#my dream girl is also the worst human being on earth but instead of being a no life commentary youtuber theyd have a life and keep me as the | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dancingintheraindreamingonday · 3 years

Text

Adoration - Part 3

Summary: You are loosing your control and things are going bad...

Warnings: non, just fluff and feels

Pairing: Bucky x angel!reader

Author’s note: Thank you to everyone who’s reading my story. Currently going through a tough time, so your kind words are making me indescribable happy. English is not my first language but I hope you will enjoy it anyways. :D

Part 1 and Part 2

Bucky didn’t sleep well this night. He lay down in his room and soon fell asleep but his nightmares were already waiting for him. He watched the Starks begging for their lives. A young and innocent man trying to get into his hotel room- scared for his life. Suddenly the surrounding changed and Bucky found himself standing in a meadow. The grasses were tickling his hands and he felt the sun shining on his back. „Bet you can’t catch me.“, sang a soft voice and Bucky looked for the source of the voice. He narrowed his eyes to a slit as he tried to focus on a person. Bucky saw a woman waving at him. Her long hair was blowing in the wind but he couldn’t see her face. Bucky knew this place. He has been here before. He started running towards the woman but she ran away, he heard her laughing. He almost reached her but suddenly she faded away. The sky darkened and an uneasy feeling settled in Bucky. „I can’t see you, I can’t feel you. Buck, where are you?“ The soft voice sounded desperate, almost like crying. „I’m here. I’m here.“, he screamed. The wind got stronger and he had problems standing. „I’m here.“, he whispered.

Bucky woke up soaked with sweat. The alarm let him know that he only slept for half an hours even though it felt like an eternity. His hands were hiding his face, trying to catch his breath. As his feet hit the ground he was greeted with coldness ensuring him that he was back to reality. He trotted to the red couch in the common room, hoping that you were right and that he can sleep on it without having nightmares.

You were laying on your bed, sleeping restlessly. You were back in heaven, surrounded by dozen of angels all observing you with interest. A man was chained in the middle. You squinted your eyes to try to identify his face but you couldn’t. „I can’t. I can’t do it. I love him.“, you said, dropping your sword. A loud voice was mocking you. „Love? We are angels. Archangels. We don’t love. We adore Him and only him. You know the consequences, (y/f/n).“. You nodded. A murmur went through the crowd. „You won’t be welcome here anymore. You will be a fallen. You will forget most of this and you will forget him.“, The voice is hard and unsympathetic. „I accept the consequences. Just… spare his life.“

You woke up, breathing hard. You didn’t dream, you remembered. Your head was aching tremendously and your throat was dry like the dessert. You decided to spend the night on the couch but you realized that it’s already preoccupied by a handsome man.

„I thought, you don’t dream?“, said Bucky, opening his eyes. „I don’t. I just remembered something from the past.“ He threw back the covers and patting on the couch to his left, indicating that you can sleep there too. „I don’t want to invade your personal space.“, you said. „I will just go back to my room.“

„Don’t be silly. C’mere. The couch is big enough for both of us.“ You grinned and lay down. „For an angel, you have really cold feet.“,

„Sorry.“ You snuggled into Bucky, definitely invading his personal space but calming down as soon as you smelled him. Bucky was your drug and you were addicted to him. „Do you want talk about what you dre… I meant, remembered?“, he asked, caressing your hair. „I remembered my trial. It was horrible.“ Your hand clutched on Bucky’s shirt. „What about you?“

Bucky looked outside the window „I can’t remember my dream.“ He lied.

The next morning, Bucky woke up from a dreamless sleep, only to find your hand clenched to his shirt. Sweat had formed on your forehead and your face was twisted in pain. „(Y/f/n).“, Bucky tried to wake you up. „(Y/f/n), wake up. Wake up!“, His voice got louder and more desperate. Steve stormed into the room. Bucky looked helpless as he shook you. „She isn’t waking up.“ He screamed

You began glowing, finally opening your eyes..

You fell on your knees, your long (y/h/c) hair were hiding your face. A small silver diadem was on your head. You didn’t wear your pajamas anymore, instead a long white, silvery dress

A long and heavy sword laid next to you. But the most intimidating thing were your wings. Bucky was shocked and perplexed. They were gigantic, reaching the ceiling and went from one side of the room to the other. The wings were white with small golden sprinkles but the tips were ebony. He had never seen something so beautiful. You pressed your hands on your face. „Something’s wrong. I can’t control it.“ You sobbed

Bucky walked slowly towards you and kneeled to look directly in your face.

He touched your cheeks softly in an attempt to calm you.

You couldn’t see Bucky anymore. Instead you were sitting on gras. Another person was there, but you couldn’t see his face, even thought he was so close. „It’s my last day here. Tomorrow I’m going to war.“ The voice sounded proud, but also extremely devastated. „I wish we had more time.“ You said. „We will. When I come back, I’ll never ever leave you again.“ He said, taking something out of his pocket. „If I could, I would marry you right away… You know that, don’t you? But I want to give you the wedding you deserve. I want to be the man you deserve. So, (y/f/n), I’m asking you to wait for me and I’ll promise to give you the life you deserve.“, The man said, opening his palm. A small thin ring was lying in it. It had a tiny stone in the middle. „It’s beautiful.“, You blushed. „I would wait an eternity to be with you.“ You kissed him softly.

The picture changed again. „Throw that pathetic ring away. You’re delusional and acting childish. Forget it. Forget him.“ You weren’t on earth anymore. You played with the ring every time you felt lonely which made your brothers and sisters aware of it. „I will.“ You answered the commanding voice. You took off the ring, but instead of throwing it away you morphed the ring into a small necklace. You put on the necklace and hid it beneath your dress's collar.

You blinked, finally gaining your control. Your hand searched for the small necklace on your neck. Relief went through your body as you found it. Slowly your sword and your wings disappeared. You leaned against Bucky’s broad chest as you looked like the girl minutes ago. „I’m loosing my mind, Buck.“, you mumbled and then being greeted by darkness as you passed out.

Bucky carried you to the couch and lay you softly down. „What happened?“, Nat and Steve looked expectantly in Bucky's direction but he just shook his head. „I… I have absolutely no idea.“

„Maybe I can help?“ Said a fancy voice. A woman stood in the entrance. She was tall with brown-chestnut hair that were put in a neat bun.

„My name is Rahel. I’m here for protection. I’m like her.“, She explained, nodding her head in your directions

„Do you know her?“ Bucky didn't trust her and he wouldn’t allow her to come any closer to you.

„Well not personally but she’s an icon. Her story is legend.

(Y/f/n) was one of the four most powerful archangels. She fought in every war, sometimes leading the soldiers. She was extremely powerful and kind. After the rebellion she started to visit earth more often to learn more about humans and humanity. And then on one mission she walked into this man. Well he was more of a boy back then.“ Rahel laughed like she was there when it happened. „It was love at first sight. She stayed on earth for months. But both were soldiers- she was needed in heaven and he was going to war as well. However, she always kept an eye on him. And when he was in a life-threatening situation she came to save him. She left her position to safe him. When other men came she thought he’d be safe but they were evil. They captured him and she was absolutely miserable. She tried to ease his pain with her powers but one day she decided to end this torture. So as he was fighting against ... well ... the good guys she made sure that those would recognize him and help him. And they did. The archangels were furious. She wasn’t just ignoring her war but she was also changing destiny. They burned out her memories of him and gave her two options. Kill him and stay in heaven or spare his life and fall.“

„So you know who he is?“ Steve was suspicious of this woman, not entirely trusting her either.

„Of course. Every angel does.“

„Tell us.“ Bucky commanded but she smiled smugly

"No. I can’t and I won’t. Forgetting him his her punishment. I can’t ignore the instruction.“

Rahel was slowly walking towards you. „I can feel her inner disunity. She is trying to remember but she won’t find more memories of him in her mind. They aren’t there anymore.“ She touched you on your forehead that made you wince. Bucky was rushing towards you but Rahel was stopping him with her hand.

„No, you stay away from her. It was you that made her lost her control.“

„What? Me? I didn’t do anything.“ He said in defensive and insulted.

„Your soul is calm but your mind is pure chaos. You will trigger her. She’s in a very sensible state right now.“

Bucky felt horrible. He was the one that made her relive her worst moments.

You slept for more than a week in your room till you woke up. Your headache was killing you and your whole body hurt.

„Are you going somewhere?“ You were shocked to see Bucky with a packed backpack sitting on the couch waiting for something.

„You’re up.“ His relief was indescribable but you were crossing your arms.

„I’m leaving for Wakanda. They offered me to get better. And that’s a chance I’m definitely going to take.“

„Without saying goodbye?“ You were hurt that he wanted to leave while you were passed out. You had the feeling that he was stealing himself away.

„I…I didn't want to hurt you again.“ He whispered.

„You never hurt me before, Bucky.“ You wanted to touch him but he took a step backwards.

„No. You can’t touch me. Rahel said, that I was the reason for you to be in pain and I'm sorry for that.“

„Rahel said that? Interesting…“, you said this more to yourself. „Buck, I can assure you that you were not the reason. If anything you were the reason to calm me.“ You tried to assure him but he didn’t look convinced.

„I want to give you something.“ You unlocked your necklace and put it on Bucky.

„I’ve heard that humans believe in lucky charms. So maybe this could be yours? It may or may not have a bit angel power in it.“ You smiled.

„It’s beautiful.“ he said as he touched the small pendant.

„I will become a good man.“ He promised; omitting the words For you

„You already are a good man.“

„Can I kiss you goodbye?“ You nodded. Bucky leaned down. He pressed his hard lips on your soft ones. You closed your eyes, hands resting on his broad shoulders. He wrapped his arms around your waist, securing you and pulling you closer to him.

„Wait for me, yeah?“ He whispered against your lips.

„I would wait an eternity for you.“ You answered, getting the feeling that you have said those words before.

Bucky, Steve and Rahel arrived in Wakanda the next day. Over the past week Bucky got the feeling that Rahel and Steve got closer, that Steve trusted this chick even though they knew nothing about her.

Bucky lay down as Shuri was running some tests. „Is the girl outside the room your girlfriend?“, she asked curiously. Bucky was surprised. He turned to his left only to see Rahel’s eyes fully trained on him. „No, she’s just an acquaintance.“ Bucky answered, mindlessly playing with the necklace. „Ah, I get it. The girl who gave you that is your girlfriend.“, She nodded with her head to his necklace, smiling sincerely.

When Steve and Rahel came back from Wakanda you were already waiting for them. Your sword lay next to you but otherwise you looked normal.

As Rahel walked through the door you held your sword’s blade against her throat

"Who are you?“ Steve had never heard so much authority and power in your voice.

„(Y/f/n) what are you doing?? That’s Rahel. She helped you.“ He said shocked

„I may have forgotten a lot of things but I know that Rahel died years ago in the big war. You locked me into my mind for a week and you told Bucky that it was his fault. So, I’m asking you again. Who are you? Reveal yourself!“, you commanded.

„Good to know that you haven’t forgotten everything, sister.“ Rahel’s beautiful face changed and a man was standing in her spot. Steve looked disturbed and disgusted while pursing his lips.

„Nathaniel, what are you playing at?“

„To make sure that history isn’t repeated. That you come to your senses and face the consequences. There is war up there and its entirely your fault.“ He shouted angrily.

„What? What war?“

„Like a civil war. Angels against Angels. Adoration versus human love. You choosing a mere human over heaven had dozen of consequences. You are a constant danger, a constant threat to heaven. You are the face of the revolution and I will no longer allow it.“ Before he could touch his weapon your sword already cut his throat. Orange light shone brightly and then it and his body disappeared.

“What the heaven?!”

@jessyballet @geek-and-proud @xlostinobsessionsx @cataves @intothesoul @beminetokeep @ebxny27 @ceo-of-daichi @bluemoon-icecream-blog @peterbparkersbae @bbl32

#bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes feels #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barns x reader

143 notes · View notes

hamliet · 3 years

Text

RWBY and Alchemy: The Birds

So remember when I wrote about the seven metals of alchemy? Well... there are also five birds, and like with the metals, RWBY seems to be associating a specific character with a specific bird.

Birds are important in alchemy because they were viewed as symbols of the spirit, as “mediat[ors] between the earthly realm and heaven world.” Adam MacLean states:

The alchemist in observing the flight of birds, recognised in them a picture of the human soul undergoing spiritual development. The soul, aspiring upwards, flying free of the restraints of the earth bound body seeking the heavenly light, only to have to return to the earthly consciousness again.

Black Stage: Raven/Crow (Raven and Qrow Branwen)

The raven/crow/jackdaw is a symbol of nigredo, the blackening. This stage corresponds to earth elementally and symbolize decay and death (obviously).

It’s no coincidence that Qrow and Raven are focused on in the first part of the story, and while they still are under their own arcs, Qrow has been largely separated from his nieces and others during the past few volumes. His nieces and the rest need to grow up rather than depend on Qrow. See Splendor Solis 20:

The children are portrayed as playing with a crow/raven among them, symbolizing their immaturity. However, the adults in the back of the image are in red, showing that they have grown up.

The theme of growing up and maturation is very present in Raven’s arc: namely, she never did. She fled from her adult responsibilities in abandoning her own daughter and ran back to her childhood home, her childhood promise. She also undergoes a putrefaction, a purification by fire in a sense, through her daughter. When Yang confronts her in the vault of the Spring Maiden, she shreds every excuse Raven has, pointing out that Raven is selfish, cowardly, and childish, happy to sacrifice others but never herself. The daughter, here, is the mature one, and thus Yang wins the lamp of knowledge: Yang gave Raven a dose of self-knowledge in the vault, and we see Raven making a small step afterwards via going to see Tai.

Qrow is better off than Raven in that he doesn’t entirely run from his responsibilities... except he does, just in a different way. He drinks to dull the pain, and as a result, Ruby ends up taking care of him on their journey instead of the other way around. Qrow himself acknowledges that he has childish beliefs; his semblance is a self-fulfilling prophecy rather than an actual power.

For the first time in a while I thought, maybe, maybe I could be around somebody -anybody- without my Semblance making it… complicated. And now, it just feels like a childish dream. Gone... like everybody else.

Just like his twin sister, he’s afraid of truly getting close to people, which RWBY seems to hold up as the pillar of maturity and development. I’m not saying Qrow is as negative a character as Raven (he isn’t at all), but he is still struggling to grow up aside his nieces and their companions. In fact, this will be A Thing for all the characters who relate to birds.

The crow is often depicted as dying inside a flask:

Which could be seen as alluded to by Qrow’s alcoholism. Through not facing the darker parts of himself and not growing up, Qrow is killing himself. Fortunately, he’s been making some steps in the right direction.

Rainbow Stage: Peacock (Cinder Fall)

Look the girl has feathers on her outfit that are very reminiscent of peacocks feathers... without the eyes. We’ll get there. The feathers are described by CRWBY as “iridescent” which is a term alchemists employed historically to refer to the rainbow stage.

Post-Blackening, the products of the great work are scattered in a variety of colors, colors that are all at war with each other. To quote Carl Jung,

It is commonly said of the peacock that it has an angel‘s feathers, a devil’s voice, and a thief’s walk.

NB: arrows are often used as symbols in part of this stage, and bows and arrows are weapons Cinder is, er, known for using too.

Jung also comments this, which fits with Cinder being both a Maiden, associated with the seasons, and with her being an agent for change in the story as a whole:

Just as the Queen Mother or the mother of the gods grants renewal, so the peacock annually renews his plumage, and therefore has a relation to all the changes in nature.

The peacock is actually a flightless bird: post death in the Blackening, it cannot fly, but in order to proceed through the rest of the stages, it has to gather the disparate colors (ie parts of itself) in order to renew itself (yes, they’re linked to renewal and rebirth).

However, Cinder is not doing this. She received many call-outs, and has severed every bridge people have attempted to build with her. If anything, post volume 8, she seems more lost than ever. So what could be an impetus for her to do this? Well...

Why are her peacock-esque feathers missing their eyes?

The ancient Greek legend of Argus (which is a place in RWBY’s world; the place where Ruby hears Maria’s story of her silver eyes and asks Maria to train her in using her silver eyes) is that there is an immortal monstrous woman with snakes for legs named Echidna who they keep hidden in a cave, but she keeps finding ways to kill humans, until Argus finally kills her. After this, Hera has Argus guard a goddess with his hundred eyes, but then Mercury/Hermes/Thoth kills Argus, and Hera casts his eyes into peacocks’ tails to remember him. I wouldn’t read toooo much into this, but I do think it would be very, very fitting for Cinder to receive a call-out from her “kids”: Emerald and Mercury, the latter of whom is an allusion to Hermes/Mercury and the former of whom might be an allusion to Thoth. Until Cinder has been confronted by Mercury and Emerald, she won’t truly be able to see.

I have said before that I think Ruby will use her silver eyes to save Cinder from being consumed by the worst parts of herself (as literally symbolized in the Grimm taking her over). The decay of the Blackening is washed away to reveal the color of the peacock’s iridescent tail, and so both a confrontation to get Cinder to face the worst of herself, and then pity shown to her by someone who has no reason to be kind to purify her (look, it’s a term in alchemy, and Ruby has been described as “the embodiment of purity”) of the Grimm will probably be the impetus for Cinder to change.

White Stage: Swan/Dove (Robyn Hill, maybe Winter Schnee?)

Robyn’s emblem is a white bird.

The swan symbolises the dissolving of impurity into ash. In Volume 8, when Robyn and Qrow are freed from prison, ash falls everywhere.

Like the peacock, a swan is a bird that does not fly. Robyn is grounded in Mantle, rather than Atlas. After the gathering of opposites in the Peacock’s Tail, the dove/swan “reconciles and unites opposite substances,” according to Lyndy Abraham. Swans swim along the surface of water, while the true colors are concealed beneath; swans dunk their heads underwater, which symbolizes a person diving deep into dissolution and purification. Robyn’s Semblance is also about this: it allows Robyn to sense their true colors and intentions, rather than what they attempt to protect at the surface.

I am also wondering if Winter is somehow connected to this as well, because of the appearance of white birds in her semblance.

The focus on transformation that is part of the life cycle of a swan (ugly ducking to beautiful bird) is also perhaps symbolic of Winter’s internal development; this volume, she learned to fly on her own, growing up and shedding the need for father figures completely. She’s now able to fly (literally) freely and to save her people. But we will see; the connection is less strong here.

