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canisalbus · 3 months

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Hello! I hope I won't sour your mood with this ask but I have been thinking a lot about your gay dogs this month especially.

I'll just try to keep the context short but in general I'm someone that has accepted being romantically undesireable. It was hard but in the end I have built my life just around me, my humble family and at this point in time I don't even think I have the time for a partner. And considering that it's the love month and a lot of people are preparing to celebrate it with their SOs I assumed that, actually, this is a thing that I sort of have in common with Machete.

From the miscellaneous lore on your profile I see Machete as someone that also has kind of rejected love. That also has built his life around his job, possibly hobbies, his family or mentors (depending if we're talking about canon or modern au). Who kind of forgot that relationships are a thing and that people bond with others in that way. Well, at least he did until meeting Vasco.

I just love thinking about their awkward beginnings. Machete being 100% sure that Vasco is just joking, maybe even sometimes teasing him (in a friendly banter type way) or just explaining to himself that all that kindness and interest is just him being a very considerate friend. And then we have Vasco that just tries to be subtle, as if he was trying to pass a fawn without it noticing and running away, but also with time gains confidence and tries more risque moves. Vasco being all smug and Machete being flustered when their hands or shoulders or tails brush in passing. And then when both are sure of their feelings we have Machete who has to choose between God and his love. Who, at first, unwillingly accepts that divine wrath will be worth their brief love.

I just love your boys. I swear they are all the love supply one might possibly need

Thank you for such a long and thoughtful message! I don't know why you thought you might accidentally sour my mood, I'm utterly delighted whenever I hear that someone has been pondering my little guys (rotating them in their head, as they say), and when they go through the trouble of sharing their findings and conclusions I'm so happy I could crawl up a wall.

I think you deciphered Machete's inner workings very well, especially those of the original canon version. The concept of love is of course prominent in Christianity, so even as a kid being raised in a religious environment that discouraged overt displays of affection and close personal bonds, Machete wasn't completely alienated from it. But it has always been a nebulous, unperceivable and unattainable thing for him. When he was old enough to lock down his career choice he readily accepted he'd never have romantic relationships, spouse or a family, and I think he must've been too young and socially inexperienced to think of it as a significant loss. Either he consciously blocked out the need for companionship by studying and working like his life depended on it, or he didn't really consider that being genuinely befriended, appreciated and loved as a person instead of a respectable and competent authority figure was even an option for him, at least not until Vasco came along.

#I think it took some time to get through his initial defences #especially since when they first met the stressful apprenticeship period was still fresh in Machete's mind #the years under his explosive and gaslighting mentor's wing had made him very distrustful so he preferred to just stick to himself #Vasco is good at winning people over and once he convinced him that he didn't have any ulterior motives they became besties pretty quickly #and even though the line between platonic and romantic started gradually blurring Machete kept convincing himself #that his feelings for Vasco were just Very Deep Friendship #and Vasco has an eye for noticing these things and a bolder personality #so when he tried to reciprocate a little bit Machete thought 'what a good friend he is'#'so kind and considerate and I'm so grateful and lucky to have him and I must not ruin things by getting too personal'#it was awkward and at times a little bit painful but I'd like to believe the progression was for the most part smooth and natural #considering the circumstances it could've been a lot more distressing #as corny as it is I think they were just happy to have found each other #they advanced at the same phase and reached the 'I think we've become a couple actually' stage at the same time #at least that's how I imagine it at the moment #answered #anonymous #Vaschete lore #long post

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nikadd · 1 year

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fall out boy - love from the other side (2023) // supernatural (2005-2020)

#it's valeriia talking #fob #fobnatural #spn #destiel #bi baby pie #wings bees halo #mine #this is the only thing im putting in any kind of effort into today.#wanted to make gifs and realized that i forgot how to do it so. pngs for everybody

