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stupid-stew · 3 years

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character names keep me alive, toh is my lifeblood.

i am literally obsessed and this show really does provide (i still have to add more smh my head dana terrace why do you do this to me jk i love it so much please never stop) COPY AND PASTED FROM DOC UNDER BREAK

NAMES INCLUDED:

FIRST NAME

LILITH

EDA

LUZ

KING

WILLOW

GUS

ASSORTED BLIGHTS

LAST NAME

BLIGHT

CLAWTHORNE

NOCEDA

PORTER

PARK

BUMP

MISCELLANEOUS

BELOS

HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA

ADEGAST

HOOTY

OWLBERT

KIKIMORA

GWENDOLYN

RAYNE

NOTE EVERYTHING BEFORE GWENDOLYN AS OF 6/24/21 WRITTEN WITHOUT SEASON 2 KNOWLEDGE, TO BE REVISED, REVISIONS IN BOLD!

Hello and welcome to the ramblings of a mad man. Before we get into it I think you should note that I do write like I talk because I think like a talk and I write how I think, so if you are confused as to why it sounds like i’m not making sense its because I'm not making sense also my capitalization and punctuation suck so sorry about that but we don’t have time for technicalities in this house. TO ADVENTURE!

FIRST NAME

LILITH

EDA

LUZ

KING

WILLOW

GUS

ASSORTED BLIGHTS

LAST NAME

BLIGHT

CLAWTHORNE

NOCEDA

PORTER

PARK

BUMP

MISCELLANEOUS

BELOS

HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA

ADEGAST

HOOTY

OWLBERT

KIKIMORA

GWENDOLYN

RAYNE

GILBERT

FIRST NAME

LILITH

Ok so because I'm lilith’s bitch we are gonna start with her because her name is so cool and I love her and we should be besties Lilith hmu. Anyways as most people know Lilith is a pre existing mythological character which makes this very much good because that means it’s all outlined. Most people know her as a demonic figure, which I very much dig but similar to our lovely queen of curses out here, that's not all she is. There isn’t going to be a chronological explanation of similarities and conclusions, cope. The basic gist is that Lilith was this chick with fiery red hair (this is important iykyk) who refused to be beneath or below adam, more specifically to subjugate to him, funny because of the tapestry with belos what says subjugation on it, probably a coincidence but I do not believe in coincidence right now. Anyways basically she runs off and becomes this chick who like snatches children and will make them sick if they don’t have an amulet with the names Senoy, Sansenoy, or Semangelof on them, thats a different story but what I find interesting is this one passage,

“(12) Her nobles shall be no more, nor shall kings be proclaimed there; all her princes are gone. (13) Her castles shall be overgrown with thorns, her fortresses with thistles and briers. She shall become an abode for jackals and a haunt for ostriches. (14) Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts, satyrs shall call to one another; There shall the Lilith repose, and find for herself a place to rest. (15) There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs, hatch them out and gather them in her shadow; There shall the kites assemble, none shall be missing its mate. (16) Look in the book of the LORD and read: No one of these shall be lacking, For the mouth of the LORD has ordered it, and His spirit shall gather them there. (17) It is He who casts the lot for them, and with His hands He marks off their shares of her; They shall possess her forever, and dwell there from generation to generation.”

And there are separate part of this that I find relevant, especially the description of the location, i’m not all that familiar with symbolism of animals in religious texts, so i’m gonna take it at face value and say that this is more or less a description that could be given to the physical owl house itself, sort of a place for people who don’t fit in, its a little messy and I guess one could say overgrown, but it’s a place for anyone, a place to rest now hopefully for Lilith away from the coven, there shall the Lilith repose. On top of that we see the “the hoot owl…” and you’re probably thinking what that so crazy wacko because like why are they referring to Lilith as the hoot owl isn't Eda the owl lady, yes she is. That’s why the actual meanings of lilith’s name that come from her mythological depiction as a demon lady are so important. We have night monster, night owl, night spectre, vampires, night hag, night creature, nightjar (which is another kind of bird), and night bird, all of these seem to fit lilith’s dark aesthetic very nicely which is very good for her, but there are two other ones, hot owl and screech owl, which draw her closer to Edaand away from the coven and her depiction in the mid-later episodes of the show as a monster for cursing eda, but also the name night monster could come into play if while sharing the curse Lilith acquired some of its traits, similar to Ed aas the owl beast. Ultimately, we have this little red head girl who eventually fights back against the men who are attempting to get her to be under them, for the character that is belos, for the other Lilith that is adam, god, and his angels, and now hopefully both of them will find solace and repose among the owls in a place they never thought they’d belong. All this talk of owls and god brings us into the other clawthorne baddie:

Lilith did find her repose! I love her staying in the owl house, get it queen oh yuh.

EDA

For this I'm going to use her full name edalyn, because you know like that’s just how it be it is her name. There isn’t a wiki page for her name like there is for Lilith which makes this a little bit harder but the general consensus seems to be that it means something along the lines of “gift of god”, which I find very interesting. If you are going to name a child gift of god i’m assuming that you are referring to the child themselves, but I don’t think that really applies to eda. I’m not religious, but its my impression that someone who lies, cheats, pranks, and steals their way to the top and isn’t exactly the most responsible witch on the isles and might not be the best gift god could give. I do really love Eda though, her character flaws are still a part of her character, but I think this refers to her powers. Eda considers herself to be the boiling isles gift to magic, which I mean like, have you seen the woman. In agony of a witch we see her at what probably 30% of her power with how much the curse was already tolling on her and how much magic she was probably using to fight it off, and like goddamn. She was almost beating lilith, definitely beating the shit out of her, but she was almost defeating Lilith who was at her full power, and that is just a fraction of what she used to be able to do. Her powers were a gift of god, and I think that the loss of them will greatly affect her. She’s already admitted that she doesn’t know how to do much without her magic, and I think going straight from the second most powerful witch on this isles to having no power at all is going to be incredibly taxing on her, physically and mentally.

Luckily for her the name edalyn also means patience, another thing about her name is that it not only means gift of god, but also similar things like gifted by the gods or even goddess, and this draws a connection to Lilith who is named after a demonic figure, casted out for having defied god, they are quite literally polar opposites on the name spectrum, and we see that a lot in the show, they are completely different people, I mean have you looked at them they don’t even look related, but the funnier thing is that their personalities do the same thing. You’d expect Edain her youth to be a gift from the devil, just ask principal bump, and Lilith seemed to be a goody two shoes who worked her ass off, their names could be switched based off their characters alone.

A random baby name site I found said that :

“Persons with the name edalyn are usually highly flexible and well equipped to making and accepting change throughout their life. They always seek excitement and are sometimes a bit of a risk taker. They are imaginative, and often, through their unconventional way of thinking, are naturally able to solve complex problems with ease. They are quick thinkers and observers who are clever, analytical and versatile”

Which I mean like very much applies to eda, she takes change like a champ, either genuinely or by pretending she’s ok with everything, and is always seeking excitement. Like literally all of the time. Always. I think she takes felonies as a compliment, and one of the biggest changes in her life that she genuinely was able to adapt to and appreciate was

OH MY GOD HER LEARNING THE NEW GLYPHS WAS SO CUUUUTTTEEE, I love her being able to adapt, she really is doing well. As the beginning of separate tides shows, she’s working around it, and is doing a damn good job, living up to her name.

LUZ

Ok I think at this point everyone knows that at this point the name Luz means light, and if you didn't, oopsies now you do. The character Luz was named and designed after a real life person the miss dana terrace knew at the time she was starting to really think about the show, Luz ’s personalty comes more from dana herself and we love that, but the character has really started to grow into her name. This is made most obvious when the first spell Luz learns is the light glyph, not only coming into her own as a witch, but also starting to live up to her name, which along with light also has to do with “Our Lady of Light”, which is the virgin mary, fitting her right in with the other biblical names we got going on here. I really want to stress that I know next to zero about religion, and all of the connections I am making come from wikipedia, so bare with me here. But most of the time mary seems to be this pure, saint like figure, which I think is what a lot of people see Luz as, especially on the isles. I’m going to flat out say that this is in no way meant to pass off Luz as simple minded, pure, or oblivious, because we have seen what that girl is willing to do, she faced death and poked him in the with an ice cicle. In terms of life on the isles, however, she is more or less pure and sheltered, she’s completely new to the world she’s in, but she does quickly adapt, and shows more of her strong side, and remains a good person throughout all of it, taking losses as they come, and not letting them remain losses at the same time.

Back to the whole light thing, we already touched on the whole literal bit of her and the light spell, but can you think of a better way to describe Luz ? She literally brings light everywhere she goes, even Eda admits that she’s changed things for the better, for everyone around her too. Willow got a new friend, probably the first friend she’s had in a long time, and even got to begin repairing her relationship with amity, and got placed in the plant track so she could do the things she loves, all because of Luz . Edagot to grow as a person and a mentor, and finally got someone willing to accept all her eda-ness, unconditionally, someone to really care about that really cares about her back, all because of Luz . Amity got a friend who cares about her, not just her family name and money, someone who supports her and will do anything for her because she is her friend, and a bit of self discovery along the way for amity, all because of Luz . Not a single person on the isles who has had more than 2 minutes of interaction with Luz hasn’t had their lives improved, even belos got his portal, and the thing is that even characters who people might not even consider changed have been, characters such as

Luz my beloved, she seems a little bit less of a light this season, and i do mean little. That’s totally fine though, it’s expected, i didn’t want her to just be this bright shining star after the events of the last two episodes of season 1, and appreciate her going and starting to take the fantasy of the isles with more than just a grain of salt. Obviously like in escaping expulsion, she’s still trying her best to make everything better and make friends with everyone, but there’s something a little different about it and i’m here for it tbh.

