#why is this affecting me more than the actual hunger games books? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fairuzfan · 6 months

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Oh no That's not what I meant. We should feel bad. Because she let us see ourselfs in a story that wasn't meant for us and she just used us. I meant that she only used knowledge shared and discovered by poc to give "depth" to her characters and used us for marketing. But we were never part of the main story. For me it is just as bad. We are just a token that she can use as she sees fit but she will never talk about us. For that reason I remind myself constantly that Suzanne was never on my side. Her story was for her people because in her words, she wants them to "evolve from choosing war as an option." But for us, we are not even allowed to see it as an "option." War is something that others send to our doorstep and we have no say in it.

This is perfectly worded oh my goodness, and I totally agree.

I think in my analysis in the beginning, I saw the similarities of the story and it might have been niave of me to assume that she sympathized and assumed that oppressed people were in the right. But these past few asks and the interview with her really changed my perspective on the story.

I agree, she definitely is using the concept of "war" to imply some moral standing without recognizing exactly how that impacts the people directly affected. I had felt it throughout the story as well but I was willing to excuse it and I'm starting to think that was wrong of me.

Like with the Vietnam War veteran story, she talked about how "worried" she was for her dad... but she didn't mention at all how her dad was pretty relatively safe and dropping bombs on a country halfway across the world. The Vietnamese had no right to resist in her opinion, or at least thats the way it sounded.... and the real sadness, to her, is that she worried for her father when she was six and not that her father participated in a killing campagin. Honestly, it feels like an echo of Israeli logic. What about the people the bombs were dropped on? What about the people in the Iraq war who suffered for no other reason than for oil? What about the people who suffer under oppression?

She used the idea of revolution of an everyday person, who everyone thought was indigenous coded, so that she could paint this story of "war is bad" and that the continued oppression is bad also but you know, it's never ok to start war. I had seen another interview with her about how she mentioned she wrote the books to examine what is necessary to "wage war" and that the people of the districts "had a reason" but the ending doesn't feel like that all the way.

I don't know if you read it but "Against the Loveless World" by Susan Abualhawa, who is Palestinian, also deals with revolution and resisting. Honestly, like, it's one of my favorite books ever even more than Hunger Games (which is going lower and lower by the minute lol) and in that, the book ends with a sense of love that was missing from the Hunger Games ending, which feels a little more moral in its judgement.

You're right, it was intentional the way she used liberation movements to enact a sort of echo in modern history without actually examining who conducts these liberation movements and why. She illustrates Mockingjay as a purely class struggle and neglects to mention how "whiteness" as a concept plays a part in perpetuating that class struggle.

Also the fact that District 11 explicitly has Black people working the fields (which that's a whole problem in itself, that a white woman wrote that in and that she doesnt think they are capable of revolting and owning their own future) means there is ethnicity but she doesn't want to examine the concept of "whiteness" in her book because she doesn't think it plays a part in waging war. Which truly makes it seem senseless like she claims. To me, War is senseless but because there was no reason to oppress to begin with. The war itself is not senseless — there is a purpose, but the events preceeding the war didn't have any other reason than selfishness and greed. That in itself is the really tragic part of war. It's like "I had to lose everything for you to see me as a human and why is that? Why couldnt you respect me before all this?" Collins removes the agency and even existence from the people being oppressed by painting a "war is bad" narrative and not "oppression is bad" one, like you say.

Honestly, I had assumed she wrote in the perspective of Katniss because she wanted to really make it personal in illustrating how indigenous populations suffer greatly under oppression but now with your message of that quote, I think it was solely for selfish reasons where she didn't want to examine the impact it has on people in the modern day.

"War" is not some abstract concept. It is a result of various factors of circumstances. War is terrible not necessarily solely for the war itself, which might be bloody and terrible, but more specifically for the reasons that those wars were waged.

In the Iraq war, it was waged on Iraq for no reason other than the US's greed and the Iraqis paid dearly with their lives. It ruined people even if they didn't die. And what's most tragic is that they are expected to live with the consequences of the US' decision and to move on. The Vietnam War for similar reasons, though not for oil.

The fault should be with the oppressors — not the people whose humanity isnt recognized.

I want to apologize, though, if I hurt anyone with my messages in the beginning, making it seem like I think that you are equal to your oppressors for resisting both in the America's and throughout the world. It was a pretty shallow analysis and I didn't examine the way the biases might hurt actual people.

#god i feel so bad i hope no one assumed i thought that its pointless to resist #thanks for this message it really is well worded.

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the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see · 6 months

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What's your favorite character from The Hunger Games trilogy?

Why do you like this character?

Favorite quote or moment from them?

Please state one (or more) thing which you don't like from them.

Thank you 😊

@curiousnonny

sorry this took forever it sent me into a spiral that wouldnt stop until i literally had to have my sister shake me back to normal (in a good way)

my favorite characters in the hunger games are a tie between cinna and johanna. cinna was like... the dad i never really had. when i first read the books and watched the movies, i found myself daydreaming about what he would say to me in random situations because i never really had anyone in my corner growing up. he was who i wanted to be and who i wished i had in my life simultaneously. sometimes i look in the mirror after doing my makeup and be like damn. cinna would totally do this look on me/on himself. the gold eyeliner? i do it whenever i possibly can -- i also sometimes do colored eyeliner to match my outfits and it is very much because of him. also, growing up around white girls who were absolutely gorgeous and wore dramatic makeup and got surgeries very much affected me, who grew up a brown girl who never wore makeup and Definitely couldnt afford or would be allowed to get surgeries, but thinking of cinna and how he wouldnt approve always made me feel better. i dont know, i just have a lot of love for him and i dont know where i would be if i didnt have a piece of him in my heart. my favorite quote from him is "i always channel my emotions into my work. that way, i don't hurt anyone but myself." it just speaks to me so much as someone who tends to internalize anger and pain, and had to learn how to put it into an outlet (which is usually music, for me). plus it lends such a sense of complexity to cinna -- makes you wonder how he got to rooting for the girl on fire, really. i love nearly everything about him, but if i had to change one thing, i wish he was more of a fighter. physically more than mentally, because you can really tell how strong he is mentally. i just wish he couldve fought back against the peacekeepers and escaped and lived. i wish he lived.

okay i was VERY soft about cinna but johanna?? oh im nothing but soft about how i love her. shes everything to me. she is me. i come off as a very gentle person but babe my internal monologue in johanna all the way. she is so fucking strong and brave and sharp and incredible and to see a woman like that face all these odds and bite them down to the quick? she could kill me a thousand times over and i'd ask her to do it again. shes everything i want to be and more. my favorite quote from her is actually from the movie specifically, not the book, where in one of the mockingjay movies, she says, "they messed us up pretty good, huh?" to katniss. i just think the way the line is delivered and the situation under which she said it just make it such a poignant and simple line. it is so, so difficult to reckon with the fact that you have accumulated trauma and it will not go away just because you know about it. thats something i can really relate to. i just!!!!!!!!!! love her a lot. there isnt a single thing i'd change about her. i love her for all of who she is<33

of course nonny!! i love these asks so much its so fun, so thank you for spreading this joy around<3333

#the hunger games #asks #the tree speaks #ily anon

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lilmackiereads · 1 year

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A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – SPOILER REVIEW

For my first official review, here is the fourth Hunger Games novel which I finished last week. A spoiler-free version of this review has already been posted on my blog if you prefer to read that.

My score chart: 0-5 stars

0 stars = Hate it/ Regret reading

1 star = Meh, not for me

2 stars = It was ok/ neutral

3 stars = Liked it

4 stars = Loved it

5 stars = One of my favorite books of all time!

Overall rating: 3 to 3.5 stars. I liked it, but it is my least favorite book of the series of four. I do recommend reading it though if you are a big fan of the Hunger Games trilogy, but if you are a casual fan then you can skip it. I would love for Collins to write two more books, one about the actual war while it was happening (at least 10 years before this story) as well as one that takes place between the end of Songbirds and Snakes and The Hunger Games. There is a whole six decades between these stories, so she has a lot of content to work with if she wants to.

Do you agree or disagree with my review? DM me for your take and your recommendations.

——

Detailed Review:

Plot = 3 stars

Part 1: The Mentor

Collins choosing to narrate the story from Coriolanus’s perspective was very refreshing to me. When reading the original series, I didn’t spend too much time considering what life would be like for Capitol innocents, such as children, who were affected by the war. The story he mentioned about being a child and seeing a neighborhood woman dying in the street and being eaten by a cannibal was such a wakeup call for me about what the Capitol experienced in the aftermath. I didn’t realize how much they were also starving since all of their food is grown in the Districts.

Having the story take place during the 10th Hunger Games was very exciting since I was very curious to see how they have developed over the years, especially since they would have been harder to enforce directly after the war. Lucy Gray’s Reaping moment was iconic; I can’t believe that she was daring enough to put a snake down the mayor’s daughter’s outfit! I can’t wait for it to play out on the movie screen.

Later, when Coriolanus sees how the tributes are bound and put into carnival train cars to be transported reminded me at how much the Capitol sees the tributes as animals. While Katniss and Peeta were still mistreated, at least they had a bullet train with gourmet food, luxury furniture, and air conditioning. On that note, keeping the 10th Games tributes in the zoo really hit the nail on the head for the lack of humanity. I was shocked when so many of the tributes died from starvation and exposure before the Games even started. I wasn’t sure if they would call for another Reaping to replace the tributes lost and that was making me anxious.

Another shock was when Arachne was killed by her District 10 tribute. How can I say this...? I was surprised, but not surprised. I wasn’t surprised at Arachne’s cruelty toward her tribute by taunting food in her face in front of the crowd and media, but I was surprised at how quickly the tribute was able to murder her, especially when surrounded by Peacekeepers. This (in a morbid way) is where the book drew me in. Another interesting touch was when the bombs went off in the arena before the Games during the Mentor and Tribute tour. This moment showed the Captiol that the District members meant business and actually helped the tributes by giving the arena more hiding spaces.

I feel wishy-washy about Coriolanus helping Lucy Gray cheat by giving her the idea to poison the other tributes with the makeup compact full of rat poison. Cheating can get her whole District in trouble and have had way worse repercussions than what he actually got as punishment in part 3. I really thought that they might kill Lucy Gray in public, even as a victor, to show the Districts that winning doesn’t mean anything. Perhaps this wouldn’t have worked and caused another revolt and maybe that’s why they just “punished” Coriolanus by not letting him go to University.

Part 2: The Prize

The relationship between Coriolanus and Sejanus was like a rollercoaster. I understood how Coriolanus felt about being afraid to put his family and future in danger, but at the same time, I think Sejanus was right about society as a whole. To be honest, I am definitely more like Coriolanus and would have put myself first, which sounds horrific, but... sorry not sorry. I think I would have been too much of a coward to be like Sejanus and would not have tried to martyr myself for Marcus or my former district. On that same track, Marcus’s death was brutal! Beheading is just a whole other level, but I do think that when the female tribute was whispering to him that she was asking for his permission to put him out of his misery and put herself ahead in the media’s eyes. I don’t think there was any malice in it.

I was soooo worried for Sejanus when he stormed out after Marcus’s death and even more afraid when he trespassed into the arena to bless his body. I despise the fact that Coriolanus only went in to save his own skin, not because he really cared about Sejanus, which is especially sad since Sejanus sees him as a brother. Coriolanus defending himself against Bobbin was a great nerve-wracking scene because even though I knew Coriolanus was going to survive, Sejanus might not, and Coriolanus could still be greatly wounded. If he had been permanently wounded, I don’t think that he would ever reveal it to others. I think that he would imagine that others would see these wounds as weaknesses (proving that he is not invincible) rather than strengths (that he was brave and survived a tragedy).

The fact that Lucy Gray won the Games was very predictable to me because she is a character foil and foreshadow toward Snow’s resentment (and respect) toward Katniss. However, I like that Lucy didn’t use physical combat to take out her competition, but rather used poison and mercy. The whole rabies aspect was spooky. It’s sad to think about how the Districts are not given adequate health care such as vaccines. I really hate her relationship with Coriolanus because he does not see her as an equal, but as property to be controlled and admired. She is just a trophy. A pretty songbird that he can put in a cage.

Oh, and side note, I truly dislike how fricken direct the symbolism of Coriolanus is a snake and Lucy Gray is a bird. I mean, even her last name is Baird, which of course sounds like “bird” and literally means “someone who sings songs or poetry.” And Coriolanus Snow is cold-hearted. Cold, like snow. Ha. Soooo funnyyyy. I had never heard the name “Coriolanus” before, but it is originally made famous by the Shakespeare play. I haven’t read it, but this link here basically tells the same story as Songbirds and Snakes. So, I guess this prequel is really a Hunger Games fanfiction about Shakespeare’s story? It was a little disappointing to find out. I thought it was an original concept. Boo.

Part 3: The Peacekeeper

I was very confused at first about why Dr. Gaul and Dean Highbottom would send Coriolanus to District 12 after winning the Hunger Games because it means he would reunite with Lucy Gray. I found this part to be a bit slow (which of course was to make us feel how bored Coriolanus was since there were no mental challenges in the Peacekeepr training other than executions.) I rushed through the blandness so I could get to the climax faster.

Yet, a few parts of this section that I liked are reading more about The Hob and the origin of “Katniss’s songs” from Mockingjay, which were created by Lucy Gray. The Hanging Tree scenes were terrifying. I wanted Coriolanus to act out and become a rebel, but I knew his sense of loyalty to the Capitol and self-preservation would get in the way. I liked how we learned how and why people become Peacekeepers since it seems like a terrible job to me, but apparently it has perks for a lot of people. I didn’t ever think about how the Rebels organize revolts with bombs or guns in their own districts. It makes me wonder if when Katniss’s dad died in the original story if that was a revolt gone wrong, just like how one of the mines was destroyed in this book. I always wondered why Suzanne Collins uses the mockingjay as the main symbol of the series because I feel like the reason was a bit vague in the trilogy, but I feel like I did get these answers in Songbirds and Snakes. Sejanus’s death was so sad. I had to read it quickly to get it over with so I would not get too emotional. His final word, “ma,” was absolutely haunting.

