#Dulcinea might be my favorite so far

[cairavende]

My wonderful girlfriend got me Gideon the Ninth for Christmas and I realized why should I just give Worm recaps? Let's read some Locked Tomb! (We'll see how this format works, maybe I'll adjust it. Specifically might break stuff down into smaller segments instead of full acts, but I didn't think of doing this until after I had read all of act 1.)

Gideon the Ninth Act 1 (chapter 1 through 8) thoughts:

This book is so gay oh my god

Like, it's gay in ways I can't even explain. I love it.

Harrow beats the shit out of Gideon in chapter 2 and I don't know if I've ever seen someone get beat up in a more gay way.

"Oh Griddle! But I don't even remember about you most of the time." ROLL A FUCKING DECEPTION CHECK HARROW! You are saying this standing in the middle of the field you spent all night burying bones in just to foil her escape in the most dramatic way. You can't stop remembering her.

Gideon is the most herbo of herbos. I fucking love her. I love reading her PoV. She just knows punch and stab with sword and if those don't work than she'll just do them harder.

Also Gideon is SO fucking gay. Dear god. Dulcinea faints and Gideon turns off all though. HELP PRETTY GIRL. Nothing else.

Ok I could just make this whole thing "EVERYTHING IS GAY" but there is technically more than that.

I love how weird everything is and how little explanation is given. I don't want pages of exposition, I want to learn the world as it comes at me! This is perfect.

And just the very nature of things that seem weird not being given more than a passing thought in the book is information. Something may seem wild to the reader but it's so normalized to the characters that they wouldn't even think about the idea of it being different.

Lack of explanation also helps really show how much of a meathead Gideon is. Do the readers get to learn details about this thing? Only if it is a weapon, has tits, or Gideon is forced to listen while Harrow explains it. Otherwise no, why the fuck would Gideon spend her precious few brain cells on thinking?

And even if Gideon is forced to listen as Harrow explains it, the readers might not learn much cause Gideon might stop listening. I love her.

Aiglamene is wonderful. Crux is fine but I like her more.

Poor Gideon just wants a big sword that she can swing hard. It's not like she can't use a rapier. But why when she can go big sword?

SO MUCH CATHOLICISM

As someone who once was Catholic and then realized I was actually not a straight man, but instead a lesbian, I am in deep.

And the fucking slang used! Or whatever would be the right term. The shit they say! I love it. Just the weird sci-fi far future space necromancer universe and then suddenly "Are you asking me to . . . throw her a bone?", "Gideon had always known that this would be how she went: gangbanged to death by skeletons.", "Don’t hypothetically shove stuff up my butt again, it never does any good.", "Lo! A destructed ass.", "Well we were developing common sense, she studied the blade.", "Double Bones with Doctor Skelebone."

House of the First appears to be Earth. I kinda assume the House of the Ninth is Pluto, even though things obviously aren't in order given that the Seventh and Sixth are closer to the sun. Of course, I'm kinda expecting this to not technically be this solar system at all.

Undying Emperor, King of Resurrection, I Have Ten-Thousand Titles, Boss First, etc etc hasn't been on "Earth" in over nine thousand years. I wanna know MORE.

And the fucking Ninth House has their own prayer! Everyone else has one that the Ninth didn't know and then the Ninth had one that no one else knows! GIMME MORE!!!!

Also again, so many Catholicism metaphors or comparisons or whatever!

I could go on forever but gonna end this one with OH MY GOD SHE FOUND SUNGLASSES I LOVE HER. Fucking "I came prepared, my sweet." and "But then you couldn't have admired . . . these!" as she whips on the sunglasses. God. I nearly died.

#The Locked Tomb #tlt #Gideon the Ninth #Cairavende reads The Locked Tomb #Gideon Nav #Harrowhark Nonagesimus #Dulcinea Septimus #This might be the most lesbian thing I've ever read and I've read some pretty fucking lesbian things #Dulcinea might be my favorite so far

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 20 of Gideon the Ninth

Right, so, let me see if i can summarize what happened here:

Teacher: No! You must absolutely under no circumstances ever do soul siphoning down in this laboratory, because there are terrible evil necromantic monsters down here that will possess you and do Bad Shit!

*24 hours later*

Dulcinea: So this puzzle in the lab that's maybe full of spooky necromantic monsters requires that you soul-siphon your cavalier *eyelash bat* Would you do it for me? *dimple* Pretty please? *lip pout* Palamedes was too chicken to do it *eyelash flutter*

Harrow: Palamedes was here first? I have to do it. I have to beat Palamedes. Are you ok with it, Griddle?

Gideon: Of course I will almost die for you, you just had to ask.

