#particular people we meddled with? yes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

flynndesdelca · 7 months

Text

For Day 30 (Cara Mia Addio) of @chelltastic’s Portal Drawtober 2023 Challenge. As I’m not really an artist, I chose to write short pieces for the prompts.

now is there anything that I can do

if there was would we be singing

Finding books to read was difficult, as there were only so many people who even had the things, and so far most of their taste had been terrible. Chell put down the book she had been attempting to read for the fifth time, sighing to herself. This wasn't going to work at all. This book just was not at all interesting, no matter how hard she tried. She'd even tried reading it while sounding out all of the characters with silly voices in her head, but it just wasn't working. Whose locker had she gotten it out of? That's right, his name was written inside the book in neat block letters. P. Reynolds, you had failed her. For shame.

The mental upbraiding was interrupted by a low, throbbing hmm. Sometimes the noises GLaDOS would make echoed in a fascinating way, as though the sound was reverberating through the chassis itself. Thinking noises, when she bothered to verbalize them, were examples of such. The sound was surprisingly easy on the ears. It reminded Chell of something else, something from before... she'd gotten inklings of the supercomputer's musical inclination at odd times and in odd places, but only gotten a proper example of it as she had been leaving. Curiosity rose in her, and an idea formed. It might not work, but at least it would be more engaging than the book had been.

Tapping the table once or twice to try to get the AI's attention, Chell waved a hand in the air in a lazy attempt at signing. Sing me a song. She only hoped that the meaning would carry across.

The groan of hydraulics. Dead silence. She didn't want to look up, she already could tell she was simply being stared at. "You'll have to try that again," came the reply at last. "I don't speak whatever that is."

Fine. She held up both hands, moving much more slowly in her attempt to make the meaning clearer. S-I-N-G me a S-O-N-G. She'd been studying ASL letters in an attempt to actually learn proper signs, so it probably helped when she spelled things out rather than use whatever gesture she felt conveyed her meaning.

"That's what I was afraid you had said," GLaDOS muttered, narrowing her optic. "Why would you assume that I know the first thing about singing?"

When I left, the turrets were singing. But turrets don't sing. You were controlling them.

"Perhaps they were so elated that your vendetta against them was finally coming to an end that they overcame their simple dialogue limiters in order to express that joy," the AI said primly, her optic slowly drifting to the side as though pondering this miraculous development deeply.

Chell shook her head, pointing at GLaDOS directly. They only speak English, and that song was definitely not in English.

"Someone's meddling with the turret templates introduced some... irregularities into the turret population." GLaDOS rolled her optic dramatically. "It took a long time to weed them out. Having to interview several hundred turrets individually to find the ones that processed in languages that weren't normally supported was exactly as tedious as it sounds..." Chell crossed her arms firmly. "Of course, you wouldn't care what language it spoke to you in. You'd callously drop a weighted storage cube on its head before it even had a chance to say 'hello'."

Turrets don't say 'hello'.

"Yes they do. You’ve just never actually talked to one.," GLaDOS said smugly.

She chose to ignore that particular jab. So you found all of the turrets that didn't speak English and instead of incinerating them, you let them live.

"They could still perform a majority of their functions," GLaDOS explained defensively.

And these turrets somehow got together and managed to create a whole opera. Chell wasn't certain about how to convey what she wanted to, so she spelled 'opera' out.

"They do tend to be social. They liked to be in groups," GLaDOS added. "If you took the time to observe them in their natural habitat rather than callously cutting them down any time one gets in your way, you'd see them frolicking in the meadows together. Like deer."

That statement was so ludicrous that Chell wasn't even sure where to begin with a reply. Instead, she pressed on. All of this of course happened during the time I was unconscious after dealing with Wheatley.

"You were unconscious for quite a while. They work quickly when they're motivated..." there was definitely an odd posture to the chassis now. Each statement saw GLaDOS draw back just slightly, like she was being cornered. Chell wasn't sure if she was going to suddenly be in a great deal of danger, or if she was going to somehow win this argument.

So you pulled me in, interviewed all the turrets, they got together and wrote a whole opera from scratch and practiced it so that it would be perfect and just happened to be hanging out in the elevator shaft waiting for an audience around the time that I woke up and you kicked me out? Chell summarized, slowly and carefully.

"When you say it like that, it does come across as being rather farfetched," GLaDOS said rather pointedly. For a moment, Chell considered whether she should start eyeing the exits. "I'm not even sure why you're suddenly following this line of questioning. Are you considering a career change this late in your life? Is that book about a musical?"

No, it's boring as fuck, Chell signed in annoyance. You were thinking out loud again and it reminded me of stuff. I liked the song that they sang, though I guess I thought it was you singing it so never mind! She waved her hands back and forth as though dissolving everything she'd just said. At least she'd been right in the notion that this would be engaging.

"You liked it, even though you didn't understand it?" GLaDOS questioned warily.

It sounded nice. They were talking about science, I think. And me. I'm not sure how turrets would know my name, though, Chell said thoughtfully. Maybe I should ask them if they will sing it again, for me.

"It wasn't your name," GLaDOS said sharply. "It was ciel." Almost too late she realized her misstep, and quickly turned away. "At least, that's what I heard! It was impossible not to hear it, after all." That got Chell to laugh, which caused her to turn back quickly, optic narrowing. "Perhaps I did arrange certain things. It was because you were leaving, and I was glad to see you go. I'd consider the whole thing null and void because you came back. It's a failure of a song. I hope you're happy."

Maybe I'd be happier if you sang me another song about how you're angry that I came back, Chell replied cheekily. You could use a lot of dirty words and I would never know.

"Or I could just eject you back out via a carefully calculated aerial faith plate," GLaDOS considered. "Perhaps not. That would be cruel to the aerial faith plate. Perhaps you're right, and I should channel my unending bitter rage at the lack of solitude in more constructive ways." She swayed back and forth as though considering just how to apply herself. "Well, that was constructive. You'll forgive me if I don't assemble a whole chorus of turrets, but since you decided you aren't leaving you're not worth more than a solo."

I suppose I'll live. Chell feigned disappointment. She was curious just how a computer could sing. It shouldn't be a question, because obviously GLaDOS could talk just as easily as anything else there, but the idea of an actual song, especially given that the last one through the synthesized voices of turrets had been really good, was exciting. Even if it was just a song cussing her out in a language that she didn't know. She sat back on the floor, winding her arms around her knees for support and listened.

#portal drawtober 2023 #portal 2 #glados #chell #chell portal #chelldos #at least implied chelldos #giant robot ladies singing #this chell doesn't know sign language and just makes it up as she goes #this creates hilarity sometimes

31 notes · View notes

swallowtail-ageha · 2 months

Note

Hey! Name 10 of your favourite Soulsborne characters! Doesn't have to be in any particular order, unless you want it to be!

SORRY FOR DELETING THE FIRST ONE AND MAKING YOU SEND THIS AGAIN

Also putting it under the cut because goood i love to get verbose and this shit is almost infinite for how long it got

Ok so *cracks knuckles*

1- Shanalotte

My precious girl!! My beloved!!! I have actually found most fromsoft level up maidens (bar her and melina) to be actually pretty lacking in both relevance and story so she was a nice breath of fresh air! Her lore intrigues me very much like. She was created *specifically* with the purpose of being kindling (or that's what the "created to break the curse" implies to me).

She's one of the most normal looking dragon-human hybrids but it's ALSO implied that she's internally way more fucked up and unstable than them because she was pretty much left to rot alone by aldia in the dragon aerie. She can teleport propelled by the power of a funky feather. She has an emo haircut. Her intentions might not be the kindest as they might seem as instead of lettingherself burn she cultivated SEVERAL undeads to reach the throne instead of taking the throne for herself and she ALWAYS knows what is really going but refuses to tell the Bearer of the Curse anything that aren't the barest informations.

Forever will be salty that due to executive meddling we lost the time travel plot and didn't manage to see her as a child

2-Ranni

I think one of the biggest improvements overall of elden ring's ending questlines compared to the ones in other soulsborne is that they gave us a quest from a scheming character that ACTUALLY explains you what your schemes entrail and lets you through bosses and additional questlines forge a deeper connection to the npcs and Ranni (and her questline) are the epitome of that.

Like i have soo much to say about the fact that her ending is basically the classical courtly love story with the maiden in the tower rescued by the brave knight where the tower guarded by the dragon can both be her rise who is guarded by Adula (whom fights you to death before you can go to Manus Celes and marry her) and the cave in the lake of rot which is guarded by Astel.

AND WHILE PEOPLE MISCHARACTERIZE HER AS COLD AND UNLOVING SHE IS SO FULL OF LOVE. She's yes scheming and willing to do evil acts to reach her goals but she LOVES Iji and Blaidd THEY WERE HER FAMILY BLAIDD WAS HER BROTHER EVEN IF HE WAS ENGINEERED TO BETRAY HER IF SHE WENT ASTRAY AND THEY BOTH KNEW IT BUT THEY LOVED EACH OTHER SO MUCH THAT BLAIDD OVERCAME FOR A WHILE HIS SHADOW'S INSTINCTS. She didn't want you to continue your services for her because she knew that iji and blaidd were doomed and didn't want you to end like them AND YET. AND YET. YOU TRAVERSED THE LAKE OF ROT FOR HER. YOU KILLED ALIENS AND GOD TO SAVE HER. SHE FIRST INTENDED TO GO AWAY WITH NO ONE FOLLOWING HER BUT YOU DECIDE TO DEPART WITH HER. NEVER LEAVING HER ALONE IN THE COLD AND EMPTY SPACE.

I am sorry for the all caps and incoherent rambling but i genuinely love ranni so much. Elden ring in general is very dear to me and her questline was one of the first ones i've ever done in a soulsborne game :3

3-Rykard

Ok i admit that while at first i only liked him for "funny snake" stuff the more i learned about him the more i liked him.

He's like Ranni in the sense that where he did commit many atrocities one of his most overlooked characteristics is how he loved.

He loved radahn so much that he had paintings of him all over his home. He loved tanith so much because he knew what he would become once fused with the snake and offered her a way out of the suffering that it might have caused her (but we know tanith didn't mind) and trusted her so much to let her lead volcano manor in his stead. He loved rennala so much that he left his own Special Torture Device around the academy to hurt whoever wanted to kill her. He loved ranni so much that he helped prepare her great plan and was willing to take the blame and challenge MALIKETH HIMSELF in order to protect her if the plan went wrong. And he loved radagon so much that him abandoning them to follow the GW literally caused him to react so badly that he decided to infiltrate it's ranks as a loyal inquisitor to destroy it from the inside in the way it would hurt the most (like burning the minor erdtree). Also he's bisexual. Miyazaki you might have removed the daedicar's woe item description but he remains bi in the heart of us rykardpilled

4-Tanith

Aside from being the canonically freakiest person in bed in the lands between the whole rykard-tanith-rya storyline makes me go RAAAAH "my greatest distress would be forgetting you" and then she goes on to ask you to unconsensually do to rya the same thing that rykard consensually asked her to do!! Because for her it's better to live a lie than to know the truth!! And the fact that this is likely caused by her feeling inadequate to be a mother (as cut dialogue shows)!!!

Also undying loyalty literally wanting to have someone live on through you by ingesting them... her obsession with rykard and what he represented preventing her to actually move on after he gets killed by the tarnished but also her love for him is one of the reasons WHY volcano manor still stands + the fact that rykard married her not out of pure lust but because he sawnin her a dignity befitting of a ruler AND HE WAS RIGHT.... Miyazaki. Martin. I love you.

5-Nashandra

Ok i might not have papers upon papers to write about her but she's one of my favourites in the sense that she hits the extremely specific archetype of extremely cunty woman who exploits manipulates others but that's because she's an eldritch abomination whose existance is extremely fragile and literally just wants To Live (the other character who fits this is Ma evilliouschronicles and she's like my fave character 5eva).

The concept of the daughters of manus is very cool and i feel like there's some significance in her sharing the "shan" in her name with shanalotte but only miyazaki knows.

I really want to know what her and vendrick's marriage looked like i KNOW they were freaky

6-Maria

MARIA MY BELOVED MARIA... I HAVE MANY THOUGHTS (TM) ABOUT HER and the main one is that to me she is like one of those protagonist from those late 19th/early 20th decadent novels but if they were a girl.

The thing that appeals to me the most about her is how much of an utter failure she was in both life and death like her arc is such a downwards spiral. I am not okay with cainhurst's hunting thecniques? Ok! Let's join the victorian equivalent of the scalp hunters from blood meridian! Oh shit oh no oh fuck i ended up committing genocide and eviscerating a pregnant god and now i am extremely traumatized well i'll try to redeem myself by joining the blood murdercult and by committing experiments based on the evisceration of said pregnant god to help advance humanity. All the experiments i led are for naught and only led to more suffering? At this point i can't handle it anymore every single good thing i did led to death and misery i'm gonna kill myself AT LEAST IN DEATH I CAN'T HARM ANYONE :) RIGHT? :) [cue her upholding the nightmare and its inhabitants suffering and then dying against the good hunter causing them to rampage through the hamlet again]

I think her biggest flaw in the end was to keep denying the fact that her actions slowly got more brutal because she wanted to think of herself as a good person until things snowballed so much that they got out of her control and couldnt do anything to prevent damage from happening. Rip my sweet angel corrado silla and alfonso nitti wouldve seen you as their long lost sister

7-Sulyvahn

HE LIVED HE SERVED CUNT HE DIED. There is something oddly poetic and horrifying about someone who came from a place designed to keep away those rejected by the gods being the responsible of the fall of the gods himself. AND YET none of this came from rightful vengeance or a sense of duty towards his fellow inhabitants of the painter. No. He didn't give a single shit about it and hated the place. He only did that because he was power hungry and skilled and had the possibility to do that.

