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fizzigigsimmer · 2 months

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My fave ballet tube channel out here feeding me plot bunnies for Harringrove Ballet School Au. Just imagine, Billy arrives on campus. Spitting mad cause his dad made him take the bus. Cheapskate wouldn’t even spring for a plane ticket when it’s Billy’s financial aide filling his pockets. He decided halfway there he’s not going to stay. He’s going to hop on the first bus back to Cali as soon as he can raise the money and that’s what he tells Madame Harrington. She may have bought Neil but she can’t buy him. Nobody can force him to stay here - which is true. He’s hoping she won’t want to deal with a runaway and a bad attitude, that she’ll just revoke the scholarship and end this farce for him. Neil will beat his ass black and blue but what else is new. At lease he’ll still have home and the beach.

Madame Harrington doesn’t look happy but she doesn’t get angry either. She makes Billy promise to sleep on it. Sit in on a class, have a real think about what he’s about to throw away. Billy’s not stupid, he knows she’s hoping he’ll see other kids dancing and make some friends and suddenly want to change his mind. It’s not going down like that. And it doesn’t. The class she takes him to is tier one, the advanced class. It’s mostly juniors and seniors but Billy spots a few younger kids and a couple of absolute shrimps who look like they haven’t left the seventh grade. They’re good though is the thing, doesn’t take more than a few steps to see why they’re in here dancing with the big kids. A redhead catches him watching in the doorway and gives him the stink eye.

And then whatever combination they’re doing ends and everyone is clapping, and the instructor calls out that it’s time for their soloist. “Be the swan, Steven. No spaghetti arms!”

The energy in the room just changes, the chatter lifting in anticipation as the students drift back to the edge of the room as a solitary figure steps forward. He’s got good shape. Strong legs - so long - and lean arms. Those fucking tights love him - holy shit. Billy can be forgiven for missing the first few steps he takes while he blinks away the after image that bulge has burned into his fucking retinas. But when he’s capable of seeing beyond it again, he sees this kid - this Steven - floating across the floor in some of the prettiest lines he’s ever seen. He thinks the number from Swan Lake. Thinks Steve-o is gorgeous when he’s not fucking it up, playing to the crowd and losing focus. It’s only a wobble here or there, just minor imperfections.

It annoys the shit out of Billy.

“Who’s the diva?” he asks Madame H. under the sudden swell of clapping and cheering as the boy’s solo comes to an end.

She smiles, a twinkle entering her eye.

“That would be Steve. My son.”

Her son? Wait! That’s Steve Steve? The kid he used to penpal and trade basketball cards with. That’s Steve Harrington?

“Oh yeah?” Billy sneers, hoping to hide how dry his mouth has gone. Challenges with an arched brow, “Teachers son thinks he’s hot shit huh?”

But Madame H. seems unperturbed. She doesn’t tell him off about his language or take offense for her kid’s sake, just keeps smiling at Billy with that little glint in her eye that’s too fond for comfort.

“He’s been best in his age group since he was eight. Makes it hard to keep him challenged. I was hoping that would change with you here now, but if you’re set on leaving I guess I’ll have to come up with something else.”

It’s so stupid. Some reverse psychology bullshit, but damn it it’s working because Billy isn’t as keen on leaving as he was when they walked in.

“You sure that’s what you want?” He asks, barely waiting for the perplexed look to form on her face as he shrugs off his duffel bag. He strides into the room like he owns it, feels the heads turn towards him as his sneakers thud hollowly on the hard floor. The chatter dies as he calls out, “you call that a dance?”

His eyes lock with the boy in the center of the room.

Billy will show him a dance. He’ll show them all.

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #ballet au #inspiration #Periodicly I drown myself in ballet tiktok and youtube shorts just to sate my craving for this fic #I want it so bad lol but I have to write it first and it’s the worst conundrum ever😭#Youtube

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ashfae · 3 months

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A03 meme

A03 meme time, except I've been writing and posting fanfic to the internet since before A03. And before fanfiction.net. And before Geocities. And before the World Wide Web. There's fic of mine with ASCII doodle illustrations somewhere out there where the wild BBSes once roamed…I was tagged by @moveslikebucky; thanks Buckie, here goes. <3

how many works do you have on Ao3? 54. (and yes if we added in all the fanfic outside of A03 it'd be a larger number but I can't be bothered to consolidate it all)

what’s your total Ao3 word count? 341,744, which is better than I was expecting, yay.

what fandoms do you write for? At the moment it's just Good Omens, but there's been a lot of Dragon Age, some Lord of the Rings, and way back in the day there was Harry Potter and a lot of anime. I am toying with dipping my toe back in LotR, there's a thing I wrote ages ago that's entirely finished and just needs editing and I've been meaning to get it out there for ages. It's long though, so that'd be a commitment.

what are your top five fics by kudos? What Custom Strictly Divided (507) Like an Echo Far Away (415) (this one wasn't in the top five last week when I first started writing this post! So I think @mielpetite gets all the credit for boosting it with amazing fanart) What Comes From Your Hand (402) Give Me Your Illusions (346) Nightswimming (307)

do you respond to comments? Yep! Sometimes just with "Thanks!" or hearts but I try to. Though they get away from me sometimes and then I do a bunch all at once.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Definitely Warmaiden, which is my "What if Éowyn got the One Ring?" fic, from an idea that occurred to me one day and wouldn't leave. Clearly that doesn't end well for her, or anyone. From GO fandom it's probably Silent Night, which I still want to expand into a larger fic to be a set with Give Me Your Illusions. Someday, someday.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of them! But for the happiest I'd say Swan Lake Revised, cowritten with @mostlyjustgoose. And if we ever get part three up it'll be even more happy. And smutty. Very smutty.

