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swannieluv · 8 months

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.ᐧ.ᐧ ⊱ Rain, apples and smiles ⊰ ᐧ.ᐧ.

Summary - It's raining again in Fontaine, but maybe someone can help to make a rainbow out of his sadness.

Info - pairing: (platonic) Neuvillette x gn. child reader – w.c: 1.1k – TW! Crying and referenced neglect towards reader.

a/n: This is my first time ever writing something, so feel free to leave your thoughts on comments! I would really appreciate it if you could like and reblog (if you enjoyed it!). Comments, asks, brainrots and rambles are always welcome!! <3

The Hydro Dragon, Father of the Melusines, Chief Justice Neuvillette. Those are all titles assigned to him. No one would have the nerve to disrespect this man, let alone on trial. His expressionless face is often able to make people speechless, he is like a stone in the middle of the sea of people and changes.

He is supposed to be a serious person, he's the Chief Justice after all. He shouldn't feel sadness towards the guilty, he should be firm and not let the mundane morals affect him, yet he can't help but feel his chest tighten at the end of every single trial, the looks of despair plastered on the face of the criminals.

It's raining once again, people in the streets are running to seek refuge under the main street shops' roof. The skies turned gray in the blink of an eye, well, in a blink of Neuvillette's eyes.

He absolutely didn't desire to cry now. Maybe the Melusines are also in a bad mood now because of it. He'll probably apologize later for it by letting them play around the court.

“Hydro Dragon, Hydro Dragon, don't cry…” — he listened to someone's voice, but couldn't quite place where it came from.

“Why are you crying, Monsieur Neuvillette?” A small voice asked him from above, Neuvillette could only see a child, who seemed to be no older than eleven, seated on a tree's branch. Their [e/c] eyes spying on him while the rain made their tattered clothes and unevenly cut hair wet. He tried to quickly wipe the hot tears with the back of his hand, only for it to be met with numerous new ones that wouldn't stop running down his cheeks. He would be surprised at the fact they knew his name, except for the fact that he's the Chief Justice.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Are you sure, sir? You don't look like someone who's happy though.” — They tried to inspect his face, but couldn't see much due to the angle they were. The only way to know if the person in front of them was really crying was to be quiet and listen to the quiet sniffling sounds he let out from time to time. — “The Hydro Dragon is also crying… is it such a sad day?”

“What are you doing outside in this cold rain, child?” He crossed his arms, not daring to face the child. This man didn't want to get caught weeping by a child, it would be too humiliating for someone his age.

“Well… I got stuck in this tree…” — their face became a bit red from embarrassment. It was the truth, though. They were trying to collect some apples on the tree due to their hunger, only to end up stuck. It's not their fault, really! They just thought that descending from the tree would be easier than climbing.

“Jump, I'm going to catch you.” — he looked up at them, his puffy eyes with fewer tears sliding from them. Neuvillette opened his arms in their direction, as if telling them to trust him to catch them.

“Uh… I…” — they looked down, the ground spinning in a nauseous way — “Okay!”

They took a deep breath and closed their eyes. The child held their apples close to themselves as if they were precious treasures and jumped. The cold wind made them shiver as they were expecting to land in his arms, alternatively they would land face down on the ground.

“...!” — their eyes slowly opened. Their [e/c] eyes made contact with Neuvillette's blue ones. Then he put them back on their feet again, giving them a small pat on the head, like he does after the Melusines tie his hair. “Thank you.”

Some apples fell from their arms as they fell. Neuvillette took notice of their poor appearance and ran his fingers through their hair in a soft and careful motion. It wasn't uncommon to see children like this that came from the slums, they usually become criminals or die before reaching adulthood, he felt guilty once again for not being able to effectively help them.

“What are those apples for?” — he picked up the fruits off the ground, analyzing it.

“I'm going to give it to the other children. They need it.”

“Only apples?”

“Yes… that's what I could find.”

Neuvillette eyed them for a second. He soon started walking away, signaling to follow him. Their steps echo through the place, it was slightly uncomfortable. They soon reached his office, there were some piles of paper above the wooden table. There were some ink stains on the edge (probably from this overworking during the week). He decided to just leave the fruits he picked up there.

“Oh… I haven't asked your name, child” — he picked up a towel from a drawer and started to dry their hair. — “Do you even have one?”

“Yes, it's Monday”

“Monday? Were you born on a Monday?” — Neuvillette pondered about how they could live without an essential thing like a proper name. He cracked a small smile as he saw their messy hair after being dried. "They definitely need a proper haircut", he made a mental note about it.

They smiled a bit while fidgeting — “No. Everyone calls me that because I was found on a Monday… no one really cared to give me a proper name…” — they were interrupted by his sudden pats again.

“Then I'll give you one, if you wish to.”

“A name…” — they looked up — “then I want the best name ever!”

“The best name ever…” — he crossed his arms, a small smile on his face — “What about [Name]?”

“[Name], [Name], [Name]...” — they repeated it a few times, trying to get used to it. — “Okay, I'm [name].”

His glance returned briefly to the apples. — “You said you were going to give them to some children, didn't you?” — Neuvillette picked a fruit from the table — “I'll ask some help… and we're going to bake some apple pies for them, what do you think?” — he didn't care about the extra work he would need to do after, it was only… a break, yes. That's what he's going to tell himself when he feels bad after it.

Their eyes gleamed with happiness, they just wanted some apples, yet they're receiving apple pies? That was a blessing for them and a small reminder to express their gratitude for the hydro archon… only if there's still any kind of respect for her, though.

They went to one of the kitchens in the building and baked the most delicious apple pies they (the Melusines) could. And if anyone asks why the kitchen got flooded… [name] can just say that it was the hydro archon's fury, and definitely not because they almost burned the place and Neuvillette tried to extinguish the fire… which only caused more damage. But they are happy now with their apples and smiles. And for the first time in centuries, there was a rainbow in Fontaine.

#genshin x reader #neuvillette x reader #genshin impact #genshin platonic #platonic #neuvillette #fontaine #genshin fontaine #Swanniesarchive<3

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coraniaid · 6 months

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I understand why it happens, but it's kind of striking how quickly fighting vampires on Buffy goes from being something that only the Slayer can do at all ("she alone will stand against the vampires", as the opening narration tells us in the first two seasons) to something only the Slayer can do well (meaning that other people can try but they'll risk getting hurt or letting vampires escape), to something that only the Slayer can be trusted to do properly (even if it might seem superficially that other people are doing okay) and then finally to something so mundane that pretty much anybody can do it, with or without any special powers.

The pair of mid-season 3 episodes I've reached during my current rewatch (Gingerbread and Helpless) almost feels like the last time that the writers will really take seriously the initial premise that being able to fight vampires is not something anyone can be expected to manage if they just put a little effort in. Both of them feature as plot points the idea that being able to fight vampires makes Buffy somehow uniquely special (which is perhaps one reason why Faith doesn't appear in either one of them). And yet, if anything , they already feel a little anachronistic at this stage in the show's history.

In Season 1 or early Season 2, the idea of Joyce accompanying Buffy on patrol as a sort of impromptu mother-daughter bonding event would have felt ridiculous (and not just because Joyce had no clue that Buffy was the Slayer or that vampires even existed) and it's clear in Gingerbread that we're still meant to think that it is. But it's a little harder to accept that when we've seen Buffy going on patrol while casually chatting with Willow just a couple of episodes earlier, or when we know that Willow, Oz and Xander spent all summer fighting vampires without sustanining any significant injuries. If it's okay for them, why can't Joyce tag along while Buffy's on patrol? (It's presumably not going to lead to her trying to burn her daughter at the stake every single time.)

Equally, the test that the Watchers' Council subject Buffy to in Helpless -- in which she is robbed of her powers and forced to fight a vampire without them -- is meant to be cruel and arbitrary. But by Season 7 the writers will decide that expecting a bunch of teenage girls with absolutely no special powers to be able to fight vampires is, in fact, a perfectly reasonable thing to do. And as the show progresses, more and more people without powers will do just that. Indeed, the conclusion of this very season will upend the show's premise by having Buffy's classmates take on a small army of vampires at their graduation ceremony.

In fact, vampires as a serious threat at all become increasingly rare in the show, starting from around this season. This season's main vampire adversary Mr Trick has been relegated to a subordinate role after less than a full episode on his own devices, and this is a role he will only manage to keep for a few more episodes. Despite a fun first appearance, Trick has never really managed to make an impression in the way that the Master or Spike or Drusilla or Angelus did. I'm honestly not even sure when exactly Buffy first learns his name. This season's Big Bad, the Mayor, is the first primary season villain not to be a vampire, and in fact no vampire will ever get to play this role again.

(Vampires in general start to become so quotidian and non-threatening that by Season 7 the writers resort to the rather embarrassing measure of introducing a brand new special type of really dangerous vampire, with decidedly mixed results.)

I might be missing a couple of names, but I think the list below covers every single speaking vampire character that appears in more than one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Darla (first appears in Season 1, last appears in Season 1)

The Master (first appears in Season 1, last appears in Season 3)

Angel (first appears in Season 1, last appears in Season 7)

Luke (first appears in Sesaon 1, last appears in Season 1)

The Anointed One (first appears in Season 1, last appears in Season 2)

Spike (first appears in Season 2, last appears in Season 7)

Drusilla (first appears in Season 2, last appears in Season 5)

Dalton (first appears in Season 2, last appears in Season 2)

Lyle Gorch (first appears in Season 2, last appears in Season 3)

Mr Trick (first appears in Season 3, last appears in Season 3)

Wishverse!Willow (first appears in Season 3, last appears in Season 3)

Tom (first appears in Season 4, last appears in Season 4)

Harmony (first appears in Season 1, first appears as a vampire in Season 4, last appears in Season 5)

Sandy (first appears in Season 3, first appears as a vampire in Season 5, last appears in Season 5)

And what's striking about this list is that we have, less than a third of the way through the show, already met almost everybody on it. The only two recurring vampire characters with speaking parts who haven't appeared at least once already as of The Wish are Harmony (who we've met, but not yet as a vampire), Sandy (who we'll meet as a human in just a few episodes), and 'Tom', a character so unimportant I had to look his name up on IMDB because it is never spoken in the script for either of the two episodes he appears in. (He's one of Sunday's goons who's later captured by the Initiative, if you were wondering.) More recurring vampires have already appeared for the last time than are yet to appear, with still a hundred episodes left to go.

Yet, at the same time, (unnamed, mostly harmless) vampires will actually appear in almost every episode of Buffy until the show ends. Season 3 is actually the first season of the show to feature a vampire on-screen in every episode. The season where vampires appear least is actually the first: there are four episode of Season 1 with no vampires at all, and only three other episodes where that's true (one in Season 2 and two in Season 4). Perhaps that's why Season 1 is able to take them seriously as an obstacle.

Buffy will continue to be a show where vampires feature heavily after this run of episodes, but it won't ever really be a show where the audience is expected to find them particularly menacing. Even in The Zeppo, the very first episode after these two, it feels telling that the supernatural threat Buffy is worried about Xander being exposed to -- and the dangerous enemies she and the other Scoobies fight in the background while we follow Xander around town -- are demons, not vampires. Because as much as the show wants us to think that Xander is the "Jimmy Olsen" of the group, by this point it's stretching credulity to suggest that even he would be seriously troubled by something as unimpressive as a mere vampire.

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023

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jamiesfootball · 8 months

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I’m curious (if you’re willing to share) — is your post season 3 fic shippy or platonic? Looking forward to it!

Both of the main ones I'm working on now are platonic! But also you've opened the door for me to talk about it so I'm gonna talk about it!

The post-season 3 fic is platonic and--I cannot overstate this enough--has so much of a plot going on across multiple characters that I finally broke down and made a fucking spreadsheet.

That said a lot of Roy's struggle in this fic centers around his emotional attachments with other people and the roles he plays in their lives (with family, with friends, as a coach). He's stuck in this perfect storm where it seems like all his most important relationships are in flux.

See below the cut for spoilers:

His Family

This is a big one for him and where a surprising amount of therapy work gets done. When the story kicks off, Phoebe is suddenly Around Much Less and a part of that is his sister tentatively feeling out a reconciliation with their parents. This causes a surprising (to Roy) amount of emotional upheaval in his life. As someone who's always been in his sister's corner, he's always seen (even if he's never fully verbalized it to himself) his keeping contact with their parents as a way of releasing his sister from any responsibility or lingering guilt about cutting them off. But now that she's tentatively in contact with them, and introducing them to Phoebe, Roy is realizing that he has a lot of unresolved issues with his parents. Adding to that stress is the fact that while he's played a huge role in his niece's life, he's never actually had to ask to spend time with her before, and he is awful at admitting he might need something, especially when the people around him keep telling him he can 'have a break.'

Keeley

He and Keeley have decided to remain friends. Keeley wants to be single for a while and work on herself, her company, and all the special projects she has falling out of her sleeves (*cough*womensteam*cough*). However, Keeley is the most serious relationship he's ever had, and they started out on a flirty, romantic footing, so he's never just been friends with her. In fact he's never stayed friends with any of his exes. He's navigating unfamiliar territory and he's not sure what's allowed of him. Even basic shit--is he allowed to tell her she looks nice? invite her for coffee? for dinner?--he ends up second guessing.

The Diamond Dogs / The Workplace

He literally JUST became a Diamond Dog and showed them emotional vulnerability by asking what the secret was to becoming a less shitty person and now he's in charge of them. (And he's in therapy, seeing the staff therapist, so everybody knows about that too.) With Ted gone, the inter-team dynamics between the coaches is a whirlpool of Beard and Nate trying to out-smart each other, and suddenly Roy is the one keeping everybody in line and fielding Higgins' questions about player recruitment. This isn't the big drama but it is mundane and tedious and just another fucking thing to deal with.

The Team (Sam, Isaac, Colin)

The step between captain and assistant coach was a fairly easy one for Roy because he was essentially doing the same thing in both jobs (yell at them about their form, psych them up before a match, etc). He's the gaffer now. Most gaffers don't just casually hang out with their players. If he was another team's gaffer, he wouldn't. But these are people who know him, people he used to play side-by-side with, and god help him but he does care about them. So while he's pretty sure he needs to start drawing a boundary between the professional and personal, how the fuck is he supposed to tell them that when Colin is literally getting chewed up by the media as the only openly gay player in the league and he clearly needs the support? How's he supposed to back away when Sam, who's never angry about anything, is fucking seething over Edwin Akufo and asking Roy for help? Is he supposed to step back and drop it all on Isaac, who's trying his best but also seems to be carrying his own weight about something? They're not not his friends, but also he feels responsible for them. So what kind of coach is he going to be, now that he's the guy in charge?

Jamie (ofc)

Where does any of the above leave Jamie? Truly, if the boundaries between him and the other players are in flux, the ones between him and Jamie are fucking spaghetti. Because all of the same issues still apply, but with additional layers (their rivalry, Keeley, Amsterdam, Wembley, personal coaching, the fact that he's met Jamie's parents and would punch his dad in the face if he ever got a chance, the fact that his niece thinks they're best friends). His partiality is skewed every-which-fucking-way, and frankly he's a little annoyed that no one else holds it against him.

And all of that becomes additionally fucked up because:

Roy going to therapy is intrinsically tied to his behavior towards Jamie (Roy has a lot of guilt to work through on how often he's taken his anger out on Jamie)

Jamie and him have unwisely turned therapy into a goddamn competition (they have a chart), which means that any time he makes progress in therapy, he immediately ends up sharing it with Jamie

They don't even have the coach-player thing to fall back on because Jamie starts off the summer injured

This is also the Jamie Going Through It fic (with Tartt Sr in rehab being a huge part of that), and at this point its a given (to Roy at least) that if Jamie needs help, Roy is going to help him.

Jamie might be his friend. Maybe. Possibly. Roy might even admit that one day

So is this a shippy fic? No! No relationship statuses are added, lost, or changed in the winding plot of this fic (unless I figure out how to break up Beard and Jane). Everything picks up right where the finale left it.

But do relationships--the weight of identifying what you might need from other people, and how to navigate changes, and how to define things that aren't easy that are maybe complicated and messy and necessary for your own personal happiness--appear in this fic?

Absolutely yes.

#ask box is always open #[redacted title] post season three fic #i think this week's the week y'all #trying not to jinx it like i did last time #spent a long time today seeking emotional validation from the friend that does the reading and she is excited! so i've decided i am excited #definitely not scared! nope!#writing update #and if this sounds like a fuckton of stuff to cover - that is why i have the spreadsheet #and a pattern to keep all the pieces moving at a reasonable rate #or as the bestie described my writing style:#'you're conducting a 100 piece orchestra when the flutists have it out for the violinists and the drummer thinks they're at a rock concert'#which- yep!

