#I mostly only care about the elves is what I'm saying. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rae-and-mezo · 1 year

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Can you do when yn treats the house elves like their her children and the boys (ominis,sebastian, gareth,and amit) or the girls (poppy,natt,imelda, and Anne) get jealous or you can put whatever reaction!😊 please do this I'm begging 😭

A/n: I love this!! Some of them are shorter because I didn't know how to expand on their general opinion. I tried so hard to not repeat myself!

Characters: Sebastian Sallow, Ominis Gaunt, Garreth Weasley, Amit Thakkar, Poppy Sweeting, Natty Onai, Imelda Reyes, Anne Sallow

Sebastian:

Honestly, he's kind of annoyed.

Like the treatment of Elves is infuriating, sure, and he agrees with being kind obviously. But do you really have to cancel a date because Ticky the Elf wants to perform a dance for you?

And why do THEY get forehead kisses every day and he only gets them when he's sitting down? Maybe it's because he's just tall but HEY.

At first the elves are scared of him, and he hates it. He goes out of his way to show he means no harm but didn't intend to get roped into the mess.

Why do they want him to come see the room MC had them decorate in the room of requirement?

Why the hell is one asking him what MC prefers: Vanilla or Chocolate? They want to make her a cake? Okay...but he expects a piece.

Slowly he comes to love them as MC does, like a dad with a kitten.

Ominis:

My boy is...confused? But delighted.

The Gaunts had a house elf! Her name was Cinder, and she was more like a mother than Mrs. Gaunt. He always treated her with utmost respect and the way his parents treated her made him sick to his stomach.

His whole Hogwarts career he has tried to be very polite to the elves, letting them know someone cares.

And when you show him your army of elf friends, he is delighted!!

Asks them all their names and some more general questions.

One of them learned a new song or something of the like? He is listening with a patient smile on his face even though it is the worst thing he has ever heard.

They don't really understand his blindness actually. They're supporting but ask him tons of questions. I think Ominis would really like educating them about how he experiences the world as long as they aren't being patronizing.

He adores listening to you interact with the elves!!

He asks them so much advice and input on how to show Cinder he appreciates her. Like...does he give her a gift? Will this upset her? Is this too much?

Also, he remembers like everything. Tries too at least. You come into the common room late, telling him about how you were helping an Elf read a muggle book? He asks you if you've gotten to his favorite part. That particular elf tends to like the romance novels, and chapter nine is when the hero gets the girl.

In short, he loves the elves almost as much as you do!

Garreth:

He's so dumb. I love him.

Coming from a poorer family, Garreth had never seen a house elf until Hogwarts. They were strange creatures.

And then you have a whole crew?? Okay, but he wasn't expecting it.

He...he has trouble seeing them as sentient beings. I hate to say it, but he does! Of course, he respects all they do for the castle, but at first, he doesn't understand why you like them so much. He treats them not unlike a pet.

You tell them to be polite and introduce themselves, and he is so weirded out by each one introducing themselves and shaking his hand.

They pick up on his hesitation and come to you with their worries and after a lecture from you, Garreth is ready to try again. Reluctantly, but he is.

Is it possible to embarrass yourself in front of a house elf? If it is, Garreth does it. He's so scared of saying or doing something wrong that he ends up embarrassing the hell out of himself.

He grows to see them as they are: intelligent and sentient creatures that have a lot to offer. After a while he is comfortable enough to give them high fives in the hallway, or gift them things (mostly prank items, and then he has to teach them it is meant to be funny and not an attack-)

Amit:

He honestly has learned not to think twice about anything when it comes to you.

So, when you ask him to meet you in the room of requirement and you're surrounded by elves? A little strange, but it doesn't deter him from asking if you got all the notes down for DADA.

The elves scatter when he speaks, running to look like they are working. It surprises him, and even more so when you hush him as you coax them all out.

They do NOT like him at first because he comes at inconvenient times and how are they supposed to prepare you hot chocolate before bed when you're off looking at star charts??

And meanwhile poor Amit is working hard to get their seal of approval because anything you like he does too. It's very important to him!

Well one day they mention that they like the Gramaphone and the pretty music but the Gramaphone isn't working as of late. It gives you an idea, and now Amit is standing in front of a mini crowd playing his little violin heart out.

The elves kinda overwhelm him with how many there are and how needy they are to you, but it amazes him how you are so patient with them.

If there is a house elf language, he is learning it. Both to impress you and try to win over your little army.

Basically, he is slightly intimidated by the elves, but he loves you so he tries his best to get along with them. He definitely is no longer taking the food at dinner for granted, that's for sure.

Poppy:

She's so sweet.

At first, worries that the elves might have malicious intent because of how often they were pulling you away. But quickly she realized it wasn't the case.

The elves already adore her as she has always been incredibly sweet to them. Plus, in third year she saved a baby house elf which sparked her interest in them as more than servants.

She's more like their friend than parent, though, she thinks it's incredibly sweet how loving you are towards them.

Gets them ALL christmas presents. every single one. Doesn't tell you about it and holds you when you're overwhelmed by the kindness!

They will all follow her around, and she responds to every one of their jokes and makes sure she never leaves them out of conversation.

Makes funny faces at them from across the hall just like she would any other friend and it makes them feel welcomed.

After late nights in the vivarium, Poppy is dragging you to the kitchens. Even though you don't have to be dragged there. You two sit on the counter and recount your adventures to the elves while they busy themselves making you a snack. If there are dishes to be done she offers to help even if they decline.

Natty:

Always up for some adventure! Finds the elves fascinating honestly.

"Theoretically, if a master gives you a sock to wash, are you free? Can you choose your own clothes? Wait, if you can, are you allowed to shop for them? That would be so-" "Natty..." "Right, sorry."

She treats them like she would treat anybody else tbh. In her home country, she never had house elves and the concept of having someone thanklessly serving you makes her sick. So, she does her best to show her appreciation.

However, the elves will NOT take time she wants to spend with you away. They want to talk to you? Fine, but Natty is there too.

Tells you later how cute you are when you're interacting with something you love.

She gets the elves to help make you a GIANT Christmas present.

She and the elves see each other as equals and are friends!

Imelda:

Another jealous one. Omg.

Sure, elves are mistreated. It's wrong. But maybe they deserve to be kicked around a little when they KEEP YOU FROM QUIDDITCH PRACTICE!

Would never harm the elves or speak harm about them, but they have come to recognize her glare meaning "Hey, it's MY turn with my partner."

One elf in particular is pretty snippy and Imelda gets into fights with him almost every time they see each other.

Oh, the elves know to keep your broom in pristine condition. It seems to make you happy that it never needs work, and they have an agreement with Imelda. A polished, clean, and ready broom for your nightly rides means another hour where she doesn't come in and bother them.

She is NOT above coming into the kitchens just to annoy the house elves. They unfortunately know this.

Imelda would never ever see the house elves as anything less than what they are, but she doesn't hesitate to use her advantages.

She taught a group of the younger elves to swear. You still haven't quite forgiven her for it.

Anne:

I love Anne sm :)

Your relationship with the elves...doesn't surprise her in the slightest.

She doesn't understand, as Elves aren't anything special in her eyes. They're sentient creatures that have feelings and thoughts, just like humans do. Why would she treat them differently than anyone else?

The elves are very sweet, but c'mon. She was going to teach you to garden Hemlock without poisoning yourself!

Honestly, she doesn't mind that you baby them, but she definitely has sat you down and explained they don't need babied.

Admires you and how you treat them! Just doesn't understand it, that's all.

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ambrosiagourmet · 14 days

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Okay, I'm trying to firm up some thoughts about heteronormativity for the world of dunmeshi. We don't see any explicit homophobia (afaik???), and it's a little hard to separate real life heteronormativity from the potential in-universe kind, BUT there are a lot of the markers of gender roles and prejudices that often come with this stuff, and I want to dissect some of them.

DISCLAIMER I am painting with a broad brush here just to summarize what I've observed/what we know. Obviously all these races/cultures are going to have a variety of different subcultures within them and opinions/norms/laws/etc can vary a lot. No group is a monolith etc etc but this is a high level look at stuff.

Also I'd prefer people only reblog this if they are participating in the convo/adding something. This is for my reference and I'd rather it not spread much, at the moment. Thanks for understanding!

So... Laios and Falin had arranged marriages to a girl and boy, respectively, along with there being a slew of other prejudices they grew up around, so that's a glimpse into the tall-men culture in the northern continent.

There are a lot of different cultures in the archipelago but at very least the Nakamoto clan currently works in what looks like a patriarchal structure, though all of Shuro's siblings are male so I guess we don't technically know if women can inherit? Hien kind of assumes that she and Shuro might end up romantically involved in a sort of "well that's how it works" way which is fairly heteronormative so I think its fair to say that on a baseline level that assumption is present there.

Since Otta is judged more for dating short-life races than for dating women, it seems like maybe elven culture is more flexible. HOWEVER they are such a Power Structure TM and the noble houses care so fucking much about lineage and status that I have trouble believing that it's completely free of problems. Probably at least the nobility is expected to fit in heterosexual molds? Idk. They do look more androgenous and overall feminine than the other races, so that could also contribute to more fluidity. Of note here also is that in addition to a canon lesbian in Otta, Lycion also is Extremely Transgender. Though also of note: these people are the criminals in the group. So.

I don't know that there's as much info to work off of for the gnomes, dwarves, and half-foot cultures.