Yellow Stage: Pelican (Hazel Rainart)

Due to the previous three all having links to a maiden, I wonder if the summer maiden will somehow be connected to pelican imagery, but for now, my inclination is to say that Hazel displays traits of the pelican as well, though there may be another person associated at some point.

The pelican’s notable accomplishment is to stab its own breast and nourish its young with its own blood. It is a symbol of sacrifice. Hazel sacrifices himself to save the children: Emerald, Oscar, Jaune, Yang, and Ren. He does so by stabbing himself in the chest with numerous dust types, combining all sorts of elements (key to alchemy).

Red Stage: Phoenix (?)

This one remains to be determined. It could well could be Cinder (I mean, look at her name), plus the bird characters have thus far been adults like she is and possibly have a maiden association.

But it could also be Mercury, because of his association with fire and specifically with burning his “nest” as the phoenix does. When Cinder and Emerald find him, he’s burned his home.

Plus, I think it’s pretty obvious Mercury will either get his semblance back or develop a new one, and it’s most likely going to be related to flying given his emblem and allusion. It would also fit with his having prosthetic legs: he doesn’t need them fixed, and his losses don’t make him any less human. It’s always been within his soul to fly.

Ooooor the phoenix could be connected to Oscar, because of its association with the sun. It’s really too soon to say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#rwby alchemy #rwby meta #rwby speculation #cinder fall #mercury black #oscar pine #qrow branwen #raven branwen #robyn hill #winter schnee #alchemy #hazel rainart #rwby theory #this meta is not perfect #but i was tired of wrestling with the birds

81 notes · View notes

infires-imagines · 2 years

Text

All’s Fair in Love and War [p.jm oneshot]

Summary: Jimin, a demon who came fresh out of the depths of the underworld was causing too much havoc in less than two weeks of his arrival. Y/n, being the best of the best in the Angel Realm, was sent down to stop him from continuing his streak of chaos. Will Jimin end up proving to be the only thing that can make the great Y/n weak?

Note: I wrote this a while ago already and it's unedited so like don't come at me for my grammar mistakes and what not.

Trigger Warning: Contains Grammar Mistakes, Swearing/Degrading Language, Purposeful False Biblical Terminology, Mentions of Suicide, and Suggestive Language.

[Jimin's POV]

I slowly opened my eyes and I realized my desires were finally being fulfilled. After thousands of years of diligently working my ass off, I was finally promoted to the Earth Realm. Here my job would be to spread mischief and persuade gullible humans to give into their darkest desires. This is one of the most desirable jobs a demon such as myself could have since we can actually have fun messing around with humans who have yet to be truly corrupted.

Scanning my surroundings, I noticed that I was laying on a bed in a luxurious looking room. I do not fully understand the concept of how the basic human essentials are already set out for us when we arrive on earth. Still, the situation doesn't phase me all that much. I look for some kind of mirror. Anticipation filled my body as I couldn't wait to see my human form.

Ravishing. Stunning. Princely. Sexy.

Upon walking inside of the (rather large) bathroom, I am awestruck at my own looks. I was arguably the most dashing human out there... looking past the fact that I wasn't actually a human being of course. Well it was finally time to go out and subtly yet efficiently cause as much chaos as I could. I took one last glance in the mirror, smirked, and made my way out into the city's fine streets.

[Two Weeks After Initial Arrival On Earth]

I walked out of the bar with a bitch glued to either arm. I smirked victoriously as my presence alone caused the rest of the foolish men back there to release their violent emotions and act out foolishly. A bar fight broke out and someone was bound to end up dead or in the hospital. It was so easy to get humans to give into their deepest desires. All I have to do is be around them and my aura alone is enough to make them destroy themselves.

After just two weeks, I already aided in the corruption of over 4000 souls. This city was pretty big and had people coming and going all day everyday, which meant that I had a seemingly unlimited amount of prey to choose from.

Corrupting girls? Even easier than men. My looks did all the hard work for me for the most part. They practically threw themselves onto me, always pleading me to take anything they had to offer to me. Usually their offerings consisted of their bodies and sexual favors, which I gladly accepted. If I'm gonna be here for awhile I might as well have some fun, no? Of course it was against the rules for demons force anyone to do anything that would corrupt their souls, but persuading them was a piece of cake anyways so that didn't really matter.

The current whores that followed me out of the bar tonight were both slightly tipsy after having just two shots of some alcoholic beverage I didn't care to save in my memory bank; however, they were still sober enough to make the decision that they wanted to follow me home.

I got in my car and waited patiently for the two girls to do the same. However, unexpectedly, a random girl who I've never seen before opened the passenger door instead and sat in the passenger's seat.

"And who might you be pretty lady? Also, where are the other girls who were just outside with me?" I inquired with a raised brow.

"People usually think of me as a beautiful dream, but in your case I'm probably your worst nightmare. About the girls... let's just say they decided to call it a night and go home," the suspicious girl replied coyly.

"So you're just gonna follow me home then? Because I don't do drop offs. I'm not an Uber." Skepticism etched in my voice. She nodded not looking me in the eyes. I decided to just start the car and drive back to my place without questioning her further.

Many things felt off about this girl but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. One of the main things was that I could sense that she hadn't had any alcoholic scents that could be identified by me; however, there was more to it than that. Whatever this girl's intentions were I'd figure it out soon enough. For now at least I can try to corrupt this girl's soul. Her soul radiated more innocent, positive energy than any of the humans I have come across so far. I was both intrigued and excited as I just knew her soul would be satisfying to eat, plus her face was quite pleasing to look at. Her physique was almost too delicate for me to ravish and ruin. Almost. She was indeed attractive to me, which was surprising considering the fact that most mortals were very ugly to me and did not meet my high beauty standards that would make me deem them attractive.

As we entered my expensive apartment, she walked inside with caution and took in her surroundings all at once. She looked at me expectantly as if waiting for me to do or say something. I decided to go for the f-boy vibe because she seems like the type of person who goes for those kinds of guys.

"Park Jimin. That's the name you're gonna wanna remember for tonight's more festive activities, if you know what I mean. And your name, princess?" I smirked at her as I believed my charms were starting to melt her unamused exterior. However that satisfaction was short-lived as the next thing I knew I was blacking out. I tried to fight the sleepiness washing over my body as long as I could.

"The name's Y/n, sweetheart. We're gonna get along just fine as long as you stop being a nuisance and purposefully tempting those poor humans to commit level 2 and level 3 sins," she said while smiling genuinely at me. Who or what was this bitch? Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't human that's for sure. These thoughts were the last ones that infiltrated my mind right before I completely passed out.

[3rd Person POV]

Y/n's smile faltered as she was now faced with the challenge of finding his room along with some clothes to sleep in. Eventually she stumbled upon his room and was able to drag Jimin's body up onto the large king sized bed that was located smack in the middle of it. She heaved as he was a bit heavy for her to have to carry all the way up the stairs and into the room located at the very end of the long hall.

She showered then made her way to the sizeable walk-in closet in the room and picked out one of the demon's comfortable oversized shirts to wear. She found his undergarment drawer and put on one of his boxers over her own underwear to wear as shorts under the large shirt. Being an angel stationed down on earth actually came with less material perks than being a demon in the human world.

Afterwards she found herself wandering around and trying to get an understanding on the situation so she could plan out how she was going to stop Jimin from causing any more trouble on earth than he already has.

Usually when demons were sent to cause mischief, they would corrupt a few souls for a couple of days but then a "guardian angel" would be sent to them to guide them back to where they came from. In Jimin's case, he was really good at blending in with the humans and he was corrupting so many people so quickly that it was hard to identify that he in fact was the demon that was creating a headache for the higher ups in Heaven. As soon as they found out his location, they sent Y/n down to deal with him as she was one of the most competent Angels they had. Her job was to stall him long enough for his connection to the earth realm to be severed to the point where she could easily take away the essence keeping his human form alive and ultimately force him back under where he belongs. The less amount of souls demons consume, the weaker their connection to earth is.

Y/n ended up falling sleeping right next to Jimin on the bed as she wanted to keep him nearby incase he tried to flea the house when he woke up the next morning.

[Next Morning]

Jimin's captivating, slender eyes fluttered open slowly as they slowly adjusted to the extreme amount of light in the room. Usually he left the lights off and the curtains closed and he slept throughout the day as he always stayed up late into the A.M..

'Why did I wake up so early? Why are the blinds open? What happened last night? The last thing I remember was bringing that girl home and that's it.' His mind was spinning as he attempted to recall last night's events.

Jimin soon became all too aware of the pair of arms that was hugging him along with the girl that the arms were attached to. She was snuggling up next to him and the weirdest thing was that she was staring right at him the entire time.

Seeing the girl wearing his clothing, he automatically assumed what must've went down the previous night and gave her a half smile.

"Last night was so fun babygirl-" Jimin started to say before she busted out in fits of laughter.

"You're so funny Jimin-shi. As soon as we got here you knocked out. Don't you remember?" Y/n said while looking at him curiously.

Jimin's face was priceless as he was confused and desperately trying to piece together the events of last night still. He then realized that it was true what Y/n said as he felt her peaceful innocent soul still very much intact and not corrupted. Oh how badly he wanted to corrupt her seemingly perfect soul.

After a good 5 minutes of trying to remember, Y/n got bored and laid her head on Jimin's chest as he only had one pillow (which he was still occupying). However, as soon as she did that Jimin finally remembered her last words to him.

Jimin violently removed Y/n's hands from his waist, pinning them above her head as he hovered over her.

"What are you, and what do you want from me?" his morning voice came out ragged and his words were laced with sharp venom. Y/n couldn't help but laugh even more at his attempt to fluster and intimidate her. Her nonchalant behavior infuriated Jimin a bit but he was taken by surprise as Y/n switched their positions with ease. Now she was the one keeping his arms hostage above his head while hovering over him.

"That's no way to greet your valued guests in the morning Jimin-shi. Still, I guess I'll give you a pass since of course you wouldn't know how to have good hospitality seeing as how you aren't even human. As for the answers you seek, I will tell you over breakfast. C'mon babes follow me," she said lightheartedly.

Jimin was a bit flustered himself but he wasn't about to show the odd girl that. He found his composure and followed Y/n to the kitchen. She had already took out some typical breakfast ingredients from his refrigerator and heated up the stove.

He began cautiously helping Y/n make a simple breakfast and began chopping up some vegetables to try and get the food done faster. They worked together surprisingly well even though both of them did not say a single word to one another. After the food was cooked to perfection, Y/n turned off the stove and started carefully placing food upon two identical white porcelain plates. When she turned around to see if Jimin set up the table she found herself trapped yet again between Jimin's arms.

"You better answer my questions now my little Firefly. Before I lose my shit and kill you. I'm pretty sure that you are not human as well, and anything outside of the mortal realm is free game," Jimin threatened her seriously as he was getting irritated and impatient with the entire situation.

Y/n just smiled at him, patted his head, then made her way out of his grasp and to the table. Jimin rolled his eyes and sat directly across the table from her. Y/n motioned her hands signaling Jimin to start eating. Halfway through eating Y/n finally decided to speak up.

"For starters, I am an angel; your guardian angel to be exact. By now you should already understand what the purpose of my being here is. Also, you can try your hardest Jimin-shi, but you won't ever be able to kill me or rid yourself of me for the remainder of your time on earth. Speaking of which, it might take at least a month or two for your connection to earth to be weak enough for me to send you back; therefore, you should look forward to spending a lot of time here with me," Y/n nodded in affirmation as she was sure she had answered all his basic questions. Now it was Jimin's turn to laugh out of turn.

'She was an angel this whole time? Shit... no wonder why her soul was so extremely pure. Now everything makes sense. Still though, who does this bitch think she is? Little Firefly was talking nonsense as if I can't just ditch her and continue onwards with my evil bidding' - Jimin thought to himself.

"Whatever Firefly. I'm leaving to go do what I do best, wreak havoc and chaos. If you even try to stop me, I won't hesitate to snap your neck," Jimin made his way to the door but struggled as he realized the door wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tugged at it.

"Now Jimin-shi you know I can't allow you to do that," Y/n's voice was purposefully high pitched and annoying as she looked at him with big eyes. Jimin got so annoyed and fed up with her innocent yet sarcastic attitude so he went up to her and put hid hands around her neck. He could feel the vibrations of her vocal chords as she giggled a little. "That tickles Jimin-shi. Go ahead and squeeze. You can't actually hurt me anyways, it's impossible," she snickered.

Jimin squeezed as hard as he could but to no avail as his hands just wouldn't close in around her neck. 'Nothing is impossible, especially for me. If I can't physically harm you Firefly, then I'll find another way' - Jimin scoffed and rolled his eyes. He removed his hands from her neck letting Y/n win the battle this time; however, the war was far from over.

[Y/n's POV]

A few days later, Jimin had seemed to almost get used to the idea of having me around. He used to spend many hours locked up in his room sulking but then out of nowhere he began to smile at me more and he tried spending a little more time with me. Nothing to extreme at first; however, after another week and a half he began to have movie marathons with me, sing karaoke with me, play K-pop random dance challenges with me, cook with and for me, etc. I started to get a little comfortable around him as well. Of course I knew better than to trust him fully as he was still a demon after all.

"Firefly whatcha doin'? Do you wanna come learn this new dance I just made? I made it specifically for two people," he said with a hint of mischief in his voice. I just ruffled his fluffy hair and nodded. He proceeded to teach me his dance. It gave off a bit of a sensual vibe if I'm being honest, but I wasn't complaining because the way his body moved to the music was a literal masterpiece, a true work of art.

Soon there was partner work and we were interacting with each other through dance. We were telling an intense love story with just our movements alone, but the intensity that his gaze held made me a little flustered myself. Soon we finished the dance and we ended in a close pose where I could feel his heavy breathing on my face. We stayed in that pose for a little while just catching our breaths then he slowly brought his face even closer to mines.

I put a finger on his lips right before they could place themselves over my own. I then cupped one side of his face and stared deeply into his eyes trying to analyze his actions. "What are you trying to do here, Jimin-shi?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"Firefly I don't even know what I'm doing. You make me wanna do weird things. You make me want to hug you all the time, kiss you without hesitation, and overall just be a better person," Jimin said with his eyes closed. Being the great lie detector that I was, I was taken aback as Jimin sounded so sincere.

"Jimin... uhm I don't know what to say," was all I could let out as I was confused. Was it even possible for a demon to fall in love? Could an angel and a demon even have any type of relationship after going back to where they came from?

"Say you'll be mines for the rest of our limited time on earth?" Jimin asked softly, eyes full of hope and what seemed to be love. I don't know what came over me but I just nodded my head in approval and smiled lightly as he hugged me tightly. I felt his heartbeat going crazy and it somewhat gave me comfort knowing the affect I had on him. Things sure have changed a lot between us since I first arrived here.

[Two Weeks Later]

Jimin and I were intently watching Netflix whilst cuddling on his comfortable couch. My head rested upon his chest like the first night I arrived. Suddenly a question erupted in my brain that I should have thought of weeks ago. I began asking my question with a shaky voice, "Minnie, what exactly do you like about me?"

"Aww my little Firefly there nothing I don't like about you. You have beautiful eyes, your hair is always a little messy but it somehow perfectly shapes your face, you are an amazing dancer, you have a great sense of humor, you are sassy, and lastly... you genuinely care about me. Nobody's ever cared about me and looked after me like you have been for the past few weeks. You are the literal definition of perfection. The reasons as to why I like you are endless babygirl," his words filled with straight adoration.

I hugged him tighter and stretched my neck in order to peck his cheeks. "Hey c'mon now that's not a proper kiss," Jimin whined, pouting and cutely pointed to his lips. Gosh how is this demon such a cutie pie?! I tried to give him a quick peck on his lips but he sensed my actions and quickly grabbed the back of my head to keep me in place. His soft, plump doll-like lips slowly pressed against my medium ones once again and he snaked his hands down to my waist and kept them there as he was very aware of the boundaries I set for us.

Our make out session was sweet and gentle for a few minutes, but then Jimin started giving me butterfly kisses down to my neck. I was wondering what he was up to because this was new to me. Before he could go any further with his actions, I slightly pulled myself away from him.

"Haha Jimin what were you doing? That tickles," I smiled at him.

"I was just expressing my feelings for you. Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable, Firefly?" Jimin asked. I shook my head quickly and his worried expression softened and was replaced with one of relief. I felt bad for ruining the lovey-dovey mood that was there a few moments ago so I decided to be bold and express my feelings to him as well. I left a few light kisses on his neck as well and then settling back into his soothing embrace to finish the Netflix show we were watching.

[3rd Person's POV]

After the movie was over Jimin saw that Y/n had fallen asleep. He sighed and carried her to their now shared bedroom and neatly tucked her in.

"Oh you poor thing. Falling for the charms of a demon. You actually believe I'm in love with you? It's actually a bit funny when you think about just how gullible you are, my precious Firefly. You think I want to spend the rest of my earthly life on here with you as my lover, when in reality I want nothing more than to part from your annoying being entirely. I'm slowly but surely corrupting your soul and once you give yourself to me, I'll finally be strong enough to break free from your forcefield that traps me in this apartment with you," Jimin stated half-heartedly. He felt a bit dejected saying these empty words that he didn't even mean while Y/n is in an unconscious state.

At the beginning of Y/n's arrival, Jimin had been researching ways to escape from the grasp of his guardian angel. The only way that came up was if he was somehow able to corrupt his guardian angel, then the heavens would punish them and strip them of their "Guardian Angel" title. He didn't know what else the punishment entailed; however, at the time he did not care at all. The easiest way he knew he could corrupt a female was through his power of seduction.

Jimin had it all planned it out from the beginning. He would slowly make Y/n put her guard down around him, confess his "feelings" to her, get her to fall for him, and eventually his demonic charms would lure Y/n into giving her innocence to him. Not only would Y/n's soul be tainted from committing such sinful acts, but she would also be punished for allowing herself to get distracted by feeble humanly desires and allowing Jimin to get away. His plan wasn't foolproof, but it was the best shot he had at being able to stay on earth.

Luckily for him, Y/n somehow fell right into his trap and began to trust him like a fool. However, unluckily for him, something not according to the plan ended up happening. He slowly began to develop feelings for Y/n as well. He tried his best to push his feelings for Y/n to the back of his mind all because of his selfishness, and also due to the fact that it was too late to back out of his plan now that he was already so close to succeeding in exploiting the poor unsuspecting angel in his life.