I have serious questions about everyone's motivations, and like, basic ability to do cost-benefit analysis

Although it sounds like from what Harrow said that Dulcinea underestimated how hard this would be when telling her what Palamedes had said about it. Or, Palamedes underestimated when he was telling Dulcinea about it, but I think that's less likely, even if Palamedes actually did say anything to Dulcinea about this at all, and I think there is some chance that Palamedes never actually did that

So... new wild Dulcinea conspiracy theory: Dulcinea is trying to kill Gideon for some reason. I can't think of any reason why, but we also don't know the whole Space Jesus lore yet, and Dulcinea seems to recognize Gideon's eyes from somewhere

On the topic of Space Jesus, "yes I will die for you without question" is, in fact, Very Jesus, which I hate to say, since that's my least favorite thing about Jesus

And the thing that Gideon notices

Not even some comment about Harrow being naked, which, honestly, would have been in-character, I think

I think Harrow might be with me on this latest conspiracy theory, actually

Yeah, I think Harrow is starting to suspect that she is evil now

Also, let's just talk about this Mean Girls reference, for a minute. So far, for the modern memes, if I've been keeping track well enough, we have "I studied the blade", "resting bitch face", "light is the paper-killer", "that's what she said", and now this one. But look. "I studied the blade" and "resting bitch face" are both just objectively funny phrases, they're not like, only funny because they're references to something, that's how they became memes in the first place, someone said the phrase and everyone else said, "yeah, that was pretty funny" and it wasn't a reference and you didn't need pop culture context in order to get it. "That's what she said" is also not a reference to a pop culture event, I'm like 1000% sure that every language in existence probably has a way to say "that's what she said" that has the same social context and implication, that kind of humor is probably pretty universal. And Palamedes wasn't making a joke when he said "light is the paper-killer", you could argue, from an in-universe perspective, that he just happened to phrase it like that for whatever reason, in-universe, there's no reason this has to be a reference to Dune. But this Mean Girls reference is meant to be a joke and is actually not funny on its own unless you know that this is a reference to Mean Girls and remember the particular scene that it came from. And if the epoch that's being used here is just the regular AD epoch that we use and it's now 10000 AD, a movie that came out in 2004 is just not going to be in Gideon's cultural experience. So what in-universe thing is Gideon actually referencing? Why is this funny from an in-universe context? I think if you're going to do stuff like this, you kind of have to go big or go home and do what Homestuck did and actually create a corpus of in-universe references and in-jokes and memes for your characters to refer back to. Otherwise it doesn't work. Actually, this is something I'd love to see from basically all spec-fic: in-universe pop culture, in-universe memes. Pop culture has been around for a very long time, memes are just a subset of jokes and have probably been around forever, I enjoy the memes here but I'd actually rather read about brand new memes that originated in this necromantic space feudalism universe somewhere than old familiar memes from a movie that came out almost 20 years ago. Even on Pluto, Gideon had magazines, surely there are other kinds of slightly higher-brow magazines and books and so forth that could generate all kinds of references and memes. Maybe the book would have to spend a few words to explain some of Gideon's jokes, but I honestly would like to know what people joke about in this cultural context, I think it would do a lot to bring the setting to life

Another side observation is that Dulcinea has another key that they do not have, but does not have the one key they have found already. IIRC, Palamedes and Camilla had multiple keys, and obviously Palamedes does not have the key that they retrieved in this chapter, because even if Dulcinea is lying about talking to him, I do believe he would not do this

Also, Dulcinea mentioned "thalergy" at some point in this chapter, I think saying that Harrow would have to siphon that rather than thanergy. I can't find the root of this word, the best I could come up with was this maybe, which is not like, super helpful? I guess maybe thalergy is like life energy as opposed to thanergy, which is death energy, and Dulcinea could provide thanergy because she is dying but for the thalergy Harrow needs to siphon Gideon, or something?

Please, I'm dying to know the rest of this sentence, of all the things I do not know in this book, this is now the one I want to know the most

#the locked tomb #gideon the ninth

[catlove-2000]

Puss X Dulcinea Headcanon (TAOPAD universe)

While you wait for me to return to writing my fanfic next week, here are some headcanons I thought of for this couple I love very much in my AU.

Due to living in a hidden town all her life with no other male cat, Dulcinea is obviously a virgin and get nervous when Puss wants to have sex with her. Dulcinea originally wanted to have to sex with Puss when they are married but realized that in her head, they are already married metaphorical due to how much they care for each other and decided she wants to lose her virginity to Puss immediately... especially the times whenever Puss is in heat and want to impregnate Dulcinea anytime he is.

Whenever Puss is around Dulcinea, he goes all Lumiere on his love as he hold her in a romantic embrace while mentioning how much she means to him.

Puss: Oh mi amor, whenever you are near, you bring a spark that has been missing in my life for decades.

Dulcinea: That very sweet, Puss, but we are busy with getting the party ready today, we must be strong.

Puss: How can I be strong, when you make me so weak.

One of Puss and Dulcinea's favorite pastimes together is singing romantic songs about one another though they can't agree who is the best at it since while Puss does thinks of the best songs for his love, and himself most of the time, but Dulcinea has the most beautiful singing voice.

For a bit of romantic fun, Puss and Dulcinea would dress up in costumes made by Brave and Sons Tailor Shop and act out new stories they made up together when they get bored with thier favorite types of costumes being the swashbuckling masked hero with a heart of gold (Puss) and a beautiful princess, that the masked hero falls in love with, who cares more about finding her true love then royal staus as a princess (Dulcinea).

During their outlaw days, Dulcinea was worried that this life of adventure might lead to Puss getting losing all of his nine lives, he only lost 7 lives when they met Shrek and the gang, which leads to Puss deciding to earn some money to live in Far Far Away so he wouldn't get hurt anymore.

