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shanastoryteller · 3 years

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Questions about outlines: How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary? How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps? Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points? Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go? Sorry if this is to many at once

lmao okay i got several asks about outlines but i’m just going to answer this one because it’s ~comprehensive~

every writing teacher i’ve ever had has hated my outlines. my friends find them incomprehensible.

if people are going to look at my answers as ways to do their own outlines, i have to say: that’s probably not a good idea

i don’t write outlines a majority of the time

i don’t write outlines to plan a story i’ve already decided to write

i write outlines primarily as a way to exorcise story ideas that i want to write but don’t want to actually commit to writing (answer prompts are another way i do this lol)

now, some things do get outlines as a way to plan and organize. survival is a talent has an outline because it’s 400k and spans six years. child king had an outline. needy’s body had an outline.

b u t

i’m currently writing rotten work without an outline

lynchpin didn’t have an outline

hope is the thing with feathers didn’t have an outline

never grow a wishbone only had an outline for the first couple of chapters

an invincible summer didn’t get an outline until like. chapter 4 of 6.

i just. uh. think about what i want to happen and then hope i remember to write it down. even when i do an outline, i’ll deviate from it wildly, and not update it to reflect that, because i know what i’m doing (ha!)

so! with that in mind, let’s go!

How detailed are they? Are they the same level of detail or do they vary?

they vary! but honestly - not very. sometimes i’ll write out a paragraph or bits of dialogue that are important to me, but most of the time it’s just broad strokes of what i want to happen, or a mechanism of how something complicated happens. like i have several paragraphs in my siat outline dealing with necromancy books, but like. two sentences on how they actually occur in the story because that’s just something i’m trusting myself to figure out when i sit down to write it.

How do you make your outlines? Chronologically scene by scene? Or do you come up with the scenes that call you and then come up with smaller filler scenes to fill in the gaps?

I try to put them chronologically, although sometimes that’s a little hard (in siat i have several scenes that i know will happen, i just don’t know when). that is something i will go back and edit on my outlines, is if i’ve changed the order the something happens i’ll go back and copy and paste until my outlines is in the right order. but only if the outlines is something i’m actually using to write and the story is longer than a couple of chapters.

because my outlines are so very not detailed, i just write down what it is that i want to write, like the reason i’m going to write this or want to write this, and figure out the rest later. i’ll fill it in later - or i won’t! because most of the time i don’t use my outline to actually write the story, and i use it more as an idea list, so if i don’t know what happens between scenes or i find it boring i just won’t write it down

like, for example, here is my “outline” for won’t even plant a garden in it’s entirety

weep as a woman

“you weep as a woman weeps.” “and how is that?” “as if the future rests on your hips, and you must walk it forward.”

crowley and eve were friends. cain killed abel with the flaming sword, and crowley begged them to say it was with a rock instead

crowley was raphael the painter and fucked michelangelo

crowley was there the night yeshua was born, was friends with mary, helped raise yeshua?

ghosts

crowley and anathema and joan of arc

i ended up dropping most of this and crowley ended up sleeping with both eve and yeshua as the major plot points. i don’t explain stuff, really. i know what i mean so i just don’t bother to get very detailed most of the time.

Do you have outlines for each chapter? Or just for the larger general plot points?

siat i divide up by year, and i think i did it by chapter for the last two chapters of build your wings on the way down, but otherwise it’s just one long list. i do my chapters based on words counts rather than content, so outlining by chapter doesn’t really make sense for me (siat is always around 15k a chapter, and everything else i do these days thats multi chapter is around 8k because that’s the best, but ngawb was 5k a chapter and i think for child king it was around 11k a chapter)

Do you try to complete the outlying before starting the fic? Or do you add to the outline as you go?

I’m constantly adding as a i go! my outlines are never really “complete” they’re just abandoned. i write down what i think will help me and tend to ignore the rest. sometimes i just. talking to myself in my outlines when i’m trying to think something through.

my outline for child king is under the cut because that’s one that’s a good mix of stuff i kept and stuff i threw out. DON’T JUDGE ME!! bad ideas don’t get written because they’re bad!! it’s part of the ~process~

child king

Summary: “A child king is still a king,” Deaton says softly. “A child king is still a child,” he snaps, but he knows this is an argument he’s already lost. – Stiles is a born alpha, and after the Hale fire, things get real complicated, real fast.

Stiles’s mom is the last remaining human from a pack that was destroyed by hunters. John is the one that helps her after, so he knows everything. When they move to beacon hills she doesn’t feel the need to say anything to the hale pack, because as far as they’re concerned she’s just a human, and she doesn’t want to get involved in pack business. But then stiles is born with red eyes. The doctor is quiet and scared john and Claudia freak out, but it’s because he’s a werewolf, which is a relief to parents because they thought something was wrong with their kid. Maybe they don’t know he’s an alpha, only that he’s a wolf? Or they know and they keep it a secret on purpose

Claudia is the one to approach mrs. Hale. She tells her that her son is a born werewolf, but that she’s not interested in joining their pack. Her husband is a new deputy and they just bought a house but they’ll move if they have to. “he’ll need a pack one day. It’s safer,” she says. “if he wants to join you one day, I won’t stop him. But that’s not a choice I’m willing to make for him.” Mrs hale agrees that they can say separate as in exchange for the sheriff smoothing over some ruffled feathers no and again. They agree. Claudia to sheriff “we’re going to have to move one day. Our son is an alpha, and he’ll need to make his own pack.”

Stiles is seven the first time he snarls at his mom, eyes flashing red, and she freezes. She’s got the pack instinct, it doesn’t matter that hes her kid, hes still her alpha, so its hella awkward. John can see how this will quickly spiral out of control if they can discipline their own kid. But stiles is the one to back down first, apologizing and doing as he’s told. There are careful power structures here, and this is the beginning of differentiating between stiles the human and stiles the wolf.

When his mom gets sick, stiles offers to turn her. Hale offers to turn her. She refused for Reasons that I have to figure out. Maybe the politics of it? Wanting to protect stiles and not wanting to become part of the hale pack

The fire happens. John ships stiles the hell out of dodge, because there are hunters about. He snoops around enough to figure out it was kate argent, but theres not really anything he can do about it

Scott knows about everything, and tries to tell his mom in a really akward way that they should trust stiles if they’re ever in danger, but she just laughs it off. Except when someone breaks in and threatens her with a gun, and she manages to make a phone call, it’s not 911, not john, but stiles, and she doesn’t even know why, regrets it as soon as it happens. But then stiles shows up and breaks both of the guys, eyes glowing red, and then calls his dad and scott to take care of it, because they’re humans, so they get human punishments. Melissa is told everything.

Scott has a bad asthma attack and, and Melissa asks about the bite. Scott is itching for it. He wants it so badly. Stiles has already promised to turn them when they turn 18, and Melissa knows that. She asks if theres a reason to wait, and the answer is nah, not really. So he gets the bite. Stiles being like uh psa punishments cant include scott staying away

After hale fire and stiles gets back, he’s shocked that hey just left, and that they left peter behind. He starts visiting peter several times a week. He tells his dad that they should pay for his medical care. They have a fuckton of money because his mom inherited all the pack wealth, and john doesn’t touch it because that’s stiles’s money, that’s werewolf money. But this is a werewolf thing, so he agrees. “his pack left him dad.”

Stiles bites Erica when they’re 14. Some point in middle school stiles wises up to the Isaac thing and tells his dad he needs to arrest his dad, or stiles is going to kill him, and he’s not even a little bit joking. Stiles hears Isaac crying while going by the house? In johns squad car. Makes them pull over, then bursts into the house. John goes with it because his son’s eyes are red.

Some point after the hales leave, things start trying to move into hale territory. Some wolves? Stiles smells them, and ends up at 10 years old telling them to fuck off. This how scott finds out? He’s with scott and his dad. Deaton is facing off against something? Panics when stiles intervenes, but stiles goes wolfy and red eyes and is like. This is mine now fuck off. Looks at the hale house, and finally says, we have to take care of this. We have to. But they don’t own the house or the land or any of it. They do … something

Stiles ends up having to deal with a lot of crap real young

Stiles has scott and Isaac when peter wakes up. Stiles is there, and peter isn’t crazy because he wasn’t abandoned to die alone. Stiles says he can stay, or he can go, not trying to pressure anything. Peter chooses to become part of stiles’s pack, because his family is either dead or abandoned him. Peter ends up moving in with them as he finishes healing and to get used to being in a pack and with stiles. It’s very strange for john, but it’s a werewolf thing and he’s trying to be supportive. After a couple months, stiles tells his dad that having peter is a relief, that there’s finally someone who knows things, someone older who can support him as a werewolf. Peter acts as his second, and he finally has some degree of authority that age has lost him. Stiles has peter take care of the hale house. Peter and stiles have the conversation, where peter is like the hale land is your land now. You’re the alpha of beacon hills. He does what stiles directs him to.

Isaac is living with scott under stiles’s direction ish. But lots of Melissa. Isaac like I don’t wantto be afraid anymore, I don’t want to hurt anymore, and stiles is like. Okay. We’ll fix this. But he doesn’t bite Isaac until he goes to a shitton of therapy and has mostly sorted himself out. For isaac’s fifteenth birthday, he bites him.

Erica is spur of the moment, it’s something that all instinct and very little thought. OR they’re dating and it happesn? Erica’s parents suck. Stiles doesn’t want the balancing act of being boyfriend and alpha.

Jackson is so fucking desperate to belong to something. He nags and nags and nags and finally stiles bites him at least half to shut him up.

“dad can I talk to you about something weird and uncomfortable and a little creepy” talks about crush on Lydia, and how he’s not sure if its because he has a crush on her or if it’s bc he thinks she’ll be good for the pack. Lydia joins before Jackson, and she’s the one that pushes stiles into it. Lydia and stiles are not dating, but she’s clearly high in the hiarchey.

Boyd? Just like. Shows up. Idk.

So by the time laura and derek show up, stiles’s pack is: john, Melissa, peter, Lydia, Jackson, danny, Isaac, boyd, Erica, deaton (who’s acting as emissary but is training danny). Maybe bring in some later characters, like malia and kira and cora. Ooooh maybe the twins show up before they became alphas, still run aways and looking for something else? Stiles takes them on. Stiles finds malia early on after the fire

Peter is willing to forgive derek but he has a lot of shit with laura. Stiles agrees to let laura and derek stay and not be part of his pack, although laura insists she doesn’t need his permission. She snaps at peter to come home with them, and he looks at her like she’s insane. He says there’s no hale pack, and if there was, he’s not interested. He’s a stillinkski wolf now. Cora too maybe? Double blow. Peter owns the hale land, and he makes it clear the day stiles turns 18 he’ll be signing it over to him. Stiles is known by the surrounding packs.

Stiles has to somehow defend the surrounding area, has to make it clear he’s his and that he’s not willing to give it up. It’s valuable land. People are going to come looking for it once people figure out it’s abandoned. When deaton finds out stiles is an alpha, he goes around as an emissary to the surrounding packs. Saying that its under stiles now. He’s known to them so it goes mostly uncontested. This is when he and the sheriff have the child king conversation.

Stiles tries really, really hard to be a good alpha. That means controlling the territory, and working with other packs when members go rouge or something goes wrong. He’s thirteen the first time he goes to lend a hand in a fight, and it’s young, it’s too young, but he’s an alpha. He has to do this, to maintain the peace. And the thing is – stiles is good at this, good at not pushing, at not using his status as a crutch or an excuse, instead as a tool.

Maybe this is why no one cares for laura’s excuses. As much as laura wasn’t ready to take on the responsibility, she was an adult, if only barely. Stiles is a literal child, and in her absence shouldered it all. So even if she does technically have a claim, none of them are willing to honor it. “if you kill alpha stiles, you won’t have allies, you’ll have enemies.”

Allison and argents. Stiles brings his pack to kill kate. Gives peter the chance to do it himself, and is so very proud when he says no. but instead of letting her go free, stiles crushes her throat. “revenge would have been trapping you all in here and setting the whole thing on fire. Justice would have been making you watch as she burned alive. This was mercy, and don’t you forget it.” Scott is hella in love with Allison, but he knows this comes first. Her mom is full of hatred, but stiles more than makes it clear that he has no problem with killing her too.

Stiles sees derek soon after. They’ve already gone back and forth a lot. But he and laura weren’t there. Stiles tells him what he did. They have a ~moment~

Derek wants so very much to join stiles’s pack, but he doesn’t want to lose laura.

Something finally convinces laura to take the plunge and the stillinksi pack is one happy family

#asks #anon #writing advice

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - Happiness Is

This is possibly my favorite episode of season two. Yet, it is also the point the where the series starts to fall off a cliff. Only that’s not something that you would realize upon a first watch; just in hindsight and only with some basic knowledge of the behind the scenes drama that led to this and the fall out with the fandom that followed afterwards.

Summary: Rapunzel begins to feel homesick for Corona when she finds an old letter written by her father in one of the many lanterns sent from her previous birthdays. In attempts to uplift her spirits, Rapunzel explores the island and comes across a magical idol that brings instant happiness to whomever possesses it. Rapunzel begins to hallucinate her family and friends back in Corona and soon shares the idol with the rest of the group. However, everyone starts to become obsessive over the idol, desperately wanting it for themselves. Rapunzel tricks everyone into giving her the idol, but when the Lorbs try to help Rapunzel, they fall under the idol's control and soon begin to terrorize the village.

Let’s Start with the First Elephant in the Room; Frederic

So throughout the episode Rapunzel is struggling with being homesick. Which is fair enough, that’s an understable reaction to being on the road for months by now. However, to showcase this Rapunzel keeps seeing hallucinations of her father. There are some other characters too, but her dad is the first person she sees and the only one in Corona with speaking lines. He’s the one to tempt her with the idol.

Did we just forget that Frederic is her abuser?

Look, even if you accept his apology in Secret of the Sundrop and believe he has learned his lesson, that doesn’t just erase the pain he caused her. Her thoughts about her father should be more realistically complex then this. Now add in how she makes a such a clean break from her other abuser, Gothel, but still holds him on a pedestal shows a disturbing bias on the part of the writers.

Also where’s this love for Arianna? You know the only real mother on the show? The show that’s aimed at little girls? The one parent who hasn’t flat out abused the main character yet?

Seriously, Chris, what the fuck?

This is a Missed Opportunity

So part of the reason why I like this episode is that we get insights into each of the characters and their desires. As such this is one of the few episodes where the group actual feels like a group friends. However, Cass’s vision is wasted here.

So at first glance this seems to aline with what we know of the character thus far. She loves her dad and wishes to impress him. That’s only if you take season one into account, though. Later episodes will contradict this goal. If you wanted to set up praise and validation in general as Cassandra’s motives, then here is where that should have happened.

Show her getting a medal, have cheering crowds surround her, have her be a hero, or something. You can’t claim her relationship with her parents as the driving force of behind her later actions if you don’t actually involve one of those parents as part of the resolution to her arc.

Either she lacking attention from her dad or she’s jealous of Rapunzel. You can’t have it be both because those two things don’t intersect. Rapunzel is not and never was a threat to her relationship with her father.

So Umm...I Don’t Think This Plot Point Has the Impact That the Writers Think It Does

So this hilarious, and it is intended to be funny, but it’s not for the reasons that the show gives.

The idea is that this is some shocking revelation. That Rapunzel would never do this under normal circumstances and it’s a hint that the idol is corrupting her.

Only the rest of the series doesn’t aline with that at all. This is just the real Rapunzel behaving as the she normally would but without the usual veneer of excuses.

It’s funny because it’s the show calling out Rapunzel hypocrisy for what it is plainly, not because it’s out of character.

But funny only gets you so far. The show is perfectly happy to play up Rapunzel’s awfulness for laughs, but then conventily ignore it when it comes time for the characters themselves to call her out on it so that she can grow and learn.

The show runs under the sitcom idea that comedy excuses all sins; which then backfires horribly when it tries to be serious and mature.

You can’t joke that the king threw a random person in a stockade for little reason and then expect us to still like him when he persecutes a child. Same applies here.

The sitcom set up only works when there is minimal at stake and all parties involved are equally awful in their own ways.

Then Why Not Just Go Home?

Once again, there’s nothing at stake in season two. Rapunzel has no real reason to be on this trip. Nothing is stopping her from just going home if that’s what she wants. The idol only makes her happy because it shows her want she wants, but she could actually have what she wants as soon as the next ship arrives. So what’s the issue here?

This is why you need external conflict in order to make internal conflicts work. There’s has to be something preventing the main character from achieving her goal or otherwise she just comes across as a dumbass.

And Now Here Comes the Second Elephant; Varian

I have several things to talk about here, and none of them actually concern the scene itself but the creator’s treatment of the character and the show’s fan base.

For you see, Chris did a very, very stupid thing.

He wrote the character driving the plot out of the show. The character who also happens to be the most popular person in the series. Only to then use said character’s VA and this one cameo as promotion for this whole season.

Needless to say, fans were disappointed.

However, the Tangled fandom is exceedingly polite; more so than most. The lack of Varian was met mostly with confusion, and maybe a few off handed jokes, rather than anger. When opportunity arose people naturally had questions concerning the character.

And that’s when Chris put his foot in mouth.

This Tumblr post details how Chris got kicked off the Tangled The Series Discord by bullying a bunch of Varian fans while on there.

https://starxapple.tumblr.com/post/617852117763391488/zhantiri-uuugh-fine-since-people-are-getting

I shan’t get into it fully, but for those who discovered the show after season two had aired, this caused a massive backlash from the fandom.

A good chunk of the fandom just walked away, and rightly so. The few that stuck around despite these remarks found themselves harassed by certain sections of the fandom who saw Chris’s bullying as permission to pursue the same behavior. However, most importantly, the ratings plummeted.

Season one hovered around the the 1 million mark, give or take a five point difference. The first part of season two dropped to half of that, and after this episode and the hiatus it sunk even lower, down to the mid-thirties. That’s over 20,000 people who just jumped ship over this. That’s not a normal decline.

No matter what your personal feelings are of the character of Varian or how he was handled in the show, that’s still a massive PR fassico that cost the series big time.

To add to this mountain of bullshit, there was also a massive walk out of crew members after season one had finished production. Most of them women. They even desperately threw out ‘we’re hiring’ calls to cover this. Which given that’s it’s Disney and that nepotism is usually how one gains employment in the entertainment industry, something unusual must have happened behind the scenes. Especially if most of the people who left were women.

We’ll probably never know what really happened. People don't usually talk about behind the scenes stuff like that due to contracts and the aforementioned nepotism. However, all clues point to Varian.

Something changed at the last minute concerning his story. Chris himself had confirmed as much when discussing the note and the Brotherhood. We also gotten other hints that content was edited out at the last minute. Plus the writing becomes more shoddy as the series goes along, showing how slapped dashed everything is together.

Then there’s the rumors.

I must stress to you that this is only a rumor. As pointed out earlier, most animators aren’t in a position to talk freely about what goes on behind the scenes. Do NOT harass them over it or make things awkward by asking them to clarify this. However it’s been suggested that the female crew warned Chris that removing Varian from season two and re-writing his story, along with making Cass the villain, would be a bad idea before they left and Chris didn’t listen. Much to his folly.

Chris is no longer a Disney employee and has yet to move on to any other projects. He says he left, but I more suspect that Disney just didn't renew his contract and no one has picked him up since. I take no joy in the idea that someone may have lost their job, but if true, then Chris has little to blame but himself.

So What Did Change?

We don't know anything for sure. We know from discussions about the note that there was a proposed Brotherhood plot that involved Varian that was then cut. There was also talks about a Cass and Varian team up in season three.

This was then changed to the Saporian take over, which is foreshadowed in this scene. However even that got edited down and under the flimsiest of excuses.

One of the writers, Ricky, suggested that they thought cutting back to Corona would be too confusing for the audience; which is a load of bull. I mean how poorly do you think of your audience’s comprehension skills that they wouldn’t understand a change of scene or a flashback? Yet you fully expect them to pick up on your lazy foreshadowing involving the mirror? So much so that you sent them on a quest to find it between seasons two and three.

Then there’s this gem from Chris.

Ok ignoring the fact that you so totally could have featured both Gothel and Varian, seeing as they serve two different functions in the story and mean different things to Rapunzel.... What guilt?!!!

Rapunzel doesn’t ever act guilty over anything involving her treatment of Varian.

That’s when you realize Chris isn’t talking about her feeling guilty about Varian’s predicament. He’s saying that Rapunzel feels guilty of leaving her father behind with this ‘dangerous’ criminal. Which is a big fuck you to everyone.

That’s why Frederic is the center focus of Rapunzel’s hallucinations. Why she’s more concerned for his safety over Varian’s trauma. Chris really be out here trying to use the abused 14/15 year old orphan as a scapegoat for the grown ass dictator who ruined countless lives. Because he thinks a grown woman should feel guilty for leaving her abusive father behind and pursuing her life’s dream.

Dude, I try not to assume the worst of people just cause they write fictional characters that I dislike, but Chris really makes things hard not to when he treats his self insert this way.

Oh but we’re not done yet.

When Varian Fans Complain About the Lack of Varian; We’re Complaining About the Lack of a Coherent Plot.

Certain sections of the fandom, bolstered by Chris’s BS, try to act like simply being a Varian fan is grounds for dismissal of any criticism of the show and it’s writing. As if having personal preference for something makes you automatically ‘entitled’ or some such bull. Yet doing so ignores the fundamental complaint that they are making.

We’re not whining about our favorite character not getting enough screen time. No one would have complained about his lack of presence in season two if they had properly resolved his story in season three and had Chris not been a dick to the fans. But it becomes evidently clear as the series goes along that removing Varian left a major hole in the plot. One that makes the entire story and the rest of characters suffer as well.

Think season two is boring? That’s cause they cut out their main villain at the last minute and failed to replace him with anything.

Upset that Hookfoot was brought along for zero reason? He’s the replacement character for Varian who no doubt was going to appear in season two originally.

Wish there was more on the Brotherhood and the Dark Kingdom? Their story impact was greatly reduced when Varian was written out.

Are you a Eugene fan and mad about how the Dark Prince plot went nowhere? That’s cause the original Brotherhood/Dark Kingdom plot was dropped when Varian was.

Dislike how Cassandra’s character was ruined with her villain arc? She was originally meant to be possessed but was changed last minute to be a Varian rip-off in the hopes that she would gain some of his popularity.