"Jimin you make me so happy. I can't explain it. Just making eye contact with you makes me feel so safe. When I'm in your arms, I feel like I'm home. I- I think... no I know that this has to be more than me liking you. Minnie, I love you," Y/n explained her feelings to Jimin after preparing a nice, fancy dinner for the both of them.

Jimin's face was void of emotion. 'Oh my... she finally said that she loves me. I should be happy that now I am so close to finally getting rid of her once and for all.'

Now that her feelings were out in the open, Jimin should've been overflowing with satisfaction and happiness; however, all he could feel was guilt and irritation for some reason unknown to himself. Maybe he didn't truly despise her presence and want her to leave him after all?

Jimin's irritation and guilt was not pleasant for him so he decided to just push the final phase of his plan into action immediately. He harshly grabbed Y/n and kissed her sloppily. Y/n was caught off guard as the kiss was different from every other time he ever kissed her before. Jimin let his hands roam Y/n's body freely and when he squeezed her ass she quietly moaned into the kiss.

"I love you too, Firefly," Jimin lied straight through his perfect teeth. He then picked her up, forcing her to wrap her legs around his waist as he took her into the bedroom. There he slowly but surely pushed the innocent firefly so deep into the flames of corruption as he showered her with false affirmations and empty promises that he would protect her after everything was all said and done.

[Y/n's POV: The Next Moring]

I slowly opened my eyes and felt as if I were still dreaming. I felt this odd heaviness in my chest that I couldn't explain. Still , when the scene of Jimin and myself being so intimate and actually coming together as one replayed itself in my head, I decided to pass off that heaviness as exhaustion. I smiled and turned over to see if Jimin was still asleep or not. He wasn't there like I expected him to be; however, there was a letter on his pillow that was sealed off by a firefly symbol. Is this a love letter for me? Park Jimin, you romantic little demon... I opened the letter and began overlooking it's contents.

To my dearest Firefly,

By the time you're reading this I'll probably be long gone. Don't bother looking for me because by now I'm sure the "heavens" are finding a suitable punishment for you since you allowed me to escape out into the world while still being under your supervision. Oh how gullible you were to trust me enough to give away the only thing that kept yourself stronger than me. I'm talking about your pure soul, of course. Without it you are as weak as a mere human compared to me. Thank you for gifting your innocence to me in such a pleasing manner by the way. Last night definitely proved that your body and soul was worth the wait and effort. In case you haven't noticed by now, I've never loved you or even liked you. Hopefully this was a nice lesson for you so that the next time you are assigned a job like this, you aren't so foolish. Don't be too harsh on yourself for making such a big mistake though, as I'm sure you are aware that... all's fair in love and war ;)

Goodbye forever, Your Precious Minnie

I was beyond hurt. Words could not describe the pain that ripped through my chest as the tears flooded down my face and my sobs got caught in my throat. So that's why there was such a heavy feeling in my chest. My soul was without a doubt corrupted and I just let it happen. I don't know when I became such a fool. I've never had this problem in my entire life, but for some reason I just let my guard down a lot for him. He who tore my heart out of my body and ran away with it as soon as he got the chance.

I was such a lovesick puppy who craved for the type of love and validation he was showing me for the past few weeks. Even though it turned out to all be fake I couldn't help but to still care about Jimin. I don't even know how I expected to stay with him after his connection to earth weakened enough, or how he would defend our love against all odds... but I guess somewhere in my unfocused mine, I had hope that he planned everything all out in his head already. I guess I was right in a way. He did plan something out, it just wasn't a way to save our relationship to one another. Rather it was a way to completely destroy both me and the relationship altogether.

Now all I could do was to wait for the Heavens to send someone to notify me of the price I would pay for this grave mistake. I wasn't human, so simply atoning for my sins wouldn't be nearly enough to be forgiven. I laid in the large, empty bed miserable and hating my entire existence at this point.

I was starting to doze off after some hours passed when a loud booming voice startled me awake.

"Guardian Angel, Kim Y/n, the Heavens require your presence immediately in regards to your shortcomings which has lead to the escape of the infamous Demon, Park Jimin."

As soon as the voice finished talking I found myself teleported to the place in Heaven where punishments for (Guardian) Angels and other mythical creatures took place. There was no one in sight; however, I knew I was being observed and was about to be sentenced to an appropriate punishment for my sins.

Suddenly visuals of my time spent with Jimin on earth pop up and a voice echoed in my head pointing out my every mistake. "Kim Y/n, you are being judged on the grounds of having and giving into earthly human desires; as well as for allowing a highly dangerous demon to slip past your supervision and back out into the world," the voice said loud and clear. "Earthly desires such as love and lust have been detected and seen as you allowed your soul to be tainted by Park Jimin. As this is the case, you can no longer be an angel as angels' souls must be entirely pure. Seeing as we are all knowing, we can inform you that after giving into lust, you will be blessed with a life that will evidently grow inside your womb. Due to this, we deem the appropriate punishment for you is to be demoted to a human being. Your soul will forever hold the mark of that demon and your future child could also possibly be affected by your past mistakes; however, we will provide you with the basic necessities in order to start off your life in the earth realm. Once you are put back onto earth, all of your memories will be erased and you will no longer be able to remember your time as an angel."

D-did that voice just say I'm pregnant with Jimin's child!? No no no no... this can't be happening-

[3rd Person POV - Six years later: Earth Realm, Busan]

Jimin was suffering for the past 6 years. After he corrupted and left Y/n alone all those years ago he didn't feel like himself. Not only did he begin to feel extremely guilty because of the nasty letter he wrote Y/n, but he missed her. The love that he had for her, which was suppressed for quite some time, took over his mind the minute he left the apartment. He wanted to go back to Y/n then and there, but he was too embarrassed and ashamed of himself to. He knew he needed to reflect and come back with something that made him worthy of Y/n's love. After spending the entire day researching ways they could stay together on earth and love each other unconditionally, he found nothing. Jimin was about to give up when he convinced himself to look at one more book. This book was the jackpot as he found out that demons and angels that infiltrate one another's souls, end up splitting the pure and corruption of both souls half and half. This meant that Jimin may have tainted Y/n's soul, but her own purity had caused his evil soul to become half-pure as well. Ultimately, both of their souls became almost identical to the kinds of souls that humans were automatically born into this world with. The intertwining of a demon's and angel's souls would cause them to be bonded to one another for all eternity and they would be offered the opportunity to live out the rest of their lives as humans together if they accepted one another's love.

As soon as Jimin found this out he dashed back to the apartment to declare his love for Y/n and explain everything to her. When he finally reached the apartment it was, of course, too late as Y/n was no where to be found. Jimin quickly came to the realization that Y/n was probably already getting assigned her punishment as he intended for her to be from the beginning, and ever since then he despised himself completely. He stayed on earth not being able to corrupt a soul, nor being able to go back to where he came from. Maybe this was his karma for what he did to Y/n, maybe not. He didn't know at the time, so he just suffered for the first couple of years stuck on earth.

Eventually Jimin tried to live a mundane life, getting a job like a real human being, paying bills like a real human, all the while getting tortured by the memories he had of the worst mistake he ever made... breaking Y/n's heart.

Jimin was walking through a park that was on his way home from his part-time job when he passed by a lady with an adorable son. Jimin wasn't paying attention too much to their faces; however, right as they passed him up he recognized her.

Hurriedly grabbing hold of the lady's arm Jimin's desperate voice croaked, "Y-Y/n?" He had a look of disbelief on his face as he asked her a question. "Firefly, is it really you?" Y/n nodded her head slowly.

"My name is Y/n, but I don't believe I know you. Sir, let go of my arm before I call the cops," she said in a strong voice. She thought of him as a random stranger who was acting suspiciously, and she was not trying to allow her sweet little Byung-Chul to be in harms way.

"It's me, Jimin. Minnie. Your Precious Minnie. Don't tell me you have forgotten me... that's impossible, right?" Jimin desperately searched her face to see if he could find any kind of recognition of him in her beautiful features that haven't changed even a tiny bit, but to no avail. His attention was then drawn to the little boy who was tugging at his mother's shirt.

"Momma, go home. I want to go home now. Pleaseee," Byung-Chul whined cutely.

"Momma? Y/n, whose kid is this? He can't be yours right? Who's the father? What happened to you six years ago?" Jimin demanded.

Y/n was scared but also intrigued by the stranger as nobody in Busan seemed to know of her existence before six years ago. Thinking that this stranger might've possibly known her from before she lost her memories, she answered his questions saying that the child was indeed her own, the father was unknown to her, and she had lost all her memories somehow six years prior.

Jimin took a guess at the events that could've happened and then realized that the child was his. He began instantly crying and explaining everything from the beginning to Y/n. After finishing explaining his best assumption as to what happened to her after he had abandoned her, Y/n slapped him. It wasn't because she remembered what happened or because she was sad that he was the reason why she had suffered so much and lost her memory. She slapped him because she thought he was absolutely, batshit insane.

"You have one hell of an imagination Mr. Park, but you better stay away from me and my kid or else I'll kill you myself you sick fuck," Y/n said in an intimidating voice.

That's when Jimin felt the most deflated he's ever felt before. He had just gotten Y/n back in his life, but at the same time she wanted nothing to do with him since she didn't even remember him and she thought he was crazy now. His heart felt the same crushing sensation that Y/n's did when she initially found out about Jimin's betrayal back when she was his Guardian Angel. Even though he wanted to see his love at least one more time, the irony of the way she left him without hesitation as he once did to her was too much for him to bear. The only thing Jimin wanted now was to crawl back to the depths of Hell where he belonged so that he could torture himself and burn for the rest of eternity as he (felt he) deserved to. He was so desperate and the only possible way he could think of to make his last desire happen was to off himself once and for all, so he did.

#park jimin #jeon jungkook #bts imagines #bts fanfction #angst #ff #bts #bts jimin #beginner writer #cringe #jimin is an angel #not really

11 notes · View notes

inky-duchess · 4 years

Text

The Villain's Ending: How to Serve Your Villain Their Comeuppance

The Villain is one of the most important characters in your story, the driving force for everything that happens your heroes and your world. The Villain must be dealt with, we can all agree on this one point. The Villain has been tormenting our hero and they must be punished. And not by a falling brick, Dave and Dan. The audience deserves a real ending and your villain must be punished accordingly for their actions.

Punishment fits the crime/ Poetic Justic

The Villain has been cruel, they have done horrible things to our hero. The world decides to get its own back in the most ironic and poetic way possible. These endings are perhaps the most enjoyable to both read and write, they allow both you and the audience to have closure but while making echoes in the story.

Carrie is one of my favourite novels. Carrie has been pushed far past breaking point by the conclusion of her story, she has been bullied, humiliated and betrayed. Every character who has ever hurt Carrie (either physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually) gets their just desserts. She has been tortured for her strangeness and inability to fit in... and now, her strangeness is what she wields against her villains. She destroys her bullies at the school dance (wiping them put at an event which was meant to be the happiest night of their life), getting rid of Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan, the puppeteers of her humiliation (using Chris and Billy's status symbol [the car] against them and taking control of it away from them to hurt them with it) and good ol' Mama Margaret White dies at her daughter's hands, slowing her heartbeat with her TK (Margaret is punished by her own daughter, her life taken by the gene she passed to her own daughter and via the symbol of love, a commodity she denied her own child).

Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a beautifully shot film and one of Disney's gems. At the film's climax, Frollo is trying to kill Esmeralda and Quasimodo atop the apex of Notre Dame. Frollo has a sword in his hand and seems to be winning, raising his sword to smite Esmeralda as she tries to help Quasimodo, reciting "And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!" But he has weakened the stone gargoyle he stands on and his movements cause him to fall and cling to the gargoyle as it cracks, its eyes glowing with sudden divine rage. Frollo falls backwards into the fiery blaze of Paris to his death. Justice is served.

In Game of Thrones/ASOIAF, we see this in spades. Ramsay Snow has hunted down young women in the woods with his hounds, tormented Theon Greyjoy into madness, had his stepmother and half brother fed to his hounds only minutes after the boy is born, killed his father (though this is a service to society), might have killed his own elder half brother, burned Winterfell, raped Jeyne/Sansa and being a pretty bad human being. In the show, Ramsay is fed to his own dogs while Sansa watches. Tywin Lannister has also been a terrible human being: having his son's wife raped while he watches, arranging the Red Wedding, allowing Cersei to set Tyrion up for murder, punishing Alayaya, his actions against the Reynes and Tarbecks, his terrible parenting and his general evilness. He is shot while taking a dump by Tyrion, the child he disparaged most in a rather inglorious fashion. Tywin dies leaving his dreams of dynasty to crumble, his unsavory relationship with Shae to be uncovered and humiliated after his death. The Seven were truly good that day. And not to mention Walder Frey, being served his own dead sons in a pie and killed by the daughter and sister of the woman he had slain in the very room he sits in. You can see the confusion and fear in his face as he tries to work out why this is happening, mirroring Catelyn and Robb's own horror and fear. Arya cuts his throat, echoing her mother's death.

In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, we are introduced to the hunter Ken Wheatley. He hunts the dinosaurs, helping the main villain in rounding them up. He has a habit of collecting the teeth of the animals he hunts. He pulls out a Stegosaurus's tooth, relishing in the prize without caring for the creature's fear and pain. Wheatley tries to do the same with the Indoraptor, thinking the beast has been tranquilized but Indy was just playing. The Indoraptor bites his arm off as he tries to pull her tooth, killing him in gory glorious fashion. Indy was a very good and clever girl.

Book Ends

The Villain sometimes is treated to a walk down memory lane in their final moments. The beginning of their story is echoed in their final moments, bringing the circle to a finish and creating a nice clean break. The end feels earned in these circumstances, rounding off the arc nicely.

In Harry Potter, Voldemort fears death. He has done all he has done for his preservation and longevity. Voldemort faces off Harry in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, one on one as it had been when Voldemort stood in Harry's bedroom in Godric's Hollow. As before, the action that begun the tale ends it for Voldemort. He fires the Killing Curse at Harry and it gets turned on him. Voldemort dies simply, with no thunderous drama. He gets both his worst fears wrapped up in some poetic justice. The circle is complete.

Arya Stark faces all kinds of villains in her trek across the riverlands in A Clash of Kings. She and her gang of misfits (Gendry, Hotpie and an injured Lommy) are cornered by Lannister soldiers. The soldiers gather the gang to send them to Harrenhal. Raff the Sweetling, one of the soldiers asks Lommy "Is there something wrong with your leg, boy?" And Lommy replies, that yes he is hurt and he has to be carried. Raff stabs the boy through the throat and jokingly repeats Lommy's request. Arya encounters him again in Braavos in the Mercy Chapter of Winds of Winter. She stabs him in the thigh and feigns worry for his condition, asking him whether she should help him to the physician. Instead, Arya stabs him in the throat. The circle is complete.

Though Braveheart is a rather mixed bag of tricks, it does get this echo right. Muireann has her throat cut for both marrying without the Lord's permission and attacking the English soldier who tried to rape her. Enter William Wallace who takes on the garrison and raises the village to utterly destroy the soldiers. He marches into the Lord's fort (the place he felt safest in as Muireann did in her village and metaphorically in her marriage to Wallace) and drags the fucker to the same post he executed Muireann at, cutting the Lord's throat. The circle is complete.

In Captive Prince, the whole conflict of the series kicks off at Marlas where Damen kills the Veretian Prince in battle, brother to Prince Laurent. Kastor has taken his brother Damen's throne and forced him into slavery. Damen's opening chapter has him being readied for his ordeals in the slave's baths before being sent off to Vere to serve Laurent. Fast forward to our ending and Damen has come home for his throne. He confronts Kastor in the slave baths where Kastor tries to kill him. Laurent steps in and delivers a killing blow, killing Damen's brother as Damen killed his. Two circles are fulfilled.

In The Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus, Gaia has begun to destroy Camp Half Blood, levelling the forces of the gods and demigods. Gaia began the first first cycle of the PJO Universe by having her husband, Ouranos/Uranus killed. Gaia had Ouranos come down from his domain the sky, away from his source of power. She had him ambushed and killed, her son Kronos, the original antagonist do the deed. We fast forward to the present and Kronos has been taken down by Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter. Gaia is mad af and rises to take out the heroes. In the end, Gaia's fate is that of Ouranos, driven from her point of power, the earth and destroyed. The bookends are a couple of millennia apart but the circle is complete.

There is always somebody else.

The Villain and hero are mortal enemies. The Hero has suffered at the Villain's hand for the length of the story, battling them in tests of strength, power and wills. The Hero must over come the Villain... or do they? The Villain must be beaten, that is a fact or else the story has no purpose or no meaning. One must triumph over the other. But there is no written rule that states that it must be the protagonist who must deal the blow and here is where justice can be done for even the most minor character.

The Captive Prince series has this ending in spades. Throughout the story we are pelted with the Regent's evil actions: Hurting Erasmus, killing Laurent's horse, setting his own nephew up to be sexually assaulted and murdered at the hands of the man who killed his brother, constantly being creepy, keeping children as pets, taunting Laurent about abusing him, killing his own brother the King, ordering the death of Pashcal's brother who knew the Regent ordered the King's death, of the killing Nicaise, corrupting Aimeric and his takeover of the Kingdoms of Vere and Akielon. We spend the story waiting for his downfall, waiting for Laurent or Damen to strike the blow. But it isn't them. Instead, the Regent seems to have won, trapping both heroes. Then comes the justice. The truth comes to light. Aimeric's mother testifies against the Regent. Evidence gathered by Nicaise and Pashcal's testimony of his brother's actions both prove to be a nail in the Regent's coffin. In the end, it is the ghosts of three of the Regent's victims who beat him and drive his supporters to abandon him. The victims get the revenge, not just the heroes. It isn't an empty victory for them.