I am also OBSESSED OBSESSED OBSESSED with the fact that it's implied that he has more than a few grievances with women and i like to think of him as a huge misogynistic creep in the way fanon gehrman is. He is so insidiously manipulative and backstabbing and needlessly cruel he is up there in the alley of my favourite nasty old men. He might or might not have had beef in the past with aldrich which led to aldrich kicking his ass earlier and weakening him enough to permit the ashen one to kill him. We love a villain whose downfall is caused by his constant backstabbing

8- Fauxefka

I know that she's very barebone as npcs go but i am soo fond of her she's my canon oc. There is soo much implied about her aside from the fact that miyazaki considers her one of the only heroic people in game like. She is from the choir (and might have stolen the umbilical cord from willem) while Iosefka who looks exactly like her is implied to have been a defector from mensis so academic beef might be one of the motives for turning her into an alien i have SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT and if you send the suspicious beggar to her house he STILL turns into a celestial emissary which means she alone was strong enough to overpower him.

Also her voice gets me sooo <3333 and add that with the fact that she was brave enough to gobble down an umbilical cord without a single thought she's a lunatic but also probably the sanest person in yharnam and i'm here for it

9- Friede

Friede is another one in the halley of pathetic women like yass girl... doom a world where you found comfort in to ruin because you are so traumatized by your first death by burning that you refuse to let it happen again despite it being a good thing so she parallels nicely with gwyn.

Another thing that i found interesting is that aside from that she is ALSO motivated by love for the inhabitants of the painting but is willingly blind to the love wilhelm and yuria had for her

Side note but i found a really good wilhelm/friede fic where mid fuck she removes his ring that prevents him from looking like a beef jerky and muses that he'd never do that because he's too loyal for her and is happy of the power she has over him and that is sooo good i'll just incorporate it in my headcanons for her

10- Gwyndolin

I already joked about him being the joker for trans men but like. The tragedy of his story makes me go insane <3 Imagine being reviled by your father for literally every single part of your being. You have your older siblings. They are your father's favourites, THE golden children. And yet one by one they leave you all alone, one being kicked out and erased from history for siding with the enemy and the other flees as she always does whenever she encounters trouble. Your father who hates you throws himself into the first flame and leaves you alone with massive abandonment and gender issues and you spend literally every single moment of your life trying to continue his legacy even to the point of living in your father's tomb. You revile him and how he treated you especially regarding your gender so you try to be independent. To throw away your old identity he forced on you and finally live as a man and a king of your own right BUT you'll always be desperate for his love and will never separate from his shadow down to the bitter end. You raise what is your sibling or niece but also instead of actually making her independent you keep her naive and sheltered, every single place of power is purely symbolic.

And then the tree guy who works as your knight and whom you might or might not be fucking fucking overthrows you imprisons you and your sisterniece in the cathedral and feeds you alive to a guy whom you sent to his death by burning ages ago to continue the cycle your father started. Life really be like that sometimes.

So... here it is! I am sorry for how long it got lmaoo

#also i must specify #the list isnt in order i like them all on the same level #there are also other characters i love like l*urence mic*lash l*catiel or the dancer #i just dont rotate them in my mind as much as i do with them yknow #ask

11 notes · View notes

lisbeth-kk · 10 months

Text

#FFF209

Sherlock fandom. Sherlock is back, but how to tell John?

On a bench in Regent’s Park

He’s waited for this day for so long. Yearned to be back home. To be safe again. Having Mrs. Hudson fuzz and bring him her baked goods and tea, urging him to eat something. Getting texts from Lestrade with an odd case, maybe an eight. Ignoring his meddling big brother to his wits end and chuckle at it with…

He almost doesn’t dare think about John’s reaction when he walks into the flat. Will he be angry? Oh, yes, if there’s one thing Sherlock’s certain of it’s John’s anger. Being left out of the loop and Sherlock trusting Molly instead of his best friend to fake his own death. Yes, that would get John’s temper to erupt.

How can he explain and make John understand why he stood on the edge at the roof of Barts and seconds later jumped off it? The more he’s thought about it, the crueller and more uncalled for it seems. Then again, Moriarty didn’t give him much choice, did he? Either Sherlock jumped or John, Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson got killed by snipers. So, no, it had to be done. Sherlock would’ve killed himself for real if the three people dearest to him suffered that fate. John in particular.

Sherlock stalls. He craves the scents and all the bric-a-brac that is the core of 221B, but he’s a coward. Just waiting a little bit longer before finding out how his return will be received. Sherlock finds a secluded bench in Regent’s Park where he can take in the other people strolling around. He deduces some of them, but his thoughts are diverted to a subject more important than this game of deductions. John. How to…

Sherlock’s been deep in thought and hasn’t heard the footsteps approaching the bench. His eyes focuses when he hears a hitched breath. Standing before him is John Watson. His eyes are wide, clenched fists cover his mouth and his body trembles. When his knees buckle, Sherlock catches him, and without thinking, he envelopes John in his arms and murmurs soothing words into his hair.

“I’m so sorry, John. If I could have told you, I would. Please believe that. Moriarty gave me no other choice. It was me or you, and you had to believe it to be real, or you would’ve been killed. I’ve missed you so much, John.”

The more Sherlock speaks, the more John relaxes. He can hear muffled sobs against his chest, but Johns arms are now around Sherlock’s waist, and John holds on for dear life. When Sherlock tries to draw back a little, John won’t let him, and Sherlock finally relaxes too. When John speaks Sherlock realises that John’s been standing on his own edge with an abyss underneath.

“I’ve been so lonely since you left, Sherlock. It’s been like it was before we met. My limp’s come back, I barely sleep, I hate being social, because everyone’s so concerned that I’ve grieved you like…like…”

John trails off and looks up at Sherlock with tears in his eyes.

“Like what, John?” Sherlock asks softly and cradles John’s face.

John doesn’t answer. Not with words, but his eyes give Sherlock the answer he’s hoped for. He bows his head and pecks John’s lips carefully. When he moves back a fraction, John’s eyes are closed, and a small smile graces his lips.

“Do that again,” he murmurs, and Sherlock doesn’t need to be asked twice.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

#sherlock fandom #sherlock #john watson #bbc sherlock #johnlock #flashfiction #on the edge

48 notes · View notes

statementlou · 10 months

Note

There’s so many details and twists to Dan Wootton meddling with every member of 1D, but in particular Louis, but in terms of story trading I’ve always felt like the Lottie pictures of her doing cocaine was a complete set up. The photos were so clear and no one looked messy other than the obvious drug use. At the time I figured Lottie took those in exchange for worse photos not being released.

Yes; I've seen people speculate that it was a trade for keeping Fizzy out of the papers and the timing works. Whether or not the pic itself was taken for that purpose (I'm sure she actually did coke as did everyone else around, and looked very nice and well put together while doing so; one thing coke is great for is being able to drink lots without getting sloppy, and just generally I would say looking messy is not necessarily involved with casual drug use of any kind) it really fits into the picture we can form now, looking back, to think that it being published was given in return for silence about something else.

#cw drugs #resist the stereotype of drug users being sloppy or messy or somehow easy to spot; all sorts of people use all sorts of substances #it isn't necessarily visible . hell in the case of coke it might mean yo u spend twice as much time obsessively tidying your hair and makeu #blah blah blah #dan wootton

29 notes · View notes

girlwiththepapatattoo · 8 months

Text

The Unlikely Similarities Between Kittens and Vampires, Chapter 8

Warnings: canon typical violence alluded to, Astarion being himself, Halsin doing a meddle

Summary: Banter and bathing and bear-matchmaking, oh my!

Notes: I love all these idiots. I hope you enjoy, lemme know what you think! <3

Read on ao3 here!

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

“All right, Fangs, here’s one: best way to kill a goblin?” Karlach asks the vampire on Sable’s left.

“My dearest meat shield,” he says fondly, shooting her a grin, “do you mean the most efficient way, or the most fun? Because there’s a rather large difference.”

The large tiefling woman cackles at what Astarion calls her, not offended in the slightest. “The most fun of course! Personally, that time that I picked one up and beat another to death with him was great!”

“Ha! That was a show indeed. I think for me, my favorite was that time I was invisible, picked one goblin’s pocket of her gold, and put it into her friend’s. They ended up killing each other!” He laughs at the memory, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.

“Ohhhh yeah! That was a bloody good one!” she crows.

“Ugh,” Wyll says emphatically from behind.

Sable is trying not to laugh, biting her cheek as they all walk through the forest. They should arrive back to the Grove in a matter of hours, and everyone was looking forward to getting off their feet for the night.

“Oh, loosen up!” Karlach says to the Blade. “Woulda thought you’d be the first one up for killin’ gobbos.”

��I am,” he replies, crossing his arms with a frown. “But there’s a difference between killing them to keep people safe, and killing them to have fun.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Astarion says primly, and almost everyone blinks at him in surprise. “One of them is far more boring.”

“Ah,” Wyll says tiredly as Karlach laughs and Gale hides a snort behind his hand. “I should have suspected.”

Sable couldn’t help the grin that tugs at her lips. She wasn’t particularly enraptured by the talk of past violence, but she did enjoy the banter between everyone.

Even if not all of them felt much the same way.

“Must we engage in this inane babble?” Lae’zel grumbles. “If there are still enemies around, they will hear us coming a mile away.”

“I assume the githyanki don’t care much about morale, do they?” Shadowheart quips from two people away.

“We are uplifted from earning glory in Vlaakith’s name. We have no need for this endless prattle.”

“Well, only one of us here is githyanki, Lae’zel. After a victory, we do like to let ourselves unwind,” Gale says agreeably.

Lae’zel just scowls at him and turns her head away. The wizard shrugs at the cleric, who smiles almost grimly and shakes her head.

The others continue to banter amongst themselves, and Sable listens contently. The day is beautiful, a soft breeze caressing her face and making her sigh, the scents of the woods calming her.

And Astarion is walking by her side. Really, a perfect day.

“So,” he says softly, looking down to her. “Now that we don’t have anything to kill in the next little while…what’s the first thing you’re going to do once we’re free for the night?”

“A bath, for sure,” she replies emphatically. She gently touches her hair and makes a face. “It’s going to take three washes to get all the blood out of my hair. How about you?”

“The very same! Gods,” he utters, his nose wrinkling, “you’ve no idea how disgusting everyone smells when your senses are heightened.” He pauses, then chuckles. “Well, actually, you might in particular, kitten.”

Sable shrugs. “Honestly, when I’m in animal form…well, it’s hard to explain. Animal senses are so different from ours that what smells bad to us might not smell bad to them.”

“Really? So if you were to kitten up right now, we wouldn’t smell bad to you?” he asks, surprised.

“Not really. Strong, yeah, but not offensive.”

He blinks, thinking about it as he ducks under a low hanging branch. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I wouldn’t want to smell this group any more strongly, thank you.”

Sable chuckles in response.

“Hey soldier!” Karlach calls over. “What do you say we take tomorrow to rest up a bit at the Grove? The past week’s been a lot and I’m sure we could all use the break.”

“And we have weapon and armor repairs to do,” Wyll adds thoughtfully.

Sable blinks over at them. “I…I mean, of course we can, but why are you asking me?” she asks in confusion.

“Well, you’ve been leading us this far,” Gale says thoughtfully.

The younger druid’s jaw drops. “I’ve been what now?!”

Astarion bursts out laughing at the completely dumbfounded shock on her face.

“Did you think we’re following you for fun?” Shadowheart asks, her voice amused.

“You’re a good leader, Sable,” Wyll assures her gently. “Truly. Not that I’d want you in this situation if there was a way to prevent it, but I think we’re all happy it’s you here.”

Lae’zel rolls her eyes a bit. “You have been…adequate.”

“High praise, from you,” Gale teases, earning himself a glare.

“Seriously, soldier, you’re like the glue that holds this group of assholes together!” Karlach says happily.

Sable’s face is beet red, and Astarion expects her to shape-change any moment now. But to his surprise…she doesn’t. Instead, she looks around at everyone, meeting his eyes last. He gives her a surprisingly fond smile and simply nods to her. She takes a deep breath, and her shoulders square off. “Thank you, everyone. I…I’m just trying my best. But if you all think that I’m doing well…” She grins faintly. “I won’t argue. Yes, we’ll take tomorrow to rest. I’ll have mending up and ready, so anyone with minor repairs to do can bring them to me.”

