#ENEMIES TO ALLIES...DISTANT TO CLOSE KNIT...

[skyplayssplatoon3]

"Loyalty To The Captain"

Suki and Zeke's dynamic has slowly changed over the years

Previously, his only goal was to take her down as one of the greatest "threats" to Octarian kind

Now, he stands alongside her, ready to aid her in restoring peace, not only for the world, but the peace within herself

She may not speak much nowadays, but Zeke is one of the very few she opens up to anymore.

#SkysDoodles #Suki #Zeke #MORE EXPLANATION IN THE TAGS #Basically Suki's Going Through It having never processed all the stuff she went through as Agent 3 until Just Now #Zeke meanwhile DID go through the efforts to process his own feelings through intensive therapy #He feels bad they were -both- dragged into all kinds of mess with wars and battles #So now he's here to help!! #And she doesn't say it out loud much but #She acknowledges his dedication and deeply appreciates it #ENEMIES TO ALLIES...DISTANT TO CLOSE KNIT... #It's fun to mess with! #Anyway if you read this far thank you for indulging in my OC ramble /bricked

[siriannatan]

“I hear them whispering when I walk by…” - fWhimmy

As with the whole series, the prompt was found @deity-prompts

I wanted to write fWhip with a cane for the longest time And I think Grimlands crown definitely needs to be based on Wither Roses :}

AO3

Jimmy had a small problem with a certain king of a nation neighbouring his small empire. Mythland seemed incapable of remembering where the agreed borders were. Talking to Gem who seemed to be his closest and most agreeable ally didn't help matters much. Lady Pearl just shrugged it as Sausage being Sausage. It would seem no one in the whole Wither Rose Alliance could control the knight-king of Mythland. Unless...

He heard from Scott, his good friend and ally, that there was one more empire in the Idiot Alliance - Grimlands. Unfortunately the young - according to Scott so who knew how young he actually was - count rarely left his manor within Eastvale. And while usually, Jimmy would deal with his 'enemies' - Sausage was honestly more of an annoyance than anything - himself with brutality and force, he'd rather not annoy Lizzie by starting a war... Again. So against what he'd rather do he set off to meet with Grimlands' 'young' count.

Grimlands... Scott's talking did no justice to the settlement nestled in the surrounded by mountains plains. The slight corruption of some sort breaking from the ground was a bit worrisome but Jimmy dared to assume locals knew how to deal with it. The raised rail leading to the distant mines was impressive but not as much as the count's manor towering over everything within the valley. Even the gunpowder 'factory'. Jimmy knew enough about surface technology to know it was just pens of creepers and some sort of machines refining the raw gunpowder into the slightly more stable product Grimlands sold as all sorts of explosives.

Just as he landed he realised that in his neighbour-related annoyance, he forgot to schedule a meeting. Or maybe he just got used to Joel always being up for a meeting with other rulers? Whatever the reason he could not just turn back now. It'd look weird. The least he could do was find someone who could get him a meeting scheduled. So to the town hall, he went and to his surprise was told where he could find the count to just talk to him today.

So with no complaining, Jimmy thanked them and went where they directed him to. A vast field of black roses - Grimlands special  Wither Roses - that thrived on the corrupted ground and were the symbol of the empire. Not explosives, not the red gems that caused the corrosion. The roses. And quite honestly, as dangerous as they were, Wither Roses were quite beautiful.

But the roses weren't the only pretty thing. Other than Jimmy there was only one other person in the whole huge field of darkened soil and black flowers. Average - from what Jimmy understood about humans - height human man with soft-looking, ginger hair, not too different from Gem's, with a black crown resting among the slight curls. He wore a heavy-looking coat despite the warm sun. His heavy boots left easy-to-follow tracks on the safe paths between the flowers. His right hand - he wore dark thick looking gloves as well - was clutching a sturdy but masterfully decorated cane.

"Count fWhip I presume?" Jimmy asked after closing the distance, he did stay out of the cane's reach.

The count slowly turned to face him. He was really leaning heavily on that cane. Not that Jimmy paid it much mind. He instantly understood what Scott meant when he said the count was pretty. Dark blue eyes, flawless but slightly worryingly pale skin. A pair of goggles fighting for space around his neck with a thick knit scarf. And the crown was apparently based on the Wither Roses. A dark metal flower crown. Cute...

"Yes, and you are?" the count asked, straightening his back to look a bit taller.

"Jimmy, the Cod Father of the Cod Empire, one of your allies is my neighbour and has been disrespecting our borders for months at this point," Jimmy explained, offering the count a bow Joel taught him.

fWhip thought on it for a second and... "They never tell me anything," he sighed and winced as he shifted.

"Should we move this indoors?" Jimmy offered. "Open field doesn't strike me as a place to discuss politics," he added so fWhip would not think he was talking about the cane. 

fWhip nodded and led Jimmy back to the town. Jimmy carefully matched his speed to the count's slightly limping walk. It gave him more time to appreciate how beautiful the valley was in late spring. And he even saw the train moving between Eastvale and the mines right next to the flower fields. It was really impressive.

"You're not going to say anything?" fWhip asked when the train's noise died down.

"The train's really impressive, I have no..." Jimmy started but a bitter chuckle stopped him. Did he say something wrong?

"About my dumb leg, I meant. Everyone has something to say about it and I'd rather you say it to my face than talk behind my back," fWhip sighed, shaking his head as he stopped to look at Jimmy. “I hear them whispering when I walk by... I think they think my hearing's worse than it is,” he chuckled, dry and bitter.

"It is what it is, what's more, to say here? Does it make you any less capable of ruling?" Jimmy shrugged. He didn't see any problem there. He knew rulers - now long dead but that's life - who had many imperfections but were still very effective leaders and rulers.

"Maybe if I was meant to rule here before... stuff maybe people would look over it but as things are everyone's overly worried about me," he shrugged and resumed their slow walk. "I haven't heard a word about your border thing with my lovely older brother before today, I rarely hear about things happening outside Grimlands. My siblings and Pearl keep things to themselves and don't involve me. Other rulers just go to them unless they really have to... It's annoying. I think Scott's the only one who just goes right to me."

"Well, I thought you just didn't really care," Jimmy shrugged. Damn, Grimlands was pretty save for the spikes of red rocks and crystals spreading from the mines.

"No, I definitely do care, just no one bothered to say anything... And the trains run on coal. It heats up water and makes steam that..." 

Jimmy honestly got instantly lost as fWhip explained how the trains worked but still listened to it intently. fWhip had a very pleasant to listen-to voice. Like Scott and his endless rants about elven history and architecture. Pretty to look at and pleasant to listen to. Unfortunately, they eventually walked through the city - most citizens looked at Jimmy due to his height of nearly eight feet and that he was not salmon-merfolk. To Jimmy's shock, there was a whole small village of Salmon-merfolk by a river.

"Refugees of their old royalty's stupid wars," fWhip explained and Jimmy tried to keep his hostility to cod's biggest enemies. They were civilians, they came here to escape their ruler's stupidity.

The talk about the border problem was a different matter and enough of a distraction.

"Well, the main problem is that Sausage does not like being told what to do. And unfortunately, he won't listen even to my words. He needs to see things... So how would you feel about having a big hole be your border with Mythland?" fWhip only needed one look at the map once he was sat by his meeting table.

"Big hole?" Jimmy asked. He was a bit confused as to what fWhip meant.

"Basically, we'd blow up a big hole along the border so no one can miss or misinterpret or question it," fWhip clarified with a wide smile. "Don't worry, we'll do it in the safest way possible. And agreeing on a bridge should be easier than a border," he added, maybe to calm Jimmy.

And so, a week later, Jimmy, Sausage, Gem and shocking everyone but Jimmy, fWhip gathered by the border and watched it blow up. Jimmy was glad he didn't tell Lizzie about it. Just seeing the resulting hole had her almost fainting. 

Less border conflict gave Jimmy more time to talk to Scott - and now fWhip. But mostly with Scott, about fWhip and how cute he was when talking about explosions.

#my stories #my stuff #fanfiction #empires smp #empiresshipping #empires fwhip #empires jimmy #fwhimmy #fish husbands

[vendettavalor]

Anonymous asked: “📂“ -> For Omega <3

⚔️ Random Headcanon // ACCEPTING ⚔️

// oh boy i have a couple bc i love her so much <3

OMEGA FETT

Like Boba, Omega's DNA was virtually unchanged. She wasn't engineered to be docile and obedient like the other clones. She's every bit as intelligent, adaptable, and headstrong as her father and her brother. Or at least, she's capable of being as much. With the right training anyway. And she has plenty of training to follow with so many brothers to guide her. Omega picks up a variety of traits from all of her brothers - not just the Bad Batch. In my personal canon, Omega has some degree of Force sensitivity. Without proper training from someone who does have actual experience wielding the Force, the closest she gets to honing and utilizing it is training with Hunter. She picks up on his ability to detect things with his hyper-developed senses and learns to be very keenly aware of surroundings and anything within them. This eventually culminates in her being a master tracker of all things interesting. From Echo and Tech, Omega gets a strong understanding of hardware and software technology respectively. She learns how to safely, quickly, and effectively analyze parts and information and utilize them in a way that suits her purpose. Whether that's reverse-tracking a signal, masking her own, quickly reprogramming a droid to benefit her purpose, or just make a weird trinket that she thinks will help make life easier, she can do it all. She can even handle weapons and ship repairs. With practice of course. From Wrecker, one might expect Omega to learn how to disarm or arm bombs, or build muscle via lifting exercises. And she does, to some extent. She masters the bomb part. The weight-lifting, not so much. But what she really gets from Wrecker is kindness and empathy, especially towards animals. Wrecker teaches her how to approach other creatures in a tactful, gentle way that builds bonds with them and creates connections to ensure that wherever she goes, wildlife will never be problem. He also teaches Omega the value of humility. He isn't always the best with his words, but he is honest. He teaches Omega that there's no shame in being wrong and that apologizing when you hurt someone is the right thing to do. From Crosshair, Omega eventually learns the blaster skills she needs to survive in the galaxy. She'll never be quite as fantastic as Crosshair when it comes to shooting - but she will be as good as Jango. And with a bow no less. She also learns from Crosshair the value of loyalty and what it means to do what's right. She learns from him that it's never too late to do the right thing, and it's never too late to forgive someone else's mistakes. Crosshair might be cold and more distant than the others, and he doesn't really talk much. But still, he has things that Omega can learn. And she's thankful to have him there with them. Of course, Omega also learns skills from the other remaining clones. From Rex, she learns the importance of resilience and anticipation of the enemy's moves, just like Ahsoka did. From Cody, she learns that being a good soldier is about more than just following orders. From Gregor, she learns that life can't always be serious. You have to live a little an have fun where you can find it. From Wolffe, she learns that you are stronger when you stand together with your allies. Suffice to say, Omega has a lot to learn being so young. But she has a very strong and close-knit family to help teach her and guide her through the danger and chaos of the galaxy. Most importantly, they give her something that they didn't always have being bred for war. They give her endless hope. They nuture her sense of wonder in the galaxy and the reality that she can have good, long, fulfilling life that is more than just the horrors of war. And I think that's beautiful.

#ask : is this what you wanted #anonymous : bury me face down #// nonnie really got me out here turning my love for her up to 11 <3 #// she deserves the galaxy! #muse headcanon : i know how people like you end up #( cm : omega fett )

[giantchasm]

Been thinkin about the Star Allies waves. I like the idea of them each being pretty tight-knit groups of friends.

Wave 3 especially. Lately I’ve been rotating a headcanon in my mind that Susie stays with Taranza in Floralia for a bit post-Robobot before she has a way home and is able to restart the company. She’s put with him both because no-one in Dreamland is really comfortable having her around (fair!) but also because Kirby knows they have similar trauma. I think it’d take a bit for them to open up to one another— with there just being an obligatory, detached politeness between them at first, but eventually they’d learn about what was Going On with each other and very quickly pack bond over their experiences.

I think they’d be very protective over one another, with Taranza seeing Susie as someone vulnerable— someone he doesn’t want to fail like his last vulnerable friend, and Susie seeing Taranza as a little bit of a wimp but a good guy who she’ll aim a gun at you for if you dare make fun of him.

Magolor would, in part, come into this equation to help Susie build a new way home (she refuses to take the Lor Starcutter on the principal of rejecting ‘handouts’), but also in part just because he’s lonely. I think he’d catch wind of the other two ‘ex-villains’ hanging out and be like “you know who’s ALSO an ex-villain turned goodboy? MEEEEEE :3c”

At first they’d both be sort of annoyed by him, but eventually they’d realize he’s legitimately fun to talk to and knows a lot of interesting things about both magic and technology. His infodumps are a good distraction from the more upsetting elements of their lives. And so he just kind of becomes part of the group.

Eventually Susie is able to go home, but they keep in close contact, and when Star Allies rolls around they’re like “OMGGGG. Villain squad REUNITED 💕💕”

Magolor keeps trying to get Marx inducted into the group, but he’s a little Much for both Susie and Taranza. Marx thinks this is because they’re used to “being the only internet clown and court jester around,” respectively.

Speaking of Marx, though, I thought it’d actually be really funny and cute if he was also buddy-buddy with his wave. So I ended up coming up with the headcanon that post-Milky Way Wishes he actually crash-landed on Popstar, where the Animal Friends and Gooey found him and nursed him back to health, not knowing he was Kirby’s enemy at the time. He’s still like, a selfish lunatic, but he has a soft spot for them because of it— especially Gooey, who he thinks is the funniest person on the planet,

At first Kirby doesn’t know but eventually he catches Gooey going out to meet with Marx and instead of being upset he’s just really, really jealous. He’s like “WHY IS EVERYONE FRIENDS WITH THE EVIL CLOWN BUT ME? 😭”

It’s okay, Kirby. I’m sure your time will come eventually.

Then as for Wave 2, I can’t really imagine them knowing each other before Star Allies, but can envision them becoming close during it. I like to think, as the only group who aren’t initially besties, they’d feel like the odd ones out at first and Adeline and Daroach— sociable-types, would instantly want to get to know each other and become buddies to one-up all the other groups. Cue Adeline becoming an honorary Squeak

Dark Meta Knight would be a little more distant at first— having no interest in this ‘nonsense,’ but eventually even he would get roped into it via their unwavering pestering of him. Adeline draws him a portrait and he’s like 🥺. He’s SOLD on this whole friendship thing, even if he’d never admit it. He and Daroach talk about robbing people while Adeline draws on his mask with magic marker.

I DO like to think DMK was the one who corrupted Sectonia, albeit not intentionally. I think it’d be fun if his resentment and hateful vibes just kind of warped her. It’s not something he feels particularly strongly about, but I think after bonding with the Wave 2 gang he’d be a little worried about potentially doing something like that to them. However, they’d reassure him everything would be alright, with Adeline telling him she’s sure things will be okay as long as he lets go of the hatred in his heart and Daroach bragging he “can’t get worse than he already is.”

