Iminconstantturmoil - JustVibin' Don't Mind Me

i’m death , straight up ⚰️🗡️

THE LAST OF US, and the israeli themes surrounding it

i'm very glad that people were able to see one of the previous things i published, where i complied a series of links that you can use to learn more of what's going on in gaza, how you can help, places you need to boycott, etc. however, at the end of the post, there is a large part of it that is DIRECTLY meant for people who play or watch the last of us, or play the last of us 2.

the last of us 2 in specific is not at all elusive in displaying the chilling themes we are seeing before us today. what boggles my mind, is that a select few individuals are choosing to keep publishing fics, reblogging them, uploading content that has NOTHING to do with what's going on, etc. also, you can't reblog one thing about palestine and claim that you care, then flood your account or people's home pages in fanfiction, especially during a media blackout. it just doesn't work like that.

i took the time to make a post discussing all of the israeli/palestinian themes that the games as a whole, but mainly the second one, display. if you are my mutual, a friend, a fan of my work, or a fan of the game or show, then i 100% demand you read this. if you can read fics for hours, you can spend time to read a post discussing the universe those very fics came from.

a lot of us are now aware of the last of us's nature in regards to the ongoing genocide, but not many people know the specifics of it. after seeing this post last night (the person who made this, you are an angel), i decided to take the time to dive into the specifics of the last of us 2's israeli nature, on a logical level, but also a moral level, using a list of sources to help me along, which will be linked at the end of this post. i will link the sources along the way so you know which sources i got my information from.

regardless of if this changes anyone's mind about ignoring the media blackout, or not giving a fuck about what's going on period, know this: regardless of how you feel, regardless of what you believe, from the river to the see, palestine will be free. at this fucking point, the people who are on the right side will keep speaking out and spreading awareness, regardless if you are here to do it with us. that's it. now, let's get into this.

UPCOMING DISCUSSIONS: neil druckmann, the last of us 1, the last of us 2, the last of us show and zionism in the show's cast, boycotting the game and show, and conclusion

NEIL DRUCKMANN

45-year-old neil druckmann, who was the co-director and co-writer for the last of us 2, was born in tel aviv, israel in 1978. according to the above source, druckmann was raised in a settlement in the west bank, where he was surrounded by violence on a daily basis. comics, movies, and most of all, video games, became an escape for him as a child, before he and his family moved to miami, floridawhen he was 10 years old.

to water down the full story that you can, again, read here, druckmann went to college to major in criminology. however, when he was in college, druckmann took a compsci course, that later lead to his major becoming coding as opposed to criminology. soon after, he knew he wanted a career that related to one thing: video games.

in the summer of 2013, the last of us part 1 was released, and it was renowned as one of best video games to have ever been made. in 2020, druckmann and nd released the last of us part 2, followed by the 2022 release of HBO's show based on the first video game. druckmann played a huge part on set, being not only the co-creator and co-writer of the show, but also having directed an episode himself. druckmann will remain involved in the second season of the show.

bringing up neil druckmann’s background is a crucial aspect of what’s upcoming in this post, hence why i wanted to discuss it at all. druckmann growing up in israel is one of the sole reasons the last of us was ever made at all, and not only that: it is the reason why the second game is the way it is, because neil druckmann planted his israeli ideologies right into it.

so, let’s speak on it.

THE LAST OF US 1

on the official the last of us podcast, neil druckmann himself discussed the last of us' link to the israeli-palestinian conflict, and now, genocide. the general consensus was that people will go ridiculously far for the people that they love. this idea of druckmann's was revealed when he discussed the first time the main character of the first game, joel miller, kills somebody to keep his daughter, sarah, safe from harm. this is one of the first scenes in the game prior to the time jump, where the pair's neighbor becomes infected, and attacks them. joel uses a gun to kill him so that the neighbor doesn't harm sarah.

the following is a quote i would like to copy from this link word for word: "Druckmann said he follows "a lot of Israeli politics" and compared the incident to Israel's release of hundreds of Palestinians prisoners in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011."

the plot of the first game, as neil druckmann explained, is based around a moral dilemma. he discusses how if joel had to kill a man to save a random kid, would he have done it? druckmann himself says, "but when it was his tribe, his daughter, there was no question about what he was going to do."

while the first game, in my opinion, isn't as heavily centered around israeli themes as the second game is, regardless, it is heavily crucial to note that the basis of the first game derived from a real-life incident involving israel and palestine, where hundreds of palestinian people (edit: i believe it is more than 1,000) were released from imprisonment, all in exchange for one israeli soldier. in the second game, the israeli-palestinian themes, if you look closely enough, scream out at you.

let's talk about it.