“I can help with that as well,” Halsin offers, and she nods to him.

“I’m rather good with a needle and thread,” Astarion adds. “So long as your gear is clean when you bring it over, I’ll sew up any rips and tears.”

The others all offer their help with different things as well, and Sable’s heart warms. This rag-tag group is really starting to come together.

//////////////////////////////////////////////

Halsin is reunited with the druids, the situation with Kagha is diffused, and the ritual to close off the Grove has been halted. The tieflings are over the moon in joy that their road to Baldur’s Gate should be safe now, and there is to be a celebration that night. Sable’s not one for parties, normally, but seeing everyone letting their guards down and being at ease would be nice.

But for now, it’s time for a bath.

Halsin stops her with a gentle hand on her arm before she could move off to the small, communal bathhouse, however. “Grab your bathing things and follow me,” he murmurs. “I have someplace I think you’ll like.”

She blinks, but follows him. He leads her down a shaded path that opens up into a fairly big, well hidden cave. At the back of the cave is what looks like a large pool of water that’s gently steaming. “Is that…?”

“It is. A small hot spring,” Halsin says fondly. “I’ve spent many nights soaking away in here. Use it at your leisure. All I ask is that you wash up outside the water.”

“Of course,” she assures him, and smiles to him gratefully. “Thank you, Halsin. This is perfect.”

He smiles and gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze, before turning and making his way back.

Sable immediately undresses, dipping a hand into the water to test the temperature. She can’t help the soft sigh at feeling the perfect amount of warmth enveloping her skin, like wrapping a warmed blanket around yourself after just coming in out of the cold. She fills her bucket and sets to washing up, deliriously happy to be finally cleansing the grime and gore from her skin.

She’s halfway through her second hair wash when the sound of a boot on stone makes her head snap up. Her gaze finds Astarion, standing there with his eyes wide and his mouth open in surprise. They stare at each other for a solid ten seconds, before the vampire abruptly spins around. “I…I am so sorry, darling, I–that is–Halsin mentioned this place, but he neglected to tell me it was occupied!”

She notices that he has his own bucket in hand, and makes a mental note to figure out whether she wants to thank the huge druid or hit him. “I-It’s okay, Astarion, really, I–”

“No, it’s not okay,” he says over his shoulder, and the vehemence in his voice makes her pause, surprised. He huffs, rubbing the back of his neck. “If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t think twice of some teasing, maybe trying to cop a view. But…but I don’t want that with you. If I join your bath, it’s because you’ve asked me to, or I’ve asked you and you said yes. Not…not like this.”

A million thoughts race through her mind. It’s curious to her that he said ‘and you said yes’ about him asking her, but not ‘and I said yes’ about her asking him. Does that mean that it’s obvious he’d say yes? Or does that mean he thinks he wouldn’t have the opportunity to refuse?

But any further thinking about that is cut off as a rogue trail of soap makes itself a home in her eye.

“Ow, fuck shit dammit ow!” she hisses, eyes squeezing shut and patting around blindly for her bucket.

“Easy, darling, easy, hold still,” his voice says, suddenly closer to her. Two fingers gently tilt her chin up, and water gently pours over her eyes, cleaning the suds away. “Open for me, hm?”

She can’t help the flush that rises to her cheeks. His voice is low and soothing, and though she’s not sure he meant it to be, it was doing…things…to her lower belly. But obediently, she opens her eyes, brow furrowing as a lingering sting pierces her eye. But it fades quickly, and she meets Astarion’s amused gaze with a faint smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course, kitten. I’ll just…head off then, until you’re done.” He goes to stand, but she catches his wrist gently, and he looks to her in surprise.

She’s not looking at him, that sweet blush driving him faintly mad. “You…look, I…I wanted to soak for a while–the water’s naturally warm, you see–but I don’t want to make you wait for too long. If you…if you want to bathe now, we can…keep each other company while we soak. A-And I promise I won’t look.”

He stares at her in surprise. She still wants him, still desires him–he can tell by the way her pupils widen, by the heat in her face. But she’s offering…what? Non-sexual intimacy?

When was the last time anyone offered him something like that? He can’t remember.

And so he softens, and he smiles, and he leans forward and impulsively brushes a kiss over her forehead. “I think I’d like that, my sweet kitten,” he says, and his tone is one she hasn’t heard before. Soft, gentle, grateful. She smiles helplessly.

It’s that exact moment when she knows, when the feelings click into place: she’s fallen for this man. Hard.

Well…shit.

“But you know,” he says with a smirk as he moves behind her, beginning to strip, unable to resist teasing now that he knows he’s wanted here. “I don’t think I’d mind if it was you doing the peeking.”

WELL SHIT.

#baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion x tav #bg3 astarion #my writing

20 notes · View notes

eurothug4000 · 1 year

Text

INTERVIEW WITH SAM BARLOW AND TOMM HULETT ON SILENT HILL SHATTERED MEMORIES

As part of my Shattered Memories video, I decided to try and reach out to Designer Sam Barlow and Producer Tomm Hulett to ask them some questions. And I was delighted that they said yes! I couldn't fit everything into my video, but what they shared was too interesting not to post somewhere in its entirety! HERE IT GOES:

What was it like building the profiling system and what kind of resources did you tap into? I read that professionals helped and even analysed some of the team members! What psychological test was most surprising and interesting to you?

SAM: It was a deep dive into psychometrics! Yeah we spoke with academics who had done work into eye tracking. We put the team through a battery of personality tests to have some data to work off of. I worked with a therapist who insisted I attend sessions as a patient and genuinely, in order to make things credible. The most fun (surprising!?) anecdote is that we were working off the 5 factor personality model, which is the popular one. The fifth factor of the 5 is psychopathy. But we ended up dropping that factor because we found that everyone naturally behaves a bit like a psychopath when playing a game! So it kinda skewed the data.

TOMM: My related answer - As soon as I read the pitch with the psych profiling and how it would change the game world, I instantly (if slightly presumptuously) demanded to Produce the game. This was the type of outside-the-box thinking that I felt suited Silent Hill as a brand, but could also drive it forward with new innovations that would surprise players. Management granted my request, and I made it my personal mission to protect this feature from outside meddling, and to evangelize it across Konami.

In regards to elements of the game (character appearances, dialogue etc.) being tailored to the player’s profile, were there any other features you would have liked to implement that would also change depending on the profile? Also any other things you would have liked to have affected the profile? I saw mentions of Mii data and the Weather Channel for example!

SAM: I think always it was a question of how deep we could go -- the more specific we got, the more money it would have cost! So there were compromises in terms of the number of variations. We'd go in asking for as much as we could think of and then end up compromising and picking the key ones. Could always have used more hairstyles, outfits, or set dressing! It was particularly tight on things like monster animations -- those had to be generic, but fit against any additional animation bones, say an udder -- rather than be unique to each form. The way they moved could have been a real nice differentiator.

Yeah, we really wanted to do some stuff where we pulled in the player's Mii data, or tapped into the local weather/time for their console. But all of those things ended up being things that would have possibly upset the Nintendo guidelines, so we kinda skipped over those. We wanted to find as many ways we could make the player feel seen, and add to the feeling that the Harry they were making was tied to them.

I read that when speaking to some of the developers of the original game, you sought to understand some of their goals with the first title in order to aim for those same targets in SM. What were those goals? Was there anything the developers would have liked to do for the first game (but couldn’t for whatever reason) which were then included in SM?

SAM: Hmmm, I'm not sure we spoke directly to anyone for SH:SM. I know we had access to some people at Konami on Origins, but it was slightly difficult -- a lot of the files/documentation didn't exist anymore, so it wasn't always straightforward to tap into intentions -- as well, SH:1 was kinda of a miracle and product of a very particular moment in time so I think a lot of how the original turned out was organic. We certainly wanted to make something that would feel -- in a fresh way -- like the original felt; rather than rehashing it in a way that would feel like diminishing returns. We wanted to take some of the themes of the first game, and also some of the ideas thrown out by 2 and 3, and take them to a place that was a little bit more lived in. Like there was a vibe I got when going into the K. Gordon house in SH1 that felt so real and domestic and it had a real presence... walking into a domestic living area, that atmosphere of it being abandoned, the proximity of the horror to the domesticity, the uncanny feel. We wanted to tap into that. And to remind people that it was snowing in Silent Hill 1!

Sam, was there anything you took from SM that applied to or evolved in your future games? I think I first noticed your mark the second the VHS intro started playing with a menu in the style of a typical TV interface, the use of technology as an immersive viewpoint in your other titles has been something I’ve always loved!

SAM: Yeah, clearly I have a real interface-within-an-interface thing going on! You could argue that the principal's office puzzle is basically Her Story 0.1! I definitely enjoyed the use of the frame narrative and the idea we had that 'the player is not the protagonist' -- the idea that you create tension between the main character and the player, and explore that for dramatic effect. We deliberately kept shifting POV (3rd to 1st person) and introduced time jumps to create a disconnect with Harry. Also a lot of the way the profile system worked -- vector math and fuzzy logic underpinning choices, rather than binary trees -- has been something I've used in every game since. Under the surface the way that Her Story or Immortality knows about its scenes and connects things, and plays music, etc. is all using a similar setup.

Not a question, but I adored how going into the options/quit game menu would also display that TV interface style, like Cheryl’s view was that outer layer in the narrative that gets peeled back at the end. Reminds me of the use of the screen reflection in Telling Lies in a way!

SAM: Yeah, again, I think this is clearly my thing! Creating layers *between* the player and the narrative in a way that can actually help with a kind of immersion.

I read in a few interviews that it was an important point that every player could finish the game, with some adjustments kicking in if players were struggling. Where do you think your philosophy of prioritising players getting to experience the full story over the possibility of them getting ‘stuck’ at a difficult obstacle in the game came from? Did that stem from personal frustration you have with other games? Do you think this philosophy contended with the existing SH fanbase who were used to the perhaps more unforgiving nature of survival horror conventions?

SAM: I think if you're going to give the player something 'different', you also need to balance that out with a kind of generosity. You can't ask them to meet you halfway and then keep punishing them. It's also very much a truth that the more you make players repeat things, the more you make them stuck, the more they see the illusion -- they start to see the clockwork, the seams of the experience. So it was very important to me that we help players move smoothly through this experience to properly deliver our emotional payload.

Yeah, I think there's definitely a minority who look for a very specific game template and equate difficulty/obfuscation (and the resulting padded game time!) with the kind of survival horror experience. I don't think Shattered Memories was a game for them, in that sense. For me it's all in service of engaging the player. Sometimes challenge can do that. But the classic survival horror template definitely can also take that too far.

I read that Cold Heart turned into SM as Konami had greenlit a SH1 remake, although SM was a reimagining instead. As a result, there seemed to be a little disconnect between the marketing and what the game actually was. What were some of these differences?

SAM: I guess if there was a disconnect ultimately it was that there were probably high up bosses who thought this was a very traditional remake (just with Wii controls?) rather than a reimagining. That was something that I'm not sure was ever run all the way up the chain! But I think generally marketing got that aspect -- we would reference Battlestar Galactica and they liked that comparison. Really the big disconnect was that we'd made a game from the (new) Wii audience and most of the marketing went into positioning it as a 'gamer's game on the Wii.' That was a real missed opportunity to be honest.

What were some of the challenging aspects of making a reimagining with existing characters as opposed to brand new characters? Were there some advantages even?

SAM: I think it was all upside for us. It's great to have something to start with that you can then springboard off of. And a lot of the intent of SH:SM was that we would create a weird Deja Vu for people who *had* played the original -- a sense of things being recognizable but also very different. That was a whole extra level of vibes and emotional responses that we could tap into. This was much more fun than, say, Silent Hill: Origins where it was all downside... there it felt like we were making fan fiction, having to embellish and add small details to an existing story that had no real spare room or need for those embellishments!

Now that there have been many years to reflect, were there any ideas that you wished made it into the game? Or anything you think would have been better to have been changed or removed?

TOMM: Late-ish in development after getting a lot of feedback and considering how consumers might react, I pitched Climax on adding an element of threat and tension to the "normal" world. Nothing like overt combat or enemies, but just something so the player wouldn't feel entirely safe. This didn't go in obviously, but I sometimes wonder how it may have changed initial reactions from players.

(still third question I hit enter accidentally) Also I wish the western releases of the game didn't have a bug making one ending harder to get than intended. That's the main regret.

I think the only other SH game to have pushed the series out of its comfort zone as much as you did with SM is PT. Do you think players/critics these days are more accepting of change in their favorite franchises than they were when SM released? How did you feel when you first saw PT? Was there some specific joy in seeing the series you worked on go into a new direction like SM did?

TOMM: PT was the first (only?) SH game I got to experience after leaving Konami and I certainly think it owes something to SHSM. I'm very proud that our game was essentially a "walking simulator" before that term existed, and how favorably it compares to the notable games of that type, when we were charting our course without a map as it were. On the right day, I do think critics now are more accepting of changes and I think we owe the indie scene for that a bit. Many critics even EXPECT new titles to change up familiar elements, rather than sticking in the same molds. That said, fans are still fans. When they hear about a strange new mechanic in a series they love, I hope they remember first-person Resident Evil, Yakuza RPG, and maybe SHSM, and give it a fair chance.