It’s fun. They’re good. They love friendship :)

#kirby #star allies #i am not tagging everyone here #just had some thoughts hehe

[warmhugs-and-chocolate]

statistics

inspired  by  :  anna of arendelle / frozen I & frozen II || anne shirley cuthbert / anne with an e || jess day / new girl || adora / she-ra and the princesses of power || mia thermopolis / the princess diaries

full name. anna arnadalr. faceclaim. abigail cowen. dob. june 21 (summer solstice) . zodiac. cancer. occupation. birthplace. arendelle. orientation. undefined . song. that’s my girl by fifth harmony.  film. frozen. education. literature teacher major temperament. sanguine. mbti. enfp. alignment. chaotic good. abilities. none.  hogwarts house. hufflepuff .  emoji (🤩) .  

present !!

anna came to elias as soon as she heard her sister was here! there was no way she was going to let her leave when things were still a bit hectic.

the education and jobs were said to be part of the magic but anna is slowly realizing is the people in it.

after a lifetime behind closed doors it is time for her to make things happen and meet actual real life people, perhaps even, the one?

past !!

full official bio here

 anna went to a far more large quest to find her sister, in the road she faced lots of trials and met all kinds of people, good evil, morally grey. . . she never judged, she learned from them and hoped she made an impact backwards

the quests and adventures led her to become stronger, emotionally and a bit physically if anything she has learned the world is huge and it can be very beautiful as long as we don’t forget to do the next right things

those beliefs of the past are imprinted in her, she believes they come from her dreams, fantasies and stories she read, but the remnants are there

in her solitude, after always being shut down out of her sister’s doors, anna tried all kinds of things tot never get bored, art, writing, reading, knitting, workout, sellf-defense, anything that would help her release her energy

future !!

anna’s main goal is to reach her big sister’s elsa’s heart, to be as they used to, they are family after all, she wants to be there and keep what is left of said family alive and tight, can her love thaw the distance?

she’s naive and can be easily deceived when it comes to her own heart, so gaining strength and a sense of self love and worth would be something she must learn to keep on going

taken connections

elsa arnadalr; biggest sister whom she loves and adores, and wishes to be closer at, if only she weren’t awkward about it

wanted connections

allies and friends, either from a past life to a new one from this doesn’t matter, as someone who couldn’t really be free for years and lost contact with people, true friends would be nice

enemies and rivals, not everything is ice cream and flowers, with anna’s way of act first think later attitude she could’ve made her own list of rivals, besides as much as she tries she can’t please everyone

friend, foe or ‘the one’? someone that takes her need to be loved and is actively deceiving her for their advantage would be interesting

fated true love, or do we defy the stars? yes, a true love for anna would be nice too, she highkey dreams of it, but would treasure it more if it’s real and something that works with time

mentor? someone that maybe has looked over anna and believes she only needs a little guidance, as someone with no parents and a distant sister, she would listen and admire, but above all learn from too

found younger sibling, maybe both were born in different families, realms even, but fate brought them together and anna wants to adopt you into the family, perhaps not literally but you get the deal, everything will be all right because anna will be here not only to protect you but to cause mischief together

hans & kristofflet's twist fate, have fun and see what happens

pinterest moodboard

note: everything is up to change depending on future development and plottting

#walt.intro #[ warmth of the rising sun ; anna ]

[cynical-cemeteries]

whoaaa?? new LOH oc just dropped??

here's one of my LOH ocs!! i have a few,, but i'll start with her first since she's only one i've drawn so far

her name is phoebe lambros!! she's the captain of the "interstellar pirates", a group of pirates based in berona harbor, isola

all of phoebe's information will be shown below the cut!!

apologies in advance for the unbearably lengthy read:

Phoebe Lambros : "Sailor Among the Stars"

General Info:

Age Range: Mid-20s

Species: Human

Sexuality: Asexual aromantic

Identity: Female

Personality: Extroverted

Pronouns: She/her

Birthday: February 10th

Zodiac: Aquarius

Height: 5’5” (165 cm)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

In-game Reference Info:

Race: Human

Height: 5'5" (165 cm)

Birthday/Zodiac: February 10th / Aquarius

Values: Her crewmates, adventuring

Favorite food: Seafood of any kind (really enjoys shrimp)

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Backstory:

Growing up in the Berona Harbor, Phoebe was known by her close friends & family as a curious and adventurous girl with lots of energy to burn. She would often spend her spare time exploring the local scenery around her, evolving into a habit that she’ll never grow tired of no matter how much she does it. One activity that holds a special place within her heart is taking walks along the beach at night, an activity she does to relieve her stress. After watching the sun set on the ocean’s horizon, Phoebe would sit down and admire the beauty of the stars up in the sky. All of this time spent admiring the starry night sky and the waves of the ocean would lead to her great fondness of everything related to the ocean and the stars, further expanding her desire of exploring the open seas.

Many years passed as Phoebe spent her time alone pursuing her desires of oceanic exploration, even making her way across the Ballar Islands. As she spent more time exploring at night, she had frequent encounters with a group known as the “Pelagic Pirates”. Every once in a while, Phoebe would strike up a conversation with some of the crew members, eventually learning that their “leader” was incompetent and very difficult to follow. After taking note of this, she decided to challenge him to a duel. She made a proposal: if she were to win the duel, she would inherit the leader’s position and become the new captain of the Pelagic Pirates, but if the leader won, she promised to never speak to the group again. The stakes were high, but Phoebe was willing to take the risk, and both of them agreed to engage in combat.

After challenging the leader to the duel, Phoebe inherited her position as their newfound captain when she came out as the victor, ultimately leaving the previous captain wandering. As time went on, she developed a strong connection to her crew that allowed a close-knit bond to form between everyone, a bond that the crewmates could have only dreamed of having with their previous captain. The group came together and decided to rebrand themselves as the “Interstellar Pirates”, a group that became known for using the stars to find their way across the seas.

The Interstellar Pirates and their captain, Phoebe Lambros, are based in Berona Harbor, Isola, but nothing will stop them from sailing across the seas together off to distant lands.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Hero Stats:

Element: [Light]

Hero Class: Striker

Star Rating: 5 stars

Recruitment Method: Occupy Isola on Extreme difficulty & 1,000,000 renown.

Weapon: Smallsword

Normal attack: "Swift Slash"

Attacks the selected enemy. Increases the user's attack power for 2 turns.

Lvl.2: Damage +10%

Lvl.3: Damage +10%

Lvl.4: Damage +10%

Lvl.5: Damage +10%

Lvl.6: Damage +10%

Active skill: "Stellar Sea Spray"

Attacks all enemies. Increases the attack power of all allies for 2 turns.

Cooldown: 5 turns

Lvl.2: Damage +10%

Lvl.3: Damage +10%

Lvl.4: Damage +10%

Lvl.5: Damage +10%

Lvl.6: Cooldown -1

Burst: "Tsunami Slam"

Attacks all enemies. Deals up to 5x additional damage according to the enemy's maximum health.

Spirit costs: 4

Lvl.2: Damage +10%

Lvl.3: Damage +10%

Lvl.4: Damage +10%

Lvl.5: Damage +10%

Lvl.6: Spirit cost -1

Passive #1: “Steadfast Swordsmanship”

Increases attack power by 5%

lv.2: 3%

lv.3: 3%

lv.4: 3%

lv.5: 3%

lv.6: 8%

Passive #2: “Celestial Blessing”

Increases damage against dark-elemental enemies by 5%

lv.2: 2% extra damage

lv.3: 2% extra damage

lv.4: 2% extra damage

lv.5: 2% extra damage

lv.6: 7% extra damage

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Ascension Forms:

Recruitment: "Determined Dueler"

1st Ascension: "Newfound Leader"

2nd Ascension: "Sailor Among the Stars"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

that's all of the info i have for phoebe!! i haven't drawn any of my other LOH ocs yet but i think she's gotta be my favorite...

ALSO!! here's some extra info i wanted to share:

phoebe has a small gap between her two front teeth at the top,, that's what that little line in her smile is!! i think tooth gaps are cute so i wanted to give her one hehe

the coat she wears in her 2nd ascension was gifted on her birthday from her crewmates to celebrate their new captain. it wasn't taken from the previous captain,, but they came together and created it themselves for her.

her smallsword was a gift from her family when she was younger and she's been practicing with it for years.

she has a nice sun tan from being out on the ocean and exploring often; i tried to show a bit of this through the blush on her cheeks. i think it would definitely be more noticeable when she's not in her captain "uniform".

her fingernails are painted white.

i created phoebe's skills with the intentions of her being a heavy hitter,, and i referenced a lot of known dps units from the game as a guide for her skill set.

design-wise,, her main inspirations were [water] bianca, [light] lucilicca, & [light] rosanna. i feel like it's more obvious that she has heavier inspiration from lucilicca & rosanna lol

i wanted to include artwork of her outfits for her recruitment & 1st ascension,, but i was focused on having an official reference for her 2nd ascension,, since that's probably gonna be the outfit you'll see her wearing the most. i'll make separate posts in the future for her other outfits!! phoebe lambros my beloved pirate captain <33

#my artwork #lord of heroes #loh #lord of heroes oc #olivia be like: yooo new oc just dropped!! and it's the longest fucking post you've ever read #listen. i think it's totally worth the read because i LOVE phoebe #i think her color palette came out almost exactly as i imagined it which is FANTASTIC #i honestly love so much about this art i'm glad it came out exactly as i hoped it would WOOHOO #i really love phoebe. a lot. blood sweat and tears were put into this entire post I Swear it took so long sahkjhdsjkd

[shepherds-of-haven]

If characters had a Game of Thrones style house banner and motto, what would they be?

Ooh, this is an interesting one!

House Bronwyn: "The Darkness Answers" or "Weapons in the Silent Night" - a silver wolf on a field of black, with a white blade piercing the background. Their house is known for operating as a kind of shadow military that influences and directs things from the shadows, and although the wolf has connotations of solitude and aloofness, they are actually extremely loyal "pack-animals" who form a tight-knit clan and unwaveringly answer the call of duty... no matter how bloody their hands may get from answering.

House Alder: "First in the Charge" or "Our Fury Shakes Them" - a gold lion roaring rampant on a field of red (so, yeah, Gryffindor I guess!). This one is fairly self-explanatory--the Alder house is known by others to produce some of the fiercest and most courageous warriors, though they also have a reputation for being brash and hot-headed. Alder soldiers are always sent in to "hold the line" and are infamous for never abandoning the field or retreating, even when it leads to certain death. "Our Fury Shakes Them" also refers to their propensity to use cannon-fire and gun blasts to destroy their enemies.

House Ironwood: "Our Roots Run Deep" or "The First, The Last, The Eternal" - a golden oak tree on a forest-green banner with a trim of autumn red. Their house is among the oldest and was once known as one of the most powerful military forces on the Continent, with a cadre of skilled Elven knights being produced by that house, but as time went on and the world changed, the house fell into semi-obscurity or became more known for its archival work and love of history, causing some to look down on it as a house of scholars. Whenever they try to invoke the promises and alliances of old, others roll their eyes at House Ironwood's unwillingness to change and adapt to the world around it. As a result, House Ironwood tends to isolate itself from other houses, swearing only to trust their own kind. Their current scion gets them into a lot of trouble for challenging an heir of a Norm house to a duel for slandering the name of House Ironwood, and then killing him in the ensuing standoff. This has led to military reprisals against House Ironwood, and they find themselves in a precarious position of being surrounded by enemies and having isolated former friends.

House Acquell: "Faith is a Shield and Love the Cure" or "Many Hearts Beating as One" - a Celtic-looking knot or a chain of hands interlocking around a heart. This house is looked down upon by more militaristic houses for being a generally trusting, pacifistic house. Its holdings are small and its lineage is quite new, but the house is beloved by its own people due to its scions working as healers, clerics, and devotees of charity, often seen among the streets of their city and passing out food and coin. House Acquell is an extremely religious house, and many of its heirs and heiresses join the Church to become priests and priestesses. The founder of the house was first canonized as a saint.

House Syndran: "Out of Cruelty, Justice" or "The Cunning Conquer" - a black crow or raven spreading its wings on a field of royal purple. This house was built on mercantile roots, but its influence now stretches far and wide, reaching into all matters of business, politics, intrigue, and even war. Its scions are famed for their ruthlessness and willingness to go completely scorched-earth on their enemies, and for their ability to lie and manipulate even nominal allies with completely straight faces. The house leader always bears a gold-capped walking cane. Although its military power is weak, it makes up for it with the host of allies under its economic control. You can always make out the Syndrans at a party by the cadre of serious-faced, dark-haired heirs staring at the proceedings like they're a play under watchful critique. Although not known for being friendly, House Syndran also prides itself on impeccable etiquette and manners.

House Trinaeste: "If I Am Not Free, Then I Am Dead" or "Many Skills, Many Virtues" - a black cat on a field of gold, with two crossed daggers in the background and a key lying at its feet. The "Many Skills, Many Virtues" motto is something of an in-joke, because this house is known for its willingness to train its heirs in even unsavory skills--such as thievery and seduction--in order to ensure their survival. Many heirs are sent to special training at a secret academy on an island south of Conte--though what they are taught there, no one but the Trinaestes knows for sure. As such, this house is shunned by many for its unorthodox values and behavior, and not much is known about the inner workings of the house itself. The heirs and heiresses all seem like empty-headed fops who love to chase skirts (or whatever article of clothing they so desire), so no one ever takes them seriously... but that's their mistake, because House Trinaeste actually has the greatest network of spymasters and intelligence operatives this world has ever seen. They apparently have a lot of bastard children or sometimes even unrelated orphans whom they happily accept into their house anyway, which is another reason why the other houses shun them. They also supposedly have some ties to seafarers and pirates as well as a fleet of ships at their disposal.

House Antiqua: "The Road Not Taken" or "The World to Roam" - a golden globe on a field of deep scarlet/maroon/magenta, though from certain angles, the globe can also like the sun or moon (or all three). House Antiqua is composed of just straight up scholars. Sometimes a second son or a third daughter goes into military service or serves in a great battle and makes a distinction of themselves, but it's never on the level of an Alder, Bronwyn, Aescar, or Stormbreaker. By and large, they're known as a house of oddly-attractive, well-born nerds, more fodder for marriages and families rather than candidates that could bring about great change. They don't really get much of a say in anything among the greater houses, but that suits them just fine. They're like the classic Jane Austen-style families where they just hang out and read books and entertain visitors sometimes LMAO. They are neither very rich nor destitute; neither isolated nor up in everyone's business. They are on friendly terms with most houses, but no one takes them all that seriously when it comes to important matters like war or politics. They are known to serve as advisors and consultants in times of need, however. Many of their heirs leave the house and travel across the world using secret identities when they reach a certain age; it's something of a cliché among their inner circle. They eventually develop strong ties to House Syndran after one son casually beats the Syndran heir in chess during a party.

House Aescar: "The Wind is With Us" or "It Is Us Who Fly" - a tan flying eagle with a serpent-like staff clutched in its talons, soaring on a field of light blue. House Aescar is known for its terrifying use of theatrics in order to instill fear into the hearts of their enemies on the battlefield. They utilize war paint, war chants and screams, and unsettling war horns in order to rev up their soldiers before battle. Like House Alder, they have a reputation for not having a head for politics; they'd prefer you to just point them at the enemy and let them do their thing, and they have little patience for the trappings of politics and diplomacy. If the Continent were divided up into wards where certain houses were in charge of defending the borders from invasion, House Aescar would be the guardians of the West; House Prince, House Ironwood, and House Bronwyn would the guardians of the North; House Stormbreaker, House Trinaeste, and House Syndran would be the guardians of the South; and House Alder, House Antiqua, and House Naveen would be the guardians of the East. The fact that House Aescar is tasked with guarding the West alone is a point of pride for its heirs and scions. The youth of the house tends to be charged with going on a pilgrimage throughout their lands to observe how the common folk live. They are expected to return with worthwhile thoughts or findings about how to improve the house or its holdings, and if their opinions are interesting and well-thought-out, they are allowed a voice in the house's governing council.

