[aka i am done with jashmas !!! i wont be doing the optional days to give myself a break. i had so much fun doing it, totally worth the slight stress it gave me lmao]
I made this post a few days ago and was asked for more input on Sting's character in regards to future Rogue so here's some more thoughts:
Enjoy <3
Future Rogue explicitly says he killed Sting and took his power but I have my doubts about that:
f!Rogue said to Natsu that in one year from the games Frosch would be killed by Gray and thus his pillar would be gone and he would succumb to his shadow, meaning during Avatar Gray and Rogue would fight for whatever reasons.
But Tartaros happened before Avatar, and during this arc we witness Sting and Rogue's first shown improvement after vowing to change Sabertooth, which culminates in both of them killing Jienma and erasing Sabertooth's ugly past for good. (also using a unique unison raid that only they can do <3)
Which solidifies the fact that Rogue is no longer intimidated by his shadow because, as he said himself, Sting would be able to kill it in the worst case scenario. He no longer lives haunted by the thoughts of his shadow taking over him because he knows Sting will always be there to protect him.
But this obviously all happened in the good future where the world didn't end and now THIS is where the fun begins.
What happened in the "bad future" where f!Rogue is from?
If my memory serves correct f!Rogue later revealed that his plan was to open the gate of Eclipse to let dragons from the past in and rule them to overcome Acnologia, who would soon descend and raise the world into chaos.
Now I don't think he gave an exact date as to when would this be but, Acnologia did indeed appear later during Tartaros so we're going to assume that's when the apocalypse started in the bad timeline.
And let's rewind for a sec to what happened in the good timeline's Tartaros: Sting and Rogue helped Fairy Tail, saved Minerva and killed Jienma, which is a direct consequence of what f!Rogue did during Eclipse.
I explain:
What would have happened after the games ended in this bad timeline? Would Sting have accepted to become Sabertooth's new master? His resolution begins when he gives up before Erza and the rest during the final battle but I don't think he really makes up his mind about it until the dragons are attacking the city and he fights to protect his guild, both he and Rogue do.
It's not until both of them are fighting at the end of the world that they realise what made Fairy Tail the strongest guild.
And even after having technically lost, this battle gave them something f!Rogue probably didn't expect.
It gave them hope.
So can we really assume they would've followed the same path had they not fought the dragons during Eclipse? I find it wholly marvelous and poetic how f!Rogue, having lost all sense of compassion, hope and having nothing left but rage, wanting to run amok in this timeline for what happened to his indirectly saved him and his beloved of this timeline from the horrors he had to endure.
Which brings me back to my first statement. In the bad timeline Sting was left with nothing after the games ended, sure Jienma was gone, he got Lector back and he had Rogue but what was he supposed to do from there on? Without the cataclysm of the Eclipse gate opening I assume he'd want nothing to do with Sabertooth again, or maybe he did, but then as Tartaros arrived maybe the guild had not yet gone through the experience of truly fighting along your peers to protect them, none of the guilds had. (Except, y'know, Fairy Tail, but they're the main characters here.)
We can't forget that they were fighting literal demons here, plus Acnologia himself. -Again taking in mind the experience of fighting the dragons during Eclipse had also not happened here.-
You could also argue that the FACE project the Tartaros gates had planned might've actually worked in this timeline, which would've resulted in over half of the population or more being left without magic to fight, it's understandable the world fell into chaos pretty quickly and a huge number of people died, as we saw in f!Lucy's timeline.
And Sting and Rogue were probably neither mentally nor physically prepared to fight all of this right after the Magic Games, they didn't have time to bond with their guildmates after Jienma died the same way they did in the good timeline, hell I'd even argue Sting was probably in a worse state because he got his emotional and physical strength tested back then and there's no way he'd recover from that in such a short time with only Rogue's (and Lector's) help.
Throughout the manga we see how Sting is the uplifting half of this duo, he's the one who constantly reassures Rogue and the rest of the guild. He's taken his admiration for Natsu and learned from it in that sense, but is bad future Sting like this? Is he able to confidently smile and shine a path to guide the people he loves, is he able to fight for them?