Similar to how other female cats find Puss attractive, other male cat find Dulcinea attractive and try to seduce her. This makes Puss very jealous which leads him being VERY protective towards Dulcinea when a another male cat comes near.

Puss decided to introduce Dulcinea to more types of books then the usual fairy tales and moral books she reads which Dulcinea was ecstatic about this since she is looking for a new favorite book that isn't written by a fraud like Guy Fox.

Dulcinea's favorite genre of book is romance though not the stories where the 2 lovers don't die at the end like Romeo and Juliet or the women is either hurt or killed off to torture the male character like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Puss would quote lines from said romantic books to make Dulcinea all flustered and in heat even though she isn't a real cat.

While Puss finds Dulcinea's gladiator outfit fine, he really missed her old white and purple dress when they first met due to him finding her more attractive in a dress. Luckily, Dulcinea knows this and, thanks to Brave and Sons Tailor shop, is able to recreate it for him with a few adjustments.

Puss wants to have 7 kittens with Dulcinea, to one up Donkey who has 6 Dronkeys with Dragon, which shocked but excited Dulcinea who hoped that he wanted more than just 3 kittens when they are officially married.

While they haven't thought of any official names for their future kittens, one of the names that Puss and Dulcinea like the most to give to one of their future kittens is Joya which, in English, means Jewel as in the jewel of Puss and Dulcinea's hearts.

After leaving San Lorenzo, Dulcinea wanted to go see the rest of the world but due worrying about Puss' safety, that was abandoned. So, Puss decided that, when they are officially married, they will spend their honeymoon by traveling the world just like what Dulcinea wanted.

#dreamworks animation #sherk #puss in boots #the adventures of puss in boots #puss x dulcinea #sweetboots #taopib dulcinea #dulcinea #dulcinea puss in boots #romance #headcanon #alternate universe

[mysterylover123]

BKDK + Romance Tropes

“mysterylover123

Childhood Friend Romance

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChildhoodFriendRomance?from=Main.UnluckyChildhoodFriend

“Childhood Friend Romance is a part of romantic plots, when characters develop romantic feelings for someone who they spent their childhood years with.“

This one is pretty easy, of course. Anime in particular really loves this trope. Childhood Friends Turned Lovers. 

Tsundere

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere

“The Japanese term tsundere refers to an outwardly violent character who "runs hot and cold", alternating between two distinct moods: tsuntsun(aloof or irritable) and deredere (lovestruck).The term was originally used to describe characters who began with a harsh outgoing personality, but slowly revealed a soft and vulnerable interior over time, which made this a plot trope as much as it is a character trope...The Tsundere stock characterization is very popular with writers of Romantic Comedy because the conflicts between the two personality facets can be easily utilized to generate both drama and comedy. “

Lots of fans debate if BKG is a Tsundere, but in the basic def of Tsundere as character who starts as harsh and becomes kinder, especially towards LI, seems fitting to me. 

Wall Pin of Love/Kabedon

created by Just another black sheep 

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WallPinofLove

“This trope is better known to the Japanese public as the "kabe don" (wall pound). It's when a character (usually Always Male) physically corners a Love Interest using the body to block any chance of escape. It's often accompanied with a "BAM!" sound effect from pounding the wall (the "don" in kabe don)...The Wall Pin of Love is a very popular staple in Shojo and Yaoi romance.“

While I’m iffy about the implications of this trope, it is still an anime romance trope, and the anime team at Bones decided to throw in BKG doing a Kabedon for Izuku. I think they might ship it or something.

The Not Love interest

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheNotLoveInterest 

“The Not-Love Interest is the phenomenon in which the character fulfills a typical "Love Interest" role, but isn't intended by the writers to have that kind of relationship with The Hero...My Hero Academia:The Rival Bakugou to The Hero Midoriya. Bakugou is a source of inspiration to Midoriya, and more than one arc revolved around Midoriya trying to save or protect Bakugou. Both character's personal arcs are intimately intertwined and advance together with the plot of the manga.“ 

Always Save the Girl (Love interest)

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlwaysSaveTheGirl

“The hero makes it plain that they value the life of their Love Interest over those of everyone else...It can come about as the result of a Sadistic Choice, only having enough time to rescue one person out of several, a case of the Dulcinea Effect, or whatever other requirements the plot puts in their way and plainly making a decision.“

Deku during the Hideout Raid/Training camp arcs really goes out of his way to save Kacchan, f the consequences. 

Battle Couple

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BattleCouple

“This is the kind of couple where bullets figure prominently in the story of their romance. Where "war buddy" and "significant other" are synonyms.”

They’re set up to be a superhero duo who fight together in the future. So this popular anime trope can apply.

Belligerent Sexual Tension

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BelligerentSexualTension

“There's a couple,...who are not able to admit their feelings. At the top of their lungs.Despite the conflict, there is an attraction. This is usually obvious to everyone around except the couple. Confront them with the obvious, they'll deny deny deny. Sometimes they will progress to admitting their friendship but insist they are Just Friends. Eventually, they can admit their feelings to practically anyone except their loved one. It ends up where both characters dance around admitting their feelings as if the words "I love you" are some sort of death curse, much to the frustration of the audience and the other characters.“

Pretty self evident, but they bicker a lot to hide their real feelings. 