House Prince: "Keepers of the North" or "Righteous in Wrath" or "Darkness Flees Our Light" - a white spear with a white shield behind it, radiating rays of light on a field of black. Not much is known about House Prince, except that its current heirs are a set of twin boys. Its military force is known for being utterly loyal, almost to the point of fanaticism, and the house has close ties to House Bronwyn due to their proximity to each other. House Prince is known among the other houses for being insistent on keeping its bloodlines pure and marrying its heirs to the Hunter scions of other close-knit families or even distant cousins, leading some to joke surreptitiously that the house is "incestuous." At one point in time, the older twin heir of the current generation disappeared for a year or two, forcing his brother to assume the guise of both twins to prevent the house from looking weaker to its outside enemies. Certain heirs of the Prince House are said to be cursed with a mysterious affliction that causes them to fall into fits of madness and rage, especially at the sight of blood, and for these reasons, many of them live in reclusive isolation in their castle, rarely seen by the outside world.

House Stormbreaker: "Thunder and Lightning" or "The Storm Stands Vigilant" or "From the Stars We Came, To the Stars We Rise" - a golden, starry ship sailing on a teal sea as lightning splits the banner in half and a dragon swims underneath the ship. House Stormbreaker is among the most sought-after houses for its explosive military prowess and strength, affording it a lot of political and negotiating power. Its heirs and scions are known to be gifted with extraordinary strength and a strange knack for avoiding almost certain death, serving with distinction as battlemasters, generals, and occasionally as knights and champions. A legendary sword is said to be passed from leader to leader, with no one but those of pure Stormbreaker blood being able to even pick the sword up. They are also known as a clan of sailors and are able to deploy their own naval fleet to defend the coastline as needed. Although they have a ferocious, proud, and hot-tempered reputation, heirs of the Stormbreaker house are sometimes not taken seriously in matters of court due to their strange pink hair. Despite this, scions of House Stormbreaker are among the most sought-after candidates for marriage, as people desire their mysterious superstrength and magic to be incorporated into their own houses. However, for reasons unknown, the House Stormbreaker is extremely strict with such marriages, and arrangements are often made three or more generations ahead of time in a careful curation of the bloodline.

House Naveen: "Gold in Peace, Steel in War" or "Not Without Thorns" - a scarlet rose on a field of lavender with two crossed rapiers in the background. House Naveen is the most powerful and influential of all of the Houses when it comes to sheer political power, rivalled only by House Syndran. Its military strength is only better than average, but its holdings, wealth, and political connections are vast and storied. Its current heiress is infamous for refusing suitors and continually denying her father's attempts to secure a marriage, focusing instead on joining chivalric orders and continually maneuvering situations in House Naveen's favor. House Naveen holds the honor of being among the last houses to continue ancient traditions such as jousting and knightly tournaments, but it's their celebrations and social occasions that the house is truly known for. The Naveens are said to employ a spy in the servants of every house aside from House Bronwyn, Prince, and Ironwood. What they do with that information, however, no one knows. On the surface, the Naveen house seems to be largely magnanimous and benign... Interestingly, they have offered an extension of aid to House Ironwood to get out of its dueling problem, but so far, House Ironwood has not given a reply.

House Naveen has also been largely matriarchal in the past, something that still informs its power structure to this day. This makes it a target of scorn by other powerful and male-led noble houses (such as House Eddon, Auberon's house), but it's something that the Naveens flaunt proudly with the rose as their insignia!

#Shepherds of Haven #sorry I don't know game of thrones LGJRGJR I don't know why I felt the need to give backstory but I guess I always do #motto #heraldry #house motto #banner #banners #mottos #all characters #game of thrones #game of thrones AU #? #AU #i never watched it and didn't like the first book when I was like 14 so don't @ me with details i don't know anything!! #tw: incest mention

[jennsmischievousmind]

Chaos Therapy

Session #2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader

Summary: You were assigned to a field mission, with particulars co-agents, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. One mission turned into multiples. After each missions you are debriefed by a therapist, Dr Noach just as Sam and Bucky. Thing is, they don’t know that you are much more than an agent.

Warnings: pining, bit of angst, Buck/Sam bickering, violence (fights against enemies), mild swearing (still real bad at warnings)

Published: 2021-02-21 Completed: 2021-03-30

Mumbling your floor to the AI, you tried to relax but the door not closing triggered you. Hearing voices coming your way you understood.

“I don’t get it tincan, you got the new arm, the new haircut loosen up,” Sam Wilson came into view followed by Barnes, you would have never thought yet you got star-struck by his intense gaze when it locked on yours – Wilson got oddly silent for a second his look bouncing between the two of you until Barnes looked away and faced the door.

Wilson snorted “Guess we won’t talk about what just happened,” a smirk growing on his face.

Rolling your eyes you resumed your attention on the elevator transparent walls. Until you caught yourself glancing at Bucky’s back, inevitably your look followed his left shoulder to his metal well, vibranium arm, unfortunately, you could only see his wrist and hand. It’s not like you had studied all of the late Mr Stark’s researches on his previous metal arm and Wakanda’s report on the new appendage... The few golden lines you could see were mesmerizing, fingers itching to trace them you quickly shook your head remembering where you were. The elevator finally stopped at your level.

"Meeting at 6, briefing in the jet." You declared trying to focus on the mission at hand, accidentally brushing Barnes' left arm as you exit.

You were about to apologize but Sam intervened "Okay boss"

Smiling you lifted an eyebrow "I'm not your boss, but keep that in mind just in case."

You kept your eyes on Wilson who was nodding at your answer appreciating your repartee until the door was inches too close your eyes shifted to Barnes'. His eyes already on you.

“Fuck! You’re a professional for Stark’s sake, get a grip!” getting angry at yourself you head for the cave.

_

"Can you tell me more about the actual mission you had?'"

"It’s classified."

"Alright," she smirks "I see here that you had to use your field agent training? "

“Affirmative ma’am!”

"Weren't you supposed to assist and use your shadow IT skills,"

"Also, affirmative,"

“So, what happened?”

_

Tactical gears, the best part of field missions, hands skimming the gears sprawled out on the metal table, you couldn't wait.

‘You won’t be wearing that actually," the technician kicked you off your reverie, you frowned "Casual clothes, Kevlar under it, one gun, that’s it.”

The deceive expression didn’t escape the attention of the techs around the table. “It’s not always big guns and expensive gear”

“Yeah, I get that. Great…” you grabbed the gun and the Kevlar. Ready to meet your co-agents at the hangar. They were by the jet reviewing things with the techs.

“Agent Wilson, Agent Barnes.” You rearranged your top over your kevlar,

“Ok, hold on, please call me Sam,’

“Alright, then call me Y/N or boss.” he chuckled at your saying.

“This is tincan,” his thumb pointed to Barnes

"Uh" squinting at Sam, surprised by the verbal jab, you were unable to form any words.

Bucky sighed, throwing his bag in a corner of the jet “Your record is scratched, Wilson”

“Newsflash. We don’t use records anymore Buck!”

You stayed silent watching them bicker on the jet's ramp, taking mental notes. Bucky's jaw clenching every now and then, the never-ending smirk of Sam. How and why did anyone think it was a good idea to team them up?

“I already miss my cave.” You mumbled and passed by them, they both looked at you as you made your way in the tactic jet.

The briefing went smoothly, oddly, although seeing Barnes in tactical gear didn't leave you indifferent. Your mind yelling to get a grip while your eyes roam his geared up body. Now you had a full view of his vibranium arm, he caught you once or twice looking intently at it, each time you felt bad you didn't want him to feel uncomfortable or anything.

Few hours later, spent meditating and reviewing the mission in your head, avoiding the guys, avoiding Bucky, you ended up on one of the New Singapore islands. The tactic jet retreats back as soon as you three touched the ground.

“I go first, you come in after I made sure the target’s in, Buck in standby”

“Yeah, we know,” Bucky spoke, you could hear the exasperation in his voice.

Sam smirked at Bucky before rounding the corner leading to the underground club. There you were alone with Bucky Barnes.

"Are you two always like that?" you leaned on the concrete wall behind you.

He was standing straight, hands on his tactical belt "What'd you mean by that?" you tried not to stare as his look remained forward.

"Tough love and all.." your teasing voice made him glance your way. He hid a smirk and fully turned to you taking a step forward. “We’re working on that,” it was your turn to hide a smirk, and you thanked the dark alley for hiding the dusted red that had reached your neck at his closeness.

Minutes later Sam had called in the comm. Getting through the crowd you reached the bar where Sam was, clubs, forsaken places. He nodded at the back of the club where he had seen the target get out.

Making your way to the hidden office in the back, the dark and the loud music were your allies, scanning the room with one of the few gadgets you were allowed to have you were relieved to find it empty of human forms.

“Ok, 15 minutes” you called out in the comm’. Forcing the door, you look behind you before sliding it shut. Rummaging the all room you finally find the old metal case.

“I got the codes,” you were supposed to analyse them on site and then destroyed them but when you didn’t hear any of them answered you stopped “Sam?” silence “Barnes?” a distant crash followed by howls caught your attention.

“Y/N GET OUT!” Bucky's voice rang into your comm' not missing a beat you grabbed the case, slide the door open ready to run to the backdoor. “Oh!” you stopped dead in your tracks, a large man about 6 feet tall blocked the door. He eyed the case in your hand, you shrugged.

Pouncing on you, you easily dodged him as he was so slow, you ran to the main room instead, only to find Sam and Bucky fighting against a bunch of dudes.

“Subtle mission my ass,” you muttered to yourself, Watching them, you were genuinely interested in the two Avengers' fighting skills, missing the big guy coming behind you.

Grabbing your middle, trapping your arms against your body he lifted you as if you were a feather. Quickly refocusing you hooked your feet to his calve, balancing your weight against him he started to wobble backwards, his arms slipping up past your chest allowing you to elbow his floating ribs multiple times. He finally let go groaning, you took this time to kick his knee, he whaled staying down. Seeing the boys were still fighting and enemies still coming in you joined them. Back to back with both of them holding your ground.

“Buck you wanna clear the path” Sam snickered.

"Sure if you've got a great idea in mind involving your chicken wings go ahead," Buck retorted earning a death stare from Sam.

"I'm really deliberating leaving you here with them right now," you checked your gun’s mag.

"And how do you plan on getting out?"

“Close your eyes” the boys followed your request without any doubt.

You activated your anti-flash lenses with a press on your temple. Launching the tiny flashbang on the ground it exploded blinding everyone around you. Since the guys couldn’t open their eyes yet and you could clearly see the path you grabbed them both by the wrists and pulled them out, they ran behind you blindly for less than a minute until you reached the outside, stopping in the nearest alley.

The place was loud with cries, smokes evading the place brushing the neon lights creating a halo of blurred colours. Lost in the moment, the adrenaline rushing out you felt your right hand becoming colder in an instant, a low whirring and vibration coming from the vibranium wrist you were holding soothed your racing heart.

Sam had already escaped your grasp to check on the escape route. Quickly removing your hold you glanced at Bucky to make sure he wasn't uncomfortable but his face showed a different emotion. His gaze remained on his wrist where a second ago your warm hand was, brow knitted yet his look was soft, he clenched his fist and released it, he snapped out of it when an explosion occurred in the club. Time to run.

“If I knew we were about to run so much I wouldn’t have worn my best suit!” Sam argued, your lips curved into a smile at his annoyed voice.

In the jet safe and sound you tried to work on the codes but the two supposed-to-be grown-ups you work with were arguing about how the mission went wrong. Eventually, you tuned them out and send the files to the intelligence.

After giving back your gear to the assistant waiting for you in the hangar you turned to your co-agents.

“That was fun!” Sam tossed his suit jacket upon his shoulder “we should team up more often”

You scoffed “I don’t know about that”. Bucky came down the ramp his gear in hands, your jaw clenched at the way he looked so effortlessly good, it ignited something in you and you thought why the hell am I fighting this.

“Sam, Barnes,” you bowed your head slightly heading to the quarters' area, already writing the reports in your head, before needy thoughts cloud your mind.

“Bucky, it’s Bucky,” he called out, you spun fully, walking backwards “Bucky,” you spoke softly, the corner of your mouth quirked up, eyes entirely focused on him, his didn’t waver either. Rounded a crate disappearing from their view you bit your lower lips.

Sam nudged Bucky’s shoulder "When I said to loosen up, I didn't imply crushing on our new teammate,"

"Shut up,"

_

“And it was the first official mission with them?”

“Yes ma’am, … the intelligence thought the mission was a success, somehow. Against what I thought, they decided to team us up again,”

She nods, your answer exactly what she wanted to hear, she cuts the recorder.

“All is going well then” she closes her tablet, undoing the first button of her shirt feeling stuffy.

“I’ll be able to give you something more tangible in a few missions,”

SESSION #3

MASTERLIST

Published: 2021-02-21 Completed: 2021-03-30

I will be tagging Chaos Therapy now, since some of you might filter the TFATWS tags to avoid spoilers.

#tfatws #the falcon and the winter soldier #Bucky barnes x reader #Bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes fanfiction #tfatws imagines #Chaos Therapy

[mistystar022100]

More Bleach x Tokyo Ghoul au

More Characters

Orihime

Orihime is a natural one-eyed ghoul with a Rinkaku kagune. Orihime in cannon has basically one offensive ability that is broken for a whole arc and then rarely used for the sake of defense and healing. Personally, I thought she could have done more so I’m fixing this myself. Her kagune has 2 tentacles that she can use for offensive. Her Shun Shun Rika will be for the healing and shield, the attacking fairy will not be used often unless she needs a long ranged attack.

The reason for her being a one-eyed ghoul is so she could still eat human food. Her weird food combinations are a part of her character and I thought it wouldn’t be right to take that from her. It also doesn’t hurt that Orihime constantly eating food is a good cover for when the ghoul group hangs out at school. The fact that her brother was a human makes for an interesting dynamic as well.

As a half ghoul she can eat human food as much as she wants. The genetic combination may have messed with her taste buds, resulting in the strange food. She can taste it but the human food gives her almost no nutritional value. She has to eat like a ghoul in order to sustain herself.

Her main ability is in her regeneration, which is high even for a Rinkaku. Even though her kagune is fairly weak and easy to cut off, they grow back very quickly. This also applies to any injuries she takes; for example getting completely flattened by a speeding car will only take her a few hours to completely regenerate from; as long as she’s feed.

Her father was a ghoul and her mother was a human. Her mother left Sora’s father, who was a human, for Orihime’s father, a ghoul. Sora and Orihime were half siblings. After her father was killed by the CCG and her mother became an alcoholic, Sora took her and moved to Karakura. Sora at first feed her dead homeless people who he would find until he was approached by Isshin and the other adult ghouls in town who took that responsibility out of his hands. After Sora’s death, Orihime became very close to the Ishida and Kurosaki families. The fathers would make sure she was feed and the kids would make sure she wasn’t lonely.