Lucy Gray’s end was a bit annoying. I knew deep down that Coriolanus would never run away with her or marry her, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to end up killing her or letting her go. Even worse, we don’t actually get to know. I would have liked a more definite answer on whether or not she escaped or was killed on their way north, but I get that Collins left it ambiguous like the song Lucy Gray was named after.

Heading back to the Capitol, the fact that the Snow family is responsible for most of the concepts used in the Hunger Games is both awful and amazing. I did like reading about how Coriolanus “innovated” the 10th Games to be more high-tech and interactive with the drone gifts, the betting, and the tributes and District winning a prize, but it makes me shudder to know that this infamy is what kept him in power all those decades. I wonder how old he was when he got elected president.

______

Overall Main Characters Rating = 3.5 stars

Coriolanus: 3 stars

Coriolanus describing the lack of nutrition, the hand-me-down clothes, the inability to afford his familial home, the desire to go to university without any savings, and being an orphan made me feel a lot of sympathy toward him. It now makes more sense into why he evolved into the villainous President Snow. I would have loved for him to have taken this trauma and turn it into something good, but he chose selfishness over selflessness. I feel like his “snap” against Sejanus was a bit rushed, like Daenerys Targaryen, so I would have like a little more to happen before his change. He always valued his own life over Sejanus and others who lived in the districts, but his decision to turn against him just felt a bit hasty.

Lucy Gray: 4 stars

Despite the fact that Lucy Gray and her successor, Katniss Everdeen, are both thin brunettes with lovely voices from District 12, I find Lucy Gray much more likable. She has so much spunk and passion for life and art that I think she would be a fun person to be around in person. She is definitely a glass half-full kind of girl and sees the beauty in the frightening. I find her Covey background interesting and want to know so much more about those who live “outside” of the Districts and Capitol since I had no idea people exist outside of there (which is exactly what the Capitol wants you to think). However, I am grateful that this story was not from her persepective because it would have been to similar to the original.

Sejanus: 4.5 stars

He was my absolute favorite! I think he was the best because he was the only person we met that could really bridge the gap between District and Capitol lives. His conflicting relationships with Marcus, Coriolanus, and his family broke my heart. Even though the book is narrated from Coriolanus’s perspective, I would have liked if this was written like Marie Lu’s Legend series where it goes back and forth between characters that have different opinions about the war. He would get 5 stars if we got chapters from his perspective. He is the exact opposite of Coriolanus since he is impulsive, outspoken, and ashamed of his family, while Coriolanus is calculated, reserved, and proud of his heritage to a fault. I like seeing the two of them together because they are so different.

Dr. Gaul = 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed Dr. Gaul, but I can’t give her more than 3.5 stars because I yearned to see more of her lab experiments, and I feel like the readers didn’t get to see much more than the snakes. Her manipulation throughout the plot gets snaps from me, especially sending Coriolanus to District 12 for him to spy for her when he didn’t even realize he was a spy. Brilliant!

Tigris = 3 stars

I like how sweet she is, but other than taking care of Coriolanus and Grandma’am, she doesn’t do much. I need to know how and why she became the woman she is in Mockingjay. Considering I didn’t even mention her at all in my “plot” section, I think she definitely needed to be more fleshed out.

_____

Would I read it again? Yes. Especially after the film comes out since I enjoy comparing books to movies. I’m afraid of what they will cut out because they are only doing one film and there is a lot of content here. I have a feeling they won’t show Marcus’s beheading due to its gruesome nature or the District 12 hangings. They might just mention it or cut away when the actual violence happens which is understandable for a PG-13 film, but disappointing in showing the true fear of the moment. I think that’s part of why these books are so scary though. Violence can happen to people at any age, and it has throughout history. Keeping it from people doesn’t protect them from it, but showing too much numbs people to it. It’s a hard balance. I hope that the film shows the whole story justice.

#the hunger games #a ballad of songbirds and snakes #songbirds and snakes #mockingjay #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #president snow #katniss everdeen #suzanne collins #spoiler review #book review

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ginarbk · 2 years

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Whats your take about fandom obsession with Everlark vs Galeniss. @curiousnonny

I really apologize for the delay!! I'm not used to receiving asks so I just saw this one, hopefully I'm not too late!

The obsession in the fandom I believe it is mostly for 2 reasons:

1- Because people demonize Gale way to much about the bomb (I'm in no way saying it is excusable, however Gale is a character that even if he is very strong minded and opinionated in a way he is very "naive" in the way that he had never taken a human life so he thought of it as if it was the same as hunting and he has no way of actually knowing what it's like until later when he is faced with the consequences) and people who don't see him that way push back by shipping him with Katniss instead, as if that makes him automatically a "good character" (which I'm not saying he is not)

2- Because after everthing Katniss went through people just need her to have a happy ending, and the opinion of who she would be happier with differs because the book is not really that clear on why Katniss chose Peeta (not clear in wording but we can see it in the details, but that's not the point)

And for me that's the issue, the problem is first of all that this story is not about black/white situations but about all the gray in between, the story is more about politics and its consequences, about morality and ethics when at war than about the love-triangle (which is why is not as detailed as we would want in that area).

I understand why people need so badly for Katniss to end up happy after everything, however that is just not the point of the book. It is not about her happiness at all, it is about a point of view from someone who is directly and indirectly affected by the war (prior rebellion) and its fallout (hunger games), how it shapes their life and their decisions no matter if they were part of it or not. So, even of I understand the people's need to focus on the relationships in order to make sure that Katniss is happy, I believe that it is not the intent of the book for you to focus on them in that way. But that's just my personal take.

Anyway, I hope some of this makes sense and sorry for the rant, I know I kind of went off the rails there.

Thanks for the ask!

#Curiousnonny #Anon #Ask #Everlark

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katnissmellarkkk · 2 years

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It’s actually fascinating to me that for all the main characters in The Hunger Games (that we truly know and understand) Gale is the only one who never actually experiences his “worst case scenario” come to life.

We know right from chapter one that Katniss’ worst case scenario is losing Prim. She’s still got resentments towards her mother, she doesn’t have many friends at all because if she can help it, she won’t attach herself to people she can lose, and her father is long dead. But Prim is the one person, the one living thing that she undeniably loves without reservations or hesitation. Every single thing she does throughout the entire series can be tied back to her love for Prim.

And then Prim died at the end of the war.

Peeta’s worst case scenario was always losing himself, to the awful world they live in. He refused to just be another piece in the games, and that extended further than the arena. He believed he was destined to die in the games but he always, always tried to keep his purity of self in tact.

And then Snow hijacked him, corrupted his mind and forced him to completely forget who he was, what he stood for and who he loved.

Other important characters had their “worst case scenario” happen years before the books began. Twenty-four years prior to the start of the series Haymitch lost the three people he loved as punishment for his antics. Johanna lost everyone she ever cared for too (presumably for being rebellious or uncooperative). And in the course of the second and third book, in the background of Katniss’ story, Finnick lost Mags who practically raised him and his very vulnerable love got kidnapped and tormented. Yes, he got her back and they had a moment of happiness but then he went and bit the dust so.

But Gale never experiences this. When Katniss tells us in chapter one about Prim and her love for her, she mentions how deeply Gale loves his own family. The Hawthorne’s are sprinkled throughout all three books, more than any other family aside from Katniss’. Why would that be? We don’t know almost anything about Peeta’s family, even though his father and Mrs. Everdeen have some level of history. We know his mother is, best case scenario, sometimes temperamental (to put it lightly) and that negatively affected aspects of his development. Peeta is a much more prevalent character throughout the series, yet we know almost nothing about his family or background. Haymitch is one of the most essential people in Katniss’ life, he’s her lifeline in the games, the mirror image of what she could become in personality and trauma and her overall father figure by the end. Yet we know nothing about his family or his girl. Even though the loss of those people is likely the explanation to why Haymitch ended up the way he did. But we know the names and bits and pieces of the personalities of every single living member of Gale’s family. Why is that? Maybe because Katniss is more familiar with them? But she also went to the same school as Peeta’s brothers and she trades with his father once a week. Mr. Mellark has more of a connection to Katniss than Gale’s family does, through her mother. So, pretty apparently in my opinion, we learn more about the Hawthorne’s as a whole because it’s essential to Gale’s character. Because his family is everything to him. Because losing them would be his “worst case scenario”.

Saying this doesn’t mean Gale had it easy. His life was arguably one of the hardest we saw at the start of the series and he was put in awful positions throughout the books, he was whipped almost to death, he lost a lot that he cared deeply about along the way and he without a doubt suffered immensely. But he didn’t lose his family, in the end he landed a pretty great job, in a fancier district and presumably had his family with him.

I just find it interesting that even though his life was probably so hard, in the end of the story Gale is only main character who didn’t live through his “worst case scenario”.

#thg #hunger games #Gale Hawthorne #katniss everdeen #Peeta mellark #haymitch abernathy #finnick odair #there is another post like this I know but I still wanted to make my own to sort out my own thoughts #also prim was more of a symbol than character in herself #idk if that’s relevant here but I thought I’d mention it again in case #text post ✨✍🏻🤎#900

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luvyanfei · 3 years

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anon said. how about fluffy hcs with xiao, zhongli and xingqui taking their s/o out on a first date?

XIAO.

he already finds it difficult just to ask you to hold him without losing his cool, so how can he possibly bring up the idea of inviting you on a date? actually, he probably never knew the word ‘date’ even existed until he heard a passing couple staying over at wangshu inn dreamily talking about how they wish they could go to see the lantern rite festival in liyue harbor together for their first date. a first date, huh? now that he thinks about it, xiao never did properly try to court you, did he? it was always you who approached him first, who held your hand out to him, who confessed that you love him. you’re already giving so much dedication in this relationship. it’s the least he can do to return your affections, not just because he’s feeling a bit indebted, but because he’s your lover. unfortunately, being the awkward yaksha that he is, xiao overthinks the situation and complicates it more than he should.

every chance he gets is blown up by his anxiousness. whenever you come and visit him at the inn, you almost think that he’s angry with you from the way he throws you vicious glares. unbeknownst to you, xiao is actually making that tense face because he’s trying very hard, too hard in fact, to think of the best way to ask you out on a date and seeing you just makes him all the more nervous. he regrets it every time you step into the elevator while giving him a goodbye wave and saying you’ll come visit again. sure, he gets another chance to try and ask you out again, but he also has another chance to fail as well.

when you visit him for lunch, xiao quickly rehearses the words he wants to say to you in the back of his head before coming to greet you. ‘i overheard from a guest in the inn talking about a lantern rite festival. if you mortal, no, [name], desires to go, i can possibly set aside time to accompany you.’ keep it cool, yet short. taking a deep breath to compose himself, xiao walks over to greet you, er, well actually, you’re the one doing the greeting instead, and you settle down to eat. the sweet taste of the almond tofu that you generously bought for him blossoms in his mouth and he loses track of time till your departure. before you leave once more to allow the poor yaksha to wallow in his self-regret again, you stop yourself and turn around to face xiao. tucking your hair behind your ear and giving your best, most radiant smile you can offer to him, you shyly ask if he’d like to tag along with you to the lantern rite festival. “we’ve never been on a date before and i’d love to go to the festival with you and release xiao lanterns together.”

... what? how? his mouth almost opens up in disbelief, as he struggles to keep a stoic expression. ex-excuse him?! that’s supposed to be his line! he’s in shock at how easily you were able to say something that he’s been having trouble sputtering out. you mortals never fail to surprise him. he shakes his head and bitterly scowls, that you almost step back in fright. almost, until he starts speaking, that is. “why is it you? i should have been the one to ask you on a date first, not you!” he’s almost on the brink of tears from the frustration he currently holds on himself.

a relationship is always about give and take, no? it’s like when zhongli has so kindly decided to save him from the clutches of the cruel abuse he endured endlessly, of course he was forever in debt to rex lapis. surely, it’s the same with you, isn’t it? when xiao tells you this, you immediately start laughing. you calmly explain to him that your relationship isn’t like a form of contract where he’s expected to always repay you back for every gift you give to him. as long as he’s there for you, that’s more than enough of a reward, you say, before plopping a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“finally, you’re here. what took you so long?” xiao speaks to you with indifference concealing the relief that you actually came. he trails his sharp eyes to inspect your dressed up form and blushes slightly. “you look nice.”

immediately, your eyes widen at his underhanded compliment. did- did you hear that right? biting his lower lip gently, xiao clasps your hand in his, ignoring your astounded reaction, as he squeezes it reassuringly while watching the colourful fireworks light up the murky night.

without thinking, he turns to you when you’re focused on the display of bursting lights reflecting in your eyes, and murmurs to himself softly, “i hope you’ll spend the rest of your time with me, for however long it’ll last.”