Do you get hate on fics? Very rarely. I've been lucky there.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Oh here's the irony. I used to do a lot a lot a LOT of online roleplaying and mygod I wrote smut. So much. So. Much. I don't do as much rp these days but even so the threads I have going are still frequently pure filth. But in fic, much less so, even though I want to. Why it all gets channeled into rp and not as much into my fanfic I do not know. Honestly I want to write a lot more of it. Smut forever!!

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Sometimes, when I have a good idea. But the craziest one I ever wrote, ages ago, was a pure crackfic for my 21st birthday, where I imagined a bizarre party for myself in which LOADS of fictional characters (mostly from anime) showed up so I could make them interact in wacky ways. It was utterly ridiculous but amused me. Making all the characters voiced by Megumi "She's Everywhere!!" Hayashabara meet up and wonder why they all sound alike, for example. Also I wish I'd written an Artemis Fowl breaks into Gringotts to rob it fic before I became so disillusioned with both Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter. Heigh ho.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Yep. It was impressive how lazy the person was about it too, they stole all the html as well. Someone brought it to my attention pretty quickly.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Twice, yes. Into Portuguese, as I remember.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? Hi @mostlyjustgoose, I adore you, please co-write things with me forever. <3 Our baby is Unusual Strings, a reverse omens AU love story, and it's SO. CLOSE. to being done. So close. Aughhhh. I love our angel!Crowley and demon!Aziraphale so, so much.

What’s your all time favorite ship? Aziraphale and Crowley, Faramir and Éowyn, Hiccup and Astrid. Don't make me choose between those three, my head will explode.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Shut up shut up I will finish all of them ALL OF THEM I SAY…sigh. Beauty and the Battousai. Though I should probably mention A Demon in the Dreaming and The Queen Bee. (they're plotted and outlined and parts are written aaahhh come on ADHD meds help me out here)

What are your writing strengths? Dialogue, definitely. I'm good at putting humour into things. Got compared to Patricia Wrede once and honestly, life goal achieved there. I can do memorable phrases and descriptions and edit well.

What are your writing weaknesses? What is plot. Why does it hate me. Why are my original characters one-dimensional cardboard. What is worldbuilding and how do I do it without getting stalled into paralysis. Baaaah. This is why my original novel will never be finished and I keep running back to fanfic instead.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Hoo boy contentious subject! I love reading it so long as it's translated somewhere in the footnotes, I'd be happy to write it if I knew other languages, the question of whether it should be italicized or not has apparently Officially been settled by The Publishing Industry on the side of Not.

First fandom you wrote for? Oh gosh I think it was the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The first that ever got shown to other people was Ranma 1/2 though.

Favorite fic you’ve written? It's still What Custom Strictly Divided. Though Unusual Strings comes very close.

Gaaah I'm always worried I'll tag people who don't want to be tagged so, erk, um...if they're willing, @racketghost, @indieninja92, and @holycatsandrabbits! And you, if you're reading and want to do this, please say I tagged you. I meant to really, honest. ;)

#ask meme #a03 meme #fanfic meme #yay I wrote things

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hoarder-of-dragons · 5 months

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Arthur could have noticed earlier if he wasn’t already enamored by Merlin. But perhaps his brain was hiding the truth because he knew once he dwelled over the thought, it would just lead to a series of events that wouldn’t end well.

It all finally came together not in a dramatic reveal but by gardening. Gardening. Yes. Apparently he underestimated the/foolishness of his manservant because when he took a walk to the woods nearby (“And no Merlin” he answered to a suspiciously cheeky voice that resembled his manservant in his head, he was not running away from the castle, it's just that the forest seems to be more peaceful and inviting than usual) when he heard strange sounds near the lake.

With the sleight of a tiger and the grace of a swan (No he was not exaggerating his feats Mer-lin), he slowly glided through the grass, hiding in the shadows. Many bandits have settled near as the king got more sick by the day and Morgana’s disappearance didn’t help. The mutterings he heard didn’t seem too dangerous. It looked like it belonged to one person

A very well known person in fact, as when he finally came to view the silhouette near the waters, a familiar red neckerchief and flop of dark hair stood out.

He was about to call out what his manservant was even doing in these parts when he was supposed to be cleaning his armour, when his words got stuck in his throat.

Magic

He was certain whatever happened right now was magic

Because Arthur would really like another explanation on how leaves can float around and make shapes strongly resembling dragons. There wasn’t even a wind for God’s sake.

Oh also if that wasn’t enough, if he slightly tilted his head, he can even see the gold in his eyes

So Merlin has magic.