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7ban-sama · 3 months

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Hello, so, I've been following you for a while, and I think you write so well. I would actually read a fanfic of yours about those three, you know, Tsukasa, Yashiro, Hanako. My question is, what do you imagine it would be like: Nene and Hanako's first time, Hanako and Tsukasa's first time Yashiro and Tsukasa's first time and finally, the first time between the three of them? Yes, about sex itself. It's okay if you don't feel comfortable answering, but I'm genuinely curious to know how you would imagine it.

Thank you for the compliment on my writing...! I like to write, so... nice that others can regard that writing kindly. 💦 I suppose on that note, since it's relevant to your question: I've actually covered the idea of a 'first time' between all 3 in a fic before, in A heart in the right place (a collaboration between me and @2n2n💜) Feel free to check that out, if it would be of interest.

Now as for your question-! Actually... I really love thinking about 'first times'... in fact, it's really fun to try and approach it from different angles, like solving a puzzle. 'How can I make [this] particular thing happen between [them]? Hm hm hm...'

I'll try to summarize my thoughts. :3

HanaNene

The classic shoujo ship of the manga~ I honestly adore that at it's bones, you have a pair between a tragic ghost boy and a girl with her little devil horns and skull brooch. They're very sweetly designed to be 'for' one another, and I always appreciate that. I love that they're both childish and inclined to play together. There's also an awkwardness between them I find really precious, they seem soo easily overwhelmed when things get 'serious'... As if it's difficult brushing up against the intensity of how much they like each other. But before it gets serious, it has to start out kind of silly, I think...

Depending on the world, Amane is either creepily shmoozing onto her in a predatory fashion (canon, Ghost Hotel, Bakeneko Ryokan) or... he's 'shy', fussy, perhaps even avoidant (your more mundane Amanes are this I think, a spectrum between the presented identity in PP and something like Teen School Drama boy...) I feel as though Nene always has to go through a phase of, 'he's not my type', followed by 'I'm just a normal girl!' 'This is too much!' haha... She's innately charmed by him, but wary, and unsure about saying yes to... this. This isn't how any of her fantasies ever played out... (Imagined more traditional experiences ww) ; By contrast, I would say Amane is more... immediately infatuated-? Consciously attracted-?? But he doesn't, expect or prepare for deep attachment... Doesn't think it's, love, kind of, sucks, is thinking HOT GIRL... pant pant... Sure, I'll take a shot, why not... <- Bizarre amount of confidence and detachment.

Hmm, I guess actually, I see them as both not expecting to be as into the dynamic as they are, so they're unprepared (and inexperienced...) Hence, all the hesitation about committing to it being More... Subsequently, I think it takes quiet a while to get to dating, and even longer until confessions. Typically I imagine sex happening before all that actually! It may seem out of order, but something sexual is easier to access than deeply working out feelings... 'One thing leads to another.'

For first times specifically, I am,, naturally, inclined, to think about it being noncon-!! !! !! OTL💦 In some manner...!

(... in my defense, the manga harasses me into thinking about it...

This is bullying-!! I'm being bullied.💔)

... but in all seriousness... u.u; That's really how I picture it happening... The cocktail of Amane's instability, possessiveness, forcefulness, leads to something snapping inside. Amane... he can't help but being a bit of a ticking time bomb. He has rabies (dormant.) And his urges are often being coaxed and encouraged by Nene, even. Actually, I really like when things start consensual, then devolves into rape. 9.9 Paradoxically.

To be more specific... Imagine something set relatively early in the manga, amidst the first couple volumes. Nene proposes, a bit clumsily, something like — practice kissing. For fun-! Nothing too 'serious', so. Amane can be agreeable, smiling about it, maybe even half-lidded. "Ohhh... Yashiro, you wanna do that~? Haha." [she baps him for teasing]

They do this a couple times... Both are feeling, more doki-doki about it than they'd expect, but with different responses to that. Nene is kind of like, twirling her hair, writing diary entries cutely at home about it... Amane is feeling wary, on edge. (Doesn't like feeling passion, because the last time that happened...🔪) He wouldn't let on his concerns though, just be normal silly ghost guy, deflecting. Out of Nene's periphery, she could watch as he clutches the edge of his clothes, fist shaking. Nene sees that as a victory though, like, ah he's! Nervous, Hanako-kun, he likes this... *mind wanders, imagine he wants to touch her more during!* huehueuee.... hehe!

So naturally, Nene so-kindly offers that he rest his hands on her, if he wants, he, doesn't have to keep them to himself. >> Maybe cheekily (but shyly) imply that they could practice... Well more things! Poses... dialogue?? Surprisingly, he doesn't take to the offer though. (Well it seems weird bc he is, known pervert ghost.) You could then imagine Nene getting a bit persistent, like... He just needs encouragement. Hanako-kun, he's surprisingly shy... But I can take the lead-! That kind of mindset.

To Amane, she feels strangely pushy, like, why does she keep trying, saying things like that, she should be more careful. I'm a, guy, ugh, Yashiro, you can't just go inviting these things, you don't know what'll happen. [guy who is a murderer voice] He feels ah, poked, prodded, goaded. ? And he kind of is... but that's scary for Amane, like-!! He's kind of all or nothing, in my mind, holding it all back or... Losing control, in a haze, brain overheated, boiling inside. Need to DO something...

So even if Nene was encouraging or even fantasizing about ~something~ happening between them, I think the inciting action is very sudden, harsh, without warning. And so it feels violating! Getting pinned down, groped, mouthed desperately... Tights shoved out of way quickly, and, by the time he drives a finger in, her mind is going blank.

Ah that's another element... I think of fingering super often as their first time! Fingering expresses something like, impatience in Amane, wanting to hurriedly shove inside! There's no time, he wants to confirm everything in tactile touch, wants to feel her warm and wet insides! Her living body-!! Raurgh... It's a lot of effort to unbuckle, unzip, get self out, and, there's a loss of control at that point that is too scary almost? I think Amane's hind brain worries about getting out his cock. (Again, it's kind of like.🔪🔪🔪)

Luckily for Amane he has a finger fetish and, I think it results in admiring other's fingers, as well as being very fixated on interfacing things with his own. Verrry stimulated by wiggling fingers inside, feeling the give of inner walls, reaching far into her. There'll be a point where he gets lost in the raw sensations of pumping in and out. As for Nene... I always think she's besieged by genuine confusion, disorientation, some fear (as she can't get away, can't push him off), then sadness (why didn't he tell me he wanted to...) Yet she is simultaneously enthralled to get to feel something so intense.

There's. [sigh.....] A joke in PP that insinuates Nene masturbates a lot... I internalize this as truth, and a part of her whole romance-obsession and, the way she goes on flights of fancy... Nene-chan is someone who has spent a lot of time ~fantasizing~... and she has imagined guys being forceful with her... For a girl who worries about being unwanted and ugly, it'd be relieving for someone to instead be so into her they MUST touch her. So it's not all bad, I think she does feel her heart pounding wildly in her chest, is amazed at how Amane holds her close. When Amane feels things... it's with crazy intensity! Something you never see on anyone else! So that's incredible to witness...

The aftermath can go any which-way, but let's say generally I think of things getting 'better' over time... Even with the fraught start. ❤

Those are generally the things I envision in canon. I like to go anywhere between V1-8, mostly focusing on things before PP & the Severance. Picture Perfect arc is like, it's own beast, so envisioning a first time occurring then has a different vibe. That being said, I have a delusion that in PP, Amane was going to finger Nene-chan at the movies. And I've thought very hard about him fingering her in the jail cell, while Nene pretends to be unconscious. 😶

Also in AUs, like mundane non-magic ones, I like to think of them going at a pretty steady pace of hanging out, flirting, getting to know each other. But then, Amane suddenly drags Nene into a closet or bathroom stall and fingers her with 0 conversation beforehand, really putting Nene through a lot emotionally wrhghfh... Even in a world where there's less extreme circumstance, I guess I envision Amane just being so bad at things like asking permission. He really would rather not. He'd prefer, taking advantage of openings. "Houdai"... *sighs*

AmaTsuka

The twins... Ooh, they are so painful for me to think about. In adoration of each other, and yet...💔 Haaa. I will be blunt, I think they have it the hardest, when it comes to consummating... The disadvantage of the incest taboo isn't negligible; it isn't an intuitive thought, to be attracted to your twin brother. Why, how? That's not how it's 'supposed' to be. I think Amane and Tsukasa both struggle to identify their feelings as romantic/sexual. Though-! I think Amane is closer to 'seeing' it, but he's also a lot more avoidant about confronting sensitive feelings like that. (Even with Nene...) So.

The result of this all is: the ultimate slow burn, taking yeeeears to remotely realize their feelings. And even if one of them does, if they don't have confidence the other reciprocates, they can't make progress...

(Looking at AUs, the lovers suicide seems STEP 1 of romance actualization. Amane needs to, reach his limit EXPLODE, take Tsukasa with him... Perhaps, do crazy things like drink his blood, eat his fingers, hold his heart in his fist.)

As you can imagine... Sex is a very far-off goal... And ah, another factor that muddies things is, I think Amane and Tsukasa both have unusual sexualities... the sort of thing you can't really put labels on. I will be blunt, I never think of them as being attracted to 'boys'... because, there's no attraction to the general concept of maleness, and they'd never like. Have a crush on some guy, ever. This is strictly an obsession with one another, and further defined by roles/inclinations of theirs. Tsukasa being very servile & masochistic, while Amane is very domineering & sadistic. Another reason why things tend to culminate in something as extreme as heart-stab. Uncontrollably into 🔪stabbing and being stabbed.💘

The prelude to this all is in childhood; many fleeting 'incidents'... Small moments where they colluded sexually, like — were both horny about something they were doing together. But that "something" could be any number of innocuous things... such as.

Chasing each other in the yard, pretending to be dinosaurs, playbiting. Rough-housing in a pool, holding each other underwater, wiggling out from each other's grasps. Laying around on the floor indoors, bicycling legs together, devolving into nudging and kicking the other. Having... a staring competition? Throwing food for the other to catch in their mouth-!? The list goes on... it gets eccentric, minuscule. Invisible. Aroused by Amane commanding you in a callous tone. Aroused by Tsukasa licking something off his fingers mindlesssly. Heart racing while Amane circles you, examines your yukata, adjusts your obi, laughs under his breath. Holding Tsukasa's mouth open to inspect the new gap from the recently lost baby tooth, seeing remnants of bloody tissue.

Mesmerized by one another. Made to feel a distant twinge of heat. Throat clenching, making it hard to talk. Blinking slowly. These physical responses are as mysterious as the instigators... Neither twin can understand it... Wouldn't it feel absurd to think anything of it? You're probably just excited to be with your brother, because you love your brother, because you're supposed to love your brother. 'The end.'

There's no way to really pursue anything they feel. It's all brief... ends as abruptly as it starts. Kind of lost between Tsukasa's cluelessness, and Amane's defensiveness. I think Tsukasa follows Amane's lead, let's him set the tone, and it's Amane that wants to dismiss things, laugh it off, explain it away. Even so, these incidents are endless little dots accumulating over their entire childhood. Building up steadily.

Another detail... I tend to HC the twins as being easily affectionate and touchy throughout most of their childhood. Comfortable to reach for the other's hand, play together, take naps, etc. Even bathing was likely very mundane, your basic skinship.

Many years spent like this! Friendly, touchy, comfortable.

As they age, there's a bit more distance... modesty. I think Amane is the one who gets rather stiff, more like 'sigh, come on...' [not looking at Tsukasa when he grabs his hand.] Sounding beleaguered, something like that... Increased tsundere, really.

(They're still very close though. Without thinking about it... anyone else would see them as quite attached.)

Noting this though because I think of Amane as suffering more from the onset of ~puberty~... Like genuinely, ah, more pervasive awareness of own arousal, struggling with getting hard over nothing. More. Debilitated. By penis. Can't let gaze linger on Tsukasa when they get dressed in the morning. Because. It's weird now. Kind of like an invisible wall is manifesting between him and Tsukasa steadily...

Tsukasa is aware of the growing distance, but... his inclinations are to presume Amane simply finds him annoying... (Despite what we see in PP, I've yet to think that 12-13 yo Tsukasa was quite so *tackle glomp*... I think yorishiro Tsukasa is his own entity, more adjacent to an excitable 3 yo Tsu. Currently think of 12 yo boy as more modest as well...) Anyways this miscommunication occurs... concurrent with Tsukasa's unconscious pining for Amane deepening, which manifests as a urgency to be useful to him in some manner. A continuation of his feelings as a child...

Going to try and explain a philosophy of mine, but. I think if the twins had sex, they wouldn't have died, so. Logically they did not, and that's why they're ghosts in canon setting. And as ghosts, I can't see AmaTsuka managing to have sex without TsuNene/3way happening first. Nene-chan provides necessary encouragement and motivation for both as they struggle with recognizing what they feel. In a lot of ways, her simple-girl outlook on things helps her go, gasp... Wait, is it, love? WHICH... THEY REALLY NEED... And unfortunately I think Amane is a tough nut to crack, he kind of needs a certain amount of pressure. A girl scolding him. (And it needs to be Amane who does something, because Tsukasa won't...)

Related to that... I usually think Amane needs to endure a bit of cucking, in some form, first, before, making his move. He needs to feel agony as Tsukasa's first kiss is with someone else. He needs to be on the brink of tears thinking about Tsukasa's virginity. We really need to cattle prod Amane until he puts his foot down. Get insane... That's... MY otouto, he's MINE, I KILLED HIM AND HE'S MINE, HE BELONGS TO ME, HE'S MY PROPERTY!!! I DECIDE WHAT HE GETS!! ! !! !! *froths*

Once you get him going though, it's— you need, look no further, he will be unstoppable. All those years, man! I think it could be as batshit as choking Tsukasa against the ground while humping him. Or like immediately facefucking him. Jerking Tsukasa off with one hand, holding his jaw in the other, crazily talking down at him. Fingering his mouth, throat, making him gag. Any number of things. Sometimes Nene-chan must watch as Tsukasa gets an agonizing overstimulating blowjob. Poor baby... *but she was instigating this & also it IS important it happens* *sits with mouth pressed in line*

Now... putting a little integrity aside... When I want to soothe my brain, I think about the Yugi somehow miraculously managing something in their childhood. (You have to just assume this is fate-altering, a new timeline emerged from it.) My favorite backdrop for childhood first times is something at Tanabata... Age 8. After running around together, laughing, holding hands... Laying in the grass, on this warm summer night. Scent plumes from your yukata collars. Sweaty... Hazy...

I think about things like, Amane being careless and just — kissing Tsukasa on impulse. Some measly thought behind it like, it'd be fun to imitate what couples do, it would be fun to watch Tsukasa react to a kiss lol, etc. Frustratingly easygoing about it, since he's not thinking hard... Tsukasa is left stunned, spellbound. He has special feefees about Tanabata and, fixates on the romantic elements more, so I think it's overwhelming for him...

Well, ig there's no reason not to include these sketches of mine.

You get the vibe. Similar to how he shmoozes Nene really, somehow... the doting, the condescending! Playfulness. Not being as serious as he ought to be.

Though at this age I don't think Amane is as encumbered as 50 yo murder-suicide ghost Hanako... So I think he can initiate more with Tsukasa. Ahhh I usually think about them either tucked behind a stall or somewhere distant from the festival, Amane hiking his yukata up and Tsukasa curious, eager to please, easily coaxed into a blowjob. Thinking so simply... it's like kissing Amane... but here.

This is probably the most innocent I can envision it... Something like this, it's more explorative, experimental. Kind of extrapolating on how they're always playing together, this can feel like another 'game'... sort of.

[blinks] I realize I can't possibly summarize AU AmaTsuka shennanies... not meangfully. I think it's. For lack of kinder terms, a lot of dumb yaoi bullshit, I don't know. AidaIro are really faffing off in those AUs... Like, I think TS Tsukasa just goes to their dorm and puts on that stupid bunny mask Amane is horny about and Amane just gets to jerk off onto him. Bakeneko Ryokan Amane is just fucking Tsukasa in the sabi space or whatever and their collars are jingling in unison. The Valentine's day devil-angel twins are just going to have SEX later as prize for Amane winning the bet. I hate it so much. Let's move on.

TsuNene

[clearing my mind...]

After those other two pairings, it kind of amuses me to say, I think TsuNene have a lot less... emotional obstacles, stopping them from getting close. But it's kind of mean, the major difference is that they're both more open, honest individuals than Amane... That's just the truth! Oh well 💔💔 At least they love him dearly so, he's not going to be left behind or anything...

I often internally describe TsuNene as a "schoolyard romance"... having chemistry the way two kindergartners would, playing in the sandbox together. Nene easily gets carried away, and so does Tsukasa! Childish, naive, silly-willies! These two are prone to getting lost in the throes of playtime, hardly stopping to second-guess much... Recent updates have really delighted me, as we finally get to see Tsukasa and Nene play together directly! Even though he's been the mysterious "villain" Nene has fleeting interactions with... They wind up playing tag, laughing while flying around, and singing together, now don't they?