XINGQIU.

of course, a date with xingqiu has to be extravagant and sophisticated to the last touch, right? guess again. he may come from a wealthy family, but that doesn’t mean he shares the same interest a selfish, pampered noble may have. he prefers something more simple, yet sentimental. confined in his household with nothing to do but bury his head in a book, he’s picked up some ideas for your date from the romance stories he’s read. surprisingly, they’re all rather cliché.

the first thing he makes you guys do is go out in the blazing summer day to get yourselves a cool beverage. he explicitly asks the cashier to give him one straw [do they even exist in the game?] and smiles slyly as he thanks them and brings the drinks to you. when you ask about it, thinking that maybe he forgot, all he does is smirk before saying, “there’s no need, my liege. we can share, unless you’d rather melt in the sweltering sun, that is.” he winks teasingly. you... don’t really have much of a choice in the matter. as you stroll around the harbor together, you take turns drinking from the only straw and a wave of consciousness washes over you gradually. wait, isn’t this like an indirect kiss? you place a hand to your gaping mouth after sucking on the straw that xingqiu pressed his lips on merely seconds ago. you should know by now, how bold he is underneath his polite façade.

after you finish sipping your drink - tediously at that, you both agree on going to the library to read books together since the heat is pretty unbearable to do anything enjoyable. xingqiu recommends you to try reading some of his personal favorites and you do the same as well. he’s thrilled to have a reading buddy now since it’s boring being here by himself.

while you’re immersed in the novel that you randomly picked from the bookshelf, every now and then, xingqiu will look up from the pages of his book and faintly smile to himself, glad that you’re enjoying yourself.

the sun was setting and the stars started to appear in the pastel pink and orange of the evening sky. you place back the last book and stretch your arms, before turning to xingqiu. sighing, you give him a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek and softly say your farewell.

as you’re about to make your leave for the day, xingqiu halts you with his words, “wait. there’s something i need to do before we can end this date.” nonchalantly, he plucks a book from its shelf, opens its pages, and uses it to block the sunlight drifting through the transparent window glass, effectively shielding his vision from the public eye as he pulls you in for a passionate kiss.

his free hand finds its way combing through the back of your head to deepen the kiss. when he’s satisfied enough, the boy detaches his lips from yours and lightly rubs the flesh of your cheek with a finger, while placing the book down on a nearby table. you keep your eyes fixated on him as he licks the edges of his lips.

“that felt nice,” xingqiu murmurs, “you’re so sweet, i’d hate for anyone else to savor in this pleasant moment with you other than i. shall we continue this again on our next date too?”

ZHONGLI.

the first thing he does is make sure to bring mora, this time. it would be highly inconsiderate of mr. zhongli to have you pay for the expenses of this fine date. he’s one to take things nice and slow. sure, time is unfortunately measured and limited, but he wants to make the most of it with you, a mortal who, just like any other being, has a beginning and end to your life. zhongli wants to shower you in all the beauty and joy this world has to offer while you’re still here with him.

he may be a gentle-spoken and polite individual, but please don’t mistaken him as being shy in any way. he shows up to your residence one afternoon and presents you a bouquet of your preferred flowers while he asks if you would consider accompanying him on a date. you take the bundled up flowers, carefully stroking a petal as if it’s made of fragile glass and accepts his proposal with open arms.

he takes you out to an expensive restaurant in the night of liyue and helps you select the best dishes. after you’re finished with your lavish and sophisticated meals, zhongli ushers you outside where you’re greeted with fresh air, a contrast to the suffocation you felt back at the restaurant. sure, the place is grand and your hunger is well-satiated, yet despite wearing your best clothing, you felt out of place there, like a commoner surrounded by nobles.

when you express your earlier discomfort to zhongli, his eyes are filled with shame and he’s already apologizing like the gentleman he is. guiltily, you tell him it’s fine and you ask if you can show him something before you have to head on home. he ponders in thought before agreeing, walking hand in hand with you to your unknown destination.

the chilling night breeze bites at your bare skin as you instantly shiver. this doesn’t go unnoticed in zhongli’s sharp eyes and he’s already unbuttoning his jacket. he drapes the coat over your shoulder blades and rubs his gloved hands on your cold fingertips to preserve warmth. “are you feeling cold perhaps? maybe we should head back?” you stop him before he can guide you back to the harbor.

“i’m okay now. thank you for your concern.” you say to ease his poor mind. he nods and you both continue on. the walk uphill takes a while, but it’s worth it when you finally reach the top. your eyes widen in amazement as you witness the glimmering stars splayed across the pitch darkness of the sky. “zhongli, look. do you like it?” he simply nods, but all of his attention is focused on you.

zhongli grins down at your childishly excited face, pausing for a hesitant minute before he carefully places his hands on top of your shoulders. you look up at him in confusion and is about to question him, but any sound that comes out is cut off by his lips ensnaring yours in a kiss. you’re astounded by his intimate move, but you revel in his touch in a matter of seconds.

he hopes, as he tightens his hold, that you’ll stay with him always, till your last breath.

tagging. @scarymoosh

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #zhongli x reader #xingqiu x reader #xiao x reader

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obeiii-mee · 3 years

Note

Hey! I have a really loud and particular laugh that seems to carry quite literally throughout my house and there have been many times people have bought it up with me (I can’t help it my laugh is just loud & contagious!!). Could I request the bros reaction to MC who quite literally is unable to laugh quietly and ends up being heard through the whole of the house? Thank you!🥰

This is so sweet, geez imma get cavities. I also have a very loud laugh and I startle people a lot when I start laughing so I get what you mean!

These HCs are probably written a lot better because suddenly I’m full energy and motivation-

———————————————

The Brothers with an MC who has a loud and particular laugh:

Lucifer:

-He’ll never admit it but whenever you start laughing or even smiling, he can’t really stop himself from doing it too

-Like, he looks at you as you start cackling about a funny meme Levi just showed you and he’s holding back a smile-

-Because, even though you have such a loud and some would say ‘obnoxious’ laugh, he thinks you just sound so precious

-He really struggles to show that he’s not affected by you as much as he actually is

-Even if you start laughing at an inappropriate time, he’d likely not even tell you off properly

- Would never say anything of the sort to your face, but he low-key admires you

-He thinks it’s amazing that a simple human like you that has experienced so many horrible things every since they arrived in literal hell, can have the ability to laugh so heartily even now

-If you’re in public and start doing your boisterous laugh, he will keep a stoic expression on his face

-There’s a hint of a blush on his cheeks if you look close enough, though I doubt anyone is crazy enough to point it out

-In private though? Appreciate these moments y’all, because it’s one of the few rare times you’ll see him laugh freely

-Even when he’s around his brothers and trying to keep a straight face, you can see his lips threatening to curve upwards

-Basically, he thinks you’re baby and your laugh makes him feel at ease

Mammon:

-I head canon that he also has a very particular laugh because he gives off those kind of vibes

-He probably doesn’t even notice how loud you are when you start wheezing

-Normally, he’d join in and start laughing with you as the rest of the brothers take out their sound blocking ear muffs for the third time that day

-You two are loud ok?

-Poor Lucifer who not only has insomnia and is a workaholic, he also has two idiots giggling to themselves in the middle of the night

-When I said Mammon is trying to get a laugh out of you any hour of the day

-I mean any hour

-He will wake you up to just hear your voice and then proceed to run out as you start yelling at him

-Even if he were to notice it, the worst reaction you’re gonna get out of him is a bit of teasing

-“Ya sound like you’re dyin’ over there human. You alright?”

-When in reality, he’s even more smitten with you because your laugh is just another one of your amazing qualities

-Mammon does the stupidest shit in front of you to make you and hear you laugh because it warms his heart

-Even if he wouldn’t admit it, to you or to himself

-The only time he ‘doesn’t like’ it when you laugh is if you’re poking fun at him with his brothers

-That gets him all huffy puffy and sad

-For a minute, before he’s thrown himself onto you again

-Greedy for money and greedy for affection of course

Levi:

-ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap

-“YOU SOUND JUST LIKE THE MAIN CHARACATER’S LOVE INTEREST FROM THIS NEW ANIME I’M WATCHING! IT’S CALLED: PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME I’M IN LOVE WITH MY BEST FRIEND BUT I’M ACTUALLY NOT, THOUGH WHOA THEY HAVE SUCH A PRETTY LAUGH!”

-Catch him rambling about it for five minutes straight

-Before stopping abruptly, flushing from head to toe and starting to stutter like he forgot how to speak

-This usually has you laughing again, in a more sympathetic and encouraging way and he just...dies

-He doesn’t like his laugh, at all

-He thinks it sounds really awkward and tense

-So he’s low-key jealous about your rather impulsive laugh because it’s so sweet??? And amazing and cute??? Just like you???

-But at the same time, it’s hard for him to be jealous of it when he loves it so much

-Why do you think he keeps coming to you whenever he finds funny memes or compilations online???

-“I don’t expect a normie like you to understand but look at this.”

-He gets a stupidly cute kick out of knowing that he is the one making you laugh

-I suggest trying not to laugh too much while he’s playing video games because your laugh distracts him so much

-And he will throw his headset at you

-Affectionately of course

Satan:

-He doesn’t give much of a reaction besides a quirked eyebrow and a quiet ‘Oh?’

-Sure, he doesn’t really like it when his brothers are being noisy either because they’re laughing too loudly or because they are fighting gladiator style outside his room

-But you’re the exception

-The only person in that household that could get away with interrupting his reading/work is you

-May come as a surprise to some, but sometimes Satan does get worried for you

-If he hasn’t seen you in a while he might start thinking that something is wrong

-But then he’d hear you laughing from downstairs and he’d smile and think “Eh they’re alright.”

-He thinks your laugh sounds so much more endearing than his own psychotic laugh 🥰🥰🥰

-Will throw one of his precious books at any of his brothers if they make fun of the way you laugh

-Basically, he has the biggest heart eyes for you but he’s too good at hiding it

-Laugh with him whenever something embarrassing happens to Lucifer and he will be so pleased and happy for the rest of the day

Asmo:

-“MC my dear, has anyone mentioned what a wonderfully charming laugh you have? And that says something coming from me.”

-Asmo also has a very noticeable laugh

-Not exactly loud but it could be considered obnoxious (to his brothers) and he giggles all the time when he’s very excited

-Having Asmodeous as your partner is basically the same thing as dating your best friend

-Despite being the Avatar of Lust, your relationship with him is super healthy and even he takes comfort in that

-You’d both be chuckling to yourselves in Majolish or something because this bïtch is hilarious if he wants to be

-“Oh my Lord Diavolo! MC, look! I found the perfect outfit for Mammon!!”

-And it’s a Disney princess dress the size of a fuckn toddler

-You guys laughed so hard you got kicked out >:(

-But you ended up buying that dress for Mammon anyway lmaoo

-Spending too much time with Asmo is similar to the whole “I’m trying to be quiet in class but me and my friend keep laughing every time we look at each other”

-The way both of you have to strain yourselves from full on cackling when Lucifer has a go at either of you 😌

-Except you seriously can’t laugh because you will be ✨murdered✨

-“What do you mEAN YOU DON’T LIKE YOUR LAUGH, YOUR LAUGH IS GORGEOUS! NOT AS GORGEOUS AS MINE OBVIOUSLY BUT IT EASILY COMES IN SECOND!”

-That’s the kind of hype he gives you all day every day

Beel:

-The first time he properly heard you laugh was when you started making puns and you were laughing like crazy at your own jokes (samesies)

-And he just loves seeing you this happy because he gets happy and then he doesn’t even want to eat anymore, he just wants to hug you

-“I like your laugh. Do it again for me?”

-Your heart went doki doki

-It’s common for Beel to make you all flustered without meaning to and then you nervously start laughing again because you feel so awkward

-BUT your face brightens up so much when you start laughing or even smiling and he can’t help himself from complimenting you

-Your joyous and loud chuckles always cheer him up

-To the point where he completely forgets how hungry he is

-Took you a while to figure this one out but his mood sort of changes with yours??

-If you’re visibly sadder than usual, he his morale is also surprisingly low and he starts eating more than usual

-In comparison to when you’re all bubbly and doing that beautiful laugh of yours and he gets like these butterflies in his stomach instead of the usual pangs of pain and hunger

-So now he just wants to hear your voice in general on repeat for the rest of eternity

-Im not crying you are

Belphie:

-“You’re too loud dumbass, I’m tryin’ to nap here.”

-Will deadass throw a pillow at your face if you wake him up

-Like hes so rude and for what?

-He loves you and your annoying as fuck laugh, he really does I promise

-It’s a special, unique part of you and all that sappy crap

-But keep it up and you will have a very cranky boyfriend to deal with for the rest of the month

-He can be such an ass at times if he’s in a bad mood

-“I should tape your mouth shut.”

-“Kinky-“

-“Shut up.”

-But as much as he hates being woken up by somebody else, he would much prefer waking up to your voice rather anyone else’s

-You usually wake him up in the mornings to get ready for RAD and you start giggling every time he pulls a face at you and complains that he doesn’t wanna

-“What are you? An alarm clock?”

-And then he just sort of pulls you to him and goes with a completely straight face:

-“You’re annoying but you can be my alarm clock if you want to.”

-He’s either flirting or is so sleepy he’s being unusually soft hELP

—————————-

Thank you for reading! And for all the reblogs and follows. You guys don’t even know how much I appreciate your support. Especially at times when I’m not as motivated to write and now that the fandom has fizzled out a bit.

Also imma have to make a master list soon or something

Al~

#obey me #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me imagines #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me satan #obey me mc #🌸 comfort #⭐️ requests #☂️ demon brothers #💞 protective bois

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spitpr1ncess · 3 years

Text

BRUISED BODIES CHAPTER 1 LEVI ACKERMAN X READER

(not my image)

“You’re too pretty for this, little girl” remarks your current company. You roll your eyes and have to hold in the audible sigh that almost escapes you. How many times you have heard the same drivel? If you were too pretty, they wouldn’t continue the silent abuse on your body, would they?

You’ve been a working girl since you barely had the ability to think for yourself. You were plucked from your poverty-stricken family with the promise of their debts being written off.

You aren’t special and your family don’t care about you, a lie you’d been telling yourself for twenty two long years. You are a slab of meat and a source of income, that’s all, and believing yourself to be more was a stupid mistake you’d learned not to make, assuming people actually cared about you had caused you more pain than any physical abuse you’d ever endured.

You’re snapped back to reality as a pair of hands paw clumsily at your breasts, you inhale and remind yourself that this is only a temporary situation, but until you figure out how, you must continue to appease the men that Jools sends your way.