SAM: Maybe? We're definitely living through an age of renewed nostalgia and backwards thinking. So many reboots and remakes! So maybe now is the wrong time to push franchises in fresh directions. Which is a shame. But outside that, I think the audience is definitely open to new experiences and the definitions of genres have expanded. P.T. was great -- I loved how it was delivered, the impact on players. To be honest, in all likelihood how things turned out was probably best? I can't imagine the full Silent Hill reboot ending up having the same impact that P.T. (and it's being lost to time!) was able to generate? I definitely appreciated the ways in which P.T. recalled some of the non euclidian domestic stuff we did in our later 'nowhere' sequence, and just that sense of immersion in a domestic space.

What do you think the legacy for SM was? Any lasting effects you feel were left on the series or community, maybe even the horror genre as a whole?

TOMM: (kind of answered a bit above but we'll try). I hope SHSM takes some of the credit for expanding what a "horror" game can be. It was pretty strict beforehand, you had your RE-style actiony games, and your SH-style atmosphere games that that's how the genre was judged. Horror games these days have such a huge range now and it's wonderful. Weird text-driven meta things, or PS1 throwbacks like Signalis. It's great. Horror only works when it surprises you, so I'm glad it all doesn't fit into 2 rigid definitions anymore.

SAM: Clearly a lot of what we did in SH:SM ended up becoming quite standard -- the flight rather than fight gameplay; the sense of open, immersive spaces with no loading; the 'walking simulator' aspects of our storytelling, etc. I couldn't say whether any of that was directly because of SH:SM, or just in the water anyway! I have heard some developers call out SH:SM, so it does sometimes feel like we had an outsized reaction from particular press, or particular groups of developers -- rather than the world at large.

Sam, this is more out of my own curiosity than anything… but I read that you saw similarities in the chase sequences and an experience you had as a child. Apparently you were in Tanzania being chased by baboons around a swimming pool?! I need to know more!!

SAM: Yeah, when we were devving the first vertical slice, I was obsessed with the swimming pool area. The size of it, the dimensions, how the enemies out to flow around it. At the same time I was pushing the animators and artists to have the enemies on all fours, and hairy! This was a challenge as it made the camera very hard to program so it could see the enemy chasing you; and hair was a challenge on that level of tech. But I kept pushing. And everyone was like, 'why is Sam so set on these ideas??' Then one day I remembered and realized it all went back to this time when I lived in Tanzania and as a 5 year old was chased around a swimming pool by a pack of baboons. My memory is the adults just watched and laughed. It was very traumatic! I was trying to recreate that trauma for the players, but after that mini closure, I relented and let the enemies stand on two feet...

What were the best/most fun parts of development for you?

TOMM: The most fun part of development for me was sharing this weird new game with so many people. Climax developed it so that the first 20-30 minutes of the game were our "Vertical Slice" which would be used to sell the game internally. So I would present this to a room full of Konami folks and make a different person answer each opening therapy question, or make key choices along the way, and I had it all choreographed so I knew when to look at a scary image, when to call a random phone number, etc. This same section of game was then used as our demo at E3 and Gamescom, and watching all those new players giggle at "Have you cheated on a partner?" or realize their neighbor was having a different path through the demo than they did... it's just great seeing an idea come together so perfectly. Climax hit it out of the park and I was glad to be a part of it.

Anything else you’d like to share? I love hearing fun little stories or memories about game development so feel free to let loose!

TOMM: My most frustrating presentation was showing the game in its alpha state to the head of Marketing. I was showing him the Memento you get from the dart board in the bar, and how you could turn it around to view it using the Wii Remote. He got really fixated on the dart board and tried convincing me we should spend the rest of development making darts playable. People lose all kinds of time in GTA playing darts and stuff. He was relentless. I kept trying to explain the player's mindset in a horror game is different than in GTA but he kept pushing. Needless to say we did not make darts playable.

SAM: Ooh, I don't know... um.... how about that the clinic where Kaufmann works was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water building? I gave the artists a bunch of photos of this classic piece of architecture for how I wanted the lighthouse clinic to look. It was only when someone then pointed it out to me that I learned the other name for this famous building? "The Kaufmann house". Mind blown.

Apart from the playable darts, were there any other odd ideas put forward outside of the team during development? Or any other instances where you had to protect the vision for SM?

SAM: I guess we were always on the backfoot in terms of not having traditional combat (or wiimote waving crowbar action) so that was one we had to keep running defense on. Mostly we were so busy executing on all the ideas we did have that we didn't really have too much time to entertain additional ideas, so we just kept moving! Stuff like ensuring that every element of the environment was readable/made sense in the narrative/imagery, etc. was something that was a real and constant effort -- the kind of detail and involvement of the narrative team across the art that just wasn't something you normally did.

A HUGE thank you to them both for participating in the interview!! You can find them on twitter:

Tomm: https://twitter.com/Hypnocrite

Sam: https://twitter.com/mrsambarlow

#silenthill #interview

44 notes · View notes

kitkatsudon · 6 months

Note

What are your thoughts on their characters of the alternate universe also being neurodivergent?

Eg, Gon and Jihun both having autism. Or Yeong and Eunseob also both being neurodivergent.

First of all, what a great question! I’m very pleased you’ve got me talking about this in a public place, lol.

I think the best way to start is to think about the question in a general sense, rather than focusing on Eunseob and Jihun in particular. After all, the multiverse is vast, but the question here is… exactly how vast? It really depends on how you conceptualise it. In the TKEM canon, we’re shown different universes that contain variants of the characters we’re familiar with, and it’s implied that everyone exists with the same DNA in every universe, implying strict continuity within the universes… except that’s not quite right, is it? If that were the case, one would expect people to live and die at the same time in every universe, but we have proof that isn’t the case, even without Lee Lim’s meddling. Take Song Jeonghye, for example: she’s alive and kicking in the Republic, but in the Kingdom Queen Song died when Gon was very small (I think three years old in Korean age?), which was before Lee Lim started drastically altering the continuity between the universes. If people can die at different times in different universes, what happens if someone in one universe died as a baby, but in another universe in the infinite multiverse they went on to have children? These children wouldn’t exist in the first universe where they were dead, causing a big inconsistency between the universes.

That’s why I prefer to think of the multiverse using the mindset that, in the infinite multiverse, there’s a universe where every possible outcome of the universe has happened. This means that there are an infinite amount of universes where, for example, Lee Gon exists as he does in canon, where he exists as he does in our headcanons, and also an infinite amount of universes where he was never born at all. The implication of this is that, if you can think of something, it will exist somewhere in the infinite multiverse. (This also means that every fanfiction is canon, and hypothetically the canon characters could visit the universe of any fanfiction using the Manpasikjeok - I love having the concept of the multiverse in the show’s canon because it means that somewhere, somehow, you’re always right >:D)

With this in mind, my official, blanket answer for the question of whether or not Gonjo variants would be neurodivergent is both yes and no. There would be an infinite number of universes where they are, and an infinite number of universes where they aren’t.

However, you also asked me about these specific cases, so let’s talk about them!

Jihun… is a difficult one to call. What I can say at least is that if he is neurodivergent, he would probably need to be high masking to be able to reach a high position in the military. From his uniform, you can tell that he’s a pretty high ranking officer (I don’t have wifi right now and the signal isn’t good enough for video so I can’t check his exact rank at the moment), which means it would probably be difficult for him to serve if the military thought that potential neurodivergence would affect his ability to do his job. With that being said, it’s certainly not impossible. In my opinion, we haven’t really seen enough of Jihun to make an educated call either way, but from the way he was purposefully paralleled with Gon in the first episode, it’s not out of the question.

As for Eunseob, this is perhaps more likely. We’ve spoken about Gon and Yeong having an ND-to-ND connection, but I think it’s telling that when Gon first arrived in the Republic, Eunseob was the only one to really humour Gon and try and spend any time with him. I think, however, that a big point is how Yeong and Eunseob are presented as such polar opposites, with such extreme personalities. Neurodivergent traits are often characterised by extremes, and the way they’re characterised as extreme opposites in the show really lends itself to a neurodivergent reading for both of them. As for his exact diagnosis, I agree with you in our messages that he’s more likely to be ADHD, but admittedly I have’t really thought about this well enough to create a well thought-out argument as to why - it’s just kind of based on intuition and vibes, more than anything else. Something I want to note is that in @deesarrachi ‘s Polycule Cinematic Multiverse, Yeong has ADHD, and although last time I checked, the full fic isn’t ready yet, I can’t help but wonder if, in this universe, both Yeong and Eunseob have ADHD (and if you see this and would like to, deesarrachi you are more than welcome to expand on this in the comments or in a reblog)

Anyway, I think those are all my thoughts on the subject? Thank you once again for the question, you kept me very entertained while I’ve been sat on the train for a couple of hours :D

#tkem #kitkat’s tkem deep dives #kinda?#it’s more like kitkat happily rambles about her tkem brainrot without doing any kind of additional research to back anything up #it really is making me happy to talk about my headcanons though #thank you so SO much for engaging with me on this #lee gon #jo yeong #lee jihun #jo eunseob #kitkat answers asks

11 notes · View notes

nientedenada · 11 months

Text

The Disturbance at the Waiting Door - Another of the Cases of Canon Telvayn

The great detective, Canon Telvayn, solves yet another case as chronicled by Healer Adras of the Temple. A short mystery story/Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in Morrowind. Read it on A03 or under the cut here.

In all my years assisting the Canon, it never ceases to amaze me how often he comes to the truth of a situation without leaving the Temple. Yes, on occasion, he will need to go out - the Temple requires him to perform a number of duties and Canon Telvayn is a loyal son of the Temple. But when it comes to the cases I enumerate in these records, you will notice that the Canon often ascertains the facts without leaving our temple. He will inevitably send me or one of the acolytes to check his conclusions but we rarely find him wrong. One such perfectly intuited case was the bizarre set of circumstances I am calling here The Disturbance at the Waiting Door .

This case originated with a visit from a very upset parishioner of the Temple, a devout mer of advancing age, Muthsera Vadeni Serano. The acolytes of our temple had already been out to her house to give her aid, with no effect. I showed her to the Canon’s study, where she told us a horrid tale.

Muthsera Serano has lived peacefully in the same house for nearly two hundred years, venerating her ancestors at a small Waiting Door. She described it to us as an alcove in the wall of the front room, holding small slivers of bones resting on a base of ashes. Most of her family’s bones have gone to the Temple for the building of the Ghost Fence.

“A commendable shrine,” commented the Canon. “But you say it has been vandalized?”

Muthsera Serano nodded. “Every day for the past two months, when I rise, I find a small bit of bone knocked out of the alcove, lying on the floor. I first questioned my great-grandchildren and the slaves, but none would admit to doing it. I called an acolyte from your Temple to come and bless the shrine again, to make reparations to the Ancestors.”

“You did well,” said the Canon automatically. Despite his many eccentricities documented in these pages, he always encourages the piety of the common people.

But Muthsera Serano’s ordeals had only begun that day. As she explained to us, the event repeated itself every day after. She lectured her dependants, set guards upon the room, emptied the house of all family for seven nights in a row, and even brought the case to the local guard. But each morning, she would find the bone on the floor.

“I fear an evil force is meddling with our waiting door. Do the Daedra ever meddle with our shrines like this?”

The Canon shook his head. “I doubt it. The waiting door is guarded by ALMSIVI and your ancestors.”

“But Canon Telvayn. How can any living mer cause this sacrilege? We have done all we can to watch the Door. We never see anyone remove the bone.”

“Tell me, Muthsera, is it the same bit of bone you find on the floor each morning?”

“Yes, your reverence, a small bit of a knucklebone.”

“Do you know from which ancestor the bone originates?”

“I am sorry, your reverence. I have been remiss in my care of the shrine. I have never taken any particular notice of the individual shards’ provenance.”

“There is no fault in that, Muthsera. The bones and ash act as an anchor to the whole array of ancestors. But it is curious that it is the same piece of bone each day. Tell me, was there any event or ill omen that preceded this disturbance? Anything awry in your family?”

“No, your reverence. Our family has been in good health and prosperity.”

“Three months ago I oversaw the marriage rites of your great-granddaughter in this very temple. How have the young couple fared?”

“Well, your reverence. She and her husband are residing in our household.” Then the implication hit her. “Your reverence, you’re not suggesting her new husband is involved in this sacrilege? He was away visiting his parents when this first happened.”

“I am not,” the Canon assured her. “He appears to be a filial mer who will be an asset to your House. How long after the wedding did the disturbance begin?”

“Nearly a month later,” Muthsera Serano replied.

“And you say that your great-granddaughter’s husband had departed the home when it first occurred?” “Yes, your reverence. His mother was suddenly taken ill. He stayed by her side for some weeks till she died.”

The Canon looked to me. “Adras, what do you think? Is there a possibility here that the good woman has overlooked?”