KING

The name king itself is obvious, he is royalty, the king of demoNS HIMSELF ASMODEUS hahahaha pulled a sneaky on you now accept my ideas as your own. I am on a mythological name kick, deal with it. The most important thing here is in the bible, asmodeus poses himself as a false god, which I know is something we have all considered with king, that he might be a full on liar, not be a king of anything and is just your ordinary street demon, it’s even come up in the show with him calling himself the king of artists and Luz asking him if he was just making it up at this point. It’s a good theory, I can see it, and this could be used as proof. There is also another legend that paints him as a good natured dude, who eventually banishes the king by literally throwing him, and then he loses his powers and is banished, but this is also the same legend where he marries Lilith and that is not something I am down for. There is another text in which he tells the king (the same one he threw in the other one) that his kingdom will one day be divided and the king does not believe him, and this is the same text where he admits to hating water and birds because they remind him of god. Lets think class, who has the god name and is related to birds here? King’s name by itself holds true to his character, who (regardless of if it is truthful or not) holds himself as if he is a king, and he isn't the only one with a name like that, there is also

WILLOW

Ok I know we all thought it, willow, the plant girl, how fiendishly clever. This also happens to be the only descriptor for her name I could find, which is totally fine because I think it’s a very cute name and willow is also very cute. This means we get to go into the symbolism of the willow tree wwwooooOOOOO aren’t you so very excited I know I am. Its kind of interesting, willow trees seem to match the character, understanding, warm, a safe space really, but most of all the ability to let go of pain and suffering, sometimes outright ignore it, and move on. Willow does always say out of sight out of mind does she not? She is willing to ignore, even excuse people bullying her, be it bosha or even amity, and the moment she got the chance her inner willow decided to try and literally burn the painful memories she had, willing to cause damage just to forget. Willow as a character is very willing to move on like nothing happened most of the time, key word most because another thing about willows is the ability to grow from the pain. Before understanding willow, we never really saw willow stand up for herself until she really had to, but hy the end of the episode she is willing to tell amity that she isn’t willing to fully forgive her, but she’s willing to grow and try. Heck, we see this over the entire first season, we see this little girl who can barely pull it together long enough to stand up for herself grow into this amazing character willing to publicly oppose the emperor and break into his castle for her friend, she tried to full out attack Lilith when 19 episodes earlier she wasn’t able to stand up to amity for bullying her. And I am in no way calling willow weak, she never was, she just needed to find the ability to show everyone that she’s strong, god I love willow so much, you wanna know who else loves willow?

GUS

Gus, my main man, love you but for this we are gonna have to use the full on augustus sorry babes. The name augustus means majestic, or venerable, which while I must say that the illusion of kiki doing the worm was probably one of the most majestic things I have ever seen, I’m going to focus on venerable a bit more here. Venerable is a big word, it means “accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom, or character.”, which for gus the age part might play a smaller part here, but he is good as what he does, Luz and willow both respect him, Eda Respects him, he’s this little dude who is younger than everyone and has to rely on his ability to succeed, not only with his power but with his personality. Gus seems to be confident in himself, communicating with everyone regardless of who they are or what power they hold, similarly to willow he was willing to do anything to help Luz , leading into the second description of venerable, “heroic in nature”. Now, you might be wondering, bestie where ever did you get that description, it totally wasn’t from a religious page okyesitwas but that's fine because being pronounced venerable guarantees a spot in heaven so get it bestie. Overall, the general meaning for augustus is that they are strong, respectable, and powerful, which takes us right into the

Gus, shawty, ily but please stop the obsession with death babes ur starting to scare me. I hope with the upcoming Gus content in TTLGR we will see more of him growing into his powers and such.

ASSORTED BLIGHTS

The blight first names bring me joy so I am putting amity last because I think its really funny, starting off with alador, the name alador evokes diplomacy, correctness, and confidence. We know zilch about alador, but if the vibes of the blight family have anything to say it’s definitely something along those lines. The name odalia means wealth, which I mean like have you seeeen blight manor? Also back at it again with the fact that it’s a variant of the name odilia, like the saint olilia which I don't have ties for you right now because again, we know nothing about her. Edric also means wealth, fortune, riches, powerful, you get the vibes, same thing with emira which means commander, or prince, princess, leader, or star. So you know like we have all these super powerful names happening, and then, oh boy and then we get to little miss perfect herself, amity blight. It means friendship, or harmony. If I was her I would be so mad at my parents like yall have these mad powerful names and I got stuck with friendship? Hand me the emancipation papers. You know what they say, friendship is the real magic (even if no longer taught in schools due to budget constraints). I hope that this leads more into season 2 with amity working on her friendships and ultimately her relationships in general, which we got a bit of already with her working on repairing her relationship with willow, and making the moves to cut off old toxic friendships and moving into more genuine ones with willow, Luz , and gus. I guess you could say that the only thing ALL the blights have in common with each other is their

They are rich assholes, alador is a little wacko, odalia is hot asf dana seriously what the hell man that was out of pocket. The only thing about alador that lives up to his name is his money, odalia seems more obsessed with image and money, and i too am obsessed with her image literally boy what the hell boy.

LAST NAME

BLIGHT

The word blight by itself means a plant disease which boy oh boy can you believe how nicely that fits into amity bullying willow because I sure can. Outside of just the plant bit it overall just means like something that damages another thing, and this works beautifully for each member of the family. The parents are damaging their children, the twins just causing general damage, and amity and her goddamn relationships, but fortunately that whole plant thing brings us into the next couple of last names

CLAWTHORNE

The last name clawthorne means “cold or exposed thorn tree” which had me kind of like what the heck so I went off and had some fun and got you some presents that I think are funny, so there was this guy right, his name was joseph clawthorne, and he created the term whiffenpoof, which is the name for a wildly fictitious animal, things like a jackalope, or even a griffin with spider breath, though I guess that would be the work of a

NOCEDA

Back again with the trees good lord, it means field of nut trees, so again I went into prominent people an found this guy named jorge noceda sanchez, he was a painter and some of his works are kinda baller actually it seems like something that would fit in on the isles, but also not all of the names have a deeper meanings, names like

PORTER

Ok I am like pretty sure this was just meant to be a play on the fact that gus’ dad’s name is perry and is a reporter, get it, perry porter, perry porter, reporter, but nonetheless I did some digging because why the heck not, it means doorkeeper, or gate keeper, someone who guards something like an important building, which honestly I think this would be a good last name for hooty if he ever gets one, but again not all of these are important names at the moment, or maybe they won't ever be at all, names like

PARK

At first I was kinda like l m a o willow park plant girl hahahahah plants in the park parks have trees willow is a tree but then I remembered that someone pointed out that park is a traditionally korean surname and then like a week later disney posted about it for aisian pacific american heritage month which kind of confirmed it, and I don’t know if the whole intention behind it was to establish willow as representation or not, but the surname park by itself means gourd and willow I am so sorry that is so unfortunate LMAOSIFN

BUMP

To be honest I was not expecting bump to have a last name that meant anything but it means swift walker and I think thats funny so you have to know it now

MISCELLANEOUS

BELOS

BIIIITCH LISTEN UPPPP there is a butt tone of mythology surrounding his name and its mostly a different form of it, belus, that is referenced, but same thing different shape. Most of his depiction is as a great king or ruler, in babylonian mythology being the equivalent of zeus of jupiter, which liiikkkkkeeeoajolnjojnkjakjavnjfvdfkjf but its fine everything is great its all ok most importantly, he is recognized as the god or ruler of war, and in that same mythology he lived in babylon, which “... was originally water, and called a sea. But Belus put an end to this, and assigned a district to each, and surrounded Babylon with a wall; and at the appointed time he disappeared.” and idk about you but the smell of him assigning a divide and disappearing smells sour like funky to me babes

HIERONYMUS AND BOSCHA

I am only putting this here because the fact that it’s totally a play on hieronymus bosch makes me cackle and you all have to know it thank you

ADEGAST

B-but brevyn he was only there for like one episode, yeah ok and? Radegast is the slavic god of hospitality, and there is no host like a host that pretends to take you on a mythical quest and then tries to eat you and your mentor and her deranged cat demon, ok? His name translates to “dear guest” or “welcomed guest” and I mean I think if my host tried to suck me into some fantasy would delusion i’d feel pretty welcomed

HOOTY

He is an owl

OWLBERT

He is also an owl

KIKIMORA

First and foremost, she is a little night gremlin who hates children and I think that really fits her, but she is also a little house demon, who is very difficult to get to leave, have we seen her outside the castle? Will she be a spy along with the mask next season? She also has a name that means nightmare or night demon, similar to a certain other night creature we might have heard of a while ago. She tried to strangle children and I love that for her,and she is described as a little old ugly messy haired lady and I feel like her current character has the personality of one so i’ll take it, but what really gets me is her villain origin story, which is that she "grows up with a magician in the mountains. From dawn to sunset the magician’s cat regales Kikimora with fantastic tales of ancient times and faraway places, as Kikimora rocks in a cradle made of crystal. It takes her seven years to reach maturity, by which time her head is no larger than a thimble and her body no wider than a strand of straw. Kikimora spins flax from dusk and to dawn, with evil intentions for the world.”

GWENDOLYN

Ok, the queen herself, haven’t met her yet but like who knows. Not really a whole lot here (my ears are ringing oops one sec ok i’m back hi) anyways um uh rings? Her name right off the bat has a lot to do with rings, and really that only applies to eda, because her ring was a big thing for her, she gave it to lilith, we all watched wing it like witches you know what’s up, but i mean like was that gwen’s ring? I really wanted the hand on eda’s wall to be gwen’s, very upset to see she has all of her body parts so far. I am also not sure if that’s how it’s spelled, but it means the same thing anyways. Also meaning fair or blessed, any woman who created both eda and lilith is probably mad powerful and we love to see it, also she’s a beastkeeper and i like i want to talk about that with eda’s curse but now is not the time for shenanigans (that’s a lie every time is the time for shenanigans i’m just exhausted)

RAYNE

Bitch, sorry, ok listen like um sidebar I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS CHARACTER AND YOU ALL NEED TO KNOW IT but also at this point i’m not really sure about this character, is this their name, is that even how it’s spelled, girl idfk but like whooptydooo I do what I want so cope. Right now, we are assuming that they are the new bard coven head character, and like let me tell you the way that I am fully pissing my pants atm like bestie, anyways, if spelled rayne, then it means counsel or song, and this is why, do you see why this is why we spell it like this? It’s also scandanavian which means like nothing but it’s cool. This spelling fits because like counsel, head of the bard coven, you get it it’s fine, and then song, also head of the bard coven, you know. It fits so well, especially since this is supposed to be a friend from eda’s past, and like is supposed to try and recruit eda for a rebellion against the emperor in the episode eda’s requiem, i cannot convey to you how goddamn excited I am like there are not enough words in this realm or any others to tell you how prepared i am for this character to rock my world.