Dwarves have very strong family ties, which COULD lean towards heteronormativity but doesn't necessarily have to. Some dwarven women in dwarven cultures let their facial hair grow out - it's not necessarily super common, but it's much more likely to happen there than in a place like the Island. I lean towards thinking that they are more flexible, and maybe it varies from family to family how much there is an expectation of heterosexuality. Like the elves, they are more androgynous than most of the other races, AND one of our other major mostly canon queer characters (beloved bi Namari) is dwarven.

No idea about gnomes. The most prominent gnomes we see are the married Flokes and Holm. Holm's sister seems to have a bit of a thing for Kabru, so that's a couple of points towards Heterosexual Gnomes, but hardly anything definitive. They also live alongside dwarves so I imagine that if the dwarves are flexible they probably aren't significantly more strict about stuff. Also!! Kiki is the last of what I'd label the Mostly Canon queer characters, and she and Kaka were raised by gnomes! So that does seem to fit the "more overtly queer characters have ties to less heteronormative seeming cultures".

Again, no real idea about half-foot stuff. Chilchuck got married young and was a teen dad. Two of his kids seem very Interested In Men, the third gives big lesbian vibes. All of these things seem like they could be as much just orientation as anything socially enforced. I do think it's notable though that, while Flertem and Puckpatti are explicitly and loudly Into Men, Meijack is just quiet and gives off Vibes.

Ummmm yeah orcs (at least the ones we see) also have hierarchies based around polygyny so that's them.

YEAH that's most of what I can pull together currently? I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on interpreting all this, and if there are any lore details I missed!

Generally speaking I'm inclined to believe that heteronormativity exists as a baseline undercurrent in a lot of regions and cultures, and is more enforced in places that are either A) dominated by hierarchies (eg elven noble families) or B) insular and xenophobic in a variety of ways (eg Laios and Falin's hometown).

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rae-pottah · 7 months

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Don't Trust a Malfoy (pt. 1)

Fandom: Take a guess (Harry Potter)

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Malfoy!Reader

Y/n = your name

Warnings: they/them pronouns, trauma, bad parenting, (your probably used to both if you're reading this) ( that was a joke don't take offense), events are taken out of order from the story, shitty writing. Some People Live (Lemme know if I missed anything)

Noises are in a bigger font

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*Y/n's POV*

I never understood why I was treated so differently, nor why only the house elves took care of me, and why my 'family' treated me like I owed them. Only my mother and my brother showed any sort of love or kindness towards me, behind my father's back of course. My mother did love me but she only ever showed it by quick looks of "I'm sorry", my brother a like, just before punishments came, mostly for whats happening currently.

WOOSH, you can hear the wind blowing as the three of us blow by on our brooms escaping Filch and his demon cat. We had set dung bombs to explode as soon as he opened his door, then glitter cannons going off after he's covered

"And that'll be a detention for the three of us after he's cleaned" I say as I look to my best friends in the entire world, without them, I wouldn't be able to get through life at home.

"He can't give us detention if he can't catch us" Fred starts, shrugging, throwing his hands to the sides of his head

"Besides, it'd be McGonagall who would be given us our punishments" George continues pointing a finger at me to set his point

"Yeah-yeah, you boys are going to get me in trouble again" I say with a grin as we all sit down in the gryffindor common room, hoping for a laugh... I don't get one. With solemn faces Fred speaks up

"I hope it wasn't too bad this summer" he asks, I pick at my fingers and look at the ground

"It wasn't that bad, little bit here and there nothin' awful, anyway how was your summer" I say quickly trying to change the subject. Fred gives me a strict look as if to say 'don't lie to me' but George carries on.

"Oh rather fun actually, our brother Charlie came home for a week or so durin' summer so he- " he rambled on with Fred when our little heroic trio (a name I used for them often) walked in

"Harry! Hermione! Ronni!" A year younger than us but they were all like my little siblings

"Y/n!" They all yelled as they piled on top of me

"How is my little heroic trio, how was your summer"

"Fine, I heard you three started the year off with a bang" Harry said sending all five of them into laugher

"Well what more could you expect from us?" I ask

"Mm" Ron pretends to think "how about Snape next?" Making George and Fred stand up

"Oh we tried"

"But oh no that's not allowed, tell them to say the word and we could-"

"Nope! No real teachers!" I end it there

*Fred's POV*

Everything seemed fine but the way they deforested my question earlier made me uneasy. I hope one day they can get out, on good terms.

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*Y/n's POV*

There had been an incident, you-know-who got hurt Mr. Weasley, all the Weasley kids including Hermione and Harry were called to Dumbledore's office, well, I was dragged by Fred and George.

"Wh- Fred, what's happening?" I ask confusedly

"Dad's been hurt" I stayed quiet and ran with him wherever he went, they needed me, if they didn't I wouldn't be out of bed, so I ran

All of them were to be sent back to twelve Grimmauld place, I looked at all of them and said

"Be safe"

"And why would you be saying your goodbyes (ms./mr./mx.) Malfoy? You're going with them." Dumbledore said lowly, with wide eyes I start

"But my-"

"No need to worry about that, I've taken care of that"

"Do they-" I start again only to be cut off again

"I've informed them yes"

And so we were off to Grimmauld place

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Part 2

#harry potter #fred weasley #ron weasley #fred weasly x reader #fred weasely x y/n #fred wealsey fic #bill weasley #ginny weasley #george weasley #weasley family #slytherin #hogwarts #weasley wednesday

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the-chaotic-scilla-aster · 4 months

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Cuddle Puddle

My first real one shot, A good 1550 words. Did my best to keep MC gender neutral, hope you enjoy!

Thank you, @honeybadgerdontcare394 for being my inspiration mirror and just chilling with me while I wrote this

fic inspired by this pic

MC has been haunted by nightmares of the battle with Ranrok going horribly wrong and living with the guilt of her dear friends dying due to her failure. Cue the Legacy Crew coming to the rescue.

Sitting straight up, gasping for air I look around the dorm. trying to grasp onto the reality that I'm surrounded by my sleeping housemates who are very much alive and well. The inkling of my nightmare still at the forefront of my sleep riddled mind, any normal person would get a drink of water and lay back down.

Yet knowing myself, I'd have better luck roaming the halls or taking care of the beasts in my vivariums. Slipping out of bed, I put my house shoes on and quietly make my way through the common room. House elves, animated portraits and ghosts are the only wayfaring occupants of a sleeping Hogwarts, making my way past the Central Hall fountain as the sound of a door opening comes from behind me. Not a moment after ducking behind a mermaid, in hopes that it's not Madam Scribner or a Prefect, a certain troublesome Slytherin sneaks by.

“At this time of night I should have known it would be you coming from the library, instead of Scribner herself.” I mutter just loud enough for sebastian to hear me, a half hearted laugh escapes as he nearly trips from spinning around

“I was so focused on getting back to my dorm, I didn’t even see you hiding so poorly” the Slythern chuckles before looking at me “Actually, why are you awake and wondering about?”

I should have expected the big brother of my friends to pick up on anything abnormal about my own wandering schedule, “for the most part, I”m fine. Just a bit of restlessness.”

If Sebastian Sallow was good at anything mundane, it was making people fidget from his unnerving staring, which is why the water pouring from the fountain has my attention, because I know the guy isn’t buying my lie. Along with the fact I can’t lie to save my life when it comes to him or Ominis. Damn Slytherin boys.

“You’re having nightmares. Aren't you MC?” he sighs as the sound of feet move and suddenly his arm is around my shoulder and I'm being pulled against his side.

“That’s not fair! I get that I’m horrid at lying, but Ominis can’t even see, yet points it out like a red thumb in fresh snow!” I groaned as sebastian laughs and guids me up the stairs of Central Hall

“Either way, I take it you were heading to the Room Of Requirement?” His smirk is annoying, the itch to zap it off his face is enticing, nonetheless, the warmth radiating from him settles my nerves. A further tie to the reality that not only am I but those around me that I care about, are safe and very much alive.

The walk to the Astronomy Tower was mostly a blur, save for the few ducks and dodges from a certain poltergeist, I gaze at the stairs till the darkness swallows them. “I don’t feel like being alone, I don’t think my mental state can handle it.” turning to look at the boy next to me, his face shows an emotion that I’d seen a handful of times.

“Then you won’t be, we can make it a slumber party. Invite all of our friends even!” Sebastian softly declares as he takes my hand and guides me to the seventh floor of the tower, once we stop in front of the slowly appearing door he spins around and smiles

“I'll head back to my dorm and get Ominis, we'll send owls to the rest. While we do that, you and deek can set up however you feel is necessary” with a smile and a nod he's off down the stairs

Taking a step inside I smile softly at the warmth the room gives off, a home within a home. “Deek, I know it's late but I could use your assistance” I say as I round the corner seeing the sweet house elf sweeping by the hallway “Deek would be most happy to assist you, what is it that you need?”

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“I think that should be plenty, what do you say Deek?” I ask while looking at Merlin knows how many pillows and blankets, scattered in a somewhat organized chaos.

“Deek thinks that it looks like the perfect place to spend time with friends and take a nap” I smile while turning around to the sound of the door opening. Ominis and Sebastian are quick to enter and while I have to say Ominis in anything but his daily tidiness is odd, it suits him nonetheless. A warm hug from the Slytherin Prince and a flick to my forehead before Sebastian throws his arms over both of our shoulders.

“Is there a good reason as to why you didn’t come to either one of us, or any of your other friends in that matter, about the nightmares you’ve been having? Or do you think we don’t care or love you enough to listen and help?” His face shows all the emotions his voice doesn’t.

“Neither, nor anything. I’m sorry but it wasn’t because I didn’t trust or think none of you cared, if anything the exact opposite. I didn’t think they would last so long or begin feeling so real” I say looking at the floor, a burp comes from behind and a smile forms as I look behind me.