In Outlander, Claire is kidnapped and subjected to torture and abuse at the hands of Lionel and his men. He broke into her home, snatched her, beat Marsali and tortured her. When Claire is rescued by the men of the Ridge, Jamie asks her which men attacked her but she cannot recall so he has them all killed excepting Lionel that is. He is kept because of his value to his brother and Claire's belief that a patient shouldn't be harmed by the doctor. Enter Marsali. She has hurt in the kidnapping and had to watch the strongest woman she has ever known subjected to horrors. She understands Claire will not take revenge because of her Hippocratic oath but she swore no such vow. Even the speech, is striking reminding us that Claire is not just the only one has hurt. "I've been learning the art of healing. Mistress Fraser taught me well. She took an oath to do no harm... I have taken no such oath. You hurt me, you hurt my family, you hurt my ma. I will watch you burn in hell before I let you harm another soul in this house..." Also, she kills him with a syringe which is a nod to his destruction of the one at the battle with the regulators. I for one hope it hurt.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we see this happen a lot. Neville takes out the sword of Gryffindor and fucking charges at Nagini, a piece of Voldemort, avenging his parents' torture and his own brutal treatment in his final year. Bellatrix has killed Sirius and Dobby, both two characters very dear to Harry and his friends. They do not get to bring her down. It is Molly Weasley who gets to do it, a mother who has lost her brother, her son and almost her world to the ideals of Bellatrix. She fucking snaps and we cheered her on.

In the Lion King, we watch waiting for Scar to get his comeuppance after he pushes his brother off a cliff, chases away his nephew and destroys the pride lands. Though Simba fights a good fight, he gets a case of Hero-itus and decides not to kill his uncle (it is a Disney movie after all) but events transpire and then Scar is trapped with the hyenas, the same hyenas he just tried to throw under the bus only a few seconds before this.

697 notes · View notes

sepublic · 3 years

Text

My Sad Dream about Luz...

Last night, I had a really sad dream where… It was Luz back in the human world, before she met Eda and the others; And she was running down a hallway, being chased by a few bullies for something she did, but was being way too overtly punished for. And poor Luz, she was stumbling and pushing past other students, the whole hallway was filled with them; And they were all basically aware of her predicament and making fun of her! And then Luz bumped into another student, and SHE got angry at Luz and basically threw her to the ground (off-screen, we only see Luz land) before Luz has to keep running with more bullies on her trail.

And eventually she makes it to the door leading outside but it’s locked, so she literally has to break open the glass in the doors, swinging a large object (I think a radio) at the bullies, making them pause, only for Luz to reveal that she’s just swinging it back for momentum so she can break the door opposite them! And then she barely manages to squeeze through the broken window, has to jump and climb over a few fences as the kids chase after her…

And Luz, she manages to briefly lose them- And then for some reason (dreams are weird okay) she starts flying? She can just fly by waving her arms? And she flies above the bullies and they don’t see her, maybe she’s also invisible. Anyhow Luz is flying around, keeping track of her attackers, and as they get frustrated a teacher appears and asks what they’re doing. The bullies explain about how they’re just looking for Luz, and the teacher remarks aloud about how Luz has always been a trouble student and it just… HURTS Luz to hear this! Then my dream ended because I just woke up, but…

…Honestly, while I can’t say Luz was outright physically harassed in this manner, I can’t help but feel like she was the occasional victim of her peers basically being bystanders to her own bullying. And being sent to the Reality Check Camp could’ve worsened things, because I imagine Luz was already not popular for causing mayhem and chaos, here or there, in her bids to be understood, express herself, maybe just attract someone who was interested… And it reminds me of this headcanon for an AU I saw (I can’t remember the exact post), where someone suggested that had Luz gone to the Reality Check Camp- She would’ve been singled out on by the people there… And they’d have likely used the “if one student messes up, everyone is punished” tactic to turn all of the other kids against Luz.

And, in the context of my dream- I’m just imagining that as what basically led to this, because teachers weren’t just content with hurting Luz, they had to make enemies out of her peers (instead of potential friends), and that just REALLY messed her up…! It just reminds me of that speculation I had, in the month or so before The Owl House premiered; I wondered if Luz was going to stay in the Boiling Isles and had intentionally sought it out, because she had nothing back for her in the human world. Maybe Luz was an orphan with no family, no friends; And so she read about the Boiling Isles and found a way, and that’s why she’s choosing to stay… She has nothing back there in the human world to go back to, just pain and rejection; So why not stay forever in a place where she’s treated like a person and has an actual family?

…Thankfully, it’s not that horrible in canon; Luz DOES have a mother, Camila, who deeply cares and who she clearly had a great bond with. Obviously things have soured a little in recent years, but it’s obvious that a lot of Luz’s bright and outgoing personality was encouraged by Camila, and that the two value one another. In hindsight, Luz still having ties to her human home that she wants to maintain, works for her character and its development, separating fantasy from reality while also enjoying both. And I’m glad we have the idea that while she was lonely, it wasn’t THAT bad for Luz… At least, as far as we know.

Still, that reminds me of another portion of my dream, disconnected from the part I mentioned (because my dreams are a patchwork of completely unrelated sequences), where… Luz is running through the woods, similar to the ones behind her house, and she’s being chased by kids and gets physically accosted. But there’s a treehouse, and while the dream changed to something else; I feel like the idea was that this was an alternate opening to The Owl House, where in her attempt to avoid her bullies, Luz stumbles across the portal to the Boiling Isles. And in the context of my dream, Dana and the creators changed it to what we got in canon, for multiple reasons… This sequence would’ve been really depressing, especially the implication that to her human peers, Luz just ran away from harassment one day and just disappeared, essentially chased away from her birthplace.

I imagine in this ‘timeline’ or whatever, those bullies would’ve REALLY gotten in trouble and been suspected a lot regarding Luz’s disappearance… And honestly, I can see this ‘dream version’ of the show having Luz never go back home, not bothering to give that closure to the people who hurt her; Because she’s happier where she is now. But thankfully, we don’t get such a cold and cruel kind of set-up/resolution, Luz still has a family, she wasn’t physically harassed (again, as far as we know), and she still somewhat chose to go to the Boiling Isles on her own terms, not necessarily under a threat. Luz found Eda and King, then Willow and Gus… Amity and the Twins, and now she’s just been so much happier as a person! She feels safe in the Boiling Isles, and on Earth too- Luz just isn’t supported there…

Still, this reminds me of back when that one promo pic for Wing it like Witches came out, with Luz, Willow, and Gus bearing the marks of Boscha’s bullying; And then I had a brief, major grudge/vitriol against Boscha, because my mind went to the worst places and imagined Luz being disturbingly reminded of her own experiences back home, and feeling like even in the Boiling Isles, she can’t escape that kind of bullying and ostracizing and will always be a ‘freak’ and a ‘loser’… Luckily the actual context of that scene ended up not being nearly intense, and Luz quickly brushed it aside- But it really makes me wonder about Luz and her character, and the idea of her having hidden apprehensions and paranoia about rejection, about being ostracized at school again (as we see in the beginning of The First Day), etc.

But Luz has been so supported and encouraged by others that she’s willing to take that risk, to make more friends like Willow and Gus and Amity (or at least hang out with them more), and learn magic! And I love that, Eda and King made Luz feel safe; They gave her an environment where Luz felt free to explore herself, protected from harsh repercussions and punishments, while still aware of the consequences and willing to fix any problems she caused! If she does have any trauma, triggers, and PTSD about being bullied, that follows through to the Boiling Isles; I do believe that Eda and the others can help to reassure Luz how much she means, how great she is… She already seems somewhat popular and even legendary for defeating Grom and wounding Belos!

Luz already has all of the friends she needs, but I really think she’s earned a genuine love, appreciation, and admiration from her peers and community as a whole! Luz didn’t need that; But by her own unwitting efforts of just being true to herself, and the support and love she got… Luz no longer has to deal with a default of being ostracized and hated; Now, her default is being loved and admired, seen as amazing and legendary, and even cheered upon! And it’s such a fantastical change of pace to her; Maybe one Luz is afraid will be interrupted when she’s suddenly pulled back down to earth, reminded of what a loser she REALLY is… But no, she’s never truly been a loser, and definitely won’t be!

She’s Luz Noceda, a human who learned magic against all odds, wounded the Emperor, changed the learning system at Hexside, destroyed Grometheus… And her accomplishments go well beyond that, and keep adding up! She’s on a roll, and this girl is unstoppable now, knows it, and is going to take advantage of this to make such a positive impact- She’s an unyielding, guiding light! Luz is weird and an utter cryptid, but this time in a way that’s meaningful and validating to her- She’s got friends by her side, has accomplished things, and is for once now emboldened to pursue her dreams, without having to worry about any delusions to distract/hinder her; Luz knows who she is, and that person is AMAZING!

#the owl house #toh #the owl house luz #luz noceda #angst #bullying tw #one time i dreamt #dreams #meta

41 notes · View notes

comradekatara · 3 years

Note

omg amazing do you have Thao songs you would assign to the gaang+?

instead of answering this ask like i did, for example, the fiona apple one, i’m gonna answer it like i did this ask, focusing on a singular album and the feelings it evokes. i’ve been listening to temple a lot lately so i felt that it made sense to focus on, especially considering its overarching themes.

temple is about intergenerational trauma, specifically between a mother and daughter, and the pressure of the daughter to live out the dreams her mother could not due to the ruination of war. therefore, i feel like it applies to katara in multiple ways: living out the dreams of her mother, grandmother, hama, and other waterbenders and/or women whose lives were lost to genocide, imperialist warfare, and even arranged marriages. but also, as a victim of that war herself, and reconstructing the southern water tribe as the only southern waterbender left, passing on that legacy to her daughter, and to korra, (and her other waterbending pupils, i would imagine,) knowing that they got to have the childhood free of war she had always longed for. i believe that korra would feel that mantle of responsibility strongly, as an extremely privileged kid growing up in a society that was on the brink of extinction less than a lifetime ago, and being mentored by someone who was exposed to the worst horrors of the war firsthand when she was only a child, and spent the rest of her lifetime trying to repair the damage. katara and korra’s relationship just means a lot to me okay....

phenom okay this song can definitely apply to lots of different characters: katara (”when the scorched of the earth / come back by sea”), toph (i know she’s extremely upper class but she’s also a disabled woman and as we see that puts her in an extremely tentative position that forces her into a position of docility and humiliation that she staunchly resists), mai & ty lee (irt their relationship to azula, their families, and the fire nation at large), but it first & foremost reminds me of hama, her overwhelming power, and her unquenchable thirst for revenge after the horrors the fire nation put her through.

lion on the hunt reminds me of azula’s rage & despair when she realizes that ozai doesn’t care about her and was only using her for his own ends, taking credit for all her (evil imperialist conquest) hard work while he just sat on his throne basking in the glory of having finally taken ba sing se. obviously the original context of the song itself is nothing so insidious, but the lyrics “they said I polish and astonish, and so why not me? / and then they said it's complicated and some wah, wah, wah / I made the map and you put you on it, pay me handsomely” really does remind me of that scene in “sozin’s comet” when we see azula’s reaction to ozai discarding her.

pure cinema this song is absolutely fuel for my “mai and sokka become best friends after the war” agenda because it totally resonates with both of them! they both feel like hollow shells driven by fear, a mere fraction of a person, just one incomplete piece of a puzzle. crucially, the difference lies in sokka’s eventual growth, later helping toph and zuko with those same feelings of displacement from their families by finding a new one. despite having loving and supportive biological family members, sokka is a depressed cynic with a fear of vulnerability, and it is the fact that he reaches out to them from a place of understanding that solidifies their respective places in this new family (suki too but she’s a far less developed character). concurrent to sokka, toph, and zuko’s ingratiation into the group, mai continues to feel alienated by azula’s insincerity and fear-stoking, and it is only at the end of her arc that she is able to stand up to azula and act authentically, but once she does, she is finally able to realize that she had true love all along.

marauders reminds me of the tension established in sokka’s relationship with suki in “the serpent’s pass:” how his guilt and trauma over losing yue makes him push suki away out of fear that he won’t be able to protect her. but by promising to protect him in turn, she proves to him that their relationship can be an equal partnership devoid of obligation––that their romance is not doomed despite his misgivings.

how could i makes me think of sokka’s guilt complex when it comes to not being able to protect the people he loves. katara was present for kya’s final moments, but sokka was on the other side of the village when she was murdered, and didn’t know what had happened until it was too late. and then, he considers it his fault that yue sacrificed herself for the moon spirit, because arnook explicitly told him to protect her. her physical body literally died in his arms. and as we see later, in moments such as in “the swamp” or “the serpent’s pass,” even though it was the fire nation’s fault (yon rha & zhao specifically) that kya & yue were forced to sacrifice themselves, he is still plagued by guilt.

disclaim evokes iroh’s legacy with his son(s), the guilt of realizing too late the devastation and atrocities for which he is responsible, and how he considers it his responsibility to shape zuko into the man he iroh should have been, and lu ten could have been. of course, the line “I was once an honorable man” is both incisive & ironic, since honor is an arbitrary construct, and iroh is no longer considered honorable because he developed morals. “I don't believe it's your destiny / to always chase my memory / how could it be insincere / to very clearly disappear” is interesting in this context because iroh clearly wants zuko to assume the throne and redeem the legacy of the fire nation, but in book 2, he’s also perfectly content to open a teashop and close himself off to the world outside the walls of ba sing se, along with his nephew. he knows that he and zuko have a duty to redeem the sins of their family, but there is a very large part of him that would be perfectly content with ignoring the outside world in favor of letting zuko heal. iroh is a complex character, but his love for zuko is never in doubt.

rational animal reminds me of toph’s arc: abandoning her oppressive environment (specifically, her abusive father) and choosing to live authentically: not conforming to society’s standards and limitations for her as a disabled girl (who also rejects femininity). the bridge of “i believe my own eyes” becomes even more powerful due to the fact that toph’s experiences are constantly invalidated by authority figures due to her disability. she is keenly perceptive and empathetic––and not despite her blindness, but, in large part, because of it.

i’ve got something is an extremely zuko song tbh. having the humanity & compassion stamped out of you to fulfill an imperialist agenda only to resist it due to your capacity for caring & overwhelming sensitivity that is impossible to ignore––that’s what it’s all about babey!!!

marrow is actually about all of them because they are all children of war who are capable of being loved and of loving in return! but aang and katara’s genocide trauma and their unbreakable bond over their shared grief and desire for understanding, companionship, and happiness is especially potent, as always.

#posts that are for 3 people one of them being myself #analysis #not tagging every character lmao #finally answered this cause im trying to clear out the inbox #(only 33 asks left to go!)#sorry it took so long #i have questions from february..... oof #anyway this is a hell of a lot of words for a post no one's gonna read #asks #edgarallanhoetry #synthesis #atlamusic

46 notes · View notes

hpdabbles · 3 years

Text

Lovely Nightmares

Based off the Dig Two graves by @childotkw. Thank you again for permission to use as based idea!

“We find the defendant guilty on all charges.”

Harry stares upwards in shock as Tom Riddle- the boy he considered a friend, the one he told everything to, the one he believed made it all worth while to go to Hogwarts- turn his head away from him after damning him with his lies. He did well, playing the terrified bystander to someone who lost themselves in bloodlust and violent tendencies.

His witness statement made a few eyes tear up in pity for the muggleborn who had been tricked by the halfblood into cruel silence for the mistreatment he had to endure under Harry’s thumb until a fresh corpse forced him to speak out. He took everything he once thought made their friendship real and twisted it, to make him appear a murder.

A murder that the Ministry of Magic has now sentence to life in Azkaban.

Harry had not been fond of Myrtle Warren, mostly due her forceful flirtish behavior against him and other boys as well as her whining voice but he would never have hurt her much less kill her. In fact Harry often put himself between the girl and the bullies who followed her around. How people could forget that he never know.

Yes the last time he spoke to her, left the Ravencalw in tears but that was because Harry had rejected her as gently as he could. After she ran away from him unable to stand the rejection, she was found hours later dead in one of the girls bathroom.

Harry had been horrified and truly sorry to see the confuse ghost flout about lost in a way only the departed could be. She was so young, a soul that can not find rest even after her death. He along with the rest of the school were evacuated from their dorms, everyone speaking about the murder. The houses were keep separated in order to keep better track of the young, while preparations were made to have everyone sent home

It would be Hogwarts last year if the killer could not be found as it no longer meant the future of magic were safe within their walls. Harry was sadden to see such a important place go, especially as one of the first students to originally walk it’s halls, but he had been more worried about Tom because there were rumors that Warren had been killed for being a muggleborn.

Tom Riddle, the human mortal, was also a muggleborn. It tore Harry up inside to think he could be next. A victim. That he could disappear from this world.

He went to see him when he got the chance only for Tom to point him out to a pair of Aurors with wild desperate eyes “He did it! Harry Potter killed Myrtle Warren!”

Harry tried to defend himself but with the evidence Tom managed to present to the authorities he was dragged away with the school watching. The worst part had been Myrtle who was flouting one inch above the ground in the grand hall, her unseeing eyes watching him go with tears rolling down her face. “Why Harry...I loved you”

Her confession made it all the worst for him. Harry knew the Ministry of Magic tended to believe guilty until proven otherwise but even before he stepped into his court hearing he knew it was a kangaroo court.

They all believed he did it, the court hearing was just a formality.

“Harry James Potter shall be sentence to life in Azkaban for the crimes including the murder of Muggleborn Myrtle Warren, possession of illegal potions, Possession of dark magic, and commenting a murder on Hogwarts sacred ground.”

“What?! But I didn’t do it! Tom is lying! He’s lying!” Harry shouted in outrage struggling even as Aurors appears to drag him away. A strong grip on his shoulder and legs to the point of bruising is nothing compare to the smug eyes of Tom Riddle as the doors start to close. Harry allows his eyes to flash the bright green of his father’s magic for a second just to watch that attractive face spam in surprise. “You’ll pay for this Riddle. I hope the guilt eats you alive. I hope it never lets you rest!”

“That’s enough out of you” sneers the woman who is moving him. Harry turns to her just in time to watch her wand light up before everything goes dark. As he is falling, he forces words past his lips so the whole courtroom can hear his final words.

“I will make sure everyone in this room pays.” They do not know they ring with not just truth but with a curse. It would take them days to discover it but by then it would far too late.

He wakes to the sound of crashing waves, freezing cold and the screams of the inmates. Harry had been stripped of his Gryffindor uniform leaving him black and white stripped robes, his feet were bared and he has bruises all along his body. He laid on the stone ground, with no windows, no bed or bathroom from what he could tell. Flickers of near by torches made it hard to see but he thought there was a woman across from him leaning against her cell bars like a broken doll.

A dementor stood at his open cell door, likely left that way so that one of them could “accidently” feed on him while the guards were away, hovering uncertainty. Harry scowled at it. “What are you looking at?”