GILBERT

I AM S O B B I N GGGGG apparently one of willow’s dad’s names is gilbert and that is literally so cute I cannot like actually this knowledge makes up for coronavirus anyways it means bright promise and idk what that even has to do with anything but I love it and you should to omg

Now i have to go update the other characters see you in hell <3

#the owl house #luz noceda #lilith clawthorne #eda clawthorne #gwendolyn clawthorne #amity blight #alador blight #odalia blight #blight twins #willow park #gus porter #principal bump #rayne #hooty #character names

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tarotnoob · 4 years

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Pick a Pile: Who’s your soulmate?

Not to be BTS on main, but you’ve probably read references to BTS in previous pick a piles. I love them. They were there for me when I was depressed. I am OT7, ofc, but I have two biases, one of them being Jimin. I think he’s an amazing performer and person. Serendipity is my fav song.

I’d like to honor him with a soulmate pick a card because he’s done a lot for me.

Please take a moment to concentrate, breathe, and choose the pile you’re drawn to based on number, pile, or one of Jiminie’s photos :)

Pile 1

Don’t you dare run away, Pile 1. Let’s figure out what is up with this pile oml

I’m going to clarify all the tarot with the Linestrider.

This is the Serendipity photo pile, so I was expecting something light and fluffy for pile 1.

Oracles: Truth Be Told - i think - fell out first and as I was putting the deck away, By the Book flopped out so I let it stay. Truth Be Told is essentially about being honest with yourself and others as well as being yourself. By the Book is about not pressuring others to conform to the way you want them to and respecting who they are as an individual (including their background).

Darkness and Void - well, we can’t say these fell out by accident, and it’s fascinating that there’s a bunny in Darkness looking up at the moon when Jimin in the photo is looking up at the (sun) in his photo. Those do remind me of Jimin’s cards, but ANYWAY - should we also talk about all these 4s and 1s in your oracles. Although really it’s 4, 1, 2 (Master 11, rather), 5. Just a little fyi aside, Jimin’s life path number is 11 aka 2. But, without adding them up, there’s synchronicity happening here, which is funny on the Serendipity pile. “All this is no coincidence… Just, just by my feeling.”

Darkness is about doing self-reflection, shadow work, turning inward to explore what isn’t moving us forward. Void is a similar message about a spiritual reset, of letting go and surrendering what isn’t working for you, releasing bad habits, fears or negative thought patterns. This gives me Moon plus Devil vibes.

Connect: I create strong emotional connections with the important people in my life. Dilettante: Delights in the arts without having to be a professional. Alerts you to the danger of becoming superficial in your pursuits. Shadow: Pretension to much deeper knowledge than you actually possess. So this is like “jack of all trades, master of none.” Kinda gives me Gemini vibes. Could enjoy cooking, gardening, sports.

It’s funny. If you’re a bts fan, this card reminds me of JK because it talks about dabbling in a lot of things, but not making a lot of it. He’s done video editing, played guitar, he cooks. Obviously he’s a professional singer/dancer/entertainer - but on the other side of doing a lot of things/hobbies, but not always following through (ignore the fact even his dabbling is usually exceptional), like his painting.

So you (or them), this should be about them but the cards are probably also giving you a message. But, someone who just likes to explore their interests, has a lot of interesting hobbies, as skillful at a lot of things that they aren’t pursuing as a career. Again, very Gemini. But, Mercury also rules Virgo and I keep getting pulled to Virgo but that’s probably because I talked about him. And Jimin’s moon is in Gemini… I’m not really going to be surprised if his energy snuck in a whee bit here.

I’m going to look at the Tarot and the clarifiers before I pass my conclusion.

Tower (reversed?), gosh I’ll just give you the full description: When it comes to your love life, the tower reversed indicates that your relationship needs to undergo a few changes. If you want to stick with your partner, then you must put in the work required for it to survive. This usually depends greatly on your ability to calmly and effectively communicate with one another. When you are deciding what must be done to improve your relationship, focus your efforts towards changing on yourself only. Attempts to change your partner rarely go over well. If you can improve your own contributions to the relationship, your partner will likely follow suit.

This already resonates so well with the oracles, but let’s keep going and I’m not clarifying that.

Nine of swords: This is a sense of anxiety, and the moon oracles (besides moon) have a Hermit vibe, as well. Besides Tower (which is Mars), there are a lot of swords here in general, so they could be an air sign, but all these moons could mean they have some water, as well, and the connect also has an emotional feel, so likely an air sign with water or water with a lot of air. And next is Justice, which is the Libra card.

Justice: On a basic level, this person could work in a law-related career, but looking at all the other cards, this more likely has to do with a sense of balance, an equal partnership - where, again, both partners treat teach other with respect and don’t try to change the other. There’s fairness, equality. And if you’ve had previous awful luck in relationships, this could be saying this person will be the answer to what you’ve been wanting (an equal relationship).

Three of swords: (heartbreak, disappointment, miscommunication)

Okay, okay. There’s a theme here. There’s advice here, and then we have crumbs about the person. The big themes here are accepting someone for who they are, honest and open communication, and, essentially, doing the inner work necessary on (yourself) in order to meet this other person half way.

About them specifically? Yeah, I get air vibes mostly, Libra and Gemini (Jimin, can you please step out of this reading - ). Not to mention he’s got Scorpio Venus and Mars and we have these dark, watery oracle cards.

Doesn’t mean he’s not trying to deliver a message to you :)

This person… seems rather… I don’t want to say delicate, but vulnerable because I think they’re going to be a very open person, someone who definitely has a more mercurial mindset, meaning - they think a lot, probably overanalyze, their feelings get hurt easily, they have a natural desire (like Libras often do) for balance and fairness. I think their feelings get hurt easily, they’re sensitive and often need to retreat to think when they’re upset. I think By the Book to THEM, means “golden rule.” Treat others how you deserve to be treated. I think they value honest and open communication - if you lie to them or mislead them, they are going to withdraw from you (hence the Libra next to 3 of swords).

I think that the relationship will require “teamwork” (reversed Tarot)… If there are issues within the relationship, you’re expected to talk about it. I think they’d appreciate a grounded partner since they have so much air and anxious energy. Don’t get me wrong, this person isn’t high-maintenance. This is just how we air signs are. We think a lot, but we CARE a lot. So if you have a lot of earth in your chart. Fire is also a nice complement to air signs, as well.

They are going to have a variety of skills they’ll want to share with you, so don’t criticize them. If you aren’t someone who is good at encouraging others and instead always has a critical thing to say - this person… is going to get hurt. They will want to show they care by involving you in their hobbies. They’ll want to make you dinner or go to the Saturday markets, pick you flowers - very childlike in a way but so, so sweet, so social and communicative. If you don’t know what this vibe is like for this person, you should watch the Serendipity video.

They’re very vulnerable, lovely, romantic, but… a worrier. There’s a lot of moon symbolism here… but like anything there’s a light and dark side to the moon. There’s romance… and then there’s… some dark stuff. And you’ll need to be able to step up to the plate with this person because they might’ve been through some stuff. Someone who’s very nurturing and grounded would be good for them. Also very sincere, honest, but not… overly critical. Definitely someone who wants to think the best of people and the world… even if they have down moments. They’ll want to be really connected to you emotionally and intellectually and will do this through conversation. They’ll probably want to ask you about all kinds of things, from your childhood to your interests to your hopes and dreams or theories on the universe. Oof, I’m so soft for this person.

See, that wasn’t so bad, Pile 1!! Congrats, your soulmate will be someone like Serendipity Jimin xD

—

Pile 2

Pile 2, you picked Lie!Jimin… oof, what an era. Lie gives me Scorpio vibes. Jimin has Mars Scorpio and Venus Scorpio at least, so sex appeal.

I’m drawn to rebel first. I’m not surprised this fell out given the photo.

Rebel: Challenges authority to effect social change. Rejects spiritual systems that do not serve inner needs. Shadow: Rejects legitimate authority out of anger. Rebels out of peer pressure or fashion. Guide book says this person could be someone politically inclined or an artistic innovator. Sees past tired preconceptions.

Purpose: My dreams connect me to my Purpose.

Orphaned… I think this resonates with the rebel card. I’ll leave the full description here: https://www.colettebaronreid.com/oracle/orphaned/

This is about someone trying to find their place (within society or their circle). I’m already getting an idea of this person, but let’s do the other oracles.

Release: This is a lot like the Hanged Man. It’s about letting go of patterns or individuals or situations that aren’t serving you.

Hunger: This is a bit deep. It says: Feed the good and hope within you. Do not let your hunger blindly dictate your actions entirely”. It also tells this story about an old Cherokee telling his grandson that two wolves live within us - one that gives darkness, despair and hate and jealousy and sorrow. And the other that gives light and hope and helpfulness and kindness. And the wolf that wins out is the one you feed. It reminds me of the image on the Moon tarot card. Plus, I swear to g*d that this is so very Lie!Jimin energy. It’s also about recognizing there will just be leaner times in life and making sure we build ourselves up to handle them.

Tarot:

Ace of Needles (Ace of Swords): This can be that you’ll connect on a mental level and find communication easy. This is also about truth and clarity. (I’ll move on and see how it fits with the rest).