Uryu

Uryu is an Ukaku type ghoul. His kagune is used in tandem with his quincy arrows for more projectiles and the speed boast is helpful for him to avoid attacks. Since Ryuken is still unhelpful with training him as a quincy, he at least trains Uryu as a ghoul. They still have a horrible relationship but at least they see each other now.

Since all the ghouls in town are relatively close, he is well aware that he and the Kurosaki kids are basically cousins. (Are they really though cause the relations between Masaki and Ryuken have always confused me? No matter, cousins is close enough) Mostly Yuzu (Karin absolutely does not admit to helping), convinces Uryu to visit the Kurosaki household every once in a while. Yuzu calls him cousin, Karin does when she’s happy and Ichigo only calls him that when he needs Uryu to listen to him. Isshin tries to make Uryu call him Uncle but Uryu has picked up some things from Ichigo and smacks him around when he’s being annoying; he will call Isshin uncle on special occasions though.

Due to how tight knit the ghouls in town are, Uryu is friends with the Karakura teens long before the story begins. Him, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad sit on the roof during lunch at school. He tolerates the presence of Tatsuki and Keigo but finds them both annoying.

Once Uryu learns how to sew, he becomes the mask maker in town. Considering the small ghoul population he doesn’t have to make or fix masks that often but he does get annoyed when someone tells him they broke the mask. (All the individual masks will be another post, mainly because some still haven’t been decided)

Ryuken

Like his son, Ryuken is an Ukaku type ghoul. He still despises being “the Last Quincy” but accepts that he is a ghoul. He makes sure Uryu is prepared for the hostile world against ghouls but otherwise is still distant. Later trains Yuzu in Quincy abilities but only because Masaki asked him to before her death. He later passes this on to Uryu because he is not the best teacher.

Since he works at the hospital he needed a way to keep his kakugan from activating. Through the efforts of both him and Isshin, they annoyed Urahara so much that he made them an oral medication that prevents the kakugan from activating for a time. This is why the fathers can both work in hospitals and smell blood without people suspecting them. After all no one is going to suspect a ghoul is working at a hospital.

He provides the ghouls main source of food. When a body is in the morgue of his hospital, he contacts Urahara who replaces it with a cheap inflatable Gigai. This Gigai lasts just long enough for the funeral so the stolen bodies are never discovered. He first makes sure Uryu is feed, then Orihime and then gives the rest to the Kurosaki’s. If not enough dead bodies come in for the month then Isshin leaves town and hunts while telling others he’s at a medical conference.

Ryuken’s ghoul identity is “Plague Doctor” due to his mask. He is the second ghoul being suspected of owning Karakura town. An A ranked ghoul due to his speed and projectile weapons, he is SS ranked when working with Isshin “Flame Oni”. He hates how in sync they are but tolerates it for the safely of the town.

Occasionally joins Uryu in visiting the Kurosaki’s. He only stays for a short while to talk to Isshin about whatever important things are going on, such as taking care of all the kids. Yuzu is happy her Uncle is visiting, Karin doesn’t really care and Ichigo likes to call him out on being an emotionally distant father. Uryu proceeds to tell him to shut up, sometimes leading to brawls in the living room.

Chad

Chad is a human with a Kokaku type quinque. It’s 2 gauntlets that connect through a long chain in the middle which goes over his arms and back. It makes his fullbring even stronger when using it. It was made from his abuelo’s greatest kill as a CCG Dove (a S ranked ghoul).

He carries the quinque case in a disguise bag for 2 reasons. The first is that owning a quinque outside the CCG is illegal and he won’t let anyone take his abuelo’s gift to him. The second reason is that the quinque makes his friends very uncomfortable so he disguises it out of respect for them. He uses a larger version of his high school bag to disguise it and carries it or uses the straps to wear it like a backpack.

When he moved to Karakura he saw Ichigo in the original thug beat down at the bridge. After that day, Chad was attacked by a passing ghoul who thought he looked tasty (Ichigo was preoccupied in a store). Chad got out his quinque despite never being thought how to use it but was loosing and had heavy wounds from his enemies kagune. Ichigo came back to the sounds of fighting and attacked the ghoul with his kagune. After the fight Ichigo only then realized Chad had a quinque and froze in place out of panic. Chad put the weapons away and limped over to Ichigo to help clean the blood off him. Chad really didn’t care that his friend was a ghoul, especially since said friend just saved his life.

Ichigo took Chad home and after getting patched up by Isshin, Chad became an honorary member of the ghouls. He joined them for monthly training considering he had no idea how to use his quinque and the adults would not have this rarely kind human die. He got a mask so he could use his quinque and not get recognized. He also has a costume that covers most of his body considering a half-Mexican and half-Japanese man is very easy to recognize, especially outside of a big city.

He is just the best ghoul ally. He is a very quiet individual but he will not stay silent when someone (mainly Tatsuki) is insulting ghouls in front of him or his friends. For a man of few words his words can sure pack a punch.

Tatsuki

Tatsuki is a human and doesn’t have the best image of ghouls. After Masaki’s death and Isshin being lost in his grief, a ghoul came into town and killed Tatsuki’s father. Ryuken “took care of” the offender and was the reason Isshin got off his ass.

Since beginning high school, Tatsuki has been in a CCG program over the weekends. She adds on to her pre-existing martial arts skills and is working her way up to learning quinque combat. Her quinque would be a bikaku that is a serrated edge sword and can stretch into a whip when needed. The whip is used to hold ghouls in place as the hooked spikes cause more damage when being taken out.

Tatsuki is still friends with Orihime and Ichigo. Orihime is her best friend and they share dinner quite often. When Tatsuki starts with the ghoul hate speech, Ichigo tells her to talk about something else or he’s leaving. Orihime kinds shuts down and starts doing something else to distract herself. Tatsuki is so caught up in her rage and grief that she normally doesn’t notice when Orihime does this. She gets frustrated with Ichigo but doesn’t stay mad at him.

Urahara

Urahara is a “human” with a vast knowledge of ghouls. He is the reason the CCG ignores Karakura for as long as it does. He hacks into the data base whenever something that might be important occurs (someone having to use their kagune and there’s a security camera nearby) and deletes the data. The CCG eventually figured out that someone is wiping the data and sends Doves to investigate the town. But that’s a whole other story arc.

Jinta and Ururu are failed half ghoul experiments that he may or may not have liberated from the CCG as kids. At first he took them to examine their DNA but he grew to love them. The weird genetics has taken a toll on the kid’s bodies; Jinta needs hearing aids and Ururu wears glasses. Urahara however does him best to keep the kids healthy.

As a man of science, he has taken the liberty of getting DNA samples of all the ghouls in town as the data on ghouls is limited to the CCG’s propaganda. He may or may not want to make his own half ghoul some day (or do it to himself); all in the name of science.

His shop sells all sorts of items that the ghouls may need. It is also the place where the ghouls have their monthly meetings. Most of the kids are suspicious of Urahara since he is clearly “human”. Ryuken and Isshin trust him though so that’s good enough for the kids, at least for now.

#bleach #tokyo ghoul #crossover #uryu ishida #ryuken ishida #orihime inoue #bleach chad #kisuke urahara

[lumilasi]

UPDATE: changed her outfit as I realized she wouldn’t be wearing “battle ready” outfit in her current role. Her outfit is inspired by her daughter’s casual outfit.

Bio below:

Name: Katana Kamakiri

Nicknames: 

Age: 52

Height: 172 cm

An amnesiac demon hunter/swordswoman

Role: The House Manager/chef for Jurou’s isle/found family

Family: Daughter Toshiko, honorary daughter Akiko, life partners Kaede & Ryoushi

Love interest: Kaede & Ryoushi

Friends: Yuushi, Raitei, Araknos/Jurou, Ichirou, Caelan, Claude

Rival(s): None

Powers:

As a demon hunter, she has vast knowledge of different types of demonic beings and evil spirits, and knows several spells and seals to counter them, such as exorcism spells, protective shields, banishment curses, etc.

She is an excellent swordswoman, in fact she was legendary among her peers back in her youth, having never been beaten in a sword-fight before.

She has very strong sixth sense and can sense if danger is nearby or something else is out of place; Katana also has very quick reflexes to counter surprise attacks.

She did learn some Assassin tricks from Kaede back in the day, such as floating spell and how to aim and throw sharp pointy things accurately.

Weaknesses:

Katana has a case of severe amnesia that is likely trauma based, which makes her kind of distant from everybody around her. She tends to bottle things up and not want to share what bothers her, even when it becomes obvious something is wrong. She suffers from nightmares and occasional flashbacks that can cause her an anxiety or a panic attack. Katana never remembers these dreams or memories afterwards however. She also tends to suffer from bad migraines from time to time, making her unable to move around much for a day or two. 

All the above mentioned things can trigger during fights too, leaving her vulnerable for an attack. Considering how unpredictable these can be, Katana is subconsciously afraid to fight by herself/fight a whole lot at all nowadays, especially if the enemy seems like a tough one. She tends to fight defensively as a result and leave if one of her allies appears to take over. 

Personality:

Katana is very closed off and quiet woman who doesn’t like small talk. She prefers to be by herself for the most part, although tends to be quite kind to children - an unconscious thing left over from being unable to be around her daughter and watch her grow up - and protective over them. 

She seems very level headed for the most part with good leadership and management qualities, but can get quite emotional if something triggers her forgotten trauma, to the point she might yell or threaten people with her sword. 

Because of these moments of instability, Katana prefers to keep himself detached from things, not wanting to really form emotional bonds with people with fear of either hurting them or losing them again. As a result she’s distant from her daughter despite knowing that Toshiko is her child.

BG story:

Katana was a part of a demon hunter sect, who was quite renewed within her peers for her skill and strength. She was often partnered with a fellow Demon hunter Ryoushi, as well as a member of the specialized assassin Guild during their missions, to take down dangerous demons or potentially dangerous people attempting to summon such demons. The three developed a close knit bond during their adventures and eventually became romantically involved with one another. 

Eventually she became pregnant with Toshiko, which both her partners were quite happy about (Really, Ryoushi bawled his eyes out). They had been talking about starting a family together, and between the two women, Kaede had admitted she wasn’t ready to give birth yet, so Katana had proposed they’d try instead. The Trio then split their duties between looking after the newborn baby, and going out on missions as they all wanted to be part of little Toshiko’s early childhood days.  About a year or more later, Kaede ended up waiting for a child as well, which they named Akiko. Katana was quite excited for her daughter to have a sibling.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst some months after Akiko was born; all three end up having to go on a mission, leaving the two baby girls in the care of their trusted comrades, which resulted in a tragic loss.

While the trio had been able to stop the person performing the summoning, the entity they’d attempted to summon manages to possess Ryoushi. To prevent this powerful entity from gaining ground on the mortal realm, their husband begged the two to kill him before it was too late. Unable to make themselves do so, instead the two women come up with a way to shatter his soul into 12 pieces, to prevent the demon now possessing his body to gain his full strength. They did this in hopes of finding a way to exorcise it eventually, but before either could do so, the entity - known as Hanzoku, a rebellious Death Vestige (kind of a soul reaper) - goes after the two women, forcing them to separate and go into hiding. 

Katana ends up leaving her baby girl behind to the guild Kaede was from, fearing she’d put her in danger if she took her with her. Kaede in turn chose a different path, taking her newborn baby with her into hiding. 

Sometime during her hiding, she is found by Hanzoku’s followers, and after a fierce battle she end up losing her memories and drifting to Araknos’ island. The half-blooded spirit takes pity on her, allowing her to stay in his isle after she tells him something was after her, something she couldn’t quite remember.

Years later, a young woman appears on the island, that turns out to be her daughter. This sets in motion a series of events that result in Katana eventually regaining her lost memories....

Fun facts:

Katana tends to open up only to Yuushi, as he is not a human and therefore tends to be very neutral about everything, not trying to psychoanalyze or advice her with anything as she finds people doing that irritating.

Despite her and Kaede joking how Ryoushi was their “trophy husband,” he was actually quite a capable and powerful demon hunter, and that was the reason he got possessed in the first place instead of Katana.

Toshiko’s current outfit is Katana’s old demon hunter outfit; they were typically themed around the symbolic animal of the branch of the Demon Hunter guild you were a part of. Katana belonged in the Mantis branch, whereas Ryoushi came from the Panther section. 

Mantis branch was more focused on speed and tactical type of combat, whereas Panthers were more direct, close combat oriented.

There was a third branch as well, their style being more defensive/supportive; their representative animal was/is a turtle. 

Katana tends to smile rarely, and typically only does it around Ichirou.

She has great respect for Araknos despite often being annoyed at his antics

Katana sometimes agrees to train with Claude for his swordsman skill, and while she tends to not be overtly praising about it, Katana does acknowledge he’s really good even without his telepath powers.

Some people around them found their three-ways relationship weird, but they didn’t really care; all three loved each other equally. 

In same vein, if somebody made a crass comment about having two wives to  Ryoushi, he would put them in their place pretty quickly, pointing out they’re not just “his wives” but also each other’s.

During her exile and hiding, Katana still researched into Hanzoku and how to fix everything. She mostly survived by doing bounty hunter work, though didn’t particularly like it as some clients could be very unsavory.

#lumi's art scribbles #lumi's chaotic creations #Katana Kamakiri #my oc art #myocs #characterdesign #character portrait #characterillustration #manga and anime #anime style #ocs #Telepaths

[stillness-in-green]

MLA Week, Day 1: Beginning

Destro and the woman who’ll bear his son, at the end, and at the beginning.  

Content Warning: Nothing explicit or graphic, but HeroAcaLand is kind of a police state in this period, certainly to the POV character.

———–      ———–      ———–      ———–

For as quietly as Destro has trained himself to walk, Fathom still picks up his presence as soon as he enters the room—the oiled leather of his jacket, the shape of the air his shoulders displace, the bitter tang of his meta-ability flavoring the air.    

“If you’re going to tell me I should get some rest, I’d say the same to you,” she says. 

“I checked the duty roster,” he responds, overriding her soft tsk of consternation.  “Your watch is already over.  I appreciate the vigilance, but I’d rather have you at full capacity tomorrow.” 

Fathom carries on watching the city outside the window, cracked open just enough to let in the night air and all the information it carries.  It isn’t exactly a quiet night, but when is it ever?  There’s always some distant battle raging, a war for turf, a police raid, domestic tension spilling over into domestic violence.  The sense of weight in the air is just nerves, she’s almost sure, but that little gap in certainty is enough for paranoia to churn her gut at every unexplained shift in the breeze.

“Are you going to bed?” she asks, eyes following the distant sweep of a searchlight across cloud-choked skies.  Curfew above, curfew below.

“If you’ll have me.” 

That throws her off the rhythm of their usual quibbling.  She turns to face him.  He stands with easy authority, unmasked, his hands clasped behind his back, and gazes at her with grave inquiry.  Or tries to, anyway.  A rebellious little smile tugs at one corner of his mouth, betraying his otherwise serious expression. 

Very aware of the heat at the back of her neck, Fathom places her hands on her hips, antenna bobbing.  “That’s cheating, you know.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” he answers softly, and she sighs like, if she does it hard enough, it will dislodge the sudden tightness in her throat.  “Now come to bed.”

