you want to be reminded what charred snakeskin smells like!”

Logan coughed awkwardly as he left his room. “I would recommend we all vacate the premises as soon as possible,” he said, avoiding eye contact with all of them.

“Hi, Logan,” Patton said without turning away from Janus.

“Hello, Patton,” Logan replied curtly. “I would really recommend we leave quickly.”

Roman groaned. “What did you do this time, nerd?”

Logan flushed. “If we leave now, we won’t have to find out.”

“You want to leave a project without finding out what it does?” Janus asked incredulously, pulling away from Patton with concern. “What did you do?”

Logan’s hand drifted to cradle his right arm. “I had two reactions going at once. They were meant to work in tandem, but one rebounded and now the walls are screaming at me. The effects should subside enough for me to fix it by tomorrow.”

“Logan, take off your shirt,” Roman said firmly. Logan sputtered and stumbled back. “Take off your shirt,” Roman insisted.

Logan scowled and tried to pull his shirt over his head. He hissed in pain as it caught on his right arm. He tugged harder, not moving his arm, until he yanked it off, crying out as it jostled his arm.

“Eve and all her daughters, Logan,” Roman hissed. “You’re going to get yourself killed one day.” Logan’s right arm was mangled, the bone warped and the skin peeling and bubbling like it was being burned.

“I’m fine,” Logan growled. “Everything is intact. When the burning subsides I can fix it.”

Roman stepped over and put his hands on Logan’s shoulders. “You are not trying medical alchemy on yourself. I don’t care if you’ve done it before, you aren’t doing it again. We’re going to see Virgil and Remus and you’re going to let Virgil fix your arm.”

“I can deal with the active reaction,” Janus offered. “I’m not half as good as you, but I should be able to reverse it.”

“I can do it,” Logan insisted.

Janus shook his head. “If you weren’t dealing with a rebound, you probably could. But you are so I’ve got it.” He shrugged. “Besides,” he said, gesturing to the scaled half of his face. “My curse gives me a bit more natural protection than you. If you’re really worried, I’ll have Patton with me to siphon off any excess energy I can’t control.”

“You know I’d do that for you anytime too, right Lo?” Patton asked, frowning at Logan. “It’s a lot safer for me to be a conduit than you and having a living conduit gives you more control over your reactions.”

“I know,” Logan snapped. “I’m the one who’s actually studying alchemy. I’m perfectly capable of controlling my own reactions without your help.”

“Come on,” Roman cut in before anyone could get more heated. “Let’s head over to the others and worry about this later.”

“No,” Logan snarled, “We can worry about this now.” He twisted away from Roman and threw both of his arms down to his sides, ignoring how his mangled arm twitched. “I’m sick of you all thinking I’m incompetent. I make mistakes sometimes, we all do, but I know what I’m doing. I have worked too hard for you all to keep acting like I need you to hold my hands. I don’t need your pity and I don’t need your help.”

Roman lunged forward and grabbed Logan’s right wrist, both of them ignoring the tears welling up in Logan’s eyes.

“We’re not helping you because we pity you,” Roman growled. “We’re not helping you because we think you aren’t good enough by yourself. We’re helping you because you’re too smart for your own good and you worry us sick with how little you care about your own safety. We’re helping you because just because you can do it alone doesn’t mean that you have to. So please,” he sighed and dropped Logan’s wrist. “Please let us help you.”

Logan stared Roman down for all of three seconds before he dropped his eyes with a sigh, tentatively rubbing his right wrist. “Okay.”

Roman sighed in relief. “Thank you. And I’m sorry about grabbing your wrist. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay, Roman,” Logan said softly. “It’s okay.” Logan bit his lip and without thinking, leaned up on his toes and kissed Roman.

Roman’s eyes widened and he froze, Logan’s lips shaking slightly against his. His hands drifted forward of their own accord and threaded into Logan’s hair, pulling him closer. Logan dug his nails into Roman’s back and clung to him for dear life.

After a moment they pulled apart and Roman chucked. “First kiss and I’ve already got you shirtless,” he quipped. He groaned suddenly. “Virgil is going to be so pissed that I kissed you first.”

Logan’s eyes flew open. “Oh my god,” he breathed. “I forgot you were dating Virgil.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Did you miss the part where I said he was going to be pissed that I kissed you first? I mean, if you’re only interested in me that’s fine, but Virgil and I have both been flirting with you for months.”

“Oh.”

“As sweet as this is,” Janus drawled from across the kitchen. “I would like to eat sometime tonight. Perhaps we can continue this with the raccoon actually present?”

Roman blushed. “Come on, let’s go.”

Roman, Logan, Patton, and Janus entered Remus, Virgil, and Patton’s apartment with all the grace of a herd of elephants. Remus popped his head out of the kitchen at the sound and grinned when he saw them.

“I thought I might be seeing you before tomorrow,” he crowed. “Did Pitter-Patton burn Double-D’s dinner or did the Ro-Lo tornado force you over here?”

Patton scowled lightly and swatted at Remus who batted his hand away with an oven mitt. “I burned it,” he said sullenly. “I thought I was getting better.”

“You are,” Remus said with a grin. “I don’t see any ash on you four so I assume the apartment is still standing.” He turned to yell towards the living room. “Hey Virgil, you owe me ten bucks!”

Patton and Roman made identical affronted noises.

“That’s not to say that the Roman and Logan tornado didn’t also force us out,” Janus said dryly. “Patton just managed to burn dinner first.”

“Dammit,” Remus muttered. “Hey Virgil, I also owe you ten bucks!” he called.

“Can we just say we both lost the bet and you should shut the fuck up?” came a muffled shout. “I’m studying!”

“While I am glad to shoulder the blame of any of my dear comrade’s actions,” Roman said with grace. Suddenly, he got a glint in his eye and smirked. “It was mostly Logan!” he yelped.

Logan tried to look intimidating, but his soft grin that hadn’t faded since they’d left the apartment ruined any efforts. So, he rolled his eyes and swatted Roman in the shoulder.

“Fuck!” Logan shouted, gripping the wall for support, tears welling up in his eyes. He’d smacked Roman with his right arm. His arm felt like it was pulsing along with his heartbeat and he swore he could see bone through his torn skin. Black veins started inching past his damaged forearm and up his bicep. “Oh, what did I do?” Logan hissed, finally managing to catch his breath. He stood up shakily and coughed, straightening his tie.

“My apologies,” he said, coughing to cover up a wince. “You were saying?”

“Oh, fuck no,” Remus cut in, eyes wide. “You need a doctor like now. At least let Virgil look at you if you won’t go to the damn hospital.”

Logan sighed. “I don’t need to go to the hospital. I’m fine. And Virgil is busy studying.”

“Uh, no, I’m not.” Five sets of eyes swung over to the end of the hall where Virgil was standing, his couch and books abandoned. He flushed and ducked his head. “Yeah, I was pretending to study so Remus would leave me alone and not make me help cook,” he admitted. “That went out the door when you started screaming, L. What the hell happened?”

“My reaction rebounded,” Logan replied stiffly. “Despite my earlier refusal, I… could use some help.”

“Gotcha,” Virgil nodded. He gestured to the living room behind him with his head. “Come in here and lay down. Roman, come help me clear space.”

Roman nodded gravely and scurried into the room to clear off the couch so Logan could lie down right away.

“Left or right?” Virgil asked, digging through his bag and not looking at Logan.

“Right,” Logan replied curtly.

“Okay,” Virgil fell silent for a second. “Put your head closer to me so your right arm is open and your left is against the back of the couch. Roman, get him a pillow.”

Roman grabbed a pillow and Logan settled down on the couch. Meanwhile, Patton, Janus and Remus filed into the kitchen to finish dinner and to give the other three some space.

“Virgil,” Logan said quietly. “Thank you.”

Virgil brushed him off. “Shut up, nerd.” He flipped through a black leatherbound book that looked one wrong look away from falling apart. “Roman, look at me and pay attention.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “I’m listening.”

Virgil scowled. “Look at me. I need you to grab something off of my ‘fuck up’ shelf and if you grab the wrong one and I don’t notice, we could kill him.”

“You never let anyone touch your ‘fuck up’ shelf.” Roman’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah, well,” Virgil muttered, not looking at anyone. “We’re on a time crunch.”

“We aren’t,” Logan protested.

“We are,” Virgil snapped. “Whatever you did didn’t just rebound, it cast something else inside your arm. There’s a good chance that it will eat your arm if I don’t get it out.” Virgil lifted his head and looked at Roman. “Roman, look at me. Go to my room. From the door, there’s a shelf on the left, the left, with bottles. Grab the one labeled “Logan” and the one labeled “Janus” and bring them here without opening them.”

Virgil turned to Logan without watching to see if Roman listened. “Okay, you are going to be completely honest with me about what hurts, how much, and where. I could do so much damage if I don’t take something into account or if I try to fix something that isn’t there.” Virgil knelt by Logan’s side. “What hurts?”

Logan stared at the ceiling. “My forearm is either numb or burning. I can’t tell. My upper arm feels like it’s being stabbed. I’m dizzy and feel like I might throw up but that might be because I kissed Roman and I’m terrified I ruined our friendship.”

Virgil stiffened. “You kissed Roman?”

“Yeah,” Logan admitted. “I kissed Roman.”

“Okay,” Virgil said haltingly. “After I fix your arm, can I kiss you too?”

Logan smiled. “I would like that.”

Logan stretched his arm and smiled. “It feels great,” he said. “Better than before.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Because you don’t take care of yourself, L. I don’t like having to use my ‘fuck up’ jars. Don’t make me do it again.”

Roman coughed from his chair across the room. “I have to ask. What is a ‘fuck up’ jar?”

Virgil smirked. “The ones I just used? Fixes for the most likely way each of you will fuck up. Logan’s was a quick fix for a reaction that rebounds. I used Janus’s because it looked like whatever L used for his components mixed with his arm and made a poison. The jars just have standard herbs and components, so I can tweak them to fit whatever actually happens.” He smirked. “The ones on the right are components for hexes, tailored to however each of you would want to fuck someone up.”

Roman gaped. “I see why you didn’t want me to get them confused.”

“Yeah,” Virgil snorted. He shook his head and grinned at Roman. “So, I heard you kissed Logan.”

Roman blushed. “I kissed Logan.”

“Was it good?” Virgil leered, ignoring Logan’s reddening face.

“So good,” Roman teased. “So very good.”

“What about you, L?” Virgil said, lightly shoving his shoulder. “Was kissing my boyfriend good?”

Logan stared at the ceiling. “I would rather not answer that question.”

“Okay,” Virgil said, softening. “How about this one? Can I kiss you?”

Logan sat up and turned to Virgil. “Please.”

“So…” Remus drawled. “Anyone wanna guess why they’re taking so long?”

“No,” Janus snapped before that conversation could go anywhere. He was sitting at the kitchen table and scowling. Remus was bustling around the stove, pots and pans bubbling cheerfully, with a pink apron that said ‘I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled’ on it. Patton had been leaning on the counter, watching Remus, but he walked over to Janus and pulled up a chair next to him.

“Are you okay?” Patton asked.

“I’m fine,” Janus snarled.

Remus snorted without looking at them. “We know you well enough to know you’re not, Jan. What’s wrong?”

Janus huffed. “I hate this. I hate that we always end up here. I hate that I can never do something nice for my boyfriend, that you,” he jabbed a finger at Remus. “Always need to come running in to fix everything.”

“I’m really sorry I ruined your dinner, Janus,” Patton said softly.

Janus scoffed. “Patton, it was shit. I was in the bathroom trying to figure out an excuse to throw it out so we wouldn’t have to eat it before you showed up. I was ready to recruit Roman to just hex the entire kitchen and be done with it. I’m the one who always ruins things.”

“Do you think we care?” Remus cut in.

“Remus,” Patton chided.

“No, Patton,” Remus pushed. He turned around to face Janus. “I’m serious. Do you think either of us give a shit if you mess up? I love cooking for you two. I love spending time with you two. I can back off if you want me to, but I like coming in to rescue you. And Patton? Patton adores everything you do. If there was ever a person who genuinely meant ‘it’s the thought that counts,’ it would be Patton. We don’t care if you’re perfect. We lo-” he coughed. “Like you, the way you are, a lot.”

“Yeah,” Patton murmured. “We love you. A lot.”

Remus’s eyes dropped to the floor and he turned back to the stove.

“Hey, Janus,” Patton said, looking at Remus. “Can you give us a minute?”

Janus blinked. “Um, sure?”