Cherry Blossoms

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CherryBlossoms

“A common symbolic element in anime and other Japanese media, falling sakura petals have several interconnected meanings, depending on who they are falling on and the context thereof...Sakura season is thus a highly visible sign of spring, the beauty of nature, renewal of life, and first love... but can also represent the transiency and fragility of beauty, life (especially a samurai's life), and love.”

Again pretty simple: Cherry blossoms either meaning renewal/love or death. Since they pop up when D and K turn from middle school to high school, so the renewal/love interpretation seems to be right.

Crush Blush

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrushBlush

“Love — even Puppy Love, perhaps especiallyPuppy Love — makes the young and innocent blush.”

This blush isn’t in the manga. They added the blush onto baby Deku in the anime. (manga scene isn’t a close-up). And since he blushes around his official love interests...

Dismissing a Compliment

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DismissingACompliment

“Alice hears a compliment — of any type and quite possibly sincere — from Bob and says that it was not sincere, such as doubting he meant it for her particularly, or calling him a charmer, or a rogue, a silver-tongued devil or other less than honest characterization, or it flattery, or telling him to stop it, or describing it as an exaggeration.The compliment can be sincere; Alice can even know it. It's a ploy to avoid having to take the compliment at face value, and respond accordingly — assuming it's not fishing for more compliments.Ranges from a simple form of banter or flirtation — common with UST “

Yep. Lots of BKG doing this.

Finishing Each Other’s Sentences

(My favorite example of this is from Shoto Todoroki Origin: Deku: His movements are...Baku: Slower...”

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FinishingEachOthersSentences

“We've all heard it before... literally. Some people know each other so well, they finish each other's sentences. The effect is usually a demonstration of how close the two people are — they're so familiar with one another, they even think alike.”

First Girl Wins

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FirstGirlWins

“In romantic works, the first girl introduced — either overall or as a potential Love Interest — has a very good chance of ending up with the protagonist (especially if the protagonist is male).”

First Boy in this case. But yep. First Friend and BF Deku ever meets and likes as a little adorable kid. 

Her Boyfriend’s Jacket

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HerBoyfriendsJacket

“How does a TV show demonstrate that Bob and Alice are a couple? How to do it quickly and without making a big deal about it? Simple, Alice wears Bob's jacket. If Bob's some kind of athlete, expect it to be his letterman jacket.“

I think the gauntlets count. BKG gives Deku a piece of his clothing. 

Like an Old Married Couple

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LikeAnOldMarriedCouple

“Two characters who seem very comfortable with each other to the point that it seems like they have been married for a long time, though obviously it doesn't apply to couples who actually have been together for a long time. Usually it is done through constant arguments with each other, as only people who are so closely bonded can have such open communication between them (whether they will admit it or not).“

I picked this scene because they really do sound this way in this moment. Like, the “This is why we never have real conversations” scene. They sound like they’re arguing about getting directions.

The Reveal Prompts Romance

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheRevealPromptsRomance

“Alice and Bob are talking, and Bob has decided that it's time to come clean. He's going to tell her his dark and terrible secret. This secret could be one or more of any number of unpleasant or shocking or dumbfounding things. Maybe Bob is secretly a crime fighting vigilante, or a spy, or some kind of superbeing in disguise, or The Mole, or maybe he really likes reggae music. Whatever the secret is, it's going to be something that causes Alice to see Bob in an entirely new light, and totally reinterpret much of Bob's behavior.“

The Reveal is a pretty popular romance trope in Superhero comics - (Spider-Man and MJ, Superman and Lois, etc.) and so far Deku hasn’t told anyone else. 

Rivalry as Courtship

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RivalryAsCourtship

“A character in a story becomes romantically interested in someone and believes that the best way to get his/her attention is by being just as good as (s)he is, if not better, at something that (s)he does. “ 

This one is a rare anime trope but definitely around. So Rivalry Romance is kind of a thing. 

Violently Protective Girlfriend/Boyfriend

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend

“A violently protective girlfriend essentially acts like a much younger Mama Bear, except her Berserk Button is harm to her mate rather than to the kids; note that this inverts the usual expectation that the boyfriend is violently protective of the girlfriend (which may still be the case).“

Or Boyfriends, in this case. They are uber protective. 

#katsudeku #my hero academia #bkdk #midoriya x bakugou #izuku x katsuki #bakudeku #tropes #ships #otp

[reconditarmonia]

Dear Chocolate Box 2021 Author

Hi! Thank you for writing for me! I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3. I have anon messaging off, but mods can contact me with any questions.

Elsinore | Fullmetal Alchemist | The Locked Tomb | Motherland: Fort Salem | Simoun

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one’s situational or ethical judgment with someone else’s, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships; unrequested trans versions of characters.

Smut Likes: clothing, uniforms, sexual tension, breasts, manual sex, cunnilingus, grinding, informal d/s elements, intensity.

Requesting fic; open to art treats!