Ten of wands: I’m not going to read this negatively, but generally 10 of wands is a sense of feeling burdened or carrying something heavy on your shoulder, which is exactly what I feel with this person. We’ve already talked about this heavy desire to find their place, but also not someone who’s interested in conformity or being locked into a box, and with anyone who… wants to be authentic, but doesn’t want to be ostracized (or alone), there comes a sense of personal burden, to not only be their authentic selves, but to see so many others in the world who force others to conform or feel forced to conform and in experiencing that desire to be themselves, they seem to be someone interested in social justice.

The High Priestess: (more Moon) energy… this person likely is in touch with their divine feminine energy. Like Jimin, he’s beyond ridiculous gender stereotypes. If you caught his Filter performance this weekend, you know he promotes this concept of… he can wear women’s clothes and look good in them, he’s someone who can attract all genders to him (regardless of sexuality even)… it’s a very gender fluid notion. It could be that this person (regardless of gender) is a feminist, an equalitarian, socially and politically progressive, or should I say socially and politically AGGRESSIVE. Or should I say for rapline: UGH-gressive. Haha, bts joke.

The Chariot: This is usually about being very focused, focused will, often the Career card, also Cancer card (again more Moon, more watttteeer). Lots of fluidity and emotions. So, being political or… all of these emotions or thoughts that surround this person’s… passion for non-conformity and social or cultural or whatever stereotypes could actually be part of their career/life purpose.

Putting it altogether, I think this person could be a water sign. Someone who’s not a loner, per se, but someone who definitely marches to their own tune. They stand up for what they believe in, they are intensely passionate about only putting themselves in situations where they feel like their circle is authentic and not like a fake progressive as some people are. They won’t hop on the cancel train because it’s trending, they’ll do so if they believe in it. I’d say they’re highly political or definitely very vocal in political debates or at least feel strongly about their beliefs. Passion is definitely their purpose. If you’re fake, if you don’t care, if you sit on the fence - this person isn’t likely to respect you, though, I should say they’d respect your opinion within reason… I don’t see them as just being belligerent about their beliefs because that would be obnoxious and make them slightly hypocritical. It’s more a sense of… a lone wolf content to do their own thing but really they’re looking for their tribe/pack. There’s something very restless about their energy.

I do think it’s okay to say appearance-wise they will be… very sexy, very alluring, very intense and enigmatic… possibly even more of a “feminine” beauty if they identify as male and if they are female-identifying, then just… sexy and intense. Definitely scorpio vibes here, possibly with a bit of fire because there’s so much raw passion here. I think you can just look at the oracles and get a good idea of this person’s energy - strong, proud, a little lonely, full of passion and purpose, a rebel… my only advice would be this person is so… their energy isn’t slow… this isn’t someone who just… sits under a tree writing poetry every day. Meaning, you’re going to need to keep up with their (fast) pace and high intensity emotions. And the other thing is as I’m thinking about the one scorpio I dated is that they can go a little… tunnel-vision. They can be possessive, jealous, emotional, secretive (High Priestess). Mysterious. Keep thoughts to themselves. It’ll be important to make sure communication is clear here as are boundaries and expectations so they don’t steamroll you.

But hey, did I mention they’ll be sexy? Wink wonk. Priorities, Pile 2.

—

Pile 3

Pile 3, you picked Promise!Jimin. Promise is a sweet, sad song… but we’ll see how its vibe fits in with the cards. Is it sweet, though? It’s a sweet melody. It’s a sweet way of talking about how to handle troubles (within a relationship and then individually). Talking about being someone’s light, but being your own light, too.

First off, it’s not here, but I’m getting Empress vibes because of the Mother and Faith card. Also Peace and co-create have this sense of “birth.” Birth can mean anything from actual parenthood to creative birth or the birth of love or self-love. All of these things fall under the Empress (Libra/Taurus - Venus).

I’m not surprised 7 of cups fell out first because the cards, themselves, fell out in an uncertain way… I wasn’t sure if I should take five of pentacles and 10 of cups because they flopped out, and - that’s usually symbolic of the energy.

I’m not going to give the full descriptions of these oracle cards but this is Wisdom of the Oracles and if you google them, they all come up.

Not For You - is, kind of literally what it means… the situation, a person, a belief, the timing isn’t right, etc…

Peace - in terms of relationships, this has two of cups vibes. This is a harmonious relationship, so much so that you feel an inner peace because of how you connect with the other person.

Breathe - this is being patient, needing time to open up, remaining calm, avoid getting tensed up over things

Co-create - Relationship Message: “Connections of the heart serve to inspire you, opening you up to new ideas you would never have come to on your own. You are looking in a mirror held up by this experience and seeing yourself in an unexpected way. Who is this extraordinary being looking back at you? You are going to be so happy that you kept your heart open! Your love is a unique work of art now, the very embodiment of beauty.”

I thought I’d put the whole thing because, this is all very Empress, two of cups energy… this person could be very well mirror you in a lot of ways. You’ll feel like when you’re with them there is some sort of divine connection as if you’ve always known them, as if you can speak or not speak at all and they understand you with just a look or a single word. You can sit together and say nothing and feel perfectly content.

Not For You - I want to talk about this, to me, this is probably about divine timing. There is very likely someone very special designated for you, possibly someone you’ve known in other lifetimes because that is going to be how it feels when you meet them. This person will make you feel very calm and you will do the same for them. They may be particularly creative, they may be into spiritual practice, including yoga or just… naturally be someone with an open heart and mind.

I’m realizing now you got the welcome oracle and Jimin’s got his arms open as if welcoming you. Bless his heart. It says “When I dream, I invite limitless magic into my life and I welcome my spirit guides to show up in wondrous and unexpected ways.” If anything, I think this alludes to the way your spirit tribe is going to be working to make all the proper preparations for your meeting with this person and again just believe and be open to the idea of destiny.

I think that resonates with the Mother and Faith - have faith in the universe and your guides. Mother is - Nurturance, patience, unconditional love. Joy in giving birth to life.” To me this is about being overflowing with love of the purest kind, like a mother to a child (figuratively, I mean, as all mother-child relationships are different, ofc). This woman in Faith and the Mother, too, are just so open and welcoming and full of love and peace and the ability to create something of beauty.

As for the tarot:

7 of cups is usually… indecision, illusion, daydreaming, multiple choices, lots of emotions happening at once… five of pentacles is usually about… some kind of spiritual or financial lack or waiting or seeking help when it’s right around the corner but you’re not necessarily… seeking it out… and then 10 of cups is usually ultimate emotional contentment/happiness/fulfillment.

I think the message here is layered. Since you’re being guided to be patient and open to this connection, I think on the one hand this emphasizes this idea of daydreaming and fantasizing…. and this idea of being “pregnant” with options and feelings…. but it also indicates an uncertainty… the five of pentacles may give the sense that you might be doubting whether it’s going to happen but, again, to trust in the process and your guides because happiness awaits you in the future. I want to actually clarify real quick too.

Interesting.

Seven of cups is clarified by Tower. It actually popped out as I was shuffling with a bunch of other cards and came out again so that’s legit. This could indicate that you or they might’ve had… a lot of failed relationships so you’re a little uncertain about THE ONE ever showing up, but in my experience (though I haven’t met THE ONE, all the failures build you up to be ready to handle THE ONE once the universe aligns everything). I just sense more in you than this person (but if you’re mirroring each other it’s one in the same), that you just… there could be big stuff in here in terms of disappointment and romantic hurt, so I’m not brushing over that, but the focus isn’t on the pain… it’s more like this is… in the past because then five of pentacles has Temperance clarifying it, and this is healing, especially spiritual healing, coming into balance, moderation (patience), also Sag energy. It’s a fairly spiritual pile, not surprised with 3.

I feel like this sense of feeling sort of lost has occurred due to (x) reasons that aren’t important right now, and then I see spiritual healing, I see… loneliness, but under all that you still have hope and still dream of something more. It’s pretty amazing how well it fits the lyrics for Promise, yeesh. I’m getting emotional.

Finally 10 of cups clarified by 4 of cups. This gives me the sense again of waiting. It’s like there’s ambiguity here, but I’m reading it as - again - this is about divine timing so it’s like “hi we’re your guides, we’re buffering rn.”

It’s also got similar vibes to 7 of cups… it’s also this sense of not having faith when you should because, well, it’s coming, so don’t give up… and make sure to keep your (heart) open to this because it will be offered and you can’t just sit and ignore it because this one cup is equal to 10 cups.

This pile touched more on the journey and yourself whereas the others had more details about the person but my feel is that they’re very similar to you anyway, at least where it matters… it’s a sad pile, but there’s a sense of destiny and future peace and calm and harmony and spiritual help and timing… of love that’s so pure it’s kind of like… how you expect the creator to feel about its creations. It’s definitely screaming divine soulmate here.

If I could say anything about them is that they’ll be nurturing and patient and feel similarly to how you do when you’re together… maybe they’ll already have children or be good with kids or be a bit childlike in terms of idealism, faith, hope.

I think they’ll be a creative person and have creative thoughts… I think they’ll be spiritually in tune with you and the universe by the time you meet. Again looking at Not For You, it’ll be important to pay attention to signs and messages, the chess pieces make me think there’s a strategy in place, letting the pieces be set up how they need to be… there’s angels and guides involved, asking you to have faith and keep your heart open, to practice self-love, nurturing yourself so that you know how to nurture someone else, so that you’re whole by the time you meet your person… and eventually when you look back, you’ll see how all these strings of events led up to this moment and the moment couldn’t have happened without all those ups and downs… so anyway.

That’s what I see for you Pile 3. I’m quite envious. Stream Promise :)

#pick a card #free tarot reading #love reading #soulmate #tarot #bts #jimin #tarot community #daily tarot #tarot spread #tarot reading #tarot reader #tarotlove

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heyiwrotesomethings · 4 years

Text

Jealous

Shinobu Kochou x Fem Reader

Shinobu was sitting at her desk in her office when she heard a light knock at her door. She looked up and smiled as one of her estate’s most capable attendants entered the space.

“Good afternoon, Kochou-sama. I’ve brought your tea.” (Y/n) smiled, setting the cup down on the desk.