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sonic-adventure-3 · 1 year

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an incredibly rough comic. i think star fragments would taste like a scintillating phantasmagoria of light, a severe electric shock, a newfound gambling addiction, and a hint of the nastiest artificial grape flavour you’ve ever tasted. sonic is imbued with the power of slot machines now

#i don’t know how comics work in the slightest i’m just fucking winging it lmao #genuinely i’m still figuring out how this shit works so if you have any feedback id love to hear it #i think the first page would be p good with some work. the second is kind of a clusterfuck but could be salvaged #the third is just funny (i hope lol)#my art #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #my comics #frontiers #sonic frontiers #doodles #all that spawned this is that star fragments look like konpeito and i fucking love konpeito but i don’t have konpeito #can’t play any games these days without thinking of her (konpeito. because theres so many star items that look like konpeito)#very unlikely this gets past this stage cause i suck at finishing normal drawings let alone comics i’ve never finished a comic before #but i do kinda wanna finish this

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vellichorom · 3 months

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one of my favorite genres of images is when characters that have NOTHING to do with pony grimdarks are crossed over with them somehow

on an ENTIRELY unrelated note, shuu iwamine

#uwu art #Hatoful Boyfriend #Hatoful Boyfriend: A School of Hope and White Wings #Shuu Iwamine #Rainbow Factory #cw needles #cw syringe #tw syringe #tw needles #hatoful isn't a big enough fandom to have this kind of art by any means but NO rainbow factory shuu? none for me? you all suck #/silly #ALL THESE IMAGES OF SHUU SPATTERED WITH BLOOD OR VISCERA & ABSOLUTELY NO SPECTRA. so upset #GUESS I GOTTA DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE #crosses over all my favorite medias with other medias

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murkybu · 2 years

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bdubds elytra action (+ some doodles), totally inspired by @briseise ‘s barn owl design :D

#loooove wings and drawing them but trying to get any kind of decent composition going on with a drawing with them is so hard #they're so big and weird shaped #loll #hence the random bubs faces on the right #had to fill empty space with something #bdubs member discord got to see this first 💯💯#bdubs #bdoubleo #bdoubleo100 #hermitcraft #hermitblr #hermitcraft 9 #hermitcraft season 9 #fanart #my art

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applestruda · 1 year

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Still thinking about allay scar

#i thought about multi wings instead of the weird skinny ones i gave him earlier and i had to draw it #also its been a very heavy mr goodtimes kind of day #not that im complaining #or planning to stop any time soon #goodtimeswithscar #gtws fanart #allay scar #grian #grian fanart #my art

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peppermintfreak · 2 months

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I just think he's neat

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel adam #my art #fanart #im absolutely manic about the way he folds his wings #ive only got one character with them who for i have never bothered to look up any kind of wings anatomy but for him I just might

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sysig · 5 months

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Let him dad her!! (Patreon)

#Doodles #Adventure Time #Fionna and Cake #Fionna Campbell #Simon Petrikov #I cannot BeLieve that they didn't hug at any point - illegal. One million years dungeon #She slapped him (deservedly) but they didn't hug by the end??? I had to fix it #Jerry is my favourite episode so that at least was an easy choice lol #If anywhere would be a good place to cross that line it would be to comfort her! I can't imagine he'd initiate tho haha #She's just seeking comfort so badly <3 I know she's at least legally considered an adult but she's still a kid!#And Simon just keeps adopting kids lol #He's a good dad :) Not a perfect one but y'know? He helps where he can #Sometimes all we need is a parent figure giving you a hug and saying ''You know what? You're right - this sucks. But I see you''#Fionna's quite interesting 'cause like - she's meant to be a Finn but there are a lot of differences between her and quite a few Finns!#A lot of that is Because she lived in Simon's head for so long but I wonder - most Finns have decent support systems and she seems a little #Well not lacking Exactly but her fallbacks aren't as numerous - and she's not able to fulfill her life's purpose so she's just kinda wayward #Seeing that kind of Finn finally able to spread their wings but still have a lot of Finn trappings like naivety and impulsivity ♪#She's interesting! I quite like her :D Plus it's cool to see her natural EQ when she calls out Simon later in this episode unknowingly haha #I stopped at episode eight for a while but year her line about ''Then you got on the bus right? :D'' and him refuting it #Hmmm ♪ It was certainly interesting - I'm glad they addressed it :)#Plus she's fun to draw haha ♫ Her bunny ears! And the jacket she took from Martin </3 She has a fun design #And as always Simon is fun to draw :) Especially piecemeal here haha - just his mouth or just his eyes ♪ Cute :)