⬆A dream come true for me... All the potential I see in TsuNene well exemplified here.

Of course, not to discredit the other moments they've had together... I think TsuNene is so very real in the manga! (Really, it's just that others have taken a while to acknowledge it.) I've based a lot of my writing, etc. on things like the red house arc...

I think Nene can easily find Tsukasa cute, precious, sweet and smart! She can step up and be the onee-san between them too, much like she does with 8 yo Amane as well... Meanwhile, I think Tsukasa formed a crush on Nene back here... A nice pretty girl doting on him. And she likes Amane too, ahh... They are matching!

If they spend enough time hanging out, I think it's inevitable for them to get along, really...

There are things Tsukasa lacks, like.. a kind of territorial, demanding quality. Amane pushes himself onto Nene, makes ploys for her attention, wants to be seen as cool (and he does the very same to Tsukasa, as well.) He 'puts it on', he 'works you over'... Tsukasa is the opposite; he doesn't ask anything of the other. He's not jealous... he doesn't have expectations. He's just, Tsukasa, he only thinks to respond honestly. A little kid showing you a bug, because he thinks you'll like it. I think this is disarming...!

On top of it all, there's this ethereal quality to him, as he thinks so bluntly, and isn't encumbered by what is 'acceptable'... So he will hold your face and look directly into your eyes, and say aloud what he observes you feeling. Or ask you what you're feeling, because he's curious. Or, say how he's feeling... He can be so direct. He can say he likes you, or thinks you are pretty.

It's just so direct... I think a girl could really appreciate that! While Amane is teasing, fussy, rude... it can be mysterious if Amane even likes you... With Tsukasa, no mystery! As Nene is befriending him, he would certainly seem as though he likes her... maybe just so innocently, it's hard to discern romance from it.

Basically I think in any timeline/world, Nene is destined to go through the thought process: Wait, does Tsukasa-kun like me? I had no idea... all along, is that what 'this' was? *looks back on memories* Eh- well- m-maybe that's...

... no, um. Hmm. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...

Lol but just as well, it doesn't stop Nene from confronting how she would feel if this were the case. IF it's possible that Tsukasa likes her... then. Nene basically begins forming a sense of excitement at the prospect, deep in her heart. Her imagination runs wild... because, of course, she can't help but like him... She's deep down attracted to Amane, and I think. She is. Allured. By the concept of being courted by, twins. Multiple boys... we know Nene is weak to the idea.

Usualllyyyy, I think about them getting as far as a kiss on their own, and the idea of more is a bit intimidating... at first. But if Nene is lustful she could succeed in taking it further, really. I think, she can just, reach under that hakama, and there's no resistance. At most Tsukasa is simply ah, overwhelmed like, did not know Nene-chan liked me that much! Did not ever think about getting to do things with a girl ever! Has never... felt... desirable, in that way... That's almost like, not what he's 'for'...

As manic as he is usually, I think Tsukasa gets very 6.6 [small...] in an intimate moment like this. It's that way he gets, where he struggles to dream even about humble platonic things... All the fixation on romance as well means, kissy, touchy, is like /// wah //// so you like me that much...// //// Subsequently, Nene-chan must take the lead! But again... if she's confident enough, she can do it...

They're cute... I really just think about, her hand reaching under hakama, kimono... first grasping and feeling under the layers of clothes, heart racing. She's ah, nervous too of course... Excited though, to finally feel 'it', weouue.... Real boy... Cute boy, flustered boy! Amusingly enough I think she'd really wish to see, Tsukasa's junk directly but it's so many layers it feels, like invasive in a way she isn't confident about. So instead it's like mmh... mostly fixating on the sensations of her hand around him, the twitching she can feel.. Until it gets too much for her and she neeeeds to feel it inside. (In my mind Nene is insatiable, has almost no patience for waiting for PIV... Like ah amusingly Amane can keep her at bay from it, when she'd wish it would be sooner. COBCVK!!! NEED>....)

Dunno why but I often imagine them in doggystyle... It's a different vibe than when I picture HanaNene in it also — more clumsy! Nene on all fours, Tsukasa close up against her, clutching her... Tsukasa is more liable to slip out and need help rearranging, reaching back, being slipped in... Lose 'rhythm', struggle to focus! I also like Tsukasa struggling to stay hard... sometimes get half-chubs, fluctuating. Fffeeels good thoughhh... for both of them. They're both like >< >< ouuh.... Squeeze... He squeeze, cling to her, she nuzzles by tilting her head back against him...

By the end it's like... flop over!! Touch foreheads!! Kiss, thread fingers...!! Bwbwhuuu... Peaceful afterglow... whisper to each other about it...

... in a world where neither of them have gotten to bridge intimacy with Amane yet, it's very like... sighs together... Wish they could talk to him about it, wish they could share it with him, in some way. Though I think they could keep boning for a while before doing anything about it kfkfjh like... W-well, it's fun and good andndhfhg no reason not to.

And that's

thesis.

On all pairings. Houugh. [crumples up...]

I'd almost feel silly describing HanaNeneTsuka itself since, that's what I'm always posting about and drawing porn of kfkgjhsdg... [briefly imagining like, me describing the twins taking turns coming in Nene and eating her out or something...] The. It's fine. Just imagine the way all 3 of these perfectly intersect. Everyone is really really really really really into each other and they get along. Anyways there's my fanfic, as I mentioned, which is culminates in the three-! And... also this blog archiving RPs between me and my wife I've been chipping away at. Lose your mind there if you need.

OKAY thanks goodnight.

#☀️#💬#❤️🤍💜#i haven't had much energy lately... *coughs blood*#but i can offer you. this.

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frozenmoonshine · 1 year

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A serious post ahead:

I know it's become super trendy to hate on Takeomi, and I'm guilty of joining the trend myself, after seeing the info in CB#4, but!

It got me thinking about his character, and just how damn unfair Wakui was towards him. He introduced Takeomi with all the hype possible (cocky, sarcastic chainsmoker who was Shinichiro's right hand man, the Vice-Commander of the OG Black Dragon, the so-called "God of War", etc), and signaled very clearly that he's going to be super important to the story (the "3 mysterious Akashi siblings", in Senju's own words), only to completely abandon him in the last arc!

And before you ask, no, I am not defending him in any way, and I am even less of his apologist. This is not about the character's likeability and morality, but about the way he is written.

However, I'm not a (professional) writer, and I can't really talk much about character development, plot resolution, etc. 'cause I don't wanna talk out of my ass about something I'm not competent enough to talk about, but I do think it's more than clear that Wakui did him dirty.

He made us squint at Takeomi, like: "Is he a good guy, is he a bad guy, what is his deal, really?" And it was interesting, it made us think. And then we saw a tiny bit of his backstory, he became slightly more relatable, we realized he isn't inherently evil, but... then there came the chapter 241 and we saw what a shitty brother he was to Haru. And yet again, we were left wondering if Takeomi is someone to hate or not.

But that was it, we were left there, hanging on the cliff of his character arc that never happened for real. We never got to see what had really happened between him and Haruchiyo, and most importantly - why it happened. We can all agree that Takeomi is a horrible big brother, it's just a fact. But I also have a strong impression that there was supposed to be an explanation for his attitude towards Haru. Just like how Taiju was abusive to Hakkai and Yuzuha because he wanted them to become "strong", maybe Takeomi had his own similarly warped idea to make Haruchiyo "toughen up" by being unreasonably harsh and strict towards him.

It is one of my greatest disappointments in the manga, that Takeomi as a character was never expanded on. I'm pretty sure he'd have become one of the most relatable and compelling, if not likeable, characters. We see him being flawed, very flawed, and with very real, mundane flaws, that all of us have to some extent. He's suffering from low self esteem, he's trying to make a name/reputation for himself, he's struggling with the responsibility of parenting two kids who are not his kids but siblings, and at such a young age! If you have younger siblings, you most likely know from personal experience how wrong it is to push older children in the family to parent the younger ones, instead of parents parenting all of them!

And yeah, we could argue now that the Mitsuya were in a very similar situation, but Takashi turned out just fine.

First of all, in real life, every person is an individual, and every person's experience is different, and no family circumstances are the same. And since TR depicts family issues, social issues, and (inter)personal issues in an exceptionally realistic manner (main reason why I love it so much!), same can be said for the Akashi and the Mitsuya. Mama Mitsuya is a single mother, but she seems to be as present in her kids' lives as possible, while working her ass off to provide for them. She seems to be a good parent, and therefore the Mitsuya family is not toxic. They all love and support each other.

And to retrace to the abovementioned hypothesis that "Takashi turned out just fine" - did he, really?! He's in a delinquent biker gang, he ran away from home at least once because he couldn't deal with the pressure, he drew (illegall) graffitti, he got a temple tattoo, spent time in a brothel playing poker... His character is very understated and lowkey, so we don't exactly tend to think of him in that light, but when we look at the facts... he's not as much of an angel as he may seem.

Back to the analysis of Takeomi, his parents are not present in his and his siblings' lives. We never got a single hint about what happened with their mother, and all we know about their father is that he left, so the three of them were brought up by their grandma. And therefore, Takeomi had to shoulder the role of the "father". I wish we got to see at least a glimpse of his perspective on that. A glimpse of his own relationship with his parents. With his grandmother. Or why Shinichiro gave him the nickname 'Rainbringer'. Why he was so obsessed with money and "success", why he felt the need to be famous. Why he pushed Haruchiyo to his limits. So damn many unanswered questions, and it's just one single character! Wakui still owes us countless answers, and I will totally not be bitter about it forever!

Just make Tokyo Revengers 2 and answer everything properly, damn it!

#rant over #tokyo revengers manga #wakui ken #tokyo revengers #akashi takeomi #sanzu haruchiyo #black dragon tokyo revengers #mitsuya takashi #shiba taiju #tokyo revengers takeomi #haruchiyo #tokrev manga #random thoughts

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daughter-of-the-prophet · 1 year

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Isabela (Dragon Age II) Part 2

I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: She develops a platonic version of this trope towards Areida Hawke. After Areida spares Isabela from being handed over to the Arishok, Isabela is shocked that Areida still wants to be friends with her even though her stealing the relic from the Qunari was what lead to the events of the Qunari invasion on Kirkwall in the first place and that she lied to her about it.

I Need a Freaking Drink: At the start of Act 3, especially.

Incredibly Lame Pun: Every single one of the talents in her unique skill tree is a pirate reference of some kind. Notable because almost every other skill tree's names try to be serious or informative. Not Isabela.

She has an armor upgrade named Rigid Boning.

She seems quite fond of puns at times in-game, chuckling at the sound of "ghast-hole" and dubbing Idunna an "apostitute" before laughing delightedly. Yeah... Bela's kind of a dork.

Indy Ploy: Most of her "plans" tend to involve little planning and mostly going with her gut.

Isabela: "Step one, we go to Velasco! Step two, something exciting happens! Step three, profit!"

Informed Attractiveness: Discussed in-story. Isabela readily admits that she is not as attractive as her reputation leads one to believe. Her real secret is that she just casts a wide net.

It's All About Me: While she can be a lot of fun, and even very affectionate at times (mainly to Merrill), it is made uncomfortably clear at several points in the story that she places herself and her hedonistic tendencies first, even when it might hurt others. Eventually under Areida's influence, her conscience starts to get the better of her, much to her dismay.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: When Fenris asks her about the incident where she released Castillon's would-be slaves, she downplays it with this exact phrase.

Karma Houdini: For stealing the Tome of Koslun.

The Lad-ette: She enjoys dirty jokes, drinking and getting into duels and bar-room fights.

Lampshade Hanging: She lampshades quite a few things.

Isabela: "If we kill them we get their stuff!"

Alistair: "Isabela, right? You look... different."

Isabela: "Don't we all?"

Lovable Rogue: A pirate captain not afraid to fight dirty and is quite the snarker.

Lovable Sex Maniac: She's a Lovable Rogue and Ethical Slut who has a very positive outlook on sex and constantly talks about it, as long as it remains Safe, Sane, and Consensual.

Missing Steps Plan: Invoked during her summing up the plan to deal with Velasco and Castillion.

Isabela: "Step one, we go to Velasco! Step two, something exciting happens! Step three, profit!"

Mommy Issues: Not fond of the woman. Given her mother sold Isabela into marriage to an Antivan merchant for a few gold pieces and a goat (without even haggling the price), it's hard to blame Isabela for how she feels.

To add insult to injury, her mother was a Qunari convert who sold her because she refused to follow in her footsteps. No wonder she also holds a grudge against the Qunari.

Morality Chain: Areida Hawke becomes this to her, particularly at the end of Act 2.

Morality Pet: Isabela's friendship with Merrill may be the only one that the pirate has that isn't based on teasing them. In fact, when Merrill wishes that she had an 'interesting' life like Isabela, she tells Merrill that she's a good person and deserves better than that.

Her fond anecdotes about her crew before the shipwreck indicate that they actually had quite a bit of camaraderie, and she clearly misses them.

Ms. Fanservice: She has about a foot of cleavage to back this up. And no pants. And frequent panty shots.

Ms. Vice Girl: She's a Friendly Pirate who revels in sex, violence, greed, and drunken revelry. She does admit to Areida that part of is just to keep up her Pirate, since she's a Pirate Girl in a male-dominated environment.

Mundane Object Amazement: Merrill's so fascinated by boots that reach thigh length that she sometimes drops marbles in them.

My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: One of her in-battle taunts is mocking her opponent by saying they hit as hard as her grandmother.

My Greatest Failure: In Those Who Speak, she reveals her greatest regret is taking on a job to smuggle slaves, and having to sacrifice them by throwing them overboard in order to escape the Orlesean navy. This is partly why she has such a strong stance against slavery, despite her Bystander Syndrome.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By stealing the Qunari relic, Isabela set a chain of events in motion that resulted in the Qunari attacking Kirkwall, the deaths of many innocent people, and a power vacuum that allowed Meredith to abuse her power and bring the Mage/Templar conflict closer to exploding.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: She got stuck and shipwrecked in Kirkwall as a consequence one of the few selfless good acts she did in her life, when she freed a bunch of refugees from a slave ship after she got hired to escort it. In order to pay off her debt, her employer Castillion tasked her with the near-impossible task of stealing the Tome of Koslun, which ended up with her being pursued by the Qunari and getting shipwrecked in Kirkwall.

Noodle Incident: She's behind a few of them. One of them involved a duel that somehow grew into a 20 person brawl in the streets.

Areida mentions the time she thought she had found the Relic and led them on a wild-goose chase all across the Wounded Coast, only to discover that the chest contained nothing more than some bad poetry... and an old boot.

There's also a letter from her at the Hawke estate, at the beginning of Act 2, saying that she "expected treasure, not spiders. Get well soon." It seems like they had several unsuccessful treasure chases in the wilderness during the three-year intermission.

Only Known by Their Nickname: Isabela is not her birth name, but it's the only name to which she'll respond. Her birth name is revealed to be Naishe in the comic Those Who Speak, but she considers that person to be dead.

Pair the Spares: Hooks up with Fenris, of all people, in Act 3. Granted, the relationship is purely physical by all accounts.

Parental Abandonment: She was sold into marriage at an implied young age by her mother and never knew her father. Those Who Speak sheds new light on this; Isabela's mother was a thief and a con woman who grew disillusioned with her criminal life and started to seek "salvation" by converting into the Qun, but Isabela refused to convert, so she gave her away.

Phrase Catcher: "Shut up, whore!" from Aveline. It becomes an Insult of Endearment once their friendship grows overtime.

Pirate Girl: She used to be a fearsome pirate captain. Her ship is the Siren's Call, which she inherited from her deceased husband, a merchant whom Zevran killed. She even called herself the "Queen of the Eastern Seas". But her pirate days were over when her ship sank sometime before Act 1, during the same storm that wrecked the Qunari in Kirkwall, leaving her stuck in the city. Given that we later learn she was on the run from said Qunari, it's left ambiguous whether it was the storm or Qunari cannons that actually sank her ship.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Not by choice. Due to the loss of her ship and crew as well as the Qunari tome, Isabela is forced to spend most of Dragon Age II standing around the Hanged Man, drinking and acting vaguely pirate-y when not with Areida.

Rape as Backstory: It's implied the reason she let her husband Luis get assassinated was because he had her "entertain" his friends.

"Rashomon"-Style:

She has given different accounts of how exactly the assassination of her husband Luis went. She has claimed she had nothing to do with it but was glad it happened, or to have helped Zevran do it after she found out he wanted to kill her husband or to have actually been the one to have contracted the Antivan Crows to assassinate him.

Varric notes Isabela has given conflicting stories on the details of her Parental Abandonment. Sometimes her mother sold her off as a slave for some coins, sometimes she gave Isabela away with the promise she would be "looked after". Whatever the case, it is very clear she resents her mother for it.

