I know cuz I just completed it and put it into the right folders... A total of 34 more panels before the end. Which is not much if we take in consideration the length of the entire thing
🙃
Sometimes I sit and wonder why I did this to myself...
(Thanks & credit for the extra help from @nottsbuttons and @typehere452! <3)
Timeline:
Future Caleb and Nott (halfling again!) get Time Travel Powers
They decide they’re Gonna Fix Shit
They go wayyy far back; Current Bren (CB), Astrid, and Eodwulf never go to Soltryce Academy.
(Do they maybe kill Ikithon at some point back here? Maybe. They’ve got way more power and he’s not as strong as he was when he left, so… Who knows.)
They hang around for a while
This includes: Sending letters to the isolated members of the mighty nein, letting them know they have friends and offering communication. Doing research into problems they hadn’t solved by the time they left; what’s destroying the Blooming Grove, that sort of thing.
They–carefully!–warn Yeza and Veth and Luke about the goblin attack coming to Felderwin. The attack does much less damage to the town as a whole, nobody is taken captive. Yay!
Time continues forward. They keep to themselves, use even faker fake names, keep themselves afloat as legally as possible.
Astrid, Eodwulf, and Bren leave Blumenthal to expand their magical knowledge, hoping to one day enter the Soltryce Academy, but for now they are self-taught magical adventurers.
They find Yasha and Zuala and make sure they can escape! Those two start making their way out of Xhorhas on the route that will eventually lead them to the same circus Mollymauk is making his way to.
Current Yeza starts getting pressured by the Empire for research into dunamancy; he, Veth, and Luke leave Felderwin. Yeza makes and sells potions, staying behind with Luke while Veth picks up adventuring jobs where she can, eventually bringing them all to Zadash.
They help Calianna escape! Give her some pointers on where to start her mission.
Jester, Fjord, then Beau meet up and come to Zadash as normal, their threads changed only by mysterious supportive pen pals.
Everyone goes to the circus, accidentally find the only other Competent People there, and combine their forces to clear as much of the circus’ name as possible.
Astrid, Bren, Beau, Eodwulf, Fjord, Jester, Luke, Molly, Veth, Yasha, Yeza, and Zuala, alll look at each other, take stock of the fact that they’re a large group of mostly competent adventurers that did okay there, and decide that they’re probably safer and will have better luck getting decent coin together.
They pick up Kiri! When they go on adventures, she stays with Yeza and Luke. Yaaay!
Adventures continue! These gaps are a large part of why I’m not writing this fic out in its entirety.
The Iron Shepherds *don’t* kidnap the others, and Molly doesn’t die, because future Nott and Caleb are level 20(+???) and ready to stealth kick the crap out of them! They don’t stick around, because You Don’t Talk To Your Past Selves. The current group pick up Nila, now with a little bonus awe from the younger two.
The new Mighty Nein (still ironic, but in the other direction, with… All of them) pick up a Caduceus, who’s rather overwhelmed by all the people but happy to feel like part of a larger unit again. By their powers combined they rip through the remaining Iron Shepherds with even greater ease, get everyone out, and all is well.
The group migrate their way to the coast. Yeza, Luke, and Kiri hang out with free rooms with Marion for a little bit until Yeza establishes a stall to sell more regularly out of, and they move to somewhere a bit cheaper where he can sustain the three of them.
Jester sends messages to him as well as Marion when the group accidentally have to hightail it out of there. On the upside, the adults manage the ship a lot easier on their own once they figure it out, and only have to pick up Orly as a navigator, without dragging a whole confused crew out with them.
They get home largely without incident; the Balleater is still called that, of course, and it’s still given to Orly.
They pool money and get a bigger house in Nicodranas. It’s not ideal, but it’s more than enough for Yeza, Veth, Luke, and Kiri, and can hold everyone else when it needs to.
On shorter/closer missions, and just when Veth’s taste for adventure comes back to her, she goes out with the Mightier Nein. Otherwise, she stays behind, helping settle into a life similar, but distinct from the one she, Yeza, and Luke, had left behind in the Empire.
It stays open to the group, becomes a home base for all of them without homes: When an adventure is too taxing, or being on the road wears on them more than excites them, they can come home as a full group or in whatever set needs the break.
Adventuring continues. This basically concludes “fix-it” territory and goes straight into “idealistic ramblings” territory. You’ve been warned.
