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bbygirl-aemond · 1 year

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Aemond's Full Letter to Aegon

Some of you commented on chapter fifteen that you were interested in reading the entirety of Aemond's letter. So here it is! I've noted the point at which the message was cut off, so you can more clearly see what Aemond meant to communicate to Aegon but was unable to. Unfortunately for Aegon's blood pressure, he missed out on like over half of the message, including the parts meant to placate his fears about being executed if he surrendered. You can read the full letter below:

"When you were twelve and I was ten, you stumbled into my room drunk out of your mind and asked me what I wished to be when I grew up. I told you that I was going to be your Hand, because it was true, and you just frowned and told me that wasn’t a very good dream. So I asked you what you wanted me to be, and you were quiet for a long time, so long that I began to think you’d fallen asleep.

And then you said, “You’re my brother. Isn’t that enough?”

As if that answered everything.

But I suppose in a way, it did.

I know the relationship between us and Rhaenyra has always been strained. I know that we’ve lived our lives in fear of what she would undoubtedly do to us one day. Until very recently, even after I’d spent much time at Dragonstone, I remained convinced that she was a threat to us all. She swore to me that she would see you unharmed, and still I did not waver in my conviction.

But then I tried to flee. And when I was caught, Daemon was furious, as was everyone within Dragonstone. They all called for Rhaenyra to order her spies in King’s Landing—of which she apparently had many—to murder you all. So I asked her what she would let them do to you, because surely now she would show her true colors. Now that I had disrespected her, and disobeyed her. Now that her own husband and court called for your execution.

And she just said, “He’s our brother,” as if that answered everything.

But to her, I think, it did.

I know what you and the others must think of what has happened to me. I know what you think of Rhaenyra, and that you cannot trust a woman you do not know.

But you know me, as I know you. More, I think, than anyone else ever has.

And I trust that you will know that if I’d possessed even a shred of doubt as to Rhaenyra’s conviction, I would have sooner thrown myself from the towers of Dragonstone than allowed her to wed me. If we are losing our claim, Aegon, it is only because I have allowed us to lose it. Because we can afford to lose it.

Rhaenyra is entitled. She is arrogant. She has been and still remains ignorant to so much of our plight. But she is also deeply kind, and thoughtful, and when she sets her mind on something even Daemon Targaryen himself cannot make her so much as budge. And she has set her mind on peace. On a House Targaryen, undivided.

As have I.

I know you fear for your children. For your eldest son and heir. But he, too, shall be cared for. The Valyrians hold twinship as sacred, and Rhaenyra has decided to marry Jaehaera to her own son, Aegon. Through his twin, Jaehaerys will be protected. I have also received a proposal for him to wed Grayce Arryn, the only child of the Lady Jeyne Arryn’s heir. She will rule the Vale one day, as one of Rhaenyra’s most powerful and unquestioningly loyal supporters, with Jaehaerys by her side. Through her, as well, he will be safe from those who wish to use him for their own, treasonous ends.

I know you fear for the rest of our family. But Daeron has quite ingratiated himself here at Dragonstone. And Rhaenyra remains fond of mother, from their childhood days, and she believes Helaena innocent in all of this, and the three of them are all so dearly loved that none would dare hurt them. As, too, is little Maelor. They will all be safe, and cared for, and will live beside me in the Red Keep for the rest of your days.

I know you fear for—

[Here is where the letter was interrupted]

—yourself, for all that you will refuse to admit it. I will not try to sway you with appeals to Rhaenyra’s character. We both know too well that her character and wishes factor very little into this decision. That so long as her claim is weak enough, we are doomed to be scattered about as pawns by the lords who oppose her.

Listen to me now, Aegon: Rhaenyra’s claim has never been stronger.

You know I would never harm any of our family. The lords of Westeros do not. They watched Vhagar circle Dragonstone peacefully, and watched me toast to Rhaenyra’s reign and bind myself to her before the Gods. They watched the High Septon crown us both, and declare that the Seven Themselves had sanctioned our reign. Every day, they see me rule by her side, and support her. They see Tessarion, housed peacefully in Dragonstone’s stables, and Daeron by my side, swearing fealty to me and my Queen.

And these lords are terrified.

The Baratheons and their mighty army have abandoned you. The Tullys and all their bannermen have abandoned you. The Faith, and its followers, have abandoned you. Your only significant allies are the Lannisters and the Hightowers; your Sunfyre the only true battle dragon you wield. The lords know Helaena is no soldier.

You are losing, Aegon, and handily so. There is no other reason why Otto would allow you to so recklessly call to war. Rhaenyra is gaining allies by the day, and he is terrified.

So please understand when I say that Rhaenyra’s claim is stable. Enough so that you will pose little threat to her, no matter how hard those few, foolish lords may scramble to try to use your image for their selfish ends. And imagine, Aegon, if you were to stand by her side. If you were to abdicate publicly, and bring your family to Dragonstone on dragonback, there would be no contesting her claim at all.

Rhaenyra has promised that you, Helaena, and the children may all live beside me, in the Red Keep, for the rest of your lives. We’ll have to compromise, of course—Daemon is rather insistent on taking over your current rooms—and I know there is bound to be friction at first. But is this not all you were too afraid to dream of? A life without regard for title, or politics, or wars?

I do not need you to be a King. I do not need you to suffer the Iron Throne. I do not need you to be a good ruler, or even a good man. I do not need you to secure titles, or wealth, for yourself or for your children. I do not need you to live your life in fear, scrambling to secure your family's safety.

I just need you to be my brother, Aegon. By my side.