THE LAST OF US 2

"There is a common saying that if you seek revenge, you should dig two graves. Playing The Last of Us Part II is like being made to dig those graves with your teeth (Zacny)."

nd's 2022 the last of us part II is described down to the last letter in the above quote, albeit the game's utterly obvious israeli nature. in this post, the creator, rob zacny, goes on to discuss the game's theme of a "cycle of violence," and how the game reminds you in each grotesque encounter of the cruel ideology behind that. due to what occurs in the last of us 1, joel, basically, reaps what he sows when he is murdered for killing a surgeon who, along with the group said surgeon was a member of, the fireflies, was planning to perform surgery on ellie, who joel had since grown close to, in search of a cure for the infection that has plagued their world for decades. four years later, the second playable character in the game, who is introduced in the first half hour or so, abby anderson, kills joel to avenge the surgeon who was murdered, who happened to be her father. from then on, the game follows what, again, can only be described as a "cycle of violence." joel kills abby's dad, abby kills joel, ellie kills all of abby's friends, aims to kill abby in the final battle of the game, but spares abby when ellie's conscious morally attacks her for her decisions.

throughout the 24 odd hour gameplay, the player is allowed to play as ellie and abby, abby's parts of the game being arguably longer than ellie's. the idea this, i believe, is meant to introduce, is one of perspective: the player is meant to be loyal to joel miller once the first game has been finished, so when he is killed, they are inclined to make abby pay for it. however, abby's perspective, both in the past and as the present course of the game goes on, is meant to make the player understand why she did what she did. thus, the moral: there are no good guys in this game. every person is as equally bad as the following, and no one is innocent. however, when we consider the israeli-palestinian nature of this ideology and how it is presented in the last of us part 2, it simply doesn't work like this.

“I suspect that some players, if they consciously clock the parallels at all, will think The Last of Us Part II is taking a balanced and fair perspective on that conflict, humanizing and exposing flaws in both sides of its in-game analogues. But as someone who grew up in Israel, I recognized a familiar, firmly Israeli way of seeing and explaining the conflict which tries to appear evenhanded and even enlightened, but in practice marginalizes Palestinian experience in a manner that perpetuates a horrific status quo (Maiberg).”

when discussing the last of us part 2’s plot, one could 100% argue that there really aren’t good guys on the dual sides of the game. if you compare ellie and abby, you know that ellie went on a murder frenzy to get revenge on abby for killing joel. on abby’s side of it all, you know that abby wasn’t all that great before coming across lev and yara, and even then, she killed people to do what everyone in said world aims to do: survive. prior to finding lev and yara, abby had killed numerous people before, and did, as the player sees, handle joel very cruelly before she ended up killing him. here’s one more example, one that’s more random (but it’s simply to compare abby vs. ellie’s people, if you will): joel and manny. joel went on a cross country murder spree to keep ellie safe, and killed a building full of people at the end of the game to save her life. in regards to manny, if you recall a discussion that manny and mel had in the beginning of abby’s parts of the game, the pair are discussing a happening where a group aside from the wlf, the seraphites (which we will discuss later) attacked them because the wlf killed children who were a part of their (the seraphite’s) group. manny voiced how he would prefer to keep their people (the wlf) safe, and challenges mel, implying that those “kids” weren’t really kids, because they were the ones who attacked their guys (the wlf) in the first place. as a general consensus, manny kills several people throughout the course of the game, which can be inferred or seen by the player, making him, for the sake of what i’m getting at, a bad guy.

we see in the game how ellie and abby’s people are unanimously bad. the last of us is set in a world where laws and morals are thrown out the window for the sake of survival, so this is no surprise. however, this dual perspective, “no bad guy,” ideology simply doesn’t apply in the world today. you may compare ellie vs. abby, or joel vs. manny, or bring in more characters in the game, such as tommy, nora, etc, claiming that all parties are bad. that makes perfect sense. but think about it like this: if this is meant to represent the israeli-palestinian perspective, and i give you the scenario of a five-year-old child versus a full-grown IDF soldier, what would you say? isn’t there an obvious answer as to who is in the wrong and who’s not? maiberg is 100% right in claiming that the game marginalizes the real-life palestinian experience. abby, ellie, joel, manny, etc, are not real people. but the thousands of innocent children who have been killed for the ridiculousness and inhumane israeli regime are. you can’t say each side is equal in awfulness, not when one side is full of innocent men, women, and children, some of which could never make it into a year of their lives. not when if one side pauses their battle, there would be a ceasefire, but if the converse pauses their battle, they would all be dead.