I do not enjoy it when the Canon puts me on the spot like this. He invariably already has an answer in mind but likes to test me, to see if our years of collaboration have taught me any of his skills. I would like to object to him that I am simply a healer in our temple. Yet these pages show I have developed a keen interest in his work of deduction, and so I play along in these moments. One day, I may hit on the correct solution. It has not happened yet.

“Perhaps the disturber uses an invisibility spell” I suggested.

Muthsera Serano shook her head. “We thought of that. The guards brought in one of their best mages to pierce any such spell.”

“As I thought,” the Canon commented. “I believe the answer is more simple than either of you imagine. I daresay there has been no sacrilege at all.”

“But, Telvayn!” I roared, forgetting to show him the proper deference of his rank. “How can you say that? This woman’s family has been terrorized every day by the awful treatment of their ancestors’ remains. What is this if not sacrilege?”

“Is it sacrilege if the ancestors act on their own initiative?” the Canon asked. “Muthsera Serano, I think that if you question your great-granddaughter’s husband, you will find this particular bit of bone is the one that he brought to the Waiting Door as part of the marriage. No outsider is vandalizing your Door. Your ancestors are rejecting the bone of this outsider.”

The woman was immediately skeptical. “If it's the bone Bolyn brought, why wasn’t it rejected right after the wedding?”

“ You must ask the young mer. But I can predict his answer. He found the bone on the floor soon after he settled down in your household. It must have caused him great fear and anxiety, to see his new bride’s ancestors reject his union to the house. Is this young mer an early riser?”

“Yes, your reverence. He’s up even before I am.”

“There you have it. Every day he replaced the bone in the shrine before the rest of your family woke. But then he was called away to his mother’s sickbed. He could no longer replace the bone. That is when you began to find the rejected bone.”

“If this is true,” Muthsera Serano replied with a grim tone, “This marriage displeases the ancestors. We will have to send Bolyn back to his family.”

“Let’s not be hasty,” I said quickly. “Perhaps the Canon is mistaken. Bolyn may not be involved at all.”

The Canon laughed at that. “By all means, make sure of my theory, Muthsera Serano. But even if I am right, there may be a less drastic solution to the problem. Adras, I will need to take a look in our temple registers, I may find aid for the Serano family within them”

I was mystified by his comments, but he refused to explain further. In fact, he seemed delighted to keep us in the dark. I took it as a good omen. This reticence usually means he is on the cusp of presenting his audience with a satisfying unforeseen conclusion.

The good woman went back to her family to confront the unfortunate Bolyn and the Canon went to our archives. He emerged a few days later with a triumphant look and ordered me to summon not only Muthsera Serano but her great-granddaughter and her husband to the temple.

Bolyn Serano, lately Bolyn of House Salvu, was a handsome young mer with a hang-dog face. He had confessed to replacing his ancestor’s bone in the shrine and expected the Canon to dissolve his marriage to his distressed wife Lliana. The Ancestors cannot be gainsaid in these matters.

The Canon, however, welcomed him warmly. “This has been a most confounding mystery,” he continued. “Clearly, the revered ancestors of House Serano have rejected this bone you bought from House Salvu.”

Lliana Serano began weeping then. “Calm yourself, Muthsera," the Canon chided her. "Your ancestors did not reject your husband, merely one of his ancestors.”

“How can you know that?” Bolyn demanded.

“The Ancestors are not cruel. They linger in our world to bless their descendants. I am satisfied you are a good husband to Lliana, and will uphold the house you have joined. I would not have presided over your marriage rites if I had any doubt.”

This is true. Canon Telvayn is very conscientious in all his Temple duties, and somewhat notorious for refusing to marry couples when he finds the marriage unworthy.

“I concluded, therefore, that the problem was with the bone itself. Do you know the name of the ancestor from whom the bone came?”

Thankfully, Bolyn knew more about the provenance of his ancestors’ bones than the Serano family did of theirs. He gave us the name of his ancestor, a certain Madres Salvu.

The Canon nodded in recognition. “I have been studying the registers of the Salvu and Serano families. I found a record of a betrothal some three hundred years ago between Madres Salvu and Noveni Serano. However, the betrothal was put aside very soon after.”

“I remember that story,” Vadeni Serano spoke up. “My great-aunt Noveni was left at the Temple door by a scoundrel who was seeing a Khajiit behind her back.”

“The records do not state the identity of his paramour,” the Canon said quickly, a note of annoyance in his voice at this lurid detail of family gossip. “But we can be certain that the spirits of the Serano family were not happy to receive the bone of Madres Salvu into their midst, not after he had jilted Noveni.”

“So what shall we do now?” asked Vadeni Serano.

“Remove the bone, and ask the Salvu family for a less objectionable one. Preferably from someone more recently deceased with no links to this old tragedy.”

“My mother died not long ago,” Bolyn spoke up. “I could ask my father for a piece of her bone.”

“An excellent solution,” the Canon pronounced. “I will await the results with interest.”

They did as the Canon had ordered. The offending bit of bone was placed back in the Salvu family shrine and replaced with a sliver of bone from Bolyn’s mother. A few days later, Vadeni Serano returned to tell us that there was peace now within the alcove. The Serano family had welcomed the newcomer and through her, her son.

This is not the most shocking or complicated case that I have recorded in these pages, but it is elegant in its simplicity, as I told the Canon afterward. He remarked that all mysteries are more simple than they seem, the complications are only in the search for the truth. But as you know, he sees everything rather differently than the rest of us.

Notes:

I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes as a kid. Can you tell?

There's no official lore about mingling ancestors' remains at the Waiting Door, but it seemed like something that might catch on in some Dunmer families. And gave me the idea of ancestors who can't stand the other ancestor and keep knocking his bone to the floor.

#tesblr #dunmer #tes fanfic

35 notes · View notes

alphashley14 · 1 year

Text

One of Us

A Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated/Mystery Skulls Crossover

Chapter Fifteen

Brainsick

Ricky suddenly felt like a meddling kid again.

Rather fitting, considering he was now trapped inside the body of a seventeen year old. But this particular bout of deja vu wasn’t the good kind of nostalgia.

Not so differently from back then, he was frozen, trembling in front of a ghost. But it wasn’t a person in a costume this time.

And this time, he didn’t have Brad’s bravado to help him feel brave. Judy wasn’t hiding in the shadows to spring a trap. He didn’t have words of wisdom on his shoulder… and Cassidy wasn’t here to catch him, jumping into her arms.

No - now he was the only thing standing between the new Mystery Incorporated and a monster - a real-live ghost! Ricky’s heart was pounding out of his chest, every instinct he had was screaming, Run! RUN!

But something else was shouting above the fearful static in his ears, desperate to be heard.

It’s Lewis. Even if he’s dead, even if he’s a ghost, it’s Lewis, and he’s my friend!

He lied to me! Another scarred, paranoid, ever-frightened part of him wailed.

His next thoughts flew through his head extremely quickly.

It’s a real ghost! Not like the Dead Beats - a dead person walking the Earth!

The Mystery Skulls were upfront that they were keeping secrets.

It was a trap from the start!

He probably just didn’t want to scare us.

Arthur had to have known about this.

BUT WHAT IF HE HURTS THE KIDS?!

It’s LEWIS!

She loved those kids.

I love those kids.

HE’S GOING TO HURT THE KIDS!

But it’s Lewis…

Vivi was saying something. The words passing through his ears were finally registering in his brain.

Behind him, Daphne was hugging Fred’s arm, Scooby was trembling in Shaggy’s embrace, and Velma was mumbling incoherently, her arms around Scooby’s neck, shaking her head in denial.

“Calm down, everyone. It’s Lewis. It’s just Lewis. He’s been like this for as long as you’ve known him. He isn’t going to hurt anyone,” Vivi insisted.

“Please… don’t be frightened.” The ghost pleaded. Lewis’ entire skull moved when his expression changed, the black eye holes moving with his brow as if he was drawing his eyebrows together in sadness. But his jaw didn’t move when he spoke on account of the fact that he didn’t have one. Rather, his voice was disembodied, deep, and had an eerie sort of echo to it.

Lewis moved forward, and Ricky’s heart jumped to his throat. “You stay back!” He spat, holding his arms out protectively in front of Fred.

And Lewis stopped.

“I am not going to hurt anyone,” the ghost said. “I would never hurt my friends," Lewis’ voice went back to normal as, in a flash of pink fire, he resumed his mortal illusion.

“L-like guys… it’s him. That’s the ghost from this morning!” Shaggy trembled.

“Oh! So not only are you dead, you’re also the so-called ‘basement ghost’ that attacked Shaggy!” Fred exclaimed angrily.

“... Yes. I am, and I’m sorry. I know I apologized as if it was not my doing earlier today Shaggy, but I really am sorry for blowing up at you this morning. You were already so scared and I only made it worse,” Lewis apologized, head down.

“Like, ya think?” Shaggy shouted, putting Scooby down. The shock was wearing off, and all that was left was anger, fear, and confusion.

“This can’t be happening!” Velma said, nervously pulling at her hair. “It’s impossible. There’s no way. There have to be projectors and special effects somewhere…”

“It isn’t a trick,” Lewis said sadly. “I am the ghost of Lewis Pepper. No illusions. No masks. Well, I suppose, unless you count this one,” Lewis said as he resumed his skeletal form. “I know I deceived you all. But I didn’t do it out of any ill-intent. People see the true face of my spirit and they’re terrified. Putting on an illusion as if I’m still human allows me to walk among the living as I once did - solving mysteries with my friends… and making new ones too.”

“Are we, Lewis?” Scooby asked coldly. “Are we friends?”

“What else was I supposed to do?!” Lewis demanded. Realizing he was getting angry, he opted to resume his mortal illusion rather than let the flames flare any more than they already were, though his eyes remained black. “How do you think our first meeting would have gone if I was honest with you from the start? ‘Hi, I’m Lewis. I like to solve mysteries and I think we’d be great friends. By the way:’” And without saying anything else, Lewis took his head off to prove a point.

“Let’s just calm down everyone,” Mystery said gently. Grumbling, Lewis put his head back on. “I know it’s shocking, but we’re here to have a conversation.”

“You lied to us,” Fred said. “You’ve been lying to us from the beginning! Why should we believe anything you say now?!”

“Like, yeah! Why should we?” Shaggy agreed fiercely. Scooby nodded beside him.

“Because they’re right.”

Mystery Incorporated turned to Ricky in genuine shock. “They’re what?” They echoed, dumbfounded.

“I mean how dishonest were they, really?” Mr. E asked, having long-since dropped his arms and relaxed a bit. “Think about it: How many times did Cassidy and I lie to you back then because we thought it was what was best for you? Yeah, we were wrong to do so. But they at least had the courtesy to be honest about the fact that they were being dishonest.” Ricky stepped over to Velma and gently took her wrists in his hands to stop her nervous hair-pulling, then lowered her hands down to her sides. “We all knew we were about to find out something… important,” he said thoughtfully as he smoothed out Velma’s hair and fixed her little red bows where they’d gone askew. “We’ve known for most of today that they were withholding something big. And before then, they’d met you what? Twice?”

Velma was finally calming down, the new information finding its place in her worldview. Ricky gently straightened her glasses on her face and patted her gently on the back before stepping out of her personal space and turning back to the others. “We shouldn’t turn on them now just because we didn’t like what we learned. Not without at least giving them a chance to explain themselves - it’s not like they’ve betrayed us. Nothing has changed. I mean… come on… It’s Lewis.”

“But how can we trust a single thing they say?” Fred asked.

“Because you said the exact same thing to Angel the day she told you her name was Cassidy Williams. And we all regret not listening to her when we had the chance.”

That shut them up extremely fast. For a moment, no one said anything.

“So like um… you’re dead?” Shaggy said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lewis sighed, “Yes. I’ve been dead a little over three years now.”

“So um… Jeepers- you really have been like this the whole time we’ve known you?” Daphne asked nervously, still glued to Fred.

“That’s right,” Lewis nodded.

“And you can just… switch back and forth between yourself and- I’m sorry… which one is ‘yourself’?”

“Technically,” the ghost said, resuming his frightening appearance, “This is the real me. It took me a while to be able to make myself look like I once did. And I was only able to perfect the human disguise with practice and after learning some tricks from… a friend.”

“So then, if you don’t mind my asking,” Velma gulped, “how did you die?”

“L-like yeah… Like, Mystery said something about muh-muh-murder…” Shaggy gulped.

Lewis hesitated before he answered, nervously scratching the back of his skull. “That’s… can we save that one for another day?”

Ricky answered before anyone else could. “Sure Lewis,” he said, glancing over at Mystery. “It was… a very personal question. So take your time.”

Mystery smiled at Ricky gratefully and gave an encouraging nod.

“Okay then,” Velma said. “So you’re the ‘Master of the House’, huh? Is it because you’re the most powerful spirit in the house?”

“Sort of,” Lewis said. “The fact is, I sort of… made this house.”

“What?”

“The Dead Beats and the suits of Armor are… extensions of me.”