Epilogue
Caleb and Nott (from the future; this is a time travel fix-it, remember?) settle down… Nearby. They’re older now, and don’t look quite the same anyway.
Caleb has a bookshop that, maybe, also houses a few cats. It carries magic books–and a few other genres–of almost all levels; he and Nott continue studying magic, and offering lessons to anyone who comes in and asks about them. (The current members of the m9 come to visit, and it takes a bit of practice, but eventually they become the strange magic uncle/aunt that lives nearby and answers all their weird magic questions.
(When he dies, or gets old enough that managing the store is more than he’s up to, or Bren starts settling in more, the contents of the store are (magically lbr) packed up (I’m getting Fantastic Beast vibes from this suitcase) and given to Bren. They’re both pleased.)
Nott watches Luke grow up; a Luke that has never been without his parents, who has always had some promise of safety and at least two guardians at all times. Veth and Yeza take care of him, and he grows older, and she is so, so proud.
(If she sends the family presents sometimes… Well, nobody has to know.)
Eventually, slowly, the rest of the Nein settle there as well. From the adventures they had been steadily sending coin from, they end up with most of a street to their collective names.
On the far end, a cemetery and garden. Flowers on the grave-side, food directly behind the house. Caduceus was not the youngest or oldest child, merely the softest-spoken. When they fixed the plague that had been encroaching on the Blooming Grove, his family had drifted back to its care. He had new faith, now, in himself, and his goddess, and this new family. A new place to bring care to! Yasha and Zuala learn about burial care, and all of them grow flowers and tea that decorate and fuel their homes and stores. It’s a big garden.
Next to it, the main house. The family’s kitchen and dining room and group space for when they needed nothing more than to be together. (Most of the shops probably have smaller spaces above them? Because, look, most of these people were introverts at some point or another. Rest is necessary and good!)
Yeza gets a Proper Store again! The Brenatto Apothecary has discounted starter healing kits for new adventurers. Lots of experimental stuff as he has the time and resources to try stuff out! Luke, Kiri, (and others? do he just sort of pick up apprentices? maybe!) help out here the most.
They have a joint teahouse/bakery that’s connected to the bookstore, called the Mighty Dine. There’s a line; books can go in either directions, but the food stays on the bakery side. The cats go where they please. Eodwulf and Jester do most of the baking, Bren manages the cats and bookstore. There’s a window seat, and lots of comfy chairs. Some of them have swingy desk things.
Molly and Astrid are travel buddies after the rest of the group has settled; not as adventurers, but simply to live in as much of the world as they can. When they come home, they bring new decorations for the shop, new kinds of sweets and drinks, new kinds of magic and potions, sharing bits of the world with their family and those that would visit.
Fjord also spends a lot of time at sea; sometimes Molly and Astrid hitch rides across the water. He and Orly have fun adventures and eventually maybe just carrying cargo/crew around until Fjord decides he’s good with living near it.
Every now and then, Eodwulf and Jester will clear the bakery side, put down a lot of spare sheets, and run art classes.
People can sign up to teach small classes on just about anything there, inside of the family or not.
Look there’s probably also reading nights (poetry, smut, etc.) that happen there; general public social spot.
At the other end, leading into the city, is the two-story building Beau and Jester live in. The first floor is one large, mostly padded, room. Beau teaches self-defense classes, mostly to kids but open to all ages, and sometimes general self-improvement based teachings around other monk stuff to people she likes. “Stop Being An Asshole Club” becomes more popular than she was expecting, and it’s great.
Again, if we’re being honest, everyone pitches in at everyone else’s area. Their skills and interests overlap, and it’s not uncommon to see Fjord helping out at the SBAAC (acronym pending), Yasha helping with self-defense classes, Zuala at the apothecary, Caduceus in the bakery, Veth is… Everywhere? When did she get there? Don’t worry about it. They have a place to grow and learn and share, to settle into the lives they worked for.
incredibly long thoughts on the latest granblue chapters (spoilers and general rambling)
SO MUCH IS HAPPENING.
first off it was lovely seeing everyone’s faces again. i’m not really sure what it is loki is up to. the whole let’s gather allies thing is weird since he was so antisocial previously but i guess we’ll see. i think maybe the death of his brother is weighing on him more than expected, and i’m wondering if he’ll meet up with orchis again since she is technically his niece, as furious as that seems to make him. i think, apart from furias, the other major big bad for this arc is going to be the violet knight. i feel like we’re working our way through the knights- black knight in arc one, golden knight in 2. scarlet knight was sort of there both times but his plot was more in 2.