“Okay,” Patton replied absentmindedly. He leaned over and kissed Janus on his scaly cheek. The scales sizzled slightly, but Janus didn’t flinch.

Janus swallowed heavily, his mouth suddenly dry, and stepped out of the kitchen.

“Remus,” Patton started.

“Don’t,” Remus said firmly, not looking at Patton. “I’m sorry, okay? He doesn’t know and I won’t push. He loves you and he’s happy.”

“He loves you too,” Patton insisted. “He loves you too and…” he took a breath and steeled himself. “And so do I.” Remus turned around to look at Patton. “We love you too. Remus, you have to know that. You’re with us on ¾ of our dates and you’ve heard us complain about the ones when you aren’t there. We like you, Remus.”

“I like you both,” Remus admitted. “But I like you too much. I’m too much. It’s for the best.”

“Because you feel too intensely?” Patton asked sharply. “So do I. I burn things when I get mad. Janus has to wear gloves because touching me hurts him. We work with it and we will work with you. Do you want us?”

“I want…” Remus breathed. “So much. I want to let J and L experiment on me until I can put my mouth everywhere on you. I want to lick Janus’s scales. I want to never need a blanket again because you’re cuddling me and I’m drowning in my own sweat. I want to find out how Janus’s tongue feels. I want-”

“You,” Patton finished. “I can only make guesses for Janus, but Remus, I want you too.”

“Kiss me?” Remus asked breathlessly. Patton smiled helplessly and pointed at the ceiling, a flame flickering above his finger like a birthday candle.

“Sorry,” he said.

Remus shook his head, grinning widely. “No, it’s fine. I can’t feel pain right now, so we just have to be quick enough to not do lasting damage.” Patton’s brow furrowed and Remus laughed. “The oil was splattering so I did a quick hypnotic charm on myself so it wouldn’t bother me. It wears off in about an hour; I do them all the time.”

Patton’s pupils went wide. “You,” he breathed. “Are. So. Smart,” he said, punctuating each word with a kiss pressed to Remus’s lips. “You’re smart and wonderful and-”

“Hot?” Remus teased.

“So hot,” Patton hissed, grabbing Remus’s neck and pulling him in for a searing kiss.

“We really should talk to Janus,” Remus said, licking his lips for any remaining taste of Patton.

Patton smiled, bemused. “Did you really think I would kiss you without talking to him first? We should but he probably already guessed.”

“Or,” came a voice from the doorway. “He got self-conscious wondering what you two were talking about and came back and decided to enjoy the show.”

“Hi, J,” Remus said quietly.

“Hi, Remus,” Janus responded. “Care to kiss me too?”

“Oh, hell yes,” he hissed, lunging across the room to throw himself into Janus’s arms. Janus caught him by the sides of his face and slammed their mouths together. Remus’s hands flew up to Janus’s and pulled off his gloves, reveling in the feeling of cold scales on his right and a warm, clammy hand on his left.

Remus pulled back for a second, smiling at the small whine that escaped Janus. “I love you,” he whispered, before crashing back into him.

By the time the six of them actually sat down to eat, they were all beaming with suspiciously red mouths.

“So,” Remus said with a glint in his eyes. “Are double dates going to be six people now?”

Janus cuffed him upside the head, but the sparkle in his eyes matched Remus’s and he was doing a terrible job of hiding his laugh. He sat down next to Remus and slipped off his gloves to eat. Remus snagged the left glove with a wink and sat down between Janus and Patton, sliding his newly gloved hand under the table.

“Maybe we should swap Janus out for Virgil,” Roman teased, smirking at his brother.

“Oooo!” Remus cheered gleefully, “I’d take that trade.”

“We’re not trading,” Virgil deadpanned. “Living with these two hazards to society, I would probably die of stress in a week.”

“Oh, you love us, Doctor Gloom,” Roman snapped goodnaturedly.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Doctor Do-the-Most.”

“As much as I would enjoy spending more time with Virgil,” Logan cut in. “I do rather enjoy living with Janus.”

“Relax, Sub-astute Teacher,” Roman groaned with a grin. “We’re not actually swapping roommates. Janus knows too many secrets for me to let him leave.”

“I was almost flattered, but then Roman opened his mouth and I remembered why I should have known better,” Janus deadpanned, not looking at any of them.

“You know you love me,” Roman taunted.

“Really?” Janus said, locking eyes with Roman. “I had thought the fact that your brother’s tongue has been in my mouth would make you less inclined to carry on our sordid affair.”

“But however shall I go on without it?” Roman faked a swoon. “It is the only excitement in my dull and pitiable life!”

“Alas,” Janus cried, swooning as well. “It cannot be, for as I am bound to my loves so are you to the bitchy raccoon who would punch my teeth out if we were ever to be amorous.”

“Bitchy racoon!” Virgil yelped indignantly.

Janus smirked. “You’re the one who assumed I was talking about you.”

“I love that you’re more upset that he called you a bitchy raccoon than that he said he was having an affair with your boyfriend,” Roman said, sitting up with a grin.

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, any excuse to punch Janus, but if you two really wanted to, I wouldn’t try and stop you.”

Janus coughed. “Well. This just got uncomfortably honest.”

“Yeah.” Roman winced.

“Sorry?” Virgil said hesitantly. “I mean, was I supposed to say I’d try to control your love life? Our relationship has never been like that.”

“You do know we’re joking, right?” Janus said suddenly. “I’m not interested in Roman. At all.”

Roman let out an affronted gasp and grinned. “Well, my ego had been irreversibly damaged, but same. Flirting with you is fun but I’m not interested in anything more than that.”

“Well, now I know that.” Virgil muttered.

“Did you really not know they were only joke-flirting?” Logan asked. “Roman doesn’t look at Janus the way he looks at you. Janus doesn’t look at Roman the way he looks at Remus and Patton.”

“How does Janus look at me?” Patton spoke up.

Janus flushed. “You don’t have to answer that-”

“Like you hung the moon,” Logan answered. “He looks at you like you hung the moon and the stars, like he’d learn how to hang them himself if it would make you smile.”

“How does he look at me?” Remus mumbled.

“Like looking at the sun,” Logan said without hesitating. “He looks at you like you like everything that is is because of you and if he looked too long he would burn up.”

“Where did that come from?” Virgil asked incredulously.

Logan’s eyes dropped. “I have an appreciation for poetry.”

“Well, now I have to ask,” Roman murmured. “What do you see when you look at me and Virgil? How do you look at us?”

Logan looked up and caught Roman’s eyes like he was the only person in the world. “I see someone who’s not afraid to try, who makes me be not afraid to try. I see someone who could stand next to galaxies and still shine brighter. I see someone was given countless opportunities to be selfish and chose to be kind. I see someone that I could picture myself falling in love with.”

He turned to Virgil, biting his lip. “I look at you and I see someone who took their fear and made it a strength. I see someone who is loyal to a fault, but strong, stubborn, and determined enough to be loyal anyway. I see someone who I could spend the rest of my life learning and still always find something new that makes you worth knowing. I see someone I could see myself falling in love with.”

“Oh my god,” Roman whispered to Virgil. “He’s perfect.”

Virgil barked a laugh, startled out of his trance. “We already knew that, Princey.”

Remus was sitting between Janus and Patton. He hadn’t eaten a bite because both of them had silently grabbed his hands at some point and there was absolutely no way in hell that he was letting go.

Patton squeezed his hand gently and he melted. Remus had been gone on Janus since about a week after they’d met in freshman year. Janus had sat down next to him in a basic introduction to potions class and immediately started complaining about his roommate. Remus still wasn’t sure if Janus had thought he was Roman and was too embarrassed to admit it after realizing his mistake or if Janus really just walked up to a stranger to complain about his roommate. Remus had, of course, taken his complaints as a challenge, to simultaneously be worse than the roommate and to terrorize the school into assigning Janus a new roommate. Remus liked to believe he had succeeded on both fronts, but considering Janus was now dating him, the first one was probably a failure.

Remus was very okay with being a failure in that particular venture. Janus was amazing.

Then there was Patton. Remus had hated Roman for introducing Patton and Janus because they had fallen for each other hard and fast. The day Janus started wearing heat resistant clothes and gloves everywhere was the day Remus decided that if he ever met Patton, he was going to steal his liver. Then this absolutely adorable little fireball with a smile like the sun waltzes into Remus’s psychology class, asks to sit next to him, and absconds with the remains of Remus’s heart. Remus would do anything for either one of them, including keep his silence. He let times hanging out with one of them become dates he third-wheeled on without saying anything; he made sure they ate and ate well, putting to use the skills he’d learned growing up with busy parents who always had time to make dinner but never time to make anything interesting; he listened to them gush about each other and only cried a little bit after he was alone. He took what they were willing to give him and enjoyed it, because they were happy and he loved seeing them happy; he was happy and it was enough.

But as always, then there was Patton, who saw too much and couldn’t stand by if he saw someone hurting. Remus was utterly terrified that they were just indulging him, that they felt guilty about his jealousy, but Remus wasn’t noble or chivalrous; he was selfish and, at least for now, he would take.

Patton had never been more scared in his life. He squeezed Remus’s hand and practically squealed when Remus squeezed his back. There were so many things that could go wrong, not the least of which was that the two of them would get tired of having a boyfriend that they could barely touch and leave him. Patton adored Janus and had practically swooned when he’d first talked to Remus. They were sweet and wonderful and perfect for each other. If that meant that they weren’t perfect for Patton, then he was pretty sure he loved them enough that he’d rather see them happy. But for now, Janus was smiling at him and Remus was holding his hand and as scared as he was about the future, Patton had never been happier.

Janus was feeling a lot of things. Mostly uncomfortable. He was still hung up on the short conversation he’d had with Virgil and Roman when they’d first sat down. It was no secret that Janus and Roman were close. Janus had only met Remus because he’d mixed him up with Roman in his frustration and by the time he’d noticed, he was enjoying Remus’s company. Janus had feelings for Roman, but they had only ever been platonic. Virgil, on the other hand, had been the subject of more romantic fantasies than Janus would care to admit. They’d been friends as kids, close in middle school, drifted apart in high school, and ended up at the same college. Except they’d done more than drift apart in high school. Janus developed a crush on Virgil and like the exceptionally smart 14 year old he was, he’d stopped hanging out with him and started being rude. Virgil eventually blew up on him their sophomore year, screaming painfully specific insults and obscenities in the middle of the cafeteria. They didn’t talk again until Roman tried to introduce them their freshman year of college. It had been awkward and they never really got close again, but they were back on speaking terms.

It still hurt, hearing Virgil remind him of exactly how badly he’d messed up. ‘Any excuse to punch Janus.’ In Janus’s opinion, any excuse for Virgil to punch Janus was probably fair.

Remus looked over at him, his mouth barely pinched and his brow slightly furrowed. He squeezed Janus’s hand.

Janus smiled and squeezed his hand back. He leaned over and dropped his head onto Remus’s shoulder.

“Love you,” Remus whispered into his hair.

Janus squeezed his hand. “You too.”

86 notes · View notes

nakahara-umi · 3 years

Note

Hello hello! Bear with me cause this is gonna be odd. Could I request Dazai meeting someone who has basically been thrown from their universe where abilities are common (MHA, Avatar, FMAB, etc) to his world and due to the fact of them not being from his world his ability doesn't work. How would he react to that?

First of all, I´m really sorry this took me so long, I had been busy with the stress of my school and didn´t got enough inspiration. But finally I´m free from school and I can write again.

Oh my Gosh, this one was really hard hehe! It took me a lot to decide since I haven´t seen a lot of animes or series where the characters use superpowers. So I got inspired by the psychic powers from mob psycho 100 universe. This fic is a long one compared to the others I´ve written before, so I hope you enjoy this, and again, I´m really sorry.

Dazai x AU female reader: “You´re weirdest person I´ve ever met”

When you woke up this morning you didn´t expected to be transported from your universe to another one. Things were supposed to be as normal as any other day, you woke up, got dressed and went to work, but when you were heading towards home to have dinner, it was when everything became strange, in a thing of some seconds, a really strange light appeared in front of you, not even giving you time to process what was happening, and suddenly you were in a different place from your city.

When your eyes adjusted your vision, blurred from the sudden flash of light, you were really shocked. You had never been more confused and scared in your life, the first thing you noticed was the time. In this new place it looked like it was at noon, when moments before, in your city it was late afternoon. It seemed the light produced commotion in this place because people looked scared and were staring at you like if you were a criminal or worse.