“And then they cheered afterward,” Druckmann, who grew up in Israel, recalls. “It was the cheering that was really chilling to me. … In my mind, I thought, ‘Oh, man, if I could just push a button and kill all these people that committed this horrible act, I would make them feel the same pain that they inflicted on these people.’"

remember how i said discussing neil druckmann's background was crucial? it is. druckmann, who, again, was born in israel, told the Washington Post that the game's cynical themes of revenge and suffering is linked to the 2000 killing of two israeli soldiers (tw, lynching), who were killed by a mob (maiberg). allegedly, some of the incident was remembered in film, that druckmann watched, and in his interview, he explained his angry nature that came about in response to the video, and how he desired vengeance.

the last of us part 2 is mainly set in seattle, washington, where secondary main character, abby anderson, resides in with a militia group named the wlf (which we will also delve into later, alongside the seraphites). maiberg brings out how seattle, on a visual and mechanical level, is based around "a series of checkpoints, security walls, and barriers (Maiberg)." he notes: "[seattle] looks almost exactly like the tall, precast concrete barriers and watch towers Israel started building through the West Bank in 2000." here are side by side images for comparison:

now that we’ve discussed this, let us discuss one of most prevalent aspects of abby’s part of the story: the wlf, and the seraphites. the seraphites are a religious group, nicknamed “the scars” due to the scars the members of said group carve into their faces to display their membership, who the wlf, a makeshift militia group, runs into conflict with following the fall of FEDRA, the country’s former military. in a note in the game, a fedra commander explains that the city of seattle has been lost to the wolves (the wlf), who he names as terrorists. maiberg brings out the following: “Here, there are parallels to early Zionist organisations that fought British rule in the region. These organizations were also described as terrorists, and leaders of those organizations later became leaders in Israel, much like how Isaac, the leader of the Wolves, came to control Seattle. Other in-game notes, scenes of urban ambushes, and the bodies of executed FEDRA officers laboriously walk the player through the cliche "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter (Maiberg).”

maiberg also discusses a series of manners in which the fictional seraphites resemble real-life palestinians. here are the three ways he specifically discusses in his original post, but there are much more:

“The same note from the Seattle FEDRA commander that bitterly says the Wolves are in charge explains that it's now their responsibility to not only feed and shelter the people of Seattle, but deal with the "religious fanatics," referring to the Scars.

Later in the game, Ellie finds a location called "Martyr Gate," where the Scars' spiritual leader apparently died, indicating a religious significance of a specific and disputed location, and emphasizing the notion of martyrdom as central to their culture.

The Scars are able to get around Wolf patrols and various barriers around the city via an elaborate, secret system of bridges between skyscrapers. These function as a kind of flipped version of the underground tunnels Palestinians use to bypass Israeli blockades and other means of limiting free movement in order to get supplies and carry out attacks on Israel.”

one more post i would like to link is this one, the very reason i decided to make this in the first place. it captures the zionism in the last of us 2, along with the wlf vs. seraphite conflict, perfectly. i very much recommend you read it, as it explains it much better than i can.

the general consensus is this: the idea that the seraphites are equally as bad as the wlf, which implies that palestinians are equally as bad as israelis, simply doesn’t apply in 2024. as i said before: what is so vile and cruel about a newborn baby? a pregnant woman? an innocent man? NOTHING. part of the reason the last of us captures this so poorly is due to the apocalyptic nature of the world the game is set in. obviously, people would go rogue if their lives were put in peril by not only animalistic infected beings, but also humans. however, we live in a real world where laws and morals do, in fact, apply. this isn’t a video game where those are simply discarded. what the wlf and the seraphites did to each other in the last of us 2 could be any other day for them: but what israel is doing to palestine right now is a war crime, a genocide, and plainly vile.