In my head f!Rogue didn’t kill Sting because Sting likely gave up fighting or chose to sacrifice himself. (That being to give Rogue another chance to live or because he knew one of them would die and he knew he wouldn't be able to live without Rogue is up to interpretation :))
And this proves to me that neither can live without the other, when Sting died f!Rogue either lost his mind and gave into grief (not fully, he would after Frosch's death) and took his powers in order to survive or to preserve a small part of Sting with him, which would make this shit even sadder after his shadow fully takes over him and he's no longer conscious of this fact, using his partner's power, the only power able to guide and subdue him to kill without remorse.
f!Rogue said that Frosch was his pillar but I refuse to believe Sting is not a pillar for him as well, he may have fully lost against his shadow after Frosch's death but his relationship with Sting having ended simply with "I killed him and took his powers" I refuse to accept, Rogue lost half his heart when Sting died/was killed and Frosh was the last bit of sanity that remained of him after that, which was ultimately but not the only reason he wasn't strong enough to fight his shadow after their death.
As you can see I have a lot to say about this arc and I would've given anything for it to be explored more but alas I've spent the last 6+ years rewriting the entirety of this manga in my head and I love to dive into the possibilities. Like what could have happened if Sting had lost Rogue in that future? What happened to the rest of the Sabertooth's members? I could be here all day.
But anyways I feel I'm not good enough at expressing my thoughts in written form but I hope it's understandable enough? I'm growing more confident though so hopefully I can puke more nonsense about this two <33
I was going to answer this normally- but I just love writing kidnapping scenes, so. Uh.
CW: Kidnapping, vampires, a little begging, mentions of hypothermia, mentions of car accidents, and I think this counts as human trafficking?
Around 600 words- short and sweet.
Isaac hadn’t seen a blizzard this bad in years. Snow drifts practically buried his car and the power had been out for around two hours now. Maybe he should invest in a backup generator, it might be like this all winter. Still, nothing he could do about it now. Reading by candle light isn’t as cozy as it might sound when it’s sub-zero outside and the central heating isn’t working. And just as he managed to get himself immersed in the story, there was a desperate banging on his front door.
“What–” Isaac murmured to himself. What could possibly be out there? Cold struck through his body as he forced himself to leave his cocoon of blankets. He was still grumbling when he looked through the peephole, but his temperament quickly chanced to concern when he saw what was definitely a person shivering at his door. Before he could even think, the door was unlocked and flung open.
“Oh- god, are- are you okay? What are you doing out here?” Isaac didn’t know how to react, was was he supposed to do in this situation.
“Got in a car wreck… Mile away…” They spoke, voice as weak as you would think it would be. It was a very rural area, was this really the first salvation they could find? “Could I make a call? Please?”
“Yes-! Of course, please come in!” Isaac gestured for the stranger to come into his home, “There’s blankets on the couch, please help yourself.” He said, handing them his phone. He was so amazed that this person could have walked a mile in that weather. Maybe it was some king od hysteric strength? He really didn’t know what to do.
He ended up stepping out of the room, figuring it rude to evesdrop, as well as wanting to compose himself. Maybe he should call 911? That person probably has some form of hypothermia or frostbite. And while his thoughts were swarming, the lights flickered back on and the hum of the heater started up. Oh. Convenient. At least now they can wait for help in the warmth. He’ll go fix them a hot drink. That’s a good thing to do now that the power is back on.
“Uhm. Would you like something to drink?” He asked as he walked back into the room where his surprise guest was. They tensed slightly and sat up more straight. Isaac felt a chill and he didn’t think it was from the cold this time.
“Yes. I would love a drink.” They said, standing up from the spot they were sat. And for the first time, he got a good look at their face. His heart dropped into his stomach. Red eyes and fangs. Oh no. No, no, no, nononono–
Isaac stumbled backwards before the vampire he let in lunged at him. The struggle didn’t last very long, of course it didn’t. Supernatural strength pinned him to the ground and pushed his head to the side.
“NO- Please, no, stop- please don’t hurt me!” Isaac fruitlessly struggled under their grip.
“Oh, I would love to bite you,” Their fangs only barely hovered above the fragile skin of his artery. His heart was beating a million miles an hour and he hated thinking about how appetizing he must be right now. “But I can’t risk damaging the merchandise.” Their fangs pulled away and Isaac took a breath of confused relief. They grabbed his chin and forced eye-contact.
“You’re going to sleep now.” They said. And Isaac felt compelled to let his eyes close.
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(idk if y'all wanna be tagged in little prequel drabbles like this but just in case)
i love logging into tumblr because its like “today i will post my evil little thoughts” and then get one note and log off and then the next day repeat it