“Ew, Garreth. That was right next to my face!” Amit bemoans as his hand waves frantically in front of him, Poppy and Natty are doing their best to not laugh as they come through the door

“We got Owls saying that a particular someone is in need of cheering up” Poppy states as she comes over and hugs me “The freaky thing about nightmares is realizing that they were created by your mind. Don’t stop dreaming, just because you had a nightmare” her embrace is warm and lean my cheek against the short Hufflepuff

Natty comes over and joins in the hug, next moment I’m suddenly the center of a very large hug, laughter bubbles from my lips as I try (and fail) to wiggle around. Amit is the first to pull away and looks around “Are there enough pillows? Other than food I think we’re all set”

I chuckle as I side eye Garreth who’s already eating a random muffin, innocent smile and shrugged shoulders thrown my way before I walk around the pillows and my friends. “We can always sneak into the kitchens, that is if Amit is willing to be lookout?” A smile and an open door is all that's needed to urge the mixed matched group of pajama students to take action. Or maybe it's the mention of food?

“Are we in agreement that if a house elf shows up, we leave Garreth or Sebatstian as the sacrifice?” Ominis snickers at the harmonized ‘hey’ as we file past the portrait, Poppy is already grabbing muffins, mini mincemeat pies and scones. Natty is in the back by the kegs, no doubt stuffing the charmed bag she’d gotten for Christmas with the mini kegs of butterbeer. I grab a couple of apples and a basket of dinner rolls, soon we’re heading back to The Room.

Once back in the room and a table placed in the center of pillows, we slowly empty bags and robe pockets of the food and snacks, Natty places two kegs at the center of the table while I conjure mugs. A glance at Deek as he comes to join at the beckoning of Natty and Poppy, the tendrils of the once recurring nightmares are quick to fade from my mind. Laughter and chatting fill the late hour air, shortly followed by yawns and groans of full bellies.

“Personally, I am ready to pass out. Not sure about the rest of you.” Amit states as a yawn escapes him, a unified agreement rings among us and we’re quick to vanish any traces of food and drink. Natty and Garreth are quick to go curl up with Amit as they quietly chatter about odd interests, Poppy and I curl up with Sebastian layed out behind us acting as a pillow, Ominis finding my lap once settled myself

I spy Deek at the steps of the hallway leading to the lower room, and smile softly at him as he nodes back at me, a smile of his own, as he's been a pillar of his own since my nightmares started. A yawn slips past my lips as my eyelids grow heavy and the tendrils of the once recurring nightmares are quick to fade from my mind.

I love the unexpected friendships I’ve made this year, for if not them being here. I’d have lost myself in a way no one would return from. A smile paints my face as I fall asleep, knowing I’ll never be alone.

“There's something about kindred spirits, you meet them and for a moment this world - no matter how ugly- makes sense. They bring a sense of freedom and clarity to the conversation; just enough to remind you of who you are.”

Nikki Rowe

#hogwarts legacy #hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry #spilled ink #amit thakkar #garreth weasley #natty onai #hogwarts oc #ominis gaunt #poppy sweeting #writeblr #comfort

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mickeys-malarkey · 2 years

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I can't hold my Bendy theories in anymore!!

I've only got a few people to infodump to about Bendy IRL, I'm just so excited after watching the BATDR trailer and reading all the new theories that I can barely sleep or get any work done, and now that we have an official release date they can't chicken out if my theories are correct rofl. So, here I go!

Fair Warning: There's no way to avoid it, this is gonna have so many spoilers for all the current Bendy games and books (well, except BINR. But there's also not really a story in that one) that I'm just gonna have to assume that if you're still reading past this point, you've either already played/read the entire series (obviously minus BATDR) or you don't care about spoilers!

Pt. 1/3: Expanding (Mostly) On My TIOL Thoughts

As I said in my thought summaries here and on Twitter, I hate Nathan Arch. Dude literally sets off every single alarm bell I have, I don't understand why nobody else seems freaked the heck out by him… *shudders* I'm convinced that he's the answer to theMeatly's question.

To start off, I'd like to point out that… Nathan says his notes exist to “provide context for the contemporary reader,” which sounds like he's just gonna be stating general historical facts every reader would've known when the book was originally published but might not know when it was republished and are necessary to understanding what Joey's saying. But that's not what the notes are like at all? They actually consist of very personal information that readers at the time of original publication couldn't possibly have known and definitely aren't necessary to understanding what Joey's saying; and the vast majority seem to specifically be either 1: flip-flopping between singing Joey's praises and making remarks he really shouldn't be making if he were actually trying to dispel the negative rumors around the man as he claims, or 2: confirming or denying descriptions of himself?? 🚨

It feels like he's trying to manipulate us into seeing Joey as a genius and saint whose inventions we should accept with open arms whilst simultaneously positioning the guy as a scapegoat to take all blame in case we don't, and into seeing Nathan himself as an intelligent and kind man who definitely respected and admired Joey and, of course, would never, ever mistreat him, preemptively discrediting any rumors about him being an abusive friend that might crop up. Even when Joey makes comments that in no way cast him in a bad light— Joey be like “oh Nathan loved creative people and even though he would never understand us wanted to be us” and Nathan be like “actually no I like myself fine, and also no I dislike creatives in general, they're boring and too self-indulgent. It's specifically Joey that I admired, and therefore I admired his creativity specifically by extension. Isn't it just like Joey not to see the compliment—?” Um, no?? No, Nathan, that sounds absolutely nothing like Joey; he's literally been enraptured by every statement or action that could possibly be construed as complimenting him in this book. Did you just indirectly end your relationships with every other creative you've ever met so that nobody would believe anyone who claims that you looked down upon Joey? 🚨🚨

Let me get into some of the more unique notes from Nathan.

“The first time I read this [Elves and the Shoemaker] story it meant a great deal to me. Joey, as he said in his introduction, was never one to talk about his past. He never spoke about his parents. I certainly never met them. I don't even remember how I learned his father made shoes. So to get a glimpse back at this part of his life, for an old friend, it was very special. I remember telling Joey all this after I read the manuscript back in ‘41. He just smiled.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 23

With the way this note happens right before Joey practically spells out that he trusts nobody and denies everyone even the most innocuous information out of self-preservation in the very next story, it does not feel like Nathan's sharing a heartwarming moment between friends. It feels like he's bragging about his position and accomplishments in their predator-and-prey relationship; like he's proud of himself for slowly breaking Joey down and eventually getting him to divulge info he'd been denying him. If your parents lived nearby and were perfectly lovely people, why do you think that you would neither talk about them with nor introduce them to someone who was supposedly one of your closest friends? I'll get into why I think he finally gave the info up in a bit.

In the Lottie story, if Nathan had only said that he wasn't sure the letter exchange had actually happened, I would've been like “yeah sure, we all know Joey's a liar. 🤷🏻‍♀️” But no, he specifically eases us from confirmation of Eckhart and Donaldson's existences even though he claims to have only briefly met them, to claiming Joey was such a good storyteller he could make you think you personally met someone who never existed even if he'd literally just told you that they were imaginary, to casting doubt on the very existence of a girl he was described as having been known by name to outside of the letter exchange.

“I met Joey the following year at the lab and only briefly had the chance to meet [Private Donaldson and Private Eckhart]. They were every bit the characters Joey describes them to be.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 27

“When I first read this I forgot, despite Joey saying as much, that this was fiction, and spent far too much time racking my brain over who this James [who Joey says he told Lottie he met when he came by the lab to say hi to me] was. Joey is so good with his storytelling that even when he tells you it's not real, you can forget a moment later.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 37 (emphasis added)

“I have gone through every piece of correspondence Joey ever saved as part of my work preserving his memory and documenting his life, and I must confess I was looking forward to reading Lottie's letters in person, having been moved to tears reading this part of the manuscript thirty years ago. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find them. It is possible they were lost to time, and I do deep down hope that to be true. However, even if this story is revealed to be one of Joey's excellent fictions, I think it doesn't really matter. Joey would, of course, call it another example of his illusion. I think the message in the story is meaningful regardless whether it really happened or not. And regardless if Lottie actually herself existed or not, she is a fine embodiment of the brave women who served our country in war.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 41 (emphasis added)

I absolutely do not think this is a reality check, I think Nathan's trying to erase Lottie's existence – even gaslighting anyone who knew her in real life into thinking they'd imagined her – to throw us off the “Joey's Illusion of Living ‘philosophy’ is literally just the coping mechanism of an extremely traumatized man” scent; I wonder if Lottie actually fell victim to suicide shortly after writing to Joey that she was spiraling into a deep, dark depression, and Joey made up everything that happened after that specific letter in order to cope with the loss – pretend that “my dear friend isn't dead despite being sent somewhere there was no actual fighting where I thought she'd be safe; I saved her life and she's living a Happily Ever After overseas, married to a handsome young British soldier” – rather than just the goodbye letter to wrap her story up in a neat bow… Maybe Nathan even helped him pretend she was still alive in order to endear himself to this literal kid who was destroyed with grief?

Speaking of which, does nobody find the circumstances under which Nathan and Joey met… concerning? Nathan says “we knew each other since we were teenagers,” which sounds fine until you realize they met because Joey lied about his age and joined the army while still a minor, where he was bullied and pressured into things like underage drinking by grown-@$$ legal adults, multiple of which were also of higher rank. And not only was Nathan one of those grown-@$$ legal adults of higher rank and definitely bullying him just like the others (“I swear I definitely didn't join the other guys in giving him that Real Man™ complex of his like he says—” yeah, sure, Nathan, I totally believe you /s. 🙄), but clearly his horrifying apparent hobby that I'll explain next was already established at the time, seeing as Joey saw the photo of Ivan Newsome dying in agony with his own eyeballs when Nathan introduced him to Walter Richmond… 😬🚩

I'm convinced that Walter, Arthur, and Isabel were three of Nathan's previous victims, and they mirror the relationships he has with Joey, Allison, and Susie.