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canon-gabriel-quotes · 1 month

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grabrierl is a buge. do you agee

yeas i beilve is some type of buge mized with a birded beasty

#hard outer shell #(now) short lifespan #that there is a buge #but his wings and ability to make any sound #well that there is a birde #some kind of hybirdimal #ask #asks #non voice post

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meat-fr · 6 days

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Cobalt Real!!!!! 💙💙💙

#flight rising #cobalt speaks #fr dusthide #my art #she is here and she is complete!... for now #decided to go with edged instead for the secondary for the more proper feathery look (and darker color)#and the hope is that they add seraph to these guys later #also hoping they give boreal woods a scene sometime soon #cause that would fit her perfect (or really just any kind of snowy forest scene. need more trees tho)#also debating making a skin to give her her skull+ribs (and maybe more feathered wings but that looks annoying to edit onto these guys)#//for any who are confused or don't know. this is my main sona

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iamamythologicalcreature · 24 days

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Sentences or Sketches or Something... Sunday

Hello strangers! It's been a long time since I last did a progress post of any kind - thank you everyone who's continued to tag me so I don't get left behind! And thanks to @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @blackberrysummerblog, @thewholelemon, @mooncello, @monbons, @prettygoododds, @shrekgogurt, and @youarenevertooold for tagging me, today. (I feel so loved! <3) I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone's up to.

It's still Sunday in my neck of the woods, though just barely. And yes, I've used my "sentences" banner, but... It's a bit more chaotic than that. Honestly, I wasn't sure about doing a post today because I'm a bit all over the place, but then I figured... eh, why not? I am all over the place LOL.

So here's your snippet from the collective efforts of Jo's creativity, lately, under the cut. (Because I ramble...)

On the Haunting of Simon Snow... I haven't forgotten about it! Nor is it abandoned. As I keep telling anyone who will listen, I have a rough draft, which basically amounts to an outline, meaning I have way too much figured out to just let the story fade away. XD I attempted to work on Chapter 2 earlier this month, and ran into some roadblocks - of the architectural variety.

So I've started to research manor houses and English estates like mad. I'm going to do the thing. I'm going to figure out Pitch Manor. Why? Because my brain won't let me gloss over paltry details such as the location of Simon in the grand scheme of the house, or how and where the roof attaches and where that tree is going to be. It's annoying, but I figure... This is a fun puzzle, too. One I hope to be able to share with the fandom at large once it's complete.

This little snippet is from an early design I've since scrapped (but you never know what might come around, again.)

"That's great, Jo, but how about some sentences?"

Okay. Ahem. Here's... some Simon sentences... that have just been scribbled out. *cough*

I sit there and listen to the man on the other side as he blathers on about extra fees associated with estate deliveries due to distance and blah blah bloody fucking blah. I wish he’d just say it. Just say 'this is the Pitch Manor tax.' No one ever does. But everyone charges it.

I HAVE WRITTEN SEE THERE'S PROOF.

Okay, moving on...

The other thing I'm working on is illustrations for @mooncello's beautiful fanfic, "Lost Boys." I just posted art from Chapter 1 here, and I'm working on art for Chapter 2, now. The story is stuffed to the gills with absolutely gorgeous imagery, so choosing what to illustrate is a challenge. Hopefully it all works out, and in the meantime, here are a couple doodles.