You started panicking as people started asking you stuff like “who are you?” Or “what was that light?” Of course you didn´t know, you were the most confused out of all, but you were grateful that at least they spoke your language. The anxiety got worse as a group of police officers appeared and didn´t let you go, as if you had any place to go. You tried to explain your situation and ask them for help, but they thought you were some kind of terrorist trying to fool them. Things got a lot worse when you talked to them about your city, and that´s when you realized what was happening, the socking and unbelievable truth.

They told you your city doesn’t even exist, and with that you got more suspicious of the situation, and you finally could confirm your theory when you asked one of them where you were.

-You appeared out of nowhere and now you act as if you didn´t know. Of course this is Yokohama city.

-Oh my god this can´t be happening! – You almost shouted as panic started running through your body and soul, placing your hands in your head as you started walking in circles, desperate to go back to your world.

-Stop acting innocent, girl. We know you might be an ability user, so the ADA is coming.

-And what the hell is that!? – You screamed, tired and really stressed. – And ability user? In my world we are called espers!

-Ah ha! You just admitted you have an ability! And stop talking about “your world”, we know you are lying.

-You didn´t answer my question!

-ADA, the Armed Detective Agency, I can´t believe you haven´t heard of them.

“Armed”, are they going to attack me? Was the first thing you thought, you weren´t sure about what to do. You felt a cold shiver down your spine, the fear made your body froze, would you try to escape or attack them as well with your psychic powers? Everything was happening really fast and your fear was getting a lot more obvious when you started trembling. At the end you decided the best option was to wait and see what they would do to you, and if they tried to rise a gun against you, would definitely defend yourself.

It was after almost fifteen minutes when two strange guys arrived. One was tall, with brown short hair and strangely, covered with bandages, visible in his neck and arms. The other one had silver hair, his eyes been both purple and yellow color. You thought at first they were just some curious guys trying to see what was going on, but when they showed their licenses and started asking details about you and your sudden appearance was when you realized they were, in fact, those members of the ADA.

You thought they would look more… terrifying, you thought they would arrive holding a lot of guns, but they looked really simple, like any other normal person would.

-Thanks for coming. – Said one police officer.

-Of course I would come. If the case involves a beautiful woman like the one my lucky eyes are seeing now, I´d feel honored to participate. – He said as he looked at you. You inevitably blushed at the compliment, looking away because of the embarrassment.

You wouldn’t lie, he was pretty handsome, and if you had met him under different circumstances, you would ask him on a date.

-Dazai san, please. – Said his partner. – So you said she appeared after a sudden flash almost blinded everyone on the street, right? – He continued, talking to the police officer.

-Yeah, that´s what the witnesses have told us. She looks suspicious and because of how she arrived here, we think she must have an ability. But she keeps avoiding telling the truth and keeps talking about a city doesn’t exist, she even mentioned something about es.. eh…

-Espers. - Said the officer that was talking to you moments before.

-Yeah, that! Thanks.

-Hmm, that indeed sound suspicious, she might be from an organization like Guild. –Dazai said.

-So are we going to take her under our custody? – Said the silver haired one.

-I think that must be the best for now, Atsushi – kun, at least until we start investigating and discover her true intentions.

The only thing you could do was to stand aside and watch them decide over you. You were really frustrated and upset, they didn´t even tried to understand you. They only were thinking of you as a criminal and the anger was starting rising inside your heart. Your situation was getting more and more complicated by every passing second and the least you wanted was to be imprisoned in an alternative universe jail.

-Would you accompany us, miss? – Said Atsushi.

-What are you going to do to me? Why won´t you believe in me? – You asked, on the verge of tears.

-Don´t worry beautiful woman, we won´t attack you.

-Yeah, the worst thing that can happen to you is Dazai – san trying to convince you to commit double suicide with him.

-Atsushi – kun, your words hurt mee!!

-Huh? – They´re strange, you thought. You were still worried about what they would do to you, but if they really are detectives that will investigate your case maybe they´ll discover something about what happened and even help you. You did nothing wrong, you didn´t have to worry about that. So you decided the best option for you at that moment was to follow them.

-O- okay…

With that, they guided you to follow them. You walked some streets in silence when Atsushi started a conversation.

-Tell us miss, if you are not really from this world, how is yours?

-Eh? Will you really believe in me?

-If we live in a world where people can have powers, I think everything is possible, maybe there´s someone who´s ability is travel in universes?

You were delighted to hear that. That increased your hopes to be returned to your universe if they can find the responsible, and they seemed to be nice persons.

-Atsushi – kun is right. Everything is possible, and I must admit I don´t want to doubt your word, miss…

-(Y/N)

-Ah, what a beautiful name for such pretty girl.

-He he… -You said, blushing. - Well, my world is not much different from this one, it seems we have the same countries, and the same languages, the only difference I can recall till this moment is that my city doesn´t exist here.

The rest of the conversation was about vague stuff, what were you doing when everything happened, if you had any enemy who would put you in this situation, and when you finally arrived to the ADA building, you couldn´t avoid a question bothering your mind anymore.

-Make yourself at home, (Y/N), please, take a sit. – Dazai said while pointing the little reception on the office.

-Thank you… eh, there´s something I want to ask.

-I´m all ears!

-I´m sorry but I must be going now, I´ve got another mission with Kyouka - chan and Tanizaki - kun.

-All right, good luck Atsushi – kun.

-Thank you.

As the silver haired left the place, waving a hand to you both, you and Dazai were completely alone. What kind of agency is this? They look like a group of amateurs. You thought. They seemed really relaxed and there wasn´t a lot of staff. You started worrying again, would they be able to help you?

-What was that question you wanted to ask, (Y/N) – san?

-Oh, right. I have been hearing a lot about abilities in this world. I would like to know how they are. What kind of powers are they?

-Hmm, well for example my ability is to nullify other´s abilities, Atsushi – kun´s is to turn partially or completely into a tiger. There are a lot of variety, a really vast amount of options, like create illusions or heal wounds, there are even weirdos who´s ability is to be immune to explosions of lemon-shaped bombs.

-Whoa, that´s amazing. In my world we can only have psychic powers.

-Psychic? Like controlling things with your mind?

Yeah, when someone becomes an esper that´s the basic power, but with practice we can develop it to make it stronger. For example, there are espers who specialize in pyrokinesis, they can create and manipulate fire, or others that can use telepathy.

-And you, (YN)?

-Me? Well, I´ve used my powers to grow my garden, that´s called chlorokinesis.

-Hmm… - That´s the only thing he told you, as he placed his hand in his chin, seeming thoughtful.

You wondered why he suddenly became silent, but when you were going to ask him what was wrong, his cellphone started ringing and he answered, becoming visibly worried.

-All right, I´ll be there in a moment. Well, (Y/N) – san. I´ve got a sudden job to attend, but I can´t leave you alone until we´ve properly investigated your case, and because you have powers, so you´re coming with me.

-What...

-We must hurry.

He said while standing up and running, you had to go after him as fast as you could. What is happening now? Will he ask me to fight? That´s worse to be imprisoned! You had never used your powers to fight, so you were unsure about how to use them. You started panicking again when you and Dazai stopped in an alley.

There were some guys and seemed like gang members, they looked very powerful and had guns. At that moment you unconsciously started crying, this time the fear was unbearable and your body was trembling as if you were in a frozen room.

-Why me? – You whispered. – Why do I have to be here!? – You shouted this time.

-Calm down, (Y/N) - san.

-Aren´t you scared, Dazai – san?

-Ha ha ha! Of course not. – He said as he pointed his gun towards them. – But I think I may need a little bit of your help.

-How!?

-If you can stop their bullets with your powers, that´ll be perfect.

This situation couldn´t get worse. When those guys raised their weapons you had to summon your powers from within your mind and create a barrier between them and you both. All your body gleamed with a rainbow aura and the shield was clearly visible. It wasn´t that hard, the problem was if it would resist the impact of the shooting.

-They´re ability users! - One of them screamed. When they started shooting it required all of your mental strength and concentration to maintain it, but it resisted long enough until you heard they ran out of bullets.

-That´s enough, thanks. – With that you dissolved the shield and Dazai started walking towards them. When one of them tried to reach him you immobilized him so he couldn´t punch Dazai. The rest tried to ran away, taking with them a strange and suspicious briefcase.

-(Y/N), don´t let them go.

You stopped them as well. The strength needed was more than the usual you´re used to manipulate, so no long after you started feeling a headache, but you still did your best in order to help. Dazai took from them the briefcase and when he opened it there were a lot of gemstones.

-Wow! Despite your bad reputation, I must admit you have good taste! – Dazai told them. – (Y/N), you can stop, we´re leaving now, the police is coming.

-I don´t know how!

-What?

-My mind is blocked, I can´t…. - You started feeling blood coming out from your nose.

-Alright, maybe you need some help. - He reached your check and a blue light emanated from his hand. Nothing happened, you still felt your body tensed and your brain still was feeling pain.

-What… Oh… - He realized everything at the moment. -Well, it seems you were telling us the truth all this time. I´m sorry, (YN) but you will have to faint. – And like if he was a magician, you immediately fainted.

Dazai caught you, preventing your body to fall to the ground. At that moment the criminals were freed but the policy arrived at the exact moment just in time to arrest them. He gave them the briefcase, cleaned the blood from your face and carried you bride style back to the ADA.

Everything makes sense. If you´re not from this universe then out powers are a lot more different than they seem, and in result, my ability cannot nullify your psychic power. That´s really interesting, my guess was right. You´re really weird, pretty (Y/N). But now the wonder is… The one who brought you here is from my world or yours?

#Dazai Osamu #bsd dazai #dazai x reader #dazai osamu x reader #dazai osamu x you #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungo stray dogs fanfic

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teddybasmanov · 3 years

Text

I bring to you comrades two d(a)emon song takes – one very basic and one a little less.

First take – very basic:

I’m going to play devil’s advocate here a little. Let’s suppose that Vega wasn’t always such a sick psycho and something (not one big something necessarily, maybe a lot of little somethings) must have messed him up. Then he did what he did and got locked up (for good). Now the demon listener from the department is working with him (on him?). Let’s suppose they get closer and Vega starts feeling that weird emotion towards the inchoate. It’s called trust, you cold-hearted idiot.

Second take – a little less basic:

Somebody, please comfort Cam. Please. I’ve got a song which originally was about my stupid teenage drama freshman year of high school, then it was about how afraid I was of “The Cost” and then the aftermath of “The Cost” happened and it (especially the last part) fits out poor serenity daemon pretty well.

The Songs with my commentaries are below the cut (it’s long).

First take:

Now Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend” fits perfectly (here should be a rant about how it’s literally the only song of hers I know and that I only know it because of a “Steven Universe” animatic and that I have an odd need to justify knowing pop songs):

[Chorus]

What do you want from me? Why don't you run from me?

What are you wondering? What do you know?

Why aren't you scared of me? Why do you care for me?

When we all fall asleep, where do we go?

This is fairly obvious – the listener is not scared of him and unexpectedly cares about him and he isn’t sure what do they actually want from him and how much do they know about him (and probably if they’re falling for his manipulations).

Come here

Say it, spit it out, what is it exactly

You're payin'? Is the amount cleanin' you out? Am I satisfactory?

Again the fact that he can’t guess what they want from him and what’s their game drives him crazy.

Today, I'm thinkin' about the things that are deadly

The way I'm drinkin' you down

Like I wanna drown, like I wanna end me

At some point he might just say “Screw it!” and trust the listener completely even if just for one talk (session?) just to know how it feels to turn the manipulation off.

Step on the glass, staple your tongue

This unexpectedly calls up a line from the other song I’m going to talk about – step on the glass if its contents are already drunk and you don’t need it anymore. That and the whole “bury a friend” thing might be referring to the something that messed him up.

Bury a friend, try to wake up

Cannibal class, killing the son

Bury a friend, I wanna end me

[Chorus]

Listen

Keep you in the dark, what had you expected?

Me to make you my art and make you a star

And get you connected?

He still mostly tries to manipulate the listener and gaslights them when they try to remind him that he was starting to act more openly.

I'll meet you in the park, I'll be calm and collected

But we knew right from the start that you'd fall apart

'Cause I'm too expensive

He mocks them a lot and tells them he’s definitely too complicated for them and he’s going to break them eventually.

It's probably somethin' that shouldn't be said out loud

Honestly, I thought that I would be dead by now (Wow)

Calling security, keepin' my head held down

Bury the hatchet or bury a friend right now

The listener might snap at some point too and, you know, use the fact that they are actually with the department and that Vega is actually a prisoner.