He waited for the feeling of anger and rage to take over but all he felt was disappointment. Disappointed that he didn’t find out sooner, though all the indescribable mishaps along the years made more sense. Disappointed that Merlin felt that he had to hide magic from him. And why wouldn’t he.

He was the prince of Camelot, a magic banned kingdom with Uther Pendragon as his father. He was sure the roles were reversed; he would have done the same.

There was still a touch of betrayal in his heart but most of it is subdued (not only has he been trained to be a king but also to control his emotions. if he tries to) . Deep down, he knew Merlin was hiding, lies spoke through his mouth though his shifty eyes gave way to reveal that he was hiding something. But he knew once he discovered whatever Merlin was hiding, it was for a good cause

He still needed time

He needed time to think this all over

#short writing i did long back #emptying my drafts #before new year #i do want to change a little thing about arthur's emotions #i feel like he is was to cool in this situation #hmm what can i do #merlin bbc #merthur #merlin's magic reveal #magic reveal #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon

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itsevanffs · 1 month

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a lot of tag games

i'm just gonna combine them into one post because otherwise i think the next like 10 posts you see are all gonna be my tag games. below the cut etc etc

so, first and foremost, @aglassroseneverfades tagged me in a get to know tag game:

Relationship status: proud cat owner. i'm committed

Favorite color: probably the colour of alana's eyes. or her nose. or her beans. but cardinal red is a close contender

Song stuck in my head: nothing in particular, but i've been listening to all of cam ostrom's stuff on repeat recently. also bought his first EP the second i found him haha

Favorite food: broccoli and camembert pie (quiche?) with cashews

Last song I listened to: another familiar window by cam ostrom

Dream trip: home

Last thing I googled: tumblr

@raehb336 and @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger tagged me in a wip tag game:

post all the names of the files in your wip folder, no matter how obscure or ridiculous. ok. it says to tag someone for every wip but i don't think i can tag like 80 people and i honestly don't want to. i have these in alphabetical order based on fandom btw

FS: rewrite

GF: cat eyes

HP: 2.5

HP: a/b/o fic canon adjacent

HP: a/b/o fic sacred nests

HP: a/b/o fic teacher/student

HP: a/b/o incest for monsieur

HP: a/b/o incest scarves

HP: a/b/o laundry au

HP: a learning experience

HP: at the expense of the world

HP: audio fic

HP: blood in your mouth

HP: blood relations 6

HP: boogeyman au

HP: chav au

HP: childhood pictures

HP: cnpg

HP: crash & burn

HP: curfew

HP: DNP

HP: DNA

HP: doll au

HP: egg creature fic

HP: emd fic of fic

HP: enamoured

HP: eton au

HP: fae au

HP: favours

HP: forced fem au

HP: forcedpreg kidnapping au

HP: futuristic ABO au

HP: hold me down (fuck me up)

HP: hooker au

HP: icarus au

HP: incest au 20

HP: incest inf nc

HP: in the dark rewrite

HP: junkie au

HP: lucifer au

HP: maid au

HP: mamma mia au

HP: mirror au

HP: monastery au

HP: monastery au 2

HP: new politics

HP: oedipus fic

HP: oviparous

HP: ovipos intersex

HP: priest incest au

HP: priest au n

HP: rage, rage

HP: red riding hood au

HP: reverse a/b/o au

HP: robot au

HP: romeo & juliet au

HP: smart move

HP: snow white au

HP: songbird au

HP: stalker au

HP: storm & silence au

HP: swan lake au

HP: tentacles

HP: the darker the weather

HP: the mark upon your heart rewrite

HP: therapy au

HP: tomcest bar sex

HP: tomcest sr 6

HP: vampire au

HP: vee pov genfic

HP: vespertine rewrite

HP: violent resurrection fic

HP: vol de lys

HP: zombie a/b/o au

RG: lecture

SS: swallowing smoke

SV: cnc

SV: eggs

SV: final exam

SV: god's just sleeping

SV: jumper au

SV: slowly

SV: sugar

SV: the worst

SN: demon

and no, these aren't all my fics, they're literally just the ones marked wip. my total fic count reaches 169, because i keep track.

@aglassroseneverfades tagged me in a picrew/uquiz combination, so that's going here:

i don't know if i 100% agree with the quiz but i do like taking care of people, up to a point. beyond that you're on your own, though i can help take care of some of the cleanup.

@toast-ranger-to-a-stranger tagged me in seven sentence sunday, which is good timing on my part because it is in fact sunday:

Mr O’Hara hums. “You like the rain?” “I don’t like-like it,” Miles begins, then changes his mind. “Well, I like it when I’m inside. Not when I’m stuck in a downpour in the middle of nowhere.” “I don’t think Brooklyn counts as the middle of nowhere.” “I live outside the boundaries of human norms.”

that's seven, right?