(I was telling Heath last night... this morning...? about how all illustrations start out as baby sketches XD These are the little babes in the creative nursery, basically. Also I have never posted baby sketches before and I'm kinda nervous about it. But. Well. >.> )

THERE YOU HAVE IT. A couple of my reasons for being so entirely absent from all other aspects of the fandom. (Also I got hit with the flu super hard, but doing better now!)

Tags for future wipsdays/hello's! @leithillustration, @artsyunderstudy (thank you for listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor), @erzbethluna, @nightimedreamersworld, @cutestkilla (thank you for also listening to me ramble about Pitch Manor sorry I'm reworking it again XD), @angelsfalling16, @fatalfangirl, @hushed-chorus (thank you for being my secret-garden-enabler XD), @rimeswithpurple, @best--dress, @whatevertheweather, @ileadacharmedlife, @scribble-tier, @imagineacoolusername, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @alleycat0306, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @tender-ministrations, @katmiscellanious, @anxious-m3ss, @bubble-gumhead, @ebbpettier, @facewithoutheart, @bazzybelle, @theimpossibledemon, @aristocratic-otter, @ic3-que3n, @palimpsessed, @raenestee

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cooliogirl101 · 6 months

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Okay I realize absolutely no one asked for this but here are some of the changes I would make to Fourth Wing:

*Spoilers below and warning, this is gonna be a very long post with more or less coherent rambling*

To start with, Violet's mother's motivations for suddenly demanding Violet become a Rider 6 months prior to Conscription never made sense to me and that's something I'd definitely want to flesh out more. She fell in love with and married a Scribe, and was apparently fine with Violet training to become a Scribe up until then-- so what the hell changed, made her suddenly decide to throw her youngest daughter into a death college where she'll start off at a major disadvantage? I think it makes more sense if her decision coincided with the death of Violet's father or something. The pain of losing him, of wanting to avoid all reminders of him, led her to demand Violet become a Rider rather than a Scribe. It's also stated in the book that in the last few months of his life, Violet's father became more withdrawn and was likely looking into venin/wyvern-- she could've forbidden Violet from becoming a Scribe in order to get her away from all that and the possibility of discovering the truth (although granted, sending her away to the same College the Rebellion Kids-- who are very much aware of the truth-- are forced to attend may not be the best way of going about it).

For that matter, I'd stop giving Violet so many opportunities to leave. I know it's supposed to show off her determination or whatever, but it makes her motivations and characterization super inconsistent if she's constantly going on about how her dream in life is to become a scribe and she turns down literally every opportunity for her to go and do that. It's also a more compelling story for me if she literally had no choice but to become a Rider but managed to succeed anyway-- and it mirrors the rebellion kids' story as well.

The hair. There's no logical reason for Violet to have natural balayage, the fuck. It's stated in the book that even if she was to cut her hair, it would just turn silver again at the ends after it reaches a certain length, which...?? And there's zero explanation for this. Like, if you're gonna give the MC special hair, at least provide a good story behind it. For example: after Brennan's death 6 years ago, Violet shut down completely. She couldn't stand being around her mother's rage and her father's devastating grief and Mira's absence, so she just picked a direction and...kept going. It took them 3 days to find her and by that time, she was half-frozen and on the verge of death. Borrowing a trope from Chinese dramas, by the time they found her, her hair had turned completely white from stress. Her brown hair grew back in as she recovered but she keeps the white as a reminder to herself to never let herself get to that point again-- to never let herself shut down the same way again.

(To emphasize-- if she cuts it, it doesn't magically turn white again after growing out, that was just a one-time thing. She's not magically gifted with special hair "just because", that's stupid).