The debt I owe, gotta sell my soul

'Cause I can't say no, no, I can't say no

Then my limbs all froze and my eyes won't close

And I can't say no, I can't say no

Careful

Hi there, paralysis! And maybe, hi there, another reference to something that messed him up. Yes, I know, it’s a cliché that the abused uses the same behaviour as the abuser but I’ve warned you that it’s basic.

[Stuff just repeats again]

Second take:

It’s “Songs of the Unloved” by “Aquarium” (translation mine):

Songs of the unloved.

Songs of the thrown away

Buried without a name.

Immured in the night

Songs of the scratched out from the lists.

Songs of the thrown onto the ice.

The song of the no longer needed

Sounds, does not stop.

He feels useless because he has to bring serenity but he can’t because of the stuff going through his head. He probably also feels used and disposed of.

We have a good school -

Light up from burning snakes;

Rip out your own heart

To become even angrier.

Keep the head underwater

Do not let to inhale;

And break off the blade after the hit

Because God is with us.

Pain and indifference make good people cruel.

Step on the glass

If it was drunk;

Head in a noose

And out with belongings.

Lord open up to me

The Mystery of Being;

Look into my eyes

And say that this is Your will.

Again. The same thing – destroyed when becomes useless. The whole song is basically about the same thing. And it hurts.

You can wait a long time for the sun

Looking with blind eyes at the zenith;

We had a crystal bell inside.

It has been stepped on; it doesn’t ring anymore.

Oh my god, do I even need to say something here? Thinking about this line makes me cry.

This music is older than the world;

It is ridiculous and funny;

But I will dance to it

Even if it is not audible.

For an affectionate soul -

An iron dress.

With blood on the sand -

‘All people are brothers’.

I don’t need anymore Your

Mysteries of Being.

Just look into my eyes

And say that this is Your will.

All the soft and caring people get ruined by this world. It hurts so much that I don’t want to know why. I just need to know that somebody knows.

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so gloomy but the last Camelopardalis audio and this song both are just so dark and hopeless.

If anybody wants to write a songfic (or two) – be my guest, I’ll probably never get to.

#redacted asmr #redacted vega #redacted cam #songfic #?#d(a)emons #I'm just dumping on you whatever comes up in my head #billie eilish #aquarium

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meetthemoosemonster · 3 years

Link

Summary:

AU where Ranboo goes to Sam and asks him to Lock him up in the prison to stop himself from doing what ever hes doing when hes sleep walking. AKA Ranboo tries to make a self destructive decision, and Sam is a Responsible Adult, and offers him support. Also, Sam has four arms because I think thats perfect for his character, fight me.

Note: If any of the creators mentioned in this state that they are uncomfortable with this fic, or the topics in this fic being written about them, I will take it down as soon as I know. Also, this is based off the characters, and not the actual content creators.

CW: Panic attacks Mild injury Mentions of prison Manipulation(but just c!Dream being himself) If I missed one please tell me so I can fix it!

Enjoy the fic!

Fic under cut for anyone who doesn't want to leave tumblr.

And remember, reblogs fuel the writing braincell!

The ding of someone joining a voice call echoed in Ranboos ears

"s- Sam?" The enderboys hand shook over the button that summoned the Warden to the entrance of Pandora's Vault. He was hyper aware of the buzzing purple particles that surrounded his lanky form, and the uncontrollable vwoops and crackles that came from his mouth.

"Ranboo? I told you you weren't allowed to visit the prison anymore. You need to leave. Now." Sam's voice was hard, the voice of a Warden. Ranboo felt a year streak down his face as he choked back a sob. For once his mind was silent.

"I-" Ranboo took a shaky breath. "I don't want to visit, Sam."

"Then why are you here?" Concern glinted through Sam's warden persona, his voice softening ever so slightly. "I know you said you couldn't tell me what's up with you, but I can help Ranboo. It's ok if you need help." Another vwoop mixed with a sob escaped Ranboos throat, and he sunk to the ground in front of the nether portal.

"I- I-" Ranboo couldn't continue, and just squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to stop the tears that boiled his skin as they ran down his face.

"Ok, I'm coming out ok? I'll be there in a second." The boy curled up on the blackstone floor didn't say anything Sam could decipher, but the four armed man vaguely recognized that Ranboo had mumbled something in void. The sound of the nether portal geared up, and Sam walked out of the purple swirls to see the enderman hybrid curled up on the floor vibrating, his jaw slightly unhinged.

"Ranboo? Ranboo, what happened? Why are you here?" The Warden voice was gone now, and Sam could only stare down at the black and white form of a shaking child, concern furrowing his brow.

Ranboo looked up, a scared, no, terrified look etched in his face. Ranboo tried to wipe his tears away, flinching at the pain.

"I-" Ranboo could barely stay sitting up with how hard his body was violently shaking. "I ne- eed to y- you to l- lo- lock me up- p, p- please." More tears spilled out of his eyes, and Sam immediately dropped to the ground at those shaky words. Sam carefully put 2 of his arms behind the shaking figure next to him, trying to offer support. Ranboo flinched at first, not comprehending what Sam was doing. But then he fell back into the arms, letting them hold him up.

"Why would I lock you up? What ever happened with the books you signed doesn't warrant being put in the prison?" Ranboo tensed at the words, but Sam couldn't tell if it was the mention of the books, or the prison that caused Ranboos reaction. "Ranboo, seriously, what's wrong? I promise I won't be upset if something happened." Ranboo just shook his head repeatedly, and pulled his knees closer to his chest.

"You k- know how I have a r- really bad me- memo- memory?" Sam slowly nodded, and Ranboo continued. "Well, I've been hav- having these l- long periods of t- time that I don't remember anything, and and and," Ranboo paused, and took a deep breath. "And my tools have been used, and things are missing, and I don't have anything wr- written down in my memory book." Ranboo looked cautiously at Sam, how nodded gently as if to say 'go on'. Ranboo swallowed.

"A-and I'm, I- I think I've been helping D- Dr- Dream when I'm like that…'' More choked sobs mixed with enderman sounds echoed on the walls, and the vibrating particles buzzed like angry bees in Sam's ears. He could hear his heart beating louder in his chest at Ranboos fearful confession. But Sam pushed down the shock, and tried to comfortingly shush the boy.

"Shhh, Shhhh, it's gonna be ok Ranboo. You obviously didn't want to h-"

"I blew up the community house Sam." Ranboos' voice sounded resigned now, his body and brain exhausted from the panic that still coursed through the kid's body. Sam didn't know what to say, he looked stunned. Sam had been on the server for a long time, longer than most of the people who now inhabited this world. He had memories of the community house, before all the wars, all the chaos and pain and violence that plagued the Dream SMP. When he'd seen it had been blown up, he had to mourn for a bit, mourn the symbol of a more peaceful past.

"And Dream gave me one of Tommy's disks. At- At least that's what Dream told me. Or his voice. I- I don't know what's real anymore anyway." Ranboo said the last sentence in Void, too tired to even notice that he was slipping into his native tongue. Sam retracted his arms, still shocked. Ranboo noticed the loss of support and just laid his head on his knees and closed his eyes, not really caring what happened next.

"Ranboo…" Sam trailed off and they just sat in a tense silence. After a couple seconds Sam shook his head to clear it. "Ranboo, what do you mean Dream's voice?"

"I hear his voice in my head s-sometimes. He usually tells me what I did, where I hid evidence, what I'm doing wr- wrong." Ranboos body was still tense, but he was eerily still and quiet in contrast to how he was a few minutes ago. Then Sam felt Ranboos red and green gaze meet his, urgency in his eyes." Sam, you need to lock me up, I can't be allowed to do anymore harm. I'm too dangerous. Please Sam, please, you have to, it's the only way. I can't stop it on my own, I don't know how." Ranboo was crying again, his face tightening in pain. "...please…" Ranboos' voice cracked, and he hung his head again, not even reacting when Sam carefully wrapped all 4 of his arms protectively around the half enderman.

"I'm not gonna put you in the prison, Ranboo. You're a kid." Sam's voice was tight with anger at Dream, at the server that had told these children that it was somehow their fault, and that their slip ups were worse than all the adults' slip ups.

"But I can't be trusted, I'm going to hurt someone, I can't hurt anyone." Ranboo leaned against Sam anyway, yearning for comfort, even if he thought it was gonna the last time he'd get it.

"There are other ways to make sure you don't do something bad when you black out. We'll figure it out, but I'm not letting you in that prison. You're just a kid." Sam reached around Ranboo and got out his comms. "Is there anyone I can ask to watch you to make sure you don't run off until we figure out a better system? If not I can stay with you for a bit." He looked down at Ranboos split colored hair, the boy curled up in his embrace.

"I don't know, I- I don't want to bother anyone."

"Ok. But you're not bothering anyone, you're asking for help. How about this, you're staying with Techno and Phil in the snow biome right now, right?" Ranboo nodded hesitantly. "I'm going to message them telling them that you're with me, and you might need someone to watch over you for a couple days. We'll figure it out from there, ok?" Ranboo stirred slightly. a soft him of agreement came from the boy, and Sam smiled slightly as he typed out the message to Technoblade and Philza. "You're going to be ok, I'm gonna to help you. You're safe now." Slowly Ranboo dozed off in Sam's arms. After a bit Techno showed up at the prison, looking concerned, even though he still stood with the confidence of a man who could blow up nations without a second thought. The Blades face softened when he saw Ranboo sleeping peacefully in Sam's arms. Sam looked up and smiled.

"Good, you're here, my arms were going numb." Sam joked quietly, then he carefully stood up softly shook the enderboys shoulder to wake him up. Ranboo blinked as he tried to wake up, but he was still exhausted and sleepy.

"Sam? What's happening?" Sam smiled.

"Technos here to take you home, is that ok? Ranboo nodded, and stumbled over to Techno, and leaned his tall frame against the pigmans slightly shorter one.

"Keep an eye on him, ok? Things just got more complicated, and he doesn't deserve to be put through anymore then he already has." Sam looked worriedly at Ranboo, who was already falling asleep on Technos shoulder.

"Uhh, ok?" Techno looked confused, but carefully lead Ranboo away from the prison to the nether portal that's would take them home. Sam watched them go, then turned around and re-entered the prison, his face hardening as he made his way to the center of the prison. He needed to have another chat with Dream.

#ranboo #awesamdude #ranboo fanfic #awesamdude fanfic #dream smp #dsmp #angst #fluff #hurt / comfort #fanfic #ao3 #my writing #fanfiction #dsmp fanfic #dream smp fanfiction #pls reblog!

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cupofteaguk · 4 years

Text

come over here and make me

FROM THE PETALS COLLECTION

[pairing] :: yoongi x fem!reader

[genre] :: best friend au + fluff

[word count] :: 2.1k

[note] :: taken from my old nct blog. i don’t write for nct anything + i don’t see myself ever posting this fic under nct anymore but i have a soft spot for this story and still wanted to post it.

It’s horrible. Disgusting, even. Dreadful and shameful and shocking and ghastly all at once. Seriously, the boy could not come up with enough terrible words to describe his feelings and the unpleasant sensation coursing through his body and hitting upon every nerve underneath his skin—the feeling of responsibility. The feeling of having to take care of someone just to avoid the guilt that usually accompanies leaving someone behind, not that he sees you as unnecessary baggage or weight or an obligation or a problem, it’s just that now you are completely and utterly—!

“Shitfaced,” Yoongi hisses, wrapping an arm around your waist to keep you upright and grounded—okay maybe grounded was too generous of a world to describe you and your current state of mind, because you’re lopsided and rocky and he’s sure that if he left you on your own you would tip over and that would be a new problem in it of itself. “Absolutely shitfaced. How could you be so fucking stupid?”

“I’m not stupid,” You manage weakly, stumbling on one of the steps and he has half a mind to just leave you at the base of the stairs and spend the potential two and a half hours it would take you to sober up from this mess. However, the thought of the alcohol poisoning your liver or sending bile upwards keeps him at bay, keeps him rooted to your side. Besides, he would never leave you to fend for yourself. Min Yoongi may be the star of the basketball team, easy on the eyes and the words and a certain disarming gummy smile, who fucked around and definitely did not do the whole emotions and feelings thing, but like most seemingly perfect systems, this one had a kink, a flaw. A weakness, one that takes the form of bright eyes, soft hair he loves to curl his finger around, cheerful smile, nerdy and unique habits that make his heart spike: you.