He reaches out one hand.  She takes it, letting him draw her away, suddenly desperate to drink in every sensation of every moment they have left. 

———–

The next day, Fathom barely escapes with her life—and, more importantly, her freedom. 

She watches Destro go down under a pile of the police’s wretched “Quirk Unit,” and, voice raised with dozens of others, screams in rage.  She tears free of the dog holding her, not even feeling the crack of what will later turn out to be a dislocated shoulder, and tries to get there, to reach, to help.  Too many bodies in the way, enemy and ally alike, a vicious scrum, gunfire, bursts of light, smoke, meta-abilities going off every which way, and far away, too far, a woman with green webbed wings carrying Destro (blood at his temple, clinging to his face like a second mask, eyes closed, unmoving, no no no) charges at a burly man with his hands knitted together over one knee.

The woman jumps, plants one foot in the man’s palms, and leaps skyward on the boost.  Her wings unfurl, beating at the air for purchase.  A shimmering energy barrier bursts in the air around her, sparks and flares of purple light deflecting the hail of projectiles and bursts of meta-powers that follow her up, and then she’s cleared the combat zone and caught an updraft.  Quickly, too quickly, she wheels around in the air and soars away northward.

A hand lands on Fathom’s shoulder; she spins even as it tries to turn her, and Cascade’s face dissolves into water just before her thrown punch passes through one cheek and out the other. 

“We have to retreat!” he shouts as he reforms, words more seen than felt over the sounds of the melee.  She can taste the despair in his voice with her antenna, the sugar-sweetness of his devotion blackening and burning.

“We have to help Destro!” she screams back. 

“Yes!  That’s why we have to retreat!  They’ve got him, Fathom!  We need to get out of here while there are still enough of us to get him back!” 

———–

They don’t.  They can’t even find his location.  Their contacts have all gone mysteriously missing and they lost Sweeper—and Sweeper’s radio scanning meta-ability—in the last fight.  Weeks turn into months as surely as plans become shot-in-the-dark assaults that become failures.  Fathom grows sick with it, aching and tired, nauseous at the feeling of waking without him.

It takes her almost twelve weeks to realize that there’s more to the morning sickness than grieving.  A downright shameful oversight, but then, the life of a liberation warrior has been wreaking havoc on her cycle for long before that last battle.  Twelve weeks, and it’s against everything she would have wished for, but it’s something.  A way to turn this horrible ending into a new beginning. 

#MLAweek2020 #destro bnha #meta liberation army #cw: police violence #(against fictional maybe-terrorists but just in case) #my writing #ficcing #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia

[jawbone-xylophone]

"I used to do a lot of things" - Sugar (HorrorDream)

squint I think I know who sent this! finger guns Ask and ye shall receive. Gonna do your asks a bit out of order because the muse is going crazy. The prompt is only implied, I have a bad habit of that, but I hope you like!

/////

The world he was currently in was a wreck of fallen stalactites and dirt-churned snow, long scars in the earth slicing through houses and baring the naked rock beneath like some giant claw had descended from on high. The cavern still shuddered, the distant aftershocks of Error’s wild blasting and the roar of a river of paint flash-boiling into steam rushing over Dream like a storm front. There was less pain here now, but only because the remaining casualties trapped under rubble were finally dying. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved about that or not. Dream, to his shame, was just trying to survive right now. The toxic glee in the air, bloodthirst and mania, did little to properly anchor him against the tide of negativity, and without proper healing to bolster his strength he might very well be shunted from this universe against his will. He was needed here, Blue had been separated from the group, Ink rarely thought before acting and fought using the Rule of Cool more than actual tactics. He was needed, he couldn’t afford to be blocked off from his allies, but he was weak with strain and a thousand small fractures that glimmered gold in the dust-strewn gloom.

He stumbled into the front of what used to be a junk store, bricks harsh against his shoulder, the splintered windowsill digging into his hand. Glassy-eyed plastic figurines stared sightlessly out onto the empty street, and he couldn’t help but wonder if they were screaming in their own way. Dream felt like crumpling to the ground and screaming himself, if only to try to relieve the aching pressure of Nightmare’s swollen power. Not that it would really help, in the end, nothing ever helped but distance. His hand dug into the windowsill as if that would prevent his untimely ejection from the world code, trying to ground his spinning head with the pain.

Then- hope. Shaky, hesitant hope, from somewhere deeper into the wreckage of a residential district, that tasted like determination and love and a bit like grief, but there was a light struggling through the darkness, calling Dream like a moth to a flame. That hope could very well be Dream’s last chance, and he wasn’t about to waste it. He started to run, tripping into the snow of the street, but he didn’t have time for that, he had to go, lunging forward from a crawl and catching himself on the corners of buildings with scrabbling fingers. There, there- around this corner, duck through that arch, over the wreck of an old ice house- and there they were.

Dream’s soul sank at the image of a monster dragging themself through the snow towards a pile of glimmering dust, which was still flickering with eddies of magic. He’d just missed the death, clearly. Dream would empathize if he wasn’t in a warzone mentality, but he’d come here looking for the one thing that could heal him and give him a fighting chance, grief wouldn’t help him.

But there was hope thick on the air, and he couldn’t understand where it was coming from, even as the stranger’s skeletal hand reached out with desperate strain and took a fistful of still-glowing monster dust.

He couldn’t understand when that dust was shoved past teeth as thick as tombstones.

He couldn’t understand when red light flickered through the places where the stranger’s bones interlocked, when they took another handful, when they shuddered and groaned and made the sort of sounds normally reserved for high quality steak.

But when their sole eye light managed to focus, red as warning, and their hood slipped back to reveal the sort of massive head trauma no one should survive, he thought he might understand, and that made everything so much worse.

The stranger was burning with hope, with love, with the strength to look a lion in the eye, and Dream couldn’t understand why they answered when Nightmare crawled out of the shadows to call them home.

But his head had finally stopped hurting, bones knitting together as the pressure eased. There was no one around to see him finally crumple to the ground and let the revulsion crawl up his spine like a living thing, horror thick and chalky in his throat. It remained even when he regrouped with the others much later, Ink nuzzling into his aura and Blue shoving concern and cinnamon bunnies at him in equal measure, and he had to swallow down the burn of bile the next time they faced Nightmare’s men on the battlefield.

That skeleton never looked away from him, calm and steady, even as yet another apocalypse crashed down around them.

—

Dream finally extracted himself from the thick of the party with a long sigh, desperate for cooler air and possibly something to drink. As fun as this little New Years’ party was, it was getting to be a bit overwhelming, and he wasn’t used to such high concentrations of positivity. A little punch-drunk, he stumbled into the wall, catching himself on a picture frame and knocking it crooked. Water would be a good idea. Water and fresh air, away from the zing of romance and the roiling waves of crowded excitement in Blue’s living room.

He made his way to the kitchen, hand dragging along the wall, careful to put one foot in front of the other. Definitely no alcohol for him tonight, not when the clusters of cheerful drunk people in his general area were too much to handle. Tottering through the doorway and blinking in the bright lights, he adjusted for a few long moments. He saw the drink cooler, but only on approach did he notice a hand waving a water bottle under his nose, and he startled blearily.

One ruined red eye watched him steadily.

Caught off-balance, Dream accepted the drink with a slow hand, blinking widely at the man. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.” The other leaned back a bit to rest against the counter, lidless stare never straying from Dream’s face. “You look like you got mauled. Here with anyone?”

Dream only realized he was shaking a bit when he had trouble lifting the bottle to his mouth, and he flushed a little. “Uh, nope. I mean, sort of? I’m friends with Blue.”

“I know.”

Right. Uh. Several years of seeing him cover Blue’s blind spots with a bow and arrow might have been a decent hint. He was determined not to make this awkward, but partying under a truce with old enemies made this very bizarre anyway. Dream managed to take a drink, and capped the bottle before he could spill it all over the floor. “...I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced, actually. Circumstances notwithstanding.” What a wonderful way to gloss over the whole your-friends-tried-to-stab-mine issue.

In response, the other skeleton’s brow lifted, and he grinned in a thin, vaguely alarming sort of way. Or maybe the massive hole in his head just caused every expression to look scarier no matter what the intention. “Small talk? Alright, I’ll bite.” He extended a bony hand, the other buried firmly in a pocket. “Sans the skeleton, like half of the idiots here. Nickname’s Horror.”

Dream passed his water into his left hand and copied Horror, smiling. “Dream. Just Dream.”

Horror huffed a small, amused noise, and let go of the handshake. “Well, just Dream, don’ fake anythin’ on my account. Saw you eyeing me when you came in,” he quipped, gesturing briefly at his own face and shattered skull. This close Dream could see the built up scarring around the lower rim of his empty socket. “Seen you eyeing me for a while, really. ‘F I didn’t know better I’d think you actually like lookin’ at this ugly mug.”

“Well- I- you see-“ Oh hell, Dream hasn’t thought he was that obvious. And it wasn’t like that at all, truth be told, he just... even now, he was confused by Horror. He was always calm, and while there was a hungry echo of desperation staining his psyche, for the most part he was startlingly full of love. Of all things to find orbiting Nightmare’s inner circle! Dream had no idea how this man could exist, brutally efficient and not above the worst taboo yet motivated by such level-headed gentleness. “It’s not that, you’re just very interesting. I’m curious.”

“Interesting, he says,” Horror drawls, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter. “Lotta people find me ‘interesting’. Lotta curious folks like to poke and point and ask stuff they’ve no business askin’. What’s your itch, then?” It would sound accusing if he wasn’t so composed, tone almost light.

Dream winces. He could backtrack, fall to something safer. While he wasn’t above a strategic retreat, he really couldn’t let that stand. “I’m sorry to hear that people insist on disrespecting you. I don’t really have a question, per se, at least nothing in dire need of asking.” That’s a lie, but Dream possesses enough manners to know what you can and cannot ask the familiar stranger who watched you watch him across the battlefield. “I just find it fascinating that in the middle of Nightmare’s forces there’s so much love kept in one person. Love is one of the strangest motivators, so I won’t pretend to know why you go about with that wood axe and yet still feel so gentle to my empathy. You’re a very unusual skeleton, Horror, and a very pleasant surprise. That’s what I mean by interesting.”

Horror goes very still, eye wide, and there’s something thoughtful there beneath the intensity. He’s startled, but it’s only visible in the smallest ways, the relaxing of his jaw and the way his spine straightens a touch beneath his ratty hoodie. He rolls a few words around in his head almost visibly before he speaks. “That’s... a first. ‘Specially from a guy like you.” The laugh is mostly humorless, though there’s a wondering tilt to his head. “Ya waltz in here lookin’ white girl wasted, all prettied up in gold, got me thinkin’ I’m in for a headache, but you’re actually that sweet? Color me charmed.”

“I’ll have you know I’m not just sweet,” Dream replies flatly. “Don’t make that mistake, it’s tiresome.” He’s not in any way prepared to acknowledge anything else Horror just said, though something stupid in his subconscious is focused on the fact that Horror called him pretty.

“Wouldn’t dare.” Horror replies, grin warming. “Multidimensional folks are more interestin’ any day.” And if he’s starting to be sweet on the way Dream meets his gaze unflinchingly, perceptive and headstrong, well. That’s something he can think about later, when he has a proper moment to sit down and recognize what this fascination could easily become, if he lets it. For now he just gestures out onto the porch and invites Dream to talk a while, while moths flutter curiously about the lanterns there.

#writing prompt #ask box #horror #dream

[thecloserkin]

fic rec: we get dark, only to shine by anghraine

fandom: The Borgias (Showtime 2011)

pairing: Cesare Borgia/Lucrezia Borgia

word count: 168k, unfinished

Is it canon: Yes

Is it explicit: Yes

Is it endgame: Yes

Is it shippable: Yes

Bottom line: hi my name is asdfghhkl i’ve been in fandom half my life and this is without a doubt a top 5 fic for me. i mean i got to the end and i went right back to the beginning to reread it

This is a Season 1 AU where Cesare and Lucrezia are each other’s first loves, as they ought to have been. First of all I absorbed more Borgia history via this fic than three published biographies put together (Sarah Bradford, Lucrezia Borgia: Life Love and Death in Renaissance Italy; GJ Meyer, The Borgias: The Secret History; Christopher Hibbert, The Borgias and Their Enemies). I found myself looking forward to the end of every chapter so I could devour the footnotes. This is a meticulously researched, perfectly paced, ingeniously plotted gem of a story that made all the historical details relevant. It is also a very cerebral story, which is not to say it didn’t sucker-punch me in the gut, just that it isn’t rough around the edges — it is SHARP. Lucrezia and Cesare are whip-smart; all the secondary characters are smart; the author is obviously brill and you, dear reader, better bring both your brain cells if you want to keep up.

To set the scene, we are in Rome at the beginning of the papacy of Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia, the first pope to openly acknowledge his children gotten out of wedlock. The primary thing to understand about the Borgias is they are FOREIGNERS. They are from Valencia and their native tongue is Catalan; and while Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre may have been born in Rome, foreigners they will forever remain in the eyes of the xenophobic populace. Rome is a cesspit of backstabbing and the Borgias are an unusually close-knit, insular clan. Here is an overview of Cesare and Lucrezia’s codependent-from-the-cradle relationship, intensified ofc by the hostile environment of Rome:

At first, Lucrezia would scream whenever the nurse took her away, and sneak after him at all hours. Cesare scarcely spoke, except to her. They looked like kicked puppies.

Yet it had always been that way with them: Lucrècia a little queen reigning over their games, Cèsar devoted to her.

he never paid much attention to other women around Lucrezia, even when she was little more than a prattling child.

Cesare had woken with Lucrezia in his bed more times than he could count. At eight, twelve, a newly-returned sixteen, he often opened his eyes to his sister sprawled beside him or curled up under his blankets. On more anxious nights, when she had an unpleasant dream or felt particularly troubled, he would find her pressed against him

“When he left for Perugia, one might have believed him going to his gallows. Their letters must have stripped a forest.”

Ok not to be an incest junkie on main but shoutout to the Childhood Bedsharing Trope. “When he left for Perguia” is when he went away to university, leaving Lucrezia disconsolate. When he came home following this extended absence is when her feelings for him flowered into sexual desire. The fic opens on the eve of Lucrezia’s marriage to Giovanni Sforza. Her impending nuptials are causing her anxiety:

”But I am a Borgia. I should not be afraid of anything.” “Nonsense,” said Cesare, “I fear dozens of things, myself.” “You?”

So much to unpack here:

being a Borgia means never letting the world see your weakness

Lucrezia’s hero-worship!!! she obviously thinks he’s the bravest person she knows

Cesare confessing his vulnerability, his fears, chief of which is “I fear most of all for your happiness. I shall not be able to ensure it from so far.” i am y e l l i n g

To relieve her anxiety about pleasing her bridegroom, she convinces Cesare to give her KISSING LESSONS. That’s how it starts. Did someone say I Want My Brother to Be My First because I love this song.

“Is there no one else?” he demanded. She tilted her head inquisitively. “Is there a man you would rather instructed me? Really, is there another man you would permit to touch me? To even remain alone with me? Juan? Should I ask him instead?” “No!” Cesare scrambled to his feet.