speaking of furias something is def up with him. total personality switch. and both drang and loki pointed it out, too, so i think that this is either not the original furias or one that has been severely corrupted by the true king, maybe similar to what happened with gilbert but with more control? although gilbert got progressively crazier while furias went from tempter tantrums to ice cold so maybe it’s not the same thing. probably not dark essence? the person who used dark essence the most is pommern, and he’s still mentally in one piece even if it’s physically taken a toll (shoutout to pommern for basically doing the ‘major villain to weird uncle’ thing, also his new clothes are nice lol).
then of course there’s orchid?/zwei who is. kinda over the top i feel (don’t at me but it felt like shadow the hedgehog L O L). but i am intrigued by her at the same time, and i’m looking forward to the story doing more with the ‘what is original/real’ sort of vibe they had going in arc 1 with orchid/orchis and the black knight. esp with furias’ ‘the age of the false has come’ thing.
drang and sturm!!!! the moment it became clear that orchid was going to be a central chara i knew they’d be back but i was not expecting them back so soon. i was extremely happy to see both of them, though. what an entrance. i yelled. thank you wilfrid for chauffering them. although i’m really, really hoping that we get black knight back too, both because i think she’d be interesting considering we haven’t really delved into her feelings about the orchis/orchid ending, and i want to see her react to orchid?/zwei. also god, eugen please talk to your daughter. you promised it to the spirit of your dead wife come on. we gotta start fixing these family plotlines. i’m imagining drang is gonna have a reckoning with ferry when she comes back to the plot (oh my god i am. so excited for that to happen) and eugen and black knight need to have theirs too (prolly won’t get closure on golden knight/pholia and scarlet knight/hal until we get back to nalhegrande but i want to see those too).
another thing is katalina. she’s due for her 5* and presumably this means she’s gonna bond to a primal like the rest of the crew did. i briefly thought maybe mithra in the spirit of her promise of protecting lyria but idk. or whatever the name of the primal on the dydroit belt was that controlled bonds? or maybe we’ll pull a new one out of a hat. either way i’m excited for her to get some development since despite having her in our party since day one we still ultimately know very little about her. i love team mom.
and then we finally started getting some exposition about good ol dad, who was apparently the disciple of an actual god (granblue hands me everything i want on a platter yet again). the fact that we might need to go up against him is not that surprising considering this is, after all, a jrpg. but i’m really excited to finally start knowing more about the red dragon/girl in blue thing. also, wasn’t that half-shown girl with the true king called ‘priestess?’ would she be connected to the same god dad is? we didn’t get to see her face so she’s still super mysterious but i’m intrigued!
too bad there won’t be more until january. although, luckily, i’ll prolly be right out of surgery at the time so it’ll be like my get well soon present lol.
some final thoughts:
- low-budget crew was hilarious. i love their mascot.
- orchid as a symbol of peace!! she’s really growing on me. i love her. i hope she gets to go on a gourmet food tour with orchis.
- please new art for lyria and siero, PLEASE. it really shows it’s age next to everyone else’s shiny new art
- fenrir.... between this and the recent rerun of jade event i really feel for her. i still have mixed feelings about her but if we can get some more development i’ll be interested....
- katalina and rosetta covering their respective daughter’s eyes was a great moment. at this point i’m sure lyria and io have Seen Some Shit but like. still cute
- listen. i have so many emotions about the exchange with drang and sturm where he says ‘isn’t it nice to have a place to call home?’ and she just kind of shrugs it off. that went direct to my heart. i earnestly hope she like. knows she can trust all the crew. i’d love to see her open up a little. one day i will have to make a post just talking about my feelings about these two but this one is already too long, so that’s enough for now lol.
Characeter ask meme, re @theghostisametaphor.
Logus asks Oskyod: F. envy or jealousy
note: Λόγος (Logos) is Oskyod’s pet name for Logus, because naturally.
---
Jezebel shifted her weight pointedly. “We’ll see,” she said, and took her leave.
Once she had passed out of earshot, Logus laughed.
“Such a jealous creature,” he said. “Will she never learn?”
Oskyod tucked the card they had been examining back behind their ear, where it vanished from sight.