Jools is like your older brother, if your older brother worked in a brothel and openly encouraged men to fuck his slightly younger sister. The two of you share an intimate relationship built on a strong foundation of sharing trauma, you know he means well.

Jools was taken around the same time you were, only, as he managed to flourish into a promising young man, he was favoured by boss, and thus, promoted. You and Jools have always seen eye to eye, his depressing background is in servicing men, just like yours and it’s how you built your relationship, why you share such a deep understanding of each other, such mutual respect. This doesn’t go unnoticed by the other girls, and as a mean result, ensures that you are on the less favourable end of their antics, often being the brunt of their absolute frustrations and jokes.

As head of appointments and bookings, alongside other things, he always tries to send you the easy ones, if Boss knew he favoured you, you’re sure Jools would be sacked, or worse, effective immediately. You’re eternally thankful that he chooses to throw you a bone, even if it doesn’t seem much to him, it means the world to you.

Your mindless wandering halts once again, as you make unfavourable eye contact with your unwelcome company, you notice he is grunting as he roughly palms his own erection with his bear-like hands, staring holes through you as he directs his dirty glare at your breasts. Without thinking you grasp his knees and push your elbows to meet, forcing your breasts to squash together in that specific way that the male gaze loves so much, accentuating their plumpness. You are the first to admit that although sex is something that is daily to you, you are a very sexual soul by nature. You love the affect you have on men, and how you can practically melt them down to nothingness in the palm of your soft hand. You’re certain it comes from the trauma that is deep rooted in your hunger for male validation

The man sat in front of you isn’t the smallest you’ve seen but he isn’t particularly well endowed either, weighing up your current circumstances, you decide to make the most of it. Standing up, you lick your lips and undo the tie to your virginal white skirt, allowing it to fall to the ground quietly. It crumples in a small pile and feverishly you step out of it, feigning nervousness. You take your willing participants bear-paw off his own erection and place is gently on the arm of his chair, straddling him, you centre yourself and gently lower down to allow your warmth to press against him. Instinctually, he grunts and pushes back, his actions clumsy and annoying yet you allow it, not wanting to anger him, the men you service are big businessmen and you know better than to piss one off. You have seen first-hand the damage they can and do cause. You let him believe he has control, you grind back and nuzzle into his neck, playing him like a game, inhaling, you pick up on cigarette smoke and some notable cologne brand, nothing out of the ordinary.

You kiss his neck, breathing over his ear, begging him to enter you, you are not stupid, the way you make men feel, like you are infatuated, like there is nothing else you need at that moment than them, always gets you tipped. And tips go straight to your pocket, and any tips that go straight to your pocket, go straight to your running-away-savings. As he clumsily lines up his erection, you lift yourself onto your elbow to assist him in his feeble attempt at entering you, you feel his tip pressed right up against you, simultaneously, you kiss him and sheath yourself entirely. It isn’t anything notable and is in fact somewhat disappointing, nevertheless, you continue to finish the job.

You inhale sharply to sell the fantasy. He grunts again, like some half dead animal, you cringe trying your hardest to not let on as you know that his tips will make the effort worth it. Like a wet dream he was having, you bounce yourself up and down, in and out, in and out, in and out. It isn’t long before you see his head fall back and he stiffens below you, he opens his mouth and grabs your ass, hard. You squeal as you feel his hot seed lacing your insides, you feign your own orgasm, making your legs shake as if you had to convince him like your life depended on it. He buys it; dirty talking you and asking various lewd and cringey questions that make you shudder, if it weren’t for you writhing on top of him, he might have picked up on it. You kiss him before finding your feet, passing him a napkin as he sheepishly cleans himself off, only now feeling shy and vulnerable. He stands and pulls his trousers up; buckling his belt quickly, he then reaches into his breast pocket, he pulls out a stack of fifties, he throws a couple on the floor by your feet. He is trying to regain his masculinity, uncomfortable about looking into your eyes, you used to let it upset you, only you are used to it, each man having the same reaction.

He leaves and you lock the door tight behind him, you tidy up, wiping the chair and cleaning away any fluid that may have made its way to places it doesn’t belong. You wander towards your bathroom; the wooden floor feels cold but welcome on your ever tired feet. You stare into the mirror; a few tears had escaped your eyes without your noticing, it was a pretty normal occurrence for you now.

You glance in the mirror and notice that she is foreign, the girl staring back. Her long brown hair pulled over one shoulder, bruises lacing her frail body, you gently trace a finger over her body and look down to see your body. It is like you are disconnected, her body has not been your body for a long time. You wipe your eyes and turn your shower on, you hop in as it is still running cold.

You inhale sharply. It hurts, and the excruciating pain is welcome, you allow your bare back to fall silently against the wall and slowly lower yourself. You protect your knees with your arms as you grasp them toward you and lay your head between the makeshift protection you have created. Loud sobs escape your lungs as if they'd been brewing for a century.

A long while passes and you don’t hear the door unlocking.

Jools lets himself in, he hears your measly sobs coming from the bathroom and heads toward them, he slides open the shower door, startled, you jump up and let out an ugly shriek, Jools looks at you, pathetic, slim, bruised and sobbing. His head falls to one side as you try to somewhat protect your modesty. Jools has seen everything you have, and you, him, yet it still feels embarrassing and intimate.

“Olive.”, his voice is cool, patient, and laced with a little sympathy, “What am I going to do with you?”, he steps into the shower, allowing his clothes to get sprayed with water, you turn to him and press your forehead to his.

“I am sorry Jools; my emotions are all over the place. I will be ready in ten minutes, just allow me to clean up”, your voice sounds tired and you let out a little sigh. Jools places a hand on your shoulder and gently turns you around. You have been each other’s comfort in such a long life of trauma and you know what is coming next, he picks up your shampoo and lathers some between his hands, he rubs his fingertips into your scalp, scrubbing the dirt of the day out of your hair.

His touch is welcome, if not a little alien. It is rare these days that a pair of hands aren’t grabbing, pulling, pinching or pushing you around, you let out a long sigh, letting go of the anxiety and slowing your heart rate, you close your eyes and allow yourself to be cared for. By the time Jools finishes showering you he is soaked, you both step out into your bedroom. You pull on your skirt and replace your corset, a “uniform” as far as Boss is concerned. You hate it, making you feel vulnerable and cheap, you would rather slip on a t-shirt and shorts, or a loose dress.

Jools discarded all his clothes sans boxers and made himself comfortable on your bed as you were stood contemplating. You stare at him, with his light brown, almost ashy blonde hair. He is handsome, you have always thought this, you just never placed you two together, with him acting the “older brother” for all intents and purposes.

Jools breaks the silence, “Your four o’clock has cancelled, it’s what I came here to tell you” he pats the bed next to him and smiles “come and sit, unless you’re going somewhere”.

You pause momentarily before undoing your skirt again, you let it fall to the ground before reaching for a pair of linen shorts sat on your vanity, pulling them on, you take a few steps before collapsing on the bed next to Jools in complete exhaustion. “I’m tired of fucking the same men Jools” you remark.

“The same men, with the same predictable sex routines, the same sized cocks, the same moves. I’m bored. I’m climbing up the walls, Jools. Throw me a bigger bone, I’m begging you.”, You feel Jools eyes on your face, you let your head fall and meet his gaze. He snorts and pulls himself closer to you. You slide your body next to his and he drapes and arm over your waist.

Your foreheads touching, you lay in comfortable silence for a while. You close your eyes miss him protectively watching over you.

“I’m not sure what I can do for you Ol, unless you want me to fuck you myself. We don’t have much new clientele and any we do have seem like the abusive type, so I deliberately don’t send them your way.” he laughs. You ponder his first sentence, unable to tell if he was joking. You try your luck and shift your weight so you’re straddling him.

“Wh.. what the fuck are you doing Ol?”, You decide that he didn’t mean it, judging by his response. You begin to tickle his sides and he goes bright red before kicking you off, you land on the wooden floor with a loud bang.

“OW. That fucking hurt you fuck.” You stand up and cross your arms like a grumpy child. Jools looks at you and sticks out his tongue, you both pause, waiting for the other to break. It is you who laughs first, shortly followed by Jools who snorts, like a little pig. You can’t stay mad at him, he is so sweet, and you started it, after all.

“I was thinking Jools. If you have some time this afternoon, maybe we could go for a walk?” Your schedule was usually so full you don’t have time to visit outside. It was the beginning of the spring too, so everything was just starting bloom, it was one of the things that gave you a little peace and hope.

“I can’t Ol, I can’t leave the others unattended, in case anything happens, you know the rules” his voice holds a little sadness and disappointment, you can tell he’d like nothing more.

“Maybe I can open up a space for you this weekend? Then we can go out together?” Jools doesn’t work weekends; part of his promotion demands of course, but you did.

“Weekend rates are higher and I rea..” Jools cuts you off.

“I will charge one of your regulars more in the week; I’ll make it up for you, pleaaase?” he draws out.

You look at his face and the little boisterous glint in his eyes. You ruffle his hair like a little boy and laugh.

“Sure thing.”, You reply.

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scarabky · 3 years

Text

So.. my thoughts on The Grace Year below (obviously spoilers)

Here's the thing: I really liked this book. I just wish it was longer.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, the world building, the pace is incredible because it's slow and fast at the same time and it really draws the reader in. I liked Tierney and the rest of the girls and how the felt like girls, even Tierney, Gertrude, and Kiersten felt like teen girls which I love.

I do think there were too many girls. I could be missing some but I counted only 24 names out of 35, and some are named once only to never appear again. I understand that most girls are not meant to be individuals, rather this teen hysterical mob, and that there is a need to highlight how many women can't get married because there aren't enough husbands but I think something around twenty girls would've been enough. Especially considering that a big chunk of the book happens away from the girls. Tierney isn't making connections with them, we don't even know for sure who lived and who died. Again, for mob/groupthink purposes that's fine, and it doesn't matter who lives and who dies for this idea (except for Tierney, obviously, Kiersten, Gertie, and oddly enough Helen), HOWEVER when they come back to the county and the whole point is about this network of women and whatnot, I think it does matter who came back. Even in the campsite we know that each girl is important, each one is a story. They all cling to stories about girls like them and they all have names, and even when one person doesn't say, another will always supply the name of the girl they're talking about. So yeah, I think there were too many girls or too little time to know them a little bit more.

My Lord of the Flies is rusty, but Tierney is our Ralph and Kiersten is our Jack. That much is clear. Jenna and Jessica are probably the twins, though them being more like Roger would make sense too. In that case I think Martha and Nanette are the twins. I think Helen is Simon and Gertrude is Piggy, but it could be the other way around. That would mean that the dove is the pig. I know it's not a 1:1 retelling, but it's a very clear influence, from the epigraph. It's also a way to explain why Helen is so important.

Now the ending before I talk about the love storyline. I don't know if more pages would've solved the problem, but I felt like the last part and a half, from when Hans dies on, felt too fast for anything to settle. I'll be honest, I think there's too many twists too close together. Hans' storyline did surprised me, but everything else was relatively predicable, a matter of how, not if, sometimes not even when. The failed escape plot point was extremely formulaic and uncharacteristically lacking in ambiance. Maybe it was done like that so as to not give away the pregnancy card, but I didn't like it. It felt lackluster compared to the winter scenes in the treehouse. Everything happened too fast but not in a confusing middle-of-the-chase way. To use the Hunger Games comparison, I would've loved the failed escape to play out like the escape from the tunnels in Mockingjay: the narration is fast, the sense of urgency makes you want to read even faster, the details are there for when you go back but on first read they're blurry. Something akin to the climax of Shadow Kiss from the Vampire Academy series could have also worked.

As for the actual ending I have to say it was not what I was expecting. I like the ambiguity and the full-circle feeling but I wanted more interaction between the women at the county, more about the girls adjusting to life, about life adjusting to them. Because this was a weird grace year, they're not exactly like other girls who come back. Sure, the weight of normalcy and structure is very important and very realistic, but the women must know something's different. I just didn't feel like the story was finished at the birth. Again, maybe with a few more pages of life at the county before the birth we could've had a better sense of the sisterhood, how it works, who is in it, how much are they really affected by Tierney and the other girls' "rebellion".

On that same vein, I would've loved to see more about the next year's girls. I know the big moment is supposed so be Tierney's return and announcement and all of that but I think a better ending would've been seeing the first group of girls come back from the new campground. They're still just as scared, they believe in magic. Are they confused? Do they come back emboldened? Do they feel betrayed? When they don't feel the magic, what happens then? Do they come back healthy, strong, and close? Do they still die? What happens if there's no one to poach?

And that perfectly introduces the last thing I wanted to talk about: Ryker. I loved Ryker. Both as a character and as a love interest. I enjoyed the relationship and the build up, I liked the forbidden hurt/comfort love story and I loved how it allows us to get a better picture of society outside of the country.

I read a review that said that the poachers' "redemption" was showing that they're also victims of the patriarchy. I vehemently disagree. I think the storyline actually shows issues of class that intersect the problem of gender oppression. The poachers are part of the system to control and exploit the girls, but they're not the enforcers of it. They're victims not of the patriarchy but of capitalism and poverty that turns them into weapons to keep the patriarchal system in place. I think the relationship between Tierney and Ryker is meant to show that the girls and the poachers have more in common between them than they do with the men of the county. I think a key piece of this are the guards, who are explicitly branches of the county and the council (as opposed to covert branches like the poachers). With the guards there's the expectation that they live to keep the girls safe, but they don't care about them or their safety. We see this not only with how carelessly they let the girls die on the way to the campsite, but also with the revelation that the sense of safety from being an object of desire around the guards is a complete illusion.

I needed more time to warm up to Michael. Sure, it makes sense that he remains one of Tierney's very many blindspots until the very end, and I get the feeling that we're supposed to come out of the book thinking that he's a decent man, but still a man, and a powerful man at that. But none of those options gets enough development.