She knows exactly how to push his buttons, doesn’t she? She baits him with the idea of another man touching her—specifically Juan, his archrival—an idea guaranteed to get his blood up, and Cesare instantly shoves his scruples aside. A kissing lesson ensues, Lucrezia is married shortly thereafter, and that’s how things stand when this fic diverges from canon: Cesare stops by Pesaro to visit Lucrezia.

Now we all know how Lucrezia’s first marriage went—her husband treated his horse a sight better than he treated her. And we see her struggle with telling Cesare the truth about the abuse, because the importance of the Sforza alliance must stay Cesare’s hand from his natural impulse to pulverize anyone who hurts Lucrezia. I like how this fic draws a distinction between the family’s reaction and Cesare’s reaction:

as soon as Cesare understood, he would be set on vengeance. Any brother would, even one less devoted than Cesare. Jofrè would probably cheer him on. Juan would have strung Sforza up already. And of course, Cesare was Cesare.

Juan and Jofre are her brothers too, and neither of them would have let Sforza’s behavior slide. Cesare, though, is on a whole other level. Cesare actually sees red. The most romantic thing he does in this entire story is play chess with Lucrezia all night to spare her the nightly ordeal of marital rape. That was the first night. The second day he has Micheletto loosen the girth of Sforza’s saddle to cause a nonfatal riding accident which—honestly it makes way more sense thematically for the brother who loves her more than life to do this, than for an untutored stableboy whom Lucrezia met 5 minutes ago to suddenly exhibit master assassin skills?!! Fuck canon, this is what happened. Also fuck insta-love, I’m so glad Cesare and Lucrezia are head over heels for each other rather than some randos.

His pulse quickened in his throat, yet it was nothing he had not seen before, when he read to her until she fell asleep, talked to her as she sulked in her room, sat at her bedside wiping cloths all over her feverish head.

I’m so soft for this!!! Tfw it’s not the physical proximity to your sibling—that part’s familiar—what’s new is your feelings shifting like tectonic plates?? Askjdfkdjfd.

The thing that really precipitates the affair is Lucrezia’s brute of a husband, obviously. This fic has one or two Giovanni Sforza POVS and it does such a great job of depicting that discomfort of being laughed at by people smarter than you. Sforza was strong-armed into this match and he feels slighted by the choice of bride—because she’s bastard-born, because she’s Spanish, he thinks he’s married down. This brings him into inevitable conflict with Cesare, who will brook no insult to Lucrezia on his watch:

“My sister, Lord Sforza, is a daughter of Rome. Roman-born, Roman-bred, Roman to her fingertips. Is it not so, Lucretia?”

The POWER of this line—remember when i said the Borgias are forever seen as outsiders despite being BORN IN ROME? i felt that.

Perhaps their mother was right, and she loved him too much. Too much, at any rate, to spare that kind of love for anyone else. Sforza was a monster, but if he had not been, she still would not have loved him.

Vanozza is very perceptive; she fears her children’s all-consuming love for each other leaves little room for other attachments AND SHE WAS RIGHT. To put it baldly:

They had spent their hearts on each other, all they had to give, with only scraps left for anyone else.

“I am your brother, Lucrezia … There is a word for this. I would not have anyone say it of you.” “A word for what? … For loving me more than the baronessa Ursula, or some other woman you only half-know?”

THERE IS A WORD, Cesare intimates. He won’t even say it aloud. But this black cloud of rumor and innuendo that hangs over their family is not going to dissipate just because they refrain from giving into their feelings. The first time Cesare heard someone call his sister a whore, she was literally four years old. They’ve had to guard their hearts their whole lives because there is no one they can trust outside the family — and yet the family itself is riven by strife and jealousy (Lucrezia has a good laugh when her maid mistakes “my brother is coming to dinner” for “the Duke of Gandia is coming to dinner”— as if Juan would ever visit her in Pesaro!):

“I am the only person in the world you love without qualification or resentment or confusion, aren’t I?” “Yes … Well. Some confusion.” “And yet you pull away from me. You have spent our lives pulling away from me, because--what? There is a word? You will not even say it. Why should we care if people who hate us, hate our blood and our language and our father, use one more insult? For heavens’ sake, Cesare, you yourself told me that this friar in Florence preaches against my hair.”

!!!! The dig at Savonarola I fell out of my chair looooool

“We have no real friends here, do we? We don’t even have allies beyond the Sforza. Everything depends on Papa. If anything happens, perhaps--perhaps it would be better to go home.” “We could run away to Valencia,” he murmured, eyes distant, almost wistful.

They never entertain this as a serious possibility because “anything is better than obscurity” and sry2say a modern AU is the only place these kids are going to get a happy ending. They’re too ambitious and fiercely protective of their family for aught else.

the affinity they’d always felt flaring to life, the certainty that he could depend on her abilities as well as her loyalties. Together they had outwitted Giovanni Sforza and all of Pesaro; now there was the Pope, their family, Rome, and then--all of Italy? The world? Why not?

I say again, HE COULD DEPEND ON HER ABILITIES AS WELL AS HER LOYALTIES. Because they’re a team. Picture Cesare and Lucrezia, weapons in hand, back to back holding off a horde of enemies—but like, metaphorically. That’s the kind of partnership they have, that’s the kind of trust they share.

he would put her before ambition and glory. Even their father had not … Cesare wasn’t like the Pope. He loved her more than anything.

Meaning there are things her father would put before her happiness, but there is absolutely NOTHING Cesare would not do for her. What woman could resist this utter unhesitating devotion when it is laid at her feet??

gazing at her with all the adoration he had never offered to God

He would never hurt me. If she knew nothing else, she knew that.

She resolves to consummate their relationship, despite all her knowledge of sex being bound up with pain. Like, she literally doesn’t know if sex can even be pleasurable for women, but she wants Cesare in the face of her fear, which is impressive and heartbreaking:

there were Roman courtesans who knew something of him that Lucrezia did not, and it was intolerable. She wanted everything.

Yessss she already has the rest of him, she just wants this one last piece of Cesare to belong to her too. And as for Cesare, this is the first & only time physical attraction and emotional connection have been united in the same partner:

he had never been one to stay in a woman’s bed, afterwards, but he felt no inclination to move.

She laid her hand against his face, rubbing her thumb over his cheekbone, gazing at him with her impossible mix of steady, companionable affection and rapture.

He had long known that he did not love anyone as he did Lucrezia; now he could not imagine desiring anyone as much, either.

What I love is that the romantic/sexual aspect is just another layer overlaid on what has always been the most important relationship in their respective lives; it doesn’t change the underlying dynamic:

“Have we been mauled by bears, do you think?” “Nothing so dramatic, I’m afraid. We would need scratches for that.”

This is them putting their clothes on after an assignation in the woods (they go riding a lot). What strikes me is the companionable tenor of their conspirational lies.

She relished each touch, yet there was something ordinary in it, familiar and commonplace. Your cross is crooked. Your cap is falling off. Let me adjust your sleeve. I can mend your tunic. They had always been peculiarly domestic together, a comfortable intimacy they never repeated with their brothers.

hello siblings being simultaneously incestuous & domestic is my kink byeeeee

“Cesare,” said Lucrezia, eyes widening, “am I your mistress now?” “You are Lucrezia Borgia. The Pope’s daughter and my beloved sister. The man who calls you anyone’s mistress will lose his tongue. As for you and I, we are what we are. I love you. We belong to each other. That is all.”

NO LABELS WE JUST BELONG TO EACH OTHER. Favorite favorite favorite line forever

His sister, his — lover? How could he give up either? What have I done?

Please picture me shoveling popcorn into my mouth as I type this. This is the pinnacle of everything I love about incest ships. You don’t fuck your sister unless you fucking mean it. It’s like you’re married from the first kiss. As Lucrezia explains later to someone who has ferreted out their secret: “He is not some lover to be mourned and forgotten. If I lose him over this, I lose him in everything.”

You can’t date your brother casually, the stakes are HIGH.

A lover is invented in order to explain Lucrezia’s love bites and torn clothing to her maid. Micheletto accepts this explanation as well, until one day he realizes the true state of affairs, and it’s such an innocuous little moment, it’s not like Micheletto wALks iN On tHEM or anything similarly dramatic, oh no. He is watching them—he is always watching—and he must have picked up on some subtle cue of body language or something bc all of a sudden it hits him they’re in love:

Valentino bent his head down; Lucrezia was saying something, Catalan, scarcely comprehensible through her heavy accent and giggles--Micheletto thought it had to do with the Duke of Gandía and a race. Whatever it was, Valentino whispered back to her, mouth against her ear, and they burst out laughing. There was no lover. He could not say, exactly, how he knew for certain then, with no proof, and not before or after. But he knew it. There were no others for them, no room for others: only Valentino and Lucrezia, and Micheletto watching over them.

The perfect encapsulation of this show tbh!!!

They are recalled to Rome to attend Joffre’s wedding to Sancia d’Aragon. They leave Lucrezia’s recuperating husband behind in Pesaro.

“If this all depends upon the impression that Juan makes--” “God help us,” said Cesare.

first of all, FINISHING EACH OTHER’S SENTENCES. but also, this is a delicate mission Juan’s been dispatched on—sent to Naples to woo Jofre’s bride—and i am l i v i n g as I watch Cesare & Lucrezia bond over their low opinion of Juan’s diplomatic mettle. it reminds me of that scene in S2E1 during the masquerade ball when Lucrezia asks Cesare if he can make her laugh, and IMMEDIATELY he causes Juan (who is dancing) to take a humiliating stumble and then Lucrezia & Cesare choke back giggles behind their masks. What’s great about returning to Rome is we get to see them interact with the rest of their family. The Pope is wroth with Cesare for staying so long away and for ignoring his summonses, but Cesare tells him the truth—that Lucrezia needed him:

“Your daughter, Holy Father, could wring concessions out of a saint, and I am anything but that.”

The audacity!! Cesare straight up confessed to fucking the Pope’s daughter but he said it flippantly, so Alexander heard what he wanted to hear.

Then there’s Giulia, who takes one look at Lucrezia and detects the glow of first love. Lucrezia fobs her off with the same story of a clandestine lover, assignations in the woods, etc.:

“Swear to me that you will not repeat what I have said.” “To your father? I already promised that.” “To anyone! … Father would separate us. Juan would kill him. If my husband discovered it …” Lucrezia shuddered. “That would indeed be a disaster,” Giulia said, “but I think you have forgotten someone, Lucrezia.” “What do you mean?” She touched Lucrezia's face. “Your brother Cesare.” Lucrezia absolutely froze.

BWAHAHAHA and then Lucrezia scrambles to convince Giulia that her secret is that Cesare is discreetly facilitating her affair, rather than the far more salacious secret that Cesare is her affair.

“Men,” Giulia said carefully, “say many things, Lucrezia.” “Other men,” said Lucrezia …. The very idea that Cesare might not love her!

And of course Lucrezia is in a v unique situation here but it is the lot of highborn girls in Renaissance Europe to be bartered off to seal an alliance; Lucrezia was raised to expect it. She did no more than her duty. She also recognizes the balance of power is never going to be in her favor when it comes to matters of the heart. With one notable exception, of course:

But Lucrezia had never shown the slightest inclination to guard herself from him. I love you, she’d said as soon as she could babble out the words, clambering into his lap, wrapping her arms about his neck, toddling after him, I love you best, I love you most. And now she declared herself dozens of times a day, in word or deed: whispering into his ear, laughing at his side, crawling into his arms when she could and watching him with a greedy, possessive look when she could not.

Cesare is the only one she trusts to never hurt her, whose interests are always aligned with hers, are never opposed to her family’s since Cesare is her family. The only wrinkle is, he can’t protect her adequately as he promised to. Cesare reflects that if the truth about the incest ever came out “he would be lucky to escape with excommunication, while Giovanni Sforza could violate her nightly and nobody would say a word.” The unjustness of this, the way patriarchy arrays itself in Sforza’s defense, galls Cesare to no end.

Another person who comes into their orbit in Rome is Jofre’s new bride, Sancia of Aragon. It’s historical canon that she slept with both Juan and Cesare; in this fic of course Cesare/Lucrezia are exclusive. Lucrezia can’t decide whether Sancia is predatory (she wants to bang Cesare) or suspicious (she has a hunch Cesare is banging Lucrezia). Either way:

Lucrezia wanted Sancia dead, or disfigured, or shamed--and she wanted her to leave happily with Jofrè--and she wanted Juan to take her away, to satisfy her with some kind of discretion--and for one mad moment, Lucrezia wanted everyone to know what Cesare was to her.

Sancia and Juan, by the way, conduct an outrageously indiscreet affair where their lovemaking is so obnoxious it keeps Lucrezia up at night. She does what she always does when she seeks solace: she crawls into Cesare’s bed. They’re young, they’re honry, they’re in love … but the sound of Juan pounding away at Sancia definitively kills the mood. Lmao. The next morning at breakfast Cesare & Lucrezia lay their complaints before Alexander, who gives Cesare a cardinal’s palace to live in and bids him take Lucrezia with him. So now the two of them move out of the papal palace into their very own palace. I mean, the possibilities are endless! Here is a gem from Sancia and Juan’s pillowtalk, where Juan’s assessment is simultaneously hilariously off base and 100% accurate:

“Cesare has always been a sanctimonious prude, if you ask me. At any rate, Lucrezia says he's having a fit of celibacy.” “Lucrezia?” Sancia said, nearly laughing. “What, he tells her about his—?” Juan snorted. “They probably tell each other about their bowel movements.”

Some of my favorite moments from this “Cesare + Lucrezia keeping house together” idyll: She visits him in the confessional, they hold a lengthy strategy conference about Sancia’s divided loyalties, and he wraps up with:

“Have you any other sins to confess?” “No … Well, I am guilty of the sin of lust, but you knew that already.”

LOOOOOL and how could I forget this:

She always wanted him: when he approached her, when he touched her, looked at her, when she thought of him, when someone mentioned his name.

I give you my main bitch Lucrezia Borgia, who fantasizes about being rawed by her brother WHENEVER SOMEONE MENTIONS HIS NAME. We stan a bona fide legend.

Ok so among the people they encounter in Rome are their cousins Isabel and Bernardo, who are also Borgias, and who independently unravel the truth re: Cesare & Lucrezia, which means that we get not one but two Outsider POVs which means I have probably died and gone to heaven. My friends TONIGHT WE FEAST IN VALHALLA. Ain’t nothing I love more than an Outsider POV angle on an incestuous romance, and in this case we are truly blessed because we get two. This is Bernardo as he listens to Cesare wax lyrical about his new paramour:

Yet Bernardo heard none of the wild passion or simpering folly of men in the throes of infatuation; Cesare looked and sounded less like a newly enthralled lover, and more like a man speaking of someone he knew well and liked a great deal. Bernardo felt a flicker of alarm.

Bruh you’re supposed to talk about your mistress’s tits not her personality clearly Cesare did not get the memo?? And this is Bernardo when the pieces finally click into place for him—he walks in on Lucrezia dyeing her hair:

A Spaniard, very fair? By nature? No, Cesare had said, half-laughing, and even then Bernardo caught the odd shift in his tone, from the adoration of a lover to an easy, familiar affection. And he remembered Cesare, indignant even for a young man in the throes of infatuation. She is not my mistress!