Wish Zhan Tiri, Demantius, and the Disciples actually went somewhere and that ZT had coherent plan? That plot were changed last minute to make Zhan Tiri a scapegoat for Cassandra now that her story was changed to replace Varian.

And of course let’s not ignore the character who suffers the most from lack of Varian.... Rapunzel.

Chris’s defense for leaving Varian out of S2 is that it’s “Rapunzel’s Story” and that Varian was only ever a plot device meant to push her along on her quest. Which means that Rapunzel no longer has anyone pushing her along on her quest!!!

All characters are plot devices. If they aren’t there to serve a story function then they need to be cut. Even Rapunzel herself serves a plot function. She’s meant to be the protagonist of a coming of age story. Which means she needs both an external conflict to face and an emotional arc where she grows as a person. Varian is the plot device that serves both of those functions but he’s now been removed and is no longer allowed to serve his original purpose.

Chris reached into the machine while it was running and pulled out one of the main gears and acted like he always meant to do that. He legit sat there and pretended that everything was running smoothly even as smoke poured out and warring alarms blared. He then tried to shove bubble gum in its place hoping no one would notice as everything fell apart around him.

Cause he’s the thing; no idea is without merit. It’s all about presentation. Removing Varian from season three still could have worked, but it required A.) replacing him with another foe and B.) making sure his arc still got a proper conclusion.

I’ll talk more about Varian’s half-arsed redemption when we get to it; but for now let's focus on the more immediate problem. No one thought to give season two an actual overarching conflict in light of Varian’s absence.

That’s a fundamental oversight that pretty much signals that season two was re-written at the last minute. You have an overarching plot in an action adventure show but no main adversary? I refuse to believe that everyone involved was too stupid to do that on purpose; but if they were rushed and lacked a crew because they walked out due to last minute story changes....yeah that’d I buy.

Because there’s more than enough options to go around; Lady Caine, The Baron and Styalan, Hector and/or Adria, Zhan Tiri’s Disciples ect. were all options. So was keeping the rocks a threat, or have Cass start her villian arc earlier; with proper motivation this time. They could have even come up with someone entirely new.

You had over four years to plan this shit out; why is it not more well put together?!

How Come Rapunzel Can Easily Admit Fault to Pascal But Not Anyone Else?

Pascal should have sat perched on Varian’s and Eugene’s shoulders giving Rapunzel ‘I’m done with this’ looks all throughout season three. It’s apparently the only thing that she responds to.

Why is the untalkative camelanion the only one allowed to call out the main character’s BS without going villain?

Conclusion

That’s all there really is to talk about in this story. The actual episode itself is good. It’s the behind the scenes crap that bubbles underneath its surface that needed to be discussed. That way when going forward with the marathon you’ll better see what I’m talking about when I explain how future episode suffered from the lack of planning and foresight.

#Varian #tangled #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #cassandra #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tts #rta #king frederic

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mankaithings · 3 years

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Ah I loved the overheard confession one! Will it be possible to make part 2 with them confessing? I mean if any of them would confess ofc. Thanks!

uwaa I’m really happy you enjoyed the first one, hope you also like this one <33

wait I edited the tsumugi one cause an anon let me know that I accidentally called him tsuzuru

Hyodo Juza

Juza’s mouth ran dry, his grip tightened on the script he wrote for confessing to you-well, he did have some help from Muku and Kumon- but still, despite already knowing his lines, he couldn’t help to get nervous. He’s going to confess to his crush. Yes, he heard them admit their feelings for him weeks before but it doesn’t really reassure him. Not when so much negative thoughts keep on running through his mind

Finally he caught glimpse of your figure walking towards his figure and immediately he fixed his posture

“Ju-Juza?” You asked out of surprise, not expecting Juza to be the one waiting for you in the park. You were beyond happy but still, Juza was the last person you could think of that would call you out suddenly

“So...um....why did you call me out?” You internally cringed at your awkwardness, it wasn’t everyday that you acted like this but you were in front of your crush, even if you wanted to show him your cool side, it’s pretty impossible

“Oh...uh...” Juza fumbled with his words as he tried to remember what he had memorized the previous days, “I called ya out here cause...cause’ I wanna tell ya that...”

You listened to him patiently, but at the back of your mind you were gigging at how adorable Juza looked with red cheeks while he fumbled with his words. It really contrasts his image as that delinquent image everybody believes him to be

“I...I’ve liked ya for a long time already.” He suddenly bowed at you, “Please accept my feelings!” You flinched at the sudden rise of volume of his voice

Upon seeing you flinch Juza’s eyes casted downwards, he was worried he scared you, scared you enough to make you lose feelings for him

“Please stand up properly Juza,” You told him and took a deep breath, “Wow I actually feel the pressure.” You laughed and finally smiled at Juza, “To be honest I was planning on confessing to you but I guess you beat me to it.” You beamed at Juza’s surprise face

“Then would’ya go to this uh...” He trailed off and handed you a flyer, “New cafe downtown with me... heard they have good sweets there.”

Your eyes traveled from the paper and back up at Juza who was still red, “Yeah let’s go!” You agreed enthusiastically, “We’ll call it a date.” You grinned up at him and Juza found himself returning the gesture

Minagi Tsuzuru

Tsuzuru took a deep breath as he watched you finally read the letter he left in your locker. He asked Omi and Juza to go back home without him so he could finally talk to you about his feelings which he hoped you still returned even though he took such a long time in coming up with a way to confess to you

He liked to believe he was ready, he got the letter down, he knew what he had to say and already replayed it in his mind for so many times already yet there was something that continues to mess up with him

His nerves

He’s been an actor for a year so one would have expected him to gain confidence about dealing with this kind of things. But no, the nerves did not leave and it was almost worse than his first time up on the stage

“Um...Tsuzuru?” You tapped his back making him take a double take from where you were previously and where you were now, which was in front of him

He wanted to slap his forehead for uncharacteristically spacing out at such an important time and missing his chance on being the one to call you out instead of it being the latter

“Um...so I read the letter!” You held up the paper with a smile, trying to ease the awkward air around the two of you

“So..how was it?” He asked, trying to sound calm

“I-nobody has ever said this things about me,” You said in awe as you remembered about the contents of the letter and how Tsuzuru seemed to make all the flaws you think you had look attractive, “And I um- I really really like you too Tsuzuru.” You finally blurted out

“It might not seem so but I’ve liked you for a long time.” You could feel your cheeks burning as you stared at Tsuzuru who had the same expression as you

Flustered beyond comprehension

“If that’s the case.” Tsuzuru cleared his throat, “Would you like to go out with me?” He finally asked the question and he hoped it came out like how he imagined it to

“It would be my pleasure.” You smiled at him

‘Finally’, Tsuzuru thought as his shoulders started to relax, “Then I’ll pick you up on Friday.”

Tsukioka Tsumugi

Tsumugi tried to focus on the books in front of him but his mind continues to wander towards your phone call earlier. Despite the number of times he rereads the words printed on the paper, your voice admitting your feelings for him keeps on coming back inside his head

“Hey Tsumu, you okay?” You asked as you sat in front of him making Tsumugi drop his book and bring his gaze towards you

“Me? Yeah I am.” He smiled at you to show you he was alright but you just raised your eyebrows at him

“Yeah....you’re lying aren’t you?” You leaned towards him, “Don’t bother Tsumu I’ve known you for enough time to be able to tell when you’re telling the truth or not.” You moved your index finger side to side, a motion to show him you don’t approve of his lying

“Now, tell your dear friend what’s wrong~” You sang out and placed your hand on your palm which was on top of the table, “I’m not Tasuku but you can trust me.”

Tsumugi weighted out everything, he figured you most likely didn’t know that he heard about the conversation you had with your friend so you would probably feel embarrassed

But at the same time, he just can’t let the chance go. It’s not like he gets the chance to ask you out everyday so he wants to take his chance

Finally making his decision, Tsumugi took a deep breath

“Remember earlier when you were talking with your friend?”

“Oh the phone call? What about it?”

“Well I was actually there..”

You hummed to let him know you were listening

“And heard you saying you liked me.”

Suddenly there was a thud as you lost support, causing your face to fall on the table

“Crap that hurts,” You hissed and remembered Tsumugi’s presence in front of you and the problem you had

“You listened to our conversation?!”

Tsumugi laughed nervously, he was worried that you might have gotten hurt from that sudden fall but it seemed like you were alright, “I just accidentally heard it, no need to worry.”

“How can I not?” You asked indignantly, “My crush just basically told me he heard me admitting that I like him!”

Tsumugi couldn’t help but chuckle at you, he was sure you two were making too much noise inside the public library and was most likely disturbing people who was near your table

“I mean...will you want to go out with me?” Tsumugi asked, surprisingly calm

“If you want to I wouldn’t really mind,” You mumbled, already feeling like you were shrinking from embarrassment but soon you found yourself shaking from excitement

“Wait,” You breathed out as Tsumugi hummed, staring at you curiously, “I just want to confirm, we’re going out like a date? It wasn’t just my imagination, right?” You could feel your hands shaking and you hoped your voice remained normal

Tsumugi laughed softly but you noticed how his ears turned red and it made you feel relieved knowing you aren’t the only one who’s flustered, “Yeah, is there anywhere you want to go to?”

Takato Tasuku

You and Tasuku were on the way back home, but you could tell Tasuku was out of it, after he gave you the drink from the vending machine he was really quiet. There isn’t really anything different about that but Tasuku always answers you when you ask him question but now, you weren’t even sure he was hearing you

As he ran, Tasuku’s mind kept on thinking about your words, it wasn’t a confession. No, he knew that very well. But he was thinking why you couldn’t just admit your feelings for him upfront, not only that but he was wondering if he should go with asking you out or waiting for you to do it

“...U...”

“...Suku...”

“Tasuku!” Tasuku snapped back into reality once he turned around to see you a few distance away from him and breathing heavily

“I was asking you earlier if we could take a breather for a few minutes but you just jogged faster.” You said, still panting while Tasuku sighed at himself for getting lost in his thoughts and forgetting about you

“Sorry, I got lost in thought,” He apologized as he walked towards you

“No problem but really, what were you thinking that you seem like you were lost in your own world.” You frowned at the sight of Tasuku uncharacteristically blushing

Finally Tasuku heaved a deep sigh, “I heard about earlier,”

“What about earlier?”

“Do I have to really say it?”

“Well I wouldn’t know about it if you didn’t.”

“I heard you say ‘the things you do for the person you like’ o-or something along those lines,” Once again it was uncharacteristic for Tasuku to suddenly stammer between his sentence and it’s also very uncharacteristic to see him look so adorable while he tried to look like his usual composed self

You groaned, “I can’t believe it got out just like that.” You frowned, “But I do Tasuku, surprisingly enough you’re the one that I ended up having feelings for out of everyone in your troupe.”

Tasuku felt like there was something wrong with your sentence, especially the last part, it sounded like you were still wondering why out of all the people in Mankai, he was the one you liked

“You make it sound as if having feelings for me is a bad thing.”

“It isn’t,” You reassured him, “The thing is, you don’t notice it when I’m so obvious,” You scowled at all your attempts of letting him know about your feelings, you were sure everybody in Mankai knew about it too

Tasuku didn’t have anything to say about that

“If that’s the case, then let’s go out.”

“What?!” You asked in surprise, “Tasuku this isn’t some kind of joke...well it’s not like you’re one to joke but still!”

“I meant it,” He scowled, seriously as time passes he was starting to believe about your feelings for him wasn’t true

“But if you don’t-”

“I-” He coughed and looked away, “I guess I like you too.”

You could feel the smile breaking onto your face, “Really?”

“I told you already, didn’t I?” He sighed

You chuckled, “If you’re really interested then we should go on a date, there’s a play coming up.”

Upon hearing the word play leave your mouth, Tasuku returned his attention back to you, “A play? Where?”

You chuckled, at the end of the day Tasuku’s still Tasuku, the actor junkie and the one who gets too into his roles

With that thought in mind, you told him about the details of the play that was coming up

“I’ll get tickets for both of us.” He said and returned his attention back on the pavement, “But we should continue running and go home.” He turned to you, “Ready to leave?”

You hummed, “Just make sure to look at where you’re going and not bump into things.” You teased and snickered at Tasuku’s offended face

#act! addict! actors!#act addict actors #a3 #a3! actor training game #juza hyodo #tsuzuru minagi #tsumugi tsukioka #tasuku takato #harugumi #akigumi #fuyugumi

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cherryplasmids · 4 years

Text

☆ good company ☆

pairing: nestor oceteva x reader fandom: mayans m.c — season 2-ish prompt: nestor doesn’t mind being your chauffeur as long as he can spend time with you before you leave. notes: my coco fic barely has any recognition, so i’m assuming this won’t either

—check out my other works; masterlist

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

When Miguel told Nestor that Nestor's promotion as an adviser isn't happening, it angered Nestor. Besides Marcus getting the job Nestor rightfully deserved, Nestor got demoted to being an over-glorified babysitter/chauffeur. Emily and Dita posed problems for him. Always hiding secrets from Miguel and as a result, undermining Nestor's capabilities in watching Miguel's family. In a way, dealing with them became far more exhausting than running around town with Miguel. At least then, even with the potential of being injured, there's action to keep him entertained.

For the longest time after Miguel shut him down, Nestor was bored with his job. The strong love to protect the Galindo's dwindled due to the overwhelming, annoying issues each Galindo member decided to be apart of.

That is until you came along.

The house dynamic between the Galindo members shifted. Everyone seemed happy, almost too enthusiastic over your arrival. For a short time, Miguel even halted his Agricultural Park project and cartel business to accommodate you.

Initially, Nestor isn't too thrilled about meeting you. Miguel gave him the job to protect you for the two months you'd be visiting. After all, he'd only be your chauffeur. But then, he met you and his uncaring attitude disappeared. Within a week, he genuinely enjoyed your company, far more than Emily's or Dita's. Soon enough, within a month, he became completely enamored with you. However, he knew that he couldn't necessarily entertain his affections. Not only are you Miguel's prized friend, but you're under his supervision. Oh, and you'll be leaving for New York City in just a few weeks.

Luckily, as of late, you've been needing Nestor to escort you more than usual. For once, being a chauffeur is the best thing he's ever experienced. The traces of resentment he felt toward Miguel disappeared as well.

"Hey, Nestor?" He looks up at the rear-view mirror to find you looking out the window. He hums to get your attention. "How long until we get to Miguel's?"

"About an hour and a half."

You sigh and lean your hot forehead against the cold window. Nestor keeps his eyes on you, watching your lips form into a pout. It takes him a minute to shake himself from the sight. But just as he looks away, you begin to talk again.

"Since we have so much time to kill. Tell me about yourself." Nestor remains silent. He isn't even sure if he's allowed to speak candidly to you and in all honesty, he doesn't even want to. After all, you're leaving soon. If he starts chatting, he'll get more attached. "Oh, come on! You're this elusive character. A mystery to many."

He shrugs. "There's nothing to me."

"Yeah okay." You roll your eyes. "Is this all you do? Miguelito makes you drive people around all day?"

"Only beautiful women." Fuck.

You blush prettily at his compliment. "You tell Em and Dita such pretty words."

I'm already in too deep. Might as well play with fire until I get burned. "I don't think Mikey would like me hitting on his wife and mom."

Somehow, even when you snort, he still finds it sexy. His eyes return to the road and he thanks Mother Mary that this desolate back road has no cars driving beside him. Before you can get another word in, your ringtone disrupts the relaxed atmosphere. The sigh of resignation signals to Nestor that it's your job calling. He doesn't usually eavesdrop (unless Miguel makes him listen in on Dita or Emily's conversations), so he focuses on the road once more. Besides, you began to speak a different language that is beyond his comprehension.

After what seems to be an eternity, you hand up and rub your forehead. Nestor wants to ask about your welfare or your situation, but he reminds himself that that is above his job description.

"I knew these dumbasses can't function without me." You huff angrily, tossing your phone into your purse and rub your temples. Once you get minimal relief, you look up. "Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, you were flirting with me."

Nestor remains silent. What the fuck is Mikey gonna say?

"I would've never thought you were a charmer." You breathe out a laugh before pushing yourself to the edge of the car seat. "That's good, though. I was thinking that this is a one-sided attraction." With that, your perfectly manicured fingers dance across his gray button-down.

He jolts at the touch, looking down at your fingers. He says your name firmly before pushing your hand away. "Mikey won't like this."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him, Nestor." You whisper, leaning even further forward to graze his ear with your teeth. He sucks in a breath and your fingers return to play the buttons. He mumbles something about not keeping secrets. "How 'bout this? We'll see where this takes us for the time being until we're secure enough to tell him."

Whatever you just said doesn't compute within Nestor's whirling mind. He nods while trying not to close his eyes at the sensation of you sucking on his earlobe. But as soon as you're fingers trail down to his slacks, his mind finally catches.

Fuck it.

Nestor pulls over behind a dune before you could do some serious damage. Once he's parked, he turns to you. "Are you sure about this?" You nod and smile which signals him to grab you by the neck and press a kiss onto your own. Miguel will have to wait for your return. Now, Nestor is taking what's rightfully his.

He'll deal with the repercussions later.

────── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────

word count: 933 published: march 31, 2020 edited: n/a

#mayans mc #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fanfiction #nestor oceteva #miguel galindo #nestor oceteva x reader #nestor oceteva imagine #nestor oceteva fanfiction #x reader #imagines #fanfiction #reader insert #tv show imagine #emily galindo #dragonglassx #mayans x reader #mayans fanfiction #mayans imagine

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beni-draw-ikemen-please · 3 years

Text

Kintsugi ~ Repairing with Gold

Kintsugi ~ Repairing with Gold ◆ Ikemen Vampire Fanfiction ◆

CHAPTER 2 - STARS IN THE SKY

Words: 3,923

TW: Angst and Hurt ◆ References to Depression ◆ Mental Instability ◆ Mental Health Issues ◆ Implied/Referenced Suicide ◆ Suicidal Thoughts ◆ Graphic Depictions of Sex/Intercourse ◆ Vaginal Sex/Fingering ◆ Rough Sex ◆ Non-con

Pairings: M/F Leonardo Da Vinci x Seiya Amanogawa [OC] / Comte de Saint-Germain x Seiya Amanogawa [OC]

Chapter Index [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

A/N: This is a work of fiction. This is fan fiction for Ikemen Vampire, character designs are owned by Cybird. My story however, features my own OC/MC Seiya Amanogawa who is from Modern Japan/Europe, who travelled to the Louvre for inspiration.

I have the AO3 link up my fic list but I decided to post it here as well. Sometimes, I’d edit some typos in AO3 but won’t update the original file. So there may be some difference >.< Also, no beta :p sorry. I only write for fun and release, but I hope you’ll enjoy this self-indulgent fic. Happy reading!

KINTSUGI - CHAPTER 2

Stars in the Sky

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Leonardo remembered being summoned that day. It wasn’t particularly any special day. He heard about the commotion — someone passed through the door — or so he heard. He dragged his feet and yawned as he walked towards Comte’s room. A gloved hand rubbed the back of his neck, one big final yawn before he pushed the door open.

Platinum. And blue. The bluest blue he’d ever seen.

“My name is Seiya,” she spoke too softly, almost like a whisper. Almost as if she didn’t want them to hear her at all. She did something similar to a courtesy, only it was more like a low bow— something Dazai or Sebas would do, he thought.

Leonardo’s eyes stayed on her as she listened to Comte’s explanation about the basics of the mansion. How her expression changed with every sentence, and how her shoulders tensed when she heard about the month-long wait etched itself into his memory. Leonardo found himself reaching out to her. And the girl instinctively pushed his hand away, a soft shriek escaping her pale lips. Eyes of the bluest blue focusing on him.

“Scusa,” Leonardo then took off his coat, lazily and with a heavy sigh, placed it on top of Seiya’s shoulders. Seiya sounded like she had stopped breathing, at that moment. Her eyes stayed on Leonardo.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Leonardo offered her a smile as he sat next to her.

He almost slept through Comte’s explanation, but his hand stayed on her shoulder. She looked like she would be cold, he thought. Her hair was long, but not too long. Reached just below her shoulders. It was swept on one side, and the other side partially covered her face. She wore men’s trousers, but they seemed tighter than what he would pick out for himself. And she seemed to wear a work man’s boots. But her blouse looked like they weren’t much protection for the cold. It looked like silk, at least, to him it did. It was secured by a string that wrapped around her made of the same material. Her shoulders were exposed. Leonardo thought of the many ways 19th century Paris could take advantage of someone like her. Her eyes looked like a soldier’s eyes — tired from war — he wasn’t particularly sure why it looked like that to him. Maybe that was one of the reasons why Comte was more protective of Seiya.

Deep into the night, he heard glass breaking from the kitchen and Leonardo found himself calming Seiya down once again. That’s twice today, he thought. She trembled under his arm. She held onto him with desperation and fear, and her eyes seemed to be screaming “save me”.

Leonardo held her close and that’s when Seiya gradually felt comfortable. More comfortable with him. It was safer there.

With him, he assumed.

Tears started falling from her face, Leonardo felt it in his shirt. He tried to soothe her by rubbing her head, casual yet familiar. He found himself hushing to her, softly.

He promised to stay with her, and guard her door just so she could get some sleep. That night, it was really just him talking. Seiya only looked at him without a word. But eyes never left him.

The morning after, he remembered waking with aching shoulders. And a fresh Seiya crouched down to his level. Curious eyes seemingly waiting for him to wake. His head and neck and back throbbed, but he soon forgot all those things when she grabbed him lightly by the sleeve. Her face was close, too close.

“Good Morning.” she whispered with a meek smile.

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Leonardo hated waking up in the morning, or just waking up in general. But that morning was different, vastly different from all the other mornings he’d lived so far. Something so ephemeral and bright greeted him a good morning, and he thought that maybe mornings won’t be so bad if she would be the one to wake him.

He and Comte introduced the girl to the residents during breakfast. Her cheeks turned a slight pink hue as she apologised about her French. But all the same, surprising the Van Gogh brothers with her firm Goedemorgen.

Leonardo carefully watched Seiya in those first few days, keeping his promise of guarding her door every night.

He was glad that she got along with Vincent and Isaac. Must be something about the quiet types that make them seek each other out. She had trouble getting along with Theo and Arthur and oddly enough, she too, spoke Japanese with Dazai and Sebastian. Seiya didn’t share much about herself at first, but Leonardo was content to see her speak to Vincent often. Most of the time they would just sit there and draw or paint or fiddle with things. Sometimes they would talk for hours.