“Jealous?”
Logus straightened. “Do you object to my choice of word? Clearly she resents me—resents my discovery—and irrationally so. This ought to be a cause for celebration, but to her there’s no true victory unless it’s hers. What would you call that?”
“Envy.” Oskyod did not hesitate. “I would call that envy.”
“But that is a synonym! Don’t you stand there and tell me that it isn’t.”
“It is,” now Oskyod spoke more slowly, “but you asked what I would call it. To my mind ‘synonym’ is a fallacy: I do not hold any two words to be interchangeable. The connotations of envy, I think, fall much closer to the mark.”
“Oh? And how do you distinguish?”
Oskyod shrugged. “I don’t hold to any hard-and-fast rule. But I like to be consistent. I generally think of envy as a desire for what isn’t yours, and jealousy as a reluctance to share what is—or what is yours in part. Envy is ambitious; jealousy is possessive. Alternately (or additionally), jealousy tends to carry more intimate connotations than its counterpart. Jealousy is always personal; envy may be less so.” They paused. “That said, not everyone draws the distinction in the same way that I do. There’s a good deal of overlap, and your usage was certainly fair play: it’s just not how I would have put it.”
Oskyod left off, but they did not withdraw their gaze. All the time they had been speaking, Logus noted, they had not broken eye contact; he was not sure whether he liked this any better than the professor’s more customary evasiveness. Their braid uncurled in the air from left to right, and Logus had to suppress a sudden impulse to grab hold of it and make it stop—together with the curiosity that had welled in him. He put his hands in his pockets and looked away.
“Such a messy business, language” he said. “There’s no precision in it. But I do respect your attempt to bring some more rigour to the discipline. By your terminology, here, yes, I agree. Jezebel is insatiable above all else—as envy must be in its extreme—and that’s what rules her.” Still the curiosity pricked at him. He rocked back on his heels. “Would you say then…that some people are ruled more by one or the other? Envy, jealousy? Take Lux. She’s quite the opposite: I don’t think I’ve ever seen her envious in my life. She wants nothing. But lay one finger on anything that’s hers…?” he laughed. "Jealous as the devil, that one.” He stole one glance at Oskyod from the corner of his eye. They had not moved. “But I am curious, professor. You seem to have put some thought into this—which suggests to me that it is above all an important distinction for you.” He circled two paces to the left, vulture-like. “Tell me. Why is that?”
Oskyod followed him with their eyes as he paced, all else about them motionless.
“You may ask me, Logus,” they said. “I am inclined.”
Logus stopped dead. There was a command behind that—something he had not heard before—and it chilled him. Oskyod pivoted to face him directly. “You may ask me,” they repeated, “but you must do better than that if you want a good answer. Language, I think you will find, only lacks precision if you don’t know where you are in it. You don’t. But one man’s mess is another’s filing cabinet: a mess one can navigate is no mess at all. Give me the context and I can give you anything: as intricately—as precisely—as you like.” They stepped in close. “Ask me again, Λόγος,” they said, “and don’t insult me. Do it right this time.”
Logus stood transfixed, his mind racing. Oskyod never did this. Oskyod never maintained eye contact for this long—not with him and not with anyone. They would look at a book, look at the floor, look out a window, at their own fingers—at anything—at nothing. This was deliberate. Right from the start he’d known something was off—how had he not caught it?
It was too late. All this time they had been casting, and now the spell was fixed: if Logus spoke, he could not lie. Not only that, but he could not lie by omission; he could not conceal—not until Oskyod looked away. He knew the trick well—he used it not infrequently himself—but he'd thought only Lux had the cards to use it on him. Was this even the same spell? It felt very different, under their cast—like a dimly lit maze, or a web with many twists and snags—and there was much less compulsion to it. When Lux demanded a truth, she extracted it—willing or no. But this was not a demand. It was a condition. If he should speak…
The panic passed. Logus would not be made to reveal anything. Easily he could snip every thread that held him; depart, and never speak of it again. But what would that imply? That he feared the truth? He, Logus? And still the curiosity ate at him. Rarely was Oskyod so forthright: when next could he expect such an opportunity? Was there any good reason he should not take it? They knew already what he had asked—of that he was certain—only they would not answer it until he had given the question in full.