“Ah, thank you (Y/n).” she replied, taking a sip. Shinobu smiled as the warmth soothed her throat, (Y/n) makes excellent tea.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” (Y/n) asked, sweetly.

“No, this is perfect.” Shinobu looked up at the other woman. “I heard your taking the afternoon off. Any special plans?”

“Yes, I’m going in to town with Giyuu-kun.” (Y/n) replied, brightly.

“Giyuu-kun... Tomioka-san?” Shinobu questioned.

“That’s right. There were some things I wanted to pick up and he offered to take me.”

“Oh, well, I could go with you instead. Tomioka-san isn’t really known for being good company. He’s not one for conversation so you might get bored on such a long trip.”

“That’s kind of you, Kochou-sama, but you have a lot of work to do here, and Giyuu-kun is fine, he’s really funny actually.”

Tomioka-san, funny? Shinobu discreetly pinched her arm, hoping this was just a dream, well a nightmare actually. (Y/n) liked Tomioka enough to go to town with him, and she addressed him so casually as well. Shinobu felt an uncomfortable pulling in her chest. She was not liking this development to say the least.

“If you don’t need anything, I should get going-“

“(Y/n), I just remembered that I wanted to get something in town as well.” Shinobu said, quickly.

“Oh, I can retrieve it for you if you’d like.”

“That won’t be necessary. It’s a complicated order, I’ll just accompany you.” Shinobu pushed herself to a standing position. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Okay...” (Y/n) said, tilting her head and gazing at the Hashira a bit warily. “I’m ready too.”

***

The pair exited the Butterfly Estate and Shinobu felt a vein begin to strain against her forehead as she spotted Giyuu leaning against a tree.

“(Y/n), Kochou-san,” he greeted, monotonously.

“Tomioka-san, good afternoon! It seems that I’ll be joining (Y/n) on her errand. It’s not too late to back out if you want~!” Shinobu called cheekily, silently willing Giyuu to turn around and go home.

Giyuu just stared blankly before turning to (Y/n). “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, let’s get going before it gets dark.” (Y/n) replied.

“You don’t have to worry about demons in the darkness with me around, (Y/n). I can protect you. I can’t say the same for Tomioka-san however, he seems to be quite the demon sympathizer.” Shinobu said, alluding to the demon Nezuko situation.

“Um, sure.” (Y/n) answered, uncomfortably. The three continued to walk in silence. To (Y/n), it was the most uncomfortable silence she had ever witnessed. She could handle Giyuu’s silence, but the aura Shinobu was emitting felt hostile despite the smile she was sporting.

“Kochou-sama-“

“Shinobu is fine.” She interjected quickly.

“But, Kochou-sama-“

“Shinobu.”

“Shinobu,” (Y/n) began again. “Is something wrong?”

“Everything is wonderful (Y/n), why do you ask?”

“Well, you just seem... I don’t know, angry?”

“Not at all, (Y/n). Just concentrating on the supply list in my mind.”

“Right, what were you going to get anyway?”

“That’s a secret!” Shinobu responded, playfully. In reality she had nothing she needed so she was just trying to cover her ass with as little specifics as possible. “What are you getting, (Y/n)?

The girl seemed to freeze up a bit and Shinobu almost didn’t notice the faint blush dusting her cheeks. “Actually, that’s a secret too.” (Y/n) answered, punctuating her statement with an awkward laugh and gave Giyuu a subtle look that did not go unnoticed by the Insect Pillar.

Shinobu felt the same uncomfortable squeeze in her chest that she had felt in her office. How did (Y/n) and Tomioka get so close without her noticing? Before today, Shinobu would have bet her entire estate on the belief that (Y/n) had had a crush on her. Now she was uncertain and out of everyone it just had to be Tomioka. Shinobu would be damned if she lost (Y/n) to him of all people, it was time she upped her game.

The three finally made it into town. (Y/n) was glad for the thrum of the busy streets drowning out the stifling silence mixed with the occasional passive aggressive comment from Shinobu that she had been dealing with for the last three miles.

“Great, we’re here. We should split up and get what we need. Want to meet back here in thirty minutes?” (Y/n) asked her companions.

“Sure.” Giyuu shrugged.

(Y/n) began to walk away and jumped a bit at the sudden pressure encompassing her arm.

“You’re heading this way too, (Y/n)?” Shinobu smiled, both arms wrapped around one of (Y/n)’s. “What a coincidence!” It was in fact, not a coincidence. Shinobu noticed that Giyuu was going to be following (Y/n) and she was not going to allow them any time alone together.

“Oh, really?” (Y/n) asked, clearing her throat. “Cool, cool.”

“I’m going on ahead, I’ll meet you back at the entrance later.” Giyuu said. He than dissolved into the crowd, but not before giving (Y/n) a slight nod that made Shinobu’s head pulse.

“Where do you need to go, Kochou-sama?” (Y/n) questioned.

Shinobu hummed, (Y/n)’s arm still wrapped in her own. “We can go wherever you need to go. Unfortunately, it appears that I misjudged the shipment arrival of my supplies.” The Hashira replied, lying flawlessly.

“Alright...” (Y/n) looked around the busy vendors, Shinobu never leaving her side. The thirty minutes was almost up, and Shinobu was suspicious of (Y/n)’s lack of purchases. She had yet to buy anything at all and seemed completely unfocused. When Shinobu questioned her on this, (Y/n) speculated that what she was looking for was delayed too and laughed it off. Before they made it back to the designated meet up point, Shinobu tugged on (Y/n)’s sleeve and pulled her to the side of the path.

“(Y/n),” she began, “be honest with me, are you... are you dating Tomioka-san?” Shinobu asked, saying the words ‘dating’ and ‘Tomioka’ in the same sentence left a bad taste in her mouth, but she needed to know. Perhaps this whole outing was meant to be a date. That would explain why (Y/n) hadn’t actually bought anything.

(Y/n) suddenly looked a lot more lively. “Oh, no! We’re friends, not dating!”

“It’s... it’s okay if you are. I know I haven’t made my dislike of Tomioka-san discreet, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to hide your relationship from me.” The last thing Shinobu wanted was to alienate (Y/n).

“Kochou... Shinobu, I promise you. I only like Giyuu-kun as a friend.”

“So, you aren’t seeing anyone right now?”

“No, I’m not.” (Y/n) replied.

Shinobu felt like a weight was lifted from her chest. She was just short of sighing in relief.

“We should be heading back now.” (Y/n) smiled, warmly. She took Shinobu’s hand in her own and guided her back in the path. Shinobu looked at their connected hands and felt warmth rush to her face. She lightly gripped the hand holding her own and followed after (Y/n).

When they reached the meetup point, Giyuu was already waiting for them, a small paper bag in his hand.

“What do you have there, Tomioka-san?” Shinobu asked, playfully.

“....It’s a secret.” He answered.

(Y/n) laughed, and the trio began the hike back home.

***

They managed to get back a little before sunset. Giyuu headed in the direction of his home while (Y/n) and Shinobu continued in the direction of the Butterfly Estate. The silence was comfortable, only the sound of their footfalls and cricket songs permeated the tranquil evening.

That’s why when Shinobu noticed the absence of footsteps beside her she turned immediately. (Y/n) had stopped.

“What’s wrong, (Y/n)? Why did you stop?” She asked.

(Y/n) shifted the dirt under her feet and slowly stretched her arm out to Shinobu, in her outstretched palm was a small paper bag.

“Isn’t that the bag Tomioka-san was carrying? Why do you have it?” Shinobu questioned.

“Kochou-sama, I lied to you, please forgive me!” (Y/n) said with a bow. “The reason I didn’t get anything in town was because it was meant to be a surprise for you. Giyuu-kun already knew what I wanted so he went off to get it while I distracted you. Please forgive my deception!”

Shinobu stared at the attendant, surprised by her sudden outburst. She gingerly took the bag from (Y/n)’s hand. Inside was a intricate, blue and purple butterfly charm.

“It’s infused with wisteria and is meant to give good luck when encountering demons...” (Y/n) stated, quietly. “Sometimes I’m worried when you go off on missions and they run longer than usual, so I would feel better if you took this with you on missions from now on.”

Shinobu held the charm delicately between her fingers and stepped towards (Y/n) until there was no more than a foot of distance between them. She placed her other hand lightly on (Y/n)’s cheek and turned her face so she was looking at her face directly.

“Thank you, and you have nothing to apologize for.” Shinobu responded softly. “This was very sweet of you and I greatly appreciate this gift.” She lifted herself on her toes to give herself a bit of extra height, enough to reach (Y/n)’s ear. “Next time we go into town, I’d like to return the favor.” She whispered. She then placed a lingering kiss on (Y/n)’s jawline, close to her ear, before lowering her heels back to the ground. “Maybe just the two of us next time?” She added with a smirk.

(Y/n)’s face was as hot as flames and she couldn’t find her voice, she simply nodded and an agreeable sounding hum struggled past her stunned vocal chords.

“Let’s get home, I’m sure the girls have dinner ready by now.” Shinobu said, taking (Y/n) gently by the arm and guiding her back to the warmly lit estate.

#shinobu kocho x reader #shinobu x reader #shinobu kocho #kny oneshots #demon slayer oneshots

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zamoimagines · 4 years

Text

Someone Else’s Baby

Word count: 1,807

Pairings: Venable x reader, Reader x OC

Chapters: 1, 2

Summary: Things between you and Venable had ended rocky. When Venable realizes that she’s still in love with you, she travels to find you to make things right. You’ve moved on with someone else. Mina is determined to win you back and give you the love you deserve.

A/N: Here you guys go! It’s been a long wait, but here’s chapter two! Sorry that it’s short but I have a lot more to write up. Enjoy! I hope you guys like it!

A loud crack of thunder rumbled outside of the airport. Most of the other travelers looked nervous, but Wilhelmina wasn’t too worried about the weather. As long as she could get back to sunny Los Angeles and never come to this state again, she was happy to travel in any weather. She turned the page of the book she was reading before the intercom blared a voice from overhead.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing quite some severe weather up in the skies. All flights to Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles have been canceled until further notice. Please visit one of our customer service desks to reschedule your flight.”