Violet's potential as a Scribe. The book continuously emphasizes how smart Violet is supposed to be, how she would've made the Perfect Scribe, and other than her tendency to conveniently regurgitate facts the author wants us to know about the world, we...don't really see much evidence of that. If anything, the book makes the argument that oh actually, deep down inside Violet had always been more suited to be a Rider rather than a Scribe, yadda yadda yadda. Which is just boring to me-- the most interesting thing about her character is the fact that she was never supposed to be a Rider, was never suited for it, and having her turn out to actually have "the soul of a Rider" all along or some bullshit takes away from that. I would much rather have her start off the book with a scribe's skill and mindset and gradually add the traits of a Rider as well for a merging of the two, rather than have her 'outgrow' being a Scribe.

Continuing on that theme, Violet is clearly a very emotion-driven character, which doesn't quite make sense to me given that she was trained to be the Quintessential Scribe. Scribes, after all, are taught to be logical, rational, to always control/hide their emotions: to fundamentally be a "blank slate", without biases or preconceptions, solely dedicated to the preservation of knowledge (emotions only get in the way of that). If anything, it'd make more sense to me if Violet was a little too good at hiding and compartmentalizing her emotions (especially after the deaths of her father and brother), to the point that she was nearly impossible to read and came across as a bit eerie to her peers. This is not to say that she wouldn't feel as strongly or have that same capacity for kindness-- just that she'd become very good at using intellectualization as a defense mechanism ("I'm not helping them because I care, it's because I'm already at a disadvantage and need all the allies I get. It's only logical." "It's only natural to feel a bit anxious watching them fight...they're giving me lessons and it'd be inconvenient if they died. I'd have to find another person to fill their place, which would be...well, it'd be better if they lived. I'm going to make sure they live.")

(The "woman is the openly emotional one and the man is the openly logical one" is also one of the tropes that annoys me the most, so...goodbye to that).

You also cannot convince me this girl was well-socialized growing up, which would cause her to value her relationship with Dain that much more. If he was her only friend growing up, the only person she was close to outside her family, it provides a huge opportunity for character growth as she struggles to learn how to trust, open up to, and rely on other people. It bothered me a little how in the book, several characters (Ridoc, Sawyer) were just suddenly on Violet's side without any actual scenes between them showing how they became friends.

(Ridoc is the first person to make Violet Sorrengail laugh at Basgiath. It wasn't even anything special, just a sarcastic-- but uncannily accurate-- impression of Professor Devera, and he glanced at her just in time to see her hastily turn away, covering her face. Her shaking shoulders gave her away, however.

Hah, he thought, smug satisfaction curling in his chest. So you can laugh. I knew you had a sense of humor hidden away somewhere deep down.

Deep, deep down.

The next second, Violet had managed to compose herself, face as blank and unreadable as ever, save for perhaps the slightly narrowed gaze she aimed at his direction, as if willing him to forget her momentary lapse in Not Being a Robot. He just winked at her, grin widening for the briefest moment before turning back to Sawyer.

Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me.)

Also why is this girl starting her training off making enemies left and right? First off, instead of futilely trying to avoid every rebellion kid out there, it'd be more practical for her to just try and distance herself from her mother as much as possible. That relationship is definitely doing her no favors. And with Xaden/the other rebellion kids-- she, of all people, knows what it's like to be judged for who her parents are. She knows they know what it's like too. It's an angle that she can use to at least try to keep a hundred targets off her back.

("You're Lilith Sorrengail's daughter," Xaden said, studying her through narrowed eyes. It was impossible to pinpoint the emotion in his voice-- but well, she could take a solid guess.

"Yes," Violet replied, just as evenly. "And you're Fen Riorson's son, if we're doing introductions based on our parents now." She gave him a polite nod. "Best of luck on the Parapet today, although from what I've heard about your skills, I don't imagine you'll need it."

When in doubt, there was never any harm in falling back on manners and flattery. That was what Dain had told her, and she tended to trust his advice when it came to dealing with people. He'd always been more likeable than her.

His jaw tightened.

"Your mother killed my father," he said, expression cracking open the slightest bit to reveal something raw and wounded underneath.

And your father killed my brother, she didn't say. It was something they both knew, after all, and she didn't see the point in reciting facts back and forth for no reason.