@aspengray tagged me in a 'get to know' tag game:

3 ships you like: miguel o'hara/miles morales, tomarrymort, and uhh the christian grey/anna steele dynamic i invented in my head. they're cute i like em

first ship ever: god. uh. that depends because it's either bella/edward from twilight, or it's... wait no it is just bella and edward, winx... wait no i watched it in dutchl. so yeah either bella/edward or bloom and that teacher guy from season 2 or three. jesus christ what was his deal. he was hot though

last song you heard: i see you by cam ostrom (it changed because i have spent like an hour on this already)

favourite childhood book: twilight

currently reading: the witcher blood of elves by andrzej sapkowski

currently watching: i don't watch series or tv but i'm always in the mood for a rewatch of spider-man across the spiderverse

currently consuming: water with syrup

currently craving: nothing. i just ate soup

@moontearpensfic, @atredys and @goldenzingy46 tagged me in 10 characters, 10 fandoms, 10 tags, to which i have no context but i just assume you pick your favourite of each fandom:

voldemort - harry potter

miguel o'hara - spider-man: across the spiderverse

rikkard ambrose - storm & silence

john winchester - supernatural

bill cipher - gravity falls

rosalie cullen - twilight

geralt - the witcher

sans - undertale

jim - the jrasl original fiction universe

me - irl

in no particular order. i ran out of actual fandoms i like about 5 entries in so forgive me for cheating. link to jrasl for context though, jim is actually a fictional character and i want him to crack me like a glowstick

@alittlebitofharrypotterinmylife tagged me with yet another get to know tag game, but a different one from the previous two:

last song: crossing the bridge by ólafur arnalds

favourite colour: prussian blue

currently reading: sources on extra virgin olive oil

sweet/savoury/spicy: spicy all the way tbh. i have been craving the burn

relationship status: single

current obsession: miguel o'hara's scrumptious tits. have you SEEN his chest. apparently we were deprived of additional ass which is a travesty but he's still so big that i had to seriously reevaluate my previous love for twinks the second i saw him

erm yeah. sources for the images used as text breaks are all me. moi. follow me on @itsevansart or whatever, do what you want. i am so glad i am caught up. i think. maybe i missed a few but we'll see <3

thanks for the tags though! this year has been brutal but i'm so glad it'll be december soon and we can all get a well deserved break. what do you mean check the calendar? what's a calendar?

#very long post #tag game #tagged #i tried to make it humourous #a little bit #have a good timezone

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yanderefairyangel · 9 months

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Veyle : identity struggles and self-affirmation

And here again, duality in Engage part 4. Centered around Veyvey.

Spoilers about Veyvey under the cut.

Short introduction, Veyle is Sombron's daughter and Alear's only surviving sibling. She is a Mage dragon/Fell dragon Hybrid. When she was young, the only sibling she could have meet was Alear who offered her their dragonstone as a proof they were alive before departing. When Sombron was put to sleep, she stayed with her mother before this one got killed by humans upon discovering she was Sombron's mate. She got persecuted by humans when they noticed she didn't aged and got hidden by followers of Sombron, who put her in a temple in which she slept for a century before waking up and being found by devout of Sombron. Zephia puts a spell on her creating a new personality for Veyle in order for her to help with Sombron's release, and gathering rings leading her to kill Lumera and to commit other atrocities. She is recruited after chapter 22, after she discovers Alear was her long lost half sibling.

So here we go, deep dive into Veyvey

1-analysis of Veyle's design.

Veyle's dress is white and made of feather, she has a feather accessory and her outfit is remniscent of white swan

Her design also involves her walking barefeet, with her feets wearing chains and a leash like choker.

Now, interestingly, Veyle is being called a defect by Sombron due to her kind hearted nature, implying that she is imperfect. However, swans are considered to be a symbol of perfection due to their beauty and grace, and the whiteness of their feather. They are also considered to be a symbol of purity, especially linked to feminity and therefore, Veyle's design is likely inspired by the swan in order ro reflect her gentle, kind hearted nature. Her barefeet are likely to represent her as being a wandering child. However, foot are a symbol of freedom,( which is probably why I like walking barefoot at home) and her feet are wearing chains .

Those chains are here to represent that despite her wandering around, Veyle is actually not free. She is chained. Restrained.

Now there is a peculiarity I'd like to bring up. Have you ever heard about the Black swan effect ? Well, this is based on a true event, that is that swans are usually white, yet one day people realized that black swan existed too. This anecdote gave a name to a theory about imprevisible events.

Black swan are a symbol of imperfection due to their black feather, and dangerous personality. That duality of the swan is used in the movie Black Swan about a ballerina suffering from DID. It's also exploited in many retelling of Swan Lakes exploiting the fact that Odette, the white swan and Odile, her doppelganger, are often played by the same dancer, hence representing both swan. Now, there is a reversal here since Veyle, in her habitual state is treated as defective despite her white swan outft however, her other personality is considered as perfect by Sombron and Zephia despite her black swan dress.

Moreover, while Veyle's white dress gives her an angelic vibes, her dark outfit makes her look more devilish due to the helmet with it's horns, the gloves with the claws, and the scales, as well as her entire dress ressembling dragonic wings.

This reversal does highlight that Veyle is not fitting in Sombron's family, as her reguard any proves of purity as weakness and defectivness.

Veyle's hair color is also white dominant with black bangs, making her ressembles a white swan with black collar.

The symbolic of the swans is reminding me of 2 tales using swan symbolism : Swan Lake, and The Ugly little duckling.