Everyone around her began to groan and mumble. Wilhelmina’s eyes widened at the sudden news. There was absolutely no way that she was going to be stuck here. Frantically, she reached for her cell phone and called Jeff’s number. When the line connected, she could hear hooting and hollering in the background of the call.

“Miss Venable! What the fuck is up, man!” Jeff cried out.

Wilhelmina rolled her eyes. They must’ve gotten another shipment of coke while she was gone.

“Mr. Pfister, I need a private jet sent to me as soon as possible.”

“Hey! Mutt, Venable’s heading back!”

“YAY!” Mutt yelled into the phone. Venable took the phone away from her ear for a moment so she wouldn’t go deaf.

“Let us talk to Y/N! We wanna know how you wooed her back!” Jeff added.

“She isn’t with me-”

“That’s okay, we’ll talk to her when you guys get back!”

“No, that’s not what I meant-”

“We’ve got a whole wedding to plan, Jeff! We have to come up with a color scheme!” Mutt said with a slurred voice.

“Gentlemen!” Venable shouted into the phone. The people around her stared at her in confusion. All she could do was scowl and turn away from the looks she was being given.

“I’m coming back by myself. She’s moved on.”

The other end of the phone call was completely silent. Venable could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

“If you could just send the jet for me, it would be greatly appreciated. I would like to come home.”

“I thought you had a flight back?” Jeff muttered.

“My flight has been canceled, Mr. Pfister, and I need to be back in my office today.”

“CANCELED?! IT’S FATE!” Mutt yelled once again. She could hear Jeff excitedly laughing as well.

“Miss Venable! Don’t you see it! The universe is fucking telling you to go after her!”

“That’s definitely not what a canceled flight means.”

“Venable, I gotta give it to you straight; Before you met Y/N, you always had a stick up your ass. You never had any fun, you were always working, and I don’t think I ever saw you smile.”

“Yeah, you were a complete bitch!”

“Mutt, shut up!”

All their talk wasn’t making her feel any better. She only felt worse about herself. A single tear rolled down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away.

“What are you trying to say, Mr. Pfister?”

“I’m saying that Y/N completed you. You were so happy, and so in love! You can’t just let it all slip away because you guys had a falling out.”

“What does that have anything to do with my travel back home?”

“That’s the thing, Venable. You’re not coming back home.”

Venable’s heart raced in her chest. They were most definitely trying to torture her, in no way was this any helpful.

“You’re not serious,” Venable growled.

“Actually, I am! You have another two weeks in the Midwest, missy. I’ll call the hotel and tell them that you’re extending your stay.”

“Mr. Pfister, wait-”

“We’ll send some money to your account for food and shit.”

“GOOD LUCK VENABLE!!!” Mutt screamed into the phone. Before Venable could protest, the two hung up on her.

------

After the phone call, Venable had stopped by her hotel to drop off her things. She couldn’t stand the thought of sitting around her room and wallowing, so instead, she changed blouse and high waisted pants. Her hair was tied up in a bun; she could care less about the way she looked. Though, with the extra money, she figured it would be good to get out to the grocery store and get little things to eat while her bosses were tormenting her.

Midwestern grocery stores weren’t nearly as packed as the ones she’d gone to in Los Angeles. In fact, the little building she decided to go into barely had any customers. She could get used to staying here. Wilhelmina skimmed at the aisles and tried hard to find something to get her by. She mindlessly filled her cart with random items as she continued throughout the store. For a moment, she paused to look down at everything in the basket.

Raisin bran, a couple of cans of soup, and a bottle of red wine. She sighed heavily. Even her shopping cart was depressing. How was she even going to try to eat anything? Her heart was so broken that it was taking all of her energy to get out and even be here. What would Y/N say…

What was so much better about that blonde? Y/N had never mentioned finding a single blonde attractive as long as Mina had known her. Yes, the new woman was peppy… and positive, kind, and she had a very warm smile. But wasn’t that off-putting? Wilhelmina had never seen someone so happy. What the hell was wrong with her?

She was thrown from her thoughts as she felt her cart crash into something. Mina had run her cart into the wall of the bakery. She groaned in embarrassment. Her thoughts were getting the best of her.

“Oh! Hey there!” a familiar voice called out.

Why was that voice so recognizable? It was a little too bubbly. When Wilhelmina glanced up, she felt a fire brewing in the pit of her stomach.

There was the exact woman she’d been thinking about. She couldn’t even remember her name.

“Please don’t come over here, please don’t see me..” Mina thought to herself. It was too late, the blonde was already making her way over.

“Miss V! I didn’t think I’d see you here!” she exclaimed.

Wilhelmina gripped the handle of the cart so tight that her knuckles turned white.

“Hello… Kara.”

“It’s Keri!” she replied with a giggle. “You’re too funny! Y/N told me you were a hoot.”

“Did she now,” Venable replied in a short tone.

“Love the outfit, by the way. Not a lot of people can pull off that much purple, but you look great in it!”

She was so nice to her. What a fucking bitch.

“Thanks,” Mina replied. She didn’t really care if she sounded genuine. “If you’ll excuse me, I really have to get going-“

“Wait! What are you still doing here?” Keri cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you were leaving yesterday?”

So full of questions. What did Y/N see in her?

“My flight was canceled. Now, I really am a very busy woman-“

“What a coincidence! I cannot believe this, you have to come to the little get together we’re throwing tomorrow night! Here,” Keri had this glimmer in her eyes as if she was doing something good. She quickly pulled out a pen from her purse and yanked on Venable’s hand. The fire in her stomach was growing into a volcanic eruption.

“I’m gonna give you my number. Text me in an hour… Let’s make it a surprise for Y/N!” Keri exclaimed as she wrote into Mina’s skin. “Seriously, she would love to see you. Even if you can’t stay for long, it would mean the world to her if you came.”

As much as Keri was a villain in Mina’s eyes, this was an opportunity that quite frankly had been handed to her. So much could go wrong… What if Y/N didn’t want to see her? Venable couldn’t stand getting her heartbroken again. If she could just tell Y/N the way she felt… that would be all that mattered. At least she would know.

“I… I’ll have to see if I can make it.”

“For sure! Just let me know. It was good to see you, Miss V!”

Keri turned on her heel and was instantly gone. How the fuck did she walk that fast?

Wilhelmina gazed down at the phone number on her hand. She couldn’t find the nerve to be mad at Keri any longer. This was her chance. Perhaps the world was giving her a sign of hope. She never really believed in fate, but this felt different. Her chest felt tight with anxiety.

Venable picked up a few more snacks before heading to the checkout. She was so antsy that she threw random items that she didn’t even think about into her shopping basket. The redhead quickly purchased her things before making her way back to the rental car Mr. Pfister had gotten for her.

The rain pelted against the windshield, echoing loudly from inside. Wilhelmina couldn’t even turn on the car. She stared blankly out of the window. Was this even a good idea? What if she just got rejected once again?

But… What if she won Y/N back?”

“If there’s a god,” Mina began, closing her eyes and leaning her head toward the sky in the sunroof, “Tell me what to do.”

The winds roared outside as the rain came down even harder. Venable’s eyes opened softly. In front of her was Keri, walking out with her groceries. Something was stirring inside of Mina though she wasn’t sure what it was.

Almost without thinking, Mina picked up her phone and dialed the number on her hand. She stared at where Keri was to ensure that the woman was genuine about inviting her. To her surprise, the blonde answered.

“Hello?”

“Keri? This is Wilhelmina Venable.”

“Oh! Hey, what’s up?”

“I…” she hesitated. What else did she have to lose?

“I looked at my schedule… I believe I’ll be able to make it to your event.”

A squeal could be heard on the other end. Venable winced at such a high pitched sound.

“That’s amazing! Oh, Y/N is gonna be so excited! Keep your phone on you, I’ll send you the address and everything through text. This is gonna be great!”

“I’ll make sure to be there.”

“Ugh, you are too cool, Miss V! Oh! The party’s dressy, but casual! We can go shopping if you want-“

“That won’t be necessary, but I appreciate the offer.”

“Of course! See you tomorrow night!”

Venable could hear the sound of a click. There was no turning back now. And the most ironic thing?

She needed a damn dress.

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unto-myself-together · 4 years

Text

From Dusk to Dawn, ch 2 (ESO fanfic)

Content warnings for this specific chapter: references to sex. Brief descriptions of violence. Occasional light cursing (i.e. damn, ass. It’s very infrequent though)

Author notes (a lot of notes, sorry!!):

Previous chapters: Chapter 1

Author notes (skip to the squiggly lines--> ~~~~~~ if you want to jump straight into the story)

You can also read the story on my Archive of Our Own Account here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23343163/chapters/64680022#workskin

Lots of notes here (and I apologize for that. But this chapter had a lot of stuff going on. There are a couple of explanations for anyone who is interested/confused by something that went on in this chapter.):

Hey everyone. I really really hope you all have been doing much better during these troubled times than I have. I have an anxiety disorder (as well as a couple of other things and chronic medical conditions) and let’s just say that this does not exactly mix well with a worldwide pandemic. Let me just say that if it wasn’t for ESO and my ESO guildies, I don’t know where I’d be.

I love your comments. All of them. I have been coming back just to read them again and again, and when I get the chance I want to respond to each and every one of them. You all are so beautiful; thank you… And thank you to the person who left that extremely lovely message in my ask box on Tumblr! I’m not sure how to let you know, how to respond in a way that you will see (are you still around?), but if you can see this: I love you and I loved, loved, loved your message!

I missed writing. A lot. But I have so tired lately that I was having difficulties writing this next chapter. I finally got it out and I wanted to share it with all of you. This one is a bit more lighthearted than the last (we’re going to go on a rollercoaster here, with lighthearted chapters intermixed with not-so lighthearted chapters). I also changed the tags a bit.