Walter looking at Nathan “as if asking permission to speak” before engaging Joey in conversation (Nathan nudges us towards believing they had no prior relationship by stating that he was flattered by Joey's observation that he had a way of introducing anyone so that it felt like they were his guest even if he'd just met them… but technically neither confirms nor denies anything 👀) has creepily similar vibes to how Joey “just smiled” in response to Nathan's gushing over the info on his parents; I feel like Joey gave up the info because he had to jump through hoops in order for Nathan to give him permission to publish his book— to be able to get the thing out the door without tripping any of Nathan's “Joey's disobeying and must be punished” alarms. Also, notice how Walter mysteriously had “a lot of people who knew him, but nobody who wanted to claim the title of ‘Walter's friend…’” and how the only people Joey's apparently still in contact with in BATIM are A: one of Nathan's (confirmed) employees, B: a janitor who didn't even realize Joey would remember him so definitely doesn't have enough of a relationship with Joey for Nathan to consider him a threat, and C: a shady veterinarian (wouldn't be surprised if he works for Nathan, as well). It's a classic abuser's tactic to isolate and villainize their victim so that they have no choice but to rely on the abuser; I'll get into more reasons I think that was happening in a bit.

I find it suspicious how Arthur not only personally delivers Ivan's effects to his sister Isabel, just tells her what happened which you'd expect someone with such fresh and debilitatingly severe PTSD to be very reluctant to do, and sticks around to befriend her, but also attends her art show showcasing Walter's war photos— it feels like someone was forcing Arthur to do all of this behind-the-scenes, and maybe the firecracker scene wasn't just about Isabel punishing the rich people for their morbid fascinations, but also Nathan punishing Arthur for being difficult about the situation behind-the-scenes. Meanwhile, Joey just happens to hire this random voice actress to replace Susie who we know just happens to be working for Nathan by the time BATIM happens, the memo that she had been hired specifically marked “don't deliver to Susie” just happens to make it into Susie's possession (seeing as she paraphrases it to Henry), Allison seems to know full well that Joey can't fire her when he tries to in DCTL, and then, by TLO, something has apparently happened to where Tom's been rehired which neither he nor Joey had any choice in and he doesn't wanna talk to anyone about (I doubt it was just all the deaths in DCTL, especially considering Joey went from his furious “I never want to see you again” attitude to begging Tom to come back. We've only heard him beg once before, which I'll get into later), and Tom and Allison have bizarrely switched opinions on the situation and machine (Allison changing from “your invention is amazing, Tom! Why are you stuck on the bad parts of the situation?” in DCTL to “I don't understand why you accepted this job back” in TLO, and Tom changing from “horrible things happened because of my machine, I wish I'd never been ensnared by this place” in DCTL to “why doesn't Ally understand? You don't just abandon a miracle” in TLO)—? It seems to me like Allison was never truly Joey's employee, she was Nathan's employee the whole time (which puts Joey's refusal to attend her and Tom's wedding in a whole new light), and Joey wasn't the only one punished for his failures and attempts to override the steel tycoon's authority.

To reiterate, since I saw some people being confused about the massive change: even with the memory loss issue, Allison's opinion in BATDR is just a natural progression from when the something happened between DCTL and TLO. 😛😬

Anyways, I get the distinct impression that creating situations like these to turn people into murder puppets without anyone being the wiser he was even involved is a hobby of Nathan's.

“…I am glad that he wrote [the murder mystery story] down this one time. It helps me to remember Joey at his most charming and sharp. Later years he became too fixated on things he might have gotten wrong, there was too much guilt and worry, too much fear. It didn't feel like the same man at the end, that's for sure.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 98

You can't tell me that doesn't sound like he gets off on seeing how absolutely ruthless he can make his victims whilst still having them believe they're in the right and he's bitter as heck that one of his favorite pet projects came to his senses and was haunted by his conscience later in life— he literally just admitted he preferred a Joey who admired a murderer and thought that allowing people to die and getting murdered himself must've been worth it for Walter because now he has the immortality of being in a fascinating story instead of having lived in mediocrity over a Joey who felt guilt.

On that note, I absolutely do not believe Nathan's note on Henry's story was him trying to get the truth out about Henry being a despicable person. This is actually the chapter that first clued me in on Nathan's creepiness when I did my ADHD “skim the whole book except reading all the way through anything that looks especially interesting before properly reading” thing I do.

“Joey has always been a professional person, far more so in many ways than me. That is why this section of the book is so forgiving of the man who abandoned the studio he helped create. Joey can't help but see the good in people. That being said, as a good friend of Joey's, I know that Henry's departure was a great upheaval for him and a great personal betrayal. Joey never truly forgave Henry, and I don't think he should have felt obligated to. The fact that Joey is so gracious in this part of the book is a reflection of his incredible generosity in allowing Henry Stein to be stainless in the eyes of history. I think, had he lived longer, Joey might have in later years called it his greatest illusion.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion Of Living, pg. 155

At first I found his saltiness funny, but then I read Joey's actual descriptions and… he's very clearly trying and failing to put down an amazing person, not build up a horrible one. I wondered why Nathan would be claiming the opposite and I realized— it sounds like he's admitting to being Dead Sea Level salty that Joey got terminally ill specifically because he's certain that, if he hadn't, he would've eventually been able to fully convince Joey that Henry was the villain rather than himself and therefore Joey wouldn't have reached out to the animator towards the end of his life in BATIM. Which leads me to my next observation:

I think Joey's play, “The Angel and The Devil,” was about Henry and Nathan.

I don't care that the Shoulder Angel is played by Abby and the Shoulder Devil is played by Joey, lol; that doesn't matter when you look at the actual content. I want you to read this excerpt:

Angel: [Empathy] is a wonderful talent that also leads [humans] down dark paths. Devil: Thank goodness for dark paths, they lead all great artists to their greatest creations. Angel: Empathy is your provenance then? Devil: We share it— for you it leads men to reach out and help, build hospitals, begin charities… Angel: For you it allows men to achieve their greatness through manipulation and fear. Devil: Is it not wonderful?

Going back to the murder mystery story, Walter and Isabel's thought processes perfectly match what the Shoulder Devil in Joey's play is described as using empathy to inspire humanity to do:

Walter was inspired to let Ivan die so that his photo – his art – would have a more compelling story that tugs at the heartstrings.

Isabel was inspired to kill Walter for the crime of letting Ivan die, masterfully manipulating her confession so that it technically wasn't a confession, instilling fear of herself in everyone present with the fact that if she did do it then she was untouchable legally thanks to her money, and finally, she was fully convinced that she would also be untouchable socially— even be better off, because people would see her as a hero for delivering justice to a monster like Walter.

Going back to BATIM, Joey literally says this to our faces:

“The truth is, you were always so good at pushing, Henry… Pushing me to do the right thing. You should've pushed a little harder.” ~ Joey Drew, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 5

Does that not sound like Henry was good at using empathy to inspire kindness/etc. the way the Shoulder Angel is described as doing (Joey's actually very right that empathy is a morally neutral phenomenon that can be used for good or evil! *Spoken with hyper-empathetic autistic/low-to-no-empathy autistic solidarity*)?

The Angel and Devil also say that whichever of them the man they were assigned to doesn't choose will have to leave. This tells me that the ending of Joey's play – where it's implied the man the angel and devil were assigned to chose the angel – was read rather than acted out (with the excuse that they for some reason couldn't pick a random person to play him out of the crowd like they did for the Hatcheck Girl) in order to symbolize how Joey wanted to choose his true friend and make the toxic one leave, but he had that choice taken away from him when Henry was driven away despite his best efforts. In other words, I think both his version of the friend breakup story and Henry's version have elements of truth and deception to them.

Anybody notice that it seems like Wally and Tom seemed to have been being pitted against and told lies about each other as well as having their work sabotaged by an unknown third party?

“So here's my beef with this whole Gent thing. I went to school, yeah that's right— me! Star Student at Brickmore High. I know my potatoes! So where's this ‘Mr. Connor’ fella get off telling me what to do? These college boys. They can tell ya what's wrong but if you try to fix it on ‘em. They're outta here!” ~ Wally Franks, Boris and the Dark Survival

“Not all of us are well connected, son. Not all of us have chances. Especially to get a job as an engineer when I ain't had no proper education and training.” ~ Thomas Connor, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 252

“If there's one loose bolt around here we're gonna have a whole mess of trouble. And wouldn't you know it, that Wally guy is one loose bolt! He keeps the floors clean he says, he didn't sign on for no science project. All I know is someone needs to keep these pipes maintained. And he can't be a slacker.” ~ Thomas Connor, Boris and the Dark Survival

Wally thinks he's being looked down upon for not having gone to college like Tom (who didn't go to college) and his efforts to help out are not just unappreciated but met with unreasonable emotional response. Meanwhile, Tom thinks Wally's being selfish and lazy and leaving all the work to be done by him. Sound familiar?