Well, he thought. If that is to be the price…
“Well played,” he said, and collected himself, “but I do not mind.” He flexed his fingers and pulled on the cuff of one gloves. "And why should I? I’ve nothing to hide. I will ask again, and on your terms.”
He held himself tall, taking a moment to feel out the boundaries of the spell—what would give and what would not. He began.
“You know that I…require you,” he spoke carefully, testing the syntax. “I mean I care for you very much—” and there was the wall. A panic took him and he felt for the exit. Was he bound to keep speaking now that he had begun? No: he could still break. Or could he...? But he did not want to. (Was that a part of it?) “And while I do not know for certain your regard for me, I have reason to hope that I am not entirely unrequited in my love.” Again he balked. That he could never have said—he did not have the cards for it.
And yet he’d said it. He’d let the words be pulled from him—against his hand—with his permission and without his will. It felt almost exhilarating. Lux only ever dealt in hard truths, and when she extracted them it was with an iron fist. But these were shadow-truths: many-sided, and they wanted shaping. He had to yield them, but beyond that he could yield them any way he liked. He had expected to feel forced. He did not. He felt fluent---so fluent it frightened him. Every truth he gave now was his own.
You’re doing very well, said the spell. Take your time.
Logus bristled. He did not have to look up in order to read Oskyod’s expression (smug, insufferable). “I hate you,” he said—and found with relief that he could still say it.
Gathering his thoughts again he pressed on, more irritable now than cautious.
“It’s as I said: you know these things. You know (confound you) everything. And you know also my position. You know where I stand in the Master’s esteem: you know his claim to me. And you know that even if I could I would never change it. It’s what I am. So what I’m asking you is simply this.” He took a breath and retreated into the collar of his coat. "Do you....do you mind it? You do not strike me as the envious sort. Yet sometimes I imagine—sometimes, in the way you…” Again he stalled. No. He would say it: he could. “Are you jealous then?” Now, and never again. "Are you jealous towards me?”
He opened his eyes (he had not realised he’d closed them). The world did not end. He looked up. Oskyod tilted their head to one side, blinked, and released the bind; Logus reeled a little, feeling almost giddy. He laughed once, recovering quickly, and skipped lightly backwards.
“Your move, professor,” he said, “And you had better answer: you know you’re not the only one who can pull that trick.”
“Oh, I fully intend to,” Oskyod smiled, looking very pleased with themself. The smile broke into a grin, and they laughed, and laughed again, stumbling a little as they did. They seemed almost to be having difficulty containing their mirth. Logus looked on in some bewilderment: he was not quite sure he had ever seen them in such a state. “Excuse me, please,” Oskyod said, “I am not laughing at you, believe me: you performed splendidly—that was much better. You speak so beautifully, you know, when you’re enabled. Yes, yes, you have certainly earned a reply.”
Feeling more insulted than flattered by this praise, Logus waited. “It had better be honest. I can tell.”
“I am aware,” said the professor, sobering a little. “I don’t suppose you would take a more eloquent reply tomorrow, would you?”
“No–!” Logus sputtered. “No, absolutely not! I played your little game. You’ve made me say all sorts of ridiculous things—and very ineloquently! I’ve humiliated myself. Now you.”
Oskyod laughed again, still very fey. “Sorry, I had to ask. Well.” They adjusted their glasses. “Thankfully it’s not nearly so difficult a question for me to answer as it was for you to pose. You’re on the right path: I do generally incline much more towards jealousy than towards envy, in the instance that I incline towards either. It’s all a great deal of energy, you know—envy especially. And very pointless. Though… I do not especially love for other people to touch what’s mine. My office, for example. My records, my person, my cards.” Now they locked eyes with Logus, their expression blank. “But you already know that. You did not ask about generally. You asked about you. You guessed that I do not envy your position, and you guessed correctly. As for the Master…” They looked past Logus now, and spoke distantly. “I would not flatter yourself so far as to think me jealous. I don’t give a damn whether he touches you. I might be able to muster some resentment over other aspects of his claim, but it’s such an effort to work up a real fit. And we both know I’ve never required you quite so desperately as you require me. ” Now they looked back, and smiled strangely. “Besides. Say that I did possess you—comprehensively. What would I do with that? Keep you in my office in a box, take you out only when it amused me? Because you see, if I really wanted you, that’s what it would take. I do not possess things lightly. I do not possess people lightly. It’s really far better that you’re his.”