After a week, Seiya felt more at home with the residents. And she would often tag along Leonardo’s adventures out in the city. She would watch him as he worked odd jobs here and there. She would stick behind him closely though, because she felt conscious and anxious of her french. And she was particularly afraid that people would know she was foreign, or at least, she wasn’t from around town. She was very particular about those things, and Leonardo took mental notes.

It wasn’t really that she looked physically different, no — she could blend in and at the same time stand out. Leonardo wanted to ask her so many questions, but he was willing to wait it out. He wasn’t the most patient man, but maybe for this little one, it would be better if he tried, even just a little bit.

That evening, as he sat by her door, Seiya called him for the very first time.

Up until that moment, she would just greet him and speak short sentences.

Thank you, she’d say.

Okay, she’d whisper.

At first it really ticked him off. Made him think she still felt afraid around the residents, particularly him, because she wasn’t like this with Vincent, no. But that evening, Leonardo felt himself stand abruptly as he heard Seiya call his name, his hand was ready to open the door, but he stopped himself. The door creaked open slowly, and there she was.

“What is it?” he would laugh at himself, right there, he would. At how eager he was to know exactly what she needed, how he could be of service.

He liked it whenever she looked up to him. Her eyes were so blue, like the clear skies of summer. And her hair almost resembled the soft sunlight that peeks through the curtains in the early mornings of spring. A mellow kind of bright, the kind that soothed the eyes and not blinded them. A soft kind of glow, like the full moon at midnight.

She looked surprise to see him so eager, and then she looked away. Cheeks turning a hue of pink. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor,” he liked it whenever she looked up to him.

He liked watching her carefully speak words, softly pressing her lips together and then taking deep breaths before every sentence. He enjoyed seeing her like this. It was the same vibe she had around her whenever she’d spend her late afternoons with Vincent. Leonardo enjoyed thinking about the fact that maybe, just maybe, Seiya was getting more and more comfortable around him.

He smiled, and gave her a gentle pat on the head. “Guess I’ll sleep in my room from now on.”

As he turned to leave, he felt a soft tug on his coat, Seiya looked confused and a little sad, at least to Leonardo, it seemed that way.

“You,” Seiya usually didn’t say much around him, aside from monosyllabic responses. But that evening proved to be a first of many. Seiya tugged his coat softly, leading him back inside her room. The soft glow of the lamps reflected onto her pale hair, making it seem like she too, looked golden.

“You can sleep here, if you like.” Leonardo’s eyes curiously widened with interest and almost shock. He searched for intention in Seiya’s face. But what scared him the most is how casual she asked him to share the same bed. He was taken aback. His fingers reaching for the crook of his eyebrows trying to find comprehension amidst it all. There she was, dressed in her nightgown, and with a straight face, she asked him to share the same bed.

Even for someone like Leonardo, it was a little intense. Quite frankly, he thought it was more that he wouldn’t be expecting something so bold from someone like her. But maybe, he had judged her too early. She was still and quiet as she waited for his answer. And she looked almost pensive trying to expect what answer Leonardo would give. She stepped back a bit, letting go of his coat.

“I guess, even if you’ve lived for centuries, you’re still old-fashioned.” She chuckled. Very softly, she chuckled. And Leonardo found himself raising his eyebrow at her. Was she making fun of him? What? For being old? Her soft laughter was new, and picturesque and infectious.

Soon, they were both laughing. Seiya apologised for asking, but Leonardo brushed it off, took off his coat, and shared the space just across from where she slept.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Leonardo learned more and more about Seiya when he took her shopping for new art supplies. He asked her during breakfast if she’d be willing to accompany him get new paper and new pigments, and her eyes lit up like he’d never seen before.

She hummed on their way to town and he chuckled at how she looked more like a child on her way to a candy store than a lady out on a date. He would tease her and she would open her mouth to protest, but would stop and look away blushing. Leonardo found life in the mansion more exciting now, even though he didn’t want to openly admit it was more or less because of her.

As soon as he greeted the shop owner, Seiya dashed to where the special papers were. She marveled at how “old” they looked. Not necessarily in a bad way, at least he hoped so.

“I guess we have another artist in the mansion. Sorry I didn’t ask earlier, Cara mia.” his comment was left unanswered as Seiya was too busy eyeing the quills the store had behind glass. The inkwells that looked too beautiful to be real, at least to her.

Leonardo let her roam the shop on her own, whilst picking up his usual requests. After a while, she settled with a red leather sketchbook, some paint brushes she picked up for Vincent, a bottle of ink and some quills.

“Are you sure? Our dear Comte said to get you whatever you wanted,” Leonardo thought she might have wanted more things. Like a new canvas or some paintbrushes for herself. But she thanked him and held her new notebook like a treasure. “This is enough.” she whispered with a smile.

He couldn't quite remember when it started but Seiya always had her new notebook with her. And in the afternoons, after all her chores, she would spend them by the gazebo drawing, scribbling, maybe even just writing. On most days, Vincent joined her.

Sometimes, she would spend the day with Isaac. And she would sit there listening to his lectures. At first Isaac didn’t want her around. He didn’t want anyone around, quite frankly. But Leonardo guessed that in some odd way, she was stubborn enough to stick around and Isaac didn’t really have the energy to continue pushing her away. Or maybe they grew to enjoy each other’s company, much like how it was with Vincent. The three of them would often have tea. He enjoyed seeing the quiet ones interact more.

When he would walk towards them, everyone would stop and look at Seiya, who would be collecting her things and would wave them goodbye.

The end of day would always end up with them, spending their evenings together. He would often stay in her room, it was cleaner and more convenient, he thought. He would be on her floor, with his papers, or with the current book he’d be reading. And she would be by her desk, writing letters. She never put them in envelopes, he noticed. But she would tuck them on paper pockets she pasted on the leaves of her book. Leonardo would lean in and try to watch her as she folded small pieces of paper so carefully and quietly.

They spent a lot of time together just working, just creating, writing, sleeping, but not much else.

Leonardo knew Seiya was at ease when he was around and he intended to keep it that way. Three weeks in, and she would still just quietly sit at the dinner table whilst everyone interacted. She would often sit next to Comte, and he would sit across from her.

Leonardo would watch her as she wrote her evening letters. Every single day without fail, she would. When he would walk towards her desk, she would quickly tuck them away, and would leave a blank page of her book open once he was within hand’s reach.

“I thought you’d be drawing,” Leonardo’s hand leaned on her desk. And slowly, very slowly, moving to reach her hand. His fingers tracing hers, pointing at the ink stains by her fingertips.

“Shouldn’t you be drawing?” she had this annoying habit of throwing the question back.

Seiya did not mind it whenever Leonardo touched her. They sleep together every night after all. She did not mind his presence, if anything, she actually enjoyed Leonardo’s company. It was just difficult for her to actually express that. She would often wake up before him. And she would spend a good half an hour just watching his sleeping face. She wouldn’t touch him, no, but she’d watch him before she got up and got ready for the day. Often, she’d get ready and leave the room and he’d still be sleeping in, way even after breakfast had been cleared.

A few weeks in, it had been a couple times now when some of the residents would see Leonardo waking up and leaving Seiya’s room in the morning. Most of the residents, including Sebas and Comte, say that they are now lovers. It’s hard not to think that, especially when they spend almost all of their time together. Leonardo swears he only sleeps next to her and nothing more. But as days went by, he couldn’t swear by it anymore.

He remembers it so vividly, the first time they did.

It was one of her so-called good days. She had been talking about the new sketches she did with Vincent. She loved plants and flowers, and Leonardo found it endearing how easy it was to please her. A small pot of flowers or herbs, sometimes, if the Count felt like splurging, tropical flowers like orchids — rare, delicate, and out of the world he knew that was 19th Century France— little trinkets she might consider pretty and unsual, would be enough to soothe her mood. That particular day, he brought in an empty perfume bottle, and he filled it with indian black ink. Got some hemp twines and used it to secure the bottle cap. And with his signature mirror-cursive, wrote stelle nel cielo.

He smiled, whilst thinking of her and how the light seemed to bounce around her when she faced him. In the dark of the night and with the lone lamp lighting her room, Leonardo leaned his back against her headboard. His coat was off, and his boots here set aside by the door. He was relaxed, like how he’d always been around her. Their evenings together were his favourite, and it became sort of an unspoken rule that no one would bother Seiya after dinners had been cleared, because she would be with Leonardo.

He leaned and relaxed as he listened to her breathing. She sat incredibly close to him. He had his own notebook, with his notes, and there, in her hand, her pen.

“Sebas told me your names have meanings,” His golden eyes settled on her and how she tilted her head in confusion. “Like phrases that correspond to each, what word did he use, character.” Her eyes darting around the room in thought. And she got her brush pen.

“Sebastian’s name… Let’s see. Akihiko,” Seiya wrote what looked like chinese characters in his notebook. “The meaning would depend on the characters used. I don’t know how he writes it, but the meaning depends on it.” And he was most intrigued and impressed. His eyes examined and traced the characters intently.

“We’ll have to ask him tomorrow,” she chuckled a bit, noticing the interest and excitement in his eyes. She learned to read some of the subtle ways Leonardo would express himself. Though she can’t fully understand and comprehend him, and he is terribly good at hiding his true emotions, she was happy to know that he can let down his guard around her, especially like this. When they are together.

“What about your name?” Leonardo set his book on the bed and pushed it towards her again. His arm gently resting on his knee in front of him. A curious smirk across his lips. His face radiated a soft and warm hue, most probably from the lamp, Seiya thought. But the warmth that surrounded Leonardo was not so easily describable. She thought he was like the sun. Like the first spring day after a long and harsh winter. The sun rays, fresh and bright after days of rain and grey.

She smiled, a soft smile, her pen between her pale fingers. Leonardo could only stay still and watch. As she leaned down to write on her lap, the side of her hair that wasn’t swept back would fall and cover her face. And whilst she’s focused on her characters, Leonardo felt his hand tuck the strands of her hair behind her ear.

He was closer now, but Seiya didn’t feel the shift of weight on the bed. She was too busy making sure her kanji wasn’t a mess. For a brief moment, she was surrounded by the strong scent of cigarillos, and the familiar scent of Leonardo’s hair.

His warm fingers gingerly brushed the tips of her ear and she felt her cheeks warm up.

“Here,” her hands showed the finished writing of her name. But her eyes stayed on Leonardo’s, as his on her. His other hand traced the freshly-written characters and slowly, very slowly, closed the book with her pen stuck in the middle. Her hand instinctively settled on his that was now holding the side of her neck. He was closer, much closer now.

“Seiya,” Leonardo’s husked voice trembled on her skin. And the way he touched her that night, felt so different than how he would usually. They would often touch, and in some mornings, they’d wake up in each other’s arms — but really, nothing more.

Leonardo watched her as she slowly licked her lips, and spoke softly, like she would always do. “My name has the characters that mean star,” the way she softly hums and whispers became something of a comforting ritual for Leonardo. Her words and phrases, her responses and the way she calls his name became something meditative and addictive. A trance he consumed like a drug, he needed it more, even more than how he thought he needed his cigarillos.

He was unable to hold himself back.

He thought he could write the book on self control, at some point. But clearly, that night— how she looked with the glowing lamp light— something inside Leonardo snapped. His hands settled on the side of her neck, and he was ready to pull her close. But he tried so very hard not to. And she, was right there, and she looked so incredibly beautiful to him. All he could do was lean in and check for himself how soft her lips were.

Leonardo’s lips on hers were light. Incredibly light.

It felt like he was almost afraid to kiss her. Like feathers softly landing on your hand from the heavens. Seiya inhaled him, though he did not press hard, the kiss was long, and sweet. His lips did not move, but just stayed there on hers. She felt her eyes close, and with a slow and long breath in, her hands pulled him by the sleeve and she slowly opened her mouth to invite him in.

Leonardo felt her gulp, and she moved herself so she was now closer to him. And his hand pulled her from the nape, and in just a few seconds, a deeper kiss. She felt his mouth take more of her in, and she noticed how careful he was to let her get acquainted. Seiya let her hand lean back as he pulled her closer to him, deeper into the kiss, and closer to his body.

He would breath after a while, but not breaking the kiss. And Seiya felt herself drowning in the familiar and intoxicating concoction that was the scent of him, the tartness of his cigarillos and something with notes of velvet and maybe something mauve. Similar to a mixture of the smell of old books and leather, and metal, and sometimes, wood. All these things that make up the renaissance man, and something more that she couldn’t describe.

“Seiya,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her close, his hands holding her head as he buried his face in her hair. How warm he felt that evening— a different kind of warm that what she was accustomed to— Seiya would always remember. How her name sounds with his silky husked voice, and how tightly he was embracing her. Seiya could only embrace him back. Her head leaning on his shoulder.

“Seiya means star, Leonardo.” she whispered to him whilst he stayed there, stroking the back of her head.

“Sounds perfect.” he whispered back. Peeling himself away from her embrace, his hands settled on her shoulders, she was now looking up at him. Eyes of the brightest summer skies staring at him, cheeks the pinkest pink tainted with golden ambient light. Lips that looked so tempting, so enticing and so delicious to him, his reason failed him after weeks of restraint.

“I’m sorry I kissed you,” his hand how running itself down the back of her head. An apologetic smile across his face. Golden eyes settled on her pale lips. Pale lips now moist from the kiss. But there was no disappointment on Seiya’s face.

And as Leonardo searched for something, anything that he could reason with, something to make him leave, something that would tell him he shouldn’t be there with her, he should be outside, he should be in his own room, or the library— anywhere else but there— Seiya’s hands slowly moved to his collar, and with a tight grip, pulled him closer towards another deep kiss.

She whispered after a few seconds. Her eyes determined and accepting, almost as if she could see through what he’d been repressing for the past few weeks. Almost as if she could read his mind, and how badly he’s been wanting to kiss her, and taste those lips that chant his newfound drug.

“Don’t.”

-To be continued-

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #Onibeni Seiya #Ikemen Leonardo #Ikemen Comte

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theweakestthing · 3 years

Text

An Undone Bird

Chapter: 6/32

Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester

Rating: Teen

Additional Tags: Post-Episode AU: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Fix-It, Amnesia, Road Trips, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Injury Recovery, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, Dean Winchester Is Trying, Canon-Typical Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Literary References & Allusions, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Summary:

What now?

This might be the last chance they have, so Dean's not gonna waste it.

Read it on Ao3 here

He wanted to put his fist through the window, he wanted to scream, he wanted to bleed, he wanted to drown himself in whiskey. It was too much. Dean had thought that he could handle it. He had seen Cas all beat up so many times before, but it had never been like this.

Now that Cas was human, presumably with a soul and mortal and all that, he couldn’t just heal himself. He would have to deal with it like everyone else did, the tiresome, painful and frustrating way. And it didn’t help that Cas didn’t remember a damn thing. What a way to welcome him back to humanity.

Lying there covered head to toe in scrapes, scratches and bruises, his arm in a sling and head wrapped in bandages. The worst of it was how Cas had looked at him, he’d stared at Dean with that the bird-like tilt of his head and the same open curiosity he’d worn when they’d met in that barn all those years ago.

Dean couldn’t handle it, so he had run.

When he caught up with himself, Dean was stood by Baby’s side with the streetlights bouncing off of her shiny finish. His breathing was shallow and loud as he stared across the parking lot. Cas didn’t remember him. Cas didn’t remember anything, he didn’t know anything about the things they’d been through, and Dean was beginning to wonder how a couple millennia of angelic memories were going to fit into a human mind.

It wouldn’t help anyone, least of all himself, to stand around and do nothing. Dean swallowed down the rising panic and thought about what he could do. They probably didn’t have too long until the hospital realised the insurance was fake, so they had to get Cas out of there as soon as possible. Most stores would be closed by now, but it wouldn’t hurt to cruise around and see what was open, they couldn’t sneak Cas out of there in his hospital clothes.

Dean drove through town with the window rolled down, and let the sea breeze roll on through. He hoped that it would help to clear his head. It was hard to forget the last time he’d been there, or at least in the general area. Just over three years ago, Cas had died, Crowley had died, Kelly died, their mother was stuck in an alternate universe, and he and Sam were shouldered with the responsibility of raising and watching over the son of Lucifer. And despite the fact that they had literally been the only people in the whole world for a time, it came pretty close to the same sense of isolation and indirection as he’d felt that day.

He tried to leave those memories in the rearview.

Before long, he found a store that was like some sort of knock off Target. It was a little ways south down the highway. He’d managed to get there twenty minutes before closing, and he didn’t want to be one of those people that kept the employees waiting, so he rushed to grab the essentials. He picked out a few plain crewneck t-shirts in varying earthy colours, two packs of three boxers in monochrome, a burgundy zip-hoodie for old time’s sake, one pair of grey sweats, a basic pair of sneakers and a regular pair of jeans that he’d had to guess at Cas’ size for. All in all, he was in and out of there in ten minutes flat.

At least he could get one thing right, he thought to himself as he made his way back to the car. His phone began to vibrate in the pocket of his jeans and he stopped at Baby’s side to palm it free.

“Where the hell are you?” Sam’s voice came harshly through the speaker.

“Getting Cas some clothes,” Dean returned, matching Sam’s tone. He unlocked the car, climbed in and set the bag on the passenger seat.

“Well you coulda told someone where you were going,” Sam bit out, “I know this is hard for you, but Dean, I can’t keep answering questions that you should be answering,” not only did he sound disappointed, but he was clearly angry too.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dean barked back.

“You know damn well what I mean,” Sam returned sharply, “we both know that you’re the one who should be telling him this stuff.”

“Look, I’ll be back soon and we can get him changed and out of there in the next hour, and then he’ll have my undivided attention all the way back to Kansas,” Dean said, tone dangerously close to flippant, “okay?”

“Sure, whatever, just get back here,” Sam said.

Dean sighed, set his phone aside and started up the engine. Baby’s tires squealed as he pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the empty highway. He felt guilty about leaving everything up to Sam. Eileen barely knew Cas and Jack was just as likely to say something inexplicable as he was something helpful. But Dean hadn’t been able to make the words come out. He could hardly speak with those cerulean eyes pinning him to the spot, with that bird-like angelic curiosity, showing him that it was still Cas but it wasn’t his Cas.

Maybe he’d get his Cas back, or maybe Cas would change his mind once he’d got all of his memories back, or maybe he would be different even with them. Dean would still try though. It just wasn’t in him to quit on Cas, he’d tried it once and it hadn’t taken, and with this possibly being their last chance there was no stopping him. With his teeth gritted and hands white knuckle tight around the steering wheel, he drove with apprehensive determination. He owed Cas so damn much, the least he could do was try.

---

The hospital was on the smaller side, and finding Cas’ room again took far less time than Dean wanted. He’d hoped to have a least a little time to collect himself, but he doubted that he’d ever be fully prepared to meet that face and know that it didn’t know him.

When he entered the room, Sam and Eileen were sat in two longue style chairs against the far wall beneath the window, they were signing to each other with relaxed ease. Jack was animatedly explaining something as he stood leaning over Cas’ bed. After a moment, Dean realised that Jack was giving a heavily edited account of their trip to Dodge City to a weakly smiling Cas. Dean couldn’t afford to think about Dodge City.

He cleared his throat and closed the door behind him. Sam lifted his head and shot Dean a look, Dean struggled not to roll his eyes, and instead gave Sam a short nod.

“Hey bud, gotcha some clothes,” Dean announced, loud and boisterous, as he crossed the room. He set the bag down gently in Cas’ lap. It felt like he was having an out of body experience, like someone else was calling the shots and he was just along for the ride. He swore he could taste his heart and it beat ferociously in his throat.

“Thank you Dean,” Cas said, and began to rifle through the bag’s contents.

“It’s no problem, and hey, it’s not like we’re gonna be able to sneak you out in those paper pyjamas,” Dean said, with a strained smile, and patted Cas on the leg. He tried to surreptitiously slip Jack one of the chocolate bars he’d nabbed from a vending machine in the hall, since Sam was suddenly very worried about Jack getting cavities (they could always take him to Garth, it wasn’t a big deal), but Jack was anything but subtle.

“Oh! Thank you Dean,” Jack exclaimed and quickly tore into the wrapper.

Sam glared at him, but Dean pretended not to see. It’d been a long trip, not to mention all the crap they’d been through just to earn their freedom, the kid deserved a candy bar as far as Dean was concerned.

“Why would we have to sneak out?” Cas asked, brow furrowed as he searched Dean’s face.

“Well,” Dean began shakily, and coughed into his fist before continuing, “we don’t exactly have health insurance and the hospital’s gonna realise that sooner or later, so we should probably leave before they figure it out,” he explained.

“I feel like this is something of a common occurrence,” Cas said, and Dean had to swallow as Cas squinted up at him, head tilted just so. He scrutinized Dean with those cool blue eyes.

“What gave you that idea?” Dean replied, and this time the smile came easy.

Cas didn’t say anything in reply, he just continued to stare at Dean. It was an echo that stretched across the entire time they’d known each other, so many tense moments of standing on opposite sides of comprehension, differing points view of that neither of them would ever understand, fondness and a yearning so strong that Dean had half convinced himself was only coming from him. But all he had to do was look to know that Cas felt the same and he looked and looked and looked.

“I suppose I should get changed then,” Cas said eventually, voice as steady as a smooth river. He sat up with some effort and pulled the sheets back. Sam started to rise from his chair, but Cas drilled him back into the seat with a hard stare. And he clambered out of the bed on his own. Dean scoffed as he watched Cas shuffle off into the bathroom, bag full of clothes caught in his left hand.

“He’s still Cas,” Sam commented with a snort.

“Of course he’s still Cas,” Jack said, brow furrowed. He had chocolate smeared across his cheek.

Dean barely noticed Sam turning to sign for Eileen, he was completely lost in his own thoughts.

Of course Cas was still Cas, he couldn’t be anyone else, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the sudden distance between them and the incomprehension in those painfully familiar eyes.

He’d known that this was going to be hard, but there was a whole universe between knowing something and experiencing it, and that experience had just knocked him on his ass. It was about time he picked himself up and got ready for round two because they still had miles and miles to go before they got home. And though it hurt like hell just to look at Cas, he was going to have to put all of that aside, so he could help and support him.

With a deep breath, Dean steeled himself for the journey ahead of them. Getting back to the bunker was just the beginning. There were bound to be all kinds of challenges ahead of them, it wasn’t the first time he’d had to roll with the punches.

If Cas needed him, then Dean would be there.