Violet resisted the urge to sigh. So much for manners and flattery-- it looked like she was going to have to address this now. Directness it was then.

"Yes," she admitted, voice going even more flat. "And I understand you have every reason to hate me for what my mother did. But if you're going to try and kill me, at least have it be for something that I did." She started walking forward-- either he was going to kill her, or he wasn't. Either way, there wasn't much she could do about it. "Everything in my life has been influenced by who my mother is. At the very least, do me the courtesy of allowing my death to occur independently of her."

A pause. She'd caught him off guard.

"So just to be clear, you're not asking me to spare you. Just for some agency in your own death," he said finally. Was that a trace of humor in his voice?

"What I'm asking is for you to stop seeing my mother when you look at me," Violet said, causing Xaden's face to go blank again. "But that's easier said than done. I'm sure you would know, wouldn't you?")

For that matter, I'm also putting Violet on the aro/ace spectrum here (probably demisexual). Not out of any plot-related reason. Just because it was incredibly annoying reading all those descriptions of how inhumanly beautiful Xaden was every 3 pages. 'Lust at first sight' is also one of my least favorite tropes, so. Goodbye to that. (Side note though, I think it would be really funny for Violet 'never-felt-sexual-attraction-to-any-significant-degree' Sorrengail to go find Xaden while their dragons are fucking, completely freaked out about what the fuck is happening, while Xaden (after registering that she genuinely has no idea that the emotion she's feeling is Dragon-Induced Horniness, she legit thinks their dragons might be dying) has a mini panic attack thinking 'fuck am I really going to have to give the dragon sex talk to the girl I'm Definitely Not Crushing On'

One of the things that frustrated me the most about the book was how convinced Violet was that Xaden was out to kill her, despite all of his actions showing he was very much not going to kill her. This from a girl whose defining trait is supposed to be her intelligence. Now I'm all for characters being very smart in one way and dumb in another. But the essence of intelligence is the ability to gather facts and put them together to form a logical conclusion. To have multiple occurrences of Xaden helping her out/saving her life/turning down the perfect opportunity to kill her, and still reaching the conclusion that he wants her dead is...not intelligent.

("What are you doing?" Dain hissed. "I told you to keep your head down and to do everything you could to avoid Riorson's notice!"

That was rather unfair of him, Violet thought to herself. She was keeping her head down, she was trying her best to avoid him, Xaden Riorson just seemed to be annoyingly adept at seeking her out. She couldn't understand why he kept doing so. Surely he wasn't still trying to make sure she wasn't going to spill his secrets?

She felt rather offended at that. Did Xaden really think that lowly of her intelligence? If she reported him, he'd find a way to kill her, simple as that, and she rather enjoyed living. Reporting him would be against her self-interest. At the very least, if he couldn't trust in her word, he should be able to trust in her self-preservation.

She ignored the tiny voice in her head saying that if she was to report him, Xaden Riorson and the other rebellion kids would be dead before they could so much as register the word 'betrayal', much less be in any state to exact vengeance against her.

"If it helps, I really don't think he's going to try and kill me," Violet said honestly. Not as long as she didn't give him a reason to.

"Oh? And why's that?" Dain asked sarcastically. She'd never seen him so discomfited. It was rather...sweet, actually.

"Because it wouldn't suit his interests," Violet stated. "He wouldn't gain anything from killing me, but he does stand to lose a whole lot. It's true that killing me wouldn't be against the Codex-- he wouldn't be formally punished-- but targeting me for nothing else but the crime of being General Sorrengail's daughter...well, it lets everyone know where his loyalties lie, doesn't it? It sends a clear signal to all the higher ups that he hasn't forgiven his father's execution, and he's already on thin enough ice as it is. It would be impractical for him to kill me, and Xaden Riorson may be a lot of things, but he's never struck me as stupid."

Dain stared at her for a while.