The creature twisted it’s head, taking a breath. The cold increased, causing shivers to run along Harry’s body, his human side effected by the magic of sorrow even though his father’s blood keep him level headed. It would take a while but eventually the coldness would sustained. The creature made a odd crocking sound that attracted the attention more of it’s kind.

The woman let out a whimper when the flouting masses of darkness glided by her cell. She threw her self away from them, pressing her bone skin back to the far wall. Harry silently sent her a apology even as his body finally adjusted to the Dementors peering at him from under their cloaks of shadows.

“I’m not a circus act” Harry snapped at them, standing up and stretching his arms above his head. A satisfyingly pop run up and down his back which sent the dementors into a frenzy, more of that odd croaking filling the air. It took him a moment to realize they were excited by him.

He squinted at them. Ah, these were young. Maybe only two thousand years old. They had never come across him or his father, because they were behaving much like teenagers meeting their idol. Not that he could blame them, Harry’s dad was pretty important to the likes of them.

A giant black dog rose up from the shadows in the corners then, causing the Demontors to go wild as the dog strutted by them wagging it’s tail to a pair on the right. The creatures did three flips in the air as they swoon. They would be gloating later to any of their kind that the great Grim had given them a haughty smirk no doubt. Harry rolled his eyes as the door twisted into his uncle Sirius.

“Harry!” The man said joyously, his dark curls framing his grinning face as the adult waved a finger at him. The spark of laughter in his silver eyes- a nice choice of his humanoid form Harry thinks. This one most definite matches humans’ idea of beauty- lets the half being know his uncle finds this all hilarious. “Why am I picking up my nephew from mortal prison? James is besides himself, young man. He allowed you to come down the these realm for a few years and you get thrown in jail!”

“Riddle framed me.” Harry shrugs slightly embarrassed his new life on Earth ended so abruptly. “He told everyone that I murdered someone.”

Sirius frowned, his canine peaking over his lip as he studied the boy who quickly laid down face first allowing his soul to detach from his body. “I thought you two were close. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know but i intend to make his life hell.”

The Grim tilted his head as the soul of his nephew- Death’s son created between the personification of the end and a muggleborn woman named Lily many many eons ago- rose from it’s physically anchor his father created.

Since Harry is both half alive and half dead he could come and go between worlds. Usually James-as Death preferred to be called- ever few millennia would bend to his son’s boredom and send him down to Earth. It was a nice vacation from all the filing, soul collecting and transporting of souls the boy had to do. In truth James saw it more as sending Harry off to summer camp to experience more from his mother’s side instead of reincarnating him into a human anchor he design.

Lily lived in the Beyond, as she was full mortal, while James and Harry lived in a never ending castle in Between. They visited Lily in her private heaven often with James confidently heading over there after work but Harry yearn for the real world and not the one created by James’ will or Lily’s fondest memoires.

He had experience empires rise and fall, had taken many names and faces to match whatever whim of appearance James took up-last millennia he had sported blond hair and blue eyes which meant Harry did as while- but no one had ever made him feel as alive as Tom Riddle has.

“How do you plan to do that?” Sirius asked waving at the group of Dementors goodbye while opening his shadow so Harry could travel to his father’s realm.

“I’m going to appear in all of his dreams until the day he dies.” Harry growled sinking into the darkness. “The dream scape is the place I can bend to my will and Riddle will rue the day he ever double-crossed me.”

“Alright but you are going to be the one explaining to your father that you want to appear in a teenage boy’s dreams and not me. He never forgive me if I helped his dear baby Harry flirt like that.”

The darkness swallowed them up on Harry’s squeaking of denials his body left under the protection of Dementors who were the only witness to the strange happening.

Miles away Tom Riddle looked over at the Gryffindor table missing the strong green stare that always looked back him more then he will ever be willing to admit. He shivers abruptly when a cold sensation of a hand runs along the back of his neck to his shoulders.

That night he dreamed of Harry Potter by the black lake, smile soft and green eyes glowing. He took Tom’s hand to guide him into the water with a sweet laugh that made everything slow down as Tom jumped through the waves of a invisible breeze. Harry looked happy as they splashed about, the sky a clear blue for once and Tom could not look away from the vision Harry made.

Midway through the dream the water turn to blood, Harry’s smile fell and his heavy betrayed eyes bore into Tom’s as he the smell of copper rose. The mortal found himself incased in blood slowing dragging him down as he struggle to escape the chains the liquid had become around him.

No matter how hard he fought nothing could stop him from sinking further and further down all the while Harry watched him slowly drown. Tom tried to scream for help, to reach out towards him but the boy was unmoved until all he could see besides the red was Harry’s lips moving.

“Why Tom...why did you do it?”

Tom Riddle woke screaming drench in cold sweat.

#Harry Potter #hpdabbles #Lovely Nightmares #Tom Riddle really went and messed with Death's kid #Sirius is the Grim #In a Au where James is death and Lily the human made him fall in love #Harry's technically still at Azkaban #Tom may or may not learn to feel bad #Party 1 maybe?

35 notes · View notes

ghinanotlinetti · 3 years

Text

Sally Rooney’s ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ is quite excellent and I’m oddly surprised for reasons

With contemporary novels, I find it hard to choose what to read and skip because there’s so many books being recommended and not enough time to read them all. There’s also the fact that not all these book recommendations are going to be one that I’ll enjoy reading even though it’s enjoyed by many others, though that’s not the worst thing in the world, it is a gamble because I can’t really trust ratings, i.e. I didn’t like reading The Sun Is Also A Star but that book has a 4-star rating on Goodreads which is very generous is my opinion. So when everyone kept recommending Sally Rooney’s books, I wasn’t too invested because at first glance the synopsis didn’t intrigue me but I wanted to read so I’d know what the hype was all about. When Beautiful World, Where Are You released, I wasn’t ready to buy a copy of my own, so instead I borrowed from a friend because I wasn’t sure I’d like this book. This is my first read from Rooney and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as thoroughly as I did from start to finish.

When copies of Normal People was being sold in every bookstore, the series premiered on Hulu and I wanted to watch instead because I feel that watching is easier to commit to as opposed to reading. After watching the whole series, I knew I wasn’t going to read the novel; it was a beautifully aesthetic series, good romance scenes for the girlies, good dialogue here and there, but the story wasn’t it for me and neither were the characters (Marianne is very Manic Pixie Dream Girl, snobby and hard to like which I think is intentional however there are likeable MPDGs which I enjoy, and Connell is just boring to me idkidk). A part of me was ready to manage possible disappointments which I might have with BWWAY, so when I ended up enjoying it it was such a relief!

Prior to reading, the reviews I heard from my circles was that this book is “boring” and some friends of mine didn’t enjoy it all that much for that reason, which I can see where they’re coming from, but I for one don’t mind “boring” stories much at all, in fact “boring” stories end up being one of my absolute favs, i.e. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous - very little plot but heavy on describing what the human experience feels like. I enjoy feels whether that’s in my books, shows, or films, and BWWAY is no exception! I like that the focus relationship in the book was the friendship between Eileen and Alice; stories with platonic love, especially with it being the central focus, is quite rare and sometimes it’s done in a way that’s too idealistic, which is probably the point but I thought BWWAY showed nuances in platonic love. The two characters are honest towards each other but not brutal, close but also distant, caring but not attached, and they’ve helped the other heal but they’ve also hurt each other (intention is irrelevant because it still hurts regardless). I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but friendships, like any other type of relationship, is hard to work on. I’m all for decentering romantic love, but that doesn’t mean that platonic love is a walk in the park, and this story shows that. I got teary-eyed reading the part when Alice and Eileen made up, it was so touching and made me overjoyed! Sometimes the unbreakable bond in your life are the ones with your bestie. Aside from friendships, there’s also the romances which I thought was sweet and done well. I like the steam in the romance, which I saw coming from watching Normal People, it’s not the cringe, lackluster smut but it’s the sexy, sweet, smutty romance with a dash of tox*c energy which gives it the spice. I for one don’t mind seeing a tox*c relationship as long as the characters themselves aren’t actually weird and creepy, so although Simon has a pattern with dating younger women, he doesn’t like Eileen just because she’s a little girl, he likes her for who she it, their shared history, etc.

Overall, solid 4-star! It’s pretty long but I personally think it’s worth it. The writing is kinda excellent but a little intimidating to get used to the writing style, perhaps an audiobook version could be a better experience for some. Didn’t like how the global panasonic was slipped in but I’ll allow it because it was towards the end and was relevant to where the story was headed. Is this book my absolute fav read of 2021? I don’t think so, but I thoroughly enjoy it nonetheless.

#sally rooney #beautiful world where are you #normal people #book review

4 notes · View notes

salt-warrior · 3 years

Text

WHEN EARTH TURNS TO ASHES

Masterlist

Chapter Eighteen: The Dawn of Human Suffering

Light snow was beginning to fall under the cover of a purple dusk, but Kai didn't feel the edging bite of cold. The five friends stood huddled together in a tight circle, humbly awaiting for the absence of the sun.

Cress had told them that the night sky would be better to summon Her because the gray realm is closer to the middle realm when the sky is dark. It all had something to do with how ghosts become more active within the cover of twilight and human fear.

A determined Cinder stood beside Kai, her slouched form shivering against her crutches. She held an old, worn envelope that contained the key to summoning the ghost of her mother. Her expression was stony and undecipherable, though Kai could feel nervous energy bouncing off of her like an electrical current.

"It's almost time," Cress observed. "We should come up with some sort of game plan for what we'll do once we summon Her."

"Wait," Thorne intruded, "won't we just summon her, burn the bracelet, and be done with her?"

"Essentially, but there are still some minor details that we might want to go over," Cress admitted, blushing as she looked at Thorne. "She might try to talk to us. She could attempt to hurt us, although I believe that we have to say the trigger words for her to be allowed to even touch us."

"It sounds like a horcrux," Kai said, earning a stare from each of his friends. "You know, in Harry Potter?"

"Anyways," Cress continued, ignoring Kai's words. "We need to be prepared for all the worst case scenarios."

"Worst case scenario, all of you run," Cinder said. "She'll stay with me, and she also won't hurt me. I only need Cress to say the magic words and then you can all leave."

"But won't she catch on fire?" Thorne asked, his voice hesitant to ask the question.

Cress shrugged her shoulders and held her head high. "We don't know; but if I do, just try to put me out fast."

A hush fell back over the group at Cress's words of bravery, but all Kai could feel was his own resolve. Kai looked at everyone huddled together, and wondered how on earth his life had gotten to this point. Less than a month ago Kai was a simple college student at business school. His best—and only—friend was Carswell Thorne. He didn't believe in ghosts. He wasn't ever at risk of dying. He wasn't in love with a girl who saying 'I love you' to could get him killed.

Kai wasn't entirely sure what his life had been leading up to. He enjoyed business school, but it wasn't his passion. Kai wanted to see things, and learn, and meet new people everyday. His father had given him all that he could offer, but Kai only wanted that which wasn't his. Kai was facing a situation that could lead to death, and all he could think of was his regret. Now was the time to redeem himself.

I could hold the entire world in my hands, Kai thought. Yet all I want is to hold Cinder. All I want is Cinder. She is the world. She is the one. She is the reason to everything, and now I know why Channary would do everything in her power to keep her safe.

"Cinder," Kai could feel his heart choking him with all the words he could not say. "I... I..." I love you.

"What Kai?" Cinder asked, tilting her head to the side. She looked so young, so beautiful. Kai felt an ache within him. His entire being was drawn to her, and he couldn't control it. The prospect of dying had his heart making a deathbed request: to kiss her. "What is it?"

Kai took a step toward Cinder. He reached his hand out towards her and placed his fingers against her frozen cheek. Her eyes widened in surprise, though she did not draw away from him. Kai took this as a good sign and brought his other hand up to her face.

Cinder regarded Kai with questioning brown eyes that made him want to write poetry. It was as if the whole world had gone silent and they were the last two humans left on earth. Blood pounded in Kai's ears, and the muted wind blew Cinder's messy hair around her face.

"Are you okay?" Cinder asked. Her eyelashes fluttered with the falling snow. Her lips were slightly parted and chapped from the cold— and Kai couldn't stop looking at them. Her uninjured hand left its crutch to rest against Kai's hand, her icy fingertips made him shiver. "Kai?"

The pull towards her was agonizingly strong. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn't. He didn't want to screw anything up. He could get them all killed, but what if they were already doomed? Someone would have to say the words, and Kai was done watching everyone else get hurt.

Kai leaned in and brought his lips gently to Cinder's. She tensed for a moment, then relaxed and kissed him back. She wound her fingers into Kai's hair, and he brought his free hand down to her neck. He could feel the blood pounding through her veins, and could taste blood and ice on her lips. A burning sensation rushed throughout Kai's body; he could have kissed Cinder for the rest of his life and been perfectly content.

Cinder was the first to break away, dropping her hand back to the handle of her crutch so as not to touch him. She appeared frazzled, but not agitated. Kai's lips were cold without hers, and he hurt as though he had been stabbed where her fingers no longer rested. His anguish burned in his eyes, and he couldn't let go of Cinder. He couldn't let go of her.

"Cinder," Kai whispered, but she wouldn't look him in the eyes. He no longer cared where he was or what he was about to do. He couldn't care less if the whole world had just been lit aflame; he didn't care if he was about to be lit aflame. "Selene," Kai croaked.

Cinder froze, her eyes large and afraid. Tension boiled around them like a pot of water over a flame. Kai couldn't hear his friends speaking around him. He couldn't see Cinder's silent warning not to say it. He didn't feel her shove him away. The only thing he knew where his lips whispering the words he had wanted to say for weeks. The words were his destiny and fate.

"I love you."

And that's when Kai burst into flames.

***

"Kai, no!" Cinder screamed as she watched a lightning bolt of fire strike Kai's body from the heavens. He was a blazing human torch, sending beacons of light up to hell cast sky— he was the dawn of human suffering.

Around Cinder, her friends echoed her cry. An anguished scream reverberated throughout the wooded area, harmonizing with a predatorial growl. Cinder knew that sound, for it haunted her every dream. It was the sound that she heard when she was alone with her thoughts; it was the background music of her brain.

The smell of burning hair and flesh bore into Cinder's senses. She collapsed to the ground, her entire body trembling with the shock and memories. Her body was out of her control. She could no longer help Kai. She never could. In the end, she was only ever intended to hurt him.

Her friends weren't so helpless.

Thorne charged at Kai, a determined glint in his horror-struck eyes. He tackled Kai to the ground, bringing him in rolling circles across the snow. Kai continued to shriek with the agony of being burned alive, but the flames were beginning to die.

Cress ran to Kai and Thorne, pulling off her coat and beating Kai with it in frantic motions. Iko moved to Cinder's side, telling her to breathe. Spots of black danced across Cinder's vision with the red and orange of the torch that was once a boy. Her throat appeared to have closed off, because no matter how hard she tried, Cinder couldn't bring oxygen into her lungs.

Panic rushed through Cinder, heavier than she could have imagined. She clutched at her chest as the hyperventilations became too intense. She could no longer see Kai, but Ran. Ran was aflame, and Cinder could only watch as his flesh became a blazing meal for Hell.

Then Ran became Peony— peaceful as she silently bore pain that can only be aroused by fire. They were burning, burning, burning. Everything was on fire. The earth had erupted into violent flames. Hell had been cast upon the face of the world and nothing could be seen except the dancing forms phoenix's turning the earth into ashes.

And now Cinder herself was burning. Her skin steamed and peeled off in layers as the inferno consumed her body; but the worst part was the smoke.

Smoke, smoke, smoke. It blinded her. It choked her. It drowned every sense she possessed as a human being. She could no longer see the flames, but the wispy ladies of fate dancing in front of her eyes. Nothing existed anymore except for the smoke.

Smoke

But this time Kai wasn't there to save her from the storm of flames and smoke. Her hero had been struck down by a blade of kryptonite, only it was Cinder who had stabbed him.

"Cinder," Iko screamed somewhere within the smoke. "Cinder, breathe!"

But Cinder couldn't breathe; not with all of the smoke.

"It's all going to be okay, Cinder. Just breathe." Iko shook Cinder, but Cinder still couldn't see Iko. How was Iko still breathing? Cinder wondered.

"It's not real, Cinder," Iko yelled. "It's not real. Just breathe. Breathe in and out with me, okay?" Iko's voice pitched higher.

How can she still breathe? Cinder thought. How come I'm the only one choking?

"Cinder, IN!" Iko screeched. Cinder tried to suck in, but all she could inhale was smoke.

"OUT!" Black sludge spewed from her mouth.

"IN!" Rolling clouds of stormy fire raided her lungs.

"OUT!" A thousand cigarettes worth of smoke swirled from her mouth. The sky was no longer black, but dark gray and stormy.

"IN!" Ice bit at Cinder's lungs with vicious ferocity.

"OUT!" Golden eyes were staring at Cinder, and blue braids were tickling her frozen face.

"Iko," Cinder croaked, weak and tired from all the smoke— but the smoke was gone. "Where'd all the smoke go?" Cinder slurred.

"Kai's gonna be fine, Cinder," Iko said, which didn't make any sense. Was Kai the one making the smoke? Where was Kai?

Cinder was just about to ask her questions, when a long lost voice spoke instead.

"Selene?" Channary cried hysterically. "What are you doing to my Selene?" The woman was tall, thin, and severely burned. She had a face which had once held beauty and charm, but had lost all of its glory.

"Mom?" Cinder wheezed. "Mom, mom stop. Don't hurt them."

Cinder pushed herself off the ground, no longer tired. There was no smoke in the air but a thin trickle swirling up from a small form on the ground. Cinder had not been choking on smoke; she had been drowning in memories.

"My dear Selene, are you alright?" Channary asked with concern. "I won't let them touch you. I will not let anyone else hurt you."

Channary rushed forward, as if to hug her daughter, but her hands went straight through Cinder. A shiver ran down Cinder's spine, and she recoiled from the loving touch. "Selene?"

"Don't hurt them." Cinder panted, taking a step back from her mother. Out of the corner of her eye, Cinder could see Cress and Thorne gently touching a motionless Kai. He was no longer on fire, but his skin was red and blistering. "Just don't hurt them anymore, mom." Cinder drew the bracelet from the envelope still clutched in her injured hand. "Stop hurting me."

A cry of anguish burst forth from Channary. "Hurt you? I would never hurt you, my princess!" Channary threw her body towards Cinder, but there was still no contact. "All I've ever wanted was to protect you; first from the bad men, and now from them."