—

Fandom: Elsinore

Relationship(s): Hamlet & Ophelia; Hamlet & Horatio & Ophelia; Bernardo & Hamlet & Laertes & Ophelia

I found the friendships in this game, and the different ways that characters can reconcile or try to find a way forward together, to be really sweet and moving, and I'd love to read something that focused on those relationships of trust and support. I like how important Ophelia and Horatio's counsel and friendship is in timelines where Hamlet becomes king; I like Hamlet regretting how he behaved towards Ophelia and striving to live through his depression and find out what it is that he wants, not what everyone else wants of him; I like seeing childhood friends Bernardo and Laertes and Ophelia and Hamlet, whose growing-up has stretched them so far apart, taking time to catch up and enjoy each other's company a little.

So, futurefic in one of the timelines where everything doesn't go to shit? A timeline that we don't see? (There is something narratively interesting to me in Permanence/Passion in that the entire plot of Hamlet ends up as a distant backstory to someone's full life; I don't know how compatible that idea is with these requests, but if you want to write any of these groups fucking off to Italy or Constantinople or London and living until the Elsinore pressure-cooker is a distant memory, I'd be just as happy with that as with fic about them building some kind of future together still in Denmark, trying to make it better for its people and to hold on to who they are as individuals, and friends, beyond their roles.) If you want to write Hamlet/Ophelia, Hamlet/Horatio, or for that matter Horatio/Bernardo as shippy, I'm fine with that, but I don't want a focus on the romantic aspects of their relationship.

Fandom-Specific DNW: death of requested characters within the timeline being explored, or focus on death of requested characters. These characters die in this game a lot and I don't need you to pretend entirely that it's not a time loop game, but I would like them to be happy. If you write the Bernardo & Hamlet & Laertes & Ophelia request, I'm fine with either or both names/pronouns for Bernardo|Katherine, but I don't want to read a story focused on their gender or coming-out. Please don't include Peter Quince as a character (you do not need to retcon, you know, the existence of the time loop).

—

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Relationship(s): Maria Ross/Olivier Mira Armstrong

I'll admit: I am a shallow, shallow person who loves the heartwarming and id-satisfying Briggs loyalty-kink complex (The watch! Buccaneer handing Olivier a clean pair of gloves after she kills Raven! Constant and deeply sincere saluting! Olivier’s explanation of why she wants Miles around and her lack of patience for anyone’s shit) but would like an f/f manifestation of it for actual shipping. Post-canon or AU where Maria is assigned to Briggs, or works for Olivier in Central? Does Maria foil a plot against Olivier, or Olivier save Maria's life in battle? Does Olivier order Maria into a firefight? Hit me.

Fandom-Specific DNW: Olivier/men, even mentioned.

—

Fandom: The Locked Tomb

Relationship(s): Abigail Pent & Dulcinea Septimus; Gideon the First & Matthias Nonius

Dulcie and Nonius were two of my favorite additions to the cast in Harrow the Ninth (and Dulcie in "Doctor Sex" via letter). I loved everything we learned about Dulcie - her wit, her quick thinking in a pinch when confronted by Cytherea and her secret to Harrow. I found her "The only thing preventing me from being exactly who I wanted..." speech both genuinely moving and very funny, and I love her thirst for revenge. What else might she and Abigail Pent, "independent research? it isn't even my birthday!" daredevil spirit-talker par excellence who has just conjured up a ghost out of an epic poem, get up to after Harrow's bubble collapses? Or what were they up to when they weren't on screen in Harrow's dream, putting together this whole, well, play?

Nonius's arrival, entire scene, and departure to fight the Beast made me very, very happy on levels I have trouble explaining. It was so heartwarming?! Because it was impossible, and because poetry won, and because they went off to do the best they could...I don't know, exactly. I'd love to read either more about his mysterious past with Gideon the First, or about their second encounter as allies (throw in Marta, Ortus and Pro if you like as well!)

Fandom-Specific Exception: to my unrequested ships DNW, Dulcie/Cam & Dulcie/Pal. I love their three strand thing.

—

Fandom: Motherland: Fort Salem

Relationship(s): Abigail Bellweather/Raelle Collar

I fell hard for this show and Abigail/Raelle is the ship I’m most excited about - they get off to a bad start for all kinds of personal history reasons and have problems with each other, but when it gets down to the wire Abigail would do anything for Raelle and is very gung-ho about having Raelle’s unconventional but extremely powerful magic under her leadership, regardless of Raelle being a loose cannon. She told her she loved her!! <3 And by the end, Raelle also clearly knows what Abigail's going through (like when she talks her down in "Citydrop"), respects her leadership, and cares deeply about her and wants to protect her in return. I love that loyalty dynamic, and their competence as fighters/witches.

Physical combat, strength in general, magical strength, ability to work magic together, knowledge of the magical canon vs. out-of-the-box techniques...what parts of their skills and their bond could be challenged in the weird dimension that the end of season 1 leaves them in? Or when they get back home and new challenges await? (In my head, the decision not to send them to War College is not revoked; the unit becomes some kind of special-forces secret strike team rather than cannon fodder.) Maybe something where Raelle goes/has gone into a fight as a berserker-type for Abigail and then comes back to her, or where Abigail protects/has protected her soldier (her girl!! I love her protectiveness of Raelle towards the other cadets, imagine it in a battle!)? Or an arranged marriage AU where it's usual for witch soldiers to marry to combine their magic power or something...