2-Veyle's identity conflict.

It's obvious that Veyle is intended to represent the white swan/Odette and Lucy the black swan/Odile. If you recall, in order to break her curse, Odette needs to find true love. Veyvey also seeks for true love, but her quest is a familal one from Sombron, and then her quest for Alear. According to Mauvier, Veyle was very lonely and her mistreatement at the hands of Sombron and Zephia made her even more lonelier, yet she still consider her salvation to be within the love of her family. However, like in the play, there is someone to compete with her in her quest for love : the personality Zephia created for her. But this personality wishes for more then Sombron's love, she wants to BE Veyle.

Now one thing about Veyle is that apparently some people though she has DID. Disclaimmer here, as I am not a psychologist nor do I have DID, however, it seems that Veyle's condition only ressembles DID but it isn't. The only common point you can make between DID and Veyle's situation is the 2 personality and the fact that the 2 personality don't share memories. But the difference is that people with DID have a personality split into several and that is the result of a trauma or a natural process due to their mind/brain developping several personality as a natural response wheter as a symptom or to protect themselves. Those other personality are part of themselves however. However, this isn't Veyle's case at all. First off, Veyvey's personality isn't split, it's complete, the second personality is a total separated entity. Secondly, this personality isn't a natural product of Veyle's mind, she isn't part of her, if anything, she is a parasite. Sure, Zephia explained that this personality is the result of her casting a spell to enhance her dragonic pulse, however, this means that Veyle is born with naturally low dragonic pulse, more then the average. We don't know how much Zephia has to intensify those dragonic pulse to make Lucy but it's pretty clear that she is the result of Zephia's magic. Sure, unlike Hortensia, it's a different spell since Zephia created this being and obeys her rather then control her directly even if it's an indirect form of control. But it's obvious that this personality isn't part of Veyle's nature, because her body can't take it. Mauvier has been clear on the fact that Veyle's body is fighting back against this spell (much like Rafal regaining control from time to time despite his chest hurting) makes her tired and put her life at risk, hence why Mauvier ask her to cut it off. Even Lucy mentions how her body doesn't allow her to "stay awake" for long, but if you recall, it's only when she is around Zephia that Lucy is "awake" since Zephia needs to be here to activate the spell waking her up, whereas when Veyvey regains control, it happens naturally. That's also why Sombron needs to make a helmet for Zephia to make this spell stronger. So while you might think it looks like DID, it's just brainwashing or if you prefer something alike hypnothesis. There is moreover many instance of character clearly explaning that they are separate people rather then two distinct personality being a whole. That's why Mauvier doesn't call her Veyle, refusing her the name as she isn't his lady, or why Ivy says that Veyle isn't exactly talking to herself when they saw her fighting against her other self.

A character with DID would be Lucy from Elfen lied who inspired me to nickname Evil Veyle that way but for no other reason then their sadistic nature. Or Echo/Noise/Zwei from Pandora Hearts. As to whether or not she is a good representation, I will politely leave that to people having DID.

That was for it. Veyle's identity conflict doesn't come from her struggling with DID, but from her being forced into being someone that she isn't and doesn't want to be anyway.

Veyle is like the ugly duckling in her family, she is treated as such.

(ugly my ** they are so cute) This story is about a baby bird being hated because of it's appearance, in short for being different from the rest of his family due to his different nature. However, when at the end of the tale, the bird find his truth family, he became a beautiful swan proving that his nature was actually beautiful from the very start. This is a story about discovering yourself, accepting yourself as you are and developping into the person you are and wanted to be. Now, baby swan are looking the same whether they are black ones or whites one. Veyle's state as a baby swan shows that she is offered the possiblity of choosing two nature, whether she is a white swan/good person whethere she is a black one/bad person. When Veyle meets Alear in the... afterlife ? (i still don't understand what was this place) she mentions how much she struggled, in order to get Sombron to like her. However, Veyle never tried to put a mask, unlike Alear did in the past in order to survive, because Veyle wanted Sombron to love her for who she is : a kind dragon. That is also echoed in her dialogue with Zephia where she complained that she never saw Veyle as her self but always as someone she isn't. Likewise, when you fight her in chapter 21, Lucy asks whether you saw her now or the her from before. Now interestingly enough, just as Veyle seeking to be acknowledged by Sombron, Lucy also wants to be acknowledge as being Veyle even though she is an artificial personality, pretty much because she wants to have her own existence and to become Veyle. She doesn't consider herself to be part of her, but to BE the real Veyle, or rather what she was told by Zephia is fitting of Sombron's daughter, hence she consider herself to be more worthy of being Veyle and has no other identity since she was created for the purpose of being the "ideal" Veyle. Whereas our Veyle is reduced to be forced to be someone she isn't, she doesn't want to be and who was created in her but isn't her. The chain and leash on her design represent that state where she is always prisonner of wanting to please Sombron and her love for him. In her A support with Alear, Veyle explain she still can't help but see Sombron as family. This is echoed in her support with Nel showing how desesperate she is for a family in general, as she consider Nel a family despite her being a child of a different Sombron who is actually a different person sharing a name and an appearance with Sombron (but they are sister in Nel's world as well so...). Veyle is prisonner of her need for Sombron's approval , but also of her condition of being manipulated by Zephia and her father, subjected to that spells. Like Zephia speaking about how the Hounds had nowehere to go but to come back at her side, Veyle has nowhere else to go but to return to Sombron's side hence why she always return to Elusia, she has nowehere else to go, therfore she is still a prisonner, hence why her feets aren't free. Veyle is prisonner of an identity that isn't hers... wait, why do I have a sense of deja vu--

NO WAY WHY DID THEY WROTE THEM TO BE SO SIMILAR ?!!!!