THE LAST OF US SHOW, and zionism in the show’s cast

i don’t think i need to spend a lot of time here, because if you have made it this far, you are well aware of the real nature of the last of us and the last of us 2 already, so you must understand that the show is HBO’s take on the game’s story (which, need i remind you show-wise and game-wise, neil druckmann played a huge part in). i simply bring it up so that people are aware of the fact that the 2022 show is ALSO linked to the ongoing genocide, and the cast is a major part of that (however, if anyone would like me to delve deeper into the show, let me know, and i 100% will).

for the following season which is a sequel to the last, theorized to center around the happenings of the last of us 2, members who are set to play a few crucial characters in the game have been announced. this includes isabela merced, who will play dina woodward, ellie’s romantic partner for most of the game, alongside kaitlyn dever, who will play abby anderson.

many people freaked out when they realized kaitlyn dever will be playing abby, but not for the reason they should have been. if you are a last of us fan, you are well aware that abby’s muscles are a central aspect of her persona. yet, kaitlyn dever is on the skinnier side, and according to some, does not resemble abby.

but this is not the issue that is most crucial to discuss.

kaitlyn dever is a zionist, and so is isabela merced (i am under the impression that both of these claims are true, but i had trouble finding a source i deemed reliable enough to link here. if i do, however, i will). now, while i’m not here to riddle you with conspiracy theories, people believe this (zionism) is the reason kaitlyn dever in specific got the role of abby anderson (there is a separate actress, shannon berry, who more closely resembles abby, but made a post in solidarity with palestine. this is theorized to be the reason why she didn’t get the part, and why kaitlyn dever was announced shortly after this particular actress made said post). let us not also forget that ellie’s actor, bella ramsey, is also in support of israel, which can be seen here.

(edit: i was informed since making this that bella has a story on one of their social medias, showing their alleged support of palestine and calling for a ceasefire. i’m going to link this post where i spoke on it, so you aware of what i think on that front).

all of the previously provided information brings me to my final part of this post: boycotting the games, and boycotting the show.

BOYCOTTING THE GAME AND SHOW

i could go on and on about why this is so crucial, but we would be here forever. however, i’m going to paste in what i wrote in this post surrounding the topic of boycotting, as i personally believe i got it down quite well in regards to the last of us (the show and game). it reads:

"DO NOT BUY TLOU, TLOU REMASTERED, TLOU2, TLOU2 REMASTERED, OR ANY GAME FROM ND! neil druckmann has donated money to the IDF in the past. & where do you think he’s getting his money from? yeah, you got that. watch gameplays, pirate these games, or buy them secondhand. several shops sell used games. & for those of you who went and purchased the game anyway, knowing about all of this? fuck you.

if you think your $10 doesn’t matter, then think about this: okay, one person spends $10 on the game. whatever. but when 100,000 people do it? that’s a million dollars, going into the hands of a zionist, who is using YOUR money to help kill innocent men, women, and children. put that in your pipe and smoke it.

it is not just the games you need to boycott. HBO’S show also needs to be. follow this link to learn of more movies and shows you need to boycott, & the reasons why, including the last of us. let’s also not forget that dina & abby’s actresses are in support of israel, and BELLA RAMSEY, ellie’s actress, has also shown support.

boycott. the fucking. show. there are a million websites where you can pirate it, so you are not giving any of your support to it. resist."

what it comes down to is this: purchasing the game or watching the show directly from nd or HBO is not a must. spreading awareness and speaking out about palestine is. you are more than capable of not purchasing the game, or watching playthroughs, or buying the game secondhand, etc. you are more than capable of pirating the hbo show so that money is not made off of your engagement. it's not that difficult. i have said it once, and i will say it again: boycotting is a form of resistance, and that is the least we can do for those suffering in gaza as you read this. resist. people openly admitting that they went and purchased the game anyway simply make me sick. i hope you know what an awful thing to brag about that is, and how despicable of a human it makes you.

CONCLUSION

there's so much to discuss when it comes down to this topic, and it's possible that in the future, i will make a second part to this. however, for now, i really hope this does suffice. i believe knowing of the game's israeli nature is a step. but knowing the specifics is a leap, one that i need everyone engaged in this fandom to take, hence why i wanted to make this post at all.

i'm not saying anyone needs to quit liking the games or the show or whatever. i'm not saying you need to delete or throw away a game you spent $60 on. i've seen so many people who are way too dense to understand that. what i'm saying is that it's crucial you are at least AWARE of the content you are consuming. aware of why it even came about at all.

in my opinion, you can't separate the game from the roots. but you can remain aware of the inner workings of this world you've grown to love. you can keep spreading awareness about it, and you can do right by the people in gaza by discussing the ongoing genocide, and using your voice as much as you can.

i'm so lucky to have been able to gain a following on here in such a short amount of time, even if that following has gone up and down because i've chosen to post more about palestine as opposed to my previous content (granted, that fact won't deter me at all). i will keep using said following to keep speaking out for the people in gaza, and i encourage you to do the same. keep reblogging. keep speaking up. keep using your voices. the people in gaza need us. be there for them.

FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE 🇵🇸🍉.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

neil druckmann | the official the last of us podcast | the not so hidden israeli politics of the last of us 2, by emanuel maiberg (i highly recommend you read the full post. it discusses several crucial details i didn't discuss in this post) | galid shalit prisoner exchange | Neil Druckmann Speaking on the Washington Post | 2000 killing of two israeli soldiers (TW: LYNCHING) | 'The Last of Us Part II' Is a Grim and Bloody Spectacle, but a Poor Sequel | Veiling Colonial Violence: The Last of Us Part II, Israel and the Erasure of Power (full disclosure, i did not read the full post. i merely needed the quote in the very beginning of it) | zionism in tlou2 | isabela merced | kaitlyn dever | bella ramsey's support of israel

PALESTINE LINKS

—

good things will happen 🧿

things that are meant to be will fall into place 🧿

If somehow you haven’t seen by now, while the Super Bowl is being aired, Israel is striking Rafah.

The people of Palestine had been told to go there, they were promised it was safe.

And while this is happening, even though earlier several tags on Palestine were trending, only one or two are now.

I haven’t written any posts personally on Palestine myself. I didn’t feel I had anything to add here aside from reblogging and boosting whatever I can but please. We can’t forget Palestine or its people especially now.

This has gone on too long and gone much much too far MANY times and now is when we need to push harder.

Many of the heads of Western countries are either beating around the bush and wasting time, or outright denying the things the Palestinian people don’t have the privilege to ignore. They don’t have the choice to look away from their pain, or the pain of friends, family, neighbors, their country. And even through all of this they’re still trying their damn hardest just to live. And we all need to listen.

So now, especially if you live in a western country like I do, now we step it up a notch. Now is the time if you haven’t already to read up on Palestinian history. Listen to what the people of Palestine are saying. Hold firm on the boycott like never before. Any and every way you can donate, do it. eSIMs, aid, anything that will reach. Save as much evidence as you can. Videos, articles. Don’t let Zionists pretend all of this never happened.

Even if you think there’s nothing you can do, I’m telling you, keep going. Even if you feel you can only give a little, if we all give a little together it becomes much more.

Hit imperialism where it hurts. In the wallet. Follow the BDS instructions, find protests in your area if you can, boost as much information about Palestine as you can find, call your reps, and do not lose hope. The people of Palestine are not dead. They are holding on even through all this and we all owe it to them to do the same.

A Free Palestine will happen in our lifetimes. But it will be hard fought. So go out there and fight hard! The governments can’t hide from their own people forever. The companies can’t bleed cash forever. The people will win. So push until we do. Do not look away. Free Palestine

Hi. I don't usually do requests but I just can't help it. Okay so. Can you make a Immortal! Y/N x Death scenario where they spend their time on a flowery field and Muerte is helping Y/N make flower crowns for the both of them. OR! A scenario where they dance together (If you can add Team Friendship watching, that would be great lol).

There Was an Attempt:

Visit

[My stupid ass has been calling it a boat when there's a difference between it and a ship. Mothefucker. I also weaved some plot into this, but I tried to make it as quick as possible so it wouldn't get in the way of what anon wanted.]

"I can't believe we're heading to Far Far Away!" She squealed, jumping on the tips of her toes as she looked over the horizon of the already moving ship. The kingdom was already in sight from where they were, blurred from the slight fog that had settled. She turns to Muerte, who had chuckled at the excitement sparkling in her eyes, walking beside her and leaning against the railings of the ship and eyeing the waves that crashed against the side. The scent of the sea lingered in the air, and there were seagulls squawking overhead as they flew.

"Do you miss it?"

"Huh?" She turns to him, brow arched.

"Far Far Away. You were born there, right?"

"Yeah? …Did I tell you that?" She tilts her head to the side, also leaning on the railings beside him. He answered her question with a nod and she let out a breath of a laugh, clearly not remembering when that had happened at all.

"Well damn, I open up quick, don't I?"