Really Gets Around: Her sex life is a constant topic in conversations with the other companions, to the point finding past lovers of hers is a Running Gag. It reaches in-story memetic levels as time goes by, as she and Varric recall several patrons who attempted to (unsuccessfully) flirt with her and she recalls her vast sex life.

Sex Goddess: Her promiscuous life has led her to become a very experienced and skilled lover, to the point she often talks about kinky sexual techniques. She even claims to be so good in bed, she can turn even the straightest woman lesbian/bisexual.

Shipper on Deck: She writes erotic "Friend-fiction" involving Aveline and Donnic, and shares it with Varric.

Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: She might be an amoral Pirate, but she drew the line at slave trafficking, and one of her few selfless acts was turning on her employer Castillion when he hired her to escort a slave ship. She not only refused to finish the job but actually freed the captured refugees. In Those Who Speak, her past with slavery is fleshed out more, revealing she was a slave herself, being sold out by her mother. When she earned her freedom and became a pirate, she avoided slavery until she got deep into debt with the Felicisima Armada and was forced to take a slave trafficking job, but ended up botching the job when she got caught by Orlesian pirate hunters and she was forced to throw the slaves into the sea to escape, something she considers to be her greatest failure and she swore never to get involved with slavery again.

Slut-Shaming: Many characters often look down on her, or at least deride her for her promiscuous life.

STD Immunity: Averted. It's all but outright stated that Isabela does face repercussions for her grandiose sex life, but Anders is able to cure these without much trouble.

Stripperific: Isabela has the bustiest model in the story and she has the outfit to show it off. Also, no pants.

Supermodel Strut: Isabela walks with a deliberate swagger to her hips. This is even pointed out and Discussed by Merrill, who wants Isabela to teach her how to do it, but Isabela more-or-less says that a sexy strut just comes to a woman naturally.

Merrill: "How do you do that?"

Isabela: "Do what, Kitten?"

Merrill: "You sort of... swagger when you walk. I've been trying, but I trip over my own feet when I do it."

Isabela: "You just strut. It's not something you practice."

Merrill: "How do I learn it, then?"

Isabela: "It comes to you. Usually at night. It's like a lover... or maybe a burglar. Either it ravishes you or runs off with all your jewelry. And you have to run it down and stab it in the heart. And... that metaphor got a bit away from me, didn't it?"

Merrill: "I think it did, but it was certainly exciting!"

The Tease: She's openly flirtatious with most people, sometimes as an actual come-on, but often just because she has fun riling them up.

Thrill Seeker: Part of why she's a pirate and why she likes working with Areida is that she simply enjoys the thrill and the danger. When recovering from being KO, she even says that "Nothing like a Near-Death Experience to get the blood pumping".

Trick Bomb: She is a Rogue, so she can use different types of bombs.

Urban Legend Love Life: While she's still quite promiscuous, she admits she exaggerates when talking about her sex life, in order to preserve her "image" as The Lad-ette Pirate Girl. But she also seems to do it because she likes to scandalize people.

Venturous Smuggler: During her time as a pirate captain, most of her jobs were smuggling illegal contraband through the seas.

Vitriolic Best Buds: While she and Aveline obviously don't get along at the start of the story, due to being on opposite sides of the law, by the end of the story they develop an unusual friendship, even though they never stop insulting each other.

Yaoi Fangirl: In one of their conversations, she seems really turned on at the thought of Danarius oiling Fenris up and "keeping [him] close at hand" while Fenris "glistens." Fenris asks her if she's already written a whole story about it in her head, and she doesn't deny it.

You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Areida convinces her of this at the start of Act 3.

You Fight Like a Cow: Some of her combat lines can get pretty snarky:

Isabela: "You hit like my grandmother!"

Isabela: "You hit like an Orlesian dandy!"

Your Door Was Open: Apparently she breaks into the Hawke estate frequently.

#dragon age #dragon age 2 #Isabela #Captain Isabela #TV Tropes #Raiders #Pirates

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foreverfallingforthestars · 3 years

Text

Don't Say No

I'm super excited about today's prompt because it's something that I think is really fun and I got inspiration for this from a pjo fic I read months ago and I can't remember the title so, uh, woops. Either way, I hope you guys like it!