I would also be up for smut for them, especially something d/s-y where the loyalty-kinky dynamic of Raelle being Abigail's weapon, at her command, is echoed in sex!

Fandom-Specific DNW: sex solely for magical purposes without an emotional connection (sex for magical purposes is fine), focus on Raylla (I don't need you to retcon it, but please don't dwell either on Raelle still having feelings for Scylla or on her getting over Scylla for Abigail), Scylla bashing, Abigail/Adil (I would prefer to imagine, if he is mentioned in the fic, that they’re just friends).

—

Fandom: Simoun

Relationship(s): Aer/Neviril; Aer/Neviril & Neviril/Paraietta; Aer/Neviril/Paraietta; Aer & Floef & Neviril & Paraietta & Rodoreamon & Vyuraf

Aer, and Aer/Neviril, really grew on me on my recent rewatch. I appreciated her more as the determined bit-of-a-loose-cannon, who grows into a respected role in the choir, than the manic pixie this time, and noted Neviril's comments about how she was drawn to Aer's determination. (I've written a lot more about what I love and am interested in about Neviril and the show in general, her journey of figuring out what it means to her exactly to lead an air force, here.) I'd love to know what happens to them post-canon - what is the "new world" and their travel in it like? It's an escape for them, sure, but what are they escaping to, not just from? Are there problems there, too?

I'd also be up for a poly situation where Neviril is involved with both Aer and Paraietta, her long-loyal second-in-command whom she's blessed and forgiven, as a V where they're friends or as a triangle where Aer and Paraietta are also involved (I don't quite know what that leg of the triangle would look like but I do like how they work together in battle even when they're shown as having personal issues.)

If Neviril and Aer make it back to the main world when war is brewing again, as at the end of the series, but their old cohort can't fly anymore, what do they see their role as being? Does Neviril see herself as a leader for peace, for war, for something else? How do they interact with their former squadmates, whether as part of a more plotty piece or not?

I could be interested in explicit fic for this canon, as an option - the series is, on some level, about the contrast between the reality and physicality of their bodies and the general perception of what they do (which even in its non-spiritual military capacity is removed from a connection to their bodies via the Simoun aircraft), about becoming an adult, and of course about gender.

Fandom-Specific DNW: I'm not really interested in Kaim and Alty and would prefer for them not to appear or for their backstory to come up. I would also not like to see pre-timeskip Dominuura/Limone.

#dear author letters

[acarrow]

        “ what separates the wolf from the sheep is not a matter of good or evil.              we all have teeth   —   but only some of us are willing to use them. ”

( danielle rose russell, twenty, cis-female ) my goodness, is ALECTO CARROWback? it’s been a while since the PUREBLOOD has been around the castle, but i’d recognize HER anywhere. rumor has it the SEVENTH YEAR spent the year aligned with the DEATH EATERS. but I hear they’re still POISED & SHARP and OVER-CAUTIOUS & DESIROUS. and the RAVENCLAW still reminds me of jeweled daggers tucked into frothy skirts like a secret; gilt edged pages on old books; perfume pressed to pulse points like a shield; the cool, lonely whisper of dead leaves on marble steps. well, then, I guess some things never change.  ( zoe, 21, cst, she/her )

WARNINGS:  discussions of war, parental neglect, familial death; alcohol mention, weapon mention, manipulation  ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:   alecto’s playlist, stats page, & pinterest board    

i.

the carrow family had amycus, so it wasn’t a total let down when alecto ilse carrow was born and was born a girl. but if everyone was being honest, there wasn’t any real thrill there for her either. they loved her in a rote way and cared for her in a rote way and their distance and cool removal from her life spoke more than anything they ever did for her.

they would tell strangers, of course we love our daughter. but alecto herself couldn’t recall ever hearing them tell her they loved her, not to her face.

the carrows, historically, were not the most refined when it came to the most sacred. sure, they were one of the best families  ---  but their machinations never seemed to be the sort that won the hearts of a people; their plans, never the ones put to action. they had wealth and connections enough, bloodlines going as far back as any of the other twenty-eight’s; but they were not half so perfect.

alecto didn’t like people not expecting perfection from her. her parents saw so little when they looked at her, and it grated to see the same from the people they were surrounded by. so she made changing that expectation her mission at, in all honesty, too young an age. 

they thought carrows weren’t the ones to beat. fine. wasn’t she one to beat all on her own? wasn’t she enough to change the tides of her family’s reputation?

her parents, they were amused; let her try, for soon she’d realize that she was a girl, and would always, always fall short of expectations. she’d decided this at a precocious eight years old after a particularly disastrous dinner party; at the time, this mission of hers started with presenting a flawless front to anyone looking at her expecting another carrow wildcard. she’d always been precocious; she knew what game they were all playing and just how to play it.