#destiel #deancas #casdean #spn #spn fanfiction #mine #an undone bird

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finsterhund · 3 years

Text

A comprehensive guide to Heart of Darkness lost media. Fake, and real

a forward: there appears to be some sort of conflict between Eric Chahi and Frederic Savoir. Things Eric speaks about, Fred denies. However Eric generally has proof to support his side of things but Fred never provides such.

I will edit this as I go along. I intend to source things as best I can. I will not post it to a better website until it is adequately sourced.

I’m not currently planning to include press material, promotional renders, alternate releases of the final game, etc. here (yet!! that may change)

The Movie

What we know is true:

Dreamworks was interested in adapting Heart of Darkness as a feature-length computer animated movie. Predominant parties at play were Jeffery Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. They invited several of the devs including Eric to the Dreamworks studio in LA, showed them Prince of Egypt storyboards, and toured them around. The movie was never made and development was never started.

According to Eric, the head of Virgin Interactive, Martin Alper repeatedly went to Paris to bother and harass him to abandon all work on the game and give the movie rights to Katzenberg. Eric didn’t want to throw away all that work and wanted to release the game first. Alper abandoned the team and project soon after, dooming the game to years of development hell as they needed to find a new publisher. Fred claimed that “half of the article (in which Eric discussed this) was incorrect” but never went into detail as to how or why

Rumors:

Even though George Lucas was interested in HoD’s display at several expos, he did not involve himself in any film ideas. It is believed he may have stolen ideas of alien monster designs for use in the Phantom Menace but this can easily just be coincidence and is unfounded.

The movie was not going to be live action despite some fan speculation.

The Pilot Animation/character test

What we know:

In Eric Chahi’s biography he mentions that a small animation studio did contract work of some animation concepts for Heart of Darkness. They were ultimately replaced with what Amazing would go with. This may or may not be associated with the same concepts as when they briefly thought to make the cinematics with 2D bitmaps but it is unclear. Eric states that this pilot was made however and in a demo reel from the studio they mention working with Virgin and Amazing Studio.

Rumors:

Fred said it wasn’t a thing but didn’t clarify.

This might have been the opening cutscene in 2D, or it may have just been character models and test animation. It is currently lost entirely with no actual stills of the thing itself.

Blood

What we know:

Someone untrustworthy but people latch onto this sort of shit said the original version of the game has blood in it. We know from tradeshow footage, digging through the final game’s code, an early build of the game, etc. that if anything the original versions were LESS violent. There is no evidence there was ever blood. Anymore than there’s evidence of the poison berries (which we will get to later)

The Gameboy Advance port

What we know:

Heart of Darkness was going to be ported to the Gameboy advance. According to Frederic Savoir the project was quickly canned due to cartridge costs that Nintendo didn’t want to pay for.

Rumors:

Someone claiming to work on this port said that Infogrames founder Bruno Bonnel wanted the game to have an Adidas promotion and change Andy’s shoes. Fred says this isn’t true, and there’s no evidence that this was ever an actual thing.

The Jaguar Version

What we know:

Heart of Darkness was briefly considered to be published on the Atari Jaguar. There are internal letters discussing how good of an asset it would be for the console. That’s as far as it ever apparently went.

The fake developer copypasta:

A copypasta of obviously fake ideas that were potentially given from Amazing to this apparent Jaguar dev has been passed around since 2014. This included poison berries that would make Andy explode, fan-theory sorta ideas about how other children perished in the darkland, a magic mirror, and what is very clearly just the maggots from spiritual successor “Limbo”. This individual provided no proof and his story was far from convincing. And no evidence that someone other than the Amazing team themselves having access to official development code from the game has ever been brought forward.

The Saturn Version

What we know:

Before the game ultimately came out for Playstation, it was going to be a timed exclusive for the Sega Saturn with Sega purchasing an exclusivity from Virgin Interactive. This fell through due to Virgin intentionally (according to Eric) throwing a monkey wrench in things and the Saturn was not viable when they were finally able to publish the game after getting picked up by Infogrames.

There is an incomplete playable demo of the first level and first two story cinematics in English and Japanese from the 1996 Toy Tokyo Show. In it there are slight programming differences such as a screen sliding transition animation, the inability for spectres to eat Andy, features cut from the final game involving the shadow dogs that are still mostly present in the final game’s code, and some slight graphical differences.

Frederic said the Saturn was easy for him to program on, and he finished things quickly so it was likely fully playable but no complete copy has been found.

Rumors:

It is unknown if there is a full build of this version of the game for Saturn. The Toy Tokyo Show build is the only publicly known one.

Based on footage from other events it appears to be from after changes were made to spectre sound effects and some behaviors. So this may have been a build from after the game was altered to be “easier” as mentioned by Eric Chahi at the time.

The Phillips CDI Version

What we know:

Heart of Darkness was offhanded mentioned a handful of times in a few CDI magazines in 1996. But there is no actual evidence the game was actually in development for the console and it was never confirmed in more trustworthy publications. CDI has less evidence than the planning letters of the Jaguar version. A supposed slipcover of a Heart of Darkness CDI CD was supposedly in existence but the guy claiming to have it couldn’t or wouldn’t prove this, with the only evidence appearing as convincing as a fake mock-up photoshop job and CDI websites discussing the final version of the game in full despite providing no evidence development for the console existed in the first place.

The most likely explanation is some idiot at Virgin said “CDI” when discussing this at-the-time secretive project because it would have had to be on a CD-based console and there weren’t that many of them yet at the time and this slip up briefly spread.

The iMac Version

What we know:

There was discussion of a Mac OS version of the game being developed, but nothing about the final product has surfaced online.

There was a page titled “imac” on the official website but the image files weren’t archived.

Heart of Dakness: The Return of Shados

What we know:

A scam artist on indiegogo pretended to be affiliated with Amazing Studio by using stolen assets and copying the kickstarter campaign of a different indie game in an effort to scam HoD fans out of money.

Both Eric Chahi and Frederic Savoir collectively agreed that this was a big fat scam.

It got taken down in under 24 hours of its discovery after I personally called the guy out on being a scamming piece of fucking shit and tattled to Fred.

As it was a scam with its only “evidence” being stolen text and doctored fan art and concept art from the original game, it’s very obvious nothing about this mess actually existed.

Delicious meal.

Merchandise (various)

What we know:

There are photos of merchandise, there have been real items show up, and there have been rumors or discussion of potential merchandise. Real confirmed ones include:

The Vicious and Amigo action figures. Given away for contests, at trade shows, sold on the infogrames store, and potentially included as part of a special box set of the French version

The Japanese big box version came with a mousepad. It is different than the round mousepad that also exists. We do not know where the round mousepad originated from. Potentially tradeshows or contests like the other items here.

Playstation controller and memory card. A memory card was sold separate in the UK, and in France a controller and memory card set were sold. Only photo of the set is in Eric’s collection. Memory card has shown up several times online. I own a complete sealed one.

The hat. Given away at press events, potentially worn by team members, and a version was also available on the infogrames store. Only physically existing version documented has the VIRGIN logo on it however so there’s definitely variations

Skateboard and t-shirt. Discussed in contests. Photos in magazines. Have never shown up so far. skateboard may have been available on infogrames store.

Photos exist of a backpack and fanny pack. Eric has these, the only known ones to exist, in his collection. Fred said they were officially released but they have yet to show up.

Rumored Merch:

A blanket. Briefly mentioned as if it genuinely existed on a French forum

Probably more tbh but my memory is shit. As I am writing this it is 2AM

#text post #long post #heart of darkness #lost media

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draco-malfoy-imagines · 4 years

Text

Friends?

Title: Friends?

Warnings: Fluff

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,540

Y/N- Your Name

B/F/N- BeSt Friends Name

Hey guys! I know this isn’t my best but honestly I just needed to write and get something out there so I hope you enjoy and that this helps your quarantine!!

-s

“He's totally into you Y/N” Your best friend, B/F/N, said as you rounded the corner of the corridor from the dining hall. “Do not be ridiculous” you retorted, “we’ve been friends since practically before we could wave a wand”. “who we talkin’ about ladies” you heard the all too familiar voice say from behind you as an arm wrapped around your shoulder. “just a boy in my charms class” you quickly said hoping Draco wouldn’t realize you were in fact talking about him. “He’s always around her” your friend said winking as you gave her a stare even she flinched at. “Hmmm..” Draco pondered, “I’m in your charms class, I’ll have to keep a look out next time”. The three of you continued walking down the corridor, his arm still wrapped around your shoulder. As you arrived at your next class you prepared to say goodbye and continue on with your day praying Draco would forget about the previous conversation. “Don’t let Snape push you around too much” Draco said playfully knowing Snape wouldn’t dare say anything out of line to you because of how close you are to the Malfoy’s. You rolled your eyes and walked through the doorway as Draco called out “Don’t think I won’t keep an eye out for this mystery man!”. B/F/N giggled and gave you a slight shove before you took your seats.

That evening you were in the courtyard finishing up a potions paper when none other than Draco took a seat on the ground across from you. He didn’t say a word so you sighed and looked up at him “yes?” You asked wondering what was so important he needed to interrupt your thought process. “So I’ve been thinking about this mystery man” he said in a tone you didn’t quite recognize, it was almost angry. You raised your eyebrows as if to say ‘and?’ As he continued, “Is it Samuel, because I swear if you like that, player, stuck-up, mommy’s bo-“ “Its not Samuel!” You said quickly cutting him off. Draco simply nodded and seemed to fall into thought. You only wished you could return to thinking about potions. “Are you going home anytime soon?” You asked him desperately hoping the answer was yes, you wanted nothing more than to go back to the Malfoy Manor where so many memories had been made and stay in you family’s guest room. “I wasn’t planning on it” he said, you returned the nod he gave earlier and looked back down at your paper. A few minutes passed of comfortable silence as you write your paper and he sat, getting more frustrated by the minute although you didn’t know why. But you did know better than to ask him what was wrong, eventually he would tell you. “Don’t you think that would make him mad?” Draco eventually asked subtle annoyance hanging on every word, “what?” Replied as you looked up into his light eyes. “You going home with me, wouldn’t that make this jerk mad?”, Startled by the sudden inflection in his voice you grabbed his hand, almost as second nature to calm him down, “no Draco” you said in the most comforting voice you could find, “I think it would be just fine.” He looked down at your hand holding his and took a deep breath nodding but more to himself than to you. “You should get inside, it’s getting dark.” He whispered his eyes meeting yours again, you looked up at the sky which was beginning to be speckled with stars and agreed with him. You both rose to your feet and began packing your various, papers, quills and bags up off the ground. The walk back to the Ravenclaw common room was quiet with a few hushed whispers and acknowledgment from passing ghosts. Eventually you were back and Draco had to return to the Slytherin House. “I’ll see you tomorrow ya scamp” you said playfully lightly punching his shoulder. He let out a small chuckle and planted a kiss on your cheek before walking away silently, leaving you alone and utterly confused.

The Raven knocker on the door must’ve seen how far in thought you were because it let you enter without so much as a quizzical glance. Draco kissing you on the cheek wasn’t a completely rare occurrence but usually it was prompted or expected in some way. But this was out of the blue, and paired with his anger just a short while earlier you didn’t know what to make of it. Once you returned to your own head you realized everyone in the common room was staring at you, you simply scoffed at them and quickly ran up the steps to the girls dormitory where B/F/N was waiting for you, lounged out on your bed reading the latest edition of the quibbler. “Hey Y/N- woah you look like you just saw a dementor” she said cutting herself off mid sentence. “Draco was weird.” Is all you managed to say as you plopped your bag onto the floor and slumped onto your bed, “he was angry about mystery boy and then kissed my cheek” you said to the stars on your ceiling, “oh come on!” B/F/N said as she practically jumped from her bed over to yours. “He’s obviously upset because he thinks you like another boy and he wants you. The cheek kiss thing was probably him tryin to squirm on in! This is fantastic!” She said without taking a breath, a big smile plastered onto her face, “i mean I like him but-“ you began to say as she cut you off “But I’ve known him since forever and he doesn’t like me like that and blah blah blah” she said raising her voice to a mocking tone, “you’re both lying to yourselves. You might’ve started as friends but its more than obvious that over time its developed into more. Trust me, you talk about him in your sleep.” “do not!” You said raising your voice in defense and shooting up to a sitting position. B/F/N cocked an eyebrow at you and you sighed with defeat. “Ok maybe I like him a little but I can't just go announce that to him.” You said in a quiet tone of admittance. “Yes you can because everyone in the school knows he practically in love with you”. You rolled your eyes and over the next few hours discussed with B/F/N about how you should confront Draco until you eventually drifted off into much needed sleep.

The next day you still hadn’t decided what to do and knew it was only a matter of time until you saw Draco. You spent the morning and afternoon in the safety of the Ravenclaw common room knowing he wouldn’t be there but by dinner time you were starving and the Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans were almost gone. So you drug yourself out into the hall and down the endless corridors to the Great Hall where you were almost instantly approached by what was in that moment your worst nightmare. Draco was dressed nicely as always and his hair was a little messy which just happened to be a weakness of yours. “Its Daniel!” He said quietly but angry nonetheless, “Draco I-“ was all you got out before, “I knew it! I’m going to make that mud blood wish he’d never been born” he said with even more anger than before. The anger on his face was more than evident as he stared at the Gryffindor table where Daniel was seated, you took his wrist in your hand and he looked down at you, his expression softening. “I know you don’t like that word I just.” “Draco its you” you said so fast it was barely comprehensible, “what?” He whispered as his face changed from anger and annoyance to compassion, “its you ok! Its always been you. I’m sorry” Your eyes began to water as emotion took over your whole being, you were happy, crying, scared, excited. Draco took your hand and led you out to the courtyard where you were sure he was about to tell you he’s sorry and he doesn't feel the same. But instead he asked you why you were sorry, you hadn’t even thought about that question, “I-I know you don’t feel the same and its going to be my fault that our friendship is over” you said in a whispered tone as tears streamed down your face. “Y/N” he cooed as he pulled you into his chest. Your crying self seemed to be comforted by his body on yours and you slowly calmed down although your thoughts were still running a thousand miles a second. He gently pulled you back and cupped your cheeks brushing tears and hair off of your face, “Y/N, you’ve never been wrong about one thing your entire life until this moment” He whispered looking into your pathetic teary eyes. He pulled you in and brushed his lips onto yours sending electricity through the air. He pulled back smiling at you with a happiness you’d never seen from him as he took your hand and lead you back to the great hall, kissing your forehead he said “you'll always be my Ravenclaw princess”

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rigelmejo · 3 years

Text

random thoughts:

i want to do a guardian print novels comparison lol.

i have a simplified edition which in some ways is excellent: it has the kunlun prequel text, all of the extras, the chapters are edited in a way that clearly indicates priest polished it up to make the story ‘better’ (priest changed chapter 1 from Guo Changcheng seeing a random guy with no legs to Zhu Hong’s tail and fainting, adds details to a lot of chapters). The only thing its missing is the explicit sex scene (I think - it might even have it for all i know, but i’m guessing not since that’s usually cut out of simplified print novels i think?). But like in general - my simplified chinese Guardian novel seems to be the most complete version of the novel as far as final edits/extras. This isn’t necessarily the link I bought from, but this is the simplified print version I have (aliexpress does have a lot of priest books for sale).

I just got the traditional character version of the books (which is so beautiful WOW the covers and inside looks so nice). So far, its chapter content is more like the webnovel (so no scene edits/details added like my simplified version, no Kunlun prequel). There are a few edits of wording on small things (suddenly versus abruptly, next/then, that kind of thing). I don’t think it has any of the extras, so its not the original traditional published version with the shen san extra (i thought it was?). So upside is my simplified copy does seem to be the most complete, and the traditional one i have matches the webnovel most if i wanted to compare differences. Downside is i’m surprised the traditional version has so little content? This is the traditional print versions I bought, volume 1 and volume 2. That site can be ordered from in english, worldwide.

feeling the urge to do something with japanese again but i don’t know what. logically, doing nukemarines memrise decks is... probs the most effective thing to do. i don’t feel like doing flashcards though.

i kind of feel like listening to japanese core 6k or japaneseaudiolessons, just because i can just play them in the background (easier mentally than flashcards). maybe reading japanese audio lessons basically textbook - but that’s if i feel like reading?

also just kind of. feel like playing a video game - maybe kh2 since i know the game well enough i can still ‘speed play’ if i don’t want to slow down and read everything on screen (whereas persona 3 and crisis core took 1 hour to get to save points since i had to slow down and read everything). i read some scripts yesterday in japanese... and watched some shows yesterday (though that hardly counts since they had eng subs). my mind just wants to ‘do’ things, not really do flashcards lol. so like? listening, watching, playing - my brain thinks it sounds fun! but reading lessons/doing flashcard drilling of study materials, i feel tired lol...

i also kind of. just want to do some challenge for myself like: do clozemaster japanese for 1 month and see how much i get through/how much i improve? or do japaneseaudiolessons for 1 month and see how far i get etc.

chinese wise: i officially re-did all 12 chapters of Guardian with Listening Reading Method step 2 with the other audiobook by wheat. Now I’m officially on a new chapter 13, with avenuex’s audiobook, and going back to doing step 2 AND step 3 (for vocab). Again, as SOON as i switch to avenuex its easier to follow what’s going on without looking things up - i think part of it is the way she narrates sort of... slows down and speeds up depending on the emphasis in the sentence? so its easier to catch exactly what’s key info/characters interacting versus description. and also her voices for everyone are more different, and she edited in guardian drama music so a lot of the scenes i bet have some ‘ingrained’ memory from when i watched the show helping me recognize the scene that’s going on. i imagine for ‘comprehensible input’ this version just has a lot more i ‘get.’ also just in general i love her audiobook ToT.

though wheat’s is really nice! i like wheat’s voice and would love to talk like them. For shadowing, I find wheats is really good because the audio is mainly just voice, and a deeper voice (which i both would rather sound like and find easier to identify the words clearly as far as for repeating), and all an even speaking speed except dialogue - so i can repeat after what wheat says in small phrase bursts without falling behind too much. So for listening in the background, more general listening practice, and for shadowing practice i plan to use wheat’s more.

while step 3 is more focus intensive, i think doing it once minimizes how many words i have to look up in step 2 and how many times i feel step 2 would benefit me. when i skip step 3 i feel like i could do step 2 for 3-4 times and keep picking up a lot of new words. so to speed up progress, probably just going to do step 3 then step 2 again (or step 2 then 3 we’ll see).

L-R method has really helped my vocab for guardian ToT i have no problem reading the traditional version now. i also have far less trouble reading new chapters for the first time (still have words i need to look up, just its not enough to prevent me from following the main idea and details). I’m really glad I decided to try L-R method with guardian. I’m really excited how this is going to affect reading other priest novels later (or L-R tian ya ke, sha po lang, mo du). Because i can already notice it making Mo Du a bit easier. and i’m only 13 chapters in out of 100+ plus extras. I notice it makes reading and listening skills better. I don’t know about its claim from some of “from A1 to B1″ in 30 hours (which is what someone did with Italian, with some previous romance language study). Because I was probably like a A2 or weak B1 when I started trying this? (Idk I was like HSK4 with a smattering of extra passive knowledge that didn’t line up to HSK 5-6 exactly, so i could read Xiao Wangzi and watch Shan He Ling etc but only knew like half the words on HSK 5-6). So I don’t know if for a beginner, if L-R method for chinese would get them very far, or how many hours it would take. I’d say for a beginner-intermediate learner though, it will boost your listening level quickly (vocab a bit slower but i do notice progress now). And since listening level can fall behind reading, that’s a nice thing.

I read about someone who’d done L-R for mandarin for 300 hours though with less progress made though and i’m still curious why. Because i’ve done about maybe 30 hours and seen a lot more - idk if just having a base in chinese first helps a lot (like i got the 300+ hours basic learning done before i even tried L-R method and they just need to get through their hours to hit milestones too), or if they do something different. But given that experience, i do think if L-R isn’t giving small noticeable progress at least every 5 hours or so (and reasonably noticeable progress like easier listening comprehension of previously studied chapters or learned some handfuls of new words in 10 hours) then it makes sense to switch it up or try something else. like for me - switching to a literal word for word text using pleco dictation-translate tool has been much more effective. i would guess in part because its word for word so i don’t have to put in mental effort to re-arrange sentence grammar to the words i’m hearing in the audio (but more effort to know chinese grammar so not as helpful as a beginner in some ways unless u understand the story beforehand with step 1 reading the text in a language u understand). and in part because it keeps my translation synced to the audio so i don’t lose my place, can replay portions, and don’t therefore waste time being as mentally drained or confused. and doing step 2 in pleco (or anything with a quick click dictionary) so i can see some definitions with step 2.

still kind of want to just binge the videos on “learn korean in korean” youtube channel. he just makes such good lessons even though i’m not really studying korean.

also... mmm... korean clozemaster... mmm (i would probably learn nothing because translations do not tend to be literal for many asian languages on there so chinese and japanese only work for me cause i know enough words/grammar already to catch when things are not literal/outright wrong)

#june #june progress

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mythologyfolklore · 4 years

Text

Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 09

Chapter Nine: The Trojan War, Pt. 01

(A/N: This is basically the Iliad, but from the gods' POV. The gods meddling with human affairs, just as they please and Zeus being a puppet master for funsies, because he's Zeus.

If my writing looks a bit differently at some parts, it's because I transcribed them from my German edition translation of the Iliad. Now, the Iliad is one monster of a book. So I'm cutting this chapter into several parts. But I altered or completely skipped a few parts from the epic, so if you discover inaccuracies and books missing, know that this is absolutely intentional.)

“Mēnin áeide, theá, Peleïádeo Akhilēos

ouloménen, hé myrí' Akhaioīs álge étheken …”¹

Athena still didn't know why not being picked as the fairest offended her so.

Maybe being thought of as beautiful was more important to her, than she had thought.

Anyhow, she could not deny, that she was slightly butthurt. Not as much as Hera, but she was still furious.

She had offered wisdom and victory, Hera had offered power.

And Paris had picked Aphrodite, because she had offered him the most beautiful woman in the world?! Really?

And to top it off, the woman in question was Helena of Sparta, married to none other than Menélaos, a volatile Mycenaean², who had become king of Sparta through their marriage!

She also happened to be subject of a treaty her father had made with her suitors, before she had chosen Menélaos as her husband: that those rejected would come to the aid of the successful one, should he ever be in a troublesome situation.

And what a troubled situation it was, because Paris had freaking abducted Helena with Aphrodite's help!