“…Henry left for his own reasons, and the correspondence between us became less and less. To be honest, it almost felt like a weight off when he left. He had grown more sensitive as the studio became more successful and giving him pep talks had become exhausting for me. All the good qualities he brought, the hard work and diligence, were being undermined by a restless need for something different. Something that wasn't Bendy. I'll never understand that drive. Bendy was and is perfection.” ~ Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 176-177

“Only two weeks into this project and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas… And only ideas. When I agreed to start this whole thing with him I thought there would be a little more give and take. Instead I give, and he takes. I haven't seen Linda for days now. Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing Henry. On the plus side, I've got a new character I think people are gonna love.” ~ Henry Stein, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 3

Joey thinks that Henry was being unreasonably emotional and looking down upon Bendy as not good enough (when he obviously loved the character/cartoons), and that his efforts to help were unappreciated. Meanwhile, Henry thinks Joey was being a selfish, lazy leech and leaving all the work to be done by him.

Is it really a stretch at all to wonder if Henry and Joey were similarly being pitted against and told lies about each other as well as having their work sabotaged by an unknown third party? Maybe the exact same third party?

This makes me very suspicious about who was really behind the worrying newspaper in Joey's apartment; something tells me that Joey's Shoulder Devil successfully pushed his Shoulder Angel off that right shoulder. Twice. I can see Nathan thinking “fine, if you won't give up on this stupid animator, I'll use this opportunity to remove him from the picture permanently and poetically…”

Is Joey's being so touched by the memory of Isabel “angelically” helping Arthur during his war flashbacks an “I wish my Shoulder Angel would come save me?” And is his horror at the descriptions of Shell Shock (PTSD) as basically a time loop foreshadowing that he ends up trapped in a real time loop, himself, by Nathan's sadistic design? I think it's likely, especially after reading @dreamfisher-nux's posts speculating on Wilson's identity. If he's the Gent worker who stole Shaun's tool belt in BATDS and “somebody” who stole Tom's invention in Allison's BATIM Chapter 5 letter, and that invention was the seeing tool, so Wilson's the one that's been tampering with Henry's invisible messages, and he potentially murdered Henry and Joey when Henry returned at Joey's request… How much of this and how much more might he have been doing under Nathan's influence? Is he another one of Nathan's Murder Puppets? 👀

I think all the Henry stuff also explains why Joey claims that Sammy, Jack, and Norman were hired after Mr. Animator left despite the evidence in BATIM and DCTL that Sammy and Norman knew him personally. The only two versions of events he's being allowed to hear are “Henry leaving is your fault and your feelings about the situation are unreasonable” and “Henry was an awful person, you should be glad he's gone.” Nathan would never allow him to hear “it's Nathan's fault and your feelings about the situation are valid,” so he's gotta choose between believing two very painful other options; why wouldn't he try to discredit the most painful one?

While we're adding to the list of people who Nathan seems to have made disappear Mafia Boss-style, it sure seems awfully convenient that the two main Crack-Up Comics artists’ names “appear to have been lost to time” after they wrote a comic where Bendy (Joey) was literally sweating over how Boswell (Nathan) was the richest cat in the world and could crush him like a bug if he didn't perform his job to satisfaction…

…Sounds to me like Nathan did something to shut these two people up so that word of the true nature of his and Joey's relationship wouldn't get out.

Also, interesting how the disappearances of not only a reporter-in-training and the sister of two well-known entertainers but also the only son of the richest, most influential and most dangerous man in Atlantic City didn't get Mr. Joey “Bankrupt From Impulsive Spending Who Apparently Doesn't Even Have The Power To Fire His Own Employees (and ‘Employees’) Nor The Respect Of Enough People To Not Be Giggled At And Whispered About During His Own Speech At His Own Party” Drew and all of his employees arrested or worse… In fact, from the new teaser and archive images that came out, we now know the studio survived for almost two years afterwards before filing bankruptcy and closing forever…

…at which point Joey was mysteriously missing for a while. This is pretty much pure speculation, but I wonder if it could be that Joey's need for a wheelchair stems from an injury sustained in this time? Mr. Mafia Boss decided he needed his kneecaps busted or something?? At any rate, it sounds to me like Joey had someone richer, more influential, and more dangerous than Mr. Chambers “on his side…” until he failed too many times, and needed to be punished more severely? 👀

“Again I shook my head. Didn't [Constance] understand that this was not how it worked? She hadn't lived in my world. Any company that could afford such a machine, that could hide it, that had such dark huge secrets, they had to be protected by something huge as well.” ~ Bill Chambers, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 191

Then, ink machine things continued at Gent… until the year Allison and Tom got married.

Sounds to me like Gent might've been condemned in order to punish Allison and Tom either for the very fact that they got married (making them more-difficult-to-control puppets) or because they failed to get Joey to come to their wedding where Nathan could access him in-person again…

This archive entry sounds as if Joey had to go into hiding, perhaps to escape Nathan and/or people like Bill's dad who were waiting for Nathan to rescind his protection? Also, as an animation history nerd, it sounds to me like the Bendy cartoons were picked up by other studios besides Archgate in attempt to reboot them after JDS kicked the bucket (as has happened to countless cartoons whose original studios kicked the bucket in real life, e.g., the Fleischer cartoons, the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, the Veggie Tales cartoons, etc.), and it wouldn't surprise me if these “minor attempts to rekindle the magic” were Joey's feeble attempts at keeping what was left of Bendy out of Nathan's claws. Remember, Nathan didn't say in Crack-Up Comics that he “inherited” the Bendy IP from Joey's estate, he said he bought it, as further confirmed in the final archive entry.

This means Joey did not leave Bendy to Nathan in his will. In fact, it sounds like he either didn't have a will at all or it was destroyed when he died… Anyone notice that Joey's secret BATDS recording, where he asks Nathan for money, is the only time we've heard him sound audibly nervous?

Strange how, in DCTL, Joey calls Bertrum “Bertrum” when introducing him to the most uncomfortable person at his party, who respects him as his boss; it's not until the people who hold financial power over him start whispering and giggling that he introduces him as “Bertie,” as if he wasn't specifically trying to slight Bertrum as the man in question assumed, but instead was trying to assert to all the hungry cats in the room that he was also a cat, rather than a tasty lil mouse for them to devour… Nathan is worse than them? He's able to break Joey's facade of confidence that this crowd of investors could only make him reinforce? What's worse, the investors he tries to persuade like he does everyone else, convince that they should give him money because everything's great… but Nathan, who's supposedly his friend, he begs for money, saying that the one-and-only reason he's asking this is because the situation is dire (implying he has no choice). That's… worrisome.

Funny how, across DCTL, TIOL, and TLO, Joey consistently pulls or feels the urge to pull his cruel pranks on people anytime a new person seems to be hiding things from him or trying to take advantage of him. Buddy after being caught stealing art supplies? Bill after being caught lying about not having knowledge of the ink machine? Sammy when he suspected his deadpan-&-monotone-ness was an act and that he didn't respect him? Almost seems like the pranks are actually the survival mechanism of someone who's had a whole lotta really bad experiences with betrayal, having things hidden from him, getting taken advantage of, etc. rather than just the product of a twisted sense of humor, hm…?

“…inside I was feeling a little angry now. I don't do well when people are disloyal, and this was something I'd expected to be kept between me and Abby. Then I stopped and controlled myself (I have excellent control over my emotions) and realized I had never actually told her there was anything secret about this. I'd have to be more careful in the future. Believe you me, I have been since. A contract is a fine thing to have between colleagues, even finer at times between friends.” ~ Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 170-171

“[Sammy] leaned back on both elbows on the stone wall. Beneath him Fifth Avenue roared and certain death would come to anyone who toppled over the edge down onto it. The man definitely had confidence in that wall. I had a sudden urge to give him a shove. Not push him over, but just to see his reaction. This might sound strange, but I needed to see a human moment from him, I needed to see the man he was hiding from me. That's the trouble when you're interested in recreating the illusion of the world. You want to see the truth of it as much as possible.” ~ Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 188-189 (emphasis added)

Also, it's weird that, when talking about reuniting with Nathan at the Sparkling Unicorn, Joey claims not to have known Nathan very well in the army but to always have liked his personality… after having claimed to be close enough friends with him that he helped him write fake letters from a fictional character to Lottie, just a few pages earlier. Either Joey's not nearly as good a liar as he's supposed to be… or this discrepancy was created on purpose in an attempt to tell us that Joey only liked Nathan's personality back when they were in the army because he didn't actually know him as well as he thought he did. 👀

This all together…

…really makes one wonder if Joey's little intro to TIOL wasn't him humble-bragging, but genuinely explaining that the reason he took so long to write it was because A: he's been being gaslit to heck and back for decades and genuinely doesn't know what reality is as a result, and B: refusing to write this book was one of the few ways he was able to assert real control over his own life for a very long time…

“Looking back is awkward. Looking back, you can trip yourself up. I've never been a fan of it. Which is why I never had a desire to tell my story. No matter how many book deals were offered, no matter how many dinners were thrown for me. I am a man who makes up my own mind. You can't buy me. No one buys Joey Drew.” ~ Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 3

Speaking of the intro, interesting how, as much as Joey tries to claim that his surprise at Simmons remembering his “philosophy” is because Simmons isn't the brightest bulb in the factory, he still gets noticeably hung up on the fact that his words had stuck with someone; it's almost as if the vast majority of people he knew either openly viewed him as a talentless idiot or genuinely were trying to manipulate him as he was so seemingly paranoid about, and he was beyond desperate for any scrap of genuine praise anyone would give him, no…? *Stares at basically every audio log, literally every Nathan note, and every scene where Joey reacted unsubtly ecstatically to compliments and/or irate at any hint someone was looking down on him*

Anyone notice how, throughout his whole memoir, Joey sings the praises of anyone he clearly wants to be like and drags anyone who resembles what he's actually like through the mud? “Omigosh, Sammy is just so talented and powerful and automatically respected and praised by everyone! He's so awesome! 🤩” “Yuck, Detective Sinclair wears a persona to hide how useless and powerless he is and is just so desperate for validation! I hate him! 😤 Btw, this stuff is not what my philosophy is about, I'm actually changing reality here (whatever makes you feel better, Joey /hj).” I guess this leads me into the next section…

Continued in Part Two: Expanding (Mostly) On My DCTL & TLO Thoughts

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songmingisthighs · 2 years

Text

[10.49] dad!hongjoong × reader

⇀ you don't know how you were blessed with two adorable little angels, but sometimes you wish they weren't so much like you or hongjoong

⇁ i'm having baby fever so pls bear with me

"KIM HONGJOONG, WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR SON!?"