“Lewis is an extremely powerful spirit,” Vivi explained. “In fact he’s so powerful that there’s a lot of leftover energy just around him at any given moment.”

“And there was even more of it when I was freshly-dead and couldn’t conserve or control it yet,” Lewis added. “I explained to you all before that the Dead Beats are tied to me, but it’s deeper than that,” a couple of Dead Beats came up around Lewis for a snuggle as he spoke about them. “The fact is, I created them. The Dead Beats were created out of that energy and from my emotions and intentions. As for the suits of armor… you might want to brace yourselves.”

“Like, what could you possibly tell us that’s more shocking than this?” Shaggy exclaimed, gesturing to Lewis’ entire person.

“You all seemed surprised to learn that we had a mansion. Or even that the house was here,” Lewis said.

“Yeah,” Ricky said thoughtfully. “I know my way around real estate in Crystal Cove. But this? A spooky, classy, spacious old place like this in such a convenient remote location… it honestly doesn’t make sense that I didn’t know about it. Not saying I would have bought it, but I definitely would have considered it.”

“Not just that,” Velma said, “but it occurred to me earlier that this place looks too lived in for the amount of time you’ve been in Crystal Cove.”

“Jeepers - that didn’t even occur to me Velma!” Daphne gasped.

“Come to think of it,” Fred said, “I would think that my Mayor-Dad would have turned a spooky place like this into a tourist attraction a long time ago.”

“That’s because as of about a week ago,” Lewis cringed, “it wasn’t here.”

“Come again?” Velma asked.

“What if I told you that the house you’re standing in - from the foundation to the roof - is a supernatural structure? This entire house is a manifestation of Lewis,” Vivi said.

“It sort of works like a pocket-dimension. Mostly it exists in the Neitherworld, but Lewis can bring it out of the Neitherworld and set it up on any patch of land with enough space. Think of it like pitching a tent,” Mystery explained.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Ricky exclaimed. All of Mystery Incorporated was looking around very closely at their surroundings. But try as they might to see any discrepancy, everything looked so real!

“Wait- you mean you made all of this? Just- made it magically appear?” Daphne cried.

“In a sense… yeah. It’s not as simple or easy as ‘pitching a tent’, as Mystery put it. But yes. Basically. I can move the house wherever I want. I usually leave it in the Neitherworld, but I put it up any time we’re traveling and need a place to stay for a prolonged period of time.”

“Then the suits of armor-”

“Were created along with the house to serve the purpose of protecting it,” Lewis explained.

“Fascinating,” Velma exclaimed. “So then… what about the painting ghosts?”

“I actually didn't create the painting ghosts,” Lewis said. “Over time I’ve sort of… collected them. Think of them like really weird foster dogs.”

“You’re going to need to explain it better than that,” Daphne said.

“They’re very weak human spirits,” Vivi explained. “That were either displaced, wandering with no place to haunt, or that we took pity on and decided not to exorcize for whatever reason on a case. Or sometimes we take them in if we need their expertise for whatever reason.”

“Weak spirits are attracted to me because of the same excess power that created the Dead Beats. They can use that power to make themselves more perceivable, and I contain them within the paintings of the house whenever the house is set up in the living world.”

“I know you all have no frame of reference, but I really can’t put it into words how powerful Lewis is compared to most other ghosts. He’s easily in like the top one percent,” Mystery explained.

“For most spirits, outside of the Neitherworld it takes a tremendous amount of energy to even be able to do a simple trick, like appear as an apparition, or to make so much as a single object move. I mean have you ever watched those cheesy ghost hunting shows on TV? Some of those are fake, but a lot of them are real. Apparitions are rare and most investigators freak out if they so much as see a door move. Consider that, then look at what Lewis can do.”

“Like, I have a question,” Shaggy said.

“Yeah?”

“Like um… you’re dead. And like, you don’t actually have a body. But you had dinner with us. So… how do you eat?” Shaggy asked.

Lewis looked surprised, then he busted out laughing at the question.

“This isn’t a joke! It’s very serious business!” Scooby cried.

Once Lewis stopped laughing, he explained how an older and more powerful ghost had taught him how to “eat” human food by breaking it down into its barest molecules within his "body" and absorbing its energy. Lewis couldn’t taste nearly as strongly as he could when he was alive, but he could get a hint of the flavor.

“Like, you mean that you make such amazing food and you can hardly even taste it?” Shaggy cried, dismayed.

“Sad yet true - makes me love spicy food even more than I used to. Stronger flavor means I can taste it more. And Vivi and Arthur occasionally let me possess them for a little bit so that I can enjoy food properly. I’m lucky to have friends like them.”

“Okay then. For now, I just have one more question…” Fred said, his eyes narrowed.

Lewis gulped.

“... How exactly would one go about trapping you?” Fred asked excitedly. “I can’t imagine anything I have working on a real ghost. So how much about vessels or blessed objects is true? Or is there such a thing as ghost traps? Oooh!!! How would one even make a ghost trap-...”

As Fred went off on his tangent, Lewis smiled, realizing that things were going to turn out alright. Ricky, shaking his head and smiling fondly, sat down on the couch next to Mystery. And the rest of Mystery Inc. resumed their seats as well.

They talked for at least another twenty minutes before Mystery gently redirected the conversation back to the board and back to the matter at hand.

“So,” Lewis explained, “this is how my trifecta is broken - I’m dead. So how is my body supposed to get swapped when I don’t have one?”

“I mean like, yeah. That makes sense.” Shaggy gulped with a shrug.

“Sorry about what we said earlier by the way,” Fred apologized.

“It was just… a shock,” Ricky added.

“Really, it’s fine. Compared to how others have reacted in the past, you actually handled it really well. If I had a nickel for every time someone tried to exorcize me…” Lewis sighed, rolling the lights in his eye sockets that served as his pupils. “So… are we still friends?”

Mystery Incorporated looked at each other.

“Yes. We’re definitely still friends,” Daphne said.

“Totally!” Said Fred.

“Reah!” Said Scooby, wagging his tail.

“But like, I’ve never been friends with a dead guy before. So this is like… totally awesome but also like, super weird.” Shaggy laughed.

“You’re going to need to put up with a lot of questions,” Velma said, adjusting her glasses.

Once the excitement about Lewis being dead calmed down, he resumed his mortal illusion and the Dead Beats fetched all of the living some water. Then it was Vivi’s turn.

“I would first like to start with where Lewis left off, because he set it up nicely for me to explain how I diverge from the pattern.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re dead too,” Scooby whimpered.

“Pffft, no. I’m very much alive and human. That being said, I do have abilities. But before I get into that - after analyzing what we know about the other groups, our current theory is that my divergence has nothing to do with what I can do.

“As you now know, the Mystery Skulls have and have always had four members and not five. However, since learning about the pattern, the boys and I have debated over which role I fit into. It’s as plain as the noses on their faces that Lewis, Arthur, and Mystery each fit into Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby’s roles respectively. Which leaves me in either Velma or Daphne’s spot. But the thing is, it’s really blurry which of them I would fit into, and therefore which of us is ‘missing’. I have traits that could put me into either category. Which has led us to believe that whatever magic is surrounding the pattern has compensated for our lack of a fifth member by putting me into…”

Vivi licked her thumb and erased the line between the Velma/Cassidy and Daphne/Judy columns in the Mystery Skulls row, then wrote her name in between them.

“Both of them!”

“It’s a longshot, but it definitely makes sense,” Velma said thoughtfully.

"So that's how my 'trifecta' is technically broken - I intersect between two of them and if Nova-or-whatever tried to swap me, it would probably lead to some crazy four-way swap between myself, Daphne, Judy, and Velma. And who wants to be swapped with Judy? Never even met her, but just from what I've heard, HAH! I sure don't!"

“But that doesn’t answer the new big question of the hour,” Ricky said. “If you’re living and human, then what exactly can you ‘do’?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that everyone wants to know about that,” Vivi half-laughed, her bat resting lazily on her shoulder. “My truth is kind of a long story - before I get into my abilities, I would like to start off by telling you how and why I have them.

“It all began hundreds of years ago near the end of Japan’s feudal age with my ancestor - Mushi.”

Vivi took one page out of the folder, holding it to her chest, then dropped the rest open on the coffee table for the others to see. The folder’s contents were a bunch of printed scans of old paintings and documents, all of the same bescarfed warrior of an ancient time featured in the painting in the library.

“As I told Daphne earlier, Mushi was an accomplished warrior of the Onna-musha. What I did not tell Daphne was that while Mushi was strong, she was also gentle, good, and kind. In an era that could be ruthless, she showed mercy defended the weak. She also had a great respect and connection with the Yokai and the spirit world. So much so that one hard winter the spirits saw fit to bless her with a gift.”

“A gift?” Mystery Incorporated echoed in surprise.

“But like, what kind of gift can a bunch of like, ghosts and magical creatures and stuff give anybody? They’re like, dead. And like, I don’t think they have money,” Shaggy asked.

Mystery barked a laugh. “Ha! Do they have money? That entirely depends on which Yokai you look at. Some are poor, some don’t want or need money, and some are quite wealthy. Some are privy to the greed and lust of man, others are above such things. And as far as gifts from the spirits go, Vivi doesn’t speak of any mere trinket.

“Please understand: in Japanese mythology, (which has a substantial amount of truth to it), every human (or otherwise sentient, human-like mortal being) has a god living inside of them that is their spirit. And when they die, that god is released and can either be reborn into a new life, can pass on into the spirit world or some other afterlife, or can roam the Earth as a ghost for whatever reason. A gift to a living mortal from the gods is a rare and important thing. Sometimes such gifts can be a curse that one would do anything to be rid of. Other times, it’s a blessing the likes of which money cannot buy. And sometimes… it can even be a bit of both.”

“Fortunately for Mushi,” Vivi interrupted, glaring playfully at Mystery’s smirk, “in her case it was a blessing.”

“What kind of blessing?” Daphne asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

“That,” Vivi said, “is what I’m going to show you. If you’ll all follow me right this way…”

Vivi led them out of the room and a short way through the mansion. All the while, Vivi explained to them how while she was not Mushi reborn into a new life, three years ago, because Vivi had more in common with Mushi than the rest of her family, Mushi’s spirit had seen fit to pass her powers down to her along with some of her memories.

“So you have superpowers? That’s awesome!” Fred exclaimed.

“Like yeah! Totally cool!”

“I guess, kind of,” Vivi shrugged, her bat resting across her shoulders. “Along with Mushi’s power, I have her strength and a lot of her muscle-memory, which has allowed me to master a lot that would normally take even a talented martial artist much longer.”

“Where are you taking us?” Velma asked.

“Outside,” Vivi replied. “It can get kind of destructive if I go overboard and I want my demonstration to be a good one. That, and I don’t want to clean it up.”

“Why would you need to clean it up?” Ricky asked.

“You guys don’t do ‘wait and see’ very well, do you?” Vivi laughed. “I suppose until we get there, I can at least tell you-” And Vivi told them about the ease with which Vivi had always been able to sense and understand the supernatural. How she could get a general read of auras and could feel the flow of energy throughout the universe similar to the way Lewis could, being a ghost.

“That’s part of why we’ve been able to come so far in understanding this curse in the short time we’ve been here,” Vivi explained. “Save Arthur, we can just… sense it. This powerful negative presence in and around everyone and everything in this town and the surrounding areas. But what exactly we’ve been able to observe about it based off of that is another conversation for another time.”

“Like, is this how you knew I wasn’t Arthur this morning?” Shaggy asked.

“Yep.”

“What do you mean, Shaggy?” Daphne asked.

“Like, this morning when I woke up Vivi knew that I wasn’t Arthur like, literally immediately. Granted like - I was super freaked about my arm being gone. But like, I still thought it was kinda weird how fast she realized I wasn’t Arthur. And like, speaking of which, can um… can Mystery do that auras thing too? Cuz like, he looked at me this morning and was the first to realize I’d been body-swapped. And it was like, super weird.”

“I’m not going to spoil what Mystery… can do for you, but let’s just say that when it comes to what I told you about auras, Mystery is a lot better at it than me.”

The dog raised his head proudly and added a bit of a prance to his step.

Just then, they opened a door that led to a beautiful yet spooky conservatory. The glass walls and ceiling, save those attached to the rest of the house, were pink with black iron frames, and featured many of the same skull or heart patterns as the rest of the house. And the plants were… exotic. Velma for one already had a million questions forming, but chose not to ask them yet. Vivi led them through, past a koi pond (but the fish were translucent, glowing, and definitely ghosts), past a small collection of bonsai trees and a plant with rather suspicious-looking flowers, past a seating area, and past a set of black metal tables and chairs. Upon the table was a radio, and one of their songs was playing.

"-I'm feeling like I'm going cra-zy!

I'm feeling like I need some more time,

To think it over, with you.

Yeah baby~!

"So just leave me alone,

Sometimes I think I'm all right…

Just needing an escape,

Some time on my own,

Don't act like my time is over!

'Cause no one ever really

Dies dies, dies, dies, dies, dies, dies, dies…"

At those last two lines all six of their guests not-so-subtly glanced at Lewis.

No kidding.