Indeed, that guy's stupidity knew no bounds!

So here the mortal men were – rallying the entirety of Hellas, because of that damn treaty! Among them were great men like brave Diomedes, cunning Odysseus (a favourite of Athena's), Menélaos' brother Agamemnon and, last but not least, great Akhilleus and his soulmate Patroklos.

Also, that old bitch Agamemnon had managed to offend several gods and mortals by … well, being his bitchy arsehole self …

Book One:

Apollon was minding his own business, when suddenly a prayer reached his ears.

A prayer full of anguish and despair, from a voice he knew: that of his priest Khrýses.

The god of oracles sighed and listened to what his priest had to say.

“Hear me, God of the Silver Bow, who stands over Khryse and holy Killa, who rules mightily over Ténedos, Smintheus³, if the roof I gave to your temple and my sacrifices ever pleased you, fulfil my prayer: let the Danaoi⁴ pay for my tears with your arrows!”

Apollon closed his eyes and used his gift of clairvoyance to get a full picture of what had happened.

But once he knew everything, he was seized by fury.

“Alright, motherfuckers!”, he growled, as he grabbed his bow and arrows and descended to earth, nearby their camp.

“Face the wrath of Ioímios⁵!”

Then he proceeded to rain down every single contagious disease he had at his disposal, for nine days straight.

Hera was raging and cursing Thetis and Akhilles, but mostly Thetis: the Nereid had persuaded Zeus to support the Trojans, because her son had asked her to.

Yep, Akhilles had requested that the Trojans should have the upper hand, lest Agamemnon finally would get his bitchy arse up and apologise to him properly.

Now the most powerful warrior of the entire army was brooding in his tent like … what was that mortal dish again? Oh yeah, a burrito. An overgrown, sulky blanket burrito. Who had completely withdrawn from battle with all of his troops, because screw Agamemnon.

Of course, no one liked Agamemnon, but this was ridiculous.

Book Two:

Meanwhile the Trojans, with their prince Hektor and Zeus' good will on their side, easily held their own and more than often threatened to gain decisive victories.

And to add insult to injury, her son Ares, who had promised to support her and Athena against the Trojans, had let Aphrodite get into his head and was now opposing them, like the turncoat he was!

Both Hera and Athena were furious at this development, but Zeus had not allowed them to interfere – yet.

“You know”, Athena grumbled, as the two goddesses looked down onto the battlefield, “If father let me, I would love to drive a spear into Ares' gut!”

“You and me both”, Hera huffed. “Just where did I go wrong in his educati- not a word, Athena”, she warned, when the goddess of wisdom opened her mouth to reply.

“Anyway”, the Queen continued, “We have to obey Zeus' decree, especially now; as you can see, he's in a bad mood.” And pointed to the dark clouds above them.

“Also, Athena – I think you might want to go down there; they all seem to want to cut and run, there is a riot.”

Athena lost no time in dashing down there and urging her mortal friend Odysseus to interfere.

It wasn't long, until he and old Nestor had re-established order.

Book Three:

Some sacrifices and one breakfast later, the Achaeans and the Trojans were duking it out on the battlefield, when Athena and Hera spied Menélaos coming close to Paris.

Latter apparently saw the Spartan king first and promptly ran off like a total wuss.

This made Hera cackle hysterically: this boy had had no qualms risking both her and Athena's wrath, abducting a married woman out of her own home, offending the entirety of Hellas in the process, and now, that her actual husband Menélaos was showing up, he was running away like a wimp?! Pathetic!

Just a few hours later, Paris changed his mind, but not before he got smack-talked by his brother Hektor for being a huge wimp.

Of course Menélaos kicked his arse, but before he could finish him off and end the war for good, Aphrodite showed up! Whisking away her favourite like the bitch she was!

Hera fumed, but resisted the urge to beat her to a pulp.

“Don't worry”, Athena comforted her, “Sooner or later, she'll get her arse handed to her. I already have my plans – and the means to execute them.”

“As always”, the Queen remarked, with a hint of amusement and fondness.

Meanwhile Menélaos was still on the battlefield, outraged beyond mortal comprehension and roaring for Paris to “COME BACK AND DIE LIKE A MAN!!!”

Anyhow he had won, his brother Agamemnon decided and demanded that Helena be given back, financial reparations included.

Even most of the Trojans agreed, that Helena should be given back.

But Paris insisted, that she was his wife (except that she wasn't) and he wouldn't give her up.

Book Four:

The Olympians were having lunch in their dining hall, drinking nectar and toasting to each other, while Hebe was filling their cups.

But Zeus, ever the son of cunning Kronos, was plotting.

Finally he rose and spoke with sharpest tongue:

“Among the goddesses Menélaos only has two supporters: my queen Hera, who is the patron of Argos, and my daughter Athena, who holds her hand over Boiotia. Yet both just sit here, while Aphrodite is having a field day dwelling with Paris and doing as she pleases. Did she not just save him from certain death? Menélaos has won, yes. But now we need to hold counsel about how we will proceed now; shall we bring on more bloody war or shall we finally let gentle Eirene end the suffering? Granted your approval, it would mean, that Priamos' city will remain habitable and Menélaos finally can take his Helena back home to Sparta.”

Hera and Athena stuck their heads together, whispering and plotting more bale for the Trojans.

However, Athena was sensible enough to bite her tongue towards her father.

Hera on the other hand jumped up and ranted furiously: “Zeus, what the heck?! I have worked my arse off, just to put up a fleet against Ilios, and now this shall all have been in vain?! Do whatever you want, but don't expect any of us to approve of it!”

“Shut it!”, Zeus barked, “What is your problem? Why are you so bent on obliterating this beautiful city completely! What did the Trojans ever do to you for you to be so obsessed with this?! Will your blood thirst only be quenched, when you can march through the gates of Troy to incinerate its inhabitants with your own hands?! Do what you must, but heed this; should I ever feel like destroying one of the cities you hold dear, do not get into my way. Let me do as I please, as I do for you, even though I do not like it. The Trojans have never failed to honour the gods as it is due; my altars were never void of the best sacrifices and presents my worshippers had to offer.”

Hera inhaled sharply, but returned: “My dearest cities are Argos, Sparta and Mycenae. Should any of them ever invoke your wrath, destroy them if you want. I couldn't stop you, if I tried – you are the strongest here. Still, my efforts should not be in vain. I am divine like you, we have the same parents and yet I'm the first of the goddesses, because you chose me to be your queen. So we should be in agreement, even if it's just for the sake of being role models to the rest of the gods. Do you not agree, my great and most beloved husband? Thus, we should send Athena down to tempt the Trojans into breaking the truce they made with the Achaeans. What do you say?”

Zeus chuckled at this response, but nodded his head towards Athena.

The goddess of wisdom jumped up eagerly and rushed down like a comet.

A Trojan archer shot at Menélaos, barely missing a critical body part (thanks to Athena's intervention) and the oath of peace was broken.

Soon the two sides were back at each other's throats again.

Back on Olympos, Zeus rose from the table, and retreated to the Room of Fate.

There stood a huge pair of golden scales – the Scales of Fate, gifted to him by great Ananke, the Protogenos of fate and necessity.

Zeus had not agreed to the destruction of Ilios out of favour.

It was the fate of Troy and many more warriors, that they should fall.

It was a hard choice to make; many of the people who would fall were in his personal favour and some even were his dear children.

But he was the King of the Gods.

And as such, sparing someone out of favouritism was not an option.

Meanwhile the Scales of Fate were swinging up and down, towards the Achaeans, then towards the Trojans, then back and back again …

Book Five:

As Athena was rushing about the army, spurring on the warriors, she was also looking for her half-brother Ares. His influence on the mortal fighters was hindering her work.

Oh, there he was – personally slaying Achaeans left and right and generally being his bloodthirsty, mass-murdering self.

She snuck up on him, but he noticed her before she could startle him.

Athena ignored the spear to her face and said: “Hi to you too, brother.”

“For fuck's sake, what do you want?”, Ares spat.

“For you to retreat, Brotoloigos⁶, before father gets angry.”

“You're lying. He didn't send you”, he remarked.

Athena huffed: “Alright, if you want to be like that …”

Then she promptly grabbed him, threw him over her shoulder, carried him off like this (despite his very vocal protest) and dumped him onto a rock nearby the river Skamandros.

“Father will decide over the victory. You stay here, or else!”, she warned.

Then she went back, while Ares gawked after her, wondering what the heck just had happened.

Athena heard a prayer and quickly found Diomedes. He had just been wounded and was now praying for her assistance in avenging himself.

She poured courage and strength over him and also manipulated his sight.

“Now that you can tell gods and humans apart”, she whispered into his ear, “Remember this; do not fight the gods, you don't stand a chance – unless it's Aphrodite; she's a wimpy bitch.”

Diomedes, now powered up and high on adrenaline, immediately rushed back into battle and began to massacre Trojans left and right, as if he was Ares in disguise.

He quickly found the Trojan archer who had shot him in the shoulder and killed him.

His companion, a Trojan nobleman named Aineías, jumped off his chariot to defend the corpse of his fallen comrade, but Diomedes quickly grabbed a huge stone and knocked him out.

Aphrodite, who was Aineías' mother, saw this and came to rescue her son.

However, Diomedes decided (much to Athena's sadistic pleasure), that he'd have none of that and promptly chucked a spear at the goddess of love. It hit her wrist, tore through the skin and Ikhor splat everywhere. She screamed in shock, terror and pain like a little bitch (seriously, it was just a cut!), dropped her son and fled, followed by the taunting of her injurer.

Apollon came to Aineías' rescue instead and caught him, before he could hit the ground. When Diomedes – blinded by battle frenzy – began to attack him too, Apollon lost his patience and began to glow ominously.

“Back off, mortal! You are delusional, if you believe, that you can hold your own against me!”

Diomedes did the wise thing and obeyed.

Meanwhile Aphrodite was searching the field in panic, until someone seized her by the hand: Iris, the messenger of Hera, had taken pity on her and was now leading her away from the turmoil.

“Calm down, Aphrodite”, the goddess of the rainbow tried to soothe her, “Look, there is Ares!”

The goddess of love promptly rushed over to her lover, who was basically just chilling at the banks of the river Skamandros.

Ares was startled, when he was tackled by a hysterical love goddess.

“Whoa! Aphrodite?! What happened, why are you-?”

In tears she told him what had happened.

He scowled, but kept his composure. “Let me see the wound.”

When she did, he blinked. “Aphrodite, you kicked arse in the Gigantomakhia and now you're freaking out over a scratch? Alright, alright, I'm sorry”, he apologised, when she glared tearfully.

“Just give me your chariot!”, she wailed, “I want to go home as quickly as possible!”

“Sure”, he consented and kissed her forehead.

“And my son – my son!”

“Don't worry, Apollon's got him. See?”

She sobbed in relief, when she spotted Apollon carrying Aineías away to safety.

Then she mounted Ares' war chariot and Iris drove her back to Olympos.

When she got there, she was healed by Apollon's son Asklepios, who gave her kind words of comfort.⁷

But just a few minutes later, Athena and Hera returned from the battlefield and promptly proceeded to mock her relentlessly.

“If you don't mind, my dear father”, Athena said innocently, “Surely Aphrodite has been doing that thing again, where she tempted a Greek woman to run after a Trojan and cut her hand on the needle of a brooch, when she fixed the woman's dress!”

Hera cackled hysterically and Zeus chuckled in amusement.

“Good to see you all have so much fun at my expense!”, Aphrodite spat.

“Hey, you do it all the time, it's time we get a good laugh too!”, Hera retorted.

Zeus finally stopped snickering and put a hand on Aphrodite's shoulder. “Now, now, my dear aunt. You're simply past the time of your life, when you could kill a giant with one swing of your blade. Your sword has grown dusty and your battle prowess is in the past. We have two professional war deities and many others who have a function in war, myself included. You on the other hand have a far fairer profession: the works of love and marriage.”

Meanwhile, Apollon had brought the unconscious Trojan nobleman to his temple, where his mother Leto and Artemis tended to his wounds.

Okay, now where is Ares – oh for fuck's sake, is he still sitting there like a moron?!

Apollon huffed and marched over to the river, where Ares indeed was still lounging, as if there wasn't relentless slaughter going on.

“Ares!”, he snapped, making the older god jump. “Get your lazy arse up and rid the battlefield of that madman Diomedes! He hurt Aphrodite at the wrist, attacked even me and at this point it wouldn't surprise me, if he took on our father Zeus as well! That man is hardly human, he fights with the strength of a Daimon! He is dangerous! You're the god of terrible war! Stop him!”

“Alright, alright, I'm on it!”, Ares grumbled defensively, “Get off my dick, will ya?!”

Apollon responded maturely, by sticking his tongue at him, ere he returned to his temple.

Ares teleported himself onto a wall, taking the shape of a Thracian ruler he favoured.

With fiery words, he stirred up the fighting spirit of the Trojans and their allies.

With renewed vigour they threw themselves into battle, although their opponents held them back with united strength.

He decided to help them a little more and held his hand above the Trojans. Darkness came over the plain and Aineías rejoined the fray, which significantly boosted the morale of the Trojans.

Still they couldn't seem to break through; the Achaeans stood like a wall.

Damn , they really need my help! Somehow this must be the fault of Daddy's Owl … but where is she? Eh, who cares!

He decided to get back to what he had been doing before Athena had interfered.

Nearby were his twin-sister Enyo and his best friend Eris, sowing more belligerence and strife and riling up the mortals.

Oh, there was Hektor. He had come to aid his people and was slaying Achaeans left and right.

Ares laughed heartily and joined the Trojan hero.

On Olympos, Hera addressed Athena: “Athena, we need to do something! We promised Menélaos, that he could return to Sparta once he conquered Troy and took his wife Helena back, but my son and Hektor are about to ruin everything! It's time to go to war.”

Athena nodded grimly and while Hera ordered her daughter Hebe to ready her war chariot, she donned her armour and that of her father. Armed with her spear and her father's Aigis, which bore the horrid face of the Gorgon, she jumped onto the chariot with Hera.

Sometimes Athena nearly forgot Hera's war-ridden past, but as the Queen of the Gods came, in armour from head to toe and a long, heavy spear in one and the reins of her horses in the other hand, she was reminded, that Hera was a warrior at the core.

The Queen of the Skies spurred on her horses and the Horai tore the Gates of Olympos open to make way.

But then Hera spied Zeus, just lounging on a cloud and being his smug and very neutral self.

She held her horses and spoke to her husband: “Zeus! Ares is wreaking havoc down there. Doesn't it irritate you too, that he is slaying the best Achaeans down there, while Aphrodite and Apollon, who let him loose, are having a blast? Allow me to put an end to our son's murder spree and to give him a good beating!”

Zeus laughed heartily: “Go on, my dear wife! And sic Athena on him; she has experience in punishing him and as I see, in plundering too.”

Athena just grinned cheekily.

With Zeus approval secured, Hera's chariot descended to earth quicker than lightning. The two goddesses had joined the ranks of the Achaeans.

While Hera spurred them on with sharp and fiery words, Athena approached Diomedes.

The man had sat down to nurse the wound, which had been inflicted on him earlier and was now inflamed to the point where the pain was crippling his arm.

“What is this?!”, she demanded to know, “Some fine son Tydeus got himself there! I remember him so well; he was small in frame, but one of the greatest warriors I have ever known. You on the other hand! Ha! Were you half the man he was, you would be fighting the Trojans!”

Diomedes got defensive and reminded her, that she had told him not to attack any gods apart from Aphrodite. “Ares himself is leading the Trojans in battle. It's only because of your instructions that I made my troops draw back.”

Athena smirked, grabbed his face and her bright blue eyes were blazing with pugnacity and fire.

It was a testimony to the man's boundless bravery and faith in her, that he didn't even tremble, that her burning gaze didn't fill him with fear, though he knew exactly who was speaking to him.

“Yes, now I see him in you!”, she exclaimed, “You really are the son of your father! Fear not Ares or any of the other immortals, as long as I am with you. Once this sadistic madman promised his mother Hera and me to support the Achaeans. Now look at him helping the Trojans! He really needs a reality check. And …”, her smirk widened. “ … who could give it better than you?”

They mounted his chariot and rode into battle.

Athena knew, that to Diomedes Ares had to be horrifying; even to the other Olympians the blood-stained, untameable and murderous god of terrible war was a frightening sight to behold.

But as she had said before, the Argive had nothing to fear with her by his side.

Ares was busy robbing the corpse of someone he had just murdered. However, as he spied a shiny golden helmet, that could only belong to one person (Diomedes of Argos), he instantly dropped the corpse and dashed through the fray, his face a bloodthirsty grimace.

With a well-aimed throw, his spear flew towards the mortal, but … it missed?!

What the- how is that possible?! How?! How did I miss? I never miss!

Ares opted to use his second sight. This way he could sense a divine presence next to the mortal he wanted to kill.

“Daddy's Owl. I should have known it's you …”, he growled under his breath.

ARES, WATCH OUT!

What?

Diomedes' own spear flew and hit its target.

Ares' eyes widened.

The weapon had pierced clean through his stomach.

For a second Ares was too shocked to even register the pain.

Then Diomedes pulled his spear back out and it hit full force.

He screamed.

An unholy, rough and piercing roar, as if ten thousand men were screaming out of one throat.

It was so loud and so terrifying, that the warring mortals forgot what they were doing and clung to each other in fear and panic.

“You will pay!”, he choked and glared at the spot where he knew Athena's eyes to be. “You fucking bitch! You will pay!”

He summoned a whirlwind to carry him up into the sky and dragged himself all the way back to Olympos and into Zeus' throne room.

“Why is it”, he growled, as he showed his father the spear wound, “That everyone has to obey your command, while your daughter Athena can do whatever she wants?! While apparently I am not even allowed to do my fucking job?! She plays with all of us as she pleases – ngh! – and now she has sicced that arrogant fucker Diomedes on her fellow gods! That bastard sliced Aphrodite's hand open, assaulted Apollon and now this – ow, fuck! Had I not bailed, I would be lying under a pile of corpses or worse, be crippled – no offence, Hephaistos …”

“Some taken”, the smith replied drily.

Ares continued his rant: “And you, Zeus, just sit and watch, while she has the time of her life, pushing everyone else around! For the sake of your other children, for your whole family, dial it back with the favouritism and control her!”

But Zeus just replied scornfully: “Oh stop whining into my ears, you double-faced liar! Of all the gods that dwell here on Olympos, I despise you most. You have nothing but strife and bloodshed in your head, you're always looking for trouble – you got that from your mother. Were you not my son, I would have sent you to Tartaros a long time ago.”

“If I am the way I am”, Ares retorted coldly, “It's not because of the way my mother raised me, but it's because you didn't raise me any better – in fact, I don't remember you raising me at all. Also, I hate you too. I hate you so much.”

Zeus was visibly struggling to keep his composure (if the dark clouds outside hadn't made it obvious, his tense, stony face did), but only inhaled sharply and ordered for Asklepios to treat his son's injuries.

“I'm sorry for that”, the doctor later said, as he was applying healing salve to Ares' wound.

The war god's red eyes shifted to him. “What do you mean?”

His mien and tone were blank, but Asklepios could tell, that his uncle knew what he meant.

“What … what Zeus said earlier. I heard it all.”

“Spare me your pity, nephew”, Ares said coldly.

“What I feel for you isn't pity”, Asklepios contradicted. “Don't mistake compassion for pity. I too have suffered the wrath of Zeus; he killed me with a thunderbolt, back when I was a mortal and deified me only for my father's sake. But that happened quickly and only once. I do not like you, Ares, but no one deserves that kind of treatment.”

Ares chuckled wryly and (much to Asklepios' surprise) ruffled the doctor's blond head.

“You're a good kid. But don't waste your compassion on me”, the older god advised. “I don't need it. It has been this way for 38 000 years (that's how old I am) and it means nothing to me.”

Asklepios had the feeling, that the war god wasn't being completely honest, but he knew better than talking back to Ares.

“There”, he said instead, as the older man's injuries were closing. “Now a nice bath and some fresh clothing and you'll be as good as new. Shall I apply a salve to make the scar disappear?”

“No”, Ares chuckled, “It's just another scar in my collection. I don't mind it as much as I mind some of the others.”

When Hera and Athena came home a little later, they found Ares standing near Zeus' throne.

He had been perfectly patched up, was wearing fresh clothes and bore himself with an odd dignity.

Athena immediately realised, that he was attempting to keep his last shred of pride, with his perfectly blank and indifferent expression and aloof posture.

But when he looked up and saw her, his facade slipped just for a second.

His red eyes burned with unadulterated loathing, as they met her blue ones.

She responded with a similar glare, before resuming her own position at her father's side.

Book Seven:

Right after the gods had left the battlefield, Hektor and Paris joined their fellow Trojans and began to slaughter enemies left and right.

Apollon was watching them invisibly from the city walls, always the victory of the Trojans in his mind.

But when he saw Athena dash down from the sky with obvious intentions, he flew across the field to catch her.

“Are you meddling yet again?!”, he reproached her, “What is this, the fifth time today?! Look, I know you don't give a shit, that all those good Trojans are dying, but for once, can you just not?! Let us end the senseless bloodshed for today. Tomorrow is another day and surely you can't be in this much of a hurry to lay this great city to waste, can you?!”

Athena countered: “Actually, that was what I had in mind, when I came just now. But how do you plan to achieve a duel, Hekatos⁸?”

“Hektor”, Apollon replied coolly. “He's easy to persuade. A duel, one on one, a battle to the death. And if he demands one, it will compel the Achaeans to choose one out of their ranks to fight him.”

Athena had no objections to that.

So the god of prophecy sent a vision to Helenos, one of Hektor's brothers, to let him know the gods' intentions.

Not much later, Hektor was challenging the Achaeans to chose one of their ranks to fight him. His condition was that the loser's armour should go to the victor, but the corpse should be returned to their respective side.

The Achaeans were hesitant.

Finally Menélaos, revolted by everyone's cowardice, stepped forward, but was stopped by his brother Agamemnon, who warned him that there was no way he could win against Hektor.

Then the old king Nestor roasted everyone and several, grabbed by their honour, volunteered.

They drew lots and Ajax the Greater was chosen.

After a more or less respectful address, the two warriors began to duke it out.

Ajax quickly proved himself to be Hektor's equal.

Their combat was so vicious, that Apollon interfered and helped the Trojan prince up.

Then the two mortals forgot about their spears and shields and began a mortal sword fight.

Until two heralds stepped in and drew them apart.