"And you did protect me from the bad men, mom. You saved me," Cinder soothed, sounding more like the mother who was trying to calm a confused toddler. "But these people aren't trying to hurt me. They're my friends."

"That's what they always say," babbled Channary. "They make promises like jokes. They tell you they love you, but then they only hurt you. No one can be trusted."

Cinder reached for her dead mother, but still no contact was made. It hurt to see her mom like this: dead as the corpse she had identified, but still as crazy in life. She remembered a time when her mom had been healthy, strong, and sane, but it was nearly a dream. Cinder's childhood was gone, and it was about time her mother was as well.

"Mom, they're not going to hurt me. No one has hurt me except for you." Cinder's voice cracked on the last part, and she felt her eyes sting. She needed to distract her mom from the others. She needed to hurt her— to kill her. She didn't want to do it, but it was of mice and men.

Channary wept desperately; just like she had the last time Cinder saw her. Cinder could barely understand her through the sobs. "I... I have... never... hurt... princess... never... my... princess... never..."

"Mom," Cinder stood as close as she dared to the crazed ghost. "I know you didn't mean to. But I was only a kid. You were supposed to be there, but you weren't. You said you would come home, but you didn't."

Cinder could see Thorne gingerly lugging Kai up with the help of Iko. They got him into a fireman's carry, and began to lug his broken body away.

Cress was out of sight, but Cinder knew that she must have been preparing the fire. She was always there. Cinder only wished she had given Cress more credit before and not been so quick to assume.

"I couldn't come home, my love. I couldn't help what happened. They... they caught up with me. They killed me. I tried... but I failed." Channary shed silent silvery tears. Her body looked as real as Cinder's, her tears being the only visible giveaway to her true form.

"I know you tried, mom," Cinder said. "But I can protect myself. I can choose who I love and not get hurt, mom."

A cool laugh echoed from Channary. She wiped her tears out of her eyes, and smiled down on Cinder. It was the first time Cinder had felt like a child in nearly fourteen years. "My dear Selene, you innocent child. Love is a conquest, love is a war," Channary giggled "And don't think I've forgotten about your little friends."

Cinder's blood turned to ice as Channary spun around. She snapped her fingers in a simple motion, making Iko, Thorne, and Kai collapse to the ground.

"No!" Cinder screamed. "Stop! Don't hurt them!" Cinder could feel the panic welling within her. All of her friends were about to die, and it was all her fault. At least her mother hadn't spotted Cress. "Please," Cinder whimpered.

"Ah, my princess, I'm sorry. Children always think they know best, but that is why we have parents. Believe me; mommy knows best." Channary smiled at Cinder in a sickly sweet way that made Cinder want to punch a wall.

A crackle of leaves sounded behind Cinder, and she felt her heart drop. Channary turned and spotted Cress' small form, her wicked grin growing wider.

Another snap of fingers, and Cress was collapsed on the ground, completely helpless. Cinder could feel her mounting horror at the vision before her. She could feel another panic attack welling inside her mind and chest. It was all of her worst memories and nightmares coming to play like a horror movie.

"Which shall I save you from first, my dearest Selene?" Channary hummed gleefully. "Which shall I rescue you from first, besides the most dangerous one. Luckily I already struck the little fiend who dared to hurt you."

Boiling rage bubbled violently inside of Cinder, canceling out the panic. She couldn't believe that anyone could ever call Kai a fiend. He was all of the goodness in the world. He had saved her from a fate of flames, and yet her mother wanted to bestow that same destiny upon him only for loving Cinder.

"Who shall it be, my princess?" Channary chuckled. "Who shall it be? Who shall it be?" Channary was spinning in circles like a little girl playing Ring Around the Rosie. "Who shall it be? Who shall it be? WHO SHALL IT BE?" Channary screamed, flinging her sharp body to and fro.

"Me," Cinder snapped.

Channary stopped her childish spinning. She stared at her beloved daughter that could have been her identical twin. They had the same brown hair, thinned by hardships and fire. They were both thin and bony from lack of love and care. They both had the same scarred bodies that had been caressed thoroughly by fire’s mistress.

"What did you say?" Channary asked.

"It shall be me." Cinder said, taking off her coat and unravelling the cotton bandages covering her scarred hand. They had healed well and fast, but she would always have the shiny pink flesh of scar tissue.

A shriek of agony came from Channary as she fell to the ground at Cinder's feet. She tried to clutch at Cinder's mangled hands, but her fingers went straight through Cinder. She sobbed with a saddened passion that was hard to watch.

"It shall be me," Cinder repeated, "because I've caused myself more pain than anyone here. I've only been hurt because I love you." Cinder paused only a moment before yelling, "Cress, now!"

Flames lit the ground in an instant, spilling light and warmth across the dark landscape. Channary leapt to her feet in outrage, but it was too late; Cinder had already thrown the bracelet onto the smoldering fire.

"No!" Channary screamed as her body began to melt. "No! My princess, my love, why are you doing this to me?" Channary sobbed in anguish, her skin smoking and peeling away from the bones. "I'm your mother!" Channary yelled. "Why must you hurt me, Selene? What did I do wrong?" Channary's body was nearly gone, but her voice still fought to be heard until there was nothing left of Channary Blackburn.

Cinder stared at the boiling tar-like mush that had once been her mother's ghost. "Everything," Cinder whispered. "You did everything wrong." Cinder's eyes stung. "But I still loved you."

A sob burst from Cinder, and she fell to the ground. Sorrow and grief for her mother spilled forth in the form of hysteria. She felt nothing and everything all at once. She felt gratitude and regret. She felt freedom and confinement.

"Mom..." Cinder cried. "Mom... mommy... I'm... I'm so sorry... mommy..." Cinder's hands reached for the place where her mother had been, but she was gone. "Oh, mom," Cinder whimpered.

"Cinder," Cress snapped, sounding surprisingly sharp during Cinder's moment of weakness. "We have to go, Cinder."

"My mom..." Cinder cried, knowing she sounded like a child but not caring. She had lost the final pieces of her mother, and it hurt more than she ever could have imagined.

Cress wrenched at Cinder's arm, trying and failing to pull her from the ground. "Cinder, we have to go now."

"Cress," Cinder whispered. "Why?"

It took Cress a moment to answer, and that's when Cinder remembered what had happened. The fire. The boy. The three words. A sacrifice that should never have been made. Cinder's grief took only an instant to transform into panic.

"Kai?" Cinder asked.

Silence.

#when earth turns to ashes #wetta #a burning world #prince kai #emperor kai #linh cinder #marissa meyer #tlc #the lunar chronicles #lunar chronicles #carswell thorne #cress darnel #iko #channary blackburn #kaider fanfiction #kaider #tlc fanfiction #salt warrior stories

13 notes · View notes

theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin · 4 years

Note

This is a bit random but if characters from your fics lived in the Atla universe what element would they bend? Personally I think Lily would still have all her powers which would result in people thinking she's the avatar even though she's not, Obito would be a firebender, Minato an airbender and Lenin dearest would be a waterbender/bloodbender/maybe the avatar?. This is just the vibe I get tho-

Who needs bullet points when we can do a far too thought out AU that spans multiple fandoms/recursive works that will never happen?

More to the point, elements in AtLA is a mix of personality (we see earth benders as often brash and stubborn, water benders as adaptive, etc.) but also simply genetics. So, while I get that’s kind of the point of this post, it’s a bit weird to me to assign an element solely on personality.

So with that, let’s get started.

The Setting

Just to make things fun let’s make our AU take place sometime between Sozin’s first comet and Roku’s death and Aang awakening from that iceberg. The air benders have been wiped out, seemingly with no survivors, the South Pole has been invaded and the water benders from there captured and brought back to the Fire Nation, many of the colonies in the Earth Kingdom have been established, but the North Pole and great cities in the Earth Kingdom still stand.

The Avatar hasn’t been missing for one-hundred years yet, but he’s been missing for decades and people are coming around to the idea that maybe he’s really not going to show up.

Wizard Lenin/Tom Riddle

In this AU we’ll give Tom Riddle a slightly more traditional shitty background. Since we can’t really have a Tom in the AtLA universe he’s going to have the AtLA generic equivalent name that canon even jokes about: Lee. Lee is the mixed heritage son of a Fire Nation lord and a water bender from the south pole who grows up in a Fire Nation orphanage. And yes, this does happen in the absolute worst way you can possibly imagine, one of the imprisoned water benders from the south pole is raped.

As for Tom (Lee, you get the idea) arriving at an orphanage instead of being imprisoned/taken in as a son, well I’ll leave that to imagination but we can imagine a relatively compassionate guard, a dash of luck, or perhaps someone being an idiot and thinking “oh just dump it in an orphanage, there’s no way it will turn into a water bender too”

So, Tom grows up in an orphanage and looks just a bit... different from everyone else and is clearly not purely from the fire nation. I’m imagining much darker skin (and POC Tom Riddle is the weirdest thing in the world to contemplate, but here we are) and the pale blue eyes.

Tom grows up, dreaming probably of entering the military and winning himself glory, prestige, honor, and clawing out of this impoverished life he was born into. He undoubtedly desperately hopes he’s a fire bender, as not only is it cool but they have the best chance of making it in the world, and probably stays up late for many nights fruitlessly attempting to shoot fire out of his hands.

Unfortunately for Tom, sometime when he’s probably around eight or so, turns out he’s actually a water bender. Naturally, Tom has a huge meltdown and existential crisis as this means something’s terribly terribly wrong. More, all his hopes are ruined, as while a non-bender can make it a bender who is not a fire bender is a foreigner and traitor to the state.

Tom runs away and being a precocious child is able to make it on his own and about the country probably pulling off Toph-like scams. Eventually he runs into a much younger Hama who has just escaped prison and not yet started on her scary old lady adventures of imprisoning random villagers in caves. Hama goes, “of course, yes my child, I knew your mother” and gives Tom the whole horrible rape tale along with “I will teach you everything I know including my scary blood bending”. So Tom learns scary blood bending, probably stays with Hama a few years, and then realizes Hama isn’t going anywhere.

Hama’s content kidnapping random people into caves. At this point, angry and suddenly very pro-water bender Tom wants to murder the Fire Lord and his entire goddamn family and put himself in charge. Go big or go home, am I right?

So Tom leaves, Hama probably saying, “Come back any time, my beautiful murder child” and probably goes exploring the world in search of how the hell he’s going to bring down the Fire Lord. He also probably murders his entire father’s family and steals all his money, but that’s a different story. I imagine he goes to the North Pole where he learns that, as much of a water bender as he is, that he’s the son of someone from the Fire Nation closes pretty much every door to him. He’ll always be an outsider and the North Pole is very frosty towards him.

According to Hama, the South Pole is in shambles, so Tom probably doesn’t even bother going.

So Tom probably goes and bums around the Earth Kingdom, loitering in Ba Sing Se and Omashu, looking for that damned Spirit Library in the desert, etc. for a good number of years as he works to perfect his water bending and make himself an instrument of death.

And then he meets an alien and everything changes.

Lily

Tom probably manages to wander around the spirit world at one point in his late teens and probably almost gets eaten by something terrifying. While he learns much it’s not really anything useful and is more in the “too cosmic horror for Tom” variety. More than that though, something follows him back out.

When he comes to back in the real world there’s this thing sitting next to him that looks enough like a person but also like someone told a gifted artist what humans look like and they got it mostly right but also went a little nuts. It’s a girl, a few years younger than him, who has flaming red hair, absurdly green eyes, pale skin, and facial features he can’t recognize for the life of him (Lily still looking western in this to up the ante of ‘she’s an alien folks’).

Tom sacrifices his dinner to it and hopes it doesn’t eat him.

It explains that it’s a tourist from another dimension, beyond even the Spirit World, and that it’s come to see what the mortal world is all about. Tom is naturally very weirded out but at this point decides to roll with it.

Except it doesn’t leave and clearly expects Tom to play tour guide.

He does, reluctantly, because he doesn’t want to be eaten but he also sort of gets used to the thing. Then, one day, it starts bending multiple elements with utter ease and Tom is at first flabbergasted and horrified (only to remember that spirits can do what they want and aren’t like lowly mortals who can only bend one element) and then he gets the idea.

The Avatar, lazy bastard that he is (and Tom might be a little more than slightly bitter that he himself is not the Avatar), appears to be MIA and not coming back any time soon. The entire world it seems is waiting for the Avatar to come and save them. But, Tom says to himself, who needs the Avatar when you can just have an Avatar. An Avatar and, of course, her water bending master.

Thus, the scheme is set, Tom will teach this weird alien thing how to a) act like a goddamn human in public and b) water bending and together they will pretend she’s the Avatar and got lost in the spirit world a few decades ago (which accounts for the youthful age and the weird appearance) and use this to gain allies, topple the Fire Nation, and eventually give the throne to Tom.

Lily, who doesn’t know the difference between being a tourist and taking over a nation, goes along but is basically this story’s answer to Uncle Iroh always getting distracted by Pai Sho.

Haru/Dead Last

Given that they’re in the Earth Kingdom, and that Lee picks up water bending insultingly quickly which makes Tom fume in rage, they go to pick up an earth bending master/spread the word that the Avatar has returned from her multiple decades long vacation.

Along the way they probably run into Haru, who is the world’s most useless excuse for an Earth Bender. As always, he’s so average looking you can barely remember what he looks like beyond “generic earth bender”.

They probably watch him for two seconds, Lily asks if this is it, and Tom Riddle says, “what a joke”.

Minato Namikaze

Given that all the air benders are dead we’re going to make Minato a very talented earth bender (it is also very weird to imagine a dark haired/dark eyed Minato, but I suppose we’re going to roll with it). This also, to me, does fit his personality a little better as while he is a leaf on the wind kind of guy he also does dig his heels in and get very stubborn now and then.

Minato’s young, younger than Tom (Lee), but he’s incredibly talented and clever. To keep his shinobi background mostly in tact I imagine that Minato is a swiftly rising member of the Dai Li, stationed in Ba Sing Se, but who occasionally goes on intelligence missions to the other feudal powers in the Earth Kingdom.

So I imagine Lily and Tom run into him unnervingly frequently, probably first meeting him off duty in Omashu where he does his “extremely polite and friendly local guide” routine to show the pair the city (never mind that Tom insists he’s been to Omashu plenty of times goddammit). Despite this, Lily and Minato become friends, Lily easily confessing she’s the Avatar (which Minato at first thinks is a joke, even if she looks strange, then goes ‘oh my god, it’s not a joke).

Eventually Minato is stationed to spy on them under the guise of teaching Lily earth bending. So he joins the gang. Tom, who knows exactly what’s going on, is not amused while Lily is just happy to collect another friend who will actually play Pai Sho with her.

Kushina Uzumaki

Kushina is a earth bender, hands down. I debated making her a water bender (because whirlpool) but that personality is just pure earth bender material. Besides, I can just picture her so easily coming from Kyoshi.

So Kushina’s an earth bending Kyoshi warrior, who while ten times as powerful as Minato, also lacks any of his control or cleverness. Kushina has undoubtedly left Kyoshi, abandoning their neutrality, to join the war and kick some fire bender ass.

She does this but along the way frequently runs into the gang where she annoys the ever loving shit out of Minato (her new rival) and claims that Avatar Lily is her new idol.

Rabbit

Rabbit is a mysterious spirit from Lily’s past that she refuses to talk about except in the darkest of terms promising doom and destruction the likes of which the world has never seen.

No one knows how to react to this. Or what a plain old ‘rabbit’ even is.

Tobirama Senju

Because no story’s not complete without Tobirama, I imagine he’s a stuffy waterbender and scholar from the North Pole who Tom is miffed at as the man refused to teach him even more water bending. Tobirama naturally feels that the day he teaches a blatant spy is the day he goes and drowns himself.

Later, when Tom has picked up the Avatar and Tom rubs it in his face, Tobirama probably reluctantly spends a day or so teaching them something/fighting off the hordes of Fire Nation soldiers on their tale (it’s not Avatar if the gang isn’t constantly chased by fire benders).

Obito Uchiha

Obito is the answer to a fire bending instructor. Obito’s a firebender and the youngest son of a wealthy Fire Nation lord. However, Obito’s the black sheep of the family that everyone hates, a late bloomer when it comes to his bending, and is seen as bringing dishonor on the family.

Itching to prove himself, Obito becomes a soldier and goes to the Earth Kingdom, and eventually decides the best way to earn recognition and restore his honor is to capture the newly resurrected Avatar. Congratulations, Obito, you’re this story’s Zuko.

Obito, while not the most talented fire bender at first (though as he gets older he gets dangerously good at it) is extremely clever and becomes the largest threat to the gang.

That said, Obito actually does grow to like Lily quite a bit and begins to realize honor doesn’t actually mean that much to him and he doesn’t even really like his family. He doesn’t even dislike the concept of the Avatar and thinks the world probably does need one right about now.

So after a whole bunch of chasing them around the globe, thinking about his family, and being forced to almost kill the Avatar now and then he eventually defects and volunteers himself as fire bending instructor.

This is met with suspicion on all sides but he and Lily are bros so he wins.

Avatar Roku

Needing to pick up air bending, Lily probably fakes it until she makes it for a while, but eventually runs into Avatar Roku’s wandering spirit taking vacation from an ice cube.

He’s alarmed, but Aang’s trapped in ice, so if someone’s going to substitute then great.

To everyone else it just looks like Lily’s constantly talking to herself, playing Pai Sho with herself, and miraculously picks up air bending out of absolutely nowhere.

Also anyone close to Lee probably figures out she’s not really human/the avatar at this point, but they’ll take what they can get.

And This All Results In

Lily learns all the elements, there’s probably some big battle, then Lily gives some ridiculous speech about world peace that has nothing to do with anything and while the Fire Nation is defeated, Tom is not in fact made Fire Lord and remains merely the Avatar’s humble water bending instructor.

Instead, if he’s alive at this point, the crown goes to Iroh and he’s given a council of angry Earth Kingdom people who tell him to behave or else. We can give Iroh niceish things sometimes. That, or, hilariously, Obito becomes hokage/Fire Lord being distantly in line for the throne and doesn’t even know how that happened or what his life even is right now.

The colonies are the same mess in canon so something like Republic City probably eventually comes about.

Still, there’s peace, and probably statues to the gang all over the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes (while the Fire Nation grumbles and remembers the good old days when they controlled the world).