Word Count: 2068 Read on AO3 Rowaelin Month Master list

Day 3 of Rowaelin Month Prompt: Secret Relationship

~~~~~

Nox was tired. Everything at work had become mundane, and there was nothing interesting ever happening anymore. People came into work, tired and complaining about how it was the start of yet another week, and they would chatter about their weekend and any plans for after work. All Nox desperately wanted was to not be mind-numbingly bored as he read through yet another manuscript.

Thankfully, this Monday turned out to be slightly different than all the other Mondays. Nox knew something was up when the low toned chatter turned high pitched and excited as people wandered about the floor where Ashryver Publishing was located, pointing to the open door that led to their boss’ office. The layout of the floor was fairly open to allow people to easily converse with one another and move about the area while the higher ranking members of the company had closed offices, but Aelin tended to leave her door open to allow people to come in and speak with her.

Nox was fairly friendly with Aelin, and it was because of her that he’d gotten the job as a publisher reader when he couldn’t find a job, so he was understandably confused when there was nothing different about her when she walked out of her office. Her blonde hair was out as it normally was, and her makeup was done perfectly as usual. Nox’s eyes scanned over her as he tried to figure out what people were so huffy about this particular Monday until his eyes landed on the folder she was holding in her left hand.

“Holy shit, you’re engaged?!” he blurted out, seeing that diamond glinting off her left hand’s ring finger. Aelin looked down at her hand as though she were seeing it for the first time before rolling her eyes at him.

“Yes, Nox,” she responded with a small smile that was almost teasing. “I am.”

“I didn’t even know you were dating anyone,” he answered, leaning his elbows against his desk.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly something to publicize at work. I was dating someone, and now my boyfriend is my fiancee,” Aelin answered. Her eyes glanced about the room before she sighed. “Alright, everyone has two minutes to ask me questions.”

It was like a pack of hyenas had been given their first meal in days with the way the questions were thrown at Aelin, but she answered each one quickly and with her usual dose of sarcasm that made Nox smile.

“Have we met him?”

“Maybe, maybe not, and that is a serious answer. I don’t know if you’ve ever run into him on the sidewalk or in a restaurant or bar.”

“Is he good looking?”

“Yes, I have standards.”

The two minutes seemed to fly by with the way people barely got any information about her fiance, and Aelin looked way too pleased with herself that Nox couldn’t help himself. When she had dismissed everyone after giving people work, he made his way over to her office.

“So,” he started, leaning against the doorframe, “the big bad CEO of a publishing company has gotten herself someone who can deal with her.”

“If you’re trying to fish for information, you’re going to have to try much harder,” Aelin responded, a mischievous glint in her eyes that he’d seen way too many times.

“It’s okay,” he answered instead, “I won’t pry. I’m just happy for you, Aelin.” That brought out a genuine smile on her face before a ping on her desktop drew her attention from him for a brief moment.

“Ah, it’s actually good you’re here! We have a temporary hire coming in for the next month, or so, while we try to find someone else who can help you read incoming manuscripts. Let me just go get him.”

Nox chose that moment to sit down in one of the two chairs in front of her desk while Aelin stood up to grab her ID off her desk and walked out of the office. Nox waited for a few minutes, taking in the decorations of her office, including the small mementos she had scattered everywhere. The office had only been hers for two years, but it seemed as though she’d been living in that office for years with the way she had personalized it.

The company wasn’t an insanely big publishing house, but they had quite a few popular authors with best-selling books under their belt, and it was the intimacy of the employees within the company that drew aspiring authors and people passionate about books to it. Part of it had to do with the fact that it was a family business, Aelin’s mother owning it before she did, but part of it had to do with how much Aelin loved what she did. The photo of her parents, cousin, and sister-in-law alongside a photo taken at one of the staff dinners two years back was enough proof of how much she loved her work family as much as she loved her blood family.

The sound of Aelin’s heels and the sudden lack of chatter indicated to Nox that she was back with the new hire, who must be definitely impressive enough that his entry topped Aelin’s engagement news.

“Okay, Nox, I’m pretty sure I don’t have to introduce you two, but Nox Owen, meet Rowan Whitethorn, our new temporary hire.” Nox turned around to find himself looking at a man that he worked with for nearly a year before he left the company two years ago. Rowan was a tall man with platinum silver hair and a handsome face, even from Nox's perspective. The tattoos swirling down his arm definitely also helped with his popularity amongst women.

When Nox made eye contact with Rowan, the man smiled, and Nox nodded back in greeting.

“Isn’t that technically rehiring someone?” Nox asked, looking at Aelin and raising an eyebrow.

“That’s what I said when she offered me the position last week,” Rowan responded, sitting down in the seat next to Nox while Aelin took her seat across from them.

“It’s temporary!” she protested. Nox sent her a look that he knew she’d be able to read perfectly for that doesn’t matter, and with the way she groaned, he was sure that Rowan might’ve sent her the same look.

“Ugh, both of you get out of my face. Rowan knows what he’s doing so I doubt you need to do anything, Nox, but just give him a new manuscript that came in,” she grumbled, waving them off and going back to her computer.

Nox stifled a laugh as he got up.

“Hey, is it just me or did she get a lot hotter over the last two years?” Rowan asked quietly, and Nox had to stop himself from tripping and falling on his face.

“Man, she’s engaged. Like very recently too,” Nox responded just as quietly.

“Oh,” he answered, his eyes falling to the ground before snapping back up to Nox’s face, “well, if it’s recent then I don’t really mind.”

“Dude! That’s not okay!”

“Harmless flirting never hurt anyone,” Rowan protested as they sat down in their seats. Ever since the last publisher’s reader quit, that seat had been empty, and luckily enough for Rowan, that was his seat when he still worked at Ashryver Publishing.

“It will hurt if you break up her engagement.”

“If it breaks her engagement because I’m flirting with her, then she was never meant to be with that guy.”

“Oh my god,” Nox responded, turning back to his work.

“Hey, don’t worry,” Rowan spoke, and Nox reluctantly set his gaze upon the man, “It’s really not that big of a deal.”

Nox disagreed, but he did his part, so Nox simply shrugged before getting back to work. Hopefully with enough refusal from Aelin’s side, Rowan would get a hint and quit it.

*****

Rowan did not get a hint and quit.

In fact, as the week passed and so did the following week, he only grew bolder in the smiles he would send Aelin, in the side comments, the inside jokes (since when did they even have those?), and Nox was getting frustrated.

“Dude,” he hissed as he pulled Rowan aside before they stepped into the restaurant that they were going to have a staff dinner at, “seriously, quit it. I don’t want you breaking Aelin’s relationship just because you find her pretty.”

“She’s more than just pretty, Nox,” Rowan responded, more serious than Nox had expected him to be.

“Yeah, well, then you know that she’s a loyal person. Don’t make her break that.” With the way Rowan had nodded, Nox figured that he had finally, finally gotten through to Rowan.

Unfortunately, throughout the entire dinner, Aelin and Rowan were sitting next to each other laughing, leaning into each other. He couldn’t believe that Aelin was actually falling for Rowan’s bullshit. It wasn’t even like he was flirting outwardly, either. It was the small things that he was noticing while watching the two discreetly. Rowan would give her a napkin when she needed it, pass her something before she even asked, simply knowing that she wanted it when her eyes had drifted over to it. It was insane how attentive the man was, and it wasn’t fair that the subtle flirting was actually working.

Nox couldn’t even say anything in front of everyone, lest he risk bringing...whatever that was out into the public where he was pretty sure Aelin didn’t want it to be. He was contemplating whether or not he should talk to Aelin about the whole situation with Rowan, and he was doing just that as he leaned against his car, waiting for her to step out of the restaurant. He’d left along with the others so as to not make things suspicious, but he did notice that Rowan hadn’t left the restaurant either.

Nox was just about ready to leave when he heard Rowan’s voice ringing through the parking lot. “Look, maybe we could just tell them.”

“No, it’s way too risky. The whole reason why we stopped going out in public together was so that we could get all the other stuff settled first,” Aelin responded. Nox was definitely intruding on a private conversation, but also, he was incredibly curious about what was happening.

“They’re all about to lose their minds with the way they’re trying to figure out what’s going on between us.”

“That’s because they’re not blind, Rowan,” she laughed as their voices got closer. “I don’t really know what I would say to them, anyway,” she finished just as they were in his line of sight — holding hands.

Nox’s brain stopped working right then because, holy shit, his boss was cheating on her fiancee with her employee.

“Nox? What are you still doing here?” Aelin asked, catching sight of him.

“I, uh, wanted to talk to you...but apparently you...don’t care about your engagement.”

“What?” she asked, clearly confused. Her eyes drifted to Rowan who simply shrugged with a teasing smile.

“You’re cheating on your fiance with Rowan!”

A snort escaped Rowan, and that was the moment where Nox could see understanding shine in her eyes. She turned to Rowan before elbowing him in the ribs, and then turned to look at Nox. “This idiot is my fiance.”

Nox blinked once, twice, trying to comprehend the words that had come out of her mouth. “This man? Your boyfriend?”

“Fiancee,” Rowan corrected.

“Shut up, man. You had me thinking she was going to cheat on you! With you!”

“Not going to lie, it was really funny, though. You were freaking out for the last two weeks.”

“That’s just cruel, dude.”

*****

Despite being incredibly salty about the entire situation, Nox did have to admit that it was hilarious seeing his co-workers’ reactions to the wedding invitations that clearly started that Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, their dear boss, was marrying Ashryver Publishing’s ex-employee (now known as the new literature professor at University of Doranelle) Rowan Whitethorn.

Never had he seen more outrage at the fact that the two had hidden their relationship from the entire company for so long, and honestly, Nox was surprised they had managed to hide the relationship with the way the two couldn’t go longer than five minutes without some form of physical contact.

It was sickeningly cute, and he couldn’t help but think that Mondays weren’t so mundane, after all.

#rowaelinmonth #day 3 #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #nox owen #romance #comedy #throne of glass #poor nox lol he really suffered

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shoichee · 3 years

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is it alright if i request hcs for midorima introducing his shy g/n s/o to the team (maybe they’re his lucky item for the day? i cant see his tsundere self introducing them volutarily) and midorima is being soft with them cause they’re a bit scared of the team??

I HEAR YA LOUD AND CLEAR, A VERY CUTE REQUEST, i gotchu fam <3

@knb-kreations

Midorima x shy!Reader

[Headcanons]

as a reserved individual himself, Midorima is not one to broadcast his relationship out to everyone, and this sentiment is only stronger when he knows that you’re even more introverted than himself

even so, after dating for a substantial amount of time, he wants to include you into his life and potential dream career in basketball… and that would entail bringing you to meet his inner circle of his friends teammates

the only problem (and the reason why he’s held off in introducing you to them for so long) is that his teammates can be quite rowdy (and have some… unique quirks? but Midorima isn’t really one to talk)… especially that Takao Kazunari

still, he never felt like he had to introduce you to them right away… when the right opportunity will present himself, he’ll do it

besides, you don’t seem in any rush to meet them anytime soon from the way you’d rather prefer spending your time with Midorima alone

well, until one day, the Oha Asa predictions presented that opportunity:

“Today, Cancers are in a unique situation from the rest! It seems like their luck can be quite stagnant or off the charts depending if they have their lucky item for today! Ready to hear it, everyone?! Today’s lucky item for Cancers isn’t a standard one! It may differ for every Cancer, and that’s the beauty of fate!~ Cancers should bring along with them something that they cherish the most! But be careful…! Cancers should also take care in making sure nothing happens to their lucky item today!”

Midorima, in hearing the prediction from his TV, flinches out of surprise, mostly because the first thing that came to his mind after hearing “most cherished” was you

but alas, he’s going to follow fate down to a T, with no exceptions

when he approaches you early morning, he tells you with the straightest face:

“(y/n)-san, according to the Oha Asa, you’re my lucky item today.”

“U-U-Uh… um, is… is that a pick-up line?”

“Hmph! As if I would stoop myself down to Takao’s level. The Oha Asa predicted it so, and I will not take any chances today.”

“Um… what do I have to do then?”

Midorima softens his gaze at you and mumbles, “Nothing really. Just stay by my side for the entirety of today.”

thankfully, today was a Saturday, so at least school wouldn’t be an obstacle between the two of you being separated

so here you are, tagging along with Midorima to do some mundane trips around the neighborhood

Midorima please… this is literally just a date but he refuses to acknowledge it as such

he still had basketball practice that evening though, so by then, it was time for him to go to the gym to start warmups

… but wait, that would mean he’d have to bring you there too…

“Ahem… you…” Midorima clears his throat. “Do you mind just sitting on the benches inside? There’s no need for you to make conversation if you do not wish to do so.”

“O-Of course!” you exclaim. “I… I wanna see you play too… even if it’s just practice, I-I hope your teammates won’t mind?”

“Well I’ll make sure they’ll mind their own business.”

“Would I really bring good luck to you by just sitting and watching you, Shintarou…? It’s hard to believe that the Oha Asa said that I’m… supposedly lucky?”

“The Oha Asa is never wrong,” he says confidently. “Besides, I don’t see it anything but an advantage when I know you’ll be here to provide support in your own way. After all, you do make the most out of your capabilities and do your best, nanodayo…”

Midorima makes sure to enter the gym first, with you tailing behind and taking shelter behind his broad back

even despite that, nothing could prepare you for the chaos inside

a basketball FLEW to you and nearly killed you if it wasn’t for the fact that Midorima easily stopped the ball in its projection

“Fools! Are you ever careful in shooting?!”

“Ah shut it! Not everyone’s like you, Midorima!”

“If you have that much energy complaining, then you have the energy to start warming up, rookie.”

Midorima sighs in response to their comments, but you’re behind him peeking out a bit and then ducking behind his back again when you saw how intimidating they were

“Wh-Whoa!! Shin-chan brought someone over?!”

“What?”

“Where?!”

“The brat brought someone over?!”

Takao immediately skips over to him and you, curiously peeking to see who Midorima, the ever-so serious and hardworking dude, brought to practice; it’s very rare that he’d bring his own Teiko ex-teammates along, let alone anyone unrelated to basketball

“Oh! Aren’t you (y/n)-chan?” Takao asks, tilting his head with a childish wonder

“O-Oh, um…” you reply, darting your eyes to Midorima before continuing. “It’s nice to meet you… I’ve heard a lot about you from Shintarou, Takao-kun.”

Midorima turns red and denies it to his breath as he hounds on Takao as an outlet for his embarrassment

Miyaji and Ōtsubo are peeved but lowkey curious about why Midorima brought you here, so they ask… to which Midorima replies:

“(y/n)-san is my lucky item for today, nanodayo.”

“Captain, can I throw my family’s pineapples at him??”

“Shin-chan, I’d normally laugh, but did you just label a person as an object?” (to which Midorima immediately interjects, “A-Absolutely not!!”)

“Alright, you little shit, you 1st-years are really getting on my nerves right now…”

“W-W-Wait…!” you exclaim, slightly stepping out from behind Midorima’s back. “Please don’t be mad at him… I wanted to watch too…” but when everyone’s attention immediately shoots to you, you squeak and hide behind his back again

from the way you clutch onto Midorima’s shirt from behind, Midorima immediately turns around to you with a soft tone of voice

“Hey, come on now… they’re not bad people, nanodayo. You know I’ll be there by your side if anything happens, (y/n)...”

everyone’s REALLY quiet hearing how Midorima talks to you, and they’re like WTF???? WHERE DID THIS SIDE EVEN COME FROM….?

only when Takao blows a slow whistle to break the silence does everyone break into quiet snickers, ready to make fun of Midorima to death about it

as Midorima gives you a short pat on the head and turns to walk to put down his duffel, all of his teammates follow him to give him those “playful” hits and slaps on the back and arms LMAOO some may have actually knocked his spine out of his body though ngl

you’re just standing there timidly, not knowing what to exactly do next, and Miyaji notices you and approaches you

“Oy,” he says with his usual rough tone of voice. “If you really wanna watch, you can sit over there. Don’t be in the way though.” He points to the specific bench, but softens his usual Spartan-like, harsh frown just a tad bit when he sees you cowering a bit

“Sorry… uh, (l/n)-san, right? Take care of the idiot for us.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Midorima immediately stalks over to the two of you, knowing full well how… scary Miyaji can be, and Miyaji’s frown comes back

“Huh? Nothing for you to be concerned about, rookie.” Miyaji KICKS Midorima to the court to start doing shooting drills and then turns to you like nothing happened

“W-Wait, Shintarou…?”

“He’ll be fine,” he sighs, ruffling his hair. “If he does anything stupid, let one of us know, alright?”

“He’s been, um, good to me.”

and Miyaji gives a little smile for the first time as a stamp of approval, and then he goes back to practice while you lightly skip to the bench… that smile MAY have convinced you that Midorima’s team wasn’t so scary after all

“Sooooo....” Takao says, jabbing Midorima’s ribs. “Your lucky item, eh?”

irk marks appear on Midorima’s head as he prepares to strangle Takao, only to remember you were watching him

“Ahem… (y/n) is my lucky item, regardless of what day or prediction.”

“Eurghh, that’s so sappy, what the fuck—”

“Shut up if you know what’s good for you, Takao.”

the entire team = your personal bodyguards for REAL, and it’s almost scary how every single teammate uses their own “softer” side when talking to you directly like… Midorima is now kinda regretting that he introduced you to them so late? he didn’t know that his teammates would be THAT considerate to you

especially Takao… he’d say a bunch of jokes to get you to laugh but he’d know EXACTLY when to back off and let you chill out??

the upperclassmen would be very polite and soft spoken with you?? like they all have their own respective younger siblings, so they’d definitely treat you like one

Kimura always offers you to taste-test his family’s produce for free, free of charge, zilch, nada

Midorima wonders if they like you better than him (spoiler alert: of course they do)

to get under Midorima’s nerves while you aren’t around, they’d always go, “Bro, where’s your lucky item???” in referring to you LMAOOO (Takao is ESPECIALLY guilty of this)

#submission #kagummypack #knb x reader #knb #knb headcanons #knb headcanon #knb fic #knb fics #knb fluff #midorima x reader #midorima shintarou #midorima shintaro #midorima shintarou x reader #kuroko no basket #shuutoku #shutoku basketball team

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imonthinice · 3 years

Text

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 15/?

Word Count: 3k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name.

Thinking about making parts longer so that I can at least finish a semester of Jason knowing Y/N before I do fic 2 of this continuity. Give it a better name, probably. I dunno

Warnings: Eludes to sex, Takes about Injuries, Mentions of Trauma, Refusal to acknowledge pain, Swearing, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

She could find herself lost in the way Jason walked for hours. He thought she was asleep when he threw on his slightly ripped boxers so he could walk to his desk. She didn’t know what it was that drew her in, maybe it was just the way that even after he had been stabbed that he could act like he owned the room.

She thought he was really, really, attractive. Like, really. She couldn't think of times where she wouldn’t get lost in how he looked. His personality made it a lot better, too. She really liked how he chose to carry his personality, how he chose to carry himself.

He turned to his bed after plugging in his laptop, it would take a while to charge, when he noticed she was staring.

“Your eyes will dry out looking at something so hot, Y/N. I’d be careful,” he joked, letting a large smile slip by.

“I’ll need heat-resistant goggled to keep this relationship going, damn.”

“Bruce can buy you some.”

“I think after his freak-out bout our situation, he wouldn’t be keen on that one, darling.”

He smiled at her, “What makes you say that? He clearly likes you.”

“That doesn't mean he wants to spend that much money on me.”

“I would spend that much money on you,” he grabbed the water bottle sitting at his desk and twisted the cap off.

“You have spent that much money on me.”

“Pretty girl, gets money, gets the pretty man,” he said before seeming to chug the entire bottle.

“You would probably find a way to drown while drinking water, honestly.”

“Ha, ha, baby. Funny.”

“You don’t have to tell me I’m funny for me to know I’m funny, Jay,” she joked, “Are you coming back to bed?”

“No, I’m not.”

“What the fuck, man.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I have work to do for Wayne Enterprises,” he said.

“I just want to cuddle,” she jokingly wined at him.

“You’re a temptress, but I really have to do this.”

“Doesn’t your laptop take time to charge?” she asked.

“Yes it does, why?”

“Come here then.”

He sighed and looked at his laptop before smiling and coming over to his bed, “You’re lucky it’s charging slowly today, baby.”

He climbed into the bed beside her, she thought he forgot that she was naked but he didn’t. He knew she was naked, he just didn’t want anything from her, he didn’t want a ‘fun night’ with his girlfriend, he just wanted the cuddling on a Thursday morning.

She had a headache, a massive one, and Jason noticed her wincing a lot and holding her head, he had seen these signs before, in Time Drake, his baby brother, who had a severe caffeine addiction.