That is enough.

It will always be enough."

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amynchan · 2 years

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Guys, I don't think I can read Wei Wuxian as low self-worth in fanfics anymore. XD At least in cultivation-era fanfics. Modern fanfics? Seems like I can still keep pace with those.

But like, the dude's undoing was that he was completely and utterly assured in his path and choices, not letting anyone help and raring and ready to go, so sure in what he thought and believed that there was no talking to him unless you stuck him full of needles first (I'm looking at you, Wen Qing). I'm pretty sure he knew Lotus Pier falling wasn't his fault, but if he could take responsibility for it and keep the Jiangs from suffering, he was gonna do it. He didn't know that Jiang Cheng sacrificed himself for Wei Wuxian. He thought Jiang Cheng went back for his parents' bodies, but he saw Jiang Cheng suffering and said "No. I will make this better. Responsibility time." He shows off with self-assuredness and cockiness and an intent to save at the Phoenix Mountain Hunt with the arrow trick, proceeds to shove 1/3 of the prey into Jiang territory for easy capture, and chills out because he's that confident in himself. When he takes the Wen Remnants, he goes in with a 'This is the path I am going to walk, and dammit, I'm going to walk it don't you dare stop me' kind of mentality. He does it not because he's insecure about his own worth but because it's the right thing to do. He and Wen Ning show that they knew it was a doomed venture, and it wasn't Wei Wuxian's fault in the slightest (and he knows this), but dammit, the man is gonna take responsibility for it anyways.

Wei Wuxian wasn't "I'll throw myself at a problem because I am responsible for it happening" or "If anyone is going to sacrifices for the greater good, it may as well be the one the world will miss the least." He was "I'll throw everything I have at this injustice because I am willingly going to pick up this responsibility in order to ensure justice, and I am good enough to throw myself at this problem and make a difference." His problem was that he didn't let anyone help or talk about it. The dude was trained to be a leader (head disciple); he could have led people into social revolution if he'd worked with a team. But the dude was nerfed by the war, an inflated sense of what he could accomplish, and all the damn whispering.

He's still like that now that he's got his happily ever after. He and Lan Wangji go around and take care of problems that aren't their own and help out with the Gusu lectures and stuff like that, but it's not that Wei Wuxian suddenly sprouted some self-worth. It's that he has a better grasp of what he can handle and a partner he trusts to handle what he can't.

#MDZS #listen #Wei Wuxian was a cocky little shit #he was a brilliant one too #but that definitely played a factor into his fall #I'm not excusing anyone who went against him tho #Wei Wuxian did what he thought was right #and he did so Boldly #But I can't read any more fics where he diminishes his own self-worth conciously and intentionally #or questions his abilities or skillset #he's very confident with those #as he should be #but now that he's tempered with age #we get to see him shine all the more brightly than he could have as an impulsive young man #Wei Wuxian #OnTheSeries #or rather my thoughts on it

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yellowocaballero · 1 year

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Not an ask just

Damn chapter 10 of new wave was amazing! I didn’t expect to see who you brought in but just ABDJXOCJDNSJ I have no words, only praise for your work, have a wonderful day

Thank you! Trust me, I spent half the fic going "ugh who the hell is the Rogue" before I hit upon the fucking perfect one and went back and changed a bit in the rest of the fic for foreshadowing. It was just perfect!! He stands at the border! Literally half and half! A man of transition! A man with personal meaning to Bruce and who's important in his own arc! A guy who's grounded enough to fit into the story but zany enough to make everybody go ???. Somebody with a sense of justice and righteousness, just like Bruce, but a bloody reflection of the end outcome of vengeance! Famously Robin's first big Rogue who seriously injured in - I think he shot Dick in Robin Year 1 and was the reason why Bruce fired him the first time. Just! Perfect!!

God I love how this fic turned out so much. I don't even feel responsible for it. I'm just like. Yeah, perfect fic. Lucky to have found it lying on the ground. It's not perfect but also it's perfect. I love loving my own writing, everybody should give it a shot and see how they feel. It's the best part of being a writer. Just loving it.

Thank you for the ask! Next chapter is the penultimate one, and it features my third favorite scene in the story and the one that made me super emo.

#im still mad he was SO PERFECT #also it is very darkly funny for steph to be able to say “guy's too trusting! well that's fixed now”#in so many ways this is an origin story for Bruce too #he's still young in a lot of ways and you see him grow up a bit and find responsibility through managing Steph & Tim #coming of age stories for teens where fucking everybody out here coming of age #get development from a young adult into an adult BITCH #batdad fics never rly give room for the guy to be a literal 20 something #batdad fics dislike giving him room to fuck up in any significant way #we acknowledge often that he doesn't know what he's doing #but irl that results in sig fuckups please let it happen #theres a reason why none of the batfam fanfics feel like a real family smh

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hopelesslvr · 1 month

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rereading an old x reader fic that you read in your early teens is so humbling because the reader persona in question is so unbelievably "not like other girls" and i think it makes me want to die a little... and in a sense there are some unbelievably raw teenager parts but god... for writing it in 2021... idk i don't think we should be promoting addiction to the wee kids of wattpad & ao3...

it's just edgy. but like. in a bad way. you're 15, you're just as much a loser as the rest of your class. chill out.