Yeah, so Veyle is stuck into being prisonner of an identity that isn't hers because she isn't that kind of person, she is a kind dragon. Hence, Veyle's arc and storyline is about overcoming this abuse and pressure put on her to be someone she isn't in order to affirm her real identity and assert herself as who she truly is, at the cost of Sombron's love.

Hence the cutscene of her fighting back is showing that she is rejecting that identity her father and her surrogate mother (I hesistate to call Zephia that but heh).

This scene and the dialogue are about Veyle believing in herself and fighting for the right to regain her identity. It's when she finally realize that Sombron doesn't care for both of her "two selves" and on those last words she breaks her horns and that her dress returns to her white swan dress unlike for the time Marni damaged her helmet allowing her to regain control, showing thus she is finally free.

Moreover, see Alear's sword name ? It's called Libération, in french it means "Freeing" and it's not only showing how Lulu was themselves freed, but they end up being the one freeing Veyle from Sombron and Zephia's influence, helping her to find her real family. Basically, Sombron was the equivalent of the duck that found the baby swan whereas Alear is the swan that Veyle ends up following once she freed herself. In the same way that Alear was able to fully bloom as a bright light as Lumera's child, by following Alear's path, Veyle was able to fufill herself and become the person she wanted to be, to become a pure white swan maiden dressed in white like how Alear wished to be reborn, a dragon claded in white ready to save the world. However, no matter how you look at it, it was Veyle that freed herself. Alear gave her the inspiration to not give up when Veyle was ready to stop due to being tired of being treated like a defect, but Alear's words and will to not give up even after death (thrice) that inspired Veyle to return and fight against the personality that was forced on her. She is the one fighting against her personality. She is the one that destroyed the helmet (even if Marni did helped a little) empowering her into affirming the identity she wants to fully embrace.

Finding Alear allowed her to find someone who finally accepts her as who she is and wants to help her fufill herself, helps her find about her dreams, the live she wants to have.

3-Veyle's support showing her vision of family

Veyle's vision of family is quite peculiar. She was always separated from any of her family member, her mother dying when she was young but instructing her into trying to help Sombron as his family and ... only family which must have motivated her even more. Her only remaining family being Alear, the two have the possibilty to bound through her support conversation. It's here that she shares that despite all he did, she can't help but see Sombron as family, even if she will later admit to have changed her mind in the main story. However, her S support with Alear is a genuine masterpiece. In this support Veyle offers a blue stone to Alear looking like their dragonstone but whereas their dragonstone was red, this stone is blue as to represent their now holy state and it's a bright color. And when Alear offers the pact ring as a substitute, Veyle initially refuse since she is the one that killed Lumimi, but she accepts it and her lines made me cry :" From now on, and a 1 000 of years, I'll stay by your side, I swear it upon this ring, as a dragon ready to save the world". Get it ? 1 000 years as to echo to the number of year the two of them have been separated and because now Veyvey is allowed to be what she wants to be ? Get it now

I love them soo much their relationship is everything.

I like when you give her the ring, the diary mentions how Alear and Veyle share a peculiar connection as if they shared each other thoughs when in the main story and in the PR support, it was shown they are similar in thinking. Also, the annecdote about them chatting and sharing spicy food is referenced in Veyle and Nel's A support, when she tells her that sisters can spend time chatting and eating spicy food. Guess what else ? .... It's what Lumera said she wanted to do with Alear, chatting and eating meals together.... (i am not crying you are.)

In her post wake up events, other then mentionning how happy she is that you are together as family as saying that her new talisman won't break, she mentions how her stone might help Alear become a "snow white dragon" like Lumera, and she mentions how she also wishes to become a dragon like that because her heart/soul changed although her blood didn't, way of saying that she did manage to become the person she wanted to be. She thanks for Alear for teaching her that it's not her blood that determined her fate, but her decision.

Intercrossing between Alear storyline is Veyle's tale of discovering herself and affirming herself as who she wants to be. However, she need Alear as her family to guide her and be the positive influence to guide her from the dark to the light. This is made obvious as the bad ending is Sombron imprisonning defintely Veyle into her evil self and chaining Alear too, deprived of their Liberation sword and stuck into their "impure state" (oh no Lulu and Rafal S support, I won't forget about you !!). Both siblings are now Sombron's prisonner once again, as he is about to head to the other world.

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #fire emblem #veyle fire emblem #fe veyle #fire emblem emotional damage #meta analysis #meta #swan

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onceuponanaromantic · 1 year

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the sea witch and the song

(Written for @flashfictionfridayofficial‘s prompt: FFF188 Where Secrets Lie. Enjoy!)