Their voice had dropped considerably in volume, and Logus realised that he could no longer say what language they were speaking in—only that he understood it.
“That said…”
Oskyod moved in to adjust the front of Logus’ jacket (which Logus was fairly certain did not need adjusting). Their braid swung very close to his face and he grew impatient.
“That said, what?”
Oskyod looked up. “What?”
“I’m not letting you off. You were going to say something. Stop touching that—out with it.”
“Ah, right.” Oskyod stepped backwards, quiet as dust.
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you write 92 truths about yourself. At the end, tag 25 people and the person that tagged you. I was tagged by @lipbalmprince / my babe / thank youuuu cutie~ ♥ ♥ ♥
What was your…
Last drink? peppermint tea
Last phone call? bella aka @gdmynumber1
Last text message? I WAS YOUR LAST TEXT MSG AND U ARE MINE @lipbalmprince ♥
Last song you listened to? worth it - fifth harmony / in a bts vine
Last time you cried? ehmmm does yesterday/today count when I cried from laughing? haha
Have you ever…
Dated someone twice? nope
Been cheated on? nayyy
Kissed someone and regretted it? yup
Lost someone special? yes
Been depressed? yes...
Been drunk and thrown up? yes but I found out that I just really can’t drink sparkling wine. now that I don’t drink it anymore I haven’t thrown up from alcohol anymore haha
In the past year have you…
Made a new friend? yes~
Fallen out of love? i guess... / sunggyu /
Laughed until you cried? yasss
Met someone who changed you? yyes ^^
Found out who your true friends are? no I already found out some time ago haha
Found out someone was talking about you? probably idk
Kissed someone on your followers/following? nope
General:
How many people do you know on your tumblr irl? 4 or more
Do you want to change your name? my tumblr name? or ? just call me jetta forever. i love the name jetta
What time did you wake up today? around 1pm but I was awake until 7am
What were you doing at midnight last night? playing fruit ninja and watching bts vines and crack vids + singing
Name something you can’t wait for: finally not feeling stressed out / if that time ever comes
Last time you saw your mother: the weekend before the last one. she visited me / I live alone since october T.T
What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? my laziness and unability to study or do things I should do and feeling tired and stressed out 24/7
What song are you listening to right now? still worth it from fifth harmony lmao
What’s getting on your nerves right now? university especially statistics
Nicknames: Jetta, Jedda etc / many ppl call me sensei and grandma btw haha
Relationship: single af and pretty happy about it
Zodiac Sign: aries
Pronouns: she/her
Favorite TV Shows: animes and kdramas idk, many.
School: university =______________=
Hair Color: wtf moyo ur hair is black xD dark dark blonde but I dye it brown & red-ish a lot
Hair Length: long
Height: almost 5′3
Do you have a crush on anyone? yoongi hahaha also jimin and tae
What do you like about yourself? i am nice and i can understand others pretty well i think
Tattoos: nope
First…
Surgery: umm the word is... hernia? rupture? idk, below the belly they had to do stitches and stuff. there was a rupture from carrying stuff too heavy for child Jetta
Piercing: some years ago idk
Best Friend: mandy, we were in the same hospital after being born, then same kindergarten, primary school etc etc but we don’t have any contact anymore
Sport you joined: I don’t do sports hahaha but I wanna play volleyball
Vacation: idk. france maybe
Pair of sneakers: i never rlly wore sneakers haha
Right Now:
Eating: chocolate ~
Drinking: peppermint tea ( still )
Listening To: Jimin saying ‘ dis is my shiteu ‘ lmao
Waiting For: holidays
Wanting Kids? probably c:
Want to get married? yes
Career of Interest: managing / marketing department of a cosmetics company ( korea or japan maybe, i love their cosmetics )
Which is better?
Lips or eyes? eyes
Hugs or kisses? .... kisses but not tongue-kisses
Shorter or taller? taller ( when others are taller ) shorter ( if it’s about my height. being short is nice )
Older or younger? older
Romantic or spontaneous? both
Nice nose, stomach, or arms? nose
Sensitive or loud? loud
Hookup or relationship? relationship
Troublemaker or hesitant? troublemaker
Have you ever…
Kissed a stranger? yo
Drank hard liquor? yep
Lost glasses or contacts? ye ;/
Broken someone’s heart? ...yes
Been arrested? no I’m a lawful citizen ( i guess )
Turned someone down? quite a few times..