Anyway I liked the book and the story. I would love more of it to feel in the gaps, but I understand why we didn't get more. I think this is a solid 4/5 for me.

#the grace Year #book review #bookblr

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give-your-name-away · 3 years

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Hunger Games Name Analysis

I remember when I was in middle school I was obsessed with the Hunger Games. I only ever had the first book, but I read it over and over again until it's pages were completely warned out. I didn't care about the romance, but I was hooked by everything else. The games were what drew me in, but the world building is what got me hooked. I could tell very easily how different all the districts were and how the capitol kept them under control. I could see how cruel the country was, but everyone lived with it because they had no other choice. It was fascinating to me.

The Hunger Games is actually what started my love for names in the first place, and there is a very good reason for it. Suzanne Collins was very clever with how she used names in her world building and it shows. It helps fleshes out her world and her districts in a very fascinating and unique way.

It took me a while to put my finger on how exactly she does this, but once I did I found it even more fascinating. The key is she didn't look at her world as a monolith. This sounds obvious, but when it comes to the small things like names it's easy to overlook. Collins did not make this mistake, and in turn each district has their own rules for naming their children.

(If you want to read this on AO3 then the link is here https://archiveofourown.org/works/32092420)

District 12: This is one of the districts we see the most of, as it's the home of the main character, Katniss. Some of the names used are Katniss, Primrose, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, Lucy Grey, Leevy, Posy, and Thom. These are some of the more down to earth names in the universe, and most of them seem familiar, if not a little altered. Peeta seems to be a variant of Peter, Haymitch a variant of Hamish. Leevy could either be decended from Levi or Livy. The names evolved from modern names, which makes sense considering how long in the future it is. In District 12 you either name your children already known names, or names based on nature. (Katniss, Gale, Primrose, Posy, ect) and even some of the natural names change through time. One example is Thom instead of Thorn, or it could be a variation of Thomas.

The thing that is interesting about district twelve is people aren't getting 'creative' with spellings or variants, at least not on purpose. They're naming their children off of things they already know, which is what happened before people had access to things like internet or other cultures to mingle with. District 12 is very isolated, so they use names they already know, names that are familiar even to us. People are also struggling to get by, so they don’t spend much time getting creative.

Capital: The next location we go to is the Capital, and we spend quite a long time there. Some of the names we run into are Coriolanus, Effie, Cinna, Diana, Tigris, Arachne, Seneca, Caesar, Messalla, Octavia, Venia, Urban, and Portia. Most English speakers have somewhat of a familiarity with these names, though more from stories than from people in real life. There seem to be three different categories of names. Names that are descended from Greek names like Effie, Arachne, Portia, Caesar, and Cinna are good examples. There are Roman names like Coriolanus, Diana, Seneca, and Octavia are good examples.

Finally there are the noun names, or noun variant names. They’re not nearly as common it seems, but Tigris and Urban are good examples. They break the rule of exclusively Roman and Greek names which is a good way not to make the Capitol seem like a monolith.

District One: District One names are extremely distinted, and it’s hard not to notice how odd they seem from the beginning, when Katniss mentioned that the district one female was named Glimmer. Other names include Velvereen, Facet, Augustus, Glimmer, Marvel, Cashmere, and Gloss. We don’t have a wide variety of names but the ones we do have are very telling.

There are fabric names like Cashmere, Facet and velvereen, a variant of velveteen. Adjective names are pretty common too. These seem odd to us, but I find them akin to virtue names.

There is an oddball name there, Augustus. It is a Roman name that seems to fit in with the capitol. This could be reminiscent of name trends changing quickly in such an affluent district as he was the victor in the 67th hunger games, or it could just show the closeness between Distinct One and the Capital, to the point that even the baby names are influenced.

District Two: District two names are also distinct, but it’s harder to place exactly why. Some of them are Cato, Clove, Brutus, Enobaria, Lyme, Cray, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, Marcus and Sabyn. As we can clearly see, most of these are Roman. Cato, Brutus, Enobaria, Romulus, Pugnax, Sejanus, and Marcus. Unlike the capital there don’t seem to be any Greek names.

However there are some odd names in the mix. Clove, Lyme, Cray, and Sabyn. They are quite hard to place. Some are real names, but their meanings don’t fit with the district, so I believe Suzanne Collins took the same route as she did in District three (More information below) where she took career related words and altered them enough just to be unrecognizable. After all District two’s official purpose is masonry.

Clove is the present tense of the term Cleave. Lyme is most likely a variant on the word Lye, as the only other thing I could find was the disease, which seems unlikely. Cray could either be the English name that already exists, or a variant of clay.

Sabyn is a bit harder to place, but it seems to be a variant of Sabine, which was a term for people who lived in Rome. It’s not of Roman origin, but it still fits.

District Three: There are only four names to draw from in district three. Beetee, Wiress, Circ, and Teslee. The pattern here is very easy to decipher. They seem to be district career related names, but changed somewhat. Unlike district one names that name their children directly after verbs and nouns very purposefully, district three names are slightly more subtle.

Beetee seems to be based off of the brand name BT. Wiress is clearly based off of Wireless. Circ is a shortened version of Circuit, and Teslee seems to be a variant on Tesla. It’s unlikely that the brands Tesla and BT are still around. They probably just morphed into the language, with the citizens of district three not knowing where they came from, similar to how most people don’t know where names like ‘Mary’ or ‘Zoe’ came from. I’m unsure if Circ and Wiress follow this same pattern, as circuits and wireless seem like they should still exist in the world, but it doesn’t seem purposeful.

District four: District four has much more interesting naming conventions with the names of Mags, Finnick, Annie, Coral, and Mizzen. They seem a little odd, but downright normal.

Coral and Mizzen seem to be the only names that are fishing or water related. Mizzen is the mast in front of a ship's main mast, and Coral is coral. Even then Coral is a perfectly common name in English, so these conventions don’t seem too related to the career of district four.

However Mags is a variant of Margaret, which means pearl. Finnick means marshland, which is a type of wetlands.

Annie does not have a water related name, simply meaning grace. However the existence of both the names Annie and Mags seems to show that it’s common for district four to use nicknames as full names. That itself is not uncommon with how much time had passed, but it is interesting to point out.

District five: While Foxface is from this district ‘Foxface’ is not her real name, so she doesn’t count. There are theories about her real name, but nothing canonical, so I’m not including her. This is a shame because we only have three names to work with. Hy, Sol, and Porter.

The names are very short compared to the other districts. However they also directly relate to the district’s industry of power. While I find this debatable myself Hy seems to be related to Hydraulic power. A little more obvious is Sol being related to Solar power. Porter seems slightly different, named after a porter cable instead of a direct power source.

There isn’t a lot known about this district, so it’s hard to analyze much further.

District Six: Everything about district six is vague. Even it’s industry, which is transportation, isn’t very specific, and there isn’t much to analyze. The names we have are Otto, Ginnee, and Titus.

Names seem to be unrelated to the industry, similar to twelve. Furthermore, similar to twelve the names seem to be alterations on well known names. Otto is just Otto, but Ginnee is a variant on Ginny.

Titus is a bit more complicated. It is a Roman name, like the capitol and the second district. This could mean a lot of things. I find it rather likely that do to their purpose as transportation they have the ability to leave, even if only occasionally, and unlike other districts can absorb certain facets of culture like baby names from outside their district. Of course with such a small sample size this is just a theory.

District Seven: District seven is the lumber district, and the names appear to be very reflective of that, though not in the obvious way. If someone were to think of lumber inspired names they’d probably come up with things like Willow, Oak, Leaf, and Ash, or something obvious. Instead we have Treech, Lamina, Johanna, and Blight.

You really have to look into the meanings, but once you do the implications become clear. Treech is a variant on the word tree. Lamina is the blade of a leaf. Blight is a disease that commonly affects trees and plants, which I find it odd to name your kid after, but it still fits.

Johanna isn’t related to trees in any way, instead it is a common English name. It makes sense for English names to still exist, considering that it takes place in what used to be America. Plus it isn’t the only example of this, as Annie from district four’s name also works like this.

District Eight: We actually have a good sample size from district eight, the district in charge of textiles, despite it being a rather minor district in the story. Bonnie, Bobbin, Cecelia, Woof, Twill, Paylor, and Wovey.

As we see with Bonnie, Cecelia, and Paylor the default names seem to be of European origin rather than Roman origin the further the districts are from the capitol. While I don’t believe this is purposeful I don’t believe it’s entirely accidental. With how far they are from the capitol it makes sense that there wouldn’t be much influence, but on the other hand it also makes sense that the little influence there is wouldn’t be purposefully emulated due to the hatred of the capitol.

The other names seem to be industry related as well. Bobbin is a small tool used in a sewing machine. Woof are the crosswise threads in woven fabric. Twill is a type of fabric weave, and Wovey is from the word wove, the past tense of weave.

Bonnie could either be a normal English name, or a variant of the name Bobbin. Variant names are extremely common, and it’s quite natural that they could develop.

District Nine: District nine is the district of grain, and along with ten we know the least about these two districts. We only have two names to draw from, Panlo and Sheaf, but they are both related to grain.

Sheaf is related directly, as sheaf is the term for when grain is tied together. Panlo is indirectly related, as it is based on the latin word for bread, panis.

District Ten: District ten is the livestock district, but their names don’t seem as related to their industry as the others are. Though we only have three data points to draw from. Brandy, Dalton, and Tanner.

Tanner seems to be the only one directly related to livestock, as Tanner is a career of tanning animal hides.

Brandy is a type of alcoholic drink, and it’s also already a name. Same as Dalton, which means settlement in the valley.

Unlike the other districts all three of these names are actual names used in modern day life. And unlike other districts with common English names these have a distinctly more modern feel to them.

District Eleven: District eleven names are a personal favorite of mine, though I may be slightly biased because of Rue, my favorite character. We have a decent pool to draw from. Rue, Thresh, Chaff, Seeder, Reaper, Martin, and Dill.

I like the symbolism of Rue. The word Rue in english means regret, however it is also a type of flowering plant. Thresh is either named after the method for separating grain from a plant, or the thrush bird. Chaff is the word for a corn husk separated from the corn. A seeder is a type of tool for seeding the ground. Reaper doesn’t mean grim reaper, instead it’s the term for someone who uses a scythe to reap grain. Dill is also a type of herb.

Martin doesn’t relate to the other names, and seems to fall into the ‘leftover English names’ category that seems to exist in all districts.

District Thirteen: District thirteen is an interesting one. They don’t have an industry, not anymore at least, nor do they have any ties to other districts that could influence their names. We have Alma, Boggs, Homes, Mitchell, Jackson, and York.

The interesting thing about these names is that they’re all surnames. Some can be first names like Jackson and Mitchell, but even those ones originate from surnames.

There has been a trend in recent years of parents using surnames as first names. A few examples of this are Sawyer, Taylor, Sutton, Carter, and Madison.

I’m not entirely sure why this trend developed, but I do have a few theories. District thirteen is very strict and militaristic. In such an environment it’s pretty common to refer to people by their surnames, so it makes sense that surnames would start to leak into first names.

Another theory is that referring to someone by their surname was a sign of respect in district 13, similar to how it is in the real world. It’s possible that either consciously or subconsciously parents started using surnames as first names to bring their children prestige. This happens in real life two. One of the most prevalent examples is parents giving their daughters either masculine or male names in hopes that it would help them in the workforce. Of course in district 13 it seems far more widespread than in real life, but unlike real life district 13 has a noticeable lack of outside influences that could provide a more diverse culture.

Although at the end district 13 was taking in refugees from other districts due to their lack of fertility. Their seemed to be people from multiple districts. There was 10% of the population from 12, at least one boy mentioned from 10 and most likely more, quite a few people from the capital, and while it’s only mentioned that two people tried to get there from 8 and failed it wouldn’t be unlikely to assume that there were a few that succeeded in coming to 13. In the future of the universe it would be interesting to see how this would effect naming culture and the development of new names.

#hunger games #the hunger games #district 12 #district 1 #district 2 #the capitol #name analysis

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emmys-grimoire · 3 years

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Lesson 51 analysis + 52 predictions

Eh I decided I had enough time and stuff in my head to write this out now.

The Book and the Flower

The book they found and the flower are too coincidental for them not to have any significance in the upcoming arc, so lets analyze them.

A little on the nose. Satan names his kitties after artists. HE LIKES ART, and the books in the library happen to be about art. He remarks that they’re all much more aligned with his interests than the ones in the actual House of Lamentation, except for one...

Geraniums have different (and sometimes contradictory) symbolism dependent on their color. Pink geraniums were supposedly used in love potions. The owner of the library may have someone they admired, or maybe the book is a metaphor for Satan himself.

This may be alluding to the Bible verse Matthew 14:31:

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

We are undertaking trials named after the seven heavenly virtues in order to earn our Sorcerer’s license. We’ve already knocked out temperance and charity, so it may be related to whichever trial this is supposed to be.

Generally, the verse encourages holding onto faith even in the most tempestuous situations, so my guess would be this is the trial of patience. This promises to be a Satan-heavy arc, and he’s the Avatar of Wrath, so he would be a good candidate to assist in that endeavor. Simeon is also the wielder of the Wrath glowstick. It’s angry bois all around!

Strangely enough, Simeon is insistent on moving onto finding Luke and Mammon at this point, and Satan doesn’t get the chance to skim through the actual contents of the book. It’s a little uncharacteristic of him because he’s generally pretty laid back and he doesn’t seem to be in any particular rush to get out of past once when step into it: he’s willing to faff around with the angel brothers first. He does realize this isn’t searching for Luke and Mammon, right?