It’s the vehemence with which he denies it, the “not my mistress” part, that gives Cesare away. Because she’s not; she’s his everything. Bernardo cannot seem to wrap his head around how they can be both siblings and soulmates, since for him there is just no overlap between those categories:

Cesare certainly looked and sounded more brother than forbidden paramour. That, in itself, troubled him; if they had rejected the fact of their blood relationship in pursuit of their lusts, convinced themselves that they did not truly feel themselves family, pretended to be something other than what they were—well, that would have been bad enough. But they did not pretend. They acted less as if they willfully transgressed the boundary between siblings and lovers, and more as if they utterly failed to notice its existence.

Cesare and Lucrezia glanced at each other, their conspiratorial smiles alarmingly familiar. He’d seen those exact expressions on their faces before, dozens if not hundreds of times. They’d always had secrets, their little schemes and confidences, childish mischief. And now—what? Deeper secrets, more convoluted schemes, more dangerous mischief. Was that it? Did they lie together and think it little different from the rest?—altered in degree, but not kind? Did they … when had catapulting oranges at the unwary become a hidden incestuous affair?

This is Bernardo watching Cesare & Lucrezia argue about who “made the first move” as far as initiating their relationship:

he knew not whether he was witnessing a lovers’ quarrel or a sibling one. He felt uncomfortably that, subject aside, it sounded very much more like the latter.

I think part of Bernardo’s difficulty is the way patriarchy teaches men to think about women, and treat them as means to an end:

There were, after all, other ways to avoid a pregnancy—though in his experience of eighteen-year-old boys, they did not bother with such things, and rarely thought that far in the first place. But then, in his experience of eighteen-year-old boys, they did not fuck their sisters, either.

Because eighteen-year-old boys are typically in lust whereas Cesare Borgia has found the love of his life. Can we also take a moment to appreciate that Cesare and Lucrezia are eighteen and fourteen respectively?? This must be their canon ages. They’re not even fetuses they’re like, homunculi. I won’t bother to look it up since this author clearly has forgotten more details about the Borgias than I ever knew—as God is my witness I would take her footnotes with me to a desert island over 80% of the other fics in existence. Holliday Grainger was 22 when The Borgias started filming, and Isolde Dychauk was 17 in S1 of Borgia, and of course we’re used to Hollywood giving us thirty-year-olds playing high schoolers so it’s not as if Lucrezia’s been aged up an unconscionable amount, but wow, fourteen is young.

Isabel and Bernardo have another sister, Jeromina, whose husband’s neglect is indirectly responsible for her death in childbed. Lucrezia holds up poor Jeromina’s fate as a cautionary tale of what can happen to any woman who lacks a male protector in her corner:

”We are not speaking of Jeromina.” “Indeed not. Her brother never came for her.”

Shots fired!!! This is Lucrezia’s implied rebuke to Bernardo: that he wasn’t there for Jeromina, that Lucrezia’s own brother would never have let her down as Bernardo let Jeromina down. Later on Lucrezia even locates the origins of her incestuous passion in the same system that killed Jeromina—she describes loving Cesare thusly:

“Something I chose, for myself,” said Lucrezia. “Everything else has been chosen for me”

Excuse me while I emit a series of high-pitched pterodactyl noises. It’s a subject the fic touches on very lightly, but the topic of aristocratic girls falling in love with their brothers as a big middle finger to The Patriarchy? This is a topic NEAR AND DEAR to my heart.

Isabel is a woman and sees more clearly than Bernardo does that Cesare & Lucrezia’s attachment is not mere puppy love:

Nor did she believe that a passion built on lifelong intimacy would be easily broken.

Damn straight, this is the real deal. Isabel then takes a different tack—she suggests that Lucrezia is at an age where girls itch to exercise their power over men. Lucrezia grants her the justice of this observation but counters that she’d never use Cesare so ill:

“Do you mean to say that your distress was such that you would have seduced any man who cared for you? You chose your brother because … he was there?” ”I could not have seduced a satyr. Cesare desired me as I did him.”

I COULD NOT HAVE SEDUCED A SATYR lmao. But it’s true, she was bruised body and soul, and Cesare rode up like a white knight and the dam burst. It wasn’t inevitable, but a confluence of events forced them to reckon with their feelings. And once they crossed that Rubicon there was of course no going back. Because they fit and they’re perfect for each other obvs. Just look at my babies reminiscing about childhood hijinks:

“The night that Juan switched your glass with Mother’s,” said Cesare, “You were what, nine?” Lucrezia stared at him, then laughed. “Ten. I spent a wretched night, and morning too. What made you think of it?” “Only that we have shared every part of our lives,” he said. “There is nothing to hide or pretend. We already know everything there is to know.”

otpotpotpotpotpotpotpotpotp

I need to quote a few more Bernardo POV passages because that’s where Cesare gives us some declarations of love worthy of the ages:

”I cannot remember a time when I did not love her above all else. Above the family, the world, God. I remember nothing of any time when I have not lived for her, when I would not die for her.”

“Some degree of remorse would not go amiss.” “I regret nothing,” said Cesare. “And your—” Bernardo shook his head. “What do I even call her now?” “My sister,” Cesare replied.

tl;dr Cesare: I HAVE ZERO REGRETS NONE

“Tell me that somewhere in Italy, or Spain, or any other nation, exists a woman I could love as I have loved Lucrezia. Tell me that there is a woman who could understand me half as well as she does. A woman who would know me as I am, and not as the world or my father or anyone would shape me. A woman who would see my true nature without fear—see the mark on it—share it. Look me in the eye, Bernardo, and tell me there is any woman who is so much my own soul.”

If you don’t ship them after that speech then your mom’s a hoe, I don’t make the rules.

Cesare: I am sanctified in her.

Bernardo:

Narrator: Bernardo hardly knew where to look.

Me: ascends to a higher plane

Bernardo eventually comes around. He’s had longer than Isabel to adjust to the incest revelation, so he tries to soften the blow for her. This is the two of them comparing notes:

”The last time I saw them together, Cesare had his hand on his dagger half the time, and then they started arguing about which one of them was the more responsible, as if they’d stolen a pastry. He laughs about her hair. Outside of themselves, they treat the whole matter as a … a lark.” This aligned so exactly with Cesare and Lucrezia as Isabel knew them that she winced. Nevertheless, her dry voice didn’t alter. “How uncivil. They might at least have the courtesy to pretend that they regard the change as a matter of gravity.” “They don’t think they have changed,” he replied.

THEY DON’T THINK THEY HAVE CHANGED— winner winner chicken dinner. Finally he gets it.

So there is this ring. A family heirloom which belonged to their grandfather, which Lucrezia inherits from poor died-in-childbed Jeromina, and recklessly bestows upon Cesare. This is the visible token of her affection, this is her way of letting the whole world know what he means to her. The problem is that Isabel is the one who disbursed Jeromina’s effects, so she knows full well the provenance of the ring in question, and what it signifies that Lucrezia gave it to Cesare. Subtlety, these kids do not have it. Cesare openly wearing the ring clues Isabel in on the incest, which is maybe not the worst result ever because family is still family but damn kids you gotta be more careful. What happens next, though, is a scene that absolutely wrecked me. We get a a scene where they EXCHANGE RINGS:

“Isabel gave it to me.” Lucrezia clasped her fingers in her lap. “For my husband.” “Do you remember what I studied at Pisa?” “Civil and canon law.” “Yes.” His voice was hoarse. “Did you know that if a man and a woman consent together, the ring and vows alone bind them in marriage? The Church does not wish for unblessed marriages, but by precedent and decree, they are marriages nonetheless.” His cardinal ring rested still in her palm. Cesare closed her fingers over it. “Alexander III declared that if the parties concerned say I receive you as mine to one another, they are married as solemnly as if blessed by a priest.”

So he gives her his cardinal’s ring to wear. And when his father notes its absence on his finger he straight up admits Lucrezia made off with it, you know how i can’t deny her anything, and the dinner table conversation turns to another topic. Because Cesare & Lucrezia are apparently just Like That and everyone who knows them is used to it. For pete’s sake they are supposed to be the well-adjusted ones among the Pope’s children. Every other member of this family is further along the disaster spectrum than these two, according to Isabel’s internal monologue:

Cesare and Lucrezia, those oases of sense and proper feeling among Alexander’s children, committing incest. Adultery too, now that she thought of it. Perhaps. It depended on the particulars.

Adultery is almost an afterthought lol

Parenthetically I do wanna draw y’all’s attention to this passage:

“I will kill him. I swear to you, Lucrezia, I shall carve his heart out of his body and give it to you on a platter.” Lucrezia put a hand over his chest. “I don’t want his heart,” she said. “I want yours.”

The above passage has the same energy as this passage:

One night she had Jaime follow him, to confirm her suspicions. When her brother returned he asked her if she wanted Robert dead. "No," she had replied, "I want him horned." She liked to think that was the night when Joffrey was conceived.

That’s a Cersei POV and the thing about looking at Cesare/Lucrezia and Cersei/Jaime parallels is I feel like the former is usually more sinned against than sinning, and the latter is the opposite. Cersei doesn’t want Jaime, she wants Robert cuckolded, she wants to Show Them that she’s Lord Tywin’s daughter and nobody gets away with disrespecting her. Idk maybe it would have read differently if we’d had the same events from Jaime’s POV?

I realize that you guys don’t need any more reasons to love this fic but I want to end with the scene where Cesare’s gearing up to challenge Count What’s-His-Face, Ursula’s dumbass husband, for the insupportable insult he gave Vanozza at Lucrezia’s wedding. One thing I appreciate about Showtime!The Borgias over Canal+!Borgia is this Cesare’s relationship with his mom is much closer than his counterpart’s. His willingness to fight a duel for his mother’s honor demonstrates (1) that his sister isn’t the only woman he cares about and (2) that he puts his family first. Lucrezia’s “Return to me victorious” still slaps more than any line in actual canon, don’t @ me. In that moment, he could have slain Mars. “I will,” he promises her.

 If I don’t burn

                      if you don’t burn

                                                if we don’t burn

how will the light 

                             vanquish the darkness?

That’s Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet writing about a folk hero who spontaneously combusted of love. In conclusion no one burns brighter than Cesare & Lucrezia, the actual loves of my life.

#cesare x lucrezia #Borgiacest #fic rec #cause of death

[neatoburrito12threeto]

    General Characteristics Name: Caroline Other Names: Carrie, Carol, Care-bear, Teeth Titles: Bonecruncher, Lurker Beneath Beds, Closetborn, Worm Scout 3rd rank Theme Song: Dancing in the dark     Personal Characteristics Birth Date: March 4th 1995, though time moves differently Behind the world Birth Place: The Pool of Nightmares in the Realm Behind the closet of The Anderson House Hometown: The Valley of Tears, The Realms Behind and The Places Beneath, overlapping roughly with Chesterfield, NV Death Date: April 3rd 2026 Age at Death: 23 Death Place: The Anderson House Resting Place: The Worm Pit, like a true scout Manner of Death: lethal altercation with a teddy bear Last Words: I’m not scared of you Primary Objective: Be the greatest Worm Scout in a hundred generations, rivaling her great-grandmother Katrin Secondary Objectives: win Marcus Dollkiller’s respect, admiration, and romantic interest (one at a time, in that order), bake the perfect cookie Desires: (eventually) settle down and raise a family, finally consume the Anderson child rather than just subsisting on nightmares Secrets: Marcus Dollkiller’s name-title is a lie, Mary-Anne Buttons yet lives. Quirks: sometimes thinks out loud, fidgets with braids

    Mental Characteristics Known Languages: Underspeak, Behind-English, Behind-Navajo Lures: Risk, glory Savvies: Baking, scouting, stealth, wilderness survival Ineptitudes: Math, Knitting Temperament: Sanguine Hobbies:baking, acting, teaching     Intellectual Characteristics Logical-Mathematical: Pretty rational, doesn’t understand numbers, and sometimes makes leaps to conclusions  Spatial: pretty visual thinker Linguistic:not good with words

Bodily-Kinesthetic: often clumsy, but can be extraordinarily precise when she’s fully focused

Musical: No musician

Interpersonal: Charming, but doesn’t fully understand people Intrapersonal: One-track mind, doesn’t often examine her goals Naturalistic: Hecka good naturalistic intelligence, can identify flowers and mushrooms, find trails, all kinds of stuff Existential: pretty one-track, pragmatic thinker, not much time for metaphysical questions     Philosophical Characteristics Morality: fairly standard Monster Morality (doesn’t examine the morality behind eating or terrorizing human children, dolls and stuffed animals are pure evil,Etc.) cares a lot about “scout values” like honesty, dependability and compassion  Perception: Optimist     Spiritual Characteristics Religion: A sworn disciple of the Worm-mother, a religious Worm Scout Superstitions: Cats have nine lives, and eating them will give you this power, knocks on wood after saying something that “tempts fate” Virtues: Charity, Diligence, Kindness Vices: Pride, Envy     Supernatural Characteristics Abilities: as a monster, she can move between the world and the Realms Behind, on a more individual level, she can smell with the clarity of sight and has very powerful jaw muscles, powerful enough to snap bones or break wood Strengths: good tracker Weaknesses: loud noises, powerful smells Restrictions: can only cross at crossover points (beneath beds, basements, closets, etc.)     Likes and Dislikes Likes: having her plans listened to, baking, cookies, eating, teaching people Dislikes: being ignored, being questioned when in a position of authority, squeaky sounds     Apparel Equipment: scout supply bag Wardrobe: as a monster, Caroline only wears clothes for formal occasions. One such formal garment is her Scout’s sash, a memorial of all she has done for the Worm Scouts. It is her most prized possession. She would die before letting it be harmed. Otherwise, she tends to keep her outfits drab and practical, despite their formal nature.     Social Characteristics Emotional Stability: She tends to bounce back from all but the most serious trauma, and is very good at keeping her composure in stressful situations

Humor: bad puns. SO MANY BAD PUNS. Reputation: helpful and reliable, but stubborn and naive, her fellow 3rd ranks tend to think of her as a bit of a kid Status: She invites them to enough parties that most people feel kind of obligated to come to some of them. That said, she does have a few sincere close friends     School and Work Education: Worm Scout, 3rd rank School: Taught personally by Mother Felicity Knifeclaw, 5th rank Study Habits: studies often, life is a journey, and  knowing is half the battle Learning Type: Visual and Kinesthetic learner Occupation: Worm Scout, 3rd rank Boss: Marcus Dollkiller, 7th rank Work Schedule: Nightly, no weekends, holidays and birthdays off Income: She is a Worm Scout, a guardian and guide of the Valley of Tears and of monsters everywhere, not some paltry glow-farmer (not that glow-farming isn’t a valid and important profession)! She is payed in hospitality, generosity, and status, rather than currency.     Interpersonal Connections Immediate Family: Her father, Jordan, her mother Katie, and her younger sister Jess Close Relatives: Her cousin Amanda, her Grandfather Justinim, her dearly departed grandmother Kairryn Bloodscream, her grandmother Cat Katrinborn and her grandfather Thorniel Distant Relatives: her great-aunts Ash and Yew Katrinborn Ancestors: her great-grandmother Katrin Houseburner, Katrin Bloodletter, Katrin Who Made Nightmares Come True, 10th rank, the rank known as Wormsister, who was the most recent 10th rank out of only 9 in recorded history, and who died, or perhaps became one with the Worm-Mother, almost a century before Caroline was born                                                                                                  Allies: The Worm Scouts                

Enemies: The Plushguard

Followers: some of her teaching-group of younglings, all of whom look up to her Friends: Cynthie and Barold, two of her group Heroes: The 10th ranks Pets: An un-dog named Bryan Rivals: Marcus Dollkiller     Physical Characteristics Height: 8′1 Weight: 300 Nationality/Species: Monster Skin/Fur Color: Red Hair Color: Chestnut Hair Length: long Eye Color: No Eyes Scars: 1 across her mouth  Tattoos and Piercings: none Locomotion: (Plantigrade, digitigrade, or unguligrade)     Health and Fitness Handicaps: Blind     Sexual Characteristics Gender: Female Orientation: Hetero Significant Other: None currently, Crush on Marcus        Personality Anima: Determined, unflinching, willing to go to great lengths to achieve her goals Persona: Upbeat, kind         

#OC #character sheet #original character #monster #my art

[erenthecoordinate]

Fate of Friendships aka will Eren have any friends in the end?