"You do," he grinned. She pokes her tongue out at him, and he flicks her nose in response. "It's a surprise you don't have a therapist yet."

"It's not like I can just go in there and tell them I have a hundred years worth of pain and sadness I need to talk about," she grumbled, rubbing her nose with the flat of her fingers. "Also, you could have worn the suit? It would've helped in not creeping other people out." She eyed the rest of the passengers weirdly looking at them from the corners of their eyes, either with worry or a bit of concern as they passed.

"You just want to see me in it," he nudged her side.

"Maybe I do," she teased back, resting her arms against the railings.

"Well it's for special occasions only."

"Ah, so every day you have with me isn't considered a special occasion?" She places a hand on her chest, a faux look of hurt crossing her face. "You wound me, Muerte."

Rolling his eyes, he playfully shoved her sideways, a gasp escaping her before she shoved him back as hard as she could possibly do, only succeeding in swaying him from where he stood. He laughed, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to his side, feeling her melt into him in defeat.

---

"(Y/n)!" Perrito was the first to greet her, jumping from where he stood in excitement at the sight of them. They had agreed to meet somewhere in the woods (she thinks it was near some sort of swamp? She wasn’t sure, but she could smell the fresh mud from where they were.) But other than that, it was a beautiful place, the trees were tall and the leaves were thick, but not enough to cover the sunlight that made the place look even more alive. She could even see some sort of clearing near a river just behind the three.

"Perrito!" She ran past Muerte and towards the excited puppy awaiting her, letting him jump into her arms in a hug. She didn't stop there, however, also scooping the two cats up her arms, hearing let out groans of complaints as they were wrapped in a tight hug before finally succumbing to it.

"It's so nice to see you guys again," she grinned, carefully placing them down just as Muerte walked up to them.

Puss fixed his hat from his head, giving it a tilt as he grins up at her. "Well that's a welcome I could get used to,"

"Better than being scared the crap outta you, that's for sure." Kitty agreed, her gaze lifting up to Muerte who simply glared back at the cat.

(Y/n) looks up at Muerte with a curious brow arched, and he simply avoids her gaze as he crosses his arms over his chest with a huff, a simple hint of a smile on his lips.

"Old habits die hard," Muerte shrugged, though (Y/n) could tell he was more than amused at the way he had probably scared the crap out of Team Friendship from the amount of times he's visited.

"Oh! I prepared some food for all of us so we don't get hungry while we talk!" Perrito chimed in, turning around and walking to the clearing behind them. Kitty and Puss looked at one another with a shrug, then followed the puppy towards a cute picnic that he had apparently set up.

"I have sandwiches! Tuna fish, chicken, egg— you name it!"

"Thank you! " (Y/n) sits down on the grass accepting one sandwich that Perrito had handed her as Muerte goes and sits right beside her, feeling his leg bumping against her own as he settles down beside her, also curiously looking down at the picnic basket that would've been impossible for the Chihuahua to have brought all by himself.

To his surprise, Perrito also hands him a sandwich, and he takes it into his hands, watching (Y/n) peel the paper wrapper off her own before taking a bite.

"So why are you here instead of the usual creepy visit from Death?" Puss starts, earning a glare from the wolf just as he was about to take a bite off his own sandwich. (Y/n) had to cover her mouth as she snickered.

"I just wanted to visit Far Far Away after such a long time, also, I wanted to be here when we tell you the news."

Perrito gasped, "You're getting married?!"

"What?!" The two cats looked up at them with widened eyes, and even Muerte began to choke on his food, thumping his chest with the side of his fist as he coughed.

"No!" She retorts, letting Muerte lean into her as he regains himself. Kitty and Puss looked at her for answers, while Perrito let out a small 'aw' at the side but paid attention nonetheless. "It's about the thing we hired you for in the first place." She let her voice fall to a hush, even if she was sure that there was no one around for miles and miles on end. This was Far Far Away, after all, and any animal around could easily be a spy from any princess or even the Pied Piper himself.

"Oh, you mean the Fountain of Youth?" Puss chimed in, looking up at her and seeing the look of bewilderment in her face. Puss turns to Muerte, who lets out a sigh as (Y/n) turns to him in a silent question.

"What Fountain of Youth?" She asked, a hard gaze settled on the wolf. Kitty could sense the tension even right before Puss had spoken, grabbing onto Puss and Perrito’s wrist and tugging them away.