The music drifted off as they walked away from it, and Vivi opened a set of ornate glass doors into an equally lovely yet macabre courtyard and garden at the back of the mansion, surrounded by a high stone wall and thick black iron gates.

“I’d say this is enough space.” Vivi said thoughtfully, shifting her weight onto one hip. Mystery And Lewis stood off to one side and Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Ricky stood in a row, an air of tense and eager anticipation about them as they watched.

“When Mushi received her gift,” Vivi began, “it was at the harshest point of a particularly unforgiving and frigid winter. She was in the middle of a sacred forest, separated from her comrades, her horse gone, near-freezing to death but still chasing after the yokai she was hunting. The spirits were impressed by her determination, and they had grown a fondness for her from her years of maintaining their temples and seeing that they were treated with the respect they deserved.”

Vivi moved her bat from her shoulder and spun it around her arms and around her neck with the practiced ease of a master. “So, to save her life and give her the power to restore order,” There came a sudden chill in the air, as if they were standing in the frozen woods with Mushi, even now. And the bat, still spinning hypnotically around Vivi, began to glow an icy blue. “-They gave her the ability to harness the very cold that nearly killed her. Mushi’s gift, my ability… is cryokinesis.”

And that was when the bat ceased its dance as the handle landed expertly in Vivi’s hands. She turned around and gave a mighty swing, and a blast of pure cold burst out of the bat and raced across the lawn, leaving spikes of ice in its wake before it finally struck a large, dead bush with such force that with a loud crash like breaking glass, it burst into millions of glittering frozen particles the very same instant it froze.

Six jaws dropped. Smirking, Lewis and Mystery engrained the utterly priceless looks on their faces in their memories.

There was a long beat of stunned silence as what they’d just seen hit them. icy glitter drifted down like snow, and Vivi turned back to them and released a breath so cold that they could see it swirling through the air before it dissipated. Then she spun the bat once more as it ceased its glow and let it land back on her shoulder.

Please stop staring at me with your mouths open and say something, Vivi pleaded inside her head as she covered up her unease with a smile.

Then all at once, the six of them exploded.

“THAT WAS AWESOME!”

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

“Supernatural-gifts-that-give-you-superpowers” turned out to be somehow an even more shocking, awe-inspiring, and question-worthy revelation than “btw-the-guy-you’ve-spent-most-of-today-with-is-dead”.

Then again, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Ricky had at least been introduced to the concept that ghosts are real before finding out about Lewis, and they’d been telling them about ghosts and having them read texts about them all day. So perhaps that cushioned the shock somewhat.

And they couldn’t be angry at Vivi because the brunt of the anger and confusion had already been let out on Lewis.

Unfair.

But, that’s just how it happened.

Vivi performed a number of tricks for them, at their insistence. And answered questions for almost an hour. Lewis joined in as well, showing them a number of his talents with magic pink fire, making the topiaries come alive, among other things.

Mystery just watched with a smile, happy to let them have their moment. It would only be a matter of minutes now before they found out about him, and he found himself feeling rather anxious about it.

Anxiety used to be a rare occurrence for him.

Then again, back then Mystery had never known loss - not that he had much to lose.

But now, he pondered as he watched his little ones laugh and marvel at their gifts, now I have everything to lose.

Hiding one’s true self was considered by many of his kind to be a deeply human trait, but the longer Mystery spent in their company the more he realized just how hypocritical that stance was.

After all, Mystery was far from the only Yokai who, for one reason or another, hid their true form behind an ‘ordinary’ mask for some reason or another. The reason he’d taken on this one a little over twenty years ago just happened to be so that he could protect Mushi’s granddaughter the way she had protected him all of those centuries ago.

But… the reason he kept it had evolved over the years. First he had just one little one to look after. Then somehow it became three. Then twenty years ago, no matter how hard he’d tried not to grow fond of them from afar…

Mystery had failed to save four.

Yes, Mystery decided as he watched the wonder dance across Shaggy's- Ricky Owens’ face, he’s the biggest source of this anxiety. Because once you know what I am, it won’t be long before you piece together that I too was here in Crystal Cove twenty years ago…

And it’s my fault that you disappeared.

༻˚⁺･⚉｡○✼༓☾⦾♫෴♡💛♡෴♫⦾☽༓✼○｡⚉･⁺˚༺

Eventually, inevitably, Shaggy said, “Like Lewis is a ghost and Vivi has superpowers! There’s like, no way Mystery could surprise us any more than this, right?”

The Mystery Skulls sort of froze and looked directly at each other.

“... Right?”

“You-u-u totally just jinxed it,” Ricky said, giving Shaggy the side-eye.

And just like that, everyone’s attention was caught and Mystery was in the spotlight.

None of them had ever seen the little dog look so nervous.

“Let’s uh… Let’s go inside for this one, Mystery said, leading them back into the conservatory.

He led them to the seating area and placed his front paws on the table to turn the radio off, before returning to them. “I’m going to be very blunt about this with you all, because there’s no beating around the bush.”

Then Mystery took a deep breath and confessed.

“I’m not a dog.”

Fred started laughing, but he hastily stopped when he saw the way Mystery was looking at him.

“Oh. You’re serious.”

“I would argue, but as of today we’ve established that body-swapping, aliens, other dimensions, ghosts, the afterlife, and magical creatures all exist.” Ricky tossed his arms into the air and laughed, whole-heartedly believing that he was prepared for whatever he was about to find out. “So go on, out with it!”

Had he gotten to know Arthur a little longer than a few hours, he may have been blessed with the following piece of wisdom:

Rule number one of being an expert in the paranormal: never assume you’re an expert in the paranormal. The paranormal will see that as a challenge, and it will find a way to surprise you. Often in a way less-than-pleasant.

“As you all know,” Mystery began, clearing his throat, “Vivi’s ancestor, Mushi, was a great warrior who was very close to the spirit world. What she didn’t tell you is one of the greatest legends about Mushi - a legend that’s depicted in a painting that’s currently hanging in our library.”

“I saw that painting! Vivi told me about it!” Daphne said. “It’s of her and the fox spirit, right? Oh- what was it called again?”

“... A Kitsune,” Mystery replied quietly.

And that’s when Vivi came up behind him and dropped a single picture onto the table - the one she’d removed from Mushi’s file earlier.

This one was different from the painting.

They had seen fit to leave the painting up because the artist had missed a few crucial details when making it. Namely, the distinct spot on his back, his mane of black fur… and the unmistakable tufts of red behind each of his ears.

Mushi wasn’t in this picture.

No - it was of him.

And it was painted by a friend of hers - a friend that had seen him.

So such details were not omitted in this one.

They, his children of Nibiru, stared at the picture in stunned silence for several long moments, the cogs in their heads turning as dots connected and they each reached the same conclusion. Then by some unspoken signal, six heads slowly turned to look at him.

Ricky’s eyes were blown as wide as saucers. “No way…” He muttered quietly.

“I wasn’t always such a good dog,” Mystery confessed, voice hardening as he braced himself for the inevitable.

And without another word, he stood.

The transformation happened so fast and with such fluidity that something that should have appeared so unnatural and so wrong… didn’t.

It happened in a flash of red light. They briefly glimpsed Mystery rearing briefly on his hind legs, tossing his magnificent head into the air before the light covered him completely.

Ricky really shouldn’t have been so shocked after everything else he’d seen today, but all the same he and the kids shot to their feet and stumbled back with shock.

Then the light cleared.

And no sight had ever made Ricky feel such awe, wonder, and terror all at once… As the beast that stood where his friend had just a moment before.

Once more, he felt like a meddling kid again.

Lewis being a ghost had been a shock.

Vivi having the powers of a long-deceased warrior had been a surprise.

But this!

Seven tails swayed hypnotically to and fro, like a metronome to the beat of six hammering hearts.

Ricky suddenly felt very small in a world that he was learning was a lot bigger and a lot weirder than he’d ever imagined it was. Hell, even Scooby looked small next to this-

“Fuh-fuh. Fuhfuhfuh- Fox!” the Great Dane trembled.

Kitsune, He corrected silently. Trickster. Shape-shifter. Liar….. friend…?

I’ve been fooled by an animal who I thought was my friend before, that same paranoid, ever-frightened voice reminded him.

And fooled again, he had been.

Because Mystery wasn’t “man’s best friend.”

He was a kitsune. A yokai. A beast of legend!

A monster.

And so, this chapter wraps up in the same way it began!!! Muahaha! Chapter 15 was definitely a fun, albeit difficult and at times frustrating, challenge. Because I mean, this is the reveal that we've waited fourteen chapters for. For real anyone who's been reading this since the beginning be like: "WE DID OUR WAITING! SEVEN MONTHS OF IT! IN AZKABAN!" Also I checked my Ao3 to see when I posted the first chapter of One of Us just for the sake of that joke and wow - has it really been seven months? How time flies. I somehow didn't realize I've been working on this that long. Lol Anyway - I definitely felt a lot of pressure to make the big reveal for each of them as satisfying and worthwhile as possible while also adding to the characters and driving the story forward. And what better way to make Mystery's as dramatic as possible than to leave you on... A CLIFFHANGER?!

Also if I got anything about Japanese mythology wrong in this chapter, feel free to correct me. I only have like a surface-level understanding of it but I love stories and I love mythology so you would not be annoying me AT ALL if you wanted to refer me to any legends/lore that you think would interest me. And before anyone asks - I haven't forgotten about Arthur and Marcie. I know it's been a couple chapters since we checked up on them but fear not - I have... PART of a plan! Seriously. If all goes according to plan and the characters don't stage open rebellion, then I know what the chapter songs of the next THREE CHAPTERS of One of Us are going to be. This doesn't happen to me often. Let me enjoy it. 😆 And again - If you notice things or have predictions/opinions, PLEASE SHARE THEM. The reason why I'm not saying more is BECAUSE I like hearing your thoughts! I like having conversations! I'd love to talk about this fic and SDMI or Mystery Skulls with anyone who wants to!

Lastly, I just wanted to give a big shout-out to nikicherry1234 and spiraleel-blog for the amazing fanart they've done of this story. I love ALL OF IT and I can't even put into words how touched I am that you loved it enough to put hours of your time into drawing it. 🥹

Chapters 1-14 of One of Us are presently posted on Archive of Our Own.

Chapter 15 should be posted on Ao3 tonight or tomorrow morning.

21 notes · View notes

chattingwiththelightkeeper · 2 years

Text

Train Your Dragon But Teach Your Submissive

A Chinese proverb says ”Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”. Often when hopping around the kinky internet, you will find postings and memes about training a submissive or read about Dominants discussing the ways they train their submissive partners. I see things a bit differently and I am not a Dominant who believes in training, rather I believe in teaching and involvement. I am sure that right now many of you are saying teaching versus training is just a matter of semantics because they are the same but for me, they are very different. So I will share a few thoughts on why I am a teacher and not a trainer.

As that Chinese proverb says I want to teach and involve my submissive in building our relationship. I do not want to have a predesigned structure that my future girl would have to fit into. Together we will create an environment where I will lead, teach, involve her and we will both learn.

I am not a fan of rituals and protocols. It is not that these are incorrect but they are not for me nor will they be something that my partner wants. I want my submissive to respond as their heart desires and not because they are trained by rote to respond a certain way every time.

Life at times can be a complex mess which I believe is not suited for if-then statements. I want to teach my submissive about my expectations, learn theirs of me and themselves so these will be ours rather than mine dictated, so they will make the correct choices when life hands us a challenging day. I believe in empowering my submissive for those times when life does a 180 and fails to conform to the expected “if-then” situation. By teaching rather than training, they will have the moxie to handle things knowing we will both be proud of the outcome.

Lastly, since I am on the subject of training, I want to add my thought for those of you who might be new(er) to the lifestyle.Seek out mentors who want to teach and allow you to learn rather than a “BDSM trainer”. Many great people are more than happy to answer questions, provide guidance, and share experiences without wanting to hook up or take advantage of you. Look for and befriend others who share your particular kink role. If you are submissive, get to know other submissives, and the same if you are dominant, find others on your side of the coin. Yes, as you explore you will meet others who are on the flip side of that coin but you will have a strong group of peers that you can go to for advice, learn from and you can ask all those questions you have.

BDSM may be a bit spooky thing to explore by yourself but you can find your own Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy (if Scrappy is your thing) to fill your Mystery Machine and unmask all the secrets of kink as only meddling kids can.

As with all of my writings, please see this disclaimer.

©TLK2022

61 notes · View notes

gelatomesomeironqrow · 2 years

Text

My attempt at a character study on Dream of the Endless.

(Potential spoilers for those currently or planning on reading the comics)

Now, I have not yet read the comics (but after the show. I am definitely reading it now) so this is purely based on what I've seen from the show and from what I've read off of the wiki page. Anyways. I relate so much to Dream. Like ya'll have no idea.

So let's start with the basics. Dream is older than most if not all Gods. He's lived through and seen so much, he's had brief but fleeting relationships knowing that they will one day end. He's a very passionate and devoted lover/partner to the point where he is possessive and reacts extremely poorly to when these relationships he knows are going to end, end.