“You alright?” he asked, nuzzling his nose into her shoulder.

“Headache,” she answered and winced again.

“Caffeine or medication?” he asked, trying to make certain that is was caffeine and not anything else.

“Caffeine.”

“I can always make you some coffee, Y/N.”

“If you're willing to leave this bed, could you?” she asked.

“I could, I could. I don’t want to leave this moment, but I guess” he said, sarcastically.

“I’ll owe you indefinitely,” she said as he got up and walked over to his dresser, scavenging for a pair of pants so he didn’t walk downstairs and possibly expose himself to his siblings.

“Do you want anything else while I’m down there?” he asked while putting on his pants, “I can always make you breakfast,” he said.

“No, no, the coffee is more than enough, I swear.”

“You just want to spend more time with me, you simp.”

“That is true, that is so true.”

“I’ll be back in bed before you know it,” he walked over to her and kissed her forehead, taking in the bedhead and the way her eyes drowsed when she was tired, “Don’t pass out on me.”

“I can’t make promises I may not keep.”

“Then just keep me positive.”

She laughed and he walked out of the room. You could feel the way he was giddy about her as he walked out, from the way his grin wouldn’t fall to the way he bothered to get dressed, even if it was just pants.

No one thought they’d see the day that Jason Todd, the Jason Todd, would walk out of a room with a girl in it with pants on.

“Master Todd,” Alfred said as Jason walked into the kitchen, “One of these days, I ask of you, you and Miss Y/N should eat breakfast with the rest of us. And, it’s nearly 10:00, sir. You should be up sooner.”

“I can always count on you to parent me, Alfred,” Jason joked, “One of these days she and I will come down for breakfast, I swear,” he turned on the coffee machine.

“You don’t drink coffee, Master Todd.”

“No, I don’t. But she does.”

“My god, you’re whipped!” Tim exclaimed at his big brother.

“You’ll understand one day when someone you like this much is in your bed, Tim.”

“You didn’t even call me on my shit, who are you and what did you do with my brother?” Tim joked.

“I sold him to the devil in exchange for his rocking body and a beautiful girlfriend, moron.”

“How is your stab wound, Master Todd?” Alfred asked.

“Painful,” he said before looking in his foresight for Alfred’s reaction, when Alfred frowned, it broke Jason’s heart, he loved Alfred, “It’s gotten better, I swear. But it’s not ideal, either.”

“Master Richard says he should have watched you closer.”

“I don’t think he could have stopped it.”

“I could have tried,” Dick chimed in.

“Have you been listening in?” Tim asked when he turned to Dick.

“Are you that surprised? But Jase, you could have died, I could have done better, I could have stopped it if I just-”

“How many times do I have to say it isn’t your fault, Dickie?” Jason cut him off.

“I just promised to always protect you, and I failed my job.”

“You’re starting to sound like Dad, Dick,” Jason joked, trying to liven up the mood and stop his brother from crying. He needed to just distract them all from it, he didn’t want to deal with it, to talk about it all.

“Jase,” Dick paused.

“Dick, c’mon. I’m not dead. No one died. We’re all okay.”

“Jay, he has a point, no one is ready to lose you again, man,” Tim jumped in.

“To say the least,” Alfred finished.

“I love you guys, I do,” he said as he poured Y/N’s coffee, “And I get you’re scared that I’m going to die again,” he paused and sighed, “I don’t really know what to say, really.”

“You said really twice,” Tim joked.

“Listen here you little, literally, shit,” Jason retorted, holding his hand above Tim’s head like he was comparing heights, “I’ve enjoyed this, really. I can’t give up family bonding for anything, but you guys understand-”

“Are you ditching us for the pretty woman?” Dick asked.

“You would do the same, Dick.”

“Because I’m serious about Barbara.”

“And?” he joked as he walked off and back to his room.

Opening his door, he saw her, half-awake, laying in his bed. She had gotten up at some point to put on one of his shirts, it was cute. He liked the fact that she was wearing his shirt. He stared for a bit.

“Whatcha doing, Romeo?” she joked.

“Is that my shirt?” he asked as he walked towards his nightstand and put down the coffee before looking at her.

“Yeah, it is. If you mind, frankly, I don’t care.”

“Ha, ha. I don’t mind,” he said as he crawled back into bed with her while she sat up to drink the coffee, “Hope that makes it a little nicer to be here.”

“It’s already nice to be here.”

“I’m sure the headache made it suck a little, though.”

“Well yes but no.”

“Yes but no is my personal motto.”

“Is it now?”

“Well, ‘Should you do this, Jason? Dad will be mad.’ followed by yes but no is literally everything I do, ever.”

“Is this how telling your dad that we’re dating went?” she joked.

“Oh yeah, he just hates you,” he said with heavy sarcasm.

“If your partner’s parents don’t hate you then are you even their partner?” she retorted.

He laughed and buried his face into her chest. She laughed between sips of her coffee and she stroked his hair. She thought he liked it when she did this, and he did, she was right. He could feel each of her fingers running through his hair, massaging his head. If love languages are a thing, she could speak his fluently.

She was scared, scared that the attacks against her were related, scared that her friends weren’t going to get out of jail, scared that her escapade of drinking had brought her back to alcoholism, there was a taste she could never get off her tongue, the cravings she couldn’t quench. And it scared her. She hadn’t been this far down in a while, mentally.

It never seemed like the moment that she could bring that up to Jason, her fears. She wanted to open up about it but she just couldn’t.

Jason wanted to bring up the nightmares to her, but it was never the moment, He wanted to open up to her about it but he too, just couldn’t.

When she finished her coffee, it was unfortunately the time that Jason had to work, she audibly groaned and sighed when he left her side. He laughed and kissed her before he left the bed, and she, jokingly, tried to pull him back onto the bed.

Mundane life, day-to-day life was stuff like this, partners leaving because they had jobs, school, volunteering, extra-curricular activities, anything. It was the sad reality that they both would have to accept, especially if Y/N was going to reenroll in her dance lessons, which she had been thinking about. She hadn’t been deciding anything, she was scared.

Was it the distance that scared her? Probably. Was it the fact that she could fall from grace? Yes. She didn’t want to fall, she wanted to climb and climb harder and progress. She was a high-achiever. She had already fell, too. She fell hard.

She remembered waking up in a hospital in grade 10, after a night of partying, on the verge of death from alcohol poisoning. She was sent to rehab but relapsed hard. She had already fell, she had fallen so hard but tried to rebuild herself so hard as well. No one, but her parents, knew about the hospital visit, she had hidden it.

He was working away, typing on his laptop when she noticed that he was wincing.

“Baby?” she asked.

“Yes?” he said, through pain.

“Are you alright?”

“Just a little bit of pain, don’t worry.”

She got up and draped her arms behind him on the chair, “Doesn’t seem like a little bit, Jay.”

He grabbed her arm and rested his hand there while the other worked still, “Really, it’s nothing.”

“Do you have pain medication?” she whispered in his ear, trying to prove that she wasn’t going to let it go.

“I do, in the cabinet in the bathroom, why? Are you in pain?”

“If I asked you to take some so I don’t have to see you wince, will you?” she said while she walked towards the bathroom and dug through his cabinet.

“Baby, c’mon, please,”

“Shhhh,” she said as she found the pain meds and walked back, “Take some?”

“C’mon now,” he said.

“No, don’t humor me, say yes or no,” she said.

He grabbed the pill bottle and read the dosage instructions as she crawled behind him in the chair and rested her head on his back. He laughed slightly when she did and she could feel him laugh. The way his muscles contorted as he laughed. It was something she loved. He took the recommended dosage when she glanced at his stitches. They looked to be healing, but she wasn’t a doctor, she didn’t know if they were.

She placed her hand on top of his stitches, hoping she could just trace the outline of the scar, but she was watching his face, hoping that he wouldn’t wince if she tried. He smiled though, something about her even trying to comfort him brought him joy.

He didn’t feel worthy of her worry, her love, her kindness, but he enjoyed every minute of it because he still didn’t know if the pressure of it all, his life, if it would break her. He didn’t want it all to come crashing down, ever. He wanted this to last at least long enough that he could consider saying ‘I love you’ to her.

Every other girl would have run at the moment he was stabbed though, maybe because they had sense, maybe because she didn’t think through it all. He didn’t think she was ‘Not like other girls’ just because he knew that mindset is fucking trash, thank to his sisters just rambling about it at family game night after Tim said it, on accident. Boy, that kid got his ass handed to him by the girls.

He was sure that Y/N probably thought the same about it, in spite of the pick-me songs she’d end up playing when she was bored. They were just good songs, he was sure she didn’t really think that bringing other women, even men, down was a good thing. if she did, who knows how his sisters and brothers would feel about her when they found out.

But there he sat, and Y/N hadn't run. She had embraced the tragedy with open arms and expected it to slow down. His life was face-paced, a tale of a boy running too far and into the sky, and she sat through it with him. He would tap and type on his laptop, trying to not move and disturb her as she relaxed.

Doing work was not exactly the activity a new couple would want to do when neither of them had anything else to do, but it needed to be done or Bruce would hand Jason his ass in an argument about work ethic. Jason had work ethic, and Bruce had let him rest but when Jason was showing signs of recovery, he started telling Jason to ease back into work. So, Jason wrote essays defending projects Bruce wanted to do to the board.

Bruce didn’t need Jason to defend him, but if Jason could get the words out, normally no board members would fight Bruce on the decision anymore. And Bruce paid Jason handsomely for these essays, because Bruce did not like the fighting and arguing he’d get from the board.

But the Batman-Patented Stare would follow if someone continued to hate Bruce’s plans. It was a watered-down version of it, but it was still probably the most intimidating thing that his kids and teammates have ever experienced.

Jason hope that the relationship between him and Y/N would continued even if Bruce gave her the Batman Stare. She seemed like the type of girl who would end up laughing in Bruce’s face if he did it to her.

She was probably going to receive it after that fight Jason and him had about protection, because she was also partly to blame about that.

The hours ticked by as Jason wrote to defend his dad from the board, and before he and Y/N knew it, it was dinner time at the Wayne Manor, and Y/N was invited. Great, Jason thought, I guess we’re going to find out how she’s going to deal with the stare.

“Just a fair warning, baby, my dad’s probably going to attempt to lecture you if you join us for dinner,” Jason said as he got dressed.

“He can try his best, I’ll give him that,” she laughed as she threw on the same clothes she had from the day before.

“You need to start bringing an over-night bag here, damn,” he joked.

“Remind me next time I come over and I’ll at least bring a second change of clothes in my schoolbag.”

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

They all sat down for dinner, and Bruce started his parenting attempt, “Jason, Y/N,” he said and both of them stared at him, “You both know what you did was irresponsible-”

“Everything I do is irresponsible, Bruce, no offense,” Y/N joked.

“Look, I’m not going to have you two having sex-”

“They’re having sex?!” Damien and Tim exclaimed with fake disgust, YN laughed.

“Could any of you take this seriously?”

“Sorry, sorry, playboy billionaire, I’ll pretend you’re my dad for a second,” YN joked.

“You’re going to be a pain in my ass, huh?”

“Yeah, probably. Sorry about that, genuinely, but its not my fault your son picked me.”

“I just need you two to be safe if you’re going to continue to have sex in my house,” Bruce said, exasperated.

“We’ll just have sex at my house then,” Y/N joked again.

Bruce gave her The Stare at this moment, and she got startled a little bit. Everyone paused because she literally jumped a bit at The Stare.

“Dad, I think you genuinely scared her a bit,” Dick said.

“Did I jump? Oh my god,” she laughed, “I’m sorry,” she laughed harder, “I wasn’t expecting it!”

“Dad, c’mon, she’s a guest,” Jason said.

“No, no don’t worry about me, seriously. He can discipline me all he wants, honestly. If he’s nice about it, I’ll listen, even if I throw 69 jokes his way.”

“Nice,” Tim retorted.

“Really, a sex joke? Right after I tried to parent you?” Bruce questioned, “You really are the perfect match for Jason, my god.”

“You didn’t already realize that from the flipping off the press and her head-butting incident?” Stephanie added in, mocking Bruce.

“I, in no way, feel remorse or shame about either of those events.”

“You flipped off the press?” Cass asked.

“I did, I did. They can’t stop me, no one can.”

“I can,” Jason joked.

“You can keep thinking that.”

Everyone laughed. Whether or not Bruce wanted to admit it, he liked Y/N and hoped that Jason and her were going to last a while.

42 notes · View notes

sfb123 · 3 years

Text

Sapere Aude - Part 11

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Disclaimer: I have no current affiliation with any other Via Imperii themed stories. Any claims that I have pre-read anything are false.

Word Count: 2,909

A/N: First of all, I have a couple of new readers (hi, thank you, I love you) if this is your first Sapere Aude, stop here, go back, and start from the beginning. This series has a lot of bombs and surprises, so none of this is going to make sense, and it’s going to make it less exciting if you aren’t reading from the beginning.

Sorry, another long wait for a chapter. I got stuck, and distracted, and like a million other things. The Choices Insider email last week kind of lit a fire under me. When I started writing this (in December) the plan was to have it finished before the last book came out, so I have like a month to get through this. I’m going full out on getting this completed now, I will be working on nothing but this until it is done, and am hoping to finish it in time for the next book to come out so that PB has plenty of time to steal my ideas.

This chapter took a while for me to work through, but @jessiembruno was amazing and helped me every step of the way, and got like a million rambling text messages from me once the idea dam finally broke. And then pre-reading and leaving me some amazing love notes, and super helpful suggestions. She also kept encouraging me, and pushing me to work on it when my mind would wander into new ideas, or thoughts on some other random WIP that I started throwing together. I love you, and I am so grateful for this friendship that goes way beyond any of this. By the way, you are an AMAZING writer, and I will continue to shout it from the mountain tops as long as I live.

As always with this series, I need to thank @txemrn for pre-reading. I was having SUCH a miserable day and feeling so shitty about myself (for non-fandom reasons), and your reactions to this chapter made me laugh out loud for the first time in what felt like forever. I appreciate you so much my dear friend.

And of course, thank you @twinkleallnight for my beautiful series moodboard.

Tags: Listed below, you know the drill.

Liam exited the bedroom and walked toward the sitting area. He paused at the end of the hallway to observe his wife and his daughter sitting on the couch. Riley had her blouse in hand, sewing on the button Olivia sent her for her undercover mission. She was showing Eleanor how to sew, talking her through every stitch. The princess was watching and listening intently, taking in every word her mother said.

He leaned his right shoulder against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he admired his family. He didn’t understand how it was possible to fall even more in love every time he looked at them. All he wanted in this world was their happiness and safety, and now here he was, sending his wife straight to the enemy.

“Hi Daddy!” The angelic voice of his daughter pulled him from his thoughts.

“Hi Princess. Are you being a good helper for mommy?” He lifted Eleanor off the couch and sat in her seat, placing her on his lap.

“Best helper a girl could ask for.” Riley held her hand out, palm up, and Eleanor gave her a high five.

Liam enjoyed the company of his family for a few more moments, before placing a kiss on his daughter’s cheek. “Alright Eleanor, why don’t you go play in your room for a little while? Mommy and daddy have to talk about grown up things.”

“Yes, daddy. Will you come play after?”

“Of course, I believe I am owed a tea party.” He gave her a hug before setting her down and watching her run to her room. When she was gone, he turned his attention back to Riley. “How are you feeling, love?”

Riley cut the lingering thread from the button and placed her blouse on the table in front of them before responding. “I mean, obviously I’m nervous, but I’m optimistic that I’ll come back with something we can use. How are you feeling?”

He sighed and pulled her close to him, kissing the top of her head as it landed on his chest. “Riley, I love how much you worry about me, but let me worry about you right now. Let me be your support system. Tell me truly, how are you feeling?”

“I’m...I’m terrified.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes, tears beginning to pool in her own. “I’m trying so hard to be strong, to put on a brave face, but this is fucking terrifying. We don’t know how deep it goes, we know some of the people that are involved, but how do we know that that’s everyone?”

“You’re right, there are a lot of unknowns, and that’s scary.” He cupped her face in his hands, wiping a falling tear with his thumb. “But I truly believe that we are going to end this. That you are going to end this. Don’t forget, you are the Champion of The Realm.”

“Yeah, but I’m sleeping with the guy who makes those decisions, he may have been a little biased.” She shrugged, half joking.

Liam removed his hands, his expression becoming more serious. “Riley, that’s not funny. You have earned every single thing you have received since you arrived in this country, our country. I don’t ever want you to believe that my feelings for you overrule my judgement when it comes to your abilities. You are the strongest person I have ever met. If anyone can do this, it’s you.”

“IF anyone can do this. What if nobody can?”

“Then we will face the fallout together. Like we always do, like we always will. We are the King and Queen of Cordonia, Liam and Riley Rys. We are a force to be reckoned with.” He raised an eyebrow as he parroted back her reassuring words from a few nights before.

She smirked at him. “Hey, no fair, you can’t use my own words to prove your point like that.”

“Yes I can, old negotiation tactic.” He winked at her and stood from the couch reaching for her hand. “Come on, we still have the whole day ahead of us. Let’s go have a tea party with our daughter, then I’m taking my girls out for dinner.”

****

Two days later, Riley was sitting in the back of an SUV heading toward the Fierro Estate. She was doing her best to quell her nerves, but she couldn’t help her hands from fidgeting in her lap.

“You seem on edge, ma’am. Is everything ok?” The sound of Mara’s voice cut through the silence, startling Riley.

“Oh...yeah, I’m fine Mara. I’m just not really sure what to expect from this meeting. Last time I went to one of these events, I found out my mother in law wasn’t actually dead. I don’t know if I could handle another surprise like that.”

Mara chuckled at her concern. “Don’t worry your majesty, this is a simple strategy meeting followed by a dinner. You have met all of the members, so there will be no surprise guests this time around.”

Riley nodded and turned her head, watching the scenery pass by as they continued to their destination. Her mind was racing thinking about what this meeting would have in store. She practiced taking pictures with the pen, and activating the recorder she had sewn into her shirt. As they got closer to the estate, she felt her heart rate speed up, and the knot in her stomach tighten.

When they arrived, Riley was ushered into the grand room, which had been set up with a large table. The other members were standing around in small groups chatting until it was time for the meeting to begin. Riley fidgeted with the pen, twirling it in her fingers before lifting it to her face and tapping it against her chin and clicking it several times. She hoped it came off as a nervous habit, providing cover for the fact that she was actually taking pictures around the room.

She gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin at the feeling of a hand gently being placed on her shoulder. She whipped around to see Eleanor smiling softly at her. “Riley dear, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh, Eleanor. Hello.” Riley held her hand to her chest, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. “It’s ok, I’m just a little nervous. Not really sure what to expect from this meeting.”

“Don’t worry, I promise it’s just regular business, nothing earth shattering. Come on, it’s time to get this started, and you’re sitting next to me.” Eleanor wrapped her arm around Riley and led her to the table. The other guests took this as their cue to follow, as the meeting was about to get underway. As Riley sat, she adjusted her skirt and blouse, using the opportunity to activate the microphone embedded in her button.

As the chapter president, Eleanor kicked off the meeting by greeting their newest member, Queen Riley, and explaining that she was there to help push their initiatives though with the King. Riley clenched her fist ever so slightly, a trick she used when she was trying to keep her expression neutral. They continued on, reviewing the minutes of the last meeting, it all seemed to be pretty mundane, things that wouldn't even necessarily cross hers or Liam’s desk.

Then they opened up the floor to new business, and Neville stood to address the room. “I would like to revisit the Auvernal alliance.”

Riley was able to maintain her stoic expression, but her body tensed at the mention of Auvernal. She and Liam had made it perfectly clear that there would be no alliance. “I don’t believe there is anything to revisit there.” She chimed in. “King Liam and I determined that the alliance would not be beneficial for Cordonia.”

“Actually, I believe you determined the alliance would not be beneficial to you and your husband.” Neville rebutted, crossing his arms over his chest. “You didn’t want to marry off your daughter, you didn’t bother thinking of what the alliance could bring to our country.”

“Are you questioning the decisions of your monarchs? I urge you to remember your station, Lord Neville.” Riley raised an eyebrow and stood a bit taller.

Neville scoffed at her threat. “And I urge you to remember that you may have slept your way to the top in Cordonia, but the Via Imperii is bigger than the monarchy, and in this society, I outrank you.”

“Well, if being the Queen doesn’t matter in this room, then there is nothing stopping me from coming over there and beating your a...”