“Enough!”, one of them spoke, “Let it be. Zeus favours you both equally. You have proven to him and us, what exceptional warriors you are. But cease it now. It's growing dark and it's better to call it a night.”

The opponents agreed to do that, complimented each other's battle prowess and exchanged gifts.

Apollon couldn't help but find it wonderful, how these two enemies set an example by respecting each other, both as warriors and people.

Meanwhile, several Trojans demanded, that Helene be given back to the Achaeans and many agreed.

Unfortunately, Paris refused to give her back, insisting that she was his wife now (even though she really wasn't), although he did offer to give back her treasure.

Priamos sighed and send a messenger to the Achaeans to let them know of it and ask for permission to bury their dead.

Of course they refused the offer of the treasures, but they agreed to stop all fighting, until the fallen warriors on both sides had been buried properly.

On Olympos, Poseidon had complaints.

The Achaeans had built a wall around their camps and now the Lord of the Seas was bothered by it being built without any sacrifices to him and that the wall he and Apollon once had built around Ilios would be forgot.

Zeus pinched his nose and spat: “Oh, for the love of me, do you have nothing else to worry about?! You can destroy that thing once the war is over and the Achaeans are gone, but now stop whining to me about it!”

Once their argument was settled, the King of the Gods retreated to his study and proceeded to spend the rest of the night plotting bale and doom for the warring people on earth.

Shortly after midnight a knock on the door pulled him from his plotting.

“Enter!”, he cried.

The door opened to reveal …

“Ares!” Zeus stood up. “What a surprise! It's been more than a century since you came to my office of your own volition! Do come in!”

Ares looked uncharacteristically modest, as he came in, which was even more surprising.

“My dear father”, he began, “I wish to apologise for earlier. And, if you will, discuss a few things with you?”

Zeus' interest was piqued.

“I'm all ears, my son and heir.”

Their conversation was short and almost business-like.

But at the end the King of the gods was laughing heartily: “Sometimes I forget just how much of me and your mother you have in you! Oh, if the others knew just how underhanded you can be in your spite, they would see you differently. Yet you're right with what you say and I see no harm in humouring you for a change. Your idea is a good one. Go to bed now, my son, and rest secure in the knowledge, that for once in your life, you beat your half-sister at her own game.”

Book Eight:

In the next morning, Zeus gathered his family in the assembly hall.

“From now on, I alone will guide the course of war on earth”, he announced. “None of you is allowed to interfere. No one. If you do, I will roast you with a thunderbolt. As you are gods, you won't be reduced to ashes, but Ares here can confirm, that the results are still really nasty.”

At these words, Ares, who was standing next to Zeus' throne, pushed back the bangs that were covering the left side of his face, revealing the hideous scar they were hiding. The sight made several of the attendants gasp.

Zeus went on: “As you can see, he still has that one, because not even Asklepios' healing arts would rid one of that kind of scar. And my thunderbolt just grazed him, so he was lucky. Imagine, what would happen to you, if I hit you full on. Or even better yet, I will throw you into Tartaros, if you disobey me. I'm sure my brother's face will be priceless, once I leave you to him.”

Everyone was gaping at him, speechless over those straightforward threats.

Athena was the first one to regain her speech.

“Dear father”, she began with a shaky voice, “We know that you are the strongest. If you wish, we won't interfere with the battle. But won't you at least allow us to give counsel? Hera, Poseidon and I can't help but pity the poor fighters, who have to deal with their imminent demise as best as they can. Won't you allow us to try and spare some in this manner?”

Zeus laughed, but quickly resumed his stern demeanour.

“This is as far as you all may go”, he accommodated. “Even you, my little Owl-Eye, will be punished, if you go against my orders.”

Athena bit her lip, but nodded.

Right after the assembly was ended, Zeus descended to earth to supervise the happenings down there.

Athena used the opportunity to go after Ares.

Barely holding back her anger, she followed him into a lone hallway and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“This is your doing, isn't it?”, she hissed.

Oh so slowly Ares turned around to face her. His butter-wouldn't-melt expression made her want to wring his neck.

“My dear sister”, he cooed, “I haven't the faintest idea what yer talkin' about!”

“Don't play that game with me!”, she snarled, “You put it into his head to force us to sit here and kick our heels like complete idiots, so he can hog the entire show and turn the war into a fucking board game!”

“Ya mean, he hasn't been doin' that before?”, Ares countered.

“Ares, I warn you! Don't think I didn't catch your disgusting smug grin earlier, when he threatened us all with what would happen, should we disobey him! How casually you let us see your scar, even though you grew your hair longer on the left side for the sake of hiding it?! How else could you of all gods be so calm and cavalier about this, if you weren't the one behind it?!”

The war god chuckled and swiped her hand off his shoulder.

“Ah, I wouldn't say that I'm behind it, although I might have a part in it.”

“What did you do?”, Athena growled.

He shrugged casually. “Eh, I just had a talk with him last night. From son to father, ya know. Resolvin' an argument we had after I came back from down there, doin' some business.”

“Doing some business!”, Athena echoed incredulously, “You persuaded him to stop everyone from interfering with the battle! How?! How did you do this?! You're anything but a man of eloquence!”

Ares laughed cruelly: “I didn't need to be. I just pointed out the obvious. If I'm not allowed to do my job, why should you – or anyone for that matter? I asked for justice and I got it.”

“Why, you-!”

He caught her fist, before she could hit him in the face.

“Now, now! No need to throw a hissy fit! I just gave you a taste of your own medicine!”

Athena was this close to deicide!

“What do you mean, a taste of my own medicine-”

She cried out in surprise, when he seized her by her chiton and pulled her close.

“How does it feel to not get your will, huh, Daddy's Owl?”, he growled, “That doesn't feel so great now, does it? This is what I have to bear with all the time. Although it probably stings you more than me … after all, you are his 'Little Owl-Eye'. It's probably way more mortifying, when you're used to always getting what you want. But that's not the case for me, which makes this whole thing just the sweeter!”

Forcefully he pushed her away, making her stagger a little.

“You injured me yesterday, both physically and psychologically”, he reminded her coldly. “You let a mortal pierce me with a spear and returned home in triumph with my mother, to gloat over how you two stopped me. And you expected for me to just let it go? No. I am spiteful like my mother. And if I want, I can be pretty damn underhanded, just like our daddy dearest.”

“Why should father listen to you?!”, she snarled, “To you of all gods!”

Ares smiled frigidly: “Sometimes he listens to me … because I'm his heir.”

Her blood ran cold.

Of course.

The Greek gods followed the principle of primogeniture, which required for a ruler to be succeeded by his oldest legitimate son.

And Ares, even though he was Zeus' least favourite son, was his only legitimate one.

The war god sighed and span around on his heel. “It's really sad, how you always forget that. But it doesn't matter. The Achaeans will conquer Troy eventually, but no one will be truly the victor. Of that I have taken care. Well, Thetis and I – don't wanna hog the whole credit, like you always do. But lighten up, Daddy's Owl; we both know our father, the prohibition won't last for that long. Sooner or later we'll all meddle with their mortal affairs again.”

He smirked at her over his right shoulder. “But right here and now, I am the winner. Not gonna lie, I hated having to be so underhanded, but it was worth it. And when your side lays Troy to waste, well, enjoy watchin' on as they commit war crimes so horrid, that you'll regret havin' supported them. This is the price you pay for your victory. Have a nice day, Daddy's Owl. Don't choke on that piece of humble pie, will ya?”

---

1) "Of the wrath sing, goddess, of Akhilleus, son of Peleus, his cursed wrath, which brought so much woe to the Achaeans (the Greeks) ..." The opening sentence of the Iliad. 2) If you have never heard of Mycenae, please look it up. For the context, it's one of the Greek main powers during that era and is ruled by Agamemnon (who is a fucking arsehole), the brother of Menélaos. The later Greek civilization considered itself a successor to the Mycenaean culture. 3) Smintheus: "Lord of the Mice/Rats", one of Apollon's epithets. 4) Danaoi: the Greeks, as referred to around the area of Troy. 5) Ioímios: "Lord of the Plagues", one of Apollon's epithets. Both of the aforementioned epithets refer to his function as god of pests and plagues. 6) Brotoloigos: "Slaughterer of Men/Manslaughtering", an epithet of Ares. 7) In the Iliad, she flees to her mother Dione, who treats her wound and comforts her. But I'm going with the account of Hesiod's Theogony, according to which Aphrodite has no mother. She sprung from Ouranos' severed testicles, that fell into the sea, after Kronos castrated him. So instead of Dione, in my version she is comforted by Asklepios, the divine doctor. As for Asklepios, in his place the Iliad mentions Paian as the doctor of the gods and as god of healing. But his identity isn't clear and Paian is also an epithets of several other gods with an association with healing (Paian means "Healer"). 8) Hekatos: "Worker from Afar", one of Apollon's epithets (in his function as god of archery and prophecy)

Bonus: Yes, I know that in the book Ares has nothing to do with Zeus' order for the gods to stay out of the fighting for now (I'm reading that damn thing for the 3rd time now!). I just thought, it would be funny if he used his few braincells for petty revenge in the most devious way he can think of. So that's my own invention, lol.

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a-sweet-violent-urge · 4 years

Text

Michael Jackson

Yeah, I know, I know what state the world is in right now but trust me, this post has been a long time coming. I just never got around to write it. And I’m sitting down to do it now because I’ve been locked at home for a week so I guess it’s now or never.

One look at my blog will tell you that I very rarely post personal stuff on here. I just reblog things and sometimes express opinions about my fav shows but that’s it. But I’m gonna get personal now.

I guess now’s the time to point out that I’m also not the most eloquent person around so to anyone reading, this might seem a bit all over the place, you’ve been warned.

The last few months have been really hard for me and my family. My father died last December. I still can’t wrap my head around it. I was used to not having him around at home, he was always working, you know, to bring money home, and now.. I ... I think of him as not home, not gone. Don’t know if that makes sense. You’re probably wondering what does this have to do with Michael Jackson? I’ll get to that, be patient with me.

Anyone who really knows me, and to be honest this is not a lot of people, I’m introverted, knows that listening to music is how I deal with things. I remember being a senior in high school, we were doing a speaking exercise in my English class, and my teacher asked us what influenced us the most in life, like, what helped shape our view on life and the world. When it was my turn to answer, I said that it was music and the artists I listened to. The rest of the group (I’m saying group not class for a reason, but I don’t want to go into that much detail) probably thought it was weird, they talked about their friends and family. But this was the truth for me. It still is. The music I listen to (along with the books I read) is what has influenced me the most in life, it’s what made me the person I am today. This is the reason why I’ve always hated talking about music, my favorite music has always been something very personal to me. I’ve always hated the question who’s your favorite artist. People would think it’s an easy one to answer but it’s not, not to me

This is where I start to talk about Michael. He was one of those artists (who influenced me) but I only realize that now, in retrospect. Actually, around the time I answered that question, the artists I meant were 30STM, or Linkin Park, MCR or whatever the hell I listened to back then.

I think the first time I listened to MJ intentionally was sadly after he died. I was born in September 1994, so I was not 15 yet. Up until that point, MJ was just a name in my head. I knew he was a singer, I knew what he looked like (’cause who didn’t or doesn’t), I know what he was very famous (though I had no idea why), I had heard songs, of course, though I didn’t really realize they were MJ songs. And despite all of that, me not knowing basically anything about him, I remember how hard his death hit me. I don’t know why. I felt like my fav artist had died, I felt like I had lost someone. To this day I can’t explain to myself why. I remember in what room I was when I heard the news. I watched the memorial and cried my eyes out.

After that, I decided to listen to his music. I listened to a lot of it and for a month or two, (or probably more, I don’t really remember) I listened mostly to him. I learnt more and more things about him. Like, about his philanthropic work, about the allegations (I’ll talk about that later), actually I remember being like 10 and watching the trial being covered on the news here. Songs like The way you make me feel, Dirty Diana, Give into me quickly became my favorites. But I remember the first times I heard Man in the Mirror, Earth song, Heal the Word, We are the World. And especially Man in the Mirror. The lyrics If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change had become like my motto in life and I didn’t even realise it until the past few months. I realized that often when I had to make a choice about something, those lyrics would pop up in my head. When I saw or read something about the environmental problems that we’re facing, Earth song ended up popping in my head. Yeah, MJ had helped shape my view on certain things and I didn’t even know then.

After my 2009 MJ phase, I hardly ever listened to him. I would listen to some songs from time to time when the mood struck me, but that was it.

Fast forward to October/November 2019. I was on YT and I ended up listening to some MJ songs., it was one of those times when the mood struck me, and I was going through the comment section (as I always do) while listening, and I noticed people commenting about .. a certain documentary. I don’t even want to say its name. So I was like what the fuck has happened and I looked it up. My initial reaction was seriously, this again?

Ok, I’ll go back to 2009 for a bit. When I got into MJ 11 years ago, as I mentioned earlier, I read about the allegations, I remembered even seeing it on the news as I said. But he was found not guilty. It was good enough for me. I didn’t think much about it. I didn’t care much about it. Plus he had just died. Nobody had one bad word to say about him. Ironic, huh? Also, I couldn’t do research even if I wanted to. I was young, I didn’t really speak English that well, and honestly, in the last few months I realized that when it comes to Michael Jackson, the truth is buried under so many false stories and dare I say, blatant lies, that you need an excavator to dig it out. I’m putting this in bold, in case a none MJ fan reads this, if you want to find the truth, know what you’re getting yourself into. Anyway, I couldn’t even fully appreciate some songs, because you need context to fully understand them, and I didn’t have that context then.

Fast forward to 2019 again. So I found out about you-know-what and I started reading about it and watching videos, educating myself on the matter. In other words, I had gone down the rabbit hole. But it was not just that what sparked my interest in Michael. I noticed something. Something many people were writing in the comment section of different. Michael was an angel. Michael is/was love. What would have Michael done (about whatever) if he was alive? I was like what?! Look, I have spend my life fangirling over different celebrities and I had never seen people saying things like that. And this was the moment, I asked myself the question, why was this person so famous and so loved by so many people from all over the world? Why HIM? Yes, he was immensely talented but that applies to a lot of artists. So why Michael? Now I know why. If you’re a fan reading this, you know why, too. If you’re not, go figure it out on your own.

It’s funny how a movie filled with not even clever lies, made so Michael’s name could one more time be run through the dirt, made me his fan (ugh, I hate that word, I almost feel like it has a negative connotation nowadays). Made me more than just a fan. If you remember, I started this post by saying that my father passed away in December. It all happened very fast, in less then 3 months, he wasn’t sick and then he was, and then, before we even knew it, he was gone. I was in the room when he died. So you see in what period of my life Michael’s music entered my life again. In a period when I needed a little light, something to keep the faith. In those months (and even now, more than 3 months later) Michael’s art was my lifeline. Keep the faith, Gone too soon, Had enough, Will you be there, Little Susie and so on.

Here are some lyrics that really hit me hard

The feeling of terror she felt as a youth Has turned from a fantasy into the truth (Scared of the moon)

I drowned my pain in his music. His love, his kindness and generosity reminded me of my purpose in life. I won’t go into details about what I experienced because this already got more personal than I’m comfortable with. Plus, my vocabulary is not good enough to do it justice. I’ll finish with this. I’m in complete awe of him and the things he did. Like, yesterday I found out he made a song about sign language. Seeing voices.

So, that’s my MJ story. I hope it’s comprehensible, you don’t know how hard it was for me to put this into a somewhat coherent narrative. But I really needed to get it off my chest. I probably missed some things that I wanted to say, if I think of something more, I’ll add an edit.

By the way, as you can see, I’m new to the MJ community and I’d love to make some friends, so feel free to message me.

#michael jackson #mj #king of pop #personal #my thoughts

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adriannasharp · 4 years

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Fake Dating Fic Sneak Peek!

So about two years ago, @minakosaino posted on here that she needed a fake dating fic with Minako and Kunzite and the wheels in my head began turning. Today, I finally finished my first draft of this fic (because I very much need to write a full fic before I post it or there will be so many plot holes). For now, I’m going to let it sit for a while before I go back to edit it but in the meantime, have the first draft of chapter one! Enjoy!!

Minako sat, staring out the window. The bullet train rumbled ever so quietly as it turned through the Japanese countryside. It was a beautiful day. The sun was bright and she knew it would be hot on her skin when she stepped outside of the air conditioned passenger car. A binder sat in her lap, open to a seemingly random page but she couldn’t focus on it anymore. There was only so much of Kunzite’s life she could take in before she felt the need to gag. And no, that was not the fault of the train, as it was smoother than anything.

It was no secret to their friends that Minako and Kunzite did not like each other. If they didn’t share their circle of friends, they would most certainly never be seen together but, such is life, or however that saying goes.They were always on opposite sides of discussions and he mocked her at every chance he could. Of course, she would throw fire right back at him. He was just so arrogant and serious and never any fun. Fortunately, after one too many rather public fights, they silently agreed that they should just stop ever talking to each other unless something nice could be said. After that, they barely spoke and always made an effort to sit as far apart as possible whenever there was a group get together. She still wasn’t sure how she would get through a whole weekend with him.

It was a few weeks prior that he asked her for a favour. She was hesitant, of course. What kind of favour could you ask of someone you don’t like? Well, it turned out he needed a date.

As the train curved past a small town, she recalled the conversation.

“You want me to be your date to a wedding?”

Kunzite’s face was its usual stoicness. Of course. He never did show emotion, after all.

“Yes. My little sister’s wedding.” He was silent after those words, hoping that was going to be enough but the disbelief on her face said that she needed more information. “If you must know, my mother has been...pestering me for some time about my single status. She has been rather insistent about me finding someone so I told her several months ago that I was seeing someone. Unfortunately I did not take into account bringing this fictitious woman to my sister’s wedding.”

“And you chose me?” Minako said somewhere in between mockery and confusion.

“Yes.” His face was in disbelief as well. “Unfortunately, my mother knows my friends and their significant others too well for me to utilize one of them. And it would be incredibly inappropriate to ask someone from my work.”

Right. He was a bigshot partner at some law firm and everyone he worked with worked under him. Yeah, she supposed that would be weird. And he was such a damn workaholic that he really didn’t have time for anyone else outside of his usual circle. But there were other things he could do.

“And before you say anything derogatory, no, I will not hire someone from an escort service.”

Damn. How did he know she was thinking that?

She looked him over. He looked surprisingly genuine with his turned down eyes and, was he fidgeting? Hmmm.

“What’s in it for me?”

“I would pay for the whole weekend, of course. And outside of the wedding itself and the rehearsal dinner, we can completely avoid each other.”

Minako eyed him skeptically.

“That's it?”

“And,” Kunzite continued as if it pained him to continue, “my firm recently gained a new client. If the weekend goes well, I could arrange a meeting with Minami Ogawa.”

Minako eyes popped. “The casting director?!”

It was true that Minako had been trying for years to get her big break in the entertainment industry. Her friends knew it, their partners knew it, and, of course, Kunzite knew it. This could make her career. But she also didn't want to quite admit defeat yet so she reigned in her excitement for one more clause to the deal.

“And you'll pay for two new dresses for me for the weekend?”

“Two?”

“Yes. I can’t wear the same dress twice in one weekend. You want me to look presentable, don't you?”

Kunzite sighed before holding his hand out. “Deal.”

Minako pulled out of her reverie. She tried to enjoy the summer sights but she couldn’t. She looked back down at the binder in her lap and mock gagged. She had insisted that they just wing it but he disagreed. He had to make things so much more complicated, as usual. She had met boyfriend’s parents before and she always come off lovely and charming and promising the mother she would keep in touch. It would be easy. Instead of winging it, he made a comprehensive binder listing details that he felt she should know. You know, things a girlfriend would know. How they met (common friends, at least he stuck with that one), where they had their first date (Ginza Sky Lounge), their second date (Jindai Botanical Gardens), the first movie they saw together (some pretentious Western movie she had never heard of), his family (both parents still alive and one soon to be wed little sister), and it went on.

At first, she tried to look at this as an opportunity to practice her acting skills. Surely, a weekend of playing a doting girlfriend would be good practice, right? At first, she took the binder with enthusiasm, determined to learn her part. But then, as she got further into the details, she found it harder and harder to continue. The thought of dating Kunzite was just…weird. And as the date loomed closer, she found herself pushing the binder away. But she was due at the station in under an hour and if she wanted to woo Kunzite’s family and get that meeting with Ogawa, she had to learn the last few pages quickly.

The wedding was in a small town a two hour train ride outside of Tokyo. They were staying at a hot springs inn a little ways from the station and the wedding was in some nearby hall she had never heard of. Well, that was probably because she didn’t venture much outside of Tokyo.

Kunzite didn’t say much about his sister in the binder. Just that she was four years younger than he was, she was a kindergarten teacher, and that the groom was an old college friend of Kunzite’s. It was weird to think of Kunzite with family. He never talked about them so she just sort of assumed he didn’t have any or he wasn’t close with them. Apparently it was the latter.

Her phone pinged with an unwelcome trill and she tried not to visibly shudder. She set his text tone separately so she knew it would be a message from him. The tone she chose was called chimes. It was a nice, pleasant sound that she hoped would balance the dread that would inevitably follow. So far, it hadn’t worked.

Did you manage to catch the train?

Only he could sound so condescending over text. To even it out, she typed back in her most sarcastic manner.

Yes. I did catch the train. I’m not a moron.

Good.

Was that really all he had to say? Jerk.

She thought about going back to the binder but she pushed it away with a grimace. Instead, she pulled up her contacts and called one of her best friends.

“Minako?”

“Hey Rei.”

Both girls paused. Rei waited for Minako to say why she was calling, but Minako wasn’t sure what to say.

“What’s up?” Rei asked. “Shouldn’t you be on the train right now?”

“I am.” She paused again before continuing. “Am I crazy? This is crazy, right?”

Minako could practically hear Rei’s smirk over the phone.

“I did say the whole thing was rather ludicrous.”

“Thanks for the encouragement,” Minako drawled.

“If you wanted encouragement, you should have called Makoto. You called me so you must have wanted me to talk you out of it.”

“No. I don’t want that. Just...do you think this is doable?”

Rei sighed. “If you’re both committed to it and don’t yell at each other, maybe.”

Right. The yelling. To be fair, it didn’t happen often. Their whole gang was discussing some heavier topics and, of course, Kunzite had the complete opposite opinion of her.

“What the hell do you mean?” she asked.

“Simply that if you cannot afford to have children, people should be careful about their-” he paused, searching for the right word, “dalliances.”