Cried when someone died? oh yes..
Fallen for a friend? nope
Do you believe in…
Yourself? somewhat
Miracles? yes
Love at first sight? not really, no. infatuation maybe but not love.
Santa Claus? never did, no
Kissing on the first date? sure.
I taaaag: @minghowcute and @josephinexarmygirl aaand @kuronamida aaaand @mariechaan aaaand - that’s it. idk. y’all don’t have to do it ofc ♥
The air was stuffy and dry packed as it was in yet another consecutive day sitting within one of the Institute's most elaborate rooms. The wooden benches creaked and rocked as the jury shuffled in and settled down beneath the ornate banners of Justice, and immediately the usual procedures began. Though mostly quiet, the crowd was shifting about with anxious energy in the musty courtroom, but no less was to be expected given the event taking place. After nearly two years of hearings, appeals, and the like, this grand ordeal was at last coming to an end. The final trial officially began with the court being called into order.
Sitting in a rickety wheelchair before the grand jury was the defendant. A long blanket was draped over the accused's lap, the coarse material abnormally flat like the black slacks below the knees. The defendant was a crippled man with a head full of greying hair dressed in a simple collared shirt and shackles. The chains hung limp like its owner in a low arch in his lap, the ends disappearing into empty sleeves.
Some time had passed and still the defendant had his head bowed; the man hadn't moved a muscle since he had been wheeled in. Other than the moments when an answering was necessary, the man refrained from commenting.
"Would you please read the verdicts?" came the scratchy voice of the judge, low and gravelly. The old man was speaking to the foreman of the jury.
"Yes, your honor." the reply was long and drawn out, rehearsed. It was unfitting, sickening to the ears. The defendant stirred.
"Viktor, the Machine Herald, are you prepared?" it was a rhetorical question, but the man nodded anyways. The judge pulled a dainty ribbon and unrolled a dense scroll. In a broad, monotonous tone, the old man went down the list, reading the charges.
Larceny. Arson. Embezzlement. Disturbing the peace. Kidnapping. Attempted-kidnapping.
The jury burst into outraged chattering despite meeting an easy consensus. "Guilty." How could such a despicable man walk amongst them? Why was it only now that he was arrested?
The wrinkles lining Viktor's face thickened as the muscles of his neck flexed. A dark chord colored his neck as the half-caste clenched his teeth, lips curling back as he bared them and willed himself silent, motionless.
Petty theft. Grand theft. The readings continued and the courtroom was still surprised, and the frown morphed into a thin smirk. The court merely scratched the surface of the Creator's extraordinarily crafted résumé. He busied himself with rusty bulbs that capped his limbs. The half-caste paid little attention to the many charges of attempted-murder. Viktor permitted himself a haughty laugh just listening to this single charge. He glanced up when the tension in the room thickened. He could feel the entire audience swelling as they all took a breath in unison hearing the last of the accusers' names. It wasn't over yet.
"Guilty as charged," the Herald mouthed in time with the verdict reader. He could see the head of the jury adjusting the wide spectacles on the brim of his crooked nose. Just looking at that man filled his mouth with bile. Pompous and obscene.
"Viktor, you are charged with first... second... and third degree murder." There came the next wave of countless cases the judge had forced himself through. A wicked grin adorned the Creator's face, malicious eyes not once breaking contact with the foreman's. He could see the beads of sweat trickling down the fat man's cheeks.
"Is something the matter, Viktor?" the judge addressed him directly, watching the quiet display unraveling between the two men.
"Your honor, there is something the matter." he answered.
The old man gesticulated the Herald to elaborate, "And that mat--"
"The matter is that it is such a shame that the name Stanwick Pididly is absent from the seemingly indefinite list of homicides!" the Herald spat, earning an uproar. The mechanical voice resounded in the court above the din of disgusted gasps. "I've enough of your treacle, Stanwick! Tell me! Tell them all how much you bribed to secure such a position!"
"Order! Order!" the old man held no power here.
Viktor lurched in his chair and violently rattled his chains with his stubbed limbs, where his augmentations should have been. His voice warped into an inhuman screaming, as he shouted across the floor, "What strings did you pull, you monster! It must have cost you a fortune - my fortune - for you to be sitting here today! Of all people! How guilty are you!"