And then Aang eventually wakes up extremely confused and confronts Avatar Lily noting, “Hey, I’m the actual Avatar” and Lily after a suspiciously blank pause explains, “I said an Avatar, never said I was the Avatar”

So, that’s that. If anyone wants other specific characters added into this mess feel free to comment.

#ask #anon #avatar the last airbender #lily and the art of being sisyphus #minato namikaze and the destroyer of worlds #crossover #fusion

46 notes · View notes

talesofstyles · 5 years

Text

In Sickness And In Health

After the birth of their twin babies, Harry and YN’s marriage suffers.

Warning: Contains discussion of Postnatal Depression (PND) / PPD, breastfeeding and smut. Please read only if you’re comfortable.

P.S. This is a spin-off of Mess Is Mine. You don’t have to read it first, but in case you want to give it a go, here’s the link for the I, II and III part!

Having a newborn is hard, let alone two.

When that phase where everything seems magical and everything is just right in the world and you can hardly take your eyes off your precious little babies is over, you’ll begin to realise how much your life has changed overnight. You’ll realise how exhausted you are and that sleep is merely just a myth. You don’t sleep for longer than two hours at a time, and you struggle to find the time to fulfil your most basic human needs like eating and showering, and your social life has gone out of the window without even a wave goodbye.

Of course the excitement will never be truly over. There will always be moments where you look at your babies and pause and think “how did I get so lucky?!”. Maybe when they’re both smiling at you unconsciously in their sleep. Or when you just bathe them so they’re fresh and clean and smells like heaven and you feel like your heart is about to burst looking at two little babies just in their nappies all sprawled on your bed. It may not sound like a big deal, but sleep is one of the most fundamental human needs and if they’re deprived of that, it can potentially lead to a bigger problem.

YN is tired. So is Harry, but she is not only exhausted physically but also mentally, which is so much harder to deal with. Having twins really takes a toll on her body, and her hormones are all over the place. Now so much worse than when she was pregnant. She had a rather flawless pregnancy with the twins, everything was perfect. She carried them up until 37 weeks and five days, which was considered full term with twins, and even though the labour was long, it was all good in the end.

It all started well. The babies were both healthy and strong so they went home along with YN on the third day. Settling in with two newborns during the first few days were chaotic but it was all such a dream. The babies were such good sleepers and both YN and Harry had to wake them up throughout the night so YN could feed them. Neither of them was a fussy eater and both latched on so well right from the beginning, too, which was the thing that YN most worried about when she was still pregnant so she was relieved to know that their breastfeeding journey seemed to be easy right from the start.

But then the babies turned two weeks old, and they hit a growth spurt, which caused them to be fussier than ever. Harry and YN could barely function with the lack of sleep and both of them were frustrated because they couldn’t split their attention with the big kids as well. Everything was crazy and it went south from there.

The baby boy went back to his usual self after a couple of days, but the baby girl never did. Even now, four weeks later, she is still fussier than ever, and the worst thing is that she is refusing to eat most of the time which is really stressing YN out because she doesn’t know what to do. She never had any problems nursing Finn and Pippa back then.

It’s 2:45 am, and here’s YN, sitting on a nursery glider that calls one of the corners in their master bedroom as it’s temporary home before they move it to the nursery later along with the babies. Baby girl has been crying for at least ten minutes now, and her crying is getting stronger each minute. YN tries to nurse her while desperately trying to keep her eyes open, but the baby just clenches her fists and keeps crying, pulling her face away from her chest and refusing to latch.

“Oh, come on,” YN sighs in frustration at the wailing baby in her arms. “Come on, please. I know you’re hungry, my love.”

All the crying eventually wakes Harry up, but thankfully not the other baby just yet. At just four weeks old, the twins are still sleeping with Harry and YN in their room because not only it’s safer for the babies for the first six months, they also know that it’ll be easier for them to deal with the babies throughout the night.

“Should I make her a bottle?” Harry offers, sitting up to rub the sleep away from his eyes for a second before he walks towards where YN is sat with their baby girl. “I can feed her. You go to sleep, love.”

“No!” YN whisper-shouts. “I can feed her. I have to.”

“Alright, alright. Just let me try a little bit,” says Harry, shushing her as YN shifts the baby girl into his arms. He begins swaying his hips in place right away to rock her, knowing how much she loves it. She’s just like Anya when she was a baby, loving the little sway and rock in the middle of the night to soothe her back to sleep. However, the little sway and rock doesn’t do the trick for her twin brother who prefers being bounced a little whenever he’s being fussy. “Hi sweet girl,” Harry coos at her. “What’s this all about, huh? What’s the matter? Best tell daddy, yeah? I’ll sort it out.”

The tiny little baby girl in his arms lets out a couple of tiny choked up noises before she calms down and stops crying, showing him her green eyes for a second before closing it again as she lets out the tiniest yawn. She goes back to sleep within minutes in her daddy’s arms, and as much as Harry is glad that he manages to put the baby back to sleep, he is worried about YN.

YN has been struggling to bond with their baby girl ever since she has started to get fussy about nursing, so he knows the fact that he has just calmed her down and put her back to sleep just like that makes her feel even worse. She sighs dejectedly, completely ignoring Harry’s weak “darlin’,” as she stands up and walks away to the bed.

“Darlin’,” Harry tries again as he gets himself into the bed and under the duvet. But she ignores him still, choosing to turn around so her back is on his face instead.

Harry lets out a heavy sigh. Mumbling a short, sweet, “night, love,” as he turns off the nightlight on his bedside table. Expecting at least just a short “night” from her but all he hears is silence.

***

The sound of keys jingling in the door is no match to the chaos inside. Baby girl has been crying nearly all morning, leaving YN frustrated and exhausted beyond measure. Harry has just got home from doing the school run, and as he walks into their living room, he sees his wife with their baby girl in her arms. He can see how tired YN looks, truth be told he isn’t much better, but he knows that he needs to step in because both of them are frustrated.

“Come on, my love, please,” YN coos at the crying baby in her arms desperately, pushing her closer to her chest to try to get her to latch but she isn’t having any of it. She did nurse a little a few hours prior but YN knows it’s not enough and she needs more. “I know you’re hungry, darlin’, please, just a little bit.”

“Let me make a bottle for her, yeah?” says Harry softly, knowing well that YN isn’t going to take what he suggests happily but he knows they all need it. “I can feed her, you go take a shower or a little nap. Whichever sounds best to you, love.”

“No, Harry, I need to feed her,” YN insists, shaking her head. Her cheeks are getting wet from the tears of frustration mixed with exhaustion. “I have to. I have to be able to.”

Harry runs his fingers through his hair, a little harsher than he’d like, in frustration. Sighing heavily. “She’s hungry!” snaps Harry. “We need to feed our daughter!”

“I’m trying!” YN practically shrieks.

“But she doesn’t want to nurse!” Harry’s voice keeps increasing in volume, stopping to take a deep breath when he sees the look on YN’s face. Not once he has ever talked to her that way before. “Please, just let me try to make her a bottle. This isn’t the time for you to listen to your ego, she’s hungry!”

YN looks up at Harry in silence. He can’t tell what she’s feeling, but surely it mustn’t be good. She stands up slowly, kissing her baby girl’s forehead before shifting her into Harry’s arms and walks upstairs without saying another word.

Harry warms up a bottle for her from the milk in the freezer and she hesitates a little before she drinks it all up. She’s already asleep in his arms even before he has the chance to burp her, clearly exhausted from all the crying. He takes her upstairs to their room to put her in the bassinet next to her twin brother who has been napping for a little while now and should wake up anytime soon. Doesn’t matter how hard YN and Harry try to make them sleep at the same time, they just won’t.

When Harry walks into their room, YN is sitting on her side of the bed. She’s looking through the window, her back is facing the door. He can see her back tenses a little at his presence. Any other day, any other circumstances, Harry would have just sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pull her close to him to cheer her up. They’re both a massive cuddler so although not always, more often than not, a little hug fixes everything. This is also why they can’t really complain about the fact that the twins are probably the clingiest babies on earth. Apples truly don’t fall far from the trees.

“M’sorry for raising my voice,” Harry says at last after he puts his baby girl in her bassinet, before sitting next to YN on the bed but still keeping a safe distance knowing that she is probably a little upset with him. “But I’m not sorry for feeding our daughter.”

Much to Harry’s surprise, YN doesn’t even respond. He gets it if she doesn’t want to talk to him, but she has stilled. Not much different than a statue. He thinks she’s at least going to pull her arm away from him or swats his when he tries to touch her but no, she’s not even blinking. Still looking far out through the window. Her body is right next to him, but she is going further away from Harry with each passing seconds.

***

Next thing Harry knows, she has become distant.

To him, first and foremost. And what breaks his heart the most, to his baby girl too. He didn’t want to believe himself at first but as the days went by, it was getting harder to ignore. He knows that she tries her best to act normal around the other kids, but he also knows that there’s something missing in her and whatever it is, he just hopes they can find it again.

YN is nursing Flynn in their room while Harry feeds Mila downstairs in the living room. After what happened the other day when Harry snapped at her, YN hasn’t tried to nurse her baby girl again, leaving Harry to do the job. As he feeds their littlest, he also gives some snacks for Finn, Pippa and Anya who just got home from school.

“How was school?” Harry asks the three of his big kids as he plops down on the couch with his baby girl on his lap and a warm bottle of milk in his hand. “Did you lot ‘ave a good day?”

“Mhm,” Anya hums and Finn and Pippa just nod, too busy chewing on some microwavable pastries that Harry heated for them.

“Good,” says Harry as he pulls the bottle away from his baby girl’s mouth for a second, giving her a little break. “Got any homework?”

“Anya and I have to write down everyone’s wishes,” says Pippa before she reaches for a cup of apple juice on the coffee table in front of her and takes a sip.

“Wishes?” Harry turns to her, his eyebrows snap together. “What kind of wishes?”

“It can be anythin’!” Anya chimes in.

“So,” Pippa begins, taking a paper and a pencil from her backpack. “What’s your wish papa?”

‘To know what the fuck is wrong with my wife and for her to talk to me again’ Harry says to himself inside his head, but carefully spelt out ‘clean ocean’ for the girls instead.

“Finny,” Anya turns to her big brother. “What’s yours?”

“For mummy to be happy,” he says nonchalantly.

Harry’s heart breaks at Finn’s wish. Trying to sound just as nonchalant, he turns at the seven year old and asks him. “You don’t think mummy’s happy?”

“No,” he shakes his head. “She cries a lot lately.”

“Ooh,” says Anya, tapping the end of her pencil against her head. “That’s a good wish.”

Finn is right, YN does cry a lot lately. Even more than when she was still pregnant with the twins. Harry has asked her ‘what’s wrong?’ countless times but he’s met with silence every time. So he stopped asking.

“Papa, why does mummy cry a lot lately?” Pippa asks him.

Harry knows that the kids think he has the answer, he always has. He wishes he has the answer for this one. He remembers when he was little, he could just ask anything to his mum or dad and they would always have the answers to everything and he intends to do the same for his children. They’ve got plenty of time later to find out how scary the world actually is and that sometimes, they have to be okay in the unknown. But not right now.

“Mummy’s just tired, my love,” Harry smiles at her. “Sometimes people cry when they’re tired. Just like you when you had too much fun at the park.”

“Mummy!” Pippa cheers in excitement when she sees YN coming down the stairs with Flynn in her arms. Harry’s head snaps right away towards her. “Mummy, what’s your wish?”

“Hi,” YN smiles weakly at her big kids. “My wish?”

“Mhm,” Anya hums. “What’s your wish, mummy?”

“It’s for their homework,” Harry adds, setting the empty bottle down on the coffee table before holding the drowsy baby girl upwards to burp her. “They have to write down everyone’s wishes.”

“Oh,” says YN as she plops down on the couch opposite Harry. That’s the most she has been talking to him. One word—he’s not even sure if ‘oh’ counts as a word but screw it—one syllable. A short, simple ‘oh’ yet it already makes his heart bursts. “I wish, um,” they’re all waiting patiently for YN to finish her sentence. “I wish I could sleep. For a long time.”

“How long, mummy?” Pippa asks her.

“Just long,” YN says absently. “Very long.”

***

“You want some?” Harry says, pouring YN a glass of wine before she can even answer. Not that she’s likely to answer.

Harry slides the glass across the kitchen island, where YN stands on the other end of the counter, staring into space blankly. Without saying a word she glances at him before taking the glass into her hand and begins to take a sip.

“Hey,” Harry says cautiously. “You alright?”

She takes a slug of wine instead of answering her husband. Still looking at one of the walls in their kitchen that is full of frames. A big family photo with all five of them, taken in Positano when they went there for holiday last summer just before YN finds out that she was pregnant with the twins. A few paintings of the kids. One medium-sized classic painting of a village.

Harry lets out a sigh as they lapse into silence again. The tension is so thick it’s suffocating. He gets some plates out of the cupboard, ladle chicken stew out of the slow cooker and sprinkle it with coriander before putting them down on the table and reaches for cutlery in the drawer.

“Come on, let’s eat,” says Harry as he brings his glass of wine to the table.

YN shakes her head. “I’m not hungry.”

Harry lets out another sigh, heavier this time. The food in front of him looks much less appealing than before. “You need to eat, even just a little bit.”

“I’ll eat later when I’m hungry,” YN gulps her wine.

“Why don’t you want to eat together with me?” Harry asks her desperately. “You’re the one who always insists that couples who eats together stay together, so-”

“I’m not hungry,” YN repeats herself absently, cutting him off before she drains the rest of her wine into the sink and putting the glass into the dishwasher. “Just wanna sleep.”

***

The sound of a crying baby wakes Harry and YN up, and after realising it comes from their baby girl, Harry stands up hastily and walks towards the bassinet to pick her up and begins to rock her.

“Hi darlin’,” Harry coos at her. “What’s this about, huh? Something bothering you? You hungry?”

The usual sway and rock doesn’t work so Harry is pretty convinced that she is hungry. Realising that YN is awake, Harry turns to her. “You wanna ‘ave a go? I think she’s hungry.”

“No, you have it all in hand,” YN says bitterly. “I’m just gonna make it worse.”

“YN, don’t be like that,” Harry says, annoyance clearly shown in his tone. “We’re a team. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“Like what?” YN challenges him, getting just annoyed at him as he is at her. “M’not being like anything!”

“You’re being so difficult!” Harry practically shrieks, making the crying even worse and they can hear a little whimper from the bassinet which means baby boy is going to wake up and cry any seconds now. “I don’t know what to do. We barely talk now and when we do it always ends with a fight. I hate fighting with you!”

He can see the tears making its way out of her eyes and down her cheeks and he feels guilty for snapping at her like that. Her hormones are out of whack and he should’ve been more patient with her. “YN, talk to me, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’ll sleep with Flynn in the spare room,” YN says as she picks her baby boy out of his little bassinet.

“No!” Harry shakes his head frantically. “We’re sleeping here, in this room. I’ll take the couch. But we’re staying in this room.”

YN doesn’t say more, and Harry quickly goes downstairs to warm up a bottle for baby girl before he reappears in their bedroom. He feeds her on the nursery glider, and burp her, before he stands back up to cuddle her back to sleep.

“So, that’s it then?” Harry says bitterly as he sways his hips in place to rock his baby daughter when he realises that YN is still awake. “You won’t hold your daughter?”

YN looks at him and there’s something in her expression that makes Harry feels like someone has just stabbed him in the chest. She looks so sad. Her face missing the warmth and colour that are usually there. “I do hold her,” she responds weakly. “But you said it yourself that I’m too selfish to take proper care of her.”

“I never said that!” Harry whisper-shouts, covering the ear of the baby in his arm as he does so he wouldn’t wake her up again.

“Yes you did!” YN insists angrily. Fat, hot tears are coming back and rolling down her cheeks. “You said I was willing to starve my daughter just to listen to my ego.”

“Let’s talk outside,” says Harry as he puts baby girl down in her bassinet and roughly takes YN’s hand to follow him out of their bedroom.

“I have NEVER said that to you,” Harry’s loud voice booms in the kitchen, emphasizing ‘never’ as he stares deadly at her in the eyes. There’s a lump in the back of his throat but he ignores it, his annoyance at her for twisting his words gets the better of him.

“But you did!” YN’s voice is just as loud, but cracks in the end, and the sound of it makes Harry feels as if Chuck Norris himself just kicked him in the balls.

“I didn’t!” He feigns innocence. “I just told you the other day just to let me feed her because she’s hungry. That’s all. And…”

YN feels like the room is spinning. It’s going so fast that she has to grip on the edge of the counter to keep herself from falling. She still sees Harry’s mouth moving but she can’t hear a word. So she walks away from the kitchen. Hastily. Towards the stairs and climbs upstairs, ignoring Harry crying out, “Where are you going? Come back! We’re not finished yet!” not because she intends to but because she can’t hear anything.

***

It can be extremely frustrating to live with someone who’s distant and sad all the time. Especially when there are newborns involved, adjusting to life with a newborn is hard enough. With YN slipping further away from him every day, Harry feels like all the responsibility is weighed upon his shoulders. And he is tired.

The babies are six weeks old, it means it has been four weeks since the last time he had a proper conversation with YN. There, in that couch, the one that he’s sitting on right now. He should be sleeping right now. Sleep when the baby sleeps, they said. But it’s 1:45am. He knows that at least one of the babies are going to wake up any seconds for their next meal. He doesn’t have to worry about baby boy, he still nurses like a champ, it’s their baby girl that he’s worried about. And the fact that her own mother seems to resent her.

Maybe it’s all just in his head. Of course YN loves their baby girl. It’s her own daughter. It’s their daughter. If she can love Anya like her own, surely she’ll love her own baby, no?

Harry feels like their marriage is slipping away, especially now that they’re sleeping separately although still in the same room. They barely talk, and when they do, it always ends with a screaming match. He doesn’t know whether or not the big kids know about the fact that their parents are now basically strangers living in the same house, he hopes they don’t, but they’re smart and it wouldn’t surprise him if they do.

He still doesn’t understand how it all got this bad. Every night before he sleeps, he always makes time to recall the things that happened, thinking probably he has missed something crucial that ruined his marriage, but nothing comes out of it. They were still good, very good before the birth of the twins. And even for the first two weeks afterwards, it was still like a dream. But then the babies start to get fussy, and they begin to not get enough sleep. Was that the thing that ruined his marriage? It couldn’t be, right? They were just tired. They still are. But people don’t get a divorce because they’re tired.