( didn’t they all know how easy it was? to become like them? )

ii.

around the same time she reached this decision, for the path she’d tackle the rest of her life, her aunt dulcinea died and crushed alecto’s heart.

aunt dulcinea and uncle anatole were distant carrow relatives and in alecto’s weaker, punishable, childish moments   —   she’d wished they’d been her parents. she wished it stupidly, in place of wishing for her own parents to love her.

at the reading of her aunt’s will, alecto received dulcinea’s wand (  12 ¼", griffin feather and aspen, quite flexible and carved with a loving hand ). and though she wasn’t of an age yet to use magic, her uncle practiced dueling with her using sticks found in the gardens on the carrow estate. even before she could legally utter a single spell, alecto was a skilled duelist. she tucked this into her back pocket like a secret; would let out shining peals of false, childish laughter if ever anyone asked about those dueling lessons. her, dueling? no, no, no. she was itty, bitty, and ladylike, faint at the very idea of fighting. her uncle anatole had simply been indulging her silly games of make - believe.

iii.

she made friends greedily as a child; ostensibly so she could have the connections, the network, that was so vital to the lives of adults in pureblood society. but the small truth was that alecto just fed on human connection. she loathed how much liked people to like her and resented that she needed people at all. but it was true, and it could be useful.  

she tried, at times, unthinkingly, to imitate the distance her parents had with her. she loved talking and hated talking all at once, but she did pride herself on being able to fill hours of conversation with no substance at all. and it better cemented the idea that she didn’t actually desire the friends or acquaintances she had   ---   if every interaction was hollow, what could prove she thrived on them? how would anyone know much she relished the meandering words?

she could be very cruel to those around her   —   not necessarily on purpose, but also not not on purpose. there was a threshold, where acquaintances shifted into someone alecto would trust with her life. at that threshold she tended to turn mean, to turn people away, and it was a horrible habit and one she wouldn’t break.

but all the feigned distance in the world couldn’t keep her from finding actual friends, and she would kill for those she cared for. reckless all or nothing thinking like that was just the carrow way. true, 

fierce friendship was an earned thing, but a warm-looking smile from dear alecto cost her nothing at all.

iv.

she was sorted into ravenclaw; perhaps it would have disappointed her family, if they’d had expectations high enough to disappoint in the first place. when alecto was eleven, and wrote home with news of the sorting, she knew she’d lost any chance of being the favorite   ---   slim as the chance had ever been. oh, her parents had indulged her goal of making a name for herself. she was their daughter; clever enough, pretty enough, to indulge. but they’d never seen that indulgence yielding anything, and her sorting only confirmed it for them.

( she suspected they wrote to her brother more, while at school. no, of course she never asked him. she was a ravenclaw, smart enough to know that some doors need not be opened. )

imagine: a little carrow in ravenclaw tower, all alone amongst peers of all blood statuses and backgrounds. she thrived there, much though she hid that fact from her parents. they certainly never imagined her thriving. she had her aunt’s wand and her uncle’s scattered owls, friends she made cautiously and recklessly in equal measure, a feeling of total abandonment gifted to her by her parents’ abandonment. it was heady, and dangerous.

she kissed people her parents would have been scandalized to know she knew at all, linked arms with girls from families her father had long disparaged over breakfast. joined the quidditch team and shared sportsman-like handshakes with any opposing player she could hunt down after matches.

her grins were sharp and wicked and her laughter soft and surprised and she knew   ---   she knew!   ---   that the home she felt in the castle could never last once outside of it.

it was a home, and that word just didn’t mean anything for girls like her. 

alecto was just a girl, darling little thing. the carrow daughter with a whip-sharp mind   ---   that she made sure to only show in carefully curated fields, that was a problem all the same. she would bring no heirs, and the thought of the mind on her made it hard for the family to imagine setting up an enviable match for her. she would never find it easy, being a trophy hanging off someone’s arm. they may not have cared for her any more than they had to, but they knew her better than she ever thought they did. she did not bend or bow to anyone, and that would make her life harder than her parents thought it had to be.

the lives of pureblood daughters could be easier than breathing, in the new world they had hopes of cultivating. if only alecto would let things be easy.

v.

her parents might have thought she had an allergy to the simple route. and maybe she did; maybe they were right, and she was wired all wrong. her mind was a tricky place   ---   all those forbidden books in her common room, all six and a half years, they had an impact. perhaps on a stronger carrow they’d have been nothing when compared to the things her family had told her all her life. but she acted like they were no stronger carrows, and pretended like the act didn’t cost a thing.

when her parents and their cohort went and got her home blown up, alecto learned to pretend like lots of things cost her nothing at all. 

see, the pretending was easy: she just had to strap her knives and wand to her thigh with pretty little garters, the better to flash the steel beneath silk skirts and lace robes. the beauty of the muggle weapons caught her eye and held it   ---   she heard someone whisper it was a sign of her cruelty, that she could imagine wielding something so primitive. heard someone else whisper she was pretty as one of her daggers, and twice as sharp.

oh, how she hadn’t missed full immersion in pureblood society. at night, she dreamed of ravenclaw tower. 

in her years away from school, she learned to enjoy the refined burn of shots worth more galleons than some could ever see. she learned to love glittering adornments, and tossing her hair, and beguiling with a single flash of her pearly-white fangs. she was good. except when she was bad. and loathe though she was to admit it, she could still find enough ancient carrow in her to be very, very bad  ...  when she so chose.

badness could very easily be written off as youth, except by those who shared alecto’s youth with her. to them, well, it was her typical carrow tendencies coming out to play. it was her growing tired of the never ending act she’d started years and years ago. it was her doing very reckless things, perhaps unknowingly   ---   or perhaps awaiting the mess she’d leave in her wake. she’d have to fix the mess, of course, and in that fixing would lie the cool reminder that while she looked like any of the rest of them, she would always be a carrow. and carrows are too sharp, too much, and so alecto is, too.