#🩷 yaps.#is this too much?#idk #i have strong feelings about x readers #especially when they aren't really x readers #like okay we're going to give the reader a vague but specific appearance #and of course she's going to be skinny #like girl that's not an x reader fic that's just an oc #way to leave the curvy & fat girls out of it #and idk like... maybe controversial but i don't think we should be promoting smoking #like my friends who smoke #y'all are cool i luv u guys #but it's not something that should be praised or glorified #because... it was really big on wattpad.#wattpad's primary audience is young teens!#idk maybe this is a hot take #i'm still gonna read it tho

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hella1975 · 2 years

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wait hold on a ursa takes both zuko and azula away fic??? idk how anyone hasn’t done this concept but hella you’ve tapped into a concept that has to be explored at this point! making it zukka is also just the norm around here too.

ah im glad you like the sound of it! i refuse to believe im the first to think of that idea bc i dont think ive ever had an original thought but there's definitely a lack of ursa exploration in the fandom. the thing with this wip is that it's going to be so ginormous and so multi-faceted that it's actually really hard to explain the plot of? like ursa takes zuko and azula with her but ursa is so damaged by what she's been through and is too busy prioritising survival to be loving anymore and their life on the run is so brutal that zuko and azula - still only 9 and 11 years old which is a big reason of why their relationship is able to heal, bc they're still so young - really lean on each other to cope. initially it's a survival thing, but they grow to just genuinely get on well with and care deeply about each other. and one way they do that is that zuko starts telling azula stories! like the two of them become huge avatar nerds bc of these stories and actually i might just give you a snippet bc this is rlly hard to explain LMAO

Neither of them had any idea how to just be nice to each other, but Zuko wanted to be nice. He wanted Azula to be safe. He wanted to protect her. She was his little sister. She always had been, and she needed him. Now, more than ever.

“You know, Mother used to tell me about our great-grandfather.” Zuko said quietly into the shadows, a whisper to ensure Ursa, always so quick to anger these days, didn’t wake up. “You know he was Avatar Roku?”

For a while, it was painfully silent, to the point Zuko was certain Azula wouldn't respond. Then; “Of course I know. Some of us actually paid attention in our lessons.” Azula sniped, but she sounded a little too cutting, in a way she only sounded when she was unsure. She didn’t like it when she didn’t know what Zuko was leading to.

Zuko turned to face her direction, the cheap blanket scratching his chin and not covering all of his body. At eleven-years-old, Zuko was finally starting to grow into himself.

They were in a town on the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom, barely a speck on the map, and currently, their names were Riku and Aoi. Ursa has been very clear; her children were to never use their birthnames, no matter how alone they thought they were. They were living in a cottage with half a roof, their mother funding the rent by sewing patches onto dresses for a seamstress. She was barely in the house, but Zuko knew even when they left in a few day’s time – as they never stayed in one place longer than a week or two – he would still barely see Ursa. He wondered if she knew how reclusive she’d become.

“She told me stories about all the Avatars. I always wished she’d tell you them too.” Zuko said a little sadly. “I never understood why she didn’t.”

This silence was different, and they both knew Zuko wasn’t just talking about the stories.

“Tell me.” Azula breathed, so quiet Zuko almost missed it.

“The stories?” Zuko asked in surprise. He had been waiting for Azula to cut him down, to tell him to go away like she used to. But...

He realised maybe Azula wanted to be nice too. Maybe she was tired of being looked at like a monster by the people supposed to love her.

Maybe she was just a nine-year-old girl who needed a bedtime story every now and then.

“Yes, Zuko.” Azula hissed, and his name was so shocking it was like a curse. “The stories. Tell me about the Avatars.”

So, Zuko did.

“Water, earth, fire, air.” Zuko whispered, remembering how Mother told it. In the shadows, Azula’s eyes burned gold. “Long ago, the four nations lived together, but everything changed when the Fire Nation, the superior nation, began to share its wealth. The Hundred Year War began, and the only person able to stand in the Fire Nation’s way was the Avatar, master of all four elements. But when the world called for him, he fled...”

It became a tradition, after that. Zuko would lie beside his sister on the nights neither of them could sleep, and after an entire day of hiding himself, he’d turn to Azula and just talk. In Kyoshi Island, he told her of Avatar Kyoshi murdering Chin the Great. In Makapu village, he told her of Avatar Roku – Great-Grandfather Roku – battling a volcano. And in the Western Air Temple, he told her of the Avatar who never was.

“He’s out there somewhere, though.” Zuko uttered wondrously. “One-hundred-and-twelve, the last airbender. Can you imagine it?”

“You’re in your head too much.” Azula sighed. She always pretended not to care, but as the months dragged on, she allowed herself more. First, it was in her asking for a specific story. Then sometimes, she’d slip up and laugh. In the fragments of these nights handed over to ancient legends, as scraps of lies left behind in their wake with every new roof they found themselves beneath, Azula was more herself than ever. She could be, in front of her big brother. That was something she learned.

They learned other things, too. They learned that the Earth Kingdom was starving, that the Fire Nation was hated, that people weren’t rebelling; they were suffering. The story changed. When Zuko saw technological advancements that bewildered him in the Northern Air Temple, he stopped saying that the Fire Nation was the superior nation. When he saw children with burn scars and amputated limbs, he changed ‘began to share its wealth’ to ‘attacked.’ When the stories he told his little sister of the Avatar turned into a lifeline, a speck of hope in a world of ashes, ‘fled’ became ‘vanished.’

Zuko learned that a war was a war, that his father was not a hero by any means, that they got out just in time.