"We'll give you some space to talk," Kitty said, leading her boys away from the scene and back somewhere into the forest, she glanced at their disappearing form, Perrito giving a wave that eased the tension away just the slightest before she turned back to Muerte.

"Why are they looking for the Fountain of Youth?"

"They're not looking for it," Muerte starts, "The Fountain of Youth has long disappeared."

She stays silent, letting him explain what he needed to.

"That's one of the Fountain's specialties. It's like a living thing. It knows its magic can do more harm than good so it tries to find a way where no one could try and take a part of it."

The riddle echoes in her head. 'What you seek has once been sought, and when it has, the lines get crossed. So it seeks to find where others could not, to keep it safe and it's magic unfraught.'

"What does that have to do with me?"

Muerte looked into her eyes, then took a hold of her hand, letting his thumb trace against the back of her palm, eyeing the mark of The Fates' embedded to her skin.

"When the Fountain is found, it does its best to make sure it never does so again. So the only way it does that is to… change its form whenever someone manages to use its magic."

"It was the Fountain of Youth for over a millenia, which is why most people know of it as such. But it's also been the tree of immortality, the river of life, the elixir of immortality and so on. Constantly changing it's form and where it's located so no one would be able to use it because when they do—"

" —the lines get crossed, " she cuts him off, and he gives her hand a squeeze as he nodded his head. "You think I'm the new form of the Fountain?"

"'No one makes an immortal also indestructible, unless their blood is more than valuable." Muerte recites the last thing the Fates had said.

"But that doesn't make any sense? It's always been a tree or a fountain or something with water in them, right? Why would it think of being an actual human?" She tugs her hand away from his own, and pushing herself to her feet to pace, hear head stirring from all the information that she was taking in. "Also, I was born into this world, how do you explain that? How does the Fountain of Youth turn into a human that's been born by a human woman?"

"I don't know, " Muerte stands to his feet, calming her down by placing both his hands onto her shoulders and letting her look up at him. "And we might never actually know, seeing that we can't ask your mother. But it's what makes sense right now. The Fountain has always tried to make sure that any human would have difficulty in getting to it. And what's more difficult than trying to cut indestructible skin? " His hands trail down to her arms, tracing patterns against the soft flesh. "What's more difficult than killing a life just so you could prolong your own?"

"Not a lot of people would find that difficult, honestly," she sighed, leaning forward to rest her aching head against his chest, shutting her eyes in hopes it would help ease the pain, Muerte placing gentle pats on her head. "So if I'm the new form of the Fountain. What are you getting Team Friendship to do?"

She could hear Muerte snickering at the name, "If that is true, the only way to find out is to see if they can find Excalibur again. Jack Horner had used it, but there’s no doubt someone already found it and sold it for some quick gold. And if it's the only sword that can cut you… well, then we'll know. "

"Why would it be able to cut me?" She pulls apart from him and he takes her by the hand, leading her into a spot in the clearing he had spotted earlier with more flowers than usual, getting her to sit beside him in the grass as he continues.

"It was made to kill anything, and if I'm not mistaken, the reason why the Fountain of Youth had changed form to the river of life was because they had used some of its water in making the sword itself. It's mostly the reason why anyone who wields it is safe from death."

She processes that information, her fingers weaving through the petals of the flowers beneath them. Muerte watches her take the flowers in her hand, lightly plucking them, careful as to not bring too much damage to the stem when she does, placing some of them in her lap before beginning to weave them together.

Without thinking too much of it, he plucks some flowers off the ground too, handing it to her when the supply in her lap had run out.

"Are you alright?" He asks after a prolonged silence, and she sighed, not taking her eyes off the flowers she was weaving.

"Yeah," she breathes out. "It's just a lot of information to take in." She holds up the one she's managed to weave so far, it wasn't big enough to wrap around someone's head, and she turns to him, asking him to lean downward which he does so hesitantly, letting her measure how long she needed to make to be able to wrap it around his head.

"Are you really making me another flower crown?" He asks, still plucking out flowers for her when she asks for it.

"I'm making flower crowns for everyone," she grinned, "Then we can continue the picnic and actually get along with one another. "

Muerte huffs, rolling his eyes. He could see Team Friendship in the background, leaning against a tree and seeming to be watching them from afar.

He glanced down at the crown she was currently weaving, a grin tugging up his face.

"Don't you think it would be better if all of us were here? I mean, Team Friendship is right there, they could make their own flower crowns."