Ravenwatch and sexuality: It’s actually canon that House Ravenwatch has “naked parties”. I kid you not. Gwendis has dialogue during the quest where you crown the new King/Queen of Rivenspire; if you meet her upstairs in Shornhelm’s castle, she’ll say something like:“If this were a Ravenwatch party, none of these people would be wearing clothes”. Please note that this is a “missable conversation”;if you do not catch Gwendis before completing the crowning quest, you will never get to see her say it again.

Even if ZOS later decides to erase these lines, they can’t erase them from history because I have recordings of it :D In all honesty? I actually appreciated this little side note;I think it adds more complexity to their characters. Given their rules about consent regarding blood giving, their parties are probably fully consensual too.And there really isn’t anything wrong about adults having consensual parties. Besides, vampires have always been a little associated with sex and sexuality, so I don’t think it’s really that surprising.

Kalin’s comment is a reference to their parties. But he purposely worded it in a way that he knew Elyssa wouldn’t understand: with a reference to a Dunmer tavern-brothel. No, Ophelia doesn’t actually participate in their parties (having grown up in this place, I think it would be awkward for all people involved); instead she usually goes to visit relatives and comes back to help with the clean-up. That’s not gonna stop Kalin from teasing her anyways. Speaking of Kalin, I really think he didn’t need to be half-naked and lounging on their dining room table during their mealtime. Just saying: I feel like we were interrupting a little more than just “mealtime”.

Now, whether or not Verandis and his "children" have relations with each other when they keep referring to each other by familial names ("father", "sister") is a different story; the idea makes me uncomfortable. But I'm fairly certain Kalin (who is not "a family member") and mortal guests can get some action with the vampires.

In regards to the mortal servants: I’m sorry, ZOS. I don’t care how much magic is pumping through Tamriel’s veins; you will never convince me that two servants (Kalin and Estelle) can feed a household of five vampires once a night every night (even more than five vampires if you save the two people during the Rivenspire quests). Even with magical “produce more blood” potions, I felt the need to add at least two more mortals to the household…I hope readers don’t mind…

It did get me thinking: how does Verandis find these people? I doubt he just puts up an ad onto the Shornhelm bulletin board. Can you imagine? “Help wanted. Must have lots of blood and no aversion to pointy objects in your neck” (I’m kidding). Melina Cassel’s comments in her hireling mails implies that Verandis doesn’t force the servants to give blood as a part of their contract (she makes mention that Estelle giving blood goes “beyond the call of duty”). But there probably is a preference for those who aren’t averse to parting with a bit of their life force every now and then. In Kalin’s case, I’m like 99% convinced his half naked Dunmer self does it because he thinks it’s hot.

I actually had a mock up done of the Castle Ravenwatch basement/lower floor on the PTS using Daggerfall Overlook. I’m not sure if anyone would be interested enough in it for me to post a pic of it though. (yes, I know. I saw the Ravenwatch Prologue and I don’t care)

I really hope ZOS comes up with a house crest for House Ravenwatch soon; otherwise I will have to make my own…

I know it may not seem like it from this chapter, but I actually have fallen madly in love with Fennorian. But it doesn’t technically appear during the Rivenspire questline, and I actually want Elyssa’s first time meeting him to be during her visit to Western Skyrim and doing something like the Bound in Blood quest.

The goat: It’s more of an inside joke I have with myself. When I was going through the Rivenspire questline for the first time, I noticed that there’s a goat that appears behind Ravenwatch Castle. At first, I thought it coincided the appearance and disappearance of Kalin. So I made a joke to myself that Kalin IS the goat. (Later I found out the goat’s appearance has nothing to do with whether or not Kalin the NPC is around. Still, I thought it would be funny to poke at that idea in the fic).

I have a problem with the Stormhaven storyline and this idea that you have to have this specific potion made with the Dream Shard just to avoid dreams. For the purposes of this story, I’m going to re-write that part so that the Dream Shard created potion is only to prevent Vaermina’s magic from interfering with your dreams specifically, and that there are likely plenty of other alchemy potions (sleep potions) that could prevent dreams (but not necessarily prevent Vaermina or her followers from affecting your sleep or giving you nightmares anyways). I just wanted to make that distinction.

While I wouldn’t doubt Vaermina might torment the Vestige in their sleep as a payback, I doubt the Daedric Prince would care enough to do it constantly (just the feeling that I got when I finished the Stormhaven questline was that Vaermina wasn’t too perturbed by being thwarted. Her “imprisoning” the Vestige in her realm was half-hearted as well; you could easily leave. Like she had much bigger fish to fry than you).

In regards to House Ravenwatch and sexuality again: I wanted to state more bluntly that No, I do not think the vampiric family members have sex with each other because they keep referring to each other as "brother" and "sister" (and to Verandis as "father") in canon. Yes, I know they're probably not ACTUALLY related to each other, but still. Instead, I think they have rampant naked parties with fully willing fully adult mortal participants. Let's be honest: there's got to be at least as many mortals in Tamriel who think vampires are hot as there are people in our world that think vampires are hot...Also. You know. Kalin. Half naked. On the table. Just saying.

PLEASE NOTE: Elyssa Arboretum is NOT the actual name of my character. I changed her last name for this story because...well....I'm a little shy. If you ever meet someone in game that has a name similar but not exact, it MIGHT be me. I usually like being on my own, as social situations can cause me great stress (especially if they're strangers). I am so sorry, and I greatly appreciate your understanding...

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She was staring at a wall.

….

…….

To be fair, it was a very nice wall.

…

….

….Although it did take her more than a moment’s time to realize she was staring at it sideways.

…

…And even longer to realize that she was staring at it sideways because she was lying down.

Groaning out of partial frustration, Elyssa heaved herself into a sitting position.

A soft bed and warm blankets were there to greet her, and they were inviting enough that she was sorely tempted to just go back to sleep.

But the longer she sat there, the faster the memories of the previous days nagged at her:

High Rock.

Blood fiends.

A plot to conquer the entirety of Rivenspire by a grieving and spiteful Breton noble.

The usual.

….

……She had to know what time it was.

Covers flung wide, she jumped out of bed. Or tripped, rather; a creak in her back found her eagerness a bit disagreeable. And it took a bit rubbing out her muscles to get her poor back to stand up straight.

But she hurried to make her way downstairs, whether her sore back liked it or not, when she heard the echoes of a conversation.

Gwendis and Melina were both there in the main hall. Gwendis was literally lounging on top of her coffin, her arm lazily hanging over her eyes as if she meant to sleep like that.

Melina was at the table, toying with an array of colorful runestones.

“Good morning, Elyssa,” Melina cheerfully greeted her as she approached.

“Morning, Melina. Morning Gwendis.”

Gwendis only gave a grunt in response.

Elyssa took a spot next to Melina, watching her as she carefully examined one rune at a time before placing them into different, colorful piles.

“Did you sleep well?” Melina asked, frowning and squinting closer to her own hand when she noticed the rune she held had its surface defaced.

“Better than well. I think this was the best sleep I’ve had since…it’s got to have been weeks...I feel fantastic…”

Melina chuckled a little. “Well if you get such wonderful sleep in our home, perhaps you should stay with us then! At least, for a while. We get so few guests; I find it a little exciting to have someone new with us. And, provided you’re still interested, I’d love the opportunity to show you a few basic enchanting techniques. You know…when all this…ah, bloodfiend business is over.”

Elyssa perked up with a grin. “I think I’d really like that. And maybe you could take a look at that book I got, the one I told you about? It really doesn’t make a lick of sense to me, and it would be great if someone could translate it into something more ‘beginner level’.”

“Oh of course, dear. I’ll certainly give it a try when we’re all a little less pre-occupied…”

“Wake me up when the world’s ending,” Gwendis moaned, still lounging on her perch.

“Is she all right?” Elyssa asked, leaning towards Melina.

“Oh she’s fine. Just cranky after scouting out half of Rivenspire for Adusa. She’ll be better after she gets some rest….”

Melina’s eyes narrowed at Gwendis. “She’d feel even better if she actually bothered to go inside her coffin instead of sleeping on the hard stone lid...”

“That requires getting up…” Gwendis complained.

Melina gave a sigh, then went back to her rune sorting.

But Elyssa continued to stare at Gwendis, lost in thought.

“Do vampires dream?” She asked, absentmindedly.

“Of course we do,” Melina replied. “My favorite dreams involve handsome men, coming to sweep me off my feet and take me far away to their extravagant and elaborate castle where we watch the stars and raise our nineteen adopted children together…”

“Which, for Melina, is nineteen too many,” Gwendis chimed in with a chuckle.

“Oh hush you. If you’re too tired to lift a coffin lid than you’re too tired to make fun of my fantasies.”

“Do you really want nineteen children?” Elyssa asked.

“Well…” She started with a bit of a grimace, “Maybe not quite THAT many….But I do want at least a child or two. I adore children, they can be so sweet sometimes…”

She stared with melancholy as she traced the face of a beautiful rune.

“Never making assumptions….never judging you…” She continued, solemnly.

“Breaking all the furniture in the house,” Gwendis remarked with a more lighthearted air.

“I suppose they can also be quite destructive too,” Melina gave out a little laugh. “But what about you, Elyssa? Have you ever thought about children?”

Elyssa made a face. “I think my horse is enough of a handful…”

She straightened up in a panic when she remembered her horse.

“Wait, my horse! I put her around back in that shed place like Ophelia told me to, but I forgot to ask: was that really okay? What if the bloodfiends got to her? Should I go check on her?”

Melina patted her hand reassuringly just as she stood.

“Don’t fret there, dear. The bloodfiends tend to lean away from anything that doesn’t smell like food, and our scent is all over these grounds. It wards the little monsters away from our beautiful castle.”

Elyssa sat back down out of relief.

“Besides,” Melina added, “Our beloved little goat would have been eaten a long time ago if it were otherwise.”

“That goat!” Elyssa groaned. “I mean, speaking of kids and destruction: your goat wouldn’t stop headbutting me as I was trying to take off my horse’s tack, and I was very nearly tempted to kick him straight into your lake. How do you get him to stop?”