His chest was heaving and his body ached to stomp toward the high chairs himself. He could just imagine in colorful detail how his hands could puncture the layers of lard to painstakingly rip his decrepit professor's trachea from his throat and then smother his dying form with it.
--
Time passed in a heartbeat, and his neck was sore. He felt drowsy.
He could hardly believe the court was fearful of an innocuous man missing all four of his limbs. The Herald was almost pleased with his performance, for the court had broke into recess. Pity, Viktor thought, shaking off the side-effects of the sedatives they had pacified him with, he could not buy himself more time. His trials had racked up an enormous sum of money - of course, he would not pay a single coin toward any of the expenses.
The hearing began again.
Unethical treatment of animals and humans. If this trial was held in Zaun, he would be innocent. What a relief that would be, he mused. Practicing without a license. Viktor merely laughed. Malpractice was tacked on it, too? And medical negligence?
"Terribly guilty." the half-caste interjected, before he heard the confirmation from Stanwick himself. If he could wave his hands and bow, "Obviously."
"War crimes." his honor cleared his throat, his worn hands thumbing through the parchment. "Viktor, you are charged with: Crimes of torture. Crimes against peace. Use of poisons as weapons. Destruction of public property."
The Machine Herald only shifted in his seat, wishing they could have at least given a fifty-seven year old man a better cushion. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. How much longer? If he could have slept through this, the madman would have. It was a small price to pay, a wry smile played his lips, after all he pleaded innocent to each individual case.
"Viktor, you are charged with crimes against humanity.
"Viktor, you are charged with the crime of genocide."
"Guilty." the retired professor shot a knowing glance at the Herald, and those grubby hands of his vanished out of view; but that was it, the last charge against the Creator. A strange knot began forming in the half-caste's stomach, as he anticipated the sentence. All eyes and ears were directed toward the honorable judge. This was truly it.
"Viktor the Machine Herald, I hereby sentence you...
'The end.'
It was all they had been waiting for. All Viktor had been waiting for.
"To life in prison."
It was strange how all of this came to an end. His whole life he had been numb - paralyzed - and suddenly he could feel again. He did not feel alive nor the weight of his atrocities, but he felt this wrenching in his heart. It sank and beat wildly as if free. This horrid feeling when he knew he was anything but. It was surreal.
Viktor could not hear the world. There was this sharp ringing in his skull that made his head swim and vision blur. The images of the crowd rejoicing and clapping all melded into one filthy color. It was dark.
It was dark and he was cold. He was lonely. And he had lost.
His jaw slacked and his mouth went dry. "What?" the man whimpered, his body visibly shaking, the chains wildly rattling again. Blinding light filled his sights, the touch of armored guards on the handle of his wheelchair pulling him back to reality. The piercing vibrations in his ears, he barely managed to make sense of them.
The last words that filtered through his mind:
"YOU ARE GUILTY."
There the true monster roared with its engorged body animated by unadulterated glee.
please talk about tumblr user lit- i mean, takaneenomoto <3
I might be wrong about some things as I’m just writing my impressions about her through the almost six years I’ve known her for ;;The adjective that always comes to mind first when I think about Lita is strong. She may not be able to see it, especially during the hard times she’s currently having, but she is. I’ve seen her fail some times, but she’s always been able to get up again and overcome those problems, no matter what. She’s also the kind of person that rarely thinks twice about saying what she thinks, and I, as someone who finds really difficult speaking up my mind, find that incredibly amazing. Another thing I really admire about her is how much she does for those she loves. I’ve been her friend for all these years and if there’s something I’ve learnt about Lita is that you can say stupid stuff about her and she won’t mind, but you better not talk shit about her loved ones or you’ll be screwed. I’ve literally seen her sending threats via email for me. Of course, she’s not all violence: she’s someone you can always count on whenever you have a problem and need to talk it out. She’s really really great.I guess I’m really worried about her sometimes? Like, I see her suffering or having a bad day and most times I don’t really know how to put into words how incredible she is, how much I’ve learnt from her, how much she has achieved and how capable of doing anything she is, so in the end I never know how to help her even if it’s a tiny bit in comparison to all the things she’s done for me. I don’t see myself as someone easy to befriend, but she was there when I needed a friend the most and I will never stop being thankful for it. There’s many things I wanted to write but I suck at this kind of things orz. I just wanted to remind her that she’s incredible because she’s still fighting even if she finds it really hard most days.I love you, Lita. 5ever <3.