He likes to think that he’s not soft without a purpose, likes to rationalize with himself that there must be some reason as to why you of all people continue to get under his skin time and time again, why he naturally gravitated back towards you. It might be time, how you probably knew him better than anyone else, how comfortable he felt under your presence. It might be reassurance, how being with you and talking to you and sitting with you are all just as easy as breathing. Most of all, it might be because he’s a tad bit too in love with you, but you’d have to get him very drunk to get him to admit that (which explains why a certain Jung Hoseok knows one of his deepest and darkest secrets).

But the debate (or the discussion) regarding Min Yoongi being in love with you is far from the point of tonight, because the tables have turned and a dare has switched the roles and he’s been reduced to dragging your drunk ass up the flight of stairs to his apartment and god, you were so fucking heavy with all that dead weight.

“Remind me to never let you get near Jimin again,” He sneers under his breath, mentally cursing out the boy who had offered the shot of vodka to you in the first place. “I swear to god, I leave you alone for two fucking seconds—!”

“M’not my fault!” You whine, at least having the conscious decency to stay leaning against the wall that Yoongi has propped you against in order to dig around his pockets for his keys. “It was good…”

“You’re stupid,” He repeats with a shake of his head, unlocking the door and kicking it open long enough to help you inside. You’re no stranger to his apartment, practically living in it on the nights you spend studying with him or playing video games or, once again, just being in each other’s presence. It’s one of his favorite ways to pass the time, but you’d have to get him drunk to admit that one as well. He distracts himself by dragging you towards the couch, easing you down onto the cushion. “You stay here, lemme grab you a sweater.”

You hum, falling back against the surface. “I love it when you give orders.”

Min Yoongi has only gotten you drunk out of your mind a grand total of three times within the long period of time the pair of you have spent growing up together, so how could he have forgotten that you’re the type of affectionate, say-whatever-the-fuck-is-on-your-mind type of drunk and it has a tendency to drive him crazy. Not bad crazy, but the kind of crazy that almost makes him want to kiss you and confirm the fact that your lips are even softer than he’s spent way too long fantasizing about.

He swallows thickly to dispel himself of those thoughts. “Shut up,” He manages long enough to make his escape, disappearing into the hallway and reappearing a few moments later with a sweater from his closet. “Here,” He says, reappearing just to toss you the garment.

He’s about to turn and go back to grab some blankets for you before your whining interrupts the thought process. He sighs, turning on his heel again to find you desperately trying to find the zipper of your dress, twisting your body uselessly and arms unable to bend back far enough to reach it. You make a face, scrunching your face up, nose wrinkling and in spite of his exhaustion and the alcohol overpowering the previous adrenaline, he can’t help but quirk up the corner of his lips. Cute.

He approaches you, sitting next to you on the couch and turning your body to the side, making quick haste to unzip your dress—not that the gesture makes him uncomfortable and not that he’s never done it before, but the action seems so private and intimate and romantic, which would normally make him want to fling himself off a cliff but with you it’s different. With you, it’s clammy hands and racing hearts and shaky breaths and just so beyond the typical Min Yoongi image that he desperately longs to separate himself from it at every possible moment. Weak, that’s what he was. With you, he’s just weak and pliable and easy to manipulate and an idiot.

Yoongi practically tears the zipper down, flinging himself off the couch as soon as he catches sight of the skin of your back, shutting his eyes as he throws his body down on the floor. “D-Did I get it?” He inquires shakily, actually super glad that you’re drunk and likely won’t remember any of the stupid shit he could potentially say or do during a duration of the night. Finally, he wills himself to look up at you. “Do you need help with—oh my god, Y/N!” He exclaims, throwing his hands over his eyes, the image of you stripping your dress off still very clear and very vivid in his mind. “A little warning next time, will you?”

“Yoongi, I need help,” You manage, your voice muffled by what sounds like a pillow. “I can’t put your sweater on… Yoongi!”

He grits his teeth together, repeating the affirmation of your current state of mind and how you didn’t know any better, and how you couldn’t have known about his own personal feelings for you when no one else knows—except him and Hoseok, but besides the point.

“Fine, fine, you big baby,” He scolds, throwing his hands down at his side and gazing down at your figure collapsed on the couch. From the light of his apartment, it’s hard to miss the black undergarments you’ve slipped yourself into, the hemline where fabric meets skin, so he works hard on distracting himself by grabbing his sweater on the other end of the couch. “Sit up for me.”

You groan, but follow his order by arising on the cushion, watching him with wide, glassy eyes. “Yoongi,” You start, continuing to gaze up at him as he busies with straightening out the sweater in order to make it easy to slip onto you. “You’re really pretty—did you know that?”

He stiffens slightly, heart ramming as he swallows, pinning you with a confused stare that completely goes over your head.

The corner of your lips turn up into a smile. “Like, really pretty. Your hair always looks soft, and so does your face. Your eyes get this little sparkle when you smile, and your jawline…”

“Y/N,” He interrupts, approaching you and raising the sweater up, watching as you raise your own arms up to help him slip the material over your head. “Shut up.”

“I thought you liked it when people complicated you!” You retort, your statement muffled by the sweater. “I know you pretend not to, but I see that little smile you get when you think no one is watching. You always try to look really cold and calculating in front of everyone, you try to look like nothing bothers you, but you’re just a dork.” Your head pops through the top of the sweater. “You smell really good too.”

In spite of the words you say having an effect on his mind, his heart, his nerves, he can’t help the smile that spreads itself across his lips at your scattered mess of a brain. He reaches over, running his fingers through your hair. “Go to sleep,” He says instead, turning around to go into the kitchen, probably to get some medicine and some water for you for the morning after.

“You smell amazing Yoongi,” You continue as if you hadn’t heard him at all. “Like, really good. Like a boy. Girls smell too soft and sweet most of the time, too floral, you know? But you smell sturdy. Sturdy and a little bit of pine. Outdoorsy. I didn’t know you went outside so much.”

“Y/N, I say this for both my sanity and your own—but go to sleep,” He interjects just as he’s approaching you again to place the medicine and water on the coffee table. “Waking up might hurt like a bitch, you gotta just rest this off.”

You laugh. “We should go outside more, like hiking or something. Or rock climbing. It could be a date!” You sit up, eyes widening. “We should go on a date, Yoongi.”

“No, we shouldn’t.” The words, however, feel pathetic leaving his lips. It’s a very light-hearted retort on the subject matter.

“Why? You don’t want to go on a date with me?”

Yoongi rolls his eyes without contempt. “Shut up Y/N.” He turns to make his way down the hallway towards his bedroom, his mind set on adjusting his alarm to early morning so he could make you breakfast before you could wake up.

You moan, still trapped in your spot on the couch. “Come over here and make me.”

Yoongi freezes from his place in the hallway. Your voice seems to have lost its original innocent, light-hearted quality to it and is replaced with something darker, lower in pitch, husky along the edges, and his swallows.

He turns around just in time to see you stagger your way back to your feet. Despite the swaying of your body, you look less drunk than you had been a few moments ago. Yoongi’s eyes roam quickly along your frame, taking in everything from the way you wear his sweater to the dark glint in your eyes, the red of your lips and the flush of your cheeks—you look so vulnerable and welcoming and warm and Yoongi would be lying to himself if he told himself he didn’t just want to take you and have you right there on the couch.

But the bigger part of him, the bigger part that loves you and is protective over you, who promises to himself that he would never let anything happen to you—wins. Of course it wins. Like he said, weak. You make him weak.

He does manage a few steps towards you, reaching forward to grip your shoulders and setting you back on the couch. He kneels before you, leaning forward to kiss your temple, lips hovering your ear: “If you can say that to me while sober, we’ll talk.”

You let out a sigh, leaning into him, and he can physically feel the air of liquid courage fading away from your body and being replaced with complete and utter exhaustion—at your ropes end, you are a sleepy drunk.

He smiles against your skin, pulling away and readjusting you so that you laid horizontal on the couch. “Sweet dreams.”

#yoongi scenarios #yoongi fluff #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #yoongi imagine #yoongi x you #yoongi scenario #idk how to tag anymore i'm sorry #collection:petals #traci writes

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decayandfanfics · 3 years

Text

The great book of sayings

PAIRINGS: Tomura Shigaraki x FemReader

SUMMARY: He looks at you, his scarlet eyes fixed on yours, burning a hole through your head, every bit the predator he is, but you are as tough as it gets, so, against your better judgment and any well-founded logic, you answer his silent threat, the animalistic look he gives you with nothing less than a fearless smirk, irises burrowing into his pupils.A clever girl. He thinks, finally labeling you inside his head, cursing himself in the very moment he allows his brain to think of you as more than an asset. He is sure (he knows himself enough to know) he’ll think of this moment many times from now on.A clever pretty girl.

Reader is a typical college student until she gets herself tangled with the league of villains.

WARNINGS: Unhealthy/complicated relationships, violence, Tomura being Tomura, mentions of murder, heroes’ abuse of power, smut later.

A/N: I’m trying so hard to write crusty boy here really in character. At least after AfO is taken. Any misspelled words, english is not my native language so i’m trying Helen. ________________________________________________________

Chapter 9 / Chapter 10

It takes two to Tango.

It’s always like this after using it, but of course a quirk like this would come with some dangerous side effects.

You watch your reflection in the mirror, all dark eyebags and bloodshot eyes. At least the bleeding has finally stopped, but the sink is a bloody mess, and the trash can is full of paper soaking in blood.

It feels awful, really. Physically and emotionally.

You could still feel Dabi’s bones bending under your quirk. His muscles and tendons stiffen like hard rock as the blood stooped its flowing inside of him.

As always, you let the anger get the best of you. It’s your worst defect, and now it will cost you dearly because there is no way the league lets you live after what you’ve done to Dabi. Shigaraki will decay you and that will be all, and if you weren’t as exhausted after all the crying and the bleeding, you would be fucking losing it.

A soft knock in the door forces you to clear your face from the tears before opening, shoving down the nausea at the idea of facing your imminent death.

“can we talk?” Toga asks, her soft face adorned with a little frown.

You let her in and close the door again, sitting over the toilet.

“I’m very sorry for what I did, Himiko-chan.” You sob quietly.

“I know. Hey…hey, don’t cry. I’m not mad.”

“I hurt you, I didn’t think clearly, I was so mad...”

“hey, it’s fine.” She states, her little hand touching your shoulder, trying to calm you. “I mean, when I first came to the league, Tomura, Dabi and I almost killed each other, so…I understand.”

“it’s not the same, Toga. My quirk is…I almost killed Dabi and I didn’t even touched him. I just…I, I’m supposed to help people, try to keep it down, but when I get angry…I’m a monster and now Shigaraki is going to kill me…”

“No, don’t say that. That’s not true.” Her voice is soft when she clutches in front of you. “look at me, hey. Look at me. We are friends. You just got angry. And you didn’t hurt me, and Tomura and Compress are fine. It didn’t hurt. It was weird but didn’t hurt. And Tomura-kun is not going to kill you.”

“really?”

“If Tomura-kun wanted you dead, you would’ve been an hour ago.” She answers, rolling her eyes. “can you tell me about what just happen? What is with your quirk?”

“it’s pretty simple, actually. It is call Torment. Is the ability to manipulate living tissue, tensing nerves, contracting muscle and bending bone. It’s a useless variation of a healing quirk, but I cannot grow new tissue, only manipulate it. I can keep wounds closed, I can relax your nerves, I can break your bones and stop your blood from flowing. I can stop your heart just by moving a finger and torture you by contracting all your muscles and nerves, but it’s dangerous for me. It’s too much effort to control a whole body, less alone four of them. I bleed, and I ache.”

“wow. That’s why you look so terrible.”

“yeah” you laugh cleaning your tears. “I guess I do.”

“how do you feel now?”

“a little better. Still like shit, but I’ll be fine.”

“Compress and I will be going to the store. Do you want something?”

“To the store? With what money?”

“A girl has her ways.” She teases softly “want some sweets?”

“Yes. I need to eat something. It’s…Dabi there?”

“no, he went out. Tomura-kun told him to go chill outside.”

“Okay. I’m going to get out now...”

“don’t be scared. You’ll be fine. Dabi asked for it anyway and…he sometimes can get very nasty with Tomura. He deserved it.”

“Himiko…thank you.”

You gather your courage and step out of the bath, finding your apartment as messy as you left it an hour ago, but this time is empty.

Thank god.

You give yourself to the task of collecting your destroyed laptop and removing the broken table from the view, looking for a way to repair the detached leg, trying to clean and erase any trace of the fight, enjoying your solitude for the first time in more than a week.

“this is going to cost me.” you say to no one, preparing yourself to the idea of buying a new computer as you move to your room. “I don’t have any extra money to-”

“I always knew you were hiding something.”