"That's a great idea!" She immediately hands him the unfinished flower crown, taking it into his hands carefully as she pushes herself up to her feet, brushing away the dirt on her legs before sprinting over to the three. He knew that Perrito would be the one to agree, and when that happens, Puss and Kitty wouldn't be able to say no to what the puppy wanted them to do.

And now he watches with amusement as (Y/n) drags the three towards where he sat.

She didn't even bother taking her previously started flower crown back, deciding on starting a new one so she could teach the three how to properly do it the way that Vida had taught her how to.

He followed in on her instructions sooner or later. It was better than doing nothing, after all. Besides, he wasn't just going to leave behind an unfinished flower crown.

It didn't take long before Puss and Kitty had finished making theirs, swapping with one another and even laughing as they realized that what they made were far too big and looped around their necks instead. Perrito had finished first and had his own sat directly at the top of his head, even faking an accent as he claimed to be the 'flower queen', Puss and Kitty curtseying before falling into fits of laughs and giggles.

(Y/n) turns away from the scene to Muerte, eyeing the still unfinished flower crown in his much too big hands.

"Here, let me help," she takes her hands into his own, helping him loop the stem around the other ones before plucking another flower up from the ground.

The sound of guitar strings being plucked made their heads turn to the right, seeing Puss sitting down from afar (Where he was sure Muerte couldn't grab him), playing a guitar in his arms, giving the both of them a knowing wink before continuing to play.

"Don't look at me like that," Puss huffed as Muerte glared daggers into him. "It was Perrito's idea!"

The wolf's glare only deepened, (Y/n) laughing in front of him as she continued to weave the flower crown he held.

"Ladies, please, let's just enjoy the music," Kitty shrugs, walking back to their group with the unfinished sandwiches in hand, handing them to (Y/n) and Muerte, leaning against (Y/n) before grinning up at her. "He knows how to hit someone in the head with that instrument as much as he knows how to play it."

The music abruptly stops, and the two laugh loudly at Puss' unamused glare. Muerte simply watches (Y/n) return to her focus on the crown, eventually taking it away from his own to securely tie it together. She lifts it up, and he lets out a slight huff, already knowing what she was going to do and ducking down to let her place it atop his head. It fit just enough for it not to squish his ears, and when he looked back down at her, she had placed her own on her head.

Puss was still playing the guitar in the background, sometimes humming out a melody as Perrito and Kitty swayed together, the puppy giggling whenever Kitty decided to playfully poke at his sides.

"They're a happy family, aren't they?" She mumbled under her breath, leaning her head against his shoulder as they watched the three from where they sat. "It's nice that they found each other, they're an unlikely bunch and yet here they are. Do you think they'll be sticking together until the end?"

Muerte chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist. "They made it this far, I doubt they'd think of losing one another now."

She melts into his warmth, not caring how Kitty and Perrito hooted at them to join them on the dance and even letting out a laugh as Puss tried so hard to hush the two.

"We'll stay here, thank you!" She yells back at Kitty.

"Okay, lovebirds!" The cat teased back, and she promptly rolled her eyes with a grin.

She could get used to this.

(Again, I'm making a lot of this shit up, so don't mind the Fountain of Youth changing forms or Excalibur being made differently from how it was actually done.)

it ok to not be ready

Please save my child who needs surgery because of the white phosphorus smell in the war on the Gaza Strip.

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Donate to Help me to continue living alive , organized by Motaz Aafan

Hello... I am Arwa Afana. I have been 25 years old, married and a mother of a child. I h… Motaz Aafan needs your support for Help me to cont

So i decided to elaborate on that death asmr idea.....maybe make him tell some..."bedtime stories"? But with a death kind of catch

Like "bluebeard" seems like the kind of story he'd tell....

(Also not helping that he probably was there and saw the whole thing, smack dab in the front seat)

it is so incredibly sad to constantly see kids on instagram and tiktok who are younger than my brother have to literally beg for shelter, food, water, medicine, and their right to exist as human beings

i mean, this young girl is only ten years old, yet she is essentially responsible for convincing random people scrolling through instagram that her and her family’s life are worth fighting for

on top of that, their gofundme is not even 10% funded and time is running out, please if you can’t donate, just share

please don’t let this little girl die begging

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Donate to Help me get out of Gaza to safety rebuild my life!, organized by Kathryn Barron

I am Nidaa Shalayel from Gaza. I am 37 years old. I am an English te… Kathryn Barron needs your support for Help me get out of Gaza to safet