( the secret was she was too much alecto to be anything, really )

vi.

she didn’t even like pureblood society that much; up close, it didn’t glitter like she’d imagined as a child, on the outside looking in.

she resented the idea that she’d have to marry some man eventually, who she likely wouldn’t care about and who likely wouldn’t appreciate her for all that she was. but if she wanted to be more than a wife or mother she knew she’d have to show her hand   ---   reveal that she had a mind for strategy, that she knew a thousand wicked things. sign herself away to the war for a side she doesn’t believe in. it would surprise no one to learn that both action and inaction held steep consequences.

but alecto didn’t want to fight; and in the meantime, no one was asking her to, not really. without her n.e.w.t.s, she was in a limbo. her parents and their ilk suspected how useful she could be, but had no final grades to prove it. it wasn’t worth the embarrassment, bringing a girl to the dark lord with no way of showing she had use. so she took up an easy job at some publishing house in diagon alley, something that required little wandwork. nothing flashy enough to catch the attention of someone who’d ask why she wasn’t putting that wand of hers to use. but something that let her escape her family estate and the stifling meetings conducted there. 

( she attended one here and there, when roped into it; the carrow girl on the sidelines, showing how much loyalty her father inspired in those around him. a less skilled actor than alecto might’ve gagged on the falsehoods and prejudice clouding the air. )

her family continued ignoring her, most of the time; neglecting to see any real usefulness. and there was safety in that   ---   she might yet make it to a disappointing marriage without any blood on her hands.

in a perfect world she could lay down in neutral ground and not move a muscle for either side. not have to enter some loveless future, either. but what would that make of her family loyalty? the last thing she wants is more disappointment from her parents. more proof that she’s never been what they wanted. for all that she despises them, she can’t help but want her parents to love her; and deserting their side of the war will not inspire love. 

this was, of course, no perfect world. alecto was not the sort of girl who lived in happy endings. so while she didn’t want to join the war, had no desire to loan her mind to the death eaters   ---   she knew she would. she would have to. she was a carrow, and so of course she’d join the fight. the plain and simple fact of the matter was that there was no possible path for her that didn’t beat her heart into bloody submission. so that life, that planned future, was better than nothing at all. right? 

vii.

alecto couldn’t be paid to give two shits about blood status. she knew her family fought tooth and nail along with all their peers for the glory and triumph of blood purity   ---   and regrettable as it was to dwell on, it was background noise she would ignore because she could afford to ignore it. just because she could care for, or befriend, a muggleborn with no internal struggle didn’t mean she'd ever actively do anything to help them; not with things as they were now. things had been different in school, and this damned war had ripped that from her too soon. 

she didn’t have much exposure to people of other blood statuses as a child and that’s when she set her heart on winning at life in pureblood circles. sometimes goals like that were hard to let go of. so while her stomach curls at the lack of intelligence she sees as inherit in blood purist ideologies she doesn’t actually  ...  fight the fact that pureblood circles are run on purist ideologies. for as much as she hates being tied to her parents, she’s loyal to the carrow name. if they’re not jumping ship, then she can’t either. she won’t be the only carrow stupid enough to leave.

she’d rather break her heart and throw herself into a cause liable to kill her than become her own person separate from the life she’s wasted years building.

viii.

no one needed to know she hated this; softness was worse than wildness, in alecto’s eyes. her wildness couldn’t be helped, but she’d die before anyone saw her weak. let them see a ruthless game-player with a heart carved from crystalline ice. let them see a wicked woman with a cold interest in the ways people could hurt. let them see a girl, damnably neutral while she still could be, cards always held close to the chest.

hogwarts opened back up and alecto was desperate for the chance to return  ---  and desperately happy that she’d retained her neutrality while outside its walls. damnable it might’ve been, but alecto hardly cared. her family and their pureblood peers could all assume she was on their side; assume that though ( tiny slip of a girl that she was ) she’d never taken up arms, she agreed with them. who the fuck cared? 

she was going back to her one true home, if only for one more year.

she could put off proving those assumptions true for a little while longer. 

she can pretend she won’t prove them true; it’s a kind thing to pretend. but a kind mask is still a mask. and alecto knew masks, could pluck one from her shelves and put it on in her sleep. it was easier, after all, to not think; some part of alecto has always known this, long learned how to turn off her racing thoughts, her conscience, her heart, in order to do what needed to be done. she hated it. but she did it. at least for one more year, she’d be turning off her racing thoughts, and her conscience, and her heart, for kind and selfish reasons. she so seldom did things selfishly, and there were worst last hurrahs. 

sooner or later alecto would give in  ---  in a way that could never be undone. or, perhaps, she’d come to hate feeling her family’s belated pride resting on her head like poisoned laurels. prove even herself wrong and desert them and their pitied crowns.

( she prays for the former and hopes for the latter, with her wicked, traitorous heart. )

#thq intro #( ⊱ ━━ 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 ┊ intro. )