“FUCK!” You scream letting the pieces of your laptop fall again, covering your face with your hands when you notice Shigaraki’s arm crossed figure leaning against the wall besides your door. “dammit, Shigaraki. You cannot just…appear behind other people’s doors.”

“that’s debatable.” He remarks, an amused grin plastered in his face.

He watches you and something inside of you twist between excited and scared as his eyes scan you head to toe, the gears of his brain turning inside his head.

“What.”

“C’mon. I’m curious about it.”

“I bet you are.” You spit annoyed.

“Careful now. Look where that bickering mouth of yours got you an hour ago.” He warns you entertained.

“Don’t you dare to patronize me.” You warn already tired, a hand rubbing against your temple.

“I’m just asking about that funny little quirk you have. That and the little display of rage, who would have thought!”

You stare at him, weighting your options to no avail.”

“I can manipulate living tissue. Muscle, bone, nerves, blood. That’s all.

“That’s a pretty boring answer to such a memorable show.”

“This is stupid. What did you expect me to do, huh?” you snap.

“What makes you think I expect you to do anything?” He asks cunningly.

“You know what I mean.”

“no, I don’t.” he laughs.

“It’s just…I hate bullys. And he’s been trying his best to get on my nerves since day one and I could…I mean, i…I just…”

“you what.”

“I cannot stay there and let him berate people like it’s not important!” You can feel the verbal vomit gathering inside your throat, if you keep like this, you are going to say something you will regret.

“but it’s not.” He states rolling his eyes. “I didn’t care about what he said. You didn’t have to say anything.”

“but I care!”

"About what he does? or is about wh-"

"it's about what he said of you!"

"It doesn't matter wh-"

"Yes, it does!"

“why d-”

“because I like you!”

The moment those words are out, you smack your palm against your mouth, fully convinced you made a horrible mistake, so honoring your sense of self-preservation and improvisation, you oblige yourself to make some verbal stunt just to get out of this one, because you have a horrible scary feeling about the hungry look he’s giving you.

“I mean, I thought we could get along…all of us. Despite everything, I think highly of you, and I know you are a villain- villains who wants to destroy everything, but I thought we could be…”

“Friends? are you hearing yourself?” He spits; his mouth twitched in a hateful grimace.

Fear shoots through you in less than a second. Suddenly he looks more taller and menacing, as his steps makes you retrieve, until your back hits the wall on the corner of your room.

Yeah, you may not be afraid of Dabi, but Shigaraki Tomura is a completely different story.

“What are you doing.”

“What am I doing?”

“Get away from me.” you bark scared, as your eyes ignite in clear warning. The dark feeling pooling at the pit of your stomach send shivers through your spine, lifting the hairs of your neck in terror.

“Make me.” Shigaraki growls lowly the moment one of his hands trap your chin roughly, his pinky safely curled against his palm, but even like that you can almost feel how close you are from certain death.

He is pissed out of the blue, your brain failing at finding the exact moment shit went down before he decides to finally kill you, yet you don’t get it, all you did was…

Oh…

He winces scanning your face searching for something, and the moment his eyes stops over your lips, you recognize the feeling.

He snarls like a wolf, looming over you, looking like he’s ready to kill you.

Or eat you.

“Are you done playing dumb?” he asks darkly, and you can feel the warm of his breath against your own lips and something far more complex and exciting than plain fear roaring inside your chest, begging you to push forward, begging you to kiss him.

“I said…are you done playing-“

“WE ARE BACK!” You both snap your heads to the door the moment Toga enters, screaming cheerfully while leaving a bag with candy over the counter, and before you know, Shigaraki is at the other side of the room, staring at you like you transfixed, digging his nails deeply in his neck, before storming out of the apartment, leaving you there, rooted in your room, finally remembering how to breathe.

“What’s wrong with him?” Compress asks as he handles you a pack of gummy bears.

You can still feel the warmth of his hand against your face, your lips still tingling with longing.

“I have no idea.” You lie.

Chapter 11

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theangrycomet · 3 years

Photo

“You win. Kind of cheated, but you win.”

-Devlin Evan Levin

Notes: Edited

*When first writing my stories I didn’t realize Kevin wasn’t Canonically Trans, so his procreations follows the Trans!Kevin Head Canon*

*Osmosians are Aliens*

*The Rooter’s arc is the same, except Kevin was just rescued by the Rooters*

*Devin Levin is Canon here, though his backstory varies*

After Kevin’s break up with Gwen, he was kind of a mess. He went back to his more shady businesses and practices.

Sunny, wanting to snub Gwen a bit, approached him during a a lower point to have some fun

Kevin was unfortunately fooled.

When he’d found out he’d been tricked, he tried to absorb her to death. It was nearly successful too.

Due to a combination of the two’s previous *ahem* nightly activities and Kevin absorbing most of Sunny’s energy, Kevin got pregnant, much to his dismay.

Convinced he would be a bad parent, he tried to get multiple abortions to no avail; baby was too damn stubborn.

When Devlin was born, he was born in his 11 form.

But hey, Kevin finally got that Hysterectomy he’s been pushing off for years

Kevin was bluntly horrified at what he’d done to the kid. But, as Devlin reached out for him, he determined that he would love his kid to death, even if no one else would. Because f*** all if he was going to let his kid go through what he did as a kid.

Went back to Earth because Gwen needed help (and missed him)

Went well for about two years until he was forced to absorb excess Turbonic Energy

Barely escaped being sent back to the null void (not by Tennysons, other plumbers)

Still dealing with the jerks of the business, he proceeded with the criminal lifestyle to pay the bills. He managed to keep Devlin from most of it and spent as much time as he could with him.

He felt like he had no idea what he was doing most of the time, and constantly had to deal with other aliens trying to mess with his kid b/c of people wanting to mess with the infamous Kevin 11000

Actually got a better understanding of his own powers by teaching Devlin about his

Levin’s don’t get Normal childhoods

Birthday: Earth Time: January 2nd

Picked up his fathers’ technological prowess as well as his looks

Though it did not happen often, Devlin was knew how to deal with Kevin’s energy hangovers and subsequent mood swings

Was usually able to talk him down before anything too bad happened

Generally avoided him or fled the scene when told when Kevin got especially bad (only happened 2-3 times but the memories are still pretty vivid)

Though always threatened with being locked out if he came back after curfew, if Devlin was never actually kept out of the house. Kevin just kind of went into small panic mode.

When he was little, he loved using his alien form to cause trouble

Lighting fires with his pyronite arm

Making playhouses with his petropsian arm

(This one was tricky to figure out) Leaning back against walls hand hack security buildings with his Galvanic Mechamorph shoulder blades

Trippin’ up passerby’s with his tail

Devlin preferred the in betweens, when Kevin was most like himself and not worrying about “jerks at work”. Those were rarer than either Osmosian would have liked.

Whenever Kevin got stuck in the Null Void, waited at their hiding place until he got back

When the last time he got stuck, he waited 3 months, pretty much alone

Argit actually snuck Devlin onto Earth

Knew about his plan to get his dad out of the Null Void

Refused to help him publicly.

“And furthermore this plan is ridiculous. What, do you expect to just walts on in, befriend Ben’s youngest son, best after an argument with his old man, get him to slip up how to get in, *cough* 32ndstorybigpadlockeddoorcan’tmissit *cough* and walts out Kevin in tow? Ridiculous”.

Kenny’s Birthday weekend wasn’t the first time Devlin hadn’t been able to talk his dad out of a stupid brawl

But it was the first time Kevin physically hurt him

Devlin's not really sure how much Kevin actually cares about him any more if he was so easily able to throw him aside like that.

Inside the Tower

He hadn’t realized that Kenny had a sister, or a mom for that matter

Didn’t really know Gwennie at first,

She eventually found a wonderful middle ground of space cars

Kai was… different

Waited to get the story from Ben about the mysterious Emo Kid presence in her living room

Immediately lost her shit at Ben, not for Devlin being brought into the house, but for not talking to her about it and, since he had evidently already made up his mind about the whole thing, still not having one of the guest room set up as his own

He hadn’t met any adult (aside from his dad) who was so brutally honest and upfront about things, having grown up with and around conmen and politicians his whole life

She kind of intimidates him

She thinks its funny that she intimidates him more than big bad Ben 10k

Ben doesn’t

Overtime, they settle into the “Protective but will let you do your thing” older sister Gwennie and “How could you be so stupid to get hurt like this! Get over here and you will let me take care of you, young man” mom role for Kai.

Kenny is definitely his best friend

As he did not grow up on Earth, he doesn’t get a lot of Earth culture stuff, especially the American side of things

What’s with all the holidays?

And why are you so obsessed with social media?

What the kriff is anime?

He regretted asking that last question

He was enrolled with school with Kenny the next school term, giving him about a year to adjust to the Tennyson household

Kids tried to pick on him for being Kevin 11K’s kid, but Kenny quickly shut that down

Ironically met one of his few friends outside of the family by starting a fight with him

Believes what he sees

Does not believe in magic. Period.

Ben tries to fill the Uncle role without stepping on toes for the Dad roe

Works surprisingly well

More of an introvert

Still a sweetheart, its just when he’s forced into an unfamiliar social situation he tends to get defensive and surly

Wasn’t interested in soccer, but found he loved hockey

Pretty damn good at it too

While smart, if he’s not interested in a subject or if a subjects hard he won’t study it

History’s his worst, with English being a close second

Tried to hide the D’s and F’s but Gwennie sniffed them out

She always knows

Additionally, he doesn’t really think past what’s in front of him

He thinks of the evidence he has in front of him and the knowledge he’s got

long term planning? Impossible

He didn’t know she was an Anodite for about a year or two.

It wasn’t ever really brought up

Can and will question dumb leadership

Mellow other wise

Favorite Disney Movie: Lilo and Stitch

Aroflux Demisexual

Regarding his Powers

His 11 form is still his main form

He does have his own Mana, but his Osmosian side is constantly eating it away so he cannot manipulate it like a “true” Anodite can.

He can absorb energy, but material is impossible for him

The excess energy goes into maintaining his 11 form. Because of this, when he does absorb energy

He goes to his 11 form

Retains control of his mind

If he tries to stay “human” and absorb energy is where in lies the problem

Because the energy doesn’t have anywhere to go it warps his mind

This doesn’t happen too often because he always allows the energy to outlet to his 11 form and his Anodite side generally finds ways to redirect it

With time, he learns to activate parts of his 11 form at a time

Ben mentioned off hand that at the WAY beginning, when Kevin was Devlin’s age, he could modify the energy to only work on parts of his body

It requires less energy and is convenient if he’s trying to avoid attention

Regarding Kevin

He’s still sore about being literally tossed aside in his father’s quest for power

Doesn’t want anything to do with the lying b****** at first because of he doesn’t really know what to do. He loves Ben, but he wants his dad. Like how things were before everything got all complicated.

He has no idea what Gwendolyn saw or currently sees in him

Was conflicted when he found out his dad was getting treatment

Part of him wanted Kevin to hurt just as bad as he did when he was thrown away

Part of him wanted Kevin to get better

Part of him wanted Kevin to go away

Part of him wanted Kevin to come home as soon as possible

He was confused as to how Dr. Kincaid could help drain an Osmosian of excess power without getting killed

Devlin’s lack of Pop Culture and Current Super Hero knowledge was shown through at that point

“Turbonic Energy’s what got him into this mess, Turbonic Energy’s what’s going to get him out.”

#Ben 10 #Ben 10k #Kevin 11k #Devlin Levin #Head Canons #Headcannons #My Writing #Tennyson Clan #my art #my work #CN Gen 2 #TheAngryComet ART

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starlightnovas · 3 years

Note

Random writing prompts for when you get home!!

1. Your character is expoling in an old forest and finds an ancient overgrown stone door. It has what looks to be a code on it. What do they do?

2. If your character invited their arch enemy to tea, would they poison the tea? What would they do if not?

3. If your character were in a videogame, what your their ultimate ability, primary ability and passive ability ability be?

Thank you so much for the ask!!!! <3

1. Rex would absolutely open that door. His powers allow him to understand most ancient dialects and forms of code, so being able to open it wouldn't be too much of a problem. His sense of adventure wouldn't let him just walk away.

2. Darkrift sipped his tea, then frowned at his cup as he noted the taste, "You know neither of us is affected by poison, right?"

Rex nodded, sipping his tea, which was also poisoned, "I just like the taste."