"What?" Violet blinked, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He was the one who'd told her that it was rude to stare too long, so why was he doing it now?

"Nothing," he chuckled, shaking his head. "You're just something special, Violet."

"'Special' isn't always a compliment," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly at him. He'd taught her that as well.

"It is when it comes to you," he said, smiling. "Now come on, you have class soon."

"I'll be there in a moment. I just need to head back to my room to grab something." The moment she turned the corner, she paused as she heard footsteps appear at her back.

"Xaden," she greeted, without turning around. "You were listening." It wasn't a question.

"You don't seem surprised," he commented, easily stepping in place next to her as if he'd always been there.

"I've come to the conclusion it's easier to just assume you're there anytime there are shadows present," Violet responded, voice a touch dry.

"It's flattering to know you think I'm so omnipresent," Xaden replied, a touch of smugness in his voice. "You gave a very convincing argument to Aetos about all the reasons why I shouldn't kill you. You had a lot of faith in my...practicality." He seemed amused, although his expression didn't change. "Has it ever occurred to you that not everyone is as rational about these things as you are?"

"Of course. That's why I figure it never hurts to provide a reminder that it costs you more to kill me than to keep me around." Violet glanced down at her planner. "I figure I'll schedule the next one in another two weeks or so."

"No need. You remind me every day." He grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to a halt. "Kairi Stevenson. You helped her before her match yesterday. Why?"

Violet looked down at his hand pointedly. He ignored her. "If you're asking how I learn about the match lineups beforehand, I'm not going to--"

"I don't care about that," Xaden interrupted. "You helped her, even though her father--"

"Even though her father participated in the rebellion, yes," Violet finished. "I've asked you-- all of you-- to judge me on my own merits, rather than my parentage. It would be rather hypocritical of me to not do the same for you."

His grip on her shoulder tightened.

"There's a difference between that and going out of your way to help us," he said, voice low.

"Is there? All I've done is treat her the same way I did the rest of my squad," Violet replied. "She's part of my squad, so I helped her. End of story."

It had been the first thing she'd done since arriving, work on establishing herself as an asset to her squad, rather than a liability. She'd known from the beginning that she would need to build allies in order to survive, given her physical limitations, and her squad, the only people bound by Codex to not kill her, seemed like a good place to start. It started with secret notes passed around in Battle Brief containing hastily scrawled answers. It continued with tutoring sessions and, after discovering Brennan's gift, hushed whispers regarding the next week's sparring lineup. Anything to establish herself as someone who was worth more alive than dead.

She'd spent her entire life under the disapproving eyes of her mother attempting to justify her existence, that she had a right to exist. This was no different.

Xaden's mouth curved up in a sardonic smile.

"So what, are you saying you helped her out of the goodness of your heart? How very...altruistic of you."

"Hardly," Violet said dismissively. Xaden blinked, sneer fading. "It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. She's been offering me help on improving my accuracy with my daggers, did you know? Like Sawyer helping me with weight training and Rhiannon with sparring. It's not like I don't get anything out of it."

"And Anderson?" Xaden questioned. "He's not even in our wing; yet I hear you helped bind his ankle after he twisted it last week. What benefit did you get out of helping him?" The corner of his lips twitched. "Or is he helping you with weight training too?"

"Well," Violet hesitated, unexpectedly flustered. Eli Anderson was a scrawny, hopelessly awkward boy who was quite possibly the clumsiest person she'd ever met. How he made it across the Parapet without tripping over the edge was beyond her. "It's always good to have allies outside of your own wing. It just means one less potential knife in the back some day."

Xaden hummed, studying her for a moment. "I'd worry about yourself first, Violet, before spending your time nursing other students back to health. Someone like Anderson won't make it in the long run anyway. It's better that someone take him out now before he gets someone else killed on the battlefield in the future."

Violet's eyes flashed, lips twisting into a scowl despite herself. Xaden's gaze sharpened and he leaned in, something almost hungry in his eyes. "Something the matter, Sorrengail?"