Your voice resonated through the apartment but your kids seemed to not care about it.

Juri, your 7-year-old daughter and the eldest, grinned widely as she crouched down slightly to the height of her little brother, Junhyung. "Junnie, noona got you cream puffs!" She said.

The little boy, with eyes twinkling and cheeks chubby much like his dad at his age, looked at his older sister with much adoration.

As they both walked towards the dining table where Juri put the pastry box down, Hongjoong emerged from the bathroom with a sheepish grin. With a hand scratching the back of his head, Hongjoong carefully stalked to you, "heeeeey baby, back so soon? how was the market? You and Juri got cream puffs? What else did you got?"

Your eyes narrowed at him and your hands crossed in front of your chest, "don't try to change the topic, Kim Hongjoong, I need you to explain to me IN GREAT DETAILS about the thought process that led you to doing THAT to our- MY 4 year old baby!"

At the mention of him, Junhyung waddled to you with a cream puff in one hand and his other messing up his hair, "Mommy, white!" He squealed, showing off the striking white strands on the front quarter of the left side of his head. It was mostly dark brown with strands of white peeking from underneath to make it not so obvious.

"See? He likes it!" Hongjoong crouched down to the boy's height and patt his butt lightly, "go on, show mommy the thing you did," he urged.

Soon enough, your son had both his hands in the air, mimicking his dad's group's song, Guerrilla's dance by clumsily doing the head banging part.

If it weren't for the fact that Hongjoong had tried to reform his own son like he usually does with his jackets, bags, or shoes, you would've squealed and gushed on the boy. Juri was squealing and she soon enveloped her little brother in a tight hug, very much in love with how adorable he is. Junhyung was enjoying having his big sister showering him with so much affection.

You took a deep breath and exhaled sharply, "Hongjoong, he's 4! It's WAAAY too early for him to be experimenting with hair dye!" "Okay, baby, I know this looks bad, but-" "No! Joong, this is like when you took Juri out to get her second pair of piercings and now she's the only girl in first grade who could put on two pairs of earrings at once," you chewed on your bottom lip in anxiety.

Despite you voicing our your worries, Hongjoong laughed as he grabbed your arm to pull you into the bathroom with him. He took something from the side of the sink to show you, "Baby, it's just coloured hair gel! It'll wash off when we wash his hair!" he chuckled. Immediately, after knowing that the dye wasn't permanent, you let out the longest and sharpest exhale, making Hongjoong scrunch his nose and giggle. "Okay, thank god because I don't think I want our son to look like Anna in this year's Christmas picture. Last year's mullet was culture shock enough for my side of the family," you rambled out in relief.

Hongjoong raised an eyebrow at you, "Umm... First of all, Christmas is still like several holidays away. Second, Junhyung's mullet was adorable, what are you talking about?" he crossed his arms in defence. You rolled your eyes at him, knowing he forgot the call you both got from your parents, "Oh come on, Junhyung and Juri looked more like your Say My Name teaser photo than elves," you pointed out. "It's Christmas! No one said you have to be generic and bland and conforming! Plus, Atiny loves them," he retorted back.

You leaned back to take a peek of your two kids in the living room. Junhyung with his cream puff, watching his cartoon on the tv as Juri watched over him, making sure he doesn't make a mess. A grin bloomed on your face as you look at your two kids, "Yeah... Can't imagine why people wouldn't like them," you looked back to see Hongjoong wearing a similar expression on his face. "Junhyung still has to wash his hair later," you stated firmly before proceeding to walk away.

A choked gasp was heard and soon Hongjoong trailed after you, "No! Baby, let Junnie keep his hair for at least two days!" he whined. "I just washed his hair before putting the gel on, you're not gonna make the kid wash his hair again, are you?" he asked, batting his eyelashes at you.

The kids, hearing their father begged, ran over to grab your arms to beg with their father. "Mommy, nooooo!" Juri whined to you which prompted Junhyung to copy his older sister. Now you have a fully grown man (child) clinging onto you by your waist and two children on each of your arms, chanting how they want you to let Junhyung to keep his hair over the weekend.

While most days you love your children, times like this made you slightly regretting the fact that they also share their father's adorable genes.

God help your standing in this household.

taglist :

@rdiamond2727 @ikonic-loser @kodzukein @phenomenalgirl9 @skzatzloveismonsterous @seoulscenarios @forjupiter @dreamlesswonder86 @maddiebabyxoxo @imababywolf @do-you-actually-care @marievllr-abg @ilsedingsx @wasteitonserendipity @bbymatz @seonghwarizon @noonaishere @jo-hwaberry @honeyhwaaa @ateezourstars @yoonjunshi @yoongiigolden @camillelafaye @charreddonuts @jcngh0-hq @kpopnightingale @starryunho @atinct @cutie-wooyo @mirror-juliet

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helianskies · 5 months

Note

'please don't fall!' for PruSpa :)

why of course >:3

Ladder

“Do you want me to hold the ladder?”

“I'm fine, it's not that high!”

“It was just an offer!”

“Oh, God, be careful up there, Gilbert! Please don't fall!”

“No point appealing to him,” Mikkel tells Antonio, who has just wandered into the room. “Stubborn as hell, as always!”

“I’m fine, seriously,” Gilbert assures them both all the same. “Your concern is flattering, but totally unnecessary!”

The three of them are amongst a small group of volunteers (or ‘elves’ as it had been put) to help decorate ahead of the annual holiday get-together. This year, it has become Francis’ undertaking, but as if he was going to get up a ladder and decorate the Christmas tree himself! Gilbert has a list of strict instructions (which he’s mostly ignored so far) and as he approaches the top, he’s glad he’s nearly finished.

But of course, being all the way up a ladder while decorating what was apparently a ten foot tall tree is ‘alarming’. Gilbert’s been dealing with Mikkel’s disguised worry for the last twenty minutes, but now that Antonio is now also here, he just knows it’ll worsen. Darn old men and their weak, weak knees! Not everyone is a liability!

As predicted, nevertheless—

“Do you want me to hold the ladder?” Antonio offers as well, hands on hips as he watches on from below. “Or maybe one of us should go up there instead…?”

Gilbert waves him off, and continues titivating the silvery tinsel. “I’m almost done,” he says by way of reassuring him, the worry-wart.

“I’m gonna leave you to it,” Mikkel surrenders with a gentle sigh. “Reckon I’ll be more use elsewhere.”

“Yep!” Gilbert agrees, eyes still glued to his work.

He hears some mumbling from below—Antonio and Mikkel exchanging some quiet words and a laugh about something, he notes—before one person’s footsteps pad away, and the room falls silent once more.

The silence only lasts so long, though.

“I’m looking forward to tonight,” Antonio muses. A quick glance down reveals that he’s looking around the room, at the tall ceilings, the chandelier, the snow-adorned garlands… “Something about Fran’s parties are always so magical, don’t you think?”

Gilbert hums along to appease him. He isn’t sure if ‘magical’ is the word. But he will admit he enjoys these nights, the festivities, the friends, the laughter… That’s what the holidays have come to mean: spending time with the important people in his life while they can.

But then Gilbert finds himself, after a moment, looking down once more. Below him, Antonio is eyeing some of the decorations already on the tree—glass baubles, ceramic birds, hand-painted globes—and a small smile seems to have appeared on his face, eyes wide like a child in a sweet shop.

Antonio is an even bigger fan of the holidays. For the same reasons, at heart. But there’s a part of him that also just loves the lights, the ornaments, the wreaths—every little detail. And even if he maintains his traditions in January, Antonio has not shied away from Christmas Day celebrations either in recent years. Gilbert likes seeing him enjoy himself in that respect. There was a short period where his presence was… Well…

It’s good to see him.

“Oh my gosh, I f—”

“FUCK—!”

“GILBERT!”

It happens so fast. There’s a wobble, then more wobbling, and then only falling.

It feels funny. A leg slips briefly between rungs—a misplaced foot is the root of his problems—and he feels himself fall backwards, light, helpless, fast. He braces himself in that single second to hit the ground—maybe even the ladder—to hit his head, or hurt his back, or land on a shoulder. Sustaining an injury is far from ideal, especially since these days he’s not quite so well-equipped to heal, but if he—

He does not hit the ground, but something just a little bit softer. Something that has arms that try to catch him, and something that inevitably falls down beneath his weight.

So much for not falling!

But that fall has repercussions, now, on more people than just himself.

With a groan, Gilbert tries to move and get up. Antonio, however, who is beneath him and sprawled across the floor, asks him, strained and quiet, to stay put.

Gilbert worries. His arse hurts, as does his shin. He’s glad to see the ladder went towards the tree and that Francis’ baubles survived the ordeal, but…

“Are you okay?” he asks Antonio, who still holds him, arms wrapped around Gilbert’s torso.

“Eh…” His breathing is a bit heavy, yet bated. “I thought I told you not to fall…”

“Yeah, well,” Gilbert scoffs, “you made me jump!”

“And you’re welcome for saving your neck!”