Within the hissing fires of the deepest depths of the ocean, where light does not reach and sound distorts, there lives the sea witch.

I leave the precise contours of her features to your imagination, though her appearance suits her environment. The most important part is that she sits within the fires, the Sea’s agent and servant above all. She does the sea’s will above all, and most have forgotten her name, only knowing her as the sea witch.

Let’s say a young girl born to the clear waters of a lake comes to her, as many do, to make a bargain. Like many other children of the sea, she asks for legs, so that she may walk upon land. She is in love, as many who approach the sea witch are, and her beloved is a sorceress who cloaks herself in feathers who sits by the edge of the lake and reads out loud to the water. Her dress is as beautiful as that of any queen’s, but her eyes hold all the loneliness and sadness of the world.

This girl sings to her, and though the sorceress cannot see her, her eyes soften with every song.

Now, this child asks to walk upon the land so that she may meet her beloved and reveal herself.

(The witch does not point out that sorceresses tend to be clever, and mermaids are far from an unknown phenomenon. She also does not warn that those that are beloved may not necessarily love them back, because children of the sea who see her often do not want to hear such things and are unlikely to heed her.)

“Give me legs,” says the girl, “and I shall finally be able to speak to her.”

Know this: the sea is possessive. She is greedier than any dragon and as unforgiving as she is vast. The sea loathes to give up her children. She will only trade them their tails begrudgingly for nothing less than their very souls.

The witch tells the girl that. The sea will take what she treasures most. This is not a question of value: the sea has no desire or need for jewels and gold. No, she will take what matters most to her children, such that they might yearn for her for all the remaining days of their miserable lives beyond her embrace.

The girl, as many do, agrees. The witch presses burning fingers to her sternum, and feels the power of the sea pour through her.

As previously established, the sea is greedy. It seeks the oxygen from her lungs in trade for feet that do not burn upon the sand, and the bones of her ribs for a face that humans would consider beautiful and gentle. She stops the sea mid-transformation: the sea has rules, but said rules are only as binding as their enforcement.

As the girl swims upwards with the remains of her strength, she wonders if this one will survive it. Love is as powerful a force as any, so maybe she will.

Weeks pass.

One day, she is met with a surprise. A black swan swims into the fires, transforming into a sorceress in a feather-cloak black as the sea on a new moon night. She comes to the sea witch, every breath belaboured and pain in her eyes as she forces her way through the cold riptides and the fires.

It is not often that the objects of affection come to her. Particularly one who is so obviously a child of the air.

“I know you have her soul.” The sorceress says. “Please, she is dying without it. I wish to save her.”

“I cannot,” says the sea witch, “she traded it for the ability to leave the sea. I could not reverse such a trade, even if I wished to.”

And many have come back to her begging. Sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers, even past lovers. But the sea is unforgiving and possessive, and to leave her is a slight she will not forgive easily.

The sorceress looks at her with eyes as beautiful as they are clever. “But you can make a new trade.”

“What are you offering?”

The sorceress removes the cloak from her shoulders, shivering but refusing to flinch even as she does so. “If you take my soul, I shall never be able to return to the sky. I will feel a cold in my bones that will never be dispelled all the days of my life. The storms, the clouds, the wind and sky, the air and magic itself will refuse me. My life’s work will be denied me.”

“Why would you offer such a thing?” And even now, she feels the sea biting at it longingly, soaking the feathers in salt and pulling it inexorably forward. But she resists, even as the sea bites at her for the refusal.

“Because I love her.” The sorceress says. “I may never feel the urge to kiss her. I will never give her children or a kingdom, but I love her. I loved her when all I knew was her song, and I love her even now when she cannot figure the laundry or the stovetop.”

And the intent is so clear that she cannot deny it. “Very well.” The sea witch says. “But you must know that the sea will never give this back. It will shorten your life and touch your muscles and bones with pain that will never fully ease.”

“I know.” The sorceress says, “She’s worth it. But do me a favour? Keep this a secret between us.”

And so, within the hissing fires of the deepest depths of the ocean, where light does not reach and sound distorts, there lives the sea witch. With her is all the secrets and all the trades that the children of the sea have offered and will offer her.

And somewhere in a little village by the sea, a woman cooks breakfast without magic: no self-heating stoves, no self-dicing onions and pans that do not clean themselves. She looks out the window at her partner wheeling herself across the sand, her voice high and clear as she sings.

#syl's writing #flash fiction writing #fff188 #where secrets lie

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zannakai · 10 months

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And one more project for this years @batfam-big-bang!

The Melody Flows, The Harmony Grows

When Damian stumbles across Cassandra practicing for an upcoming Swan Lake audition, neither of them expected the journey of friendship, family, and belonging it would take them on.

Many thanks to all the wonderful mods who’s hard work made this (Reverse) Big Bang so successful!

And make sure to check out @essiestarr who’s amazing art this fic is based on!