As the new chapter creeps closer, I had some floating thoughts regarding the fate of Eren’s friendships.  Considering his problematic behavior and his friends either uncertain whether or not to trust him (or outright surrendering that hope), it’s no wonder much of the fandom are on different sides when theorizing whether these bonds will last at all, even if Eren is found to be doing something beneficial for humanity-- perhaps turning on Zeke in the process.

After all this chaos, bloodshed, and lies, will anyone forgive Eren and remain at his side?

My guess: Yes, I believe that the 104th and Survey Corps will be able to forgive Eren to an extent.  I don’t believe it is going to be a very heartwarming nor fast forgiveness and it won’t be without its damages to their friendship.  They may not trust him the same way again.  They may not be as close as they were before, either.  Still, I think that at the very least they will believe that Eren’s intentions, if they are for the benefit of humanity after all, will include Eren’s care for his friends.

Of course, even if the benefits outweigh the losses, it will also depend on his participation in the plan and why he ultimately decided to keep them in the dark about it.  They may feel hurt that he wasn’t able to trust them with the information.  They may understand if he was put into a position that requires him to not talk about the plan to anyone, his allies and friends especially.  They may be frustrated if he willingly decided to remain quiet and not reassure them that he is, at the very least, on their side.  The hurtful words he has flinged at Armin and Mikasa especially will leave a lasting sting.  For the moment, there is no reason for it, other than Jean assuming that the “real” Eren wouldn’t have done all this without explanation.

I think ultimately they will support Eren in the end.  I’ve said before that people like Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and Levi have expressed enough faith in Eren that his current actions has them suspicious of whether they are genuine or, in some cases, outright deny that Eren has turned on humanity.  For the moment, the bit of knowledge they know is that Yelena and Zeke plan to enact mass sterilization, threaten the rumbling upon enemy nations, and pass down the coordinate and titanizing the royal bloodline for several generations.  The race will not have to suffer in existence anymore. 

But, of course, history shows that Eren is very much opposing of the later parts of this plan and his ideals align differently from believing the race’s freedom is in death.  On the contrary, life itself is one’s freedom.  So much as being born just to be fated to die, without a guarantee or prioritization of a free life, is unbearable to him.  So I believe with this knowledge, his friends are already doubtful of his loyalty to those two.

That said, he still hurt them, and I don’t think things will ever go back to the way they were.  I do think there is a possibility there will be distance between them and Eren, albeit not a hostile one, but more on the matter of drifting far without completely disconnecting.  This has already been foreshadowed and outright written in interview regarding Armin and Eren’s relationship, and Mikasa’s bond to Eren won’t be dictating her choice to settle.  Eren, being a restless soul, may be unable to stay in one place, so physically they may be less interactive, but emotionally they will still care about one another and support their endgame endeavors.  

And I think it’s very necessary in their friendship, given they have supported each other so strongly and dependently that separated they become weaker or lost.  We see this presently with Armin and Mikasa unsure when Eren questions their will—their very identities have been challenged—and they are dormant and vulnerable (doesn’t help they were taken away and put behind bars, but the looks they give appear ones of diminishing hope).  Eren has acted as the heart of the trio, but it’s perhaps a development that requires them to dig into their own soul and depend less on each other for strength and strategy, and more on themselves.  And I believe the climax will push their inner ambitions forward and will be the determining factor to split them a bit further from each other to work on themselves, as individuals.  But again, I don’t think this means they’ll hate each other, just that they would probably act more like distant friends with less in common and prefer to pursue their own goals rather than be attached at the hip.

In the end, Eren is destined to be apart.  This doesn’t necessarily mean a lost friendship, but bonds will be more fluid.  In a way, more free.

I know this all sounds like a cliché way to go about it, but I’m used to series with tight-knit friendships remaining intact like they were in the beginning.  And as much as I would personally like a big “I trust my friends” moment, if that were to ever come, it’s likely that things will not remain the same.  The lesson here will be that drifting apart is common and often healthy when maintaining friendships, especially friendships that have gone through multiple trying developments.  Even a dystopian, war-infested universe that needs camaraderie, childhood friendships will still undergo trials that change them forever.  And it’s not necessarily a detrimental thing.

Besides...it’s not like they have much of a choice but to at least side with Eren in his fight against Marley, if they end up participating.  As they are under attack, it is either stubbornly remain vulnerable or support their biggest powerhouse.  The idea that their complicated feelings for Eren will prevent them from even wanting to assist defending their homeland is outrageously ill-thought out.

#eren yeager #armin arlert #mikasa ackerman #jean kirstein #snk meta #meta #theory #analysis #mypost #this applies to the entire squad along with armin and mikasa too

[theonyxpath]

Hey folks! Chris Allen here; today, I’m bringing with me a bit of bonus content originally cut from The Pack, the first supplement for Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition.

When we were developing how Lodges would work in 2nd Edition, one of the core concepts I wanted to push was the idea that Lodges are cults. They’re weird groups of weird people doing weird things; they’re transgressive because those transgressions bond the adherents together and often give real power, and they’re secretive because they don’t want outsiders to know about those transgressions. They practice odd traditions and perform strange acts to strengthen the mystic power of the Lodge and its totem.

In order to really demonstrate this in practice, I wrote up a set of “Mysteries” for each of the sample Lodges in the book. These were going to replace the story hooks — indeed, you’ll see where some of the story hooks were repurposed for the Mysteries format — and serve as a direct presentation of the ways each particular Lodge was blasphemous, transgressive, tight-knit, or just plain odd. In the end, we kept with the story hooks format that was published due to a lack of time to insert the new Mysteries approach, but I kept the cut material and I’m glad to now be able to share it with you.

Ultimately, Lodge Mysteries best represent my vision for how to get across the nature of each of these Lodges, detailing the practices and mystic secrets that fuel rumors and suspicion among the uninitiated.

The Lodge of Garm: Mysteries of the God-Killers

The cult rejects the second tenet of the Oath of the Moon, the People do not murder the People. The Lodge believes the tenet is false doctrine spread and encouraged by a corrupt faction among the Lunes. Garm has bestowed the adherents with true wisdom — killing other Uratha can be righteous.

Garmir harvest slain Pure elders to make grisly trophies. The cult believes these steal the power the Pure Firstborn have invested in their Anshega champions. On the first hunter’s moon of the year, cultists gather and offer a tithe of such trophies to the sand-fleshed wolf spirits that serve Garm. Garm demands captive Pure elders are also offered up as sacrifices, usually by being burnt alive.

Fierce wolves and dogs guard cult property or accompany Lodge warriors. The cult feeds the flesh of fallen Pure enemies to the beasts in the belief that the canines thus steal the Anshega totems’ strength. When the animals perish, the Lodge consumes the bodies in bloody ceremonies.

To repay loyal spirits of strife or destruction, Garm orders Lodge cells to stir up conflict amongst mortal communities. His wolf-servants of sand and hieroglyphs judge disobedient cultists harshly, but sometimes gift successful cells with fetish weapons wrought from wolf-teeth and bronze.

The Lodge guards two secret forms of the written First Tongue, one a runic script and the other in hieroglyphs. The cult believes the runes and glyphs hold special power over wolf spirits and Uratha ancestor spirits. Garmir uses these sacred scripts to call and bind ancestral spirits of their enemies, denying the Pure their allies. Trapped spirits undergo terrible torments and inquisitions by the God-Killer’s brood.

The Thousand Steel Teeth: Mysteries of the Steel Teeth

Humanity owes the roads a debt; the spirit courts are eager to collect in blood on the asphalt. The Steel Teeth fight that ravenous appetite, chaining the road spirits with pacts to enforce restraint. They let the spirits collect only a small tithe of lives through accidents and deaths.

The spirits cause accidents as part of the tithe. When a driver survives through sheer luck or supernatural intervention, it weakens the pacts. The Smoke Drinker reaches through car radios and the pattern of raindrops on windscreens to its adherents when this happens, setting them on the hunt of the hapless survivors — and any entities responsible for causing the upset.

A gear dog who dies well on the high-speed hunt, perishing amidst hurtling metal and spraying gasoline and the scream of air rushing past, is her own offering to the road courts — forcing them to accept her blood in place of a thousand human lives.

When the phases of the moon and the stock market prices of the big car manufacturers align, it is time for the sacred Hecatomb. In these wild celebrations, one hundred cars must burn in a grand sacrifice to the Smoke Drinker — a night of thievery and high-speed chases as the Steel Teeth compete for the finest rides they can steal.

Cultists perform the iziga to repent after sinning through breaking Oath or ban or whatever minor traffic law the totem has declared sacrosanct. In this fiery ritual, adherents paint sigils of repentance on their flesh in oil or gasoline then set them alight, searing the sin away.

The guhkharraan is a holy pilgrimage of roads. A cultist seeking revelation or spiritual harmony begins with naught but the clothes on her back, eats only what she can glean from the roadside and listens to the oracular whispers of the spirits of road and fume. Some find hallucinatory revelation at the end of their journeys.

The Lodge of the Screaming Moon: Mysteries of the Screaming Moon

All banshees practice the kilisu-zithu, the ritual girding before the sacred hunt. The adherent wears terrifying trophies taken from her own kills; the bloodier and messier and the more screaming there was, the richer the resonance of fear. The Tyrant’s allied spirits pay honor to cultists with the most terrifying kilisu-zithu.

The Lodge sometimes kidnaps humans who possess second sight or psychic powers. The cult subjects such a hapless victim to endless terrors and maddening torments, aiming to drive him insane. Adherents believe this strengthens and purifies the prophetic power of such a lunatic visionary, and it links the victim to other such madmen held by the banshees across the world.

Several times a year, adherents secretly gather beneath the new moon. They share their darkest and most important secrets and perform the ihinudu iduth. In this ceremony, an Ithaeur and Cahalith each have an eye put out, which they crush and then smear the gory result on the eyelids of the other cultists. This sacrifice conceals the Lodge totem’s nature as a Lune from those who would pry, unleashing madness or blinding infections on fools delving into the cult’s secrets.

Banshees collect the paraphernalia and remains of famous human murderers and serial killers. The Lodge builds eldritch shrines with these morbid relics, not in praise but as lures for copycats, full-fledged slashers and even stranger horrors all drawn to the shrines like iron filings to a lodestone. This provides fresh prey for cultists, and also creates potent resonance to feed the spiritual vassals of the Tyrant Over Fear.

The Lodge totem can see out of any white mask that an adherent wears, if it chooses to pay attention to that Uratha and the cultist has not broken the Lodge ban in the last year. During the gibbous moon, the Tyrant can do far more than that — it can use its spiritual powers through such a mask or even manifest part or all of its body, although this takes a heavy toll on the Lune.

The Temple of Apollo: Mysteries of the Sun

The Thebans possess several omphalos stones — fragments of carved stone pulsing with spiritual power. The cult believes these are from a major manifestation of Apollo in the distant past. Lodge elders have tried to tap into these stones to become an avatar of the Sun Wolf, but every elder who has thus far tried has perished.

The Temple of Apollo murders humans for oracular purposes as well as to feed the Sun Wolf. The pack uses simple auguries to select victims, who they abduct and drug with a concoction of poisons and Essence. The dying victim falls to hallucination and gibbers glossolalia, which the Thebans interpret. This ceremony serves as an extremely powerful form of the Read the World’s Loom Facet from the Insight Gift, although it takes at least an hour to decipher the ravings.

Spirits of the hyacinth plant are either close allies or rabid foes of the Temple. Thebans anoint human sacrifices with extracts of the plant as it has the favor of the Sun Wolf. Furthermore, anointing the animated dead with hyacinth allows Thebans to vomit a blazing soul out of their Lodge bond in a reverse of the sacred hunt, turning the undead into a Ridden bound to a twisted, distorted helion spirit.

Over the years, the Shadow of the temples slowly develops and deepens. Repeated Apollonian ceremonies and rites reinforce the Hisil, imbuing it with resonance of the sun. The oldest temples have sizeable Places-That-Aren’t, strange sunlit structures of mirrors and marble.

Meetings of the Culte de la Raison are often debauched and orgiastic, but the Temple carefully manages these evenings of vice to feed various allied spirits of vices and pleasure. The Temple also holds Lyceum meetings, when Culte members judged to have the greatest occult aptitude join an “inner circle” — the pack — and learn to participate in rites. The Masters of the Culte are all loyal Claimed, picked from the inner circle and subjected to ecstatic ceremonies to prepare them as vessels.

The Eaters of the Dead: Mysteries of the Ravening Wolf

The Eaters of the Dead keep several old spirits of hunger sealed away. Ritual feasts of gluttonous consumption occur at times and dates suited to the nature of each spirit, usually banquets of putrid meat and stale cast-offs. The Essence generated keeps the spirits in quiescent slumber.

Some Lodge hunters exsanguinate their undead prey, decanting the stolen blood from fanged corpses or ravenous monstrosities. Hidden temples to Ravening Wolf have galleries of clotted gore. Through smell and taste, the Ki Anagh learn many secrets of the unquiet dead. The Eaters are mapping bloodlines and ‘families’ amongst the dead, revealing fresh mysteries to investigate.

There is a schism in the ranks of the Lodge. Some Eaters favor close ties to the Lodge of Death; Chinese emissaries of the Lodge are offering alliance. Other cultists flock to a different banner — the Tesfurfarrahu, or Devourers. The Devourers are a small cabal claiming to have proof of an old, powerful pact that bound Isim-Ur, though she does not remember this. Devourer doctrine states there are other dead children of Mother Wolf that the Lodge must discover and devour as a holy duty, just like with Ravening Wolf.

Ravening Wolf is powerful and very much present; she runs among her new followers on hunts through the Shadow. She is looking for a mate among her adherents, a werewolf with enough primal power to survive her affections and begin a new spiritual family. Suitors court the totem with trophies and rotting carrion from their kills.

At Ravening Wolf’s command, the Lodge takes young orphans and conducts strange ceremonies over them, even going so far as to kidnap them from state custody briefly. In these cult rituals, the children are fed a drip of Isim-Ur’s blood or a fleck of her spirit-flesh. The totem promises that one day, when this crop of orphans comes of age, they will be powerful Wolf-Blooded fated for great things.

#Onyx Path Publishing