And it was hard, but the two had their own rebellions. Zuko and Azula didn’t get on in Caldera, but out here with a string of fake identities behind them and a death sentence at the end of it, they only had each other. Their mother was a wound, their father was a blade, and they were, through it all, still just kids. They leaned on each other in the places they used to bruise. Azula took the softness she tortured her brother over and began to protect it. Zuko took the coldness in his sister he used to despise and chased it away. When Azula drew the curtains and hid in cupboards to hold a flame in her palm and just breathe, Zuko made sure Ursa didn’t catch her. When Zuko lay beside Azula and talked to her until she finally fell asleep, Azula didn't push him away.

Azula, he whispered, and it was a promise that she could still be who she wanted to be.

Zuko, she breathed back, and it was a recognition that, through it all, she still saw him.

#the relevance of these avatar stories is that azula has heard them since she was nine years old #like it's a real theme in the fic that azula adapts to their life on the run a LOT easier than zuko and it's because she's #just the right side of too young when they run away that she forgets a lot of what life was like in the fire nation #her personality IS this new life whereas zuko still remembers a lot of their old life and is very haunted by it all #and hates all the lies and having to deny who he really is #and one thing azula builds her personality around - bc of her age - is the avatar thanks to these stories #she seriously hero-worships the avatar which is relevant bc two years after they ran away #zuko gets caught by soldiers and brought back to ozai... when he is thirteen... same age he was in the canon agni kai....#and ozai burns him same as canon to try get info bc ozai has a VENDETTA against ursa now and is determined to drag them all back #but zuko is actually really clever and LIES and says he has something better for ozai: he knows where the avatar is #so ozai sends zuko off at 13 to bring him the avatar! same as canon! and he sends iroh bc iroh has been clever and stayed ozai's ally #this whole time while working quietly with the white lotus to try and get ursa and the kids back #so ozai trusts him and sends him with zuko to spy on him effectively #so their three years together looking for the avatar is basically the exact same as in canon down to iroh trying to get through to zuko #AND MEANWHILE azula wants to find zuko but she doesnt know how until she hears that the avatar is back #her hero is alive and out there and if anyone can find her brother it'll be the avatar #so she joins the gaang! and zuko follows them and azula leaves him little clues and zuko puts off capturing aang bc he needs to get azula!#but they dont acc all unite until ba sing se and how do they do that? bc zuko starts blue spiriting and he meets sokka #so yeah. it's complicated. there's also a revolution in ba sing se that zukka started SKJHGKSJH it's all a mess #but we get protective big brother zuko and badass sokka and azula mummy issues exploration it's all so fun #ask #also i dont like the writing of this extract bc i wrote it literal YEARS ago like i started this wip before i did my fucking a-levels #so if the writing seems shitty that's my business

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leatherbookmark · 1 year

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an interesting thing abt jgy antis is like. where is the source of their, shall we say, negative opinion of jgy? like, 1. jgy is a villain, he does horrible things with no remorse, he’s willing to do everything to achieve his selfish, egotistical goals. --> 2. the source of this claim: this, this and this scene. --> 3. alright, but to me -- says someone who’s not an anti -- this reads differently. that he did all those things, and did them on purpose and without remorse, is not that obvious to me. why do you think that? --> 4. well, obviously because he’s a villain and does horrible things with no remorse.

like... he’s evil because he does bad things, and he does bad things because he’s evil. i’m interested in how antis came by those opinions, but a, unfortunately i have them all blocked, and b, even if i or someone else made a poll, it wouldn’t be authentic because no sane anti is going to say “well, people hated him and wrote all those things about him on twt, so i started hating him as well”, or “i only care about wgxn, you could sell me anything about other characters if your arguments were convincing enough because i zoned out during the parts when wgxn weren’t on screen/pages of the book”. it’s all “written in the book/shown in the show” and “logical arguments you’d agree with if only you could read”.

#thinking back to my early c/q/l days where i reblogged this dumb ass meta abt how jgy FOR SURE pushed lxc away because he WANTED HIM #to be tormented by uncertainty forever. like 'the worst person you know just saved your life; what now' kinda thing #i was like oh... THIS IS SO RIGHT... because it felt bittersweet and painful and i am Still guilty of accepting/agreeing with headcanons #or interpretations that aren't 100% what i think because i have this ingrained idea that other people are always more mature and #sophisticated and smarter than me and so they Know Better #the person (i think?) later went on to write a meta abt how jgy is a badwrong narcissist. so #(this is also the reason why i spent months praising and getting excited abt a fic where jgy was dating nmj for like a decade despite #not loving him; and why he cheated on him many times with lxc Just Because. i didn't think jgy would do something like that but everyone #else was like omg this is SOOOOO good so i was like shit i guess it is! IT'S SOOOO GOOD OMG;;;;; have i mentioned i have no brain on #my own? yea)#anyway i'm not gonna paint myself as this genius from the first watch because I Too had wgxn goggles fucking ON and didn't even notice #the box hand touch during my first watch. (have i mentioned i am not very smart or observant) and when wwx was whistling ghosts at jgy #and jgy was clearly Going Thru It in the guanyin temple i was like 'haha good for him'#but iirc i Was nonetheless drawn to him (although xy was first <3) and it was like. well he's evilbad but maybe he felt bad when he murdered #his child? --> well maybe he's not 100% evilbad... maybe... --------------> a-yao did nothing wrong and i will kill you if you even suggest #otherwise. (<-- a joke.)#anyway a whole bunch of antis seem like kindasorta stuck in that initial wgxn-centered; everyone else either has 2 personality traits Max #or is either wgxn allies (good) or wgxn Haters (we hates them forever!) just like. unwilling to accept any new viewpoints At All #and then there are Types of those jgy antis because you have people who hate him for Other Reasons and people who hate them because they.#honestly seem like they've only read moralistic books for young children where the brave kind hero is the one you're supposed to cheer for #and want to be like; and the villain has all the traits you're supposed to know are Bad (mean greedy selfish lazy etc) AND NOTHING ELSE.#its like that *man who only saw boss baby watching another movie* damn this is giving me some serious boss baby vibes ! meme #anyway. love it when the tags are 3x longer than the post. cheers #shrimp thoughts