“Ok ok ok, let’s all calm down here.” Eleanor grabbed Riley’s arm, stopping her from charging at Neville. “Let’s all sit down and have a rational conversation, weighing out the pros and cons of an alliance.” Riley and Neville both sat down and exchanged narrow glances. “Now Neville, since you have brought this proposal to the group, you will go first. Please explain to us your thought process on revisiting the alliance.”

Neville nodded and smirked at Riley. “It is clear that combining the financial security of Cordonia with the military strength of Auvernal would make us an unstoppable force. Besides, we need the extra protection given our country’s recent history.” He glared at Riley once again.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Riley huffed.

“Look at the instability we have faced in recent years. Our crown prince abdicated, his successor, our current king, broke off a perfectly suitable engagement to marry a foreign commoner who was marred in scandal.”

“He released a statement that cleared that whole thing up. The scandal is irrelevant.” She could feel her cheeks heating up.

“Do you really think people stopped talking about it? You can’t really believe that it won’t be a part of your legacy as our Queen.”

Riley slouched down in her seat. She knew she should remain composed, but bringing up the Tariq scandal hit a nerve that she didn’t know still existed. One of her biggest concerns in continuing her relationship with Liam, and accepting his proposal, was that his success as King would be overshadowed by the scandal she had faced. She had thought that after all these years, it would have been forgotten, but Neville bringing it up just brought everything back up and made her realize it would be something that was attached to her name forever.

“Besides the personal problems our royal family has faced, there have been multiple attempts to overthrow them just within our own country. Sons of Earth, Duke Godfrey, Barthelemy Beaumont, just to name a few. Other countries are seeing this, and it won’t be long before they try to come for us as well.” Neville continued.

“While I don’t agree with his delivery, Lord Neville does make some valid points.” Emmeline interjected, the rest of the room began murmuring in agreement. Riley couldn’t hide her shocked expression as she felt tears start to build up in her eyes. She blinked them away, she was not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing their queen cry.

Eleanor took back control of the room before turning to Riley. “Riley, would you like to counter? You and Liam worked directly with Auvernal during the marriage alliance talks, you clearly have some insight that we may not be privy to.”

Riley took a deep breath to get her emotions under control before standing to address the room. “Aside from the fact that Bradshaw and Isabella are deplorable people with hell spawn children, the main reason that we decided an alliance was not in the best interest of Cordonia, was because it was clear that their interest was not an alliance, but a hostile takeover of our country.”

“Perhaps we would prosper under their rule. I haven’t heard of any coup attempts in Auvernal, it seems to me like they’re doing something right.” Neville spoke up.

“So that’s it then? You all think Bradshaw and Isabella would do a better job as your king and queen, so I’m just supposed to convince Liam to relinquish the throne?” Riley threw her hands up in frustration and stepped away from the table.

“Your majesty, we’re not making the final decision right here, right now, we just want to remain open to the idea and explore some options.” Emmeline tried to talk Riley down. “Perhaps you and King Liam could take a meeting with them, a friendly lunch maybe, just to open the lines of communication.”

“This is ridiculous. I can’t believe you all expect me to agree with this!” Riley was now pacing the room, overcome with a nervous energy.

Eleanor stood and lifted a hand to quiet the room. “Alright, that’s enough. I think we’ve gotten as far as we’re going to get with this conversation tonight. Dinner is being set out in the dining hall. I suggest we adjourn for the day. Let’s all compose ourselves and think about all sides of this conversation. We will pick up the conversation at the next meeting.”

As the members started filing out of the room, Eleanor approached Riley and gently placed her hand on her arm to keep her still. “Are you alright Riley?”

Riley shrugged Eleanor’s hand off of her, anger clear on her face. “Of course I’m not alright. I basically just had a room full of my subjects telling me that my husband and I are doing a shitty job, and they think those monsters are better suited to look out for their best interests. Of course I’m not fucking alright!” Riley moves in closer, lowering her voice but not losing any of the anger in her tone. “I thought you were here doing this to protect Liam. Do you really think that this is protecting him? Handing his kingdom over to Auvernal?!”

“Riley, I always have Liam’s best interests at heart, I promise you that. Why don’t you head home, take a couple of days to relax and take everything in. I will set up a meeting for you and I later this week to talk about everything and work out a game plan.”

“Fine, I can’t stay here anymore anyway. And I definitely don’t have an appetite for dinner.” Riley walked out of the room, looking for Mara so that they could get back to the palace. She stepped into the dining area and saw Mara standing in the far corner talking to Neville. She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath before approaching the pair. “Mara, we will not be staying for dinner. We are returning to the palace immediately. I want to be home to put my daughter to bed.” She wasn’t going to give Neville the satisfaction of knowing she was leaving because of what he started.

“Of course, your majesty.” Mara nodded and exited with Riley.

The ride home was silent. In all the years that Mara had worked for Riley, she had never seen her this upset. She wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it, or what would be considered overstepping her duties, so she decided to stay quiet and let Riley speak, if she wanted to. She didn’t.

They arrived at the palace and walked together to the royal quarters. As Riley placed her hand on the doorknob to enter, Mara cleared her throat to get her attention. “Your majesty, I know this was a difficult evening for you, but I do feel I need to remind you that discretion is key in the Via Imperii. His majesty cannot know what happened tonight. You will need to lock those feelings away for the time being.”

Riley pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded. She knew she was going to fall into Liam's arms and cry the second she saw him, and then she would tell him everything, but she couldn’t let Mara know that. “Liam and I will be staying in for the rest of the night. You are dismissed for the evening.” Riley walked into her quarters and shut the door before Mara had a chance to respond.

As soon as she closed the door, she leaned back against it and dropped her head into her hands. Liam came walking into the room, the smile that appeared on his face when he heard the front door open quickly faded as he took in the sight of his wife sobbing at the front door. “Riley?” She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face as she tried to catch her breath. He rushed over to her and pulled her close, she buried her head in his chest as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head trying unsuccessfully to soothe her. “Shhhh, it’s alright love, I’m right here, I’ve got you. Tell me what happened.”

Riley could barely speak, but she slowly tried to explain everything that had happened that night. Liam walked her to the couch as she spoke, she needed to sit, anything to help her relax and calm down. He stared at her in disbelief as he listened to his wife tearfully recap her evening.

On the other side of the door, Mara pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, selecting one of the contacts and bringing the phone to her ear. “My lord, you were right. We will need to put your plan in motion.”

Permatag:

@anjanettexcordonia @athena-penrose @bbrandy2002 @chemist-ana @choicesficwriterscreations @choiceskatie @cordonia-gothqueen @cordoniaqueensworld @emkay512 @gabesmommie1130 @gkittylove99 @hopelessromanticmonie @iaminlovewithtrr @jessiembruno @kat-tia801 @khoicesbyk @kingliam2019 @lucy-268 @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mile9213 @mom2000aggie @pixie88 @queenrileyrose @secretaryunpaid @sweatyrysconnoisseur @tessa-liam @theroyalheirshadowhunter @twinkleallnight @txemrn

Sapere Aude:

@burnsoslow @busywoman @gardeningourmet @ofpixelsandscribbles

Liam x Riley:

@jared2612

Liam:

@amandablink @yourmajesty09

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gem-rewatch · 3 years

Text

SU rewatch- S1E11- Arcade Mania

Hey, long time no see!

I’m desperately bored in solitary quarantine at university right now, and decided to try and pick this SU rewatch series up again for fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched through the show in order. Plus, now that this show is completely finished, there’s plenty more connections to make. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with this, but at the very least I can have fun trying to make a few more posts at my leisure.

Anyways. With that business out of the way. Let’s get right on to the show!

We begin with yet another mission Steven’s guardians have brought him along on! I believe this is the fifth mission we know of that he’s accompanied them on so far. (Lunar Sea Spire, Inverted Pyramid, the unknown mission he returns from in Tiger Millionaire, the desert, and now this one.) It’s really sweet seeing the Gems begin to trust him tagging along more often. There will come a day in the near future where missions become routine for Steven, but in these early episodes, you can really tell that each and every one is a brand new adventure.

In terms of plot, though, this episode is honestly Future Vision: The Prequel.

We learn a lot about Garnet’s abilities and her role in the team here, even if all of these details aren’t spelled out word-for-word quite yet. Hints towards her future vision we see this ep include:

Garnet moving ahead of the group to be in the perfect spot to catch Steven when he falls.

Her flawless moves while fighting and dodging the monsters.

Her becoming a master at the rhythm game later in the episode.

Like, damn. Look at this.

Look at her go.

My Q U E E N!

I had to gif all of this just because it’s such a beautiful and smooth sequence of animation.

If there’s one thing all of the Crystal Gems can 100% agree on, it’s that Garnet is friggin’ amazing.

Garnet: “Let them go. They’re just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they’ll have to answer to me.”

So, does this statement mean that- at this present moment- her extended stay at the arcade was entirely beyond her future vision? That the only futures she saw were ones where she was actually present to deal with containment of the Gem parasites? Given that later scenes insinuate she’d never been to the arcade before, and would have no “data” about its games to factor into her internal understanding of the world, this seems likely.

I adore the gradual palette change here, from shadow, to setting sun. It’s a nice detail that adds so much more life to what could otherwise be a rather mundane transition scene. It seems like unique palettes were more common in early SU- I wonder why Crewniverse stopped implementing these as often later on?

Pearl, entering the arcade: “Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.”

Thanks, Pearl. Love you too. <3

This sequence of Pearl failing at playing a car chase/road rage game hits so much different knowing what happens in Last One Out of Beach City. It’s genuinely radical how far she grows in confidence from this point, because here, she seems so shackled to rules and guidelines. Now that we know about her rebellious past, it might be tempting to write this characterization off as “early series weirdness,” but... I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

Instead, I wonder if she’s working through grief-related regression.

Think about it... the pain of Rose’s passing is still so fresh for her. She was a rule breaking rebel once, yes, but she spent all of those days at Rose’s side. And I get the sense that she’s poured so much of herself into keeping Rose safe, into the rebellion against Homeworld, that without those, she’s caught in a vacuum. What IS her purpose now, when the very person she rebelled for is gone?

So she slips back into old pearl-like habits. Chronic rule following, and a fear of deviating from norms. How familiar. Thankfully, much of her arc throughout the show is her directly growing beyond these habits to live boldly as her own Gem.

The friggin video game when Garnet knocks its head off: “TELL MY WIFE I’M SORRYYY!!!”

Yo, what the fuck. This line is both hilarious and messed up, all at once. Please tell me the game isn’t sentient.

Aaaand here we finally introduce Garnet to the video game sensation that is Meat Beat Mania! This game is perfectly suited to her and her power of foresight because its patterns are algorithmic and not vulnerable to spontaneous deviations, and thus easy to predict, with enough input. She’s probably getting a quick rush of satisfaction with every correct move, and she barely has to exert any energy with her future vision to get that rush. After years and years of wading through endless possibility at every avenue, this video game’s patterns must be a rejuvenating breath of fresh air.

It’s addicting.

...Kinda makes me think of how I get sometimes when I play solitaire on my phone for an hour straight. After a while, I barely even think, I’m just shuffling through my deck and moving cards almost on automatic. I don’t have to use much energy to play, and it gives me animated fireworks every time I finish a match. It’s a win-win.

Amethyst: “I’MMA WIN AN AIRPLANE!”

I don’t know what it is about the way Michaela Dietz says the world “airplane,” but this makes me laugh every time. Does... does she think she can win a genuine airplane here because she saw Onion win a tiny motorbike from the ticket booth?? Amethyst, oh my god. XD

She’s got the spirit, this wild child.

So, moving on- we meet up with our crew later the next morning, Garnet nowhere to be seen. There’s an interesting exchange I’d like to highlight real quick-

Pearl: “If we’re supposed to fight a giant foot, Garnet would let us know.” Amethyst: “Yeah, Garnet’s the boss!” Pearl: “Well, we’re all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives.”

Considering the specific phrasing Pearl uses here- “heightened perception” instead of “future vision-” did Garnet outright tell the two of them to not explain her powers, just like she told them not to mention she’s a fusion? Because I’m pretty sure no one ever uses the phrase “heightened perception” again in reference to her powers.

Given the fact that Garnet chose to keep the knowledge of Ruby and Sapphire under the table until she felt Steven could understand her better, my guess is that this is a similar scenario.

Ahah, I genuinely can’t tell if this is Steven being gullible, or just impulsively playing along with Amethyst’s antics. Still- gross, kid. Don’t wipe your wet cereal face on your shirt! Ew! :O

When he goes outside and starts to use a kiddy metal detector to scan for quarters... so THAT’S where he finds his arcade money! Because I can’t imagine Greg is financially able to give him that much to spend on non-essentials at this point in the show.

Okay, so... I just want to bring light to the fact that Garnet has literally been in this arcade ALL NIGHT LONG.

It was evening when she first arrived here- the sun was visibly setting in the background, and when Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl left, the sky was dark. But now it’s morning. Steven was just seen eating breakfast. And Garnet is STILL HERE.

Does this mean Mr. Smiley locked her IN? I have so many questions... Did he try to get her to leave, only to be intimidated by her complete lack of response? I would kill to know more about this interaction. Poor Mr. Smiley. That man deals with so much bullshit in this town, huh?

Geebus, is Garnet a solid wall. Previous episodes have shown Steven forcibly shoving whole tons of food, and swinging a mini-freezer over his head, and yet he can’t get her to budge even an inch.

I absolutely adore how he climbs up her frame like a koala, though, ahah. Cute.

Meat Beat Mania announcer: “That’s rare!!” Steven: “Oh my gosh...!”

I take these two lines as evidence that this is the first time Steven’s ever seen Garnet’s eyes. Specifically, the fact that there’s three of them. Which, makes sense- since Garnet is still really reserved emotionally at this point, and is only begins to get in the habit of taking her visor off to show Steven her full face later on in the show.

This expression deeply hurts me.

Steven’s so distraught here- because the others are in danger, the town is in danger, and he doesn’t have his trusty, dependable guardian who catches him when he falls and beats up scary monsters for him. Without her, the whole team is vulnerable and blind.

He feels alone. He feels... powerless.

And so he responds to that confusing, powerless feeling by trying to compensate with his own power. When all other routes he can think of fail, he smashes the video game console.

It... uh, it works... but once again, Steven entirely fails to consider the consequences, huh? He experienced a little bit of character growth in this regard in the episode Serious Steven, but even past that it’ll remain an recurring issue for him. Hell, his impulsiveness is a general character flaw even stretching into SUF.

In summary, though:

Poor Mr. Smiley. He works so hard, and doesn’t deserve this BS. ;-;

#su #su meta #steven universe #arcade mania #garnet #amethyst #pearl #mr. smiley #jen rewatches su

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yandere-ac · 3 years

Note

Is it despair bear time?

Yandere Human Monokuma X Spy Reader

"Is there a reason you called for me?" Your voice was quiet, almost monotone. Both because you didn’t want to sound rude or snappy to Monokuma but also because you were very tired. It was nighttime, 2 AM precisely, and Monokuma had woken you up and told you to come to his office. He hadn’t given you any chance to ask why or what was happening before he left, so you had to find out for yourself if this was something serious or not. This wasn’t the first time Monokuma had called you to his office, not even the first time he called you to his office at night. The only thing that made you annoyed was that these past few days he’s been waking you up in the middle of the night and telling you to come to him. And most of the time he didn’t even have a valid reason for calling upon you. And it got very tiresome really quick. You barely got any sleep these days and it was effecting you during daytime. You would nod off during the breakfast meetings and find it hard to stand without swaying and closing your eyes. And it was raising everyones suspicions. It peaked when you collapsed and fell asleep mid conversation with Byakuya and Makoto. You woke up later in your dorm, and of course the first person you ran into as you left was Byakuya. He had given you a stern look and scolded you after telling you what had happened. Most of your classmates had amounted it to you having sleep problems but the sharper ones like Byakuya and Kyoko seemed a bit more suspicious of your sudden sleeping problems.

As you walked into the office, which was just a big security room, Monokuma turned his chair to face you. There he was, the tall man had the same gleeful smile that he always had and as his red eyes fell upon you it only got wider. "Reason? Of course I have a reason. But even if I didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. You don’t really have a say in weather to come here or not. Lest you want your little secret to be revealed~" Once Monokuma told you this he let out a teasing giggle while he opened his desk and pulled something out. It was a wine bottle, it wasn’t really a surprise since he pretty much always drank it during the morning announcements. But the fact that he was gonna drink while you two talked told you that this might not be a crisis exactly. After fetching two wine glasses, Monokuma walked back to you and poured you two some wine. By this point you had already pulled out a spare chair, you had been in here so many times that you basically knew where everything was. "So tell me Y/N," Monokuma began as he handed you one of the glasses. "What have your classmates been up to? Any noteworthy news?" He took a sip of his wine after he asked you this. As Junkos spy you had to bring her information about whatever was happening in the school. You were simply a double agent, acting as a classmate when you really weren’t. Unfortunately, you had to give this information to her second in command, Monokuma. Ever since you entered the school he had been a constant nuisance, and it didn’t get any better once he started to call upon you almost every day.

"Not really no. Kyoko has shown everyone alter ego," as you started listing any noteworthy events Monokuma let out a huge sigh. "Yes I know that Y/N. I know they have found alter ego, I can put two and two together. I’m not asking you to tell me about stuff I already know, I want the inside information! What’s happening with everyone! Is there conflict? Are there secrets? Quit boring me to death and get on with it!" He took another sip. "....naturally. Celeste has started taking advantage of Hifumis desperate nature. Kiyotaka has pretty much lost it. He’s started acting like Mondo to cope with his death. And he’s gotten very possessive over Alter ego. Hifumi has been as well. Taka seems to be clinging onto the last part of Chihiro and Hifumi just seems to be in love with him." As you explained the situation to him you noticed that Monokumas eyes narrowed slightly at the end of your sentence.

"What did you just say?" The tone of his voice was cold, dead serious and poisonous. You immediately tensed up as you heard him. "Huh? I said that Hifumi seems to be in love with him-" "Him? Did you just refer to Alter ego, the computer program, as a him?" He put down his glass and rose out of his chair, now towering over your sitting form. "Do you know what that is Y/N? Sentiment. Sentiment for the people you’re supposed to be spying on." He grabbed you by the chin and forced you to look at him. There was pure hatred in his eyes. "Don’t forget the reason why you’re here, the reason why you’re still ALIVE right now." The two of you stayed silent for a couple of seconds before Monokuma let go and sat back down. "Now! Continue!" His whole attitude changed as he gave you yet another wide smile while running his hand through his hair.

You continued with your report, or at least tried to. Even if Monokuma changed his attitude that didn’t erase what had just happened. But luckily, you managed to get through all of the things you wanted to say, all while Monokuma nodded along with a smile. "I think that’s about it...I wanted to ask you something though." You said, letting out a big yawn afterwards. "Sure! Ask away doll face." Ignoring the pet name, you continued. "I wanted to ask if you could stop calling me here for mundane reasons, especially at night. I’m not getting enough sleep and Kyoko and Byakuya are getting suspicious. The last thing I would want is to be discovered because of you." As you told him this, Monokuma let out a laugh. "Puhuhuhu. So you’re tired? Why didn’t you say so Y/N?" He smirked as he stood up and grabbed your hand. He pulled you up and started to walk away, much to your protest. "Monokuma- let g- where the hell are we going?" You asked as you tried to pull away to no avail. "We’re going to bed!" As you heard his answer you had to take a second just to process what he just said. To bed? Surely he didn’t mean...was he taking you to his bed? Did he have a bed? But as he walked out of the control room and into the hallway you realised that he was gonna take you all the way to your room, and that was when you started resisting. "Monokuma no, please. What if someone sees us?! I can go there by myself! Just- let go!" You whispered in a panicked manner, but he didn’t listen. He just kept walking. But he stopped once he heard footsteps approaching. Someone was coming, and they were gonna find you!