With that, Gilbert carefully pries himself from the other’s grasp and slowly sits up. Antonio softly groans, and decides to stay lying down; the other perches next to him, his own heart still racing a bit, and they look at each other.

The worry is certainly mutual.

“You okay?” Gilbert asks again, another layer to his question implied in the way his face morphs.

“Sore,” Antonio says. “Gimme a minute. I’ll— I’ll be fine.”

“Idiot.”

“Well.” His smile returned, albeit somewhat mischievous. “After that, I guess you could say you—”

“Don’t.”

“—fell for me?”

“Ugh.”

“The heck happened to you two? I heard a scream!”

Gilbert rolls his head to the side and finds Mikkel, reemerged at just the right time, and in a dramatic display of surrender, he riffs a slew of curses and joins Antonio on the floor properly.

Paying no mind to Mikkel’s presence, then, Antonio seeks out Gilbert’s hand and holds it gently in his own. It is warm. It is kind, in spite of what has just occurred between them. And Antonio looks at him with such warmth, too, and Gilbert looks back, and the other smiles once again, and Gilbert warms and buzzes and breathes and—

“No more ladders for you, Gil.”

“If you say so, Toni.”

And with that, their laughter only resumes.

[ fic collection on ao3! ] [ prompts list here! ]

#helia writes #hws spain #hws prussia #pruspa #no more ladders for gilbert #got a life ban #the first of the holiday fics had arriiiiived #i am working slowly thru them so do bear with #and thank you anon for requesting these buffoons 🍪 <3

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bardcore-jaskier · 1 year

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♡ Jaskier rant/vent ♡

Hiya, here is a long ass rant/vent about my Netflix Witcher frustrations with how the show-runners are treating Jaskier's character. Because even though I love the books and games, I couldn't give a rat's ass about the changes Lauren made to the witcher plot. Because if it were to be adapted into a show following the source material word for word, page for page, it wouldn't be worth watching because I already know the damn story. It's refreshing to see these changes, new ideas etc. But ofc, I do still have a bone to pick with them.

The venting part:

Ok, so you know how in my bio it says that this is a Jaskier centric blog and that Jaskier deserves to be loved? Yeah, that's because I'm salty AF, the saltiest motherfucker on Earth right now. Because the way Netflix or...mostly Lauren treat Jaskier as a character on this show is atrocious! A beloved fan favorite they intend to milk but know not how, using him instead as nothing other than comedic relief and the occasional tool to move the plot in a certain direction.

They're stingy with his character development, with his screen time, with complexity. When we see him in pain it is later dismissed, as if it never happened. Where are his bruises and burns from Rience's torture? He was bleeding from his mouth, he had probably taken a few punches to his face. And Rience held his flame to Jaskier's fingers for at least five seconds, the heat of which compares to a lit match, nobody could walk away from something like that without second degree burns that would take many weeks to heal. And in Jaskier's case? Walking around with an exposed wound like that, touching things all the time, crawling across a dirty floor under the table when the witchers were fighting Voleth Mier? He realistically should have had a serious infection by now.

Also, tell me I am not the only one who noticed this, and I ask myself this quite often: Why OH WHY does it seem like the ONLY people who enjoy Jaskier's company, his presence, him in general, are the audiences he performs for and the elves? Everybody else seems to either shit on him the moment they see him or keep him around because he's loyal and amusing.

Idk about you, but I don't take kindly to the fact that the only character to treat Jaskier with respect and dignity in season 2 was Yennefer. Although THANK FUCK for Yennefer, I fucking LOVE her so much! But yeah.....

Like sure thing, Geralt evidently trusts Jaskier a lot, he is obviously fond of him, but to be honest I haven't seen enough of that fondness on screen to get the impression that their friendship is just like their bromance in the books. In season 1 they only show us scenes of Geralt barely putting up with Jaskier, ignoring him, insulting his singing (which is basically Jaskier's core, his life, his everything, it's what he lives and breathes for), barely admitting to their friendship out loud and then blaming Jaskier for everything that went wrong in his life! Like dude, I know Jaskier isn't exactly a pure and innocent cinnamon roll, I'm aware that he is a slutty little trouble magnet who can sometimes talk too much, but he is also a good friend! Even with whatever little screen time he gets, he is every inch the good friend that Dandelion is in the books!

In season 1 it's very clear that he cares, he asked Geralt if he's ok, he said "Talk to me", he tried to help Geralt deal with Borch's fake death, he offered Geralt an opportunity to go on a vacation, because he gives a fucking damn about him. Even in Cintra, when he asked Geralt for a favor, aka guard him, he made a comment about rubbing chamomile on his body, aka most likely massaging Geralt's sore arse muscles after a hunt.

But Geralt? Just the bare fucking minimum, saving Jaskier's life a few times, a few fond smiles here and there, otherwise looking rather uninterested in Jaskier's life. A brick wall that barely says anything nice to him. Or well, looks like talking to him in general is a chore.

And season 2? Whoooo boy! Jaskier still cares! Though he has to pry basic human decency out of Geralt in that jail cell at Oxenfurt:

- "We don't have time, we need to go"

- "Are you sure? Because the last time we saw eachother, you basically told me to fuck off, remember? And you left me on a mountain!"

- "Jaskier.."

- "Don't fucking Jaskier me, I'm talking to you, this is how this works!"

Jaskier still makes do with Geralt's pathetic arse "I need your help" and leaves EVERYTHING in his life behind to be there for Geralt. He left his Sandpiper smuggling business, he didn't even get to pack a bag, trailing after Geralt like a loyal dog, still wearing the shirt he was tortured in, with his dried blood on it, because Geralt needed his friend.

Thankfully Geralt seems to be doing better by Jaskier in the second season, but not nearly enough to be enough! I mean, Geralt came for Jaskier only when he needed something from him, didn't apologize to him until Jaskier hinted at the problem (Via discussing Yennefer's betrayal, she's been pushed into a corner, she's desperate, it's why people do stupid things and SAY stupid things). And Geralt's apology was shit, because he didn't offer it until Jaskier had accidentally guilt tripped him into it. And Jaskier? Yeah, no, he might have forgiven his friend for the Mountain, but he is still human, he's still got feelings and knew he deserved an apology. However, right there and then it clearly wasn't the right time, whatnot with Geralt's apology being too simple and nonchalant, not nearly serious and earnest enough to undo the hurt that had given birth to Burn Butcher Burn. Not to mention the dwarves being within earshot and the dangerous mission ahead. Which is why I understand why Jaskier brushed off Geralt's pathetic attempt at making amends with a joke.

When I was watching the Rare Species episode of season 1, the expression on Jaskier's face after getting shouted at by his best friend honestly broke my fucking heart. So when season 2 aired, I started binging it with high hopes of getting to see Geralt apologizing, them becoming friends again, Geralt being a better friend to Jaskier while also being badass as shit with his child surprise, battling monsters etc. But I did not expect it to fall so flat and I did not expect for LITERALLY EVERYONE to treat Jaskier like absolute dog shit. INCLUDING THE SHOW RUNNERS!

Geralt was basically using Jaskier for his loyalty, the dwarves found Jaskier's presence as the most annoying thing ever, Ciri literally fucking ignored him in all of their scenes together, the show-runners fucking forgot that Jaskier was tortured and filmed every scene with Joey in it as if Rience never happened, then for some dumb reason Lambert fucking had to be more of a prick than necessary, effectively alienating Jaskier with one single word, when that man had done nothing to deserve it!

FUCK!!!

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cannibalcoyote · 8 months

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Woodland Princess Ch.9: Memories

Ch.8 Ch.10

Lord Elrond had led Raerthar and I back to Rivendell. When we got there Raerthar and I both stared at the overview of it.

I was remembering how my father would sometimes send me here if he needed alone time to think, or if he found himself incapable of keeping me safe from a threat against his kingdom.

I now started to realize how much I missed my father, even though he seemed cold, he was quite caring and made sure we did what was right. I missed Legolas too, he could be cold like our father but he always was easier to make happy.

Now when I think about it, my father raised us very differently. When Legolas was a kid he had a loving mother and a caring father who always had a soft spot for him, but when I was raised I only knew my mother when I was very young before she died in battle.

After that, father became very cold and reserved, even towards me who he used to spoil with gifts and kindness.

He tried though, he really did, but he usually sent me over here when he couldn't deal with me or when he didn't want to be near me because as he said, "You look too much like your mother."

"I know it's been a while, but I've only ever seen you cry twice. This is the second time." Voiced Lord Elrond from beside me.

I quickly reached up with my hand and wiped it under my eyes.

'I shouldn't be crying, after all I'll see my family after this if my father hasn't banished me for leaving his kingdom unauthorized', I thought to myself before Raerthar began to walk to Rivendell.

Lord Elrond followed close behind, thinking to himself.

'I can read her thoughts as she can read mine, she was thinking about her father and how much she misses him. I always thought she would miss her brother more because he was more affectionate, but it's her father. I really should tell him about her being here, and I will but only after they've been gone for 2 days. That seems reasonable.'

We walk to Rivendell in silence, the guards have slightly encircled around myself and Lord Elrond seeing as we are the royalty in this group. As soon as we arrive the guards move forward and circle my company who stand in the center of the clearing.

Lord Elrond dismounts and greets Mithrandir while he orders a guard to take Raerthar to a stall but then quickly remembers how I said she hates small spaces and tells him to instead release her among the open pastures.

After he has the other elves leave everyone to the dining room he quickly comes over and hugs me. I hug him back, not letting any tears fall from my eyes as I look upon Rivendell.

"Aelsar if you really want to you can just skip the dinner, I remember how you are about eating alone in your room reading your books and writing your stories."