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love-songs-for-emma · 2 months

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am i going to single-handedly create a fandom about jay holt from the video game "as dusk falls"? i just fuckin might

#i Cant stop thinking about him. ive literally been dreaming about him. i Need to help him. please #hes just a fuckin kid!!! (18?? 19??) hes a TEEN and his family is FUCKED and its not his FAULT #none of this was his fault. he deserves so much fuckin BETTER #also i thought i didnt care about vanessa but then shes got dead brother trauma hi hello hiiiiii #and now jay does too #fuck my LIFE #ive never been one for self-inserts but actually me jay and vanessa hang out regularly in a tree house we built #we laugh and shoot the shit and talk about what losing our brothers have done/are doing to our psyche #as dusk falls #jay holt #vanessa dorland #new hyperfix u say ? this one will be brief hopefully. bc the game is fucking. unfinished. stupid ass cliffhanger ass bjtch ass #plus im rewriting canon so jay has a good young life. no timeskip for MEEE #maria is literally just rambling. hi #.txt #the only fic ive ever written/outlined was about alana bloom from nbc's hannibal & she Deserved a rewrite #but maybe i need to indulge in writing jay holt's better reality TOO #theres a quote. hang on. a quote from a beloved piece of media. why cant i recall what its from rn #but theyre talking about different timelines n shish and one of them says ''maybe this *is* your best reality'' and its SO sad. fuck #is it hannibal. i feel like its always hanniba #no but also i feel like its not???#its like ''this is your best life. youre not getting a better one''#what the eff is that. im gonna be stuck on this forever #EDIT: IT IS FROM FUCKING HANNIBAL. BUT ITS GODDAMN FREDRICK CHILTON OF ALL PEOPLE WHO SAYS IT #''The optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears this is true.#This is your best possible world Will. Not getting a better one''#fucking CHRIST chilton #lines that go HARD

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duns-writes · 1 year

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*banging pots and pans together*

Hey Jancy nation! Jonathan Byers appreciation club! Come get y'alls fic!

Tagging @beef-a-ronie, @jonathanssweatercollection @jancys-blue-bayou in case you're interested. If anyone wants to be tagged or untagged, let me know!

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Music and laughter, and we're young and alive

CW/TW: Very Temporary Character Death, blood, injury, pain, hospitals, mentions of child abuse in later chapters

In which Jonathan gets hurt, and the people who love him realise just how much he's taken on.

Chapter 1: Take Me Out Tonight

Jonathan dies on a Tuesday.

They're in the back of a van. Speeding towards the only clinical space that's still functioning, the FEMA field hospital just outside of town. (Argyle is doing a surprisingly good job of driving both double the speed limit and safely.)

She'd watched and waited in the final showdown, building the strategy so that all they had to do (ha!) was get to Vecna and strike him down. The demodogs and bats had been neutralised, radio communication turned off, and Jonathan (against everybody's wishes) had volunteered as the distraction. ("Will and El are going to need you two, and Mike and Holly need their big sister.")

Time had stretched and warped like taffy, but they could still recognise it was taking too long. Something wasn't right, but what? She and Joyce had stood close to one another, the chief peering out into the ash and smoke, until-

Will had stumbled through the gate bloodied under his nose, tripping on the rubble. "Vecna's gone, but Jonathan's hurt! I can't pick him up on my own, I tried, but El's too drained to help!"

All three had thrown caution to the wind (nothing new there). They'd gone carefully through the gate itself, but dashed after him toward the ruins of the Creel house. Jane was knelt over a prone body, and-

Her knees wobbled.

Jonathan. His shirt-front slick with blood, stretched out like a pieta. Gazing up at El, breathing something as she gripped him, her tears making trails in the grime on his cheek.

Of course. Of course he would try to comfort her.

"*Gasp*-you're gonna be al-*gasp*-right. 'S all gone. You an' Will are-*rasp*-be okay. Find-hnngh-find out what makes you hap-happy. M'kay?"

His breath gurgled in his throat.

El had managed to pull together a watery smile, then glanced up, seeing their rescue party. "Look! They will help us get you out. You will be okay too. You-you just have to stay awake a little longer!"

He'd visibly shaken himself awake, corners of his mouth turning up as his brother had laid his hand on his shoulder. Reassuring someone else again.

Moving him had broken the spell.

"We have to stop the bleeding from these cuts, we need bandages." (Joyce had pressed the shredded remains of her shirt into the chief's hands, a few knotted together into a skein. She'd had to do something with her hands while they waited.)

"This is gonna hurt, kid. And you don't hold it in. Making noise is a way of dealin' with pain.'

They'd met gazes briefly, before Will was lifting Jon's shoulders and Hopper was winding the bandage around his torso. A tiny nod, then the chief pulled it taut, and a wail of agony ripped itself from the boy's chest. Jonathan was insensible for a few seconds, fighting against their hands like a rabbit in a snare, only stilling when Will's fingers began to soothe through his hair. He whimpered, tears rolling into his hairline.

"Shh, it's okay Jon. You're gonna be okay, just let us help you..."