So an alternative interpretation is that Simeon really did just conjure all this up for Satan like he later accuses, and reading that book might have dispelled the illusion sooner than he’d like. And he’s just a really good actor telling the “okay” lies. But for this to work Barbatos would have to be in on it too... and I can’t see him having that ulterior motive. His arrival at the cafe is pretty timely, though.

It’s probably just the banshee, and Simeon is just being opportunistic and trying to get Satan to work through his problems along the way. Since he actually likes this period of time, he may not be in a great hurry to leave.

Beelzebub’s Hunger Pangs

In this lesson we learn that Beelzebub is growing quite the appetite and he and the brothers are confused by it. They have good reason to be, because Beelzebub wasn’t a glutton when we first interacted with his past angel self!

This leads me to believe MC meddling with the past may have unintentionally triggered something in past angel Beel that’s unravelling in his timeline. Michael warns us about this effect after he fishes us out of the past the first time. It doesn’t seem like it’s something he can reverse.

I think he means this past Beelzebub is now reacting to our presence in this particular timeline, and we’re jumpstarting the demonic impulses now, sooner than they would normally manifest. In our timeline, he may have let himself go after he fell. Whoops.

The angel bros are also quite certain they know MC now, and “Sully”, which could also mean there’s some kind of transfer going on between their past and present selves with MC at the center, and that might affect how the future unfolds. Which is... not necessarily good.

Compare and Contrast: Simeon vs. Lucifer

We learn that Simeon is very at home in the time period he steps into. He loves the air, and he admits this was the brightest spot of his life.

Simeon was a Seraphim alongside Lucifer and Michael in this period of time. They’re implied to be the rulers of the Celestial Realm, and though Simeon still seems to answer to Michael and Lucifer, he was still close to the seat of power and he was likely involved in determining how the Celestial Realm functioned. It’s implied that the Seraphim spent most of their time in the Celestial Palace: Simeon having fond memories of the time spent there means he enjoyed whatever it is they do there.

Buuuut... I think this may revolve around his affection for Lucifer and Michael more than any of the other Seraphim. It’s implied that he and Michael have a long history together, and that likely applies to Lucifer as well; I think they grew up and climbed the celestial ranks together. He was demoted after the Great Celestial War for reasons left unexplored so far, but it’s telling that functionally his position hasn’t changed and he’s still answering to Michael -- and as far as we know, only Michael. And not all the time lol.

In contrast, Lucifer seems to have tried to mentally bury all his Celestial Realm memories. He acknowledges it wasn’t all bad but those memories for him are far and few in between. He sure as hell doesn’t like to bring them up or discuss them, and will flagrantly lie about it when someone tries to pry some kind of sentiment out of him.

My guess is that Lucifer, and possibly Michael, have a unique relationship with their lovely father that resulted in trauma powerful enough to completely eclipse all the good times Lucifer may have had in the Celestial Realm. Lucifer outright hates making himself vulnerable in any capacity, so he turns from a metaphorical peacock into a metaphorical porcupine when the Celestial Realm is brought up. He can tangentially discuss it with Simeon and MC, though, however sparsely. He will not reminiscence about it in any other setting.

His brothers might have been the only thing that kept him sane through all that, whatever it was. Considering how much Michael seems to miss the brothers, too, it may have been the same situation with him. He and Lucifer might have shared some good ol’ traumabonding that no one else could really understand, but they might have come to entirely different conclusions on what needed to be done about it.

Demons becoming more angelic…?

In a hard mode lesson in Season 2, Barbatos confronts Lucifer about how much he’s changed and what it might mean for the future. In the context of that season, we’re led to believe that this is referencing the upcoming conflict between him and Diavolo: a conflict implied to force Lucifer to choose between his love for his brothers or his loyalty to Diavolo.

Only that doesn’t really happen in Season 2.

Similar to how MC may be triggering demonic changes in the angel brothers, there’s evidence MC is making the present demon Lucifer more angelic. It doesn’t actually stop here, either.

Lucifer doesn’t immediately revert back to his old self even after he regains his memories after his bout of amnesia. Just how he regained them might be noteworthy, too: it was only after Michael invaded our dreams and left in the wake of the Ring of Light ‘choosing’ MC.

This ability to tug the brothers back and forth along the angel/demon spectrum could be something Michael/Simeon might be keen on taking advantage of to get Lucifer and the brothers back. If angels can turn into demons, then logically demons can turn into angels. We do remember Michael is plotting something, right? And whatever it is, Simeon specifically is being used to carry it out (Luke likely is too clueless to really be of much use in this regard).

What I do know is this isn’t a game that’s going to outright vilify the titular Christian archangel or the sexy nowdateable, so regardless of what it is, it’s more likely to end with reconciliation more than anything else. Diavolo’s exchange program requires cooperation with the Celestial Realm, and I think Michael eventually becoming an ally is the only way it could work. Would not bet on daddy being interested, and I don’t think Simeon is gonna stab everyone and take over. This is a harem otome, not an edgy shounen anime.

Also I want my Luke content, damn it. I hope he shows up in the next lesson and gets to faff around with the angel bros, too. I’m afraid they’re going to shove him off until the very end in favor of Satan x Lucifer bonding part 3. It’ll be difficult to fit TWO meaningful character arcs in one lesson, but I’m hoping they try. Why set up all the inner conflict in Luke right beforehand, otherwise?

Don’t let me down, guys.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me lesson 51 #obey me lesson 52 #obey me spoilers #obey me lucifer #obey me simeon #obey me satan #obey me beelzebub #obey me season 3

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clumsy-hood · 3 years

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obey me! demon brothers + kisses

prompt: how the demon brothers kiss mc.

word count: 1,275

a/n: i’ve been thinking of maybe writing for the undateables as well? i noticed my love languages post did pretty well and thought about writing one for them as well (sans luke, of course). let me know what anyone thinks? and as always, thank you for the support! i definitely read every tag with every reblog that comes my way! xx

Lucifer:

Confident by nature, the Avatar of Pride knew the best kisses to suit the mood: He’d curl his finger beneath your chin to offer soft, lingering kisses that left you wanting more or ones heated and passionate as his tongue explored your mouth and mingled with yours, leaving you absolutely breathless. Pressed up against the wall, fingers curled indoor hair, or his hot breath against your skin—Lucifer knows damn well how to tease your senses and leave you wanting more of him. The aggressive, passionate kisses are where he thrives; no touch could be considered innocent as he marked you. That’s all Lucifer’s gaol was. He wanted to claim your heart, body, and soul, leave you gasping for air while begging for more—all starting with your swollen lips. Every breathless moan of his name elicited from your mouth as a call for victory. And with you nestled into his side after a long day, the corners of your mouth quirked upward in a tired smile after pressing a kiss to your forehead was as loving as those that took your breath away.

Mammon:

If you were ever the one to initiate the kiss, it was as though all of Mammon’s false bravado completely melted away, and every muscle in his body tensed from your touch—almost as though he was hesitant to kiss you back. Honestly, it would take a bit of coaxing on your part before he’d start kissing you back, but once he was comfortable, then damn. Let’s just say he’s the Avatar of Greed for a reason. It was like he was suddenly a demon possessed, all of his kisses were just as greedy and needy as his name—and if we’re being honest, a bit sloppy at times—and it was as though he couldn’t ever get enough of you. His hands would tug you until your body was pressed flush against hist, finding purchase at the back of your neck or firmly at your hips. Sometimes his kisses roamed along your jawline and neck just to hear the sounds you’d make. Once you gave him the go-ahead, all he wanted was more and more, and Mammon would explore every bit of you he could because he can never get enough of you.

Levi:

Levi’s kisses are a bit similar to Mammon at the beginning—especially if you were the one to initiate them. He’d be stiff and awkward, overthinking the whole situation because he WANTS to kiss you but why? Why would a normie like you want to kiss an otaku like him? But once he built up enough confidence, he liked to peck you quickly on the nose or cheek to show you affection—even if his face was redder than a tomato and he’d stutter an ‘I love you’ at your grin. The more heated moment, however, were less sweet and a bit more sloppy; Levi’s kisses could be possessive in a way similar to Mammon’s—he wasn’t so much greedy for your touch as he was desperate and needy for it. Bless him, Levi would try really hard at being passionate—and could, under the right circumstances—but could never quite get there sometimes without getting too uncomfortable so you both settled for the cutesy kisses here and there. He might not be as confident or experienced as his brothers, but he definitely puts in the effort to show you love in his own way.

Satan:

Careful, controlled, and passionate—those were the best words to describe Satan’s kisses. Maybe it’s all the books he’s read with romantic subplots and declarations of love, but the Avatar of Wrath always admired little romantic gestures and took advantage to treat you as such. He’d kiss your wrist or knuckles every time you held his hand, and pressing his lips to your forehead while murmuring a ‘goodnight’ was customary before you both drifted to sleep. But similar to Lucifer, Satan wanted to put forth every ounce of his affection towards you when he kissed you on the mouth—the feel of your soft lips, mouths melding together, and nipping at the tender flesh. The only signs of his anger coming out during any makeout session showed in his possession—gripping you more tightly and pressing you against whatever surface he could find, wading his knee between your thighs just to feel you gasp against his skin. You tasted so soft and sweet, he just wanted to corrupt all of you—mark you, kiss you, love you until all you can see and feel is him.

Asmo:

Despite being the Avatar of Lust, Asmo didn’t always have ulterior motives whenever it came to kissing you. Actually, he loved to pepper your face in adoring kisses until your cheeks were flushed and nose scrunched in delight from his touch. Simple touches and kisses were a hallmark of your relationship: a gentle kiss to your nose some mornings, several pecks to your cheeks or lips as a greeting or farewell, a soft kiss to your forehead when you’d ready for sleep, and the occasional caress or nibble to the shell of your ear or your earlobe whenever he felt bored or wanted to share his love. It was the best way for him to show you how much he loved you. But when he wanted a little more? If you were in the mood, his lips would stray from your face and travel along your body, each as attentive and loving—often paired with spilled words of praise and compliments—while he lavishes you with his love and adoration, never rough but always bold.

Beel:

A demon whose hunger can never seemingly be sate, Beel’s kisses were often a stark difference from his usual craving—soft and sweet, like lavender and honey. Sure, part of that gentleness was a result of your height difference—with the demon’s stature practically dwarfing you in size—but it just helped, in his eyes, to kiss you as softly and sweetly as you felt to him. Honestly, just sweet makeout sessions like that were enough to tide him over for quite some time. Not to mention, he absolutely loved to sneak a peck every now and then whenever you’d just eaten or drunk something, loving the aftertaste lingering on your lips. Kissing you in public wouldn’t be commonplace for you, but he preferred to savor those behind closed doors with you—whether during cuddles or study session in his bed or with you perched on his lap. But he is still the Avatar of Gluttony for a reason, and the moment you give him the go-ahead, any exposed flesh was fair game for him to kiss, nibble, and suck as ravenously as you’d expect.

Belphie:

Lazy, tired kisses—no matter if they’re sweet or sloppy in nature—could best describe the ones shared in yours and Belphie’s relationship. He is, after all, the Avatar of Sloth but any affection shared between you was still genuine and heartfelt—even if the demon was acting a little bratty. Nuzzling your neck with lips pressed against the tender flesh was his tradition before you’d drift off to sleep—insisting either that or a kiss from you would guarantee him sweet dreams. He’d definitely enjoy teasing, leading you to believe you were going in for an innocent peck before nipping at your bottom lip—his laughter only preceded by the gasp that escaped you. It would all be in harmless fun, especially the sloppy wet kisses he’d plant across your neck and collarbone just to get a squeal out of you. When the scales would tip to something more intense, the nips and kisses were wrought with passion and accompanied by roaming hands while he’d murmur thoughts absentmindedly against your skin.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me! shall we date?#obey me headcanons #obey me hc #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me imagine #obey me blurb #obey me drabble #clumsy-hood #my writing #commissions open

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beebrainedstudios · 3 years

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A Few Notes About ADSOM’s Writing/Themes Type Stuff

Because I’m in the mood to ramble and have a few opinions about some smaller things in the series that I actually think are really cool/smart writing. This is all personal opinion and is based on a bunch of half-formed thoughts and realizations, so if you disagree or think I missed something, please know I probably did, I’m just jotting this down for fun and have not fully explored all these concepts yet. They just seem neat at first glance. Also, other books have probably done some of this stuff too; I’m not saying Schwab is the only one who’s done any of this stuff, I’m just saying that it’s cool that it’s in ADSOM.

- First of all, props to Schwab for Alucard. I know there have been plenty of authors who have brought new characters in later in a series with no prior warning, but I have rarely seen one so immediately popular and gripping in a trilogy as Alucard except for Finnick from the Hunger Games. Alucard’s introduction doesn’t come at the cost of another character (as in, he’s not there to make someone who’s supposed to be bad look even worse) and his arc doesn’t supersede anyone else’s. He’s great, and the fact that he is generally considered part of the main group despite being introduced a whole book later is awesome and a testament to his character.

- Sort-of connected to the previous point, but I think one of the reasons Alucard works so well is that he doesn’t have a giant arc. Everyone else in the series has a fairly complex internal conflict going on (excluding Lila, but she still has a long arc even if it’s shallow) and Alucard does too, but his is one that suits his shorter presence in the story; he doesn’t have to become king/learn to stop running from responsibility/change allegiances every five minutes. He just has to figure out how to confess a painful secret to several people who aren’t willing to listen. Schwab, especially in ADSOM, isn’t afraid to give characters different size arcs at different times; if you graphed them all, it wouldn’t be a bunch of near-identical lines that could be mistaken for one, it’d be a bunch of crazy curves that start and end at different times and reach different heights. When authors who have larger casts do this, it instantly makes the story twice as engaging. Alucard’s just a good example of this.