I'll briefly mention his comic book lovers/wives/partners before I go on to those who made it into the Live Action adaptation.

Killala of the Glow, Nada, Calliope, Titania, Alianora and Thessaly.

Alianora in particular was given one of his jewels and her own section of the Dreaming from my understanding.

From what I've read, way way way in the beginning of time, Dream was apparently more open with his feelings than what we see in the show and comics. But due to his meddling sibling Desire, he shuts down and keeps his feelings to himself. This doesn't stop him from forming strong attachments to people that develop into relationships. Each of them ends poorly. Sometimes because of Dream, sometimes because of Desire or sometimes because of the passing of time.

Anyways, Dream doesn't talk about his past relationships, the two I know about are the show ones and even then, it's probably not everything. So let's talk about Nada and Calliope.

Now I read some stuff about Nada and Dream's past, and all I have to say is that Desire admitting that Nada was a mistake is huge. It shows they feel bad about it. Probably mostly because it's the relationship that really made Dream shut his emotions down (probably why Desire continues to try to "ruin" him. In their own way, they probably just want him to open back up. Maybe.) Anyways, the relationship was not meant to be. Nada was young and fell hard for Dream whereas Dream became possessive. Which is a huge red flag. Them being together caused a higher entity to burn Nada's city to the ground and Nada in her grief blamed herself and their relationship and off'ed herself. Dream tracked his spirit down. Demanded her to become his queen of the Dreaming and when she refused, he threw her in Hell. Dream does eventually launch a rescue mission but still, kind of a harsh punishment and probably the only time I don't like Dream.

Anyways, from what I've read and seen, it does not look like this relationship was a sexual one.

Moving on to the only relationship Dream has had sexual relations to, my personal favorite.

Calliope. The muse. Their relationship is tragic and probably the only one that ended somewhat amicably. From my understanding anyways. They were in love, had a child who died young, and ended their relationship because of their grief. It happens all the time, parents whose child dies before they do, they can't stay together any longer. But yet, Dream still harbors deep attachment to her, even if he denied her request to visit him in the Dreaming. He probably would have said yes had she wanted to see him but he isn't ready to process or accept their child's death even though it had been thousands of years.

Now, why did I delve into his relationships? And why did I say I relate to him so much?

Because I believe him to be Ace or Demisexual. He is somewhere on the spectrum. Like I am. I can see it in his every move and decisions.

Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or low or absent interest in or desire for sexual activity.

He is an anthropomorphic representation of a human. He has appeared as a cat. I don't think him incapable of have sex (clearly since he had a child), I just personally don't think he is interested in sexual relations. He has strong attachments. He can get obsessive and/or possessive. He loves with everything and when it ends he either punishes his lover/partner and/or goes into a depressive state of being.

Sure he's been married. But some asexuals have been in relationships, alot of them successful. Communication is key to any healthy relationship. The point of it is, none of his relationships lasted. Again for various reasons but the general gist is that there was no communication. He expected alot out of his partners and when they failed to meet his expectations he lost interest (never attachment or subsequent feelings related to those attachments) but he was no longer interested in the relationship itself.

As far as I know, he has no other children and hasn't engaged in any other sexual acts.

He finds people intriguing only when they talk about dreams and stories, like when he is on his date with Hob and listens in to Will Shakespeare talk about wanting to inspire people, otherwise he walks around moping all the time. He literally dresses in black at all times and wears eyeliner. Not a representation of Asexual people, just an observation.

Heck, I'm in a relationship with someone and I'm Asexual. (And currently struggling to keep said relationship because I can't bring myself to tell my boyfriend I'm not interested in him like that. But I digress.)

Okay. Moving away from his relationships and sexuality.

He interacts with very few people. He has little to no friends. (I have little to no friends) he probably thinks the few people he is on good terms are exhausting and not worth the time half the time (again. I'm guilty of that). If he isn't an antisocial OCD perfectionist, I don't know what that makes me.

He has a very clear idea of what his job is and performs it well. He gets upset when things don't go his way. He prefers to handle things alone because he's convinced himself no one will help him. He won't ask for help so most of the time no one even knows he needs help.

(The one time he asked for help. Desire literally just sent him his next lover and said good luck, bye.)

He is stubborn and so so so depressed. But despite all of that, he finds something to keep himself going, he draws inspiration from his life and the people who visit his Dreaming at night. It took one visit from his sister to get him to go and see Hob Gadling who he admits is his boyfriend.

Like look at this gif and tell me they aren't flirting.

Anyways. Dream of the Endless is a complicated being that no one may ever truly figure out. He's definitely the embodiment of a wet cat.

I love him. He is doing amazing.

I need a season 2. ASAP.

#The Sandman #the sandman spoilers #morpheus lord of dreams #dream of the endless #tom sturridge #character study?#gelato attempts a character study #send help. Sandman has my brain spinning circles like when you wait for AOL chat to dial up #That being said.#Dreamling #has me in a vice grip #Asexual or Demisexual Morpheus

45 notes · View notes

academyofbrokenhearts · 4 months

Text

Instead of Dancing Alone, I Should Be Dancing with You (IV)

Some introspection from Kaya's POV, followed by the confrontation with Seyran, with a twist.

Author note: I really don't think Seyran is that horrible. She does have the selfishness of the younger sibling who's used for the older sibling to always be there for them, yes, but let's admit it - she was quite on point that İfakat was manipulating Suna (which she was - I know we all loved İfakat for pushing Suna and Kaya together, but she did it for her own schemes, not because she cared about them as people too much), and she had no particular reason to trust Kaya. So I can understand her being bitter and mistrustful. She should have listened to Suna more, though, instead of concluding that the marriage to Kaya was purely the result of İfakat meddling into stuff. It must have been absolutely hurtful for Suna to be judged like that.

Do I think Kaya would ever speak so openly to Seyran? Hell no, not in a million years. But this is my AU fic, and I do what I want with it. He just wants Suna to be happy and at ease, and if that means having some real words with her sister, then this is what he's going to do.

AO3 link here.

So that's how it's going to be, Kaya thinks, laying in bed, eyes to the ceiling, the memory of Suna's lips still lingering on his. He's really getting engaged, and he's going to be married soon, to this girl who was a complete stranger to him merely weeks before.

Not for the first time, he wonders if he did the right thing by being so direct and honest with Suna. It would have been easier, probably, to just tell her he was in love with her. Easier for him to protect his true feelings and vulnerabilities, easier to just hide behind the facade of a man in love, while carefully planning his next steps. Easier all around.

But he really couldn't do it. Even in his room, before their ill-fated kiss (which he cannot bring himself to regret, however), he wanted to make sure that she wasn't doing it out of desperation or because of being manipulated into it, that it was her decision, and hers alone.

Then she came to talk to him, head held high, telling him she was going to solve everything, and he remembers his heart painfully clutching in his chest, because how in the world could she ever find a different solution? What other option did she really have? None, of course, he knew that, and she knew it as well. He saw it clearly in her eyes. I will defend myself, her eyes were saying. I will defend myself, because no one will, and I will not allow any stranger to partake in my misery, to witness my shame. They can trample all over me, I will still rise. Because I must. Because if I don't, no one will help me up.

How strange it was to look at someone else's eyes and see all his fears and insecurities and pride reflected back at him.

How strange it was to feel anything at all.

He's not in love with her, and he can't ever afford to love her, because she would be a weakness, and he can't be weak. Revenge does not suit the weak.

But really, how easy it would be to just let himself fall. If he were a different man. If there would be no nightmares, and no lost childhood. No trace of the suffocating loneliness that has never left him, that he could never alleviate. If his mother would be different. Better. Whole.

If. If. If.

Too many ifs.

He told her they could be good for each other. It would have been true in another life, maybe. In the current one, he doesn't see any happy ending as far as he is concerned. Maybe for her. Maybe the time she will spend at his side will help her spread her own wings. Maybe she will be able to do what he never could. Live a bit. Breathe. Escape the horror.

Maybe his thorns will not destroy her.

Maybe not all women rejected by their families end up as broken shells of themselves, talking with empty eyes to their reflection in the mirror.

He sighs, standing up. There is no use to think of this now.

The door of his room suddenly opens, putting an abrupt stop to his thoughts.

It's Seyran, and she looks angry.

He can't say he didn't expect this, especially after what Suna shared with him in the morning.

He doesn't even pretend to not know why she is there. It would be so easy to act like he has no idea what's wrong, to aggravate her some more, and that's what he would do in regular circumstances, but... He still remembers. Suna's sadness, the way her shoulders sagged in defeat when speaking about her fight with Seyran earlier. Her kindness when she asked him later about his mother, her gentle reassurance.

So he simply says:

"Yes, Seyran, go ahead and speak. I'm sure you have a lot to tell me. I'm listening."

She does seem to be taken aback for a second, then her anger seems to return in full force.

"Your purpose was to fight against me and Ferit from the beginning, am I correct? You helped me with the university thing just because of this. So that we would fight. And when I asked you to not tell him what I had told you... you went ahead and told him everything at dinner anyway, didn't you? Come on, admit it!"

Everything is about Ferit and her, Kaya thinks. Not a very charitable thought, especially considering that he actually did what she accuses him of. Then again, he doesn't feel particularly charitable towards her at the moment, even less so towards his cousin.

"I won't believe a single word coming out of your mouth again, Kaya," Seyran continues, seemingly even more angry at his silence. "And I for sure don't want you to marry my sister, so you will end this entire ridiculous thing!"

"Ridiculous thing, you say?" he finally speaks out, calmly, stepping in front of Seyran.

"You will not fool me, my friend. I will not be fooled. I'm sure you planned everything with İfakat. You saw a pure girl, didn't you? You saw her, and you decided to fool her, to involve her in your games. You saw she was in need of care and love. You saw her weaknesses and you fooled her. Didn't you? You don't even love her. You don't love her. But I will not allow this. I will not allow it, Kaya! That girl is my soul, my soul, my blood, okay?"

"The girl you are calling your soul and your blood was crying on the terrace this morning because of you," Kaya says, and when Seyran attempts to speak again, he raises his arm. "No. I listened to you until now. You will listen to me now. Because I think you have misunderstood some things, and it's about time to sort this out. And I am only going to say it once, and after that I will ask you not to bother me anymore about this topic. Ever."

He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, then opens them again.

"First of all, it's interesting how you seem to despise İfakat so much, and yet she came into this room just last night to tell me almost the same thing as you. Oh yes," he says, when Seyran's eyes widen in surprise, "yes, she told me that I had to do whatever I could to stop the wedding from happening. And I said to her the exact same thing I will say to you now. No. You talked to her before coming here? I'm sure she neglected to mention this small episode, didn't she?"

"You're making up things now and I told you-"

"Like I said, you are going to listen to me until the end. Whatever your opinion might be about me and my actions - I really don't give a damn. I'm not about to excuse or justify myself in front of you in any way. But if you claim to love your sister, just be quiet and go along with this wedding. You know your father pretty damn well by now. You know he will not budge, and any further protest from you will make things worse for Suna, and very likely for you as well. So don't."

"Is that why you are marrying her?!" Seyran exclaims in disbelief. "Because my father forces you to?"

"For the love of God, Seyran! Your father hit your sister. In front of me. He humiliated her. And you know, I pay attention to my surroundings, to the way people act. To what they say and do. It was not the first time it happened, and it won't be the last either, unless someone puts a stop to it."

At this, Seyran finally falls completely quiet, her lips trembling.

"You spoke to her this morning," Kaya says, after a moment of silence, "but I don't think you actually understood what she was trying to convey, right? It's suffocating, Seyran, you know. To live under the crushing thumb of someone else. To feel like you're unworthy. Like you could disappear forever, and no one would care. You got so used to have her by your side, always in your shadow, that you never stopped to ask yourself whether she wanted more, whether she deserved more. You say you want the best for her, but it is not for you to determine what's best for her. That's for her to decide. Don't ask her to choose between you and what she sees as her only chance to escape the hell she's living. It's a cruel thing to do."

By now, Seyran's eyes are full of tears, any trace of her previous anger gone.

"To answer your question," Kaya adds, not unkindly, "I'm marrying your sister because I want to marry her, and she wants to marry me as well. That's the most important part. That's what you need to tell yourself. That your sister and I took a decision like two responsible adults, and that you need to respect it. That's all there is. And whatever you might think about me, I never lied to her. Speak to her, if you don't believe me. Just don't hurt her anymore."

Seyran quickly wipes her eyes with the back of her hand, seemingly unsure of what to say and do. When she opens her mouth to speak again, Kaya stops her.

"Not to me. Remember. To her."

She nods, turns around, and leaves his room, quietly closing the door.

Later, he sees them in the garden, talking.

It doesn't look like a fight.

#Yalı Çapkını #Yali Capkini #Kaya Sönmez #Suna Şanlı #Kaya Sonmez #Suna Sanli #KaySun #AU #fan fiction #Instead of Dancing Alone I Should Be Dancing with You #writing #made by me #still behind with Tumblr posting because life happened #I really like this chapter even if it feels the most AU out of all

2 notes · View notes