“So people should just never go out and enjoy themselves? Is that it?”

“No, that’s not what I-”

“Or do you think we should all be abstinent and boring like you?”

“If you would just listen-”

Before Kunzite could finish, Nephrite slammed his hands on the table. “Stop it both of you.” They both stopped and sat back. At least Kunzite had the sense to look mildly embarrassed. Well, as much as a piece of granite could look embarrassed. “Hearing you two argue is not what I had in mind for my birthday so if you could both just cut it out, you won’t have to leave.”

Minako shrinked back in her seat as Nephrite changed the topic. While Nephrite was usually the happiest of the group, he could be downright scary when he was mad. So Minako glanced at Kunzite and they both nodded, as if finally realizing how much their arguing was getting in the way of their friends.

Stupid Kunzite. He always had to escalate things. Since then, they just tried to avoid being in the same conversation, with some near misses.

“And how do I manage that?”

“Minako, you’re an actress. Just act like there’s something about Kunzite that you find desirable.”

Minako slumped her head against the window. “Any suggestions?”

“You won't believe a thing I have to say anyways. Pick things you can work with. He’s attractive, right? Use that. Find a few things about him that you can latch onto and talk about to his family.”

Minako massaged her temple with her free hand. “That’s going to be hard.”

“Then get off the train at the next station, turn around, and go home.”

“And miss my chance with Ogawa?”

“That’s up to you. But if you do want that meeting, you have to do a good job impressing his family and pretending like you’re in love with him.”

“Whoa. No one said anything about being in love. We just have to pretend we’re dating.”

“Minako, you don’t bring someone that casual to your little sister’s wedding. If you bring someone to a wedding, it’s someone that you’re going to be in love with.”

Shit. Rei was absolutely right. How could she overlook that? Shit shit shit.

“So I have to be lovey dovey with Kunzite?” The thought almost made her retch.

“What were you expecting to do before?”

Minako shrugged, although she knew Rei couldn’t see that. “I don’t know. Just hold hands and be lovely to his family?”

“You know Kunzite will need more than that. If you’re going to sell this, you need to do more than that. Channel Makoto. You know how lovey dovey she gets with Nephrite.”

Minako pictured the couple in the midst of one of their cutesy wutesy talks and chuckled. “Thanks. That kind of helps.”

“Good. Are you alright now?”

Minako let out a breath. “I think so.”

“Good. Because I have to go. Jadeite is burning lunch.”

Minako hung up and used the rest of the time on the train to begrudgingly learn the rest of the binder. Fortunately, it wasn't overly complicated and she was able to skip some redundant parts Kunzite wrote. Did she really need to know what his favourite food was? Or the colour of the walls in his apartment?

The final section was, oddly, about her. It would seem that Kunzite told his mother some details when pressured so, of course, Kunzite felt the need to include all those details too. According to him, Minako was a receptionist who enjoyed museums and dabbled in fine wine.

She scoffed. A receptionist? How dull and uninspired was that? Was this the kind of woman Kunzite looked for? Well, she supposed that would be perfect for him. She wouldn’t threaten his success and they could be dull and uninspiring together.

As the train slowed to a stop, Minako heard chimes again and shuddered.

I’m in the parking lot.

Minako groaned. It was a half hour drive to the hotel they were staying at. Minako insisted she could take a cab but Kunzite seemed to think it would look better if they arrived together. And of course he had to drive. He was too good to ride the train like a normal person.

Okay she replied and resisted the urge to add a rolling eyes emoji.

She hoisted her bright yellow suitcase off of the train and wiped her brow at the sun’s heat beating down. Her wheels click clacked on the tiles as she made her way through the station and finally through to the parking lot. He was standing by his too fancy car, sunglasses on. Women stared at him as they passed and Minako remembered Rei’s words. “He’s attractive, right? Use that.”

Sure, he was attractive. She wasn’t blind. He had a strong jawline, relatively broad shoulders, and always dressed well. It was just his personality that was so unattractive. She wanted to yell the truth to the women passing by, that he was arrogant and entitled and probably wouldn’t give them a second glance unless they were models or something.

He raised his hand slightly to get her attention and Minako could feel the jealous looks on her back.

“Hi,” he said as she approached.

“Hi.”

An awkward moment passed between them before he reached for her suitcase. “I can get that. The car’s unlocked.”

She muttered in acquiescence, slid into the car, and realized she was wrong. His car wasn’t just too fancy, it was WAY too fancy. There were a ton of buttons that she couldn’t even figure out the purpose of. There was a fancy screen mounted on the dash and she found herself waiting for some kind of personalized AI to jump out of it.

The driver door opened and Kunzite slid in. The car started up again but the engine was so quiet, she barely noticed. The only sign of the car starting was the screen coming to life and a full blast of AC.

It was at this point that normal people would make small talk. He would ask how how the train ride was or tell her a bit about the hotel they were staying at. But no. This was Kunzite and he was Mr. Silent, Mr. Unfriendly. He could never be bothered to say something nice to someone else. So she supposed it had to be up to her.

“So have you been to this place before?”

“No. But that does remind me.” He reached down to the console and punched in a few things on the screen. Next thing Minako knew, she heard an electronic female voice coming out of the console, directing them where to go. Kunzite seemed to have forgotten Minako’s question and stayed silent.

So much for small talk.

Well, if he was going to be silent, she could too. She fiddled with the radio, trying to find a good station. He eyed her out of the corner of his eyes but said nothing. She found something with some fun pop and settled back in her seat. It was only a half hour to the hotel. She could manage that.

Well, she lasted seven and a half minutes.

“Are you going to be like this all weekend?”

“Like what?”

She gestured at him wildly. “Like this. All stony and quiet. Can’t you be a little more interesting?”

“Interesting,” he echoed in a deadpan voice.

“Yes. Interesting. I can’t work off a piece of granite all weekend.”

“Are we trying to impress someone right now?”

She opened her mouth and then closed it again. “No.”

“That’s why I made the binder. No extra contact with us, right?”

Minako shrugged. “I guess. So you just want to figure this out when we get there?”

“You act as if it’s going to be difficult. As long as we have both prepped for this, this weekend will run smoothly. And I thought it best not to talk too much if it wasn't necessary. Keep the peace and all.”

Minako picked at a loose thread on her shorts to avoid looking at him. That was a pretty good point, she supposed. If the two of them ever fell into a conversation, it always escalated into a full on argument. I mean, does he have to be so disagreeable all the time?

She realized she still hadn't said anything so she muttered, “I guess that makes sense.”

The sounds of a Jpop star filled the silence and Minako decided to watch the scenery, though there wasn't much. Just lots of trees. Then, she heard the music change.

Kunzite's hands were still on the wheel but it was definitely a different station. He probably had fancy controls on his steering wheel.

“What was that for?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I changed the music. Those top 40 pop songs give me a headache.”

“So? I was enjoying it. And besides, it wouldn't kill you to listen to it for a half an hour. May I remind you that I am taking a weekend out of my life to do something nice for you.”

“Something nice?” He scoffed. It was the most emotion she heard in his voice the whole ride. “You're only here so you can meet Ogawa so don't pretend like you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart.”

Damn. He had her there.

“Well,” she trailed off for a moment, trying to find the right words. “If I were in your shoes, I would at least try to make a guest feel welcome.”

She crossed her arms, sank into her seat, and rested her feet up against the dash.

He swatted them down without taking his eyes off the road. “My car, my rules.”

“You know, it wouldn't kill you to do something nice once in a while.”

“Like let you dirty my car and blast your terrible music? No thank you.”

Minako rolled her eyes. “That's not what I meant.”

“It's exactly what you meant. You want to have your own way.”

“What?”

He shrugged and continued as if it was common knowledge. “You do. And no one else’s opinion matters.”

She was aghast. “Excuse me?”

“Come on. At least admit it. It’s obvious.”

Her cheeks reddened. How dare he? “I don’t do that. I just want people to be included.”

“Against their will.”

Her face grew an even brighter red. “Well at least I'm not a stick in the mud with a stick up my own stick ass.”

“At least I don't always have to be the centre of attention. I understand subtlety and I don’t make everyone around me uncomfortable.”

If steam could be coming out of Minako's ears, they would be.

“Pull over,” she demanded.

He raised an eyebrow but obliged. Before the car could fully stop, she was out the door. She walked around to the back and Kunzite watched her struggle a bit before she stormed over to his window.

“Open the trunk please,” she said. Her voice was calm but her teeth were clenched.

He pulled a latch and she stormed to the back of the car again. After an awkward yank, she hoisted her suitcase out of the trunk and began walking away.

Kunzite sighed and stepped out. “Where are you going?”

“Isn't it obvious? Back to the train station. I clearly won't be respected this weekend so there's no point in me staying.”

She paused, waiting for him to say something. Instead, he glanced over her, settling on her feet. “It's probably about a three hour walk back to the station and those shoes don't seem to be built for that.”

True, her wooden wedges were less than suitable for the rocky sides of the road. “I’ll call a cab then.”

He leaned against the car, as if he had all day. “Do you even know where you are?”

She was aware of the long pause she took but she still said, “Of course”

He said nothing. He just stood there and stared at her. It was a challenge. He was calling her bluff.

“Well, I should start back to the train station then,” she said. “Anything is better than being in that car with you for five more minutes.”

With that, she flipped her long golden hair and continued walking away.

“Okay then. Good luck.”

She didn’t even look back as she reached her arm high and waved goodbye. She waited for him to get back in his car. She waited to hear the hum of an engine and the sound of him driving away. Then she remembered how quiet his car was. Damn. Did he already drive away? Should she risk a look over her shoulder?

She forced herself to count to twenty as she walked away. Then she took a glance over her shoulder.

He was still there. In fact, he hadn’t even moved.

“Are you done?” he called out to her. “Will you get back in the car?”

She turned around and took several steps towards him. “What do you mean?” she yelled back. “I’m storming off. Tell your family I was sick or something.”

“You and I both know that you’re not going to miss out on a chance with Ogawa. Now will you stop wasting time and get back in the car?”

Her eyes darted back and forth as she weighed her options. Her act of storming off was supposed to make him apologize but if she went back now, he had the high ground. And she didn’t like losing.

On the other hand, it was true what he said. She could just prolong this and hope she ended up with the higher ground. But she also had a feeling that he wasn’t going to budge. He was definitely stubborn like that. Stupid stubborn jerk.

“Okay.” She was still a fair distance from him so she still had to raise her voice. “I’ll come back. But you have to be nicer to me.”

Minako thought she saw him roll his eyes behind his sunglasses but she was too far away to tell. “Fine.”

She walked back to him, expecting him to step forward and help her with her suitcase again but he just got back in the car. She hoisted her suitcase back in the still open trunk and made sure to slam it shut with more force than necessary.

Minako stared out the window. She didn’t think she could look at him without getting mad again. Neither had said a word since she got back in the car. She thought about trying to find a neutral conversation point but her imagination kept coming up with ways he would argue with her.

Okay. Maybe he was right. Maybe they should just avoid talking to each other unless they had someone to convince that they were madly in love. So instead, she flipped through her phone and the radio stayed quiet. The only sound she heard was his dash, telling him where to go.

As they turned the corner and pulled into the hotel, Minako forgot about her vow of silence.

“It’s gorgeous!”

It really was. It was a little more modern than she expected. There were glass walls intermixed with the wood but still held an older look. It fit perfectly amid the surrounding greenery, the crisp, fresh smell of it wafted on the air.

After pulling out their suitcases, they made their way into the building. It was beautiful. Rich, traditional wood architecture mixed with more modern brickwork and glass. Rooftops rose high to a peak, making the dark wood seem more airy, and doors were wide open, letting in the warm summer air. But it got a bit gloomier when Kunzite took her hand. It felt weird. His hand was stiff and had callouses. Before she could ask why, she realized a middle aged couple was walking towards them.

“Kunzite. You made it.”

It was the woman who spoke. She had long dark hair and a friendly smile. The man with her had neatly trimmed hair and glasses and she assumed them to be his parents.

“Hi mom. Hi dad.”

Minako forced herself to stand a little straighter, her posture for girlfriend who was madly in love. At the last second, she stepped closer to him. Intimacy, right? She didn’t miss the look he threw her. But it passed quickly. His parents were approaching fast.

His mother pulled him in for a hug and then smiled wider when she looked at Minako.

“So, you must be Minako.”

“I am. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Kunzite has told me so much about you.”

Her words had the desired effect of making his mother blush.

“I’m so glad to hear that. We haven’t seen him in ages and he kept refusing to send me any photos of you. I was starting to wonder if you even existed.”

“Well, it is hard to get him to be in a picture with me. If it wasn’t for us going out in the daylight, I would have thought he was a vampire.”

Minako felt Kunzite’s hand squeeze a little harder but his parents were laughing. It even allowed his dad to interject.

“Kunzite never was one for photos. He always looked far too serious in them.”

Minako laughed but she felt like Kunzite was getting annoyed. He overcompensated for it well though.

“Well, we should really check in. We don’t have too much time before dinner and we should get settled.”

“Oh,” his mother began, ruffling through her purse. “I actually got everyone checked in. You two are in room...” She pulled out a key card and squinted at the number, “204.”

She handed Kunzite the key card and it wasn’t until she let go that he realized what she said.

“Both of us in the same room?”

“Of course,” his mother waved her hand dismissively. “You’re an adult now.”

“And this isn’t our trip to Nara,” his father said.

“We are perfectly comfortable with you two staying in the same room.” Kunzite looked shell shocked. If Minako wasn’t so shocked herself, she would have wished she had a camera. “Now hurry up you two.” She glanced at her watch. “Kunzite’s right. There really isn’t too much time before dinner tonight and I would love to get together with you both before that so we can get to know you.”

“Of course,” Minako said, keeping her voice soft and light. “I would love that.”

“Perfect. Then we’ll meet you in the restaurant at five?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

With a wave, his parents walked away and it took Minako and Kunzite a moment before they snapped back to reality.

“Let’s go,” he said, letting go of her hand.

She was happy to let go and took the moment to rub a bit at her face. Maybe that smile had been overcompensating a bit.

The trip to the second floor was quiet and when they reached their door, Kunzite swiped his card and held the door open for her. Minako raised her eyebrows and wondered where the sudden chivalry was coming from.

“Take the luggage in. I’m going to get another room.”

So much for chivalry.

The door closed behind him and Minako was left to check out the room. It was lighter and airier than the rest of the hotel. The walls were off white with wood accents. The bed was large and looked incredibly comfortable. That was confirmed when she ran her hand over it and experimentally flopped onto it. But what really caught her eye was the view. The balcony was large with a couple of chairs and looked out on a sea of green. She felt herself getting calmer already.

Then the door opened again. Loudly. Leave it up to him to break the serenity.

Minako walked back inside and saw the frustrated look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“The place is completely booked.”

“What?”

He huffed before continuing. “We’ll just have to make do with separating the futons and not look at each other.”

Kunzite was still in the entryway. He didn't see the bed. He didn’t know.

“Umm. That might be a bit difficult. This place is a bit more modern than that,” she said pointing towards the bed that he couldn’t see.

He quirked an eyebrow and walked in to see the very sturdy, very heavy bed frame, bearing a single, whole mattress.

“Shit.”

#senxshi #minako aino #kunzite #venusXkunzite #kunzite x minako #fanfic #slow burn #enemies to lovers #fake dating

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closetedotaku01 · 4 years

Note

i rlly hope youll keep writing after Kinktober, bc as a writer myself i see so much potential in your writing. it's already great, but it really reminds me of my own writing from a year or two back. i was the one who asked how long you've been writing & i've been writing fanfic for 7 years so its cool to see how good you already are. youre going to improve so much over time & i'm really excited to see it, you do so many things in your stories well & theyre only going to get better! (1/2)

THIS GOT SO LONG IM SORRY!!!

This.... I—. WARMED MY HEART!! Pick a name or emoji or whatever you want and you are an official anon!! Also this got long so.. READ MORE IF YA WANNA!!

Thank you so much for saying you see potential. Sometimes I’m really.... unhappy with my work and feel like I can’t improve and this just... MADE ME SO HAPPY!! Like... hearing it from someone who does write💜💜💜💜💜 makes my whole life.

I’m so excited to keep growing and I hope you stay for the journey because this is so sweet. Maybe casually come off anon way down the road (so I can’t guess) just so I can read some of your work too 👉👈. And no worries there will be more after Kinktober. I am really enjoying this and have no plans to stop writing any time soon.

~~~~

Okay so my favorite published authors are Jandy Nelson (I’ll Give You The Sun is a book I reread constantly. It’s my comfort book. I swear if my soul was anywhere besides my body, there’s a piece of it trapped in that book.), Fredrick Backman (specifically And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer), Brigid Kemmerer (literally all of the books she’s published with Bloomsbury I’ve read and adored), and Neal Schusterman (Specifically the Arc of a Scythe Trilogy). They all write in ways that affect me deeply and they mean a lot to me. I don’t necessarily try to emulate them, but they definitely are the authors I consult (by reading and rereading their works) to get ideas and to learn how to write.

~~~~

Fanfic authors. I think I’ve made it pretty damn clear on here that I am hopelessly in love with @imaginethathaikyuu (I’m still too scared to tag her I’m sorry) and her writing. She means the whole world to me in every way. Her writing always hits me in a MAGICAL way. Especially her newer pieces. Works of hers that hit hard for me are: (please note this list is not comprehensive. These are just the FIRST ONES that came to mind. All her work is objectively great.)

-Tsukishima accidentally teases his s/o’s insecurity - this one holds my heart.

-Heated argument with Tsukishima - this is the angst I adore. Honestly, this might be one of my TOP TOP favorites, because it feels so real.

-Morning sex with Tsukishima -just the line “theyre your tits!” That’s all. Brings me serotonin beyond words. And it feels so genuine and lovely. Again... she makes the world so real. Also in my TOP TOP favs. (Is my Tsukki love showing too much?)

-Helping you when you can’t sleep - This is beyond words beautiful

-Helping you study - PLEASE I NEED THIS NOW

-Tanaka finding out his s/o is pregnant - YES! SHE DOES TANAKA SO WELL

-Tanka asks Kiyoko to dance.... but she says no - SO WELL

-Riding Headcanons -🙈

-S/O is nervous about him going down on her -because who ISNT the first time?

-Learning about your self-harm scars -hits close to home and Iwa’s makes me cry every time.

-Akaashi making it up to you after a fight -my favorite color is literally purple 💜

-Bokuto’s s/o has a nightmare - I literally revisit this one whenever I have a nightmare

- Kinktober 2019 - ALL .... but the ones I revisit the most are Tsukishima’s, Oikawa’s, Futakuchi’s, Yaku’s, Iwa’s, Yamaguchi’s, and Matsukawa’s.

-Kinktober 2020 - please GOD read Kuroo’s, Mattsun’s, Iwa’s, Suna’s, and Atsumu’s. They’re all immaculate but those in PARTICULAR were MASTERPIECES.

-Having an angsty fight - particularly Kuroo’s GETS TO ME. Like... damn. Makes me... melt. Idek why. It’s just, again, how real she makes it feel. From the atmosphere and setting to the way the characters behave. A lot of times in “argument angst” (is that a term?) the arguments feel so shallow and stupid. And I’m like “on my moodiest days I wouldn’t react like that” or “Kuroo WOULD NEVER”. But these feel so real. Ughhhh.

-You give Kenma a gift mid-stream

-Kenma gets turned on during a stream - can you tell I love the way she writes streamer Kenma 😌 also this is my fav nsfw-esque Kenma piece solely because it feels accurate to his character in a beautiful way despite me headcanoning that he’s ace.

-Oikawa’s s/o wakes up without him there

-Iwaizumi getting.... caught.... by Makki and Mattsun... with you -Give Iwa More Love 2020

-Tendo teasing his s/o by ... taking care of himself - One of the first Em pieces I ever read. I don’t think it was THE first. But it was definitely the first one I read like... RIGHT AFTER she posted it.

-Tendo comforting s/o who’s parents yell - hits very close to home for me, and I just wanted him to come whisk me away the first time I read this

-7MIH with Tendo -hehe I love this more than anything. Also Ushijima’s ONE line makes me CACKLE. I’m in love with this one

-This two part series with Atsumu (1) (2) -haha I reread these too often

-Kneel to Pray (Sakusa) -I have not even one criticism or negative thought. Not one. And I’ve read this TOO many times.

-Tough boys are soft for you - two of the best boys

- Countdown to Christmas - Days 6,7,11, and 12 are the ones I reread the most

THIS IS SO BAD!! I WENT STRAIGHT TO THESE AND DIDN’T THINK IT WAS THAT MANY COS I REREAD THESE ONES REGULARLY. (And there’s a lot more theatre good. Please explore her blog! It’s WONDERFUL) Sorry for spending too much time on Em’s blog, but also.... not sorry cos she’s amazing and all of these pieces inspire me. I’ll try to be fast for the rest of these ahfihfadsfsjfh.

@star-puff (catch a theme of me being scared of talented authors)’s piece La Lune and her Fleur d’Amour event (search #fleur d’amour on her blog) are so creative and beautiful and truly show how talented she is. She’s amazing. EDIT: I’m adding this as soon as I’ve read it because it just made me cry. Omg. Read this. Tsukishima royalty AU it is angst though so 👀 read at your own risk. EDIT: On GOD Meg could murder me and I’d say thanks. Please read this beautiful time stamp shit it makes me HAPPY.

UPDATE: And Meg is now responsible for the most canon Tsukki piece I’ve ever read.

There’s a cute SMAU called Sunshine by @pudding-head-kenma and idk how she does it. It’s so good. I could never tell a story this complex, THIS WELL, using only text messages and tweets and such. She also does mini headcanons that are REALLY cute.

Anything and everything by @haik-choo is gold. Literal gold. The way she writes Tsukishima is IMMACULATE. Toxic headcanons, mischaracterizations all of its gold. And she’s a beautiful shitposter. She drops shit that makes me CACKLE at the most random times. All of it is a big yes for me.

UPDATE: this is gold.

Of course I’ve read In Another Life and OF COURSE I sobbed. Took me AN HOUR to read because I kept having to take breaks to just.... sob. VERY MUCH A HEAVY DUTY ANGST. Not for the weak of heart. BokuAka. This is probably the oldest piece I’ve read that still HITS for me.

There are other pieces but I can’t remember them.... probably will come back and add to this post later.