He'd made a guttural noise when they arranged him across their laps, El curled up and watching from one of the jumpseats. Hopper knelt beside him, keeping pressure on as many wounds as his hands could stretch to. Argyle was grim in the driver's seat, following Joyce's directions.

They were almost at the gates when Jonathan's hand had gone limp on top of Will's. The tips of his fingers, dipped, gracefully, to the floor.

A tiny gust of breath had escaped his lips, and those warm brown eyes fixed themselves on a spot far into the distance, and then-

There's a low moan of "God no, not again, please-" and the teary young-man's-voice of Will urging him to "Breathe, Jonathan. Come on-".

Jane is stone-silent and still.

Nancy shuts it out. She shuts it out, because she has to. Has to move, has to fight, has to win, has to survive. To compartmentalise means to live. Maybe it even means he gets to live.

(Her own talent for detachment scares her sometimes. Jonathan is the only one who can break her out of her Frozen-Charlotte state because Barb is-)

Don't think about it don't think about it don'tthinkaboutit-

She seals her mouth over Jonathan's between Hopper's rhythmic pounding on his chest. Watches while the open-and-shut of his ribcage flares and sinks. All the while, she consciously blurs the sound around her. His soft, slightly chapped lips are all she can feel.

The world comes back in a rush, like breaking a swimming pool surface. Her heart gets hauled out of her hands, whisked away on a gurney.

The running mass of people turns the corner, and he's gone.

#jonathan byers whump #hurt jonathan byers #blood and injury #stranger things #jancy #jonathan byers #jonathan byers is a young carer and we recognise that here #jancy fic #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler x jonathan byers #jonathan byers x nancy wheeler #with a bit of jopper too #jonwill brotherly feels #duns writes

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propheciesanddreams · 2 years

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Chapter 40 of atws is up!! HTML version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39370014/chapters/102919524 Plain text version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39375975/chapters/102921633

And if you didn’t see it earlier, I posted a 1500 word Rosekiller one shot here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41055063

#fic: and they were soulmates #wolfstar #texting fic #remus lupin #sirius black #background jegulus #fic: are we too young for this?#rosekiller

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watanabes-cum-dump · 11 months

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listen, am I saying Hassen is hot? Yes. Is he fifty? Also yes. But come on look at him he’s so

Like does he not look like sugar daddy material? He aged WELL god DAMN. I need more lore on him stat Kuro somebody’s gotta translate the rest of the comic chapters KURO GET ON IT I SEE THE MANGA SECTION ON THE MAIN WEBSITE YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO

#pgr #pgr Hassen #my favourite npc #punishing gray raven #GIVE ME GILF LORE!!!#also if we got young Hassen can we have young Nikola???#pls pls pls pls I’m soooo curious abt his Kurono days what crimes did he commit????#also allegedly Hassen is 200 cm tall???? wtf fucking tree #I am far too invested in the NPCs of this game for my own good maybe I WILL act on that backstory fic I had in mind

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the-rarest-sexiest-coinkydink · 1 year

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*breathing heavily*

Vampire Mikey. Male reader. please-

*collapses*

I ran all the way here

Boy, You Look Like Death (But Healthy Guys are Such an Eyesore) - (Mikey Way x male!reader)

Summary: Mikey’s really been struggling to find the right time to come out to his boyfriend. Not as gay, obviously - it would be a bit concerning if he didn’t know that by now - but as a vampire. Unfortunately for him, he’s the least subtle person in the world, and his boyfriend has more than two brain cells to rub together...

Word count: 2790

Warnings: very brief mention of drugs and alcohol (no use by either Mikey or the reader)

AN: take a moment to catch your breath, dear requester! Recover from that run of yours and enjoy the sweet little tale under the cut

Also, this title is taken from a song called Eyesore by a band called Salem, they’re a kick ass band and you should definitely go and listen to them because all of their songs are just a wee bit slutty and very vampire-y (the frontman also leads Creeper, one of my favourite ever bands and the loves of my life, and they also slap and you should absolutely listen to them too)

Anyway that’s enough trying to brainwash you into loving my favourite bands too, on with the story!

(y/n) knew for a fact that Mikey had no idea that he knew that he was a vampire. The poor, gorgeous boy had been trying incredibly hard not to give the game away, but by the fifth date it had been pretty obvious. And they’d been a couple for three whole months now. So he’d known for a while.

It had been lots of little things together that made him add all the pieces up and come to the right conclusion - it was the only one that made sense. They’d been to an Italian place for the third date, and Mikey had needed to take some tablets before eating. He claimed he had a slight intolerance to garlic, which (y/n) had believed at the time. There were stranger things to be allergic to, after all, and lots of people were allergic to stuff that others might find surprising. Another thing was, Mikey had only ever taken him on dates after nightfall. This had been explained away by the fact that, as he was in a band, a lot of his life happened at night! Before the dark came he would stay in whichever venue they were performing in, declining offers to go out for food with the excuse that he wasn’t hungry. He often woke up late in the day anyway, given that the parties he’d go to after the shows were over would last until the early hours of the morning. It wasn’t that much of a surprise that he was a little nocturnal.

But other things in combination had started to make him wonder. Mikey got sunburnt very easily. He hated having his photo taken, blaming it on his insecurities, and photos of him never seemed to come out clearly. There was always some kind of blur, or fuzziness, or strange shadow falling across his face that obscured his features. He was the same around mirrors, always turning his head away whenever he walked past. The first few times, (y/n) had believed the insecurity theory; there’d been times in his life when the thought of looking at his own face for any extended period of time had made him uncomfortable too.