"I'm fine. I disagree with your argument, that's all," she said stiffly. "How do you know that Eli won't one day become an amazing dragon rider with the proper training? All this focus on 'weeding out the weak' and 'killing off the weaklings' with absolutely no emphasis on actually helping people become strong-- how does that make sense? We live in a world where the war is getting more dangerous by the day, where more people are dying by the day, and what are we doing here? Learning how to kill each other off," she scoffed. "What's the point in waging a war to keep our home safe, and then turning around and tearing ourselves apart inside it? The biggest threat here at Basgiath isn't the gryphons or Pomoriel-- it's each other. How sad is that?"

"All day, every day, encouraged to attack each other, to kill each other. I understand that killing is a necessity on the battlefield, but here?" she continued, tone scathing. "That's not training. That's not learning. That's just...that's just senseless cruelty and it serves no purpose. All you end up with then are people who won't think twice about stabbing a comrade in the back if it serves their own self-interest. It's meaningless, it's illogical, and it's...it's stupid."

Violet said the last word with a particular viciousness, as if it was the most scathing indictment she could imagine. Despite himself, Xaden found himself fighting a grin.

"It's better to get used to killing here, where you're in a relatively controlled environment, than it is on the battlefield," Xaden murmured. Violet shot him an unimpressed look and he had to press his lips together to keep the corners from twitching upwards.

"Are you volunteering yourself as a subject?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"As entertaining as it would be to see you try to murder me, I'll have to decline," Xaden replied, flicking her on the forehead just to see her scowl deepen. He coughed to hide a laugh as she reached up to swat his hand away. "Try not to die coddling some random stranger, Sorrengail. It would be a horribly anticlimatic end to your life."

"I'll try not to disappoint," Violet said, voice dry as the desert. She'd never coddled anyone in her life; at most it could be said she lent the occasional helping hand. And as she'd already established earlier, that was hardly altruistic in nature. The nature of things as they were was hardly conducive to her continued survival-- the current system was designed to swallow people like her whole. Obviously then, she needed to act differently from the established social order.

A favor given meant a favor received. Helping someone else now meant potentially being helped in the future.

That wasn't kindness. That was just common sense.

(Rhiannon, at some point in the future, after seeing Xaden and Violet interact:

"Oh my god," she said, mouth dropping open. "I thought he hated you because of your mother and that's why he wouldn't leave you alone, but...holy shit, he's just been pulling your pigtails this entire time, hasn't he?"

"I don't have pigtails," Violet frowned, even as Riorson shot her a warning glare. Rhiannon had to admit it was a fairly menacing one.

"Fine, tugging on your braid, whatever," Rhiannon waved her off, fighting a grin. Since discovering he was likely crushing on her best friend, the Wingleader suddenly seemed much less intimidating. "The point is, he li--"

"Matthias, I can and will give you double chore duty for attempting to spread untoward rumors about your Wingleader," Riorson growled.

He didn't say inaccurate, Rhiannon couldn't help but notice.

Violet tugged at Riorson's sleeve, brow furrowing slightly. Riorson's expression instantly softened a fraction and Rhiannon had to suppress a snort.

"What was that about?" Violet asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he replied. "Let's get back to practice, shall we?")

This post is getting wayyyy too long so I'll stop but one last point: not gonna lie, I was pretty disappointed by Violet's signet power in the book. It seemed to signify that deep down, she was the quintessential rider all along-- it's not a power that honors her intelligence or scribe background at all. Not to mention the whole her wielding lightning seemed to be a pretty deliberate counterpoint to Xaden wielding shadows, like come on, you couldn't come up with a less obvious metaphor to state they represent light and shadow? If I were to give her a power, it'd be something like probability manipulation or hyperintuition-- both abilities that compliment and highlight her intelligence.

#violet really said kindness is common sense and cruelty is stupid and no she will not be hearing any arguments #fourth wing

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