Thank you for this ask. Thank you for being so kind and inspiring. I was kinda worried about releasing anything I’ve ever written and still get nervous sometimes so this ask makes me feel a hell of a lot better and makes me feel like I’m joining a WONDERFUL community like... Look at all that talent ^^^^.

#anon ask 💜#rambles #I simp for Em #I simp for Meg #I simp for Danie #I simp for Adriana #I highly rec the pieces I linked #please at least check them out so you can check the blogs #they’re SO very good #Feel free to pick out an anon name because I want you to stick around please ... if you'd like #💜.Recommended

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jamiesmcstuff · 3 years

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Web Authoring Blog

10/01/21

The past week I have been working on my assignment through Wordpress. The assignment is to install and build our own wordpress site on the college server. This was a basic enough assignment but I did encounter some problems along the way. Firstly, I had a problem connecting to the college server, which meant I was required to get a new password from IT, and that took up some time.Once I could connect to the server I successfully connected to the server, and uploaded wordpress to filezilla.

I also encountered a problem trying to activate a child theme on my wordpress site. I didn’t realise that my .css file in my wordpress folder had an extra full stop where it shouldn’t have been, and it was breaking my up the code when I tried to activate my child theme on the wordpress site. Once I figured this out (which took some time) I found that I had a lot of fun with this assignment.

It was great to play around with all the various features of wordpress. Somethings I did find a little strange and a bit unintuitive (such as accessing certain editing functions from the front end site) but I I got used to the workflow the more time I spent on it. I do feel like I ran out of time and had to eventually settle with what I had for the assignment but I am keen to continue working on the site I had created in order to improve my skills using Wordpress, and having something good to add to my portfolio.

22/12/20

Last week we covered CMS systems and. It seems like it should be straight forward, however if I have learned anything so far its that sometimes coding can seem straightforward, but due to lack of experience simple problems can be difficult to figure. Wordpress, however, looks great a a system to use.

As soon as we started learning it I could think of difficult examples of blogs and websites that have used Wordpress as a platform to great effect, and I am excited to start using the platform properly. It seems that once you start using Wordpress, and get used to the workflow, you can create really great looking websites with minimal effort.

There are so many different customizations meaning you can be very creative with Wordpress. I am excited to start using some other CMS systems in order to see how they compare against Wordpress anf figure out whether Wordpress is the best option for me as a system to use going forward.

16/12/20

This was our first week covering Wordpress and CMS systems. I had heard from multiple sources regarding the unintuitiveness of WordPress but that definitely was not my initial thought. It potentially could have been outdated by other CMS that came after it, but as a platform it seems very powerful if you know how to use it correctly.

My mind automatically started thinking ahead in terms of how platforms like wordpress could be used by web designers, and myself hopefully when the time comes, to build comprehensive and sophisticated web pages for clients.

We had a reading week so had no class on the 12th of December, but on the 11th we also had to submit assignment 2, which was our personal profile web page. It was a tough task, but I believe I got a good result for my first attempt at creating a web page. One problem I encountered, that I was very satisfied to find a solution for, was aligning an image of the Griffith college logo to the right of the footer. After numerous attempts at finding a solution ( and tearing out a lot of hair) I eventually entered a <p> into the footer and cleared the floats within the style sheet which aligned the image up correctly.

2/12/20

Last week’s lecture covered Flex boxes. I think it may have been the first time we were exposed to any kind of framework that can simplify the building of web pages to some degree. From what I understand, tasks pertaining to the layout of elements on a page can be strenuous in terms of writing the html and css code; but flex boxes are effective in streamlining this process through their own unique set of rules.

I found Flex boxes easy to understand because, to the best of my knowledge, flexbox follows similar cascading and hierarchical principles as are the fundamentals in other parts of coding we have learned. For example, the container is a parent and everything contained within (items) are children; akin to how a <section> element is a parent to a child <p> element contained within that section. I am starting to see how coding language is very complicated, but is designed to try and be as user friendly as is possible; there is a consistent way to think structurally about code that will benefit me and help me to troubleshoot problems I may have down the line.

25/11/20

Last week's lecture we covered color, links, layouts and floats. There was pats that seemed to be as straightforward as our previous lecture, and I found myself easily able to keep up in terms of what we were learning. For example with color, it was easy for me to understand how color can be applied to different elements. Also, I like how there are different ways that things can be applied through CSS, for example there being a choice to apply colour by percentage, or by hex values.

However, there I had two main takeaways from this class. The first, which I was already aware of but hadn’t yet been covered in class, is that CSS isn't just about visuals, parts of the page can be laid out in various ways by applying different rules. Floats do seem complicated, but once I get some experience using them I know it’ll be a massive part of building web pages, so it's something I am eager to get practice in.

The second take away, which I hadn’t pre-empted as a possibility with CSS, is the 5 styles that are applied to links on a web page. This was very interesting, and I was surprised, because I had thought that Javascript was the coding language for integrating interactivity on a web page. However, pertaining to our upcoming assignments, it is somewhat of a relief to know that more basic functions such as the 5 styles for links can be applied through CSS, without having to yet know javascript.

18/11/20

Last Saturday we had our first lecture that introduced CSS. A few things we covered were rules, IDs, classes and the cascading specificity of CSS. From the first introduction it seems to be straight forward enough, however once applied into a practical context I am sure there will be a lot of barriers to overcome in order to get competent with CSS. Seeing the difference between how a basic html page looks, without CSS, and then the possibilities once CSS has been applied was exciting.

I have found html relatively easy thus far, and it is very satisfying once the code does what you intended. However, it doesn't make things look beautiful, so seeing the difference between a page with and without CSS, and what the possibilities can be, was very exciting. Gemma used the example of the Griffith website, with and without the CSS, and the reality of what's possible once I get to using CSS became a reality.

SImilar to writing html, and the application of good practice and bad practice in terms of writing code ; we learned in last week's lecture the difference between inline CSS and stylesheets, and how the latter is the preferred method of applying CSS. Even though it would seem easier to write CSS within the same file as html, I am very conscious now of ensuring that I do not fall into bad habits in terms of I write any coding language as I hope to day be hired based on the quality of the work that I provide, so will avoid developing bad habits at any cost.

10/11/20

Last Saturday 7th November lecture covered semantic html and the structure of web pages. The previous lecture on links, images and tables had demonstrated and actualized for me the building blocks that web developers use across the board for different features of websites. Our most recent lecture built upon that knowledge and made me understand how semantic html is used to break up the different parts/sections of a website so that browsers can digest it and for SEO.

When practicing at home writing the code for articles and sections, which as I understand act as mini web pages within a web page,the muscle memory of writing code is improving physically writing code while also ingraining in me the concept of nesting code, and how hierarchy within that nested code is structured. The analogy of the Russian dolls has been mentioned numerous times and this week it became more applicable than before as a way to look at how you wrap up your code into structured pieces.

The easiest way for me to visualise semantic html in action was looking at online newspapers. Through looking at a few examples I could see how the home pages in particular are structured because they have so much content and articles etc that are irrelevant to each other. It's necessary to use semantic html to give meaning to each bit of content in order to direct internet users to relevant parts of the web page. One thing I never preempted, again in my own naivety/ignorance, was how integrated SEO is with the information contained within html. As a side project I think I will go and read up some more about digital marketing.

We were also required to do some practical exercise on forms this week. One thing of note, I had seen in previous lectures how values can indicate what happens when a user clicks on a link (opening in a new tab etc). Relative to values such as input/emails it’s interesting to see how these values can indicate how a specific entry of information into a data field, such as an email address, is handled. Also, the content we covered briefly touched on empty elements which I was not expecting as they don't follow the same rule set we had previously learned. I had expected there to be some as there are exceptions to rules in any language and html is no different evidently.

03/11/20

Our most recent lecture covered the topics of tables, links, images. As I mentioned in my previous post I was initially happy to be able to keep up with the material and didn't feel too far out of my depth. This week I am happy to say that I am still feeling positive about the decision to move into this new world and potential change of career.

With just two weeks under my belt I could already feel a change in how I will view websites going forward. As a user I had always thought, naively, of websites as eclectic; their features and functions presented as specific to the brand or organisation that they represent. However, during this lab, and particularly regarding the topic of tables, I began to visualize how they are all the same components put together by developers in different ways that serve the same functions.

Telecommunication companies websites and how they present their pricing online was one such feature that came to mind. Previously I would have thought that their pricing was just an image integrated within the web page but now I obviously understand that it is built through a specific <table> element that is adjustable by a front end developer.

I had a thought on the topic of images and their applicability in different parts of a web page also. Having worked as an outbound salesman for the last couple of years I looked at a lot of websites to find clients. Obviously, a company's budget has to be considered when considering the quality of a website but from what I observed there are some elements of websites that are perhaps ignored or rushed by developers, are not budget dependent, and can give a website a cheaper or less professional look.

I think the two screenshots below corroborate my point above; B2Bs logo on the home page of their site is slightly pix-elated while Hunt Office’s (one of the biggest office supplies companies in Ireland) logo looks smooth and gives it a cleaner look, which as the first thing a user sees when clicking onto a home page immediately portrays a better level of professionalism than that of B2B.

I am trying not to think too far ahead in terms of the end goal of being in this course, and this module, because I have a long way to go and an extremely vast discipline to cover before any of that will happen. Thinking too far ahead would be daunting for me so its better to sit back and enjoy the process of learning each part as it comes.

27/10/20

This web authoring module is the reason I decided to do this interactive digital media course. I have come from working in sales the last couple of years and wanted to make a complete career change. For that reason it was very important I acquired proper tangible skills that allowed me to make that change and I felt coding was up there with the best of options.

Our first lecture last Saturday was about HTML. From what I understand, we are learning HTML at the best time up to date as its been consolidated into one format that everyone in the western world abides by and is uniform so a lot of complications can be avoided across the board for developers and users alike.

The lecture primarily focused on elements and I was happy, and relieved, that I could keep up with the material and didn’t get too lost as this is all totally new territory for me. I enjoyed the lecture thoroughly as HTML seems logical and if you follow the right steps it does what you want it to do. I am looking forward to starting practice, getting the muscle memory working and moving toward that career change I need.

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chocoluckchipz · 5 years

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Dance with Me, Chaton - 12

Read it on A03, WattPad, FF.net

Written for @ladynoirjuly2019

< Previous

12. Tears.

Plagg’s way of teaching was a little unconventional. At least concerning the scheduling of their lessons. For one, he preferred to see Adrien late at night or before everyone woke up. And he never warned about the next lesson more than an hour in advance. Effectively, it had come to this: no matter where Adrien was or what he did, if Plagg texted him, he had two choices: he either showed up with five wheels of Camembert at precisely the appointed time at the studio, or he could quit.

“You seem grumpy today, kid,” Plagg said, opening his “fee” for a before sunrise snack. “What’s up?”

“I’ve had five hours of sleep tonight. Why do you think?”

“Ah, poor you. Why didn’t you go to bed early?”

“Why, indeed,” Adrien grumbled. “I’m sure it has nothing to do with you letting me go only at midnight.”

"I fail to see the issue," Plagg said, chewing as he put the first empty box away. "You signed up for my lessons yourself and now you're complaining?"

“For dance lessons, Plagg,” Adrien groaned. “I didn’t sign up for you to completely mess up my sleep schedule.”

“That’s the way I teach dance,” Plagg shrugged. “You don’t like, you can quit. Or did you think that learning how to dance despite the rain is easy?”

“No.”

“Then quit whining because, if you haven’t noticed, I could’ve been dreaming of a lady in red right now. Instead, I’m stuck here with you. Would it hurt you to at least be thankful?”

“I’m paying you for this,” Adrien groaned under his breath. “Let’s just start. I have work in a few hours.”

“Un momento," Plagg smirked. “I have to appreciate your offering first. Give me five minutes.”

“Fine,” Adrien mumbled and dropped to the floor. He focused his eyes on the ceiling instead of the glutton on his throne. Weird. From what he’d seen from Plagg so far, Adrien could tell the man had mad skills. How he could reach this level of mastery with his attitude was beyond Adrien’s comprehension. And even more confusing was the fact that Plagg hadn’t had Adrien do any actual dancing yet. At least one, sometimes two, excruciatingly hard workouts was all that Plagg offered. Workouts that had nothing to do with dancing. If Adrien wanted that, he’d stick to his personal trainer. At least that guy was nice and didn’t smell like Camembert all the time.

***

Barely moving on his feet, Adrien entered the halls of Gabriel a few hours later. His first objective was to gift Marinette the lucky charm he’d made for her. Then head for the business management and accounting departments. Adrien sighed. Boring. He'd rather go back to the designers' one. At least that was fun. Well, hopefully, he wouldn't have to stay there for long, though, because Ladybug had emailed the edited designs to his father last night, and if everything went well, Adrien might learn Ladybug’s identity soon. She promised him to think about that date. Although… maybe he should warn his father to play along, just as a precaution…

Someone zoomed past Adrien, lightly bumping his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry.” The girl stopped, turning around “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to—”

“Marinette?” Adrien’s eyes widened as he frowned. “Why are you crying? Is it Lila again?”

She shook her head, her lips quivering. Eyes looking to the ground, she struggled with words. “I—I…”

Adrien took her by the shoulders and caught her gaze. “Marinette, calm down. What happened?”

“He—your father—”

“What did he do?”

“Fired us—all of us…”

“What? He fired you?”

She shook her head. “The whole department. All the designers.”

“He what?”

“It’s my fault—I have to talk—”

“This isn’t your fault,” Adrien seethed through his teeth, anger boiling in his veins. He promised! His father promised he wouldn’t fire Ladybug! “Go back to your office. I’ll talk to him.”

“Adrien—”

“Don’t worry. Leave this to me, Marinette. I promise everything will be fine.”

She tried to say something else, but Adrien didn’t listen. His breathing heavy, he headed straight for his father’s office. He didn’t bother with knocking, barging in the room uninvited.

“You can’t do this, Father! You promised me you wouldn’t fire her!”

“She can’t mock me like this,” Gabriel snapped back, glaring at sheets of paper with the reworked designs Ladybug had sent him that night scattered all over his desk.

“She’s trying to prove her point just like you wanted her to do.”

“I wanted to see her in person!”

“Well, this isn’t happening because she loves her job and if that’s how you react not knowing who she is, what would you do if you knew?”

“So, I see, you’ve been in contact with her?”

Adrien stilled. “I didn’t say that.”

“Then how do you know what she did?”

Adrien pressed his lips together. “Fine. I have been talking to her, but I don’t know who she is yet, and I was this close to finding out. But you had to step in, and now, she won’t come forward because you fired her.”

Gabriel smirked. “So, she’s one of the designers. I thought so.”

Adrien sighed. “I don’t know for certain. She’s good at keeping her identity a secret, so you might’ve just sacked a whole team of innocent people.”

Gabriel laughed. “Have you seen the poll? None of them are as innocent as you think.”

Adrien clenched his teeth together. This was going nowhere. Still, he pushed. He had to. He promised Marinette he’d get her job back. “You promised you won’t fire her.”

“And I kept my promise.”

“Are you serious? How?”

“Can you can prove that one of the fired is Ladybug, Adrien?”

Adrien’s jaw hurt from all the pressure he’s been putting on it. He couldn’t answer. Not for certain. Suspicions weren’t facts. His eyes locked on the ground, he growled in desperation. He should’ve known! He knew his father enough not to trust him, and yet he made the deal. The deal with the devil for the soul of someone innocent. Great job, Adrien! This was all his fault and his alone, and he had to fight tooth and nail to fix it. If only he’d known how. Years of blind obedience, unfortunately, stripped him of that knowledge. How to stand up to his father was not something he’d practiced often, if at all.

Adrien’s eyes widened a speck as an idea came to his mind. Father wouldn’t do anything Adrien could ask for unless it benefited Gabriel directly. He had to play on that.

“You can’t fire all your designers so close to the show, Father,” Adrien said. “There is no time for hiring and training new ones.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow and turned to look at his window. "Tell me who Ladybug is, and everyone can have their jobs back.”

“I can’t. I don’t know who she is.”

Gabriel’s lips pressed into a thin line. “You’ve wasted two weeks and learned nothing?” He scoffed. “Tell me why I am not surprised?”

A sick feeling settled at the pit of Adrien’s stomach. He’d rarely confronted his Father before. It never ended well. “You’re wrong. It wasn’t a waste. I’ve earned her trust. She was considering meeting me if you reacted well to her email.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. “She knows who you are?”

“No, she doesn’t. I’m a random employee who shares her opinion. That’s all.”

“At least you’ve been smart enough to keep your identity a secret,” Gabriel scoffed.

“I can do this, Father. Give me more time, and I’ll do this.”

Gabriel laughter sent chills down Adrien’s spine. If not for both, Marinette and Ladybug, Adrien would’ve walked right out, but he couldn’t. They trusted him to fix this.

“You really loathe working here, don’t you Adrien?” Gabriel puffed. “You own half of this damn company, yet you can't wait to get out.”

“Loathe is a strong word,” Adrien replied. “I wouldn’t use it. But I do want to explore what’s out there before I settle in my role here. And you know just as well as I do that my ‘ownership’ as you say it is on paper only. I can’t do much.”

Gabriel leaned back into his chair and spun to look at his late wife’s portrait. “Paper or not, your mother left you quite a present.” He pounded on something for a short while, then, without looking at Adrien, added, “You have until the show as we’ve discussed before. Bring Ladybug to me for a conversation, and you can have your freedom.”

“You won’t fire her?”

“I won’t.”

“How about the others?”

“They can have their jobs back. I do need a team for the show.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said.

Gabriel waved his hand, letting Adrien know this conversation was over.

“Have a good day,” Adrien said and turned around, heading for the door. He stopped right before exiting and added, “No matter what you think, Father, Ladybug respects you. She always speaks highly of you and admires your talent. It’ll be a shame to lose such a worker.”

Gabriel didn’t look up from his work. Adrien opened the door and walked out.

He headed straight to the men’s room and splashed cold water on his face. Hovering over the sink, Adrien fought to stabilize his breathing. His first victory. He got everyone their jobs back. That was good. He’d have to go there right away and speak with Mme Bustier to ensure everything was well and their jobs were safe… if they still wanted them because he wouldn’t be surprised if a few or even all of the designers would walk out after the way his father treated them. The media was sure to hear about this incident as well. Adrien would leave it to his father, though. He got himself into this mess, it was his job to manage it.

But hell, he would give away his Lady to this man now! His father had broken his trust way too many times, and Adrien liked Ladybug way too much to jeopardize her any further… which meant he’d probably need to let her go. Even if by accident, but with his father being aware Adrien was looking for her, identity reveal couldn’t happen. Too much risk.

His chest clenched. Adrien closed his eyes. He was so close. His freedom… It slipped right through his hands. A lump forming in his throat, he felt tears gathering in his eyes. Adrien’s breathing quickened, and he splashed cold water on his face again. It was worth it. Ladybug was worth it. It was fine. It wasn’t the first of his dreams to die. It probably wouldn’t be the last one. He was used to this. He could get through this. Easily. He always did. Why should this time be any different?

***

Chat Noir: So. It backfired.

Ladybug: I caused the whole department to be fired.

Chat Noir: Correction: We caused the whole department to be fired. I’ve heard they got their jobs back, though. No?

Ladybug: They did, but everyone’s feeling insecure and down. A few people quit already. Can’t blame them. That was awful and quite frankly illegal. The media is starting to sniff around, so I’d expect a scandal to break out soon. That’s the last thing we need right before the show. Depressing.

Chat Noir: I’m sure Gabriel Agreste can handle this mess. He landed himself in it, so he can deal with it.

Ladybug: It’s all my fault. I should’ve never done anything. It was a losing battle from the start.

Chat Noir: You wanted what’s best for the company. You can’t blame yourself for that. And it was me who pushed you to continue, so if anyone’s it was my fault. I’m sorry.

Ladybug: I’m sorry too.

Ladybug: Hey, Chat?

Chat Noir: Here.

Ladybug: I know, I should say that we should stop chatting after our epic failure but…

His heart raced. Could it be?

Chat Noir: You don’t want to?

Ladybug: I’ve gotten used to you. You’ve often made my day with your silliness, and I know we haven’t talked for a long time, but it feels like we’ve known each other forever. I’d hate to lose you. Especially over a failed conspiracy. So, I thought maybe we can continue to chat? Just as friends, all missions aside.

Chat Noir: It could be dangerous.

Ladybug: Danger is my middle name.

Chat Noir: XD I highly doubt that.

Ladybug: Come on. We were brave enough to face the Hawkmoth. We did face him, so we’re tied forever by this secret. You can’t back out of this now.

Chat Noir: Well, Hawkmoth can start investigating.

Ladybug: I highly doubt he will, and even if he would, how would he know to look for a random Discord chat with just the two of us in it? Come on, Chaton. Don’t leave me like that.

Adrien had to restrain himself from typing. He wanted to stay with her, he really did. But she was in danger if he would. He couldn’t have that. She meant too much for him. Plus, if he’d persisted and complied with Plagg’s nonsense, he could meet her later at the Kwami Kave, away from Gabriel Agreste and the danger.

Chat Noir: I’m sorry, my Lady. But you mean too much to me to endanger you anymore. We’d have to delete this chat room to erase all the backlogs.

Ladybug: We can always make another one. Please?

Ladybug: Chaton?

His heart was breaking, but he had to do this. He had to protect her from his father.

Chat Noir: Please, my Lady. You’re only making it harder than it already is.

Ladybug: Then how about I’ll go on that date with you? We can meet in the real world and switch to texting each other over the regular text? All references to this room and any anything that went down here aside? Just two random Gabriel employees hanging out together. Nothing unusual or suspicious?

Adrien sucked in the air. She… did she want him in her life so much?

Ladybug: You’re breaking my heart, Chaton. Say something.

His heart was about to give up on him. No one had ever wanted him so much, not knowing who he was. She liked him for him! Ladybug liked Chat Noir for him. That was too much to reject.

Chat Noir: We’d have to be careful in setting this up.

Ladybug: :relieved: I already have a plan.

Chat Noir: XD I’m all ears.

Ladybug: Do you know the pre-show company party that’s coming up soon?

Chat Noir: Yeah. I haven't been to one yet, though.

Ladybug: We can “meet” there. Just two people clicking at the party with the whole company as a witness we’ve just met. No prior history, no conspiracy, no dark secrets. A brand new start.

Chat Noir: :3 I like your thought process. Tell me more.

_______________________________________________________________________

Next >

#ladynoirjuly2019 #ladynoir #miraculous #Plagg is the best XD

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