Then he recalled that one time when he was frustrated, they were all frustrated, really. And he said something about the fact that YN shouldn’t listen to her ego. Okay, he admits, he was a little harsh, but in his defence he was frustrated. And in his mind, he wasn’t in the wrong in that situation. He just wanted to feed his daughter as soon as possible because he knew that she was hungry. Was that wrong?

This is hard. All of this. The babies, his suffering marriage, his three older children who still require a lot of his attention because they’re at that stage where they treasure conversation and playtime with their parents the most. The sleep deprivation. He’s lucky enough to be able to take a six months paternity leave; if he weren’t he would probably just explode.

After their marriage, or whatever left of it, becomes like this, the presence of YN is barely something that fills three of his senses; sight, hearing and smell. He knows that she’s there, with him, living in the same house. They wake up around the same time, they go to sleep around the same time. But it’s just that, nothing more. He knows that she’s there because he sees her pacing around their bedroom holding their baby boy. And that half of the laundry bin in their room filled with her dirty clothes as well as his. Her brown fuzzy slippers at the end of the bed when she sleeps. The delicious smell of coffee that she always makes fresh every morning. The mixed smell of roses and berries that is so uniquely her when she’s sitting or standing close enough to him. The sound of her when she’s talking to the kids, or coos at the babies. Even the soft sob that he hears sometimes in the bathroom in the middle of the night when she thinks that he’s asleep.

Harry misses his wife.

There’s a little routine of them that Harry can’t forget every time he sits on that couch in their living room. It’s one of Harry’s favourites. Usually, after they tuck the kids in bed, they would sit on the couch downstairs before they have their dinner. YN, still in her work outfits, would sit beside him, taking the remote from his hand and resting her head against his chest. The TV is always on, but they rarely actually watch it. After two to three minutes YN usually mumbles, “I’m knackered,” and he’d say “take a little nap, then” before he kisses the top of her head and she’d doze off not long after. It’s never long. Twenty, thirty minutes max, but it’s one of Harry’s favourite moments with her throughout the week. That time at the end of the day when he gets to hold his wife, who somehow still smells so good and looks so beautiful that sometimes still makes his heart skips a beat, even after a whole day of work and a couple hours of herding their small children through their night routines. All of the things that are bothering his mind always seems to disappear somehow. It’s just him, and her, and everything just seems right in the world.

Sometimes, when the frustration takes over, Harry can’t help but wonder if he could just confront her. ‘What do you want, really? Do you want to get a divorce? Just say it.’ Because he’s tired of feeling helpless. He’s tired of feeling like he may have a little hope one second yet having it crushed the next. But when he sees her, he doesn’t have the heart to.

She’s YN, his wife. He loves her and he can’t lose her.

***

It’s Thursday, which means it’s James’s turn to pick the kids up from school and takes them to the park afterwards. And since Anya goes to the same school as Finn and Pippa, he always takes her with them too. He knows how much Harry loves his children, and honestly he just likes children in general so he doesn’t have any problems with his ex-wife’s step-daughter.

James and the kids are already at Kensington Garden, and they’re just waiting for Harry who’s coming with the twins. Harry thought it might be good for YN to have some quiet time alone at home for a little before the madness begins again. Besides, it’s good for the twins to get some fresh air.

It’s not often you hear that someone’s ex-husband and current husband become friends, but somehow James and Harry do become friends. Surely it wasn’t easy at first, both of them had their pride at stake and neither of them was willing to let it go first, but they were both good men, they still are. And they knew that if they could put their ego aside, it would be better for everyone, so they did.

“Daddy, that’s papa and the babies!” Pippa says excitedly as she points at Harry who’s pushing the double pram into the gated playground area. “Papaaaa!”

“Where?” James looks around before he finds Harry and babies. “Ah! Here!” He immediately waves his hand so Harry sees him. “Hi!”

“Hi,” Harry greets him as he walks towards them. “Alright, mate?”

“Great! You?” James says as he looks down at the prams and coos at the babies. “God, these two already look so much bigger than last week. Hi! Hello!”

“M’good, thanks,” Harry smiles at him. “They grow like a weed.”

“You look rough mate,” James comments, chuckling lightly. They’ve clearly reached that level of friendship. And James is not wrong, Harry does look like he needs a wash and a good night’s sleep. “I can try to help more with the big kids if you’d like.”

“Thanks, mate,” Harry turns to him, waving at Finn who’s waving at him from the big pirate ship. “I appreciate it.”

“Hey, s’nothing,” James grins at him. “How’s YN? She alright?”

Harry lets out a heavy sigh. “Honestly? I’m not sure.”

“Hey, what’s wrong?” James turns to him, looking concerned. Harry isn’t the type to air his dirty laundry, but this is James. He is YN’s ex-husband. He has known her longer than he has, and they were married for years. If there’s any chance for James to help him, no matter how small, he’s taking it. “Is everything alright? You know that you can talk to me, right?”

“Was it this hard after you had Finn and Pippa?” Harry finally asks him.

“God,” James shakes his head. “Newborns are rough, mate. I remember being so exhausted all the time.”

“Did you and YN fight a lot?”

“We were both cranky from the lack of sleep,” James explains. “So yeah. Do you fight a lot now? By the way, you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to of course.”

“No, s’fine,” Harry says. “Yeah we do. She’s just so sad and distant all the time and I don’t know what to do.”

“That explains, then,” James tells him. “Finn told me that she’s been crying a lot lately.”

“I swear I’ve tried everything, mate,” Harry sighs in defeat.

“Having a baby is hard, let alone two at once,” James begins. “So maybe she’s still trying to figure it out? I know you must’ve tried your best to cheer her up and all you need to do right now is just to be patient. I’m sure she’ll be alright once she gets the hang of it.”

“S’like,” Harry’s voice cracks and he hates it. “S’like there’s a really huge wall between us. I’ve tried to knock it down, tear it apart, but it just keeps getting stronger.”

“Look, mate,” James turns to him. “I know YN. She’s one of the kindest, most loving humans out there but I also know that she’s probably one of the most stubborn one too. You can’t tell her what to do. If she wants to open up to you, she will. Otherwise, she’ll just build that wall higher and stronger and if you insist to climb it there’s no way you’re getting out alive. Whatever it is that she’s feeling right now, or that she’s struggling with, you can’t make it go away. All that you need to do is just to be willing to wait this out with her.”

“Thanks, James,” Harry says. “Really, I appreciate this. Thank you.”

“Anytime, mate,” James smiles at him. “Remember, she’s just lost. She’s not gone. Just hang in there, yeah?”

***

“D’you wanna take a bath wi’me?” Harry looks at YN who’s putting Flynn in his bassinet. The big kids are asleep and the twins have just gone back to sleep with full bellies so it’s not likely for them to wake up anytime soon. “Might be nice, yeah? Been a while.”

YN shakes her head. “M’tired.”

“Please? I’ve missed you,” desperation evident in his voice. “S’gonna be nice. I’m gonna run it for us, yeah? We’ll use that soap, the one that we’re saving for the pope,” he chuckles lightly, hoping that the little Friends reference will make her laugh even just a little. Scratch that, just a smile from her will make him the happiest man alive.

“No!” YN exclaims, a little louder and harsher than she intends it to. “I’m tired Harry, just let me sleep.”

***

It’s 3am, and YN is surprised when she goes to the bathroom and finds Harry sitting on the floor, crying his heart out. His back is against the bathtub, and she immediately sits down next to him on the floor.

“H,” Harry shoots his head up to look at her as he hears his pet name rolls out of her lips. It has been weeks since the last time he hears that and God, does he miss it. H is one of the three pet names that YN has for him. The other two are darling and knobhead. She rotates those three pet names every day. To this day, Harry still has no idea where knobhead comes from and he’s not sure either about the rotation. What he knows is that every workday, at 7am, she’ll shake his shoulder gently, whispering softly in his ear: “Wake up, H.” Tomorrow it may be: “Knobhead, wake up.” He’ll never know for sure what he gets.

“H,” she repeats herself when she sees that Harry has stilled. “What’s the matter? I’ve never seen you cry like this before.”

For once, she’s met with silence. He doesn’t answer.

“Is this…” she trails off. “Are you crying about us? Our marriage? Or whatever left of that?” She chokes wetly.

Harry still doesn’t respond.

“Are you- are you crying because you want-” her breathing is getting harsher as if she’s choking. “You want to leave?”

“I wanted to,” Harry says weakly, admitting. Because he did. He had the thought. Divorce did cross his mind. It doesn’t matter for him whether he had been thinking about leaving for months or is it just five seconds of frustration before he snaps back to reality, he’s just as guilty.

“But I can’t,” he shakes his head. “You’re my wife. I’d chosen you. Can’t run away like a coward, s’my job to bring the smile back to your face.”

“You wanted to leave,” YN says at last, sitting motionless.

Harry just stares blankly at the cabinet under the sink.

“Harry,” YN says his name so low that it sounds more like a whisper. “Leave.”

Harry shakes his head frantically and YN continues. “This marriage sounds more like work on your part. I don’t know what happened with me,” she wipes away the tears that roll down her cheeks. “I hate to see you like this.”

“No,” says Harry firmly, still shaking his head.

“If it’s about the kids, don’t worry, you’ll-”

“It’s not about the kids!” Harry says quickly, cutting her off. “It’s about you. I can’t lose you.”

“Harry, I’ve changed,” YN whispers. “I don’t even recognise myself. You deserve better, just let me go.”

“No,” Harry shakes his head again. “I had chosen you, and you had chosen me. We’re gonna make this work, you and I.”

“But-”

Harry cuts her off with a kiss. A deep and passionate one, filled with desperate needs. Much to his surprise, she doesn’t pull away. It has been forever since the last time they kissed like that, and doesn’t matter their circumstances, neither of them wants it to end.

In one swift movement, he has her underneath him on their bathroom floor. His lips never leaving hers unless to take a breath, and even then it’s never long before he returns.

He leaves a trail of kisses down her neck, before pulling the tie on top of her nightdress to leave her chest bare before him. Within seconds he’s got her knees bent and her nightdress hitches up around her waist, his mouth feasting on her pulsing core. He has missed how she tastes.

She still doesn’t push him away when his tongue is buried deep inside her. He’s got both of his hands looped around her thighs before he thrusts one single digit into her. Slowly at first, but then he quickens the pace as it’s getting easier for his finger to pump into her. Not too fast yet not too slow; just a slow steady plunge deep into her heat.

She spreads her legs even more for him as his knee shoves between them. The better access makes him push his finger even deeper before he adds another. He puts pressure on her bundle of nerves with his thumb as his two thick digits make their way into her. It’s a stretch and she hisses as he buries them inside her to the knuckle.

With a gasp of his name, she falls into bliss. Closing her eyes as he pulls his fingers out of her. He climbs up and kisses her deeply as he takes out his member.

His hard cock curves up towards his belly, ruddy and dizzyingly thick. It has been a while and she forgot how intimidating his size is. He’s fully hard, the blunt tip is angry red and it’s leaking already. It looks threatening, and fuck, even the vein underneath is intimidatingly thick.

Too many moments later, he finally lets his cock dip down into her core, and she exhales the breath she’s been holding only to squeal when she feels him pressed against her folds. He really takes his time, coating his shaft with her slick before pushing into her again ever so slowly.

She winces as he thrusts inside her, but it feels amazing. The twinge of pain is easy to ignore with the way Harry feels inside of her and it’s literally just the tip. He lets out a groan, holding steady to give her time to adjust, knowing how much she needs it.

The second he’s fully in, she lets out a sigh, pulling him even closer to her body. He’s bare and hot inside her, the way he throbs is enough to force her eyes to close.

There’s a slowness to his movement that seems to translate into a deeper intimacy. There’s no rush, only a desperate need. He takes his time, not wanting it to be over anytime soon.

He’s sliding so deep, right into that pleasure-patch with every drive. She cries out, squirming underneath him as his cock hit painful depths. Her fingers hold onto his arms and she whimpers, unsure if it’s from discomfort or need.

It hurts, no doubt, it’s been a while after all. But his pace is steady and slow, and she knows that he’s taking every moment of her anguish and need. She moans into his mouth, practically panting as he kisses her over and over again, never leaving her lips for too long, nipping and sucking her bottom lip.

He feeds his cock into her again and again, coaxing her heat open with each stroke. The bump and drag of his member against her walls is nothing short of exquisite and dangerously intoxicating.

Everything goes white as she reaches her high. There’s no other sound except for the whir of pounding blood in her ears. She’s pretty sure she’s stopped breathing. He kisses her again on the lips, then her forehead, before he reaches for something from the cabinet under the sink to clean her up. He carries her to their bed, kissing her once more before he climbs onto his side of the bed. Mumbling “night, love” as he turns off the light on his bedside table.

She waits until he’s fully asleep before she wiggles out of his embrace. Scooting as far away from him as she can without falling out of the bed. And then she cries.

***

It’s frustrating to look in the mirror and not being able to recognise your own reflection.

For the past four weeks, when YN sees her reflection in the mirror, all she sees is that unrecognised woman standing before her. She looks sad and tired. There are two giant bags under her eyes, and she looks so cold and colourless that she thinks that whoever it is in the reflection must be sick.

She has never felt anything like this before. She is so anxious all the time. Although she is no stranger to anxiety, it has never got this bad. She is tired yet she’s struggling to sleep. She feels tense and irritable, and she has the urge to cry a lot more lately.

She feels terrible for not being able to bond with her baby girl the way she bonds with her baby boy. She tried, desperately, but when her baby girl refused to nurse it made her feel like she’s a failure. She is still feeling that way, especially every time she sees Harry feeding her with a bottle. She has this horrible sense of impending doom, like her babies are slowly starving and it was because she was a terrible mother.

“Harry, I think your wife has postnatal depression,” says the health visitor to Harry after she checks on YN and the babies. Physically, the three of them are doing amazing.

“I had a feeling,” Harry turns to her. “What should I do, then? What can I do to help her? Does she need some prescriptions?”

“Not yet,” she shakes her head gently. “I don’t think it’s very severe. But what you do matters significantly. Her moods and emotional vulnerability will likely get in the way of your communication for now, but keep assure her that you are there for her. Tell her that you know she feels terrible. Tell her she’ll get better and that she is doing the best she can. Tell her that she can still be a good mother even if she feels terrible. Most importantly, tell her that you love her. Your babies love her, all your children. She might not believe you when you tell her that she’s a good mother but tell her anyway. I can schedule a counselling for her but for now, make sure that you make time just for her. Five minutes a day for a start is enough. No babies, no paperwork, no TV, nothing but the two of you. Talk to her. She’ll probably ignore you at first but she’ll talk soon enough. Then you can gradually increase the amount of time you spend together just the two of you.”

“Thank you so much,” Harry looks at her, feeling hopeful.

“M’just doing my job,” she smiles at Harry. “Call if you have a question about it. Remember, just be patient.”

***

Little things matter.

After Harry got the advice from the health visitor and James, he knows that what he does really matter to help his wife, and he is willing to do whatever it takes for him to get his wife back. Every Sunday morning, he makes a trip to the Farmer’s Market to get her some daisies because it’s her favourite flowers. They take five minutes each day just for each other after all five of the kids are asleep, and although the health visitor was right and YN didn’t even say a word at first, now they begin to talk again and even laugh together even just a little.

They also begin to do the school run together. Fortunately, it’s close enough for them to just walk. Most of the time they take the pushchairs for the babies so they can walk around in the park after they drop the kids at school, but sometimes they just put them in a sling and carry them. It’s also the perfect time for Harry and YN to talk because the babies are the happiest in the prams or in the slings and they always sleep through their morning walk.

Harry knows that it’s probably too soon to say, but Harry feels like YN is slowly but surely coming back to him. They eat together again, they talk, and although Harry isn’t back in bed just yet, he’s now able to kiss her goodnight, which already makes Harry the happiest.

It’s 2:30am, and the babies are up crying because they’re hungry. YN is feeding Flynn on the nursery glider and Harry is about to head downstairs to make a bottle for Mila when YN suddenly stops him. “Harry, wait-”

“Yeah?” He looks at her, thinking that she’ll probably just ask him to get her something from the kitchen.

“Can I try first?”

Harry can’t believe what he hears, grinning instantly. “You want to try to feed her?”

YN nods. “Can I?”

“Love, you don’t have to ask!” Harry says, walking back to the bassinet to take their baby girl out and put her in YN’s free arm so she can feed her as well. She brings the baby closer to her chest and neither of them can believe what they see. “Oh my God-”

“Harry!” YN exclaims excitedly. “She’s latching! Oh my God, she’s doing it!”

“I see it!” Harry looks at her proudly, before leaning down to kiss her head. “My best girl.”

“Harry,” YN sighs happily. Happy tears rolling down her cheeks and Harry quickly wipes it away.

“Told ya,” Harry grins at her although his cheeks aren’t technically dry either. “It’s gonna be alright, I knew it.”

“I’m so happy right now,” YN tells him, making his grin wider. “But I know that I’m not back to my old self just yet. It’ll take some time.”

Harry leans down to kiss the top of her head now. “Darlin’, just knowing that you’re happy for now is enough for me. I know it’ll take some time, but it’s gonna get better, yeah? Trust me.”

“What if it takes years?”

Harry smiles at her. “I’ll wait it out with you.”

“You say that now, but-”

“In sickness and in health,” Harry quickly cuts her off. “For better or for worse.”

“Harry-”

“I love you. Completely besotted, absolutely enamoured, hopelessly in love wi’you. I don’t care if you don’t believe me right now, I’m telling you anyway because it’s true. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to remind you how much I love you if that’s what it takes.”

“H,” YN says before they lapse into silence. The pause seems forever but hearing her calling him with that pet name again after a while, he might bursts in happy tears right there right now. “I love you.”

Harry grins at her. Fat, hot tears rolling down his cheeks now and those are certainly happy tears. “Say it again.”

“I love you,” YN smiles at him.

“Again,” he begs. “Please.”

“I love you, H,” she repeats herself. “I take back what I said the other day. Don’t let me go.”

Harry leans down again, trying not to squeeze their babies, and this time to press his lips against hers. “Never.”

#harry #harry styles #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #husband!harry #dad!harry #dad harry imagines #harry styles fic #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles ff #harry styles blurbs #harry styles drabbles #harry styles concepts #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry talk

3K notes · View notes