Then one day, he’d stumbled across an online forum aimed at freshly minted vampires - yes, he’d been surprised to see that they actually existed, too - and everything had started to make sense. For one, Mikey was incredibly pale, and had a bone structure that could almost be called skeletal. He always looked a little bit sickly, like a Victorian child recovering from some deathly illness. It suited him, really - some people just suited being whiter than a sheet of paper - but it definitely made more sense when the vampire idea was applied. Gerard was nowhere near as pale unless he was wearing his stage makeup, and their parents were fairly ordinary in terms of skin tone, so it was one of the most logical explanations. And whenever he stayed over at his flat, he had a mysterious habit of disappearing in the middle of the night for relatively long periods of time. His reasoning for this, when (y/n) had sleepily begged him not to leave again one morning, was that he often had nightmares and didn’t want to wake his lover up. So he would go and hide in the bathroom to calm down before coming back. Again, if it had been that excuse on it’s own, (y/n) probably would’ve believed it in a heartbeat - but along with everything else, it just made his suspicions even greater.

Now all he had to do was wait for him to come clean about it.

(y/n) really didn’t want to start that conversation - there was still a miniscule chance that he was wrong, and he really didn’t want to imagine the argument that incorrectly accusing his boyfriend of being a vampire would cause. And unlike his past relationships, this one was going incredibly well! He really didn’t want to risk ruining this over something like that. So his plan was just to wait - either until Mikey slipped up and did something that would make it obvious, or until he flat out admitted it.

The conversation finally happened one night after a post-show party. They’d been at someone’s house who’s name they’d forgotten before the two of them had even got in the door - it belonged to a friend of a friend of one of the crew, from memory, but there had been so many different people there that names had slipped away like smoke in the breeze. In any case, the two of them had spent most of the time loitering in corners with the rest of the band or tucked away with their tongues down each other’s throats, so it wasn’t like anyone else really mattered. Everyone was sweaty after being packed into a tiny venue all night, and the vast majority of the room was drunk out of their minds. (y/n) was pretty sure that he’d seen some questionable substances being passed around in the corridors - and he knew for certain that Frank had gone outside to join the group smoking weed - but neither he nor Mikey were too interested in that. In fact, the pair of them were pretty much sober, just riding out the adrenaline high that had come from the evening’s gig.

They’d been together for almost the whole evening, only separating so that Mikey could go to the bathroom. He’d been gone almost fifteen minutes by the time he came back, but that didn’t worry (y/n) at all. He simply assumed that there was a queue, or that his lover had felt unwell and used it as an excuse to get a breather away from everyone for a few moments. When he’d returned, there was something visibly different. His eyes shone a little brighter, there was a new confidence in his step. Something had changed. And he had an idea of what.

The two of them had left not long after that, craving a cosy evening in with each other, and on the walk home (y/n) spotted the perfect in to that mammoth topic he’d been dancing around for the last few months. There was a little dark smudge at the corner of Mikey’s mouth. And whenever they passed underneath a street lamp, that tiny mark flashed a deep red. The colour of blood.

Mikey had fed at the party.

Deciding to wait until they got back to his flat, (y/n)’s heart raced beneath his ribs for the rest of the short walk. His idea was pretty much completely confirmed now, but he still wasn’t exactly sure how to approach things. Saying things the wrong way could still cause a fight even if he was correct in his deductions, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He switched the light on in the living room, and an idea flashed into his mind like the spark of electricity illuminating the filaments in the bulb.

“Oh, Mikey! I think you’ve chewed through your lip, baby. There’s some blood on your chin.”

It didn’t seem physically possible for Mikey to get any paler than he possibly was already, but in this light it really looked like the rest of the blood had drained out of his face. “W-what?”

“Yeah, there’s not much but it’s still there. Let me clean that up.” As he raised a hand, wanting to brush the dark liquid away with a stroke of his thumb, Mikey flinched back a little.

“No, don’t, I- it’s not mine...” He trailed off, looking incredibly uncomfortable, wringing his hands anxiously.

(y/n) stepped back a little, wanting to give him the space to say it. “I don’t understand.”

“I... oh God, I’m so sorry. I, I should have told you sooner, should’ve been honest with you right from the start so you could get out easily, I-” He stopped, running a hand over his face. “I’ve been lying to you. Well, not exactly lying, I just haven’t been honest. And I’m so, so sorry for that.”

Seeing just how panicked Mikey was - the poor boy was almost on the verge of tears - he stepped closer again, offering a comforting hand. “Hey, talk to me. I’m worried about you more than anything else. I just need you to be okay.”

“I... (y/n), I’m a vampire. And I know I should have told you way sooner than this, I was just so scared-”

(y/n) cut him off with a swift kiss, taking him completely by surprise. Using this to his advantage he slipped his tongue into his boyfriend’s mouth, a little shocked by just how much he liked the hint of iron on his lover’s tongue. It was a surprisingly arousing addition to Mikey’s usual taste. When he pulled away, Mikey’s eyes were almost as wide as dinner plates, and he offered up a reassuring smile. “Baby, I’ve known for a while now.”

“I-you... what?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t hard to figure out when I put all the little pieces together. Kinda like, two plus two is four, you know? Pretty simple.”

“I...” He was pretty much speechless, trembling as the tension he’d been retaining in his muscles all started to fade away at once. He let (y/n) lead him over to the sofa, guiding him to sit down and tucking an arm around his waist. He still struggled with his words for a moment, before managing to spit out a single word. “How?”