"I think I'll just go to the pasture and hang out with Raerthar. Not really that hungry." I say to Lord Elrond before going to get dinner so I can get back to Raerthar.

_______

I sat in the pasture, with Raerthar for mainly the rest of the day.

'Aelsar, you should go and feast with the rest of your kin. I'll be fine.' Spoke Raerthar as she was worried on how little I had been eating over the past few days.

'Now it will take awhile for you to get back into the flow of everything here, but you must go and socialize. The only people you've had an actual conversation with is Gandalf and I. You've been mostly quiet after the day Thorin yelled at you during the battle. I know you must be angry but you must go and see your friends. They will be worried about you.' Emphasized Raerthar as she nudged me towards Rivendell from within the pasture.

'Fine. I will go and have dinner with them, but if I don't like it I'm leaving.' Replied Aelsar in an understanding tone.

'Deal.' Replied Raerthar as she then used her magic to place Aelsar on her back, and then galloped towards Rivendell.

We reached the edge of the pasture which had a small walkway of stone and jewels that led out of the stables and towards the dining hall.

I silently slipped off Raerthar's back, saying goodbye and began walking down the path. It led me through a beautiful stone stable with a soft sandy ground.

As I reached the outside I saw the path that led to the dining hall. However I didn't want to disturb anyone or enter the room and gain their attention so I took a secret passageway that only Lord Elrond and I knew about.

The secret passage was hidden behind a tapestry which I simply pushed out of the way and walked through the stone corridor. At the end of the passageway there was a sharp turn and a statue which you simply pushed forward and it moved forward for it to move forward, and out of the way.

Ch.8 Ch.10

@tigereyesf

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demonscantgothere · 1 year

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the way you analyse everything in rings of power is blowing me away and helping me to understand it myself, thanks so much!

You're welcome, anon! At least my ridiculous amount of Tolkien lore and Tolkien love has come to use somehow! I feel like I'm in a small minority of longtime Tolkien fans who are actually enjoying this show instead of trying to pick it apart for the changes they've made. They really haven't changed that much. The biggest thing they've toyed with is the timeline. The timeline is SUPER condensed and altered, but I understand why and it doesn't bother me. Variety is the spice of life! Switch it up a little! Mostly, they've worked a lot of things in between the lines of the original lore. In my opinion of how they've handled this, they have put a lot of thought and care and respect into it.

I love everything about the show 180%, even though you wouldn't be able to tell because I can never shut up about Saurondriel. I just never thought this was something I needed in my life, but I do. And it's not like they've crafted Saurondriel out of nowhere either. They've taken so many little hints of things that Tolkien wrote in order to build this together, like for example this: "[Sauron] met his match in Galadriel, or at least a very serious adversary" and this passage:

" . . . I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!' She lifted up her white arms, and spread out her hands towards the East in a gesture of rejection and denial.

Like, why Sauron? Why are you constantly groping to see her and her thought? WHY? And the moment she says that, she raises her arms in a direct gesture of "rejection and denial" toward Sauron, who is Eastward of them, as if he is watching her that very moment???

There is something going on there. Galadriel isn't a huge figure in The Lord of the Rings, so we only get so much information, but during Frodo's visit, he learns so much about Sauron through Galadriel. That speaks volumes to me. Nobody has the breadth of knowledge concerning the Dark Lord like she does, and it's very interesting. And the writers of this show thought that was very interesting, too.

All they did was take it one step forward and show us exactly what might have come before to result in all of that.

#saurondriel #sauron x galadriel #galadriel x sauron #haladriel #galadriel x halbrand #halbrand x galadriel #the rings of power #rings of power #trop

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babybat98 · 9 months

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I wish you would write a fic where... Thranduil and your Legolas sibling characters all come to Minas Tirith for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, and Legolas and the whole Fellowship now have to deal with the whole Mirkwood family being there. Especially poor Gimli.

I just love everything you've told me about these elves, and I want to see them Causing Shenanigans.

Refering to this post

Oh but there'd be so much shenanigans though!

Like just Thranduil alone would be enough to turn everyone's hair grey. Or at least he will be after he stops clinging to Legolas like a particularly stuborn koala. Gondor comes very close to loosing their favourite wizard becasue the moment Thranduil hears the word 'balrog' he's off after Gandalf, sword in hand. And then he goes after Elrond. And probably Aragorn to, once he learns of the Path of the Dead... In the end Legolas just straight up hides his dads sword and puts a bottle of wine there instead.

Ok to be fair Gandalf and Elrond are gonna have the entire damn forest after them when they learn of the balrog and sending their baby prince to Mordor business, so instead of mentioning that for every character just imagine Gandalf and Elrond doing a very nervous powerwalk away from an angry forest mob.

Now for my OCs we got Thondaer(he/him), the oldest of Thranduil's kids. For being a wood elf from Mirkwood, he is strangely chill. For being the child of Thranduil and Lannien(Thranduil's wife) he is alarmingly chill. He got his dad's regal aura but not as much of his temper. He's probably also more subdued than usual due to being injured in the war up northtotaly don't have a fic about that coming up oups. And that pissed Legolas off because why is he not being babied when he was the one who had an actual near death experience curtecy of a poisoned arrow???

Thranduil: Oh don't worry, you are both grounded the second we get back home<3

But at the end of the day Thondaer is still a Tranduilion, and his siblings tend to bring out the worst in him, so it's not long until he and Legolas pick up their long standing competition of 'The Most Stupid Trick Archery You Ever Did See'. At one point an arrow flies in through a window to catch a single leaf of Thranduil's crown, who just sips his wine and goes 'boys will be boys' as the nobility of Gondor freaks out.

Yes it was Legolas showing of his new shiny bow, what else did you expect?

Second child Lagoreth(she/her) on the other hand... She cares a lot less about being proper than her older brother. She would actualy punch Gandalf and Elrond for sending her brother of into danger like that. But her anger is both explosive and short lived, and once she thinks there's been enough broken noses(and Legolas talks her down a bit) she mostly stops being angry. She'd probably get along pretty well with Elladan and Elrohir tbh. She's more into swordfighting than archery, and I can see them exchanging tecniques. Those 3 becoming friends is the forst time anyone's ever seen Thranduil truly nervous.

Ok so I know you technically only said Thranduil and the siblings, but you also did that 'the whole Mirkwood family' and that was your mistake. Because there's just a few more pointy-eared nusiances running around and I'm dying to go off about them. This is gonna get long so enjoy the read more lol.

First we got Doro(they/them). They're Thondaer's spouce, and I'm a bit on the fence on if they'd come along or stay back home to keep doing their job as a healer, but I'm gonna say they're coming this time just for fun. They'd probably not cause to much mischief, but there's a little surprice in store for Thondaer for sure. How do you think he'll take being a father?

That leaves Legolas's closest friends, the young elves of Mirkwood, and part of the last generation to be born as the shadow fell over their home. Forget turning all the humans hair grey, then these guys will have everyone, human dwarf and elf, go white as Gandalf before the end of the week.

Tinnu(he/they) is a sarcastic little shit<3 If you thought Legolas was bad with his off to find the sun then you have not heard the snark on this elf. I think growing up so close to Thranduil gave them a weird view on authority and how you treat nobility. But because he's part of Legolas's friends, and Thranduil pretty much sees the gang as his own children, he can get away with waaaayyyy more than he should. He's also visualy impared and uses a cane to navigate, and is not above exploiting the fact that Men tend to underestimate him for that. Like, if they forget that his ears still work just as good as any other elf? Then that's on them. Also their puppy dog eyes are dangerous.

Dûrwen(she/they) is kinda what happens when you take the impulse control of a Took, puts it in an elf, and teaches them to fight. They're loud, obnoxious, and the fastest way to get her to do something is to begin with 'I dare you to-'. She's the one who says "hey, let's get every single bird in a 3 mile radious to congregate in the royal meeting room" or "let's see who can break into the kings bedchamber and steal the most shoe laces". But she is also loyal to a fault, and is the first to get along with Gimli. Even if he did wonder a lot about the giant toad in his boot.

Nagor(he/him) is in general the most layed back of them, but also curious and stuborn. He'll drive everyone, but most of all Gandalf and Elrond, completely bonkers with questions. Like you know when a child gets started on the 'why' train? That, but dialed up to 11 and them compresed into a tiny ass elf. At the end of their stay Gandalf insists he'd rather just have gotten punched again. Nagor would make friends with Merry and Pippin so fast and the kitchens are never safe again. And for a change of pace Legolas will for sure be clinging to him, because Thondaer was not the only one injured in the war up north.

Thilion(they/them) is the mom friend, and probably the only reason Minas Tirith is still standing. I mean they're not opposed to hiding under the meeting table and tieing everyones shoelaces together, but they are the one who manages to figure out a plan so they don't get caught doing it. Can't have your friends end up in trouble now can you, so best make sure no one can ever prove it was them :) Probably gets along realy well with Aragorn.

Crithril(she/her) and this barbieelf has ADHD. She has a habit of stiming by braiding peoples hair, and there's a big missunderstanding between her and Gimli for a while before Legolas and Thilion manages to sort things out. Eventualy Gimli manages to either aquire or make some dwarven stimtoys that successfully divert her from his hair and beard without hurting any feelings. Crithril also has a favourite position to be in, which happends to be upside-down, and many a Gondor noble has been shocked by her just casually hanging from the cieling like it's completely normalit is. But no one dares say anything, because there's 5 other elves there and they all have knives and oh hello Thranduil your highness, no I was just... admiring your peoples acrobatic skill and deffinintely not judgeing your sons friend haha please don't kill me.

I think that's it for now, phew :D

#lotr #ocs #ask game

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