#batfam #batfam big bang #Batfam reverse Big Bang #my writing #cassandra cain #damian wayne #Ballet AU #dancing

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holycalf · 2 months

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my life is like reverse swan lake where they took a beautiful baby swan and forced her to live as a human person

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izzythefox · 10 months

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aftg x barbie (hear me out)

in honor of the barbie 2023 movie i’ve been marathoning the early/mid 2000’s classics (swan lake, princess & the pauper, iykyk) and naturally i started thinking, what if we made it aftg? O_o

now i cannot write for the life of me so this is just a collection of ideas and headcanons - if there are any other early barbie turned aftg fans, this one's for you

Magic of Pegasus AU

MoP is such an underrated film, its one of the only ones where the main couple doesn’t immediately fall for each other so all the banter and the sass is -immaculate-

the hardest part in casting this one was figuring out who’s gonna be the horse… like someone’s gotta do it. first i thought andrew & aaron as annika & brietta for the twinyard solidarity but neil gives me such annika vibes - i will elaborate - so kevin, sweet prince, its time for u to sprout some wings

So we have Neil as the prince, master figure skater that i’ve now decided he is, goes into town where he’s propositioned by Riko, evil/bastard sorcerer, that if he doesn’t marry him in 3 days everyone in the kingdom is forever turned to stone. alas, he’s rescued by the mysterious stallion that is kevin (im so sorry to the kevin stans out there) to bring him to Cloud Kingdom as a refuge. like in the movie, we find out kevin was once offered the same deal from riko, only when he refused, he was turned into a horse :/

idk if allison or dan would be the cloud queen, they both could fit the role tbh, and maybe matt & renee are their knights? (i’m imagining renee as this valkyrie-type warrior, she’s just so cool)

Cloud Queen, let's say Allison, tells Neil about building the wand of light to break the spell and I can just imagine his face

Allison: Yeah, there’s this legend of a wand, we don’t know if it’s real, and you just have to find a measure of courage, ring of love, and gem of ice lit by hopes eternal flame :D

Neil: you want me to do what

but at his core, he wants to protect his people so ofc he’s gonna do it. Neil & Kevin set off for the Forbidden Forest where in comes Andrew as Aidan. when i tell you annika and aidan are so andreil-coded, like the script literally writes itself!!!

*for context, Neil & Kevin got caught in a rope trap*

Andrew: Tell me, who’s bright idea was it to come to here? Only fools come to the Forbidden Forest.

Neil: And yet, you’re here. :)))))

LIKE CMONNNN neil would absolutely antagonize the very person who clearly has the advantage, it just works.

the whole scene with neil in the giant’s hut outsmarting ollie by taunting him to chain himself to a tree and break free, it fits so well and just to see andrew’s reaction at the end, (”you’re braver than i thought…”) yessir

they recruit andrew, as he’s a blacksmith, to later put the wand together and the parallels in their relationship, the whole thing about needing a second chance to set things right - chef’s kiss.

we can skip over some of the middle plot, there’s a lot of traveling and banter that i could probably talk about all day but cut to the scene where they finally assemble the wand and reverse the spell on Kevin, can u picture for me:

Andrew: That looks good on you, Kevin.

Kevin: Shut up.

thank you.

it gets real juicy from here, once Neil & Kevin and Andrew dramatically part ways (he really doesn’t want to leave them on their own) Riko comes back around for the attack. they fall into the ravine, neil is fucking -pissed- bc no one hurts Kevin like that again and orders the wand to destroy Riko but, gasp, it doesnt work?? neil is desperate at this point, he says fine Riko i’ll marry you but Riko is all bitch you just tried to kill me, how about I just kill you…and buries him under an avalanche

the angst, the beautiful angst of Andrew coming back in on Kevin alone in the ravine because where is neil? this snarky prince who gets under his skin but is also so smart and understands him? they dig neil out from where riko trapped him under an avalanche and just.. “I never should’ve left you”. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

when they’re back in the cloud kingdom and neil is still unconscious:

Andrew, internally: Please wake up, please. I need you.

check me into the ward rn bc i am unheathily obsessed with this.

Neil wakes up, but lo and behold its sunset on the third day. Renee, matt, and dan try to prolong the sunset for neil bc now these are also his people and they’re not gonna let him suffer. We get a fun scene with neil and andrew ice skating their way through Riko’s big mountain, palace, thing.. even in the movie they just love one-upping each other.

we get to the climax where neil has recovered the ‘broken’ wand from Riko’s lair but the gem falls off the cliff (neil would never fumble like that but for the sake of plot, i digress). enter andrew with the second gem he secretly took earlier!! because he’s willing to give up his second chance to make sure neil gets his!!! they undo all of Riko’s spells and cue the very barbie-esque speech that the wand can only work out of love, never hate <3

Neil returns the wand to the Cloud Kingdom for safe keeping and u know, that blacksmith from earlier seems to be real fond of forever staying by his side~

This has gotten pretty long now that i go back thru it lol and this may be for a very niche audience- i’m not sure if i’ve seen any aftg MoP au’s but i just love the concept and merging my old hyperfixations with new ones has been super fun

i would share more of these with other barbie movies but i’m also kinda new to this so lmk which ones were ur favorite or what u think!

#aftg #aftg headcanon #andreil #aftg x barbie #part 1??

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