- I know this one’s a bit more controversial, but Kell/Lila actually has a lot of narrative potential for Threads of Power. In the main series, it’s framed against Rhy/Alucard, which is already an established relationship (even if it took a break) where the two characters know each other well; this is why, once Alucard can confirm he never meant to leave, the two get back together relatively smoothly and happily. Their relationship is much more matured than Kell and Lila’s, which is why Kell/Lila’s chemistry can sometimes read as a little strange (at least to me), and why I don’t think it’s necessarily a perfect relationship just yet. Lila is a very strong personality with a bit of a demanding streak; Kell in turn has a massive problem with caving to others and refusing to stand up for himself (I’m gonna talk about this later). Left unchecked, this will become a problem, but if addressed in Threads of Power, it can lead to two really engaging arcs with Kell learning he does not have to be everyone’s emotional punching bag and with Lila learning that it isn’t enough to just stay in a relationship- there has to be give and take, something she hasn’t demonstrated well yet. Maybe they’ll even take a break in Threads of Power to give the pair time to mature (I’m personally rooting for Alucard and Kell to somehow get stuck together while Lila gets stuck with Rhy). IDK, I think Kell/Lila is cool, especially when taken as a work in progress over a fully fledged relationship.

- This is part of the previous point and part of the following one, but I think the fact that Kell’s personality and problems are largely focused on his tendency to avoid conflict is a really cool idea for a protagonist, especially a man (note that I’m not calling him weak here). This may not sound like Kell’s personality, but let me explain. Kell is insanely noncombative, and almost everything he does to try and solve a problem reads to me as him actively trying to avoid confronting someone about it. “I don’t feel like part of the royal family because I have no princely attributes despite being one in name, and while I acknowledge I’m lucky I still can’t get rid of these feelings”- Smuggles instead of talking to the Maresh (he tried with Rhy and Lila and look how that turned out). “I’m feeling pent-up because I almost died multiple times in less than twenty-four hours/have trauma and am being punished with isolation/no longer even being called a son despite the fact my magic acts up when this happens”- Competes in the Essen Tasch instead of talking to Maxim. “I hate you because you hurt my brother’s feelings when you abandoned him and I had to pick up the pieces”- Consistently antagonizes Alucard instead of really confronting him/letting him explain himself because that would mean that Kell’s ingrained-trained protectiveness of Rhy has caused another problem. Kell is a character who seems very proud and sure of himself, but when one looks closer, he actually has very little confidence. He has no self-respect, and that sets him up great for his narrative foil- Holland.

- Holland and Kell have a complex narrative relationship as two very well developed foils, and a lot of this has been addressed by the fandom before, but one of the most interesting points I haven’t seen much of is their thematic exploration of respect vs pride. Holland is a character who doesn’t like himself- this much is obvious- but while he takes no pride in his own actions, he has an insane amount of self-respect. He has to be literally forced into following another’s will, he doesn’t let other people’s opinions get himself down, he gives as good as he gets always no matter how hard it is. Holland has to be beaten into submission, and even then he simmers with righteous anger over it because he knows he should get to make his own choices. Holland has self-respect; I may hate myself, but that doesn’t mean I will let you disrespect me.

Meanwhile, Kell is a people-pleaser who puts on a facade of confidence who never actually uses it. Kell has pride in himself- in things like his magic, his coat, his wit- but he doesn’t actually have a lot of self-respect. He folds to anyone who is more demanding than him (AKA everyone else in the series), and the other characters abuse this constantly. Rhy, whether he means to or not, uses his influence over Kell to keep him from standing up to the Maresh over their constantly-shifting parenting positions. Maxim and Emira use their affection and respect like bait to get Kell to do what they want even when he’s uncomfortable. Lila can yell at Kell about his upbringing or accuse him of overprotectiveness (sometimes fairly, sometimes not) and Kell will simply stop talking. Kell just lets this happen; he doesn’t ever stand up for himself because he has been convinced things are usually his fault. I may like myself just fine, but I will let you walk all over me because it’s not my place to stop you and I’m probably the problem and also I shouldn’t have wanted XYZ in the first place. It doesn’t matter how much Kell debates with himself if he started the conflict or if he rails against the way he’s addressed- as long as Kell isn’t respected by his loved ones or the people around him, he won’t respect himself, and that is simultaneously really interesting and really, really sad.

- Also on the Holland and Kell front, Holland using Kell as the metaphorical scapegoat for his issues makes perfect sense, especially since I think he actually knows he isn’t in the right. Kell is often in places where Holland is at least uncomfortable and at worst in pain, and he is the tangible representation of Red London, the world Holland hates most of all. I’m convinced Holland’s brain put two and two together, which is why Holland often punishes/hurts/hates Kell for Red London’s systemic issues even when it is obvious to everyone involved Kell isn’t to blame. Holland lashes out at Kell in their first meeting because he’s offended that Red London is successful and White London is not; this isn’t Kell’s fault. He blames Kell for a)killing him and b)killing the Danes and stealing his vengeance; this also isn’t Kell’s fault. He even seems to get a little bit of satisfaction over the idea of sicking Osaron on Red London through Kell, despite the fact that making a deal with Osaron wasn’t Kell’s idea either; it was Holland’s (Kell didn’t have a choice to kill him and didn’t think he’d survive, but Holland still seems to interpret it as Kell banishing him to Black London, even though he would absolutely do the same thing in his shoes). Holland is a very angry person and Kell is unfortunately put in his way a lot, but I still think it’s neat that the very-rational Holland seems to have an awareness that this behavior isn’t fair/has unfair intentions but still is unwilling to stop anyway. He’s using this grudge as a coping mechanism and that feels really realistic to me.

- Minor point here, but the knowledge that eye color and stuff is incredibly varied and changes with magic use makes my little artist heart very happy indeed.

- I’m a big Osaron fan, and one of the things about him that I think is really cool is how completely unconcerned with revenge he is. Yes, he holds grudges against the Antari, but he doesn’t seem to care that he got locked in Black London for centuries. He has taken no personal offense over it, and that makes him seem even more inhuman to me- Holland spent like six hours in Black London and he carried that grudge for ages. Also, his complete certainty that he was not going to repeat the Black Plague in Red London is hilarious to me- he’s like a dog that keeps knocking its toy somewhere it can’t reach because it doesn’t compute that repeating the same action will always have the same result. Surely this won’t go wrong again, Osaron thinks, as the world once again starts dying off. He’s kind of an idiot, and I love that.

- The fact that Kamerov is both a knight and silver themed during a time when Rhy is throwing himself into his role as the Golden Prince may be unintentional, but is still cool nonetheless.

#i may reblog this later with more if i have any other revelations #but for now this will do #adsom #a darker shade of magic #shades of magic #ve schwab #agos #a gathering of shadows #a conjuring of light #acol #adsom theory #adsom headcanon #bee rambles #alucard emery #rhy maresh #kell maresh #lila bard #holland vosijk

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katnissmellarkkk · 3 years

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Okay, onto my liveblog for chapter two of The Hunger Games :

Katniss’ flashback to falling out of a tree and being unable to breathe is such a good analogy, I steal it all the time in my own fics.

I wish the boy who held her up so she didn’t fall was given a name? Katniss just can’t provide names very easily, can she? 😅

“The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn’t mattered” is actually an amazing quotable moment, someone make an edit pronto 👏

No one’s happy when a twelve year old is chosen but ya know. As soon as that kid turns thirteen, off with them! Fair game! 😭😂😅🙃

Hmmm how many of these kids knew immediately Katniss would volunteer for her sister? The way there was a boy ready to catch her before she fell and the way they all just cleared a path for her...

Katniss’ love for Prim had to be prominent because the other kids all seemed to be aware she would volunteer and Katniss claims this is a completely radical, unheard of thing to do. Sooo yeah. Her school peers probably noticed her a lot more than she realized.

Ooo. I just noticed the word choice in “district twelve hasn’t had a volunteer in decades”

Was there a point in time when Twelve had volunteers?

Awww the mayor being sad that Katniss is probably gonna die because he knows her as Madge’s friend 😭😩🤧.

Awww Katniss got presented a medal when her father died, I forgot 🥺🥺🥺

“Bet my buttons” is the worst phrase in history 🤨😐🤭

I like that Katniss’ dead father still has a reputation around these parts 🤧

Helps my fic writing brain to clock it for future reference

Maybe I’m just not nice but I don’t see how Prim is so wonderful that no one can help but love her. Like idk. I feel like this is just Katniss’ bias leaking through. Which is fine it’s better than some clinically detached narrator I hate those FYI

Omg everyone is saluting Katniss and she’s realizing people adore her 🥰🥰

Also ... does this mean Peeta did the three finger salute to her just before being called himself? Idk random thoughts, ignore me.

Katniss is in danger of crying. If this was me, I’d just be sobbing on the ground already.

Haymitch , the og rebel. Looking right into the cameras and calling the Capitol out.

Also ironic how the first thing Haymitch says to / about Katniss is “I like her!” when he spends the rest of the series pretending he, in fact, does not.

“Oh no, not him” is such a love interest introduction, y’all. Gale never stood a chance.

I like how Katniss considers it bad luck for her that Peeta was called 😅. Like... already taking ownership of the boy, sweetheart?

I feel like this is a good time to remind people that medium height is like 5’10. Stop headcanoning Peeta short. Poor Joshy though.

I like how she has never spoken to Peeta but describes the way his hair falls in waves over his forehead 😭🤧

Seems like Katniss thinks Peeta took being called relatively well.

“He has two older brothers, I know, I’ve seen them in the bakery” why is she already trying to defend herself to the audience like “I wasn’t really paying any attention to Peeta Mellark I just happened to notice he had brothers because I saw them once okay?”

Omg Katniss just outright asserting that Peeta’s middle brother definitively won’t volunteer for him. Girl, you just said you don’t know him or his family 😅😅😅.

“Why him?” Still has such a destined, soulmates feel to it. I know they weren’t destined and that’s what a lot of people admire about their relationship but the writing here has always had such a “this guy right here is her soulmate” slant to it, I’m sorry.

“He’s probably forgotten our only interaction. But I haven’t. And I know I never will.” Still continuing with the soulmate-y narration here, Suz Suz, I see.

Oh my god I don’t even remember this line but it’s so sad 🥺🥺🥺🥺🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧🤧😩😩😩😩😩

“The numbness of his loss had passed, and the pain would hit me out of nowhere, doubling me over, racking my body with sobs. ‘Where are you?’ I would cry out in my mind. ‘Where have you gone?’”

I’m so sad now. 😭😭😭

I like that Katniss said “no amount of pleading from Prim” would affect her mother’s depression, as if Katniss easily believes that her own pleas don’t matter but her sister’s are what’s impossible to ignore.

She really needs to stop putting Primmy on this pedestal though it’s not as cute the second or third read around.

“I suppose now that my mother was locked in some dark world of sadness, but at the time, all I knew was that I had lost not only a father, but a mother as well.” I feel like this is just criminally undiscussed. Katniss didn’t know or understand or grasp what depression even was. Like it’s hard enough for kids to forgive parents who abandon them to mental illness when they’re aware what mental illness is. Let alone if you’re just stuck for months / years, not knowing that your mother was sick, instead thinking she just stopped caring for you.

Omg Katniss saying she couldn’t let Prim go to a community home 🤧. Selfless of her. But also sister worry about yourself.

I’m just kidding, I know it’s her character to only be concerned with her little sister above all else.

Mr. Everdeen hating how coal dust settled on everything in the Seam is such a small but interesting detail.

Omg so the meadow is a common place to find corpses of those who starved to death? We maybe should stop romanticizing it.

I like that Mr. Everdeen took Katniss places with him but was like “Hmm, imma leave Prim home, she isn’t cut out for the hunting life”

Idk Katniss being too afraid and shy to go to the Hob without her dad is such a little kid thing though.

Katniss explaining that she was essentially in the merchants backyard

She was essentially dying in Peeta’s backyard 🤧

Wow, I forgot how blatantly violent Peeta’s mother was

Maybe it’s just Katniss’ perspective but every interaction is just her screaming

Aww, his mother called him a stupid creature, why don’t I remember this.

This is so sad omg.

Poor both of them.

One’s starving to death, the other’s utterly abused mentally, verbally and physically.

What’s a weal?

I always read that word as a welt.

Ok I googled it, it’s a big red swollen mark.

So same thing.

Omg now Katniss is saying Mrs. Mellark hit him with an object weapon. This just keeps getting more and more.... sad.

Honestly I haven’t read the books cover to cover since I was a teenager, some of this is a surprise to me.

I always wondered though how that bread was any good, it literally fell onto the wet ground. 😟🤢

Aww, Katniss saying Peeta would get a full beat down if discovered that he burned the breads to feed her 🥵🥵🥵

Okay but if his mother hit him with an object and his eye swoll up and blackened the next day, that could be another reason why he tossed the bread in her general direction and didn’t look at her. I know it was so he wouldn’t be caught by his mother but also he probably couldn’t even see clearly where she was.

The dandelion symbolism 🤧😅😭🥳

Her sarcasm 🤣🤣🤣

Katniss just keeps comparing Peeta to the loaves of bread 😅😅😅

Also she keeps calling him warm and solid and steady

I’m starting to think unconsciously she was already finding herself attracted to him even here.

Him squeezing her hand reassuringly and her chalking it up to a nervous spasm 🙃

I hope when they got married they got a nice screencap of this shot of them on TV facing the crowd, shaking hands.

Make a nice anniversary photo.