3. So canonically, Rex has access to all seven elements, granting him near limitless variety with his powers. To make Rex a game character, he's gonna have to be a little wack. Just bear with me and imagine him as one of those weird characters that has different mechanics than everyone else because he's just built different. (Also, I'm imagining him in a MOBA like game, because I remembered this old game I really used to like)

Passive Ability: Dragon Regeneration

Rex regenerates health passively over time faster than others so long as he isn't taking damage. The longer he goes without being hurt, the faster he heals.

Primary Ability: Royal Blood (Here's where things start to get complicated)

Rex's ability to control seven elements will be divided into seven different “modes“, each granting different buffs, debuffs, and abilities. This is to keep his character "balanced“ in this weird non-existent videogame I just made up.

Fire: An offensive mode focused on dealing large amounts of damage quickly. While in this mode, Rex is slightly faster and takes less damage, but is very easily stunned.

Water: A support mode that allows Rex to heal teammates and grant regeneration, along with creating frost defenses to allow escape. Rex gains momentum-based movement to easily weave between enemies and get to allies fast.

Earth: Tank/defender mode, allowing Rex to create walls of earth and metal. As defenses. He also gains the ability to launch large, slow-moving boulders that guarantee a stun if hit. While in earth mode, Rex has extreme damage resistance but also has very minimal mobility and speed. Making walls and launching boulders take a few seconds to do, which Rex cannot move while doing.

Air: Another support mode, allowing movement and attack speed buff. While in this mode, Rex gains access to aerial movement and has maximum movement speed but also takes much more damage.

Energy: Another offensive mode focused on dps. Attacks deal little damage but are very fast and easy to hit. While in this mode, Rex takes slightly more damage and has decently higher movement speed.

Dark: Manipulator/Trapper mode focused on trapping and debuffing enemies. While in this mode, Rex can inflict either blindness, slowness, or weakness debuffs. Rex takes slightly more damage.

Light: Dueling/Summoner mode. Rex takes slightly less damage and can summon in a sword, ax, or hammer, which each trade-off damage and speed. If Rex times a block well, he can parry, which will stun an enemy for a few seconds.

Rex takes 10 seconds to change between elemental modes, gaining a 7 second debuff of weakness, blindness, and slowness after switching modes. Once debuffs wear off, Rex cannot switch modes again for another 30 seconds.

Ultimate Ability: Elemental Fury

While Elemental Fury is active, Rex enters the elemental state and can change between elemental modes freely with no debuffs. All elemental strengths are increased by 50% (increased damage and resistance) and weaknesses are decreased by 50% (slowness and increased damage received). Buffs given to teammates and debuffs to enemies are 25% more powerful. Rex receives 75% less damage and regenerates 20% faster while Elemental Fury is active, but if he dies while it is active, his whole team will die with him. Elemental Fury lasts 60 seconds.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TedTalk and watching me be a nerd. Idk how all these game stats and stuff popped in my head, it just did. Thanks again for the ask and I'd love more stuff like this! :D

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seapandora · 4 years

Text

Sky High, Part 4

Part 3

A/N: Told myself I wouldn’t mash another movie/seres/fandom in here but I couldn’t help myself. Doves man. Also, if you´re into symbols, theres a lot, and I mean A LOT of them in this one. Writing Steve like this is really fun. Also, writing a sassy reader is really fun. Not that I had to changed much from how I normally am… XD Still a part of @buckysknifecollection challenge. Check out the other entries as well! GIF-cred to owner

Warnings: Swearing (I swear a lot, okay), sexual innuendos (later chapters), alcohol, mentions of death/killing, mentions of religion(s), descriptions of toxic relationships!, talks about manipulation

Words: 3109, a little longer than usual, I know...

Steve left Natasha's bar with more questions than answers. How did Y/N not know what happened, how did she not remembered it? She had been pissed at Steve after all. It confused him and he had at that second put it on top of his list to find out what was going on. Well, it was on top of the list together with finding another Nephilim. He would have to put James or Sam to work, figuring out what heaven had done to Y/N. Not that Steve cared about her… because he didn´t… Not in the slightest. She was rude, not very angel-like, and utterly adorable.

Okay, Steve liked Y/N. He liked what he saw in her soul. She was hardworking and ambitious. He also had a very soft spot for her sassiness. It was refreshing to have someone set him straight and talk back. Being King and having people suck up to him got boring quickly. Being King in general, was boring.

He wasn’t out in the field as much as he wanted. Him being around the Nephilim was because that job had to be done correctly, or they would fail. That’s why Steve wanted to do it himself. But Y/N had to mess their plan up. Not that it was her fault. She acted on orders.

“Sir, are you busy at the moment?” Steve heard someone say and he snapped out of his thinking quickly. “Is it news on heaven or the Nephilim?” He asked sharply and looked at the demon in front of him. It was nothing more than a lowly crossroads demon, one who hadn´t been making a good impression lately. “Uhh. No, sir. It´s about my latest deal.” The demon answered and gave Steve a smug grin. “Then I´m not interested. Go tell your boss your sad little story, I don’t have time.” Steve growled and glared at the red-eyed demon in front of him. “You are my boss, so here I am to tell my story.” The demon argued and Steve sighed heavily at the foolery. “Listen here, you useless little shit… I´m your boss´ boss, and I´m sure they´d be happy to end you, but considering you´re here, I´ll do it.” Steve said and got up getting ready to fight the demon in front of him. Not that he had to, he just really wanted to.

It had been a long time since Steve did some old-school torturing by his own hand. He had truly missed the screams of pain. The crossroads-demon laid before him tied up. He had slashes and cuts all over his chest, some were glowing red. The demon was on the verge of giving his life up, exactly what Steve wanted. “Now that we´ve had our fun, and you know your place. I think we´re done,” he explained with a smirk and snapped his fingers, causing the demon to cry out. Steve had demoted the demon to just a regular one. He would hold no more deals, never collect a soul ever again. He had lost all-cause, which was almost as cruel as the torturing.

Steve had thoroughly enjoyed the torture. He would have wanted to end the demon, but he couldn’t afford that with his upcoming mission. If that all went well he would need every demon he could control. He was washing his hands when he heard something that didn’t belong to his palace. The distinctive coo of a dove.

He looked up to one of the windows and saw a white dove sitting in the sun, staring at him. It seemed to have a small package on its leg and when Steve clapped his hands to get the bird to fly away, it barely flinched. He sighed and shook his head before he instead flinched as the bird flew towards him and landed on the table beside him and stretched out its leg. He chuckled at the dove and gently grabbed the little package unrolling a small piece of paper.

`Please meet me in Rowor. Rune is written on the backside of this paper, don’t abuse the power it holds. /Y/N` the note said and Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise. What on earth could Y/N want of him? Enough for her to give him the rune to Rowor. A realm demons were practically banned from. He shrugged to himself and grabbed his blade carving the rune into his hand. It didn’t hurt. Runes weren't supposed to hurt, only emergency runes hurt, but mostly because you hadn't been properly invited to the realm you were transferring too. Steve had been invited, which meant he was fine.

He landed with his black smoke around him and looked around finding Y/N quickly. She truly looked like an angel. He had never seen her in her full angelic form, and it was a sight to see. He had never seen an Angel like that before. Usually, Angels only had their wings visible, and that was what Steve had seen. Now, Y/n was in a flowing light dress. Her wings on full display and they were so full and beautiful, innocent in a way. That wasn’t the surprise for Steve, the surprise was the Gloria over Y/Ns head. It shone with a bright blue light and made Y/N look more angelic than ever. She looked over at Steve and slowly made her way over to him, barefoot of course. Behind her tobacco-plants and lilies sprung up.

“Close your mouth or you´ll catch a fly,” Y/N said with a soft smirk as she came over to him. “We need to get you to the old Lady of the town. She has to bless your presence.” She explained and began to walk over a bridge that led to a small town. It almost looked comical to Steve. He could vaguely remember being in the town but it must have been millennia ago. He walked with Y/N to the little town and kneeled beside her waiting for he didn’t know what.

An old Lady made her way out of the house and stretched her hand towards Y/N who cupped her hands in front of herself and lifted the Lady. “Hold out your hands Steve,” She said quietly and looked at him. He did as he was told and held his hands out for the little Lady to get onto. “Let her touch your forehead. It´s safe, I promise” Y/N whispered and moved back a little to let the old Lady judge Steve´s intentions and show what they would offer him. She noticed him flinch and smiled softly to herself.

She wondered what the old Lady was showing him but she was overthrown by Sofwalings who climbed up her arms showing her pictures of doves. “We can go see the doves in a second.” She said quietly and let the small creatures curl up in her feathers. She laughed as a few of them tickled her feathers and shook her head at their antics.

Steve had set down the old Lady and looked to Y/N. “She showed me pictures of food and a bed,” he said confused and Y/N nodded. “They´re offering you food and a place to stay for the night.” She explained and stood up slowly to make sure the Sofwas in her wings were safe. “Follow me,” she said and walked towards an area with small-leaved lime-trees and olive trees. It was Y/Ns coppice. She gestured towards a table with chairs before she went over to her oldest olive tree where her doves resided. Steve didn’t go sit down as she had anticipated but followed her.

“How primitive, doves…” He said and laughed at the idea of them as messengers. “You say primitive, I say effectively. Sofia's doves are the only creatures that can fly from realm to realm without runes.” She mumbled and held her hand out to one of the doves. “Why? What´s so special about these doves?” Steve inquired as he watched her hold one of the doves.

“They´re a sign of peace, that you must know. That’s why they can fly between realms. I, as the angel of peace and balance, am their keeper. They´re called Sofia's white doves because Sofia was the original keeper. Once she passed she exploded into 8 white doves, all are here with me. By now you´ve probably noticed, everything around me becomes peaceful. All the flowers and trees around me represent peace in different cultures.” She explained and glanced over at Steve who was looking around.

It made sense to Steve now. But that still didn’t explain why she had asked to meet her and he wanted to know that. “Why don´t we eat and talk?” He asked and smiled softly as if to prove he wasn’t a threat to her. Y/N nodded and let the dove fly back to its tree before she walked over to the table sitting down on one of the chairs. She looked at Steve who was getting comfortable filling his plate with food. Y/N did the same of course and tilted her head. “How come you were after the Nephilim you claim was my mission?” She asked softly.

Y/N didn’t know much about hell's hierarchy before Steve summoned her she hadn´t even known there was a king of hell. If Steve had been after the Nephilim it had to be something very important, right? “It´s… it´s a complicated matter. One I´m not comfortable sharing with an angel, even if you are the angel of peace.” He answered quickly and chuckled nervously. Y/N nodded and sighed softly. “Truth to be told. I don’t feel much like an angel anymore. Something is stirring upstairs and us henchmen don’t get to know what's going on.” She said quietly and sighed to herself. She had no idea how she felt so comfortable talking about her problems with the king of hell. It wasn´t like he could do a whole lot about it.

Steve knew Y/N had been the one to take down the previous God, and he wanted to ask about it, but he wasn’t sure in what way he could bring it up. Luckily he was a demon and he didn’t care about tact or politeness. “How did you kill God? Did you kill him? You overthrew him, right? So why not take the position yourself?” He asked and stared at the angel in front of him. She stared back at him but was frozen mid-bite.

~2683 years earlier~

“Y/N, Michael, Rafael. I need you to go to Earth and handle some angels for me. They´ve started a riot and I need you three to deal with them and have their wings clipped. I ant the wings here with me within the week. Is that understood?” Y/N couldn’t do anything but nod and bow to her god. She never asked questions, she followed orders. If God wanted the angels' wings, she would deliver. Her brothers Raphael and Michael were like her. Ambitious and obedient.

The three transported to earth and went their separate ways to handle the angels. They were the archangels, wisest, and fairest of them all. The lower angels called them the knights of heaven and would normally never bother them. Y/N was the favorite of the three siblings. Both with the lower angels but also with God. She had been labeled the peacemaker of the trio and would often handle her brothers' silly arguments.

God had sent them on a mission to kill angels. Y/N couldn´t help but feel unsettled by it. The angels were her peers. They were family in a sense. She had created half of them in good faith that they would follow her lead and be peaceful creatures. Had she been wrong? Had she failed her mission of peace? She landed on earth with a loud crack of thunder and heavy rain.

Her normal attire had been changed in favor of body armor in sterling silver. The angels had daggers with them, but there was one perk to being one of the three. Y/N had a sword. It was a Claymore sword, fairly long for her, but she liked it and she could work it perfectly. One of the gifts God had given the three archangels. The sword had recently been sharpened and Y/N was ready to obey her father's command. Peace had to be restored, no matter the cost.