“Well, it was kinda obvious.” He giggled sheepishly, ticking things off on his fingers. “A garlic allergy and scary paleness - which is incredibly sexy on you, might I add - combined with you being mostly nocturnal, disappearing randomly in the middle of the night, and never being clearly visible in a single photo? All together, it only pointed towards one thing.”

“And... you still stayed?”

The way his voice cracked broke (y/n)’s heart, and he kissed him with even more passion than the last, desperate to get his point across. “Mikey, I love you! Of course I stayed.”

There was a moment of dead quiet - neither of them had been brave enough to say those three little words before.

“Do you really mean that?”

“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t.” He stroked the other man’s thigh, trying to soothe him as much as possible. “Look, I wouldn’t have stayed if it wasn’t something I was totally okay with! And honestly? I wasn’t a hundred percent sure until I saw the blood today. All those things added up, but I didn’t wanna bring it up to you and then be wrong. I didn’t wanna fight with you... the thought of losing you was just too much to handle.” He sighed, nudging his forehead against Mikey’s shoulder. “You really do mean a lot to me. I didn’t wanna spoil things by bringing it up before you were ready to talk.”

Mikey looked entirely baffled: he hadn’t prepared for a reaction like this. In his head, he’d dreamt out a variety of scenarios that could arise in this situation. He’d rehearsed how to handle anger at being lied to, tears stemming from feelings of betrayal, fury, name-calling, the love of his life walking straight out the door and never looking back. But he had simply never pictured pure acceptance - or the fact that he might have calculated the truth all by himself. Maybe he should’ve done. His boyfriend was an incredibly intelligent person, so maybe it was an insult to assume that he wouldn’t work it out. Either way, he had no clue whatsoever on how to handle this.

And so he settled for crying instead. He hadn’t thought he’d cry in a situation like this, at least not in front of (y/n), but he was just so overwhelmed by the genuine love streaming from the other man that he didn’t know what else to do. He was vaguely aware of (y/n) moving to hug him even tighter, murmuring soothing words in his ear as he rubbed his back. He could hear (y/n)’s blood rushing beneath his skin, his heart beating steadily in his chest. He could smell his usual scent, sweet and strong and so uniquely him. And most importantly, he couldn’t smell any fear. Fear had a scent that was unmistakeable, and there wasn’t a hint of it on him. (y/n) genuinely wasn’t scared of him. And that made him sob even more.

The two of them stayed like that for several minutes more as Mikey hiccupped his way back to calmness, ever soothed by his boyfriend’s loving words. His tone never wavered, constantly steady and gentle as he held him. (y/n) was overcome with emotion at the thought of how scared Mikey had been, and wanted - no, needed - him to know that he wouldn’t ever be scared of the man he loved.

When Mikey was finally breathing normally again, (y/n) gently tipped his face upwards, needing him to see the honesty in his eyes.

“Listen to me, baby. I love you more than I could ever really describe. It’s like you’re the Earth and I’m the moon - I’m constantly being pulled towards you, and now you’re in my life I don’t want to think about you not being a part of it. And besides, you want my honest opinion? I think the fact you’re a vampire is stupidly attractive.”

Mikey actually managed to laugh at that, wiping away the tears and the last of the blood that lingered on his lower lip. “Really? You’re not just saying that to make me feel good about myself, are you?”

“No way. Trust me, it’s hot. If I wasn’t into it, I would’ve made an excuse to go back to being just friends with you the moment I came to that conclusion. Pinky promise.”

“I... I don’t think anyone has ever had that reaction before. Normally most people are... freaked out. Scared of me.”

“Well, I’m not most normal people, am I?” (y/n) grinned, kissing him on the forehead. “Look, if... if you’re not ready to say, you know, the big three words just yet, that’s totally okay with me. I’m not expecting you to say it back, I swear. I just really, really needed you to know how I feel about you. How much you mean to me. Don’t feel bad if you still need some time.”

For the first time in that whole conversation, (y/n) looked nervous, and Mikey took very little time to think before responding. This time he was the one to initiate the kiss, passionate and forceful and tender, pouring every ounce of love into that one intimate act. He needed him to know that he felt exactly the same way, and for now words didn’t seem strong enough.

He didn’t pull away until (y/n) tapped him on the thigh, red in the face from lack of air, and he smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Sometimes I forget that normal people need to breathe.”

“I don’t mind that much.” He giggled, kissing the tip of his nose. “I find that kinda attractive too.”

Mikey blushed as much as he was able to, rubbing his forehead against his boyfriend’s like a cat seeking affection. “(y/n), I am so in love with you. And this? I imagined every possible reaction except this one. I didn’t tell you because I was terrified that you’d turn me away, or hate me. So...”

“Baby boy, I could never hate you. Not in a million years. I have, like, a million questions I’m dying to ask you though.” He grinned, squeezing Mikey’s hands between his. “But I think we should save that for later on. Right now, the only thing I want is to cuddle up in bed with you. Get all cosy in our little blanket nest and just forget about the rest of the world for a little while. Sound good to you?”

“Sounds great to me.”

The duo got up and headed towards (y/n)’s bedroom hand in hand, already dozing off as they got through the door. After a little arguing over which way the spooning situation was going to go, Mikey gave in and let (y/n) be the big spoon, every muscle relaxing as he pulled him against his chest. He turned back for a second, just about managing to press a kiss to his incredible boyfriend’s cheek.

“I love you so much, (y/n). More than I can ever really say.”

“I know, Mikey. I love you too - for as long as you’ll let me.”

“Forever, then.”

“Yeah, forever. I like the sound of that.”

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