Okay, that’s all for my thoughts on chapter two! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

#thgagain #also yes I used a Jen gif leave me be

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raindancer2004 · 3 years

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A Cullen / Volturi Christmas

Word Count: 2,953 Demetri x OC Cullen Part Four - Final Part. Warnings: Fluff

Demetri decided Carlisle needed to hear the news from him and noone else and tracked him down to his guest room. He knocked on the door “Come in” Esme called softy and Demetri opened the door stepping inside to see Carlisle and Esme sitting on the sofa by the fire. “Hello Demetri, it’s nice to see” Carlisle greeted him with a smile “Hello Carlisle, Esme, it’s nice to see you too” He replied and Esme sensed he was nervous. “Come and sit with us” She gestured to the chair to the left of the sofa “You seem a little nervous, everything ok?” She asked and he shifted in the chair whilst trying to collect his thoughts “I do have something I want to talk to you about...I just hope...oh god why is this so...breathe Demetri” He was looking at the floor now; Esme and Carlisle couldn’t help smiling, they had never seen Demetri this nervous, flustered even “Does this have anything to do with Lily?” Esme asked gently, Demetri looked up at her and nodded “Is she ok?” She asked and he nodded again and took an unneeded breath “Firstly Carlisle, I want to say that I value our friendship and was pleased; honoured even when you asked me if Lily could stay with me, as it meant that you trusted me with her, trusted me to keep her safe...” He paused and breathed in again “Secondly, I want you both to know that I think a lot of your daughter, of Lily. She’s an amazing person, she’s funny, kind, loving and I’ve enjoyed getting to know her” Esme was smiling at him not that he had noticed as he continued to tell them how great their daughter is “As my friend I wanted to be the one to tell you and Esme that I have found my mate...in Lily” He finished and felt so nervous he didn’t make eye contact with either of them.

After a moment’s silence Carlisle spoke “I kind of figured something had developed between you as you both get along with one another so easily and I have noticed the little looks you two share when you think noone is looking” If Demetri could blush he would be. “So you’re not angry about it?” “No Demetri, we are not. It’s a bit of a surprise but if I’m being honest...if my daughter’s mate had to be a Volturi guard, I’m really glad it’s you” Esme said softly smiling at him “You really mean that” He replied low “Yes we do because we know you can and will protect her, love her forever” Carlisle replied “I know you threatened the lower guards with dismemberment and the dungeons, if they hurt Lily, even after she moved into your room” He added “I thought that was rather sweet actually” Esme said smiling at Demetri “Has she accepted you as her mate?” She asked “Yes, she has. I gave her a necklace this morning...it’s kinda how I told her...she was mine” Demetri replied; Esme stood up and he did the same when he saw her hold out her arms to him “Welcome to the family Demetri” She said warmly as she hugged him “Thank you” He replied as he hugged her back “Don’t worry about our friendship either, nothing has changed” Carlisle said as he shook his hand whilst patting him on the shoulder “Thank you Carlisle, truly.” Demetri replied. He made his way back to his room pleased that Carlisle and Esme approved of him and Lily. Once back in his room he climbed into bed beside her and held her whilst she slept.

It had continued to snow overnight and it was still snowing when Lily woke up Christmas morning; lying in Demetri’s arms “Merry Christmas Demi” “Merry Christmas Lily” He replied, kissing her lips gently “I trust you slept well?” “I did, thank you Dem.” “Just to warn you Lils, you do have a few bruises from last night and I’m sorry for that” He said low as he rested his forehead to hers “Don’t worry about them Demi, I’m not. I enjoyed last night…I enjoyed being with you” She placed her hands to his face as she kissed him “Oh Lils, I enjoyed being with you too…more than you know. It’s just…I promised I wouldn’t hurt you and…” “You haven’t hurt me…it’s just a few bruises Dem. I’ll be fine” She cut him off “Besides you marked me last night as yours” She smiled at him “That’s.because.you.are.mine” He said between kisses “Well bruises I can hide…your mark I cannot” She replied “Don’t worry about that. I spoke to your parents last night whilst you slept…I wanted them to hear about us from me… and noone else” “How-how did they take the news?” “They were ok with the news…your mom said she was glad you’re with me and welcomed me into the family with a hug. Carlisle said that you and I being mates will not affect my friendship with him either” Demetri answered “Glad they approve of you…of us. Oh and get used to the hugs as that’s mum’s thing” Lily giggled at the last part “I think I can survive a few hugs now and then” He chuckled back.

Demetri and Lily were cuddling on the sofa “I have a few gifts for you mi amore” He knelt down on the floor by the tree and Lily joined him “I have a few gifts for you too babe” She replied smiling. They each took turns in opening their gifts. Lily bought Demetri Peppermint bath bombs, The Hunger Games trilogy and a pair of red and black check pyjama bottoms and matching black t-shirt. “Thank you for my gifts cara mia, they’re great” He said smiling and leaned towards her capturing her lips in a loving kiss. Demetri bought Lily a pair Disney’s Sleeping Beauty pyjamas, Cranberry Martini bath bombs and a reindeer charm for her charm bracelet “Thank you Demi, I love them” She climbed onto his lap wrapping her arms around him and kissed him passionately “I love you Dem” “I love you too Lils.”

Once everyone was in the family room the Secret Santa gift exchange commenced. Demetri watched as Renesmee opened her Secret Santa present from him; her eyes lighting up upon the seeing the ‘Beach Barbie and Barbie’s Beach House.’ Lily watched Jane open her Mac make-up; two eye shadow quads, a contouring kit and a selection of lip pink glosses. “Thank you Lily” Jane said smiling “How-how did you…?” “It was a guess sweetie” Jane replied. Alec opened his gift from Chelsea; a book of poetry and a book containing 365 puzzles; one for each day of the year. Felix watched Lily intently wanting to see her reaction to his Secret Santa gift of Disney’s Twisted Tales; volumes 1 and 2. “Oh my god. I love them. Thank you to whoever got me the books” Lily said smiling “Thank you for the gift ideas Esme” Felix said low to Esme, who smiled back “You’re welcome.” Demetri’s Secret Santa gift was from Gianna and she bought him a navy blue shirt and a pair Christmas socks. Everyone was talking and laughing and trying to guess who their Secret Santa was.

Everyone gathered in the ballroom and had sat around the long tables that were covered in blue tablecloths with silver Stag decorations standing in the centre. Christmas songs were playing in the background whilst Gianna, Lily and Ness ate their Christmas dinner and the vampires drank their silver glasses of blood, although Demetri did try some of Lily’s Turkey out of curiosity and wasn’t that impressed. ‘Baby it’s cold outside’ had started playing and Demetri got up from the table, turning to his left and took Lily’s warm hand in his cold one “May I have this dance?” She nodded and he led her a little further into the room before taking her into his arms, starting to slow dance with her. They swayed to the music whilst quietly singing to one another; he spun her away from him and pulled her back into him, her back to his chest and swayed them side to side a little, him smiling into her hair as he held her close. He then turned her in his arms so she was facing him and taking one hand in his and raising it above her head he twirled her on the spot before dancing around the floor with her in his arms. Lily was smiling at him ‘He’s such a good dancer’ she thought to herself as he led her around the floor. He dipped her a little then bought her back into his arms before he spun her away from him again. He pulled her back to him; her back to his chest and they swayed side to side again, him enjoying holding her in his arms, noticing she had relaxed into him smiling, her eyes closing briefly. He then turned her in his arms so she was facing him again and looking down at her lovingly before taking one hand in his again and raising it above her head twirling her on the spot and they continued to dance, twirl and sway around the floor.

They were so caught up in themselves they didn’t notice that Gianna and the room full of vampires were watching them dance together. Aro, Marcus, the wives, Esme and Carlisle all had big smiles on their faces as they watched the newly mated couple dance together. “He’s quite the romantic isn’t he?” Esme whispered to Carlisle smiling “Yes, yes he is…and he’s perfect for her” He responded low holding his wife’s hand in his. ‘Well done my dear boy’ Marcus thought to himself smiling. “I think our tracker has finally met his mate” Heidi said low to Felix as Demetri held Lily to him and swayed to the music once more “Her siblings are just going to love him” Alec said smirking as he watched them move around the floor effortlessly together; Jane nodded smiling, thinking how Edward is probably going to disapprove the most out of her siblings. Demetri dipped Lily low as the song ended before bringing her back up into his arms; arms wrapping around her waist “Merry Christmas baby” He whispered in her ear “Merry Christmas handsome” She replied low wrapping her arms around his neck.

Breaking the news to their families was easier than they thought as some of them had noticed how close the pair had become since the Cullens had arrived at the castle, others noticed the necklace Lily wore bearing the message ‘Mine for eternity. D’ in Italian. Others kind of figured it out watching Demetri and Lily dancing after dinner. Edward read Demetri’s thoughts and discovered they were together; growling low catching the attention of Bella and Emmett. Edward’s reaction made Demetri smirk and he watched as he filled in Bella and Emmett on the news “As long as he continues to protect her I have no issues with them being together. I mean he clearly loves her Edward” Emmett says looking over at Lily and Demetri talking with Esme and Carlisle “Mom and dad obviously approve too” He added. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it. He’s older than all of us and he’s a Volturi” “Edward” Aro said in a warning tone “Demetri deserves to be happy and it would seem that your sister is key to that…she has accepted him and you will not interfere” Aro added before making his way over to the couple.

“Demetri, Lily I’m so happy you two found each other and wish you a long and happy life together” Aro said smiling at them “Welcome to the family my dear” Aro added smiling at Lily “Thank you Aro” Lily smiled at him, Carlisle and Esme were smiling too. “Oh Demetri, my dear boy I’m so glad you finally found your one…and she’s so pretty” Sulpicia said smiling, placing her hands on Lily’s face “Thank you mi’ lady” Demetri replied bowing his head. “Welcome to the family child” “Thank you” Lily added with a smile “Where is she? Where is the beautiful human that’s captured our dear Demetri’s heart?” Athenodora says as she pushes past Aro and Sulpicia to wrap Lily in a hug; Caius is right behind her. Demetri couldn’t help smiling seeing how excited the wives were to meet Lily and how easily they accepted her; how easily Caius accepted her too considering their history with her family. “I would like to welcome you to the family too, although it would appear our brother Marcus kept this news all to himself” Caius said looking at Marcus; who just smiled and shrugged “I wanted them to figure things out for themselves without any interference…and I think it worked out rather well…don’t you?” Marcus replied sounding a little smug.

That night Demetri ran them a bath using one of the peppermint bath bombs Lily gave him for Christmas “Bath’s ready when you are Lils” He called softly from the bathroom; Lily was in the closet putting away the clothes and shoes she had received for Christmas from her family. She made her way into the bathroom to see Demetri already laying in the bath “Déjà vu” She said smiling “Not quite…you’re still wearing your robe” He replied; his smile widened when she dropped the robe and walked towards the tub “You’re so beautiful baby” He said as she climbed in and sat in front of him, he pulled her to him one arm wrapping around her, the other turning her head towards him as he placed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. “This is the best Christmas ever…and I should know I’ve celebrated quite a few” He said looking at her with nothing but love and adoration in his ruby eyes “I agree Dem. This has been the best Christmas ever.” She kissed him back before resting her head on his chest and enjoying their shared bath.

It was New Year’s Eve and everyone gathered in the North facing garden waiting in anticipation for ‘Emmett and Felix’s New Year Extravaganza’ They had gone all out and bought fireworks, sparklers and party poppers “We’re going to see the New Year in with style with our family and friends” Emmett said smiling wide “This is bound to end in disaster” Jane muttered low “Just watch him set himself alight” Demetri chuckled low in Lily’s ear “Oh be nice. He’s your best friend” She said looking up at him “That was me being nice…I could have said watch as he sets your brother alight” He chuckled again and Lily joined in “That’s very true Dem” Once the firework display was over they all went back inside to the throne room and everyone danced the night away. Everyone counted down to midnight “Happy New Year” greetings rung out the room. “Happy New Year handsome” Lily smiled up at Demetri, kissing him “Happy New Year baby” He replied kissing her back and tightening his hold on her waist “Here’s to the first of many New Year celebrations we get to share together” He added kissing her again.

The day had arrived for the Cullens to leave and Demetri was dreading having to watch Lily leave him and return home with her family. Demetri entered the closet expecting to find Lily packing but she wasn’t, she was just staring at her clothes in the closet. He came up behind her and gently turned her to face him “Stay with me Lils…please” He looked into her eyes and he knew her answer instantly “Yes. Yes” She said excitedly and wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him; he lifted her into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. He growled low as she bit his bottom lip gently and she slipped her tongue into his mouth deepening the kiss, their tongues moving against each other as he tightened his hold on her waist hugging her to him. “I love you Lily” He said low resting his forehead to hers “I love you too Demi” She whispered in reply.

They went and spoke to Carlisle and Esme; telling them that she wanted to remain in Volterra with Demetri. “Hi mom, dad can we come in?” “Of course hunny. What’s on your mind?” Demetri and Lily entered the room and sat on the sofa; Lily took a deep breath and Demetri squeezed her hand reassuringly “I know we are supposed to go home this evening but…I want to stay here. I want to stay with Demetri” “We thought you might so we have spoken to Aro, Caius and Marcus and they have agreed that you can stay here with them and that you are able to leave and come home to us whenever you want” Carlisle replied “You mean you really do not mind?” Demetri asked his friend “Of course we do not mind. You’re mates and shouldn’t be kept apart and with Lily staying here for a little while means the two of you can continue to get to know one other; strengthen your bond” Esme replied “Just remember Lily you will always have a home with us and you Demetri are welcome to come back with Lily with anytime. After all we are all family now” She added smiling and hugging both Lily and Demetri.

Later that evening as they waved off her family at the airport Lily turned to Demetri and smiled up at him “I am looking forward to spending forever with you Demi” “Me too Lils, me too” He replied smiling looking down at her in his arms “Our forever starts now” He adds softly.

#demetri volturi #felix volturi #jane volturi #alec volturi #aro volturi #marcus volturi #caius volturi #Heidi Volturi #volturi #carlisle cullen #esme cullen #renesmee cullen #edward cullen #bella cullen #emmett cullen #rosalie hale #alice cullen #jasper hale #the cullens

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