It all started in Aurora, Colorado, where Y/N faced her first creation, Philip. Fighting him to his knees and slitting his throat, pained Y/N deeply, and she could feel the cuts it created in her own heart. Doubt came flooding as she pulled the wings from Philips cold, limp body. Was this really the right way to go? Was God really in the right? Philip would have never betrayed Y/N. However, Y/N couldn’t obey her father's commands.

So it continued. The next few hours faced the deaths of Peggy and Sharon. Both of which had proven over and over again that they were faithful to Y/N. Angels weren´t the only casualties in the war. Humans, demons, monsters, they were all slain as the three archangels cleared their targets.

Names were still called from heaven for Y/N, Michael, and Raphael to kill, but Y/N couldn’t do it anymore. She had lost her bets angels. She had slain millions of individuals and had finally understood that this wasn’t peace. This was a war to keep God in the seat of power. This was a campaign, nothing more, a scare-tactic. And she wouldn´t take it anymore.

She tried her best to contact her brothers, but she couldn’t get through to them. They liked spilling the blood of their angels, and humans. Y/N couldn´t understand it but was struck with the realization of what had to be done. In secret, she contacted Maria and asked her to bring a small team together.

Maria had always been a natural leader and had been the leader of Y/Ns angels on earth. Y/N held great respect for Maria and trusted her with her own grace. Maria hadn´t let Y/N down and had gathered up a few angels who were willing to stand by Y/Ns side through what she had to do next.

Y/N had started by summoning her brother Michael. He wasn’t her favorite brother which made the fight between them slightly easier. However, he was still her brother and Y/N still loved him very much. She cried out as she pierced her brother with the sword God had given to her for peace-keeping.

Raphael had felt the distress of his two siblings and had transferred to be by their side. The scene before him had shaken him and he was unprepared when Y/N pierce him with her sword which was drenched in his brother's blood. This time Y/N whimpered and held her brother close as his grace left him. She kept him in her arms for a long time as her team of angels stood around them.

“Ma´am, we need to leave before the Lord starts to suspect anything,” Maria said and moved forwards towards Y/N who didn’t move at all. “Let him come, I will bring him down along with heaven.” She muttered and kissed her brother's forehead before she moved him to let him rest alongside Michael. Her father, God, would pay for what he had made her do. He made her kill her brothers for peace on earth. For peace in heaven.

She didn’t have to wait long until she felt the presence of her father around them. Y/N took a deep breath and relaxed. She wasn’t scared of what was to come. Either she would cease to exist and she wouldn’t have to worry, or she would change the course of the future. She grabbed her sword with both hands and stood up turning to face her maker. “Y/N, my dear. Don’t make any rash decisions now,” God said with an evil and knowing smirk.

Y/N marched against her father, sword raised as she closed in on the individual who had ruined her life and any trust she had for the higher powers. “You planned this. You knew I wouldn’t be able to watch my brothers slay innocent people. You faked the uproar from the angels. You made us kill our own.” She said while tears streamed down her cheeks. She felt like a monster. She was a monster. She too had killed innocent souls.

~Current time~

“I… I don’t remember much of it. It was over two millennia ago. I don´t remember.” Y/N mumbled. It was a lie. A big, fat lie. She remembered everything, every second, every scream, every tear. She just hated talking about it. She didn’t even like talking about Maria taking her father's position, because up until recently she hadn´t been bothered by it, but Maria was beginning to show the same tendencies her father had. Her father, the words disgusted her. How could a father do that to their child? It wasn’t right.

Steve didn’t believe her but he wasn’t in the mood to argue or push her buttons. He would just have to figure it out on his own… Or have someone figure it out for him. He continued to eat with a soft hum. “So you´re the angel of peace? I know you don’t spend a lot of time on earth, why not? They could use some help in the peace department.” He said as he studied the angel in front of him. Sure her species was his enemy, but he too wanted peace on earth. Peace often meant more deals for hell seeing as humans were seldom satisfied with peace.

“Why would I want to be on earth? Humans are appalling creatures. They want whatever they can get, without giving anything back. I don’t know how you guys work, but I have grace. My grace is holy and can only be kept up by me resting or praying to me or my cause, in this case, peace. Humans never pray for peace, they pray for solutions. The Sofwas, this realms creatures, pray only for me because it´s the only concept they understand. They´re peaceful. I spend time here for them and myself.” Y/N explained and continued to eat as well.

Y/N looked at him but shook her head. “I want to know what´s going on. I don’t remember what happened during the mission and I need you to tell me. Something happened in heaven and I don´t get answers from above.” She said and it almost sounded as if she was pleading with the king of hell. What was she thinking? There was no way asking a demon about her mission would end well.

#Steve Rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #reader insert #avengers fanfiction #angel/demon au #captain america fanfiction #captain america x reader #captain america #fanfiction #fanfic series #seapandoraswritings

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mcdynamite · 5 years

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[Spoilers] I think GoT 8.05 made perfect sense, and here’s why:

Hello people of Tumblr! I’ve seen a lot of people bashing the most recent episode of Game of Thrones for a number of reasons and I want to step up to the plate and go to bat for the show. To clarify, I dislike D&D as much as pretty much everyone else who watches the show. I think the writing has been lazy, the dialogue has been lacking, and the lead in to some of the things that have happened this season could definitely be better. But everything that happened in 8.05 makes sense, and I actually liked the episode. This is why.

Cersei’s Demise is kinda perfect.

I know a lot of us, myself included, were looking forward to a brutal, sadistic death for a brutal, sadistic woman. But here’s the thing... in its own way, it was a totally brutal way for her to go out. Think about it, Cersei has spent pretty much her entire life talking her way out of things, manipulating people, and in general feeling more powerful than everyone else around her, including her family. She died finally realizing that she was completely helpless and all hope was lost. She died knowing that her arrogance and often unnecessary brutality was what had cost herself, her children, the man she loves, and even her own father their lives.

She couldn’t sass the collapsing rock to death. She couldn’t stall and wait for The Mountain to come to her aid. She couldn’t do anything but break down and cry and tell Jaime she wanted their baby to live, trapped in the same underground passages where she vowed to destroy all three of Dany’s dragons. Cersei wasn’t publicly executed in front of thousands of onlookers. She died UNDERGROUND, unthought of and uncared for by anyone else in the world but Jaime. She died the same death as all of the innocent citizens who died that day in part because of her own arrogance. It wasn’t special. It was lonely, hidden, and desperate - a fitting end for a woman who’s lived her whole life believing in her own importance.

And speaking of Cersei, even Jaime’s apparent regression makes some sense.

Ah, Jaime Lannister, one of the most emotionally complicated men in all of Westeros. I’m not gonna lie, this disappointed me because I had hoped for better for Jaime, but not because it didn’t make sense. We were ALL rooting for Jaime to ditch Cersei, become the noblest man in the whole world and just be with Brienne, who clearly loves him. But if you take a minute to think about it, while Jaime’s character development has been significant, it never really veered away from loving Cersei.

He’s always been doing what’s best for her, and yes, that includes when he left her to head North. Jaime did that because humanity was in danger, and as such, Cersei was in danger. Barely over a season ago in 7.03, Jaime tells Olenna Tyrell that his love for Cersei has grown beyond his control. He openly admits it and tells Olenna that he doesn’t believe people will care how Cersei took the throne once they’re living in the world she built. He clearly still loves Cersei here, and while he’s tempering some of her most heinous ideas, like flaying Olenna alive, he’s still carrying out her orders. “For Cersei,” as he always says.

Jaime’s love for Cersei went far beyond his control. It was almost more like an addition than true love. His love for Brienne was pure and kind, but even the purest love can’t sway the grasp of an addition. Cersei was all Jaime had ever known, so even if he loved Brienne, even if he knew Cersei was hateful, even if he knew she was doing unspeakable things to the people of Westeros, it STILL makes sense that he went back. It’s legitimately not at all different from some abusive relationship in real life. One partner may realize that the other is abusive and hateful, but they can’t bring themselves to walk away, and when they do, they may go back. That doesn’t make them bad people, and it certainly doesn’t “undo” all of Jaime’s character development over the course of the series.

Jaime Lannister is an immensely complicated character, and this is GAME OF THRONES we’re talking about. It’s a very human show. So frankly, if he has genuinely left Cersei without a second glance, that would have been immensely disappointing. It’s just not how people work, not after admitting how deep in the relationship he was literally just 9 episodes prior and only leaving to protect mankind from being destroyed.

And finally, let’s talk about the psychotic break of Daenerys Targaryen.

First, just a quick reminder at how utterly human this show is. We’ve got all sorts of realistic depictions of human nature in Game of Thrones. We have very real depictions of PTSD (looking at you, Theon and Sansa), realistic depictions of the horrors of slavery, realistic depictions of racism and ableism, the list goes on for miles. It’s made abundantly clear throughout the series that the Targaryens have a strong family history of mental illness, so here we go people. Let’s talk about mental illness.

Obviously, there are no therapists in Westeros to diagnose Dany with any particular illness, but it’s reasonable to hypothesize that Dany is experiencing psychosis, also known as a “psychotic break”. Something important to not about psychosis: it’s sort of like a break from reality, so the way someone behaves during a psychotic break is not at all who they normally are as a person. And here’s another thing about psychosis: YOU DO NOT SHOW SIGNS OF IT YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, especially not major ones. Not every person who commits a heinous act of violence grew up murdering small animals and saying sadistic things to family members and friends as a child. I’ve seen a lot of anti-Mad Queen Dany arguments online, and I’d like to debunk a few of them with regards to how mental illness often actually works.

1. Dany was an abused child, why would she hurt children?

Yikes, you guys. This is a really weak argument. Many studies have shown that childhood trauma is associated with greater disposition towards psychosis later in life. Obviously not everyone who has gone through a childhood trauma will experience psychosis, but it can actually be a direct contributing factor to a psychotic break.

2. Dany has always showed compassion to innocent people like the slaves across the sea, so why doesn’t she now?

Again, psychosis is not a direct reflection of who someone is as a person because it represents a break from reality. You don’t have to be an intrinsically horrible person to do something bad when you’re not in control.

3. The warning signs were there, but they were too weak to justify what happened to King’s Landing.

When a person experiences psychosis, the EARLY warning signs (let’s just say for the purposes of this argument are things that happened prior to the start of season 8) are often subtle or even unnoticeable until you’re looking back retrospectively. These can include things like spending more time alone than usual (check), suspiciousness or uneasiness with others (check), and having no feelings at all (check, remember when she ended things with Daario and the show made a big deal out of how she didn’t really feeling anything about it?).

The slightly later warning signs (so, this season) include strong and inappropriate emotions (check, she wants to have sex with her nephew not too long after she accused him of trying to steal her throne), social withdrawal (check), odd beliefs (check, her belief that she was sent by god to change the world), and suspiciousness (check). The warning signs were there and frankly exactly what one would expect to see in someone in the prodome (or very early stages) of psychosis.

4. It just happened so suddenly, the build up wasn’t enough.

Actually, it SUPER was enough. Recently, Dany has lost two dragons, her most trusted advisor, her best friend (who she watched be beheaded) and has arrived in a country where nobody likes or trusts her. All of these are pretty freaking traumatic, and a traumatic event can trigger psychosis. Boom. Bang. It makes sense.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people are upset about this. We were all rooting for Dany, our hero who walked out of the flames all those years ago with three baby dragons clinging to her. What happened in 8.05 was devastating to watch, but it wasn’t unrealistic. It was actually very well done from a standpoint of how things actually work in the real world. You can be frustrated with how things turned out, you can be devastated by the destruction of King’s Landing and Dany’s break, and you can be pissed about the lazy writing of this season, but you shouldn’t be angry with the show runners for Dany’s descent into madness. It was actually remarkably well done.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Valar morguhlis.

EDIT: Obviously not everyone who goes through a period of psychosis is violent. It is an INCREDIBLY small percentage who actually inflict harm on others during a psychotic break. With that being said, rare as it may be, it does happen, it is a real thing that happens in real life, and cases in which a violent outburst happens are pretty spot-on similar to the way it happened to Dany. As someone who has experienced psychosis myself, I of all people know that not everyone becomes violent. But the portrayal of Dany throughout the whole show does align with the prodome of an exceedingly rare, but real, type of psychosis. I’m sincerely sorry for not clarifying this in my original post 💙

#Game of Thrones #Game of Thrones spoilers #got #got spoilers #daenerys targaryen #dany #daenerys #cersei #cersei lannister #jaime #jaime lannister #cersei x jaime #drogon #got 8x05 #the bells #mad queen #mad queen daenerys #mad queen dany #kings landing

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