You were panicking, begging Monokuma to just let go of you and disappear. But it would seem like he was one step ahead of you as he pulled you in closer to his body, pressing you up against him while grappling your waist, and before you realised what had happened your surroundings had changed completely. You were now in your dorm. You didn’t understand how he could do that, how he could just teleport around the school. But you didn’t care right now. You immediately pushed Monokuma away from you. Not enough to make him fall or anything, just enough to distance yourself from him. "Are you crazy!? Are you out of your mind?! Do you realise what could have happened if someone saw us!?" He didn’t even flinch as you yelled at him. He only walked closer and pushed you into your bed. "Ah shush. Is someone a bit cranky from sleep deprivation?" You growled at him but stopped as soon as he laid down in bed next to you. "What are you doing?" You moved away from him slightly but that didn’t help. "What? Cant I share the bed with my favowite stuwdent?" Monokuma grabbed ahold of you and pulled you close to him. You had tried to pry him off until you felt a huge wave of sudden drowsiness wash over you. Your eyelids started to feel heavy, and you struggled to keep yourself awake. It was strange. You were tired sure but not this tired, it was as if it just came out of nowhere. You felt Monokuma stroke your hair as he cooed to you. "Shh shh. Don’t worry, just go to sleep. Puhuhuhu" you didn’t want to fall asleep now. Not when he was here. But you could no longer force yourself to stay awake. You went out like a candle.

That night, Monokuma laid awake watching you. It wasn’t like he needed sleep anyhow. For the next couple of hours he observed your sleeping body, watching you breathe in and out, watching your chest go up and down as the air entered your lungs. You looked so cute when you slept, he’d seen it multiple times but never while he was in the same room as you. And never this closely. He probably never would have if it wasn’t for the wine you drank. You should have kept your eyes on your glass while he refilled it, silly you. He found you so fascinating, and your apparent annoyance with him only made it better. He knew you would blow your cover soon, blow your cover as the masterminds little spy. After that, it would only be a matter of time before 1 of 3 things happened. First scenario, your classmates find out about your betrayal and start hating you. If a murder occurred all of them would believe it was you who murdered the victim and falsely vote on you. After that he could execute everyone while you had to watch. Oh but you, there was no need for you to be executed since you were a spy and everyone else was dead. Then he would get you all to himself, and he could do whatever he wanted with you. Second scenario, your classmates hates you so much that one of them decides to kill you. Oh how much despair he would feel as he watched your lifeless corpse. How your eyes that once were filled with such hope would be completely empty. The thought of it made him exhilarated. He would hate for you to die, he would mourn you for days, and he would make sure whoever killed you would die in a brutal and horrific way. And finally, third scenario. You ended up being the actual blackened in the case and he could watch as you fell into despair and turn to murder. To see someone who would never hurt a fly give in and murder someone, one of your friends, is there anything better?! And ultimately, if you got caught he’d have to be the one to kill you. To execute you.

Three scenarios in which two of them leads to your death. He wished that you survived, but he would be lying if he said that the thought of you, dead, didn’t fill him with so much pain and despair. And that made him all giddy.

But for now, you were here in his arms. As he pulled you closer and sniffed your hair he felt his stomach fill up with butterflies.

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aukanemin · 3 years

Note

Hello dear writer/artist/wonderful human being,

Tumblr just showed me one of your posts and I realised that I never told you how amazed I am by your prose both in the game and on your blog (I feel simply calling it writing doesn‘t cut it). How you put your thoughts, emotions and atmosphere into descriptions and dialogue is absolutely stunning to me and feels ‘artsy‘ to me in the best possible way. I love this particular very inner-workings/stream of consciousness (?) based storytelling (I‘m not a literature expert, it‘s just how I would describe it). It made me fall absolutely in love with your characters while also being in awe/slightly intimidated of/by them - which I think works very well with the atmosphere you‘re creating, especially in scenes with Charet (which is again supported by the music and your amazing art).

I can‘t wait to play more of it someday (and until then I‘m just gonna replay it over and over again) and hope you feel appreciated by this <3

Have a lovely day ~

...

Thank you so much.

Your messages left me speechless - and it is very difficult for me to describe, with all the possible colors of the language, how much they inspired and brought me into a state of delight for a long time, helping to work on new, more complex projects long before I had the courage to write this response text.

And I yearned and suffered from the fact that I could not think of something worthy that could show at least a part of my gratitude and admiration for your softness and feelings, and I would like my answer to seem complicated and interesting this time, since I would never want to leave you empty-handed. Yesterday morning, a very strange, special and inherently distant insight came to me - and I hasten to share with you everything that came to my mind, and I hope that you will like it more uwu

The difficulty was also that I am not so much fond of fiction in the traditional concept - my pace of life is restless and changeable, and, as a rule, I have enough patience and perseverance only for poetry and short stories, guided to a greater extent by a sense of aesthetics and associations (because yes, my writing style is a stream of consciousness and you completely hit the mark - I can't write in any other way, except relying on feelings and impressions * --- *) than a serious approach to the plot and idea. Apart from literature (and any other sources), which would be too hackneyed and understandable in its fame, it seemed to me that there were very few things that could interest and impress you, but now I want to think that I was wrong.

The list that I have sketched consists of writers and poets, who are united by the main thing - the fact that they are equally representatives of the same culture with me, and their feelings and aesthetics, colorfulness and sense of language were with me from the beginning of my early years and formed my idea of the world and about the art of writing in general. In other matters, I do not think that the writing style and elements of history and culture will be simple and understandable - I myself have not always felt attraction and warm feelings towards them, but this is something that, I hope, can turn out to be completely new and fresh, not like anything you have experienced before experience, yet close in spirit to what I am myself trying to portray.

Starts from lighter comedies and flamboyant plays and ends in dark fantasy and heavy historical drama. The first of them are very short and read in one gulp - the last are longer, but with a reasonable volume of novels, so they can keep you busy, yet not bored;)

1. "Forest Song" by Lesia Ukrainka. This is a play written in a bright and lively language - but this is a great start if you want to read something light and airy, yet with elements of dark fantasy and Slavic folklore. The combination a little strange at first glance, - this a romantic fairy-tale play that tells about Mavka (a forest nymph), who was in love with a young human man. "Forest Song" is easy to perceive as a poetic fairy tale, but it also has a dark and tragic ending, and raises the theme of human existence in nature and the world in itself - their struggle between feelings, inspiration, brightness of perception and down-to-earthness of life, simple and understandable needs . This play prompted me to think about Margot - as the personification of these worlds and worries, but much darker, heavier and more mysterious, far from human nature.

2. "The Night Before Christmas" by Nikolai Gogol - a writer who has always been the most important and favorite for me, with a rich and varied language which I tried to copy and imitate most of my school years. "Night before Christmas" is included in the collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", which are equally small masterpieces, but it was "Night" that was a vivid and memorable experience, with such a close aesthetics of a small settlement, a heavy blizzard, creaking snow, and devils, prowling in such a mysterious darkness. This is a comedy with idealized romance - and based on it, both films were made and plays are staged, and it tells about the hopelessly in love with beautiful Oksana blacksmith Vakula, who with a cunning mind captured the devil and forced him to help Vakula in courtship. The story is very down-to-earth and light, but with elements of everyday life and culture of the Ukrainian hinterland, which can either turn out to be an interesting experience or push you away to your liking. There are Christian rituals, and descriptions of everyday life, and witches, and folk beliefs, elements of mundane comedy, the historicity of that era and many bright and partly gloomy aesthetics. This part of the culture is closely related to my thoughts and ideas about Margot, as well as about other characters and travelers from the continent (I was also inspired by the Romanian, Georgian, Mongolian and Tatar cultures equally *---*)

3. "Taras Bulba" by the same Gogol is a historical tragedy, difficult and complex, but with strong artistic elements - with a powerful feeling of a gloomy, dark era, characters in which many real and legendary persons were combined, and although they speak of it as romantic nationalism, I have never perceived it in this way (and I do not advise anyone, given the fact that you can find similar elements in almost every name in this literature). It tells about the Zaporozhye Cossack and his two sons, about the times of long wars and dark ages, and it will be a bright and exciting experience for someone far from this culture - it vividly and richly displays the life and psychology of a country that has long ceased to exist.

4. "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Mikhailo Kotsyubinsky is a dark historical story, written under the strong impression of the gloomy and mysterious culture of the Hutsuls - the Ukrainian culture of highlanders and old pagans, and the story, at first similar to a much heavier and darker version of Romeo and Juliet, smoothly flows into dark fantasy. It contains the complex psychological baggage of the hero, and a colorful description of such a strange and distant culture, the history of blood feuds and marital betrayal, and the dark forces of a crushing and dangerous nature dominating the earth.

Oh, and also, perhaps, if you have an interest in poetry - I have two big names, Ivan Franko and Taras Shevchenko. The first is a bright romantic of Galicia, with deep sensuality and passion, the second is the father of Ukrainian literature, a poet and artist, the son of a difficult and dark era with art to match him.

...

So..

Thank you so much again.

I adore you with all my heart, and of course you can take as many hugs as you want;зз

#ask #secunda #wonderful people #love them #ukrainian #slavic #poetry #fiction #writing #gothic #dark fantasy

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originalwinnercheesecake · 3 years

Text

Chain of Iron theories: the adopted baby

Here is another hot discussion topic in the fandom. CC has hinted that their will be a special baby, and that they will need to be adopted. So Questions, who is giving a baby up and why? I am assuming that this is a Shadowhunter baby. I cannot see either Hypatia Vex or Kellington who party, operate a secret saloon, and take pleasure in seducing interesting artistic individuals deciding to devote themselves to parenthood. Woosley Scott is set to show up, but their is no way he wants to adopt. Every other downworlder has appeared in the future and never made reference to having raised a baby. So which shadowhunters in this series of so many parents, children, and would be couples are looking to adopt? We know that shadowhunters adoption program isn’t perfect; Ariadne being adopted by an elderly white couple who know nothing about Indian culture and Tatiana somehow being allowed to adopt Grace despite the fact that she is aggressive, clearly insane, and famously unable to care for the one child she gave birth to. But I want to hold on to hope that whoever this little baby is their story will end happily with being given a nice home and family. My Theories

Anna and Ariadne adopt Eugenia’s baby. (retracted)

This was my original theory. In COG2 we learnt that Eugenia temporarily left home because of some scandal no one really wants to talk about. It apparently involved her and some guy being caught in a “compromising position” after which said guy could have saved things by asking to marry her but did not? ??? This led many people to believe she and this guy had been immanent and that she might now be pregnant., but unable to raise the baby on her own. So she would give it up for adoption. Eugenia’s older sister Barbara had an understanding with a very nice gentleman named Oliver and kept trying to get Oliver to purpose. I wondered if maybe a reason Barbara was in such a rush to marry is she was hoping for her and Oliver to adopt Eugenia’s baby and pass them off as theirs. Now that both Barbara and Oliver are sadly deceased Eugenia would need to look into finding new parents to take he unborn child. Well spoilers relating to Eugenia state that despite having different interests and hobbies, she and Anna get along well. She also is set to become friends with Ariadne. Ariadne who really wanted to be a mom. So I thought that if Eugenia was pregnant and looking to give her child up for adoption then maybe she would ask Anna and Ariadne to adopt her baby. That had the potential to be sweet.

But we have gotten more information now, and surprise surprise, people jumped the gun to quick on what happened with Eugenia. While we still do not know what the scandal was, it is hinted to have been way less extreme/serious than premarital intimacy, and she is very unlikely to be pregnant. I am now hoping that her ex got into a fight with some other guy, she stepped in to hit the other guy with a parasol, and her ex got embarrassed about having to be saved by her and broke up with her. Something that shows the guy was a real loser.

Elias puts Baby Carstairs up for adoption

In COG2 we got a huge surprise that Sona was pregnant with her third child, unexpected as the family tree only lists her and Elias as having two children. Well actually actually the Carstairs family line is tree has parts of it that “Were lost to time”. So something clearly happened. Jem was clearly hiding something.

This pregnancy was clearly unplanned and does present some worry’s. For starters Sona is well past the age where it easier/safest for women to give have children. She was already starting to have a difficult time with it during COG2 when she finally confessed to Cordelia that she was about 3 months along. This means that she will be about 7 months along (almost ready to give birth) when we pick up again in COI. Well in the early chapter read Alastair said that his mother has been put on Bed rest with her husband staying by her side and silent brothers monitoring her. This does not sound good. Several people have theorized that even with the brothers help, she will not make it through childbirth. Now lets talk about the babies father Elias Carstairs. Elias Carstairs is even older than his wife. He spent his youth traveling the world (I read a tweet that said he has even gone between dimensions before) leading special expeditions and hunting rare and powerful demons. This sounds grand, but it was a grueling life that left him physically and emotionally scared. Tragically the Clave does not recognize mental health as a need, so they do not provide any kind of therapy or treatment for those who become traumatized. Like many poor soldiers throughout American history Elias was there for the Clave when they needed his help but it that help was not reciprocated at the end. The only comfort he found was at the bottom of the bottle. It took Elias until he was already in his 40′s to start a family, and he has struggled with being able to take care of himself enough to act as a father to the two children he and Sona have already raised. Elias is 63. He is sad and tired, and struggling to keep a handle on his sobriety. This child was unplanned. I have read tweets that show he is at least trying to support Sona, but CC reveals he is questioning if or if not he can really do this a third time. If Sona dies there is no way Elias can raise this child himself. I won’t fault him if he makes that choice, it might be the most loving thing he can do.

Who would adopt the little guy. Well the most common theory is that Alastair and Thomas would become his new dads. Now the family tree does suggest that both Alastair and Thomas are dads in the future. It also doesn’t list the names of either of their spouses (I am guessing neither had wives) so their is nothing to suggest that they do not live together raising a group of adopted children. Given the way the Cave feels about homosexual parents that could also be why Jem “lost” the records. I will not deny Thomstair becoming adopted parents is plausible, but I am not completely sure that baby Carstaris is who they will adopt. Babies are hard, they are a lot of work, and I am not convinced either Alastair or Thomas will be up to it. Look at Alastair. He is not exactly in a good place at the start of COI, and whenever fans ask CC if Alastair will make any friends she always reply that he won’t until he learns how to speak nicely to people and to be there for them when they need him. Honestly that is a thing he struggles with. He obviously loves Cordelia, but he totally pulled an Queen Elsa on her where he shut the door and shut her out for roughly 7 years of their lives, leaving her as alone as Anna was. He claims to have loved Charles but the pair spend most of COG arguing because Alastair wants Charles to spend all his time with him and Charles is struggling to balance his promotion, his public reputation, and Alastair (Important I am not saying it was wrong for Alastair to be upset about Charles engagements or to break up with him. I am just saying it seems like Charles did try to see Alastair as much as he could, and Alastair trying to pin all his emotional needs on one person, who already had so much going on, was unfair). On Thomas side well lets just say he has a lot of mixed up and complicated feeling of his own he needs to work out before he will be able to be in a healthy relationship let alone raise a child.

If Thomstair aren’t able to take care of Baby Carstairs I bet I know a long time married, long time Carstairs loving couple, who would be happy to take the little guy in and have enough resources, experience, and love to give him a great life. Hey in the future Tessa says she has kept watch over three families: the Herondales, the Carstairs, and the Blackthorns. The Herondales and the Blackthorns are her and Will’s grandchildren. If she were watching the Carstairs because they were once her friends wouldn’t she also watch out for the Fairchilds and Lightwoods?

Blackthorn Babies with Mundane and Shadowhunter mommies and daddies

(Okay this is one will involve some hopping around and several references to the family tree, so stay with me people, stay with me.) We aleady know Jem made some changes to this line. Lucie is not 12, she is 16. Tatiana is probably not going to live another 15 years. Also the tree said that Jesse dies 59, yet he actually died at 17. But future wife Lucie wants to resurrect him... which is highly illegal and should she be successful she will probably face terrible repercussions. Jesse also might not be able to live as a shadowhunter after being brought back. So even if we don’t want it, for the sake of this theory lets assume that upon Jesse’s resurrection both he and Lucie are banished and become a mundane pianist and writer. Let’s assume they also get married and have children. In order for the TDA Blackthorns to be shadowhunters at least one of Jucie’s kids would have to become a shadowhunter and move to the shadow world. I feel like Luce and Jesse would be willing to let their kids go in that case. That was all Jesse wanted growing up and Lucie is Will’s daughter. The children would just need someone they could stay with.

Now lets hop to the Lightwood family line. According to the tree Christopher and Grace get married (Grace is also listed as a Cartwright so was her adoption overturned and she rejoined her bio family?) and continue the Lightwood line down to TMI. Grace and Christopher are set up to bond (over science) and many fans are willing to believe that they are an endgame ship. But fans are also doubting that they are the ancestors of the TMI lightwoods. For one thing Christopher is heavily coded to be asexual; and Grace herself seems to have a very.... twisted and warped view of physical acts. So now lets say Grace is somehow saved from punishment over Jesse’s resurrection or because of her past trauma is given a lighter sentence. Lets say Gracetopher really do get married. if they got married they probably will apt out of having children; at least biological children.

Christopher has a younger brother , Alexander Lightwood, who seems like a much more likely candidate to continue his family line. Alex has been noted to have those dark blue eyes that while once a Herondale trait later become a Lightwood trait. He shares a first name one of TMI’s most prominent characters, and that is just about the only way baby Alex could have relevance to the story given that he is way to young to help out in the war. If Alexander Lightwood the first is one who carried on the Lightwood line why are his descendants listed under his brother and sister in laws names?

Well way back before the CC launched TLH I remember her posting a tweet that said Grace could become an ancestor of either the Herondale or the Blackthorn line. This upset a lot of people who thought that it meant that Grace may have a baby with either James or Jesse. (No, just NO!!!) But what if instead of Grace having a baby with Jesse, She and Christopher adopt one of Jesse and Lucie’s babies so that that baby could be raised as a shadowhunter? I could see Grace and Christopher doing do: they each love one of the respective parents and are set get to know the other. The only good thing about Tatiana adopting Grace was she got Jesse as a brother. Should she ever recover from having Tatiana as an adoptive mother I could see her becoming very critical of other adoptions and refusing to allow Jesse’s children to potentially end up like she did. I am in love with a head cannon I have that Christopher will become a science professor at the academy. If Lucie and Jesse have to leave the shadow world, and they have to give up their children then I want to imagine that child living in Malec’s future academy suit with Shadowhunter mommy and daddy Gracetopher while they secretly get gifts and send letters to their mundane mommy and daddy Juice. (It is the least CC can do for the pain reading about that potential exile would cause me.)

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