“Elyssa!” Melina chastised with a cluck. “That’s no way to treat Kalin.”

“Yes but—“ Elyssa cut off as those words wormed their way into her head. “Wha….”

She turned to Melina, face contorted in a mixture of utter confusion with a touch of horror. “What? But I thought Kalin was the name of your…”

“Our resident Weregoat, yes.”

“Your resident… what?”

“Were. Goat.” Melina said with precise articulation.

Elyssa stared at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “You’re pulling my leg.”

“Me?” Melina asked, offended and with her hand firmly at her heart. “Why I’d never!”

That did nothing to convince Elyssa.

“Gwendis…” Elyssa sighed, turning to the lounging vampire. “Is there such thing as Weregoats?“

Gwendis lazily lifted her arm to give her a side eye. “I mean, I think you should really focus on apologizing to Kalin for thinking about throwing him into the lake…Ya got some priorities you need to sort here…”

Elyssa flushed in embarrassment. She’d never heard of a weregoat before. But then, she’d never heard of friendly vampires until just yesterday. And someone did tell her once that werebears were an actual thing…

“All…All right…” Elyssa said, slowly. Not quite fully prepared to believe. “Then when do weregoats transform?”

“Why, none other than the evening of every second Morndas of the month. Which, I believe, was yesterday. Is that not correct, Gwendis?”

“Yeee-ep.” Gwendis replied, lazily letting the word hang in the air.

“Okay,” Elyssa said, a little less confident in herself. “But why a goat, of all things?”

“Please,” Melina said, “Do I look like Hircine? For all we know, the Daedric Prince of the Hunt punishes those who scorn him with this…awful curse. Such poor people might be used as fodder in the Prince’s hunting games. All the more reason why he needs to stay, safe and sound, with us.”

Elyssa gave Melina a critical eye. The vampire had been a bit overdramatic in the way she’d said “awful curse”, but otherwise it seemed she was serious.

Gwendis, likewise, seemed fairly serious too, even as she kept lounging on her coffin lid.

Elyssa sighed, defeated.

“I guess I really should apologize to Kalin for getting irritated with him…”

“If you still don’t believe us, you can check out his tail,” Gwendis chipped in, “Ask if he’ll drop his pants and show you his hindquarters.”

Elyssa flushed red, and was about to reply that she would not, under any circumstances, ask to see the Dunmer’s posterior.

But a strangled noise brought her attention back to Melina, and her eyes narrowed in as the lady vampire struggled to keep a straight face.

“You…” Elyssa accused. “You both are pulling my leg after all!”

Melina released the laughter she had apparently been holding in, and Gwendis was happy to chuckle alongside her.

“Come on, Mel,” Gwendis accused, “We had something here.”

The other’s laughter died down to a grin.

“Oh but Gwendis, I think you went a little too far with that one. If she honestly asked Kalin to bare himself…you know how he gets…He’d probably acquiesce.”

��But that was the best part about it.” Gwendis grinned back.

“Well I don’t think it’s very nice,” Elyssa grumbled.

“Come on.” Gwendis said “We’re just teasing ya a bit. A little hazing just to check if you’re good with our House and all.”

“Besides,” Melina added. “It was positively adorable that you were willing to believe in weregoats.”

“Yeah. I’m just so gullible aren’t I?” Elyssa replied bitterly, remembering what the Count had told her last night about being a little too trusting of people.

“Come now, dear.” Melina said, patting her hand. “We’re sorry. Truly. And how about I put my money where my mouth is and give you extra runestones for your next shipment as a little apology gift?”

“I guess…” She replied, trying to refrain from any signs that free stuff had indeed perked up her mood just slightly.

She found out she didn’t need to put much effort into that; the Count himself emerged from his study to interrupt.

“Good morning, Elyssa. May I have a word with you?” The statement was short, sweet, and a bit curt. Although that could have just been his High Elven accent.

“Do something naughty while we were gone, did ya?” Gwendis grinned at her just as Elyssa got up to join him.

“Wha—No! Of course not!”

Gwendis’ chuckle seemed to almost follow her as she joined Verandis by the bookshelves. This time, he forewent a book in favor of leaning against the shelves, his arms crossed while he regarded her carefully.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Like a rock.” She stretched out her back a little with a wince. “I even woke up feeling a little like a rock.”

“Probably because you spent the better part of the night sleeping on my floor. If I hadn’t decided to venture upstairs to dabble with a little more alchemy, you’d have woken up there too. Why didn’t you drink the potion while you were in bed?”

“I did!” Elyssa cheerfully replied, holding a finger up, “But then I thought it would be a good idea to fetch a little more wine to wash it down.”

His eyebrows rose as he gave her a pointed look

“I mean,” Elyssa continued, her hands dropping to her side again, “At the time it seemed like a good idea. Obviously it’s not such a good idea after the fact.”

The Count stared at her critically for a good while before he closed his eyes with a sigh. When he re-opened them, he was back to contemplative again.

“You’re lucky you suffered no serious injuries; you could have easily gained yourself a concussion. It seems the Divines do more than simply gift you powerful light magic: it appears they’re also the only things that are keeping you alive.”

“Hey!”

“Which brings me to the reason I called you here. I took the liberty of making a full batch of sleeping draught for you. The bottles are on a tray upstairs labeled with their purpose and your name.”

“Really?” Elyssa’s face lit up; the potential to actually get decent sleep was literally being handed to her. “Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. This stuff is fantastic; I didn’t dream at all after drinking it.”

“Which is something I need to warn you of. As you’ve discovered for yourself, the draught places you in a very deep sleep. Too deep to dream…and most certainly too deep to be easily roused. If someone were to grab you or hurt you, you will likely not awaken. Make sure to never take a dose unless you are absolutely certain of your safety.”

She was much less enthusiastic about this caveat; inn rooms were expensive, and camping was often inevitable for a lot of places.

“So…I probably shouldn’t drink any if it’s just me and my sleeping roll out in the open...”

“I would severely recommend against that. Instead, if you absolutely cannot sleep and cannot find a safe haven, take a quarter dosage. It will not rid you of your dreams, but it will help keep you from a restless night without sacrificing your ability to respond to potential threats.”

She gave him a wry smile. “Aaaaand let me guess; I’ll have to come back to you every time I run out, won’t I? Should I start looking for a house in Rivenspire?”

He waved the questions away. “No need. I’ve written down the recipe for you. Even if you do not feel comfortable brewing it yourself, you need only take the instructions to any community’s resident alchemist. It’s straightforward enough that any one of them should be able to provide it for you.”

She nodded and mimicked his stance to recline against the bookshelves, albeit from the opposite end. Silence hung in the air, and he was still regarding her carefully.

“…That’s not all you called me here for. Is it?” Elyssa finally spoke up.

“No, it’s not.” Verandis sighed. She could tell from his very tone he was contemplating his words carefully. “Elyssa…have you considered spending time in Wayrest for a while? There’s a flower festival that happens every year around this time, I believe. I can only vouch for what I’ve seen from afar, but it’s does seem a rather popular event…”

She stared at him incredulously. “We’re in the middle of a situation where bloodfiends and vampires are trying to take over the entire province…”

“Indeed. And we have more than enough people here to handle it.”

She winced back as if he had struck her. ‘We don’t need you’ was the unspoken implication.

“Oh? Am I a burden to you now?” She spat back bitterly.

“Child—“

“So what that I’m young? That I have nightmares, and that you found out about them. Now I’m suddenly too pathetic to be of any use to you, is that right?”

“Listen to me—“

“No, you listen to me! What was all that stuff you told me last night? How it was okay to have weaknesses? I’m grateful you gave me potions to help with my sleep, but I’m not worthless just because I need them! And you!”

She pointed an accusing finger at him.

“You have no right to order me out of Rivenspire like this! You aren’t my parent. You aren’t my Emperor. You’re not even the King of Rivenspire.”

She could tell, from the way his face perceptively changed, that the last statement hit a mark. But she was too angry to care.

“No. I’m going to stay right here. I’m going to help defeat Baron Montclair. I’m gonna fight a whole bunch of bloodfiends to reach him…” She stared him down, fists clenched at her side, “And there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me.”

He stared back at her, calmly watching for an indication that she was finished.

“Elyssa…” When he finally spoke, it was soft, slow, and soothing. “I do not believe I ever said you were worthless or pathetic.”

“And yet you’re ordering me to go off prancing at a flower festival.”

“I’m not ordering you to do anything, child. I’m merely making a suggestion. A suggestion based on what I’ve seen and what you’ve told me…You need a moment to relax and recover. One cannot keep shouldering so many burdens without cracking underneath their pressures.”

“But I’m also needed here. Back at Shornhelm, you said I had powerful light magic. Better than most.” She reminded him. “And that I could be a great help in all this, since we’re fighting people whose very skin cracks under the light…”

“And, to an extent, I stand by those words. Light magic is notoriously tricky to learn compared to the other elements, and yet it seems to come to you as easily as breathing does. This is unheard of, particularly for someone at your age. There are those who would even go so far as to call you a prodigy, myself included.”

The unexpected praise took a little of the edge off her rage.

“But you’re still inexperienced, and it’s painfully obvious you have not had any formal training in combat; your footwork is sloppy and you leave far too many openings for your opponent to take advantage of. This might not be particularly risky when dealing with mindl0ess bloodfiends, creatures which have very little ability to strategize. But the full-fledged vampires in Montclair’s army won’t hesitate to use that against you. Furthermore, why aren’t you using a staff?”

She straightened up with pride. “Swords are cool.”

He paused as if this was not the answer he was expecting.

“A staff would make a tremendous improvement on your magicka flow.” He continued on with the same tone of voice. He had, apparently, elected to ignore her statement. “You might even see an additional threefold improvement in the manifestation of your abilities.”

“But it would leave me wide open. Greatswords help me guard against blows…”

“And so can staves…”

He walked over to retrieve his own firestaff that had been waiting in the corner for him. Holding it out for her to look at, he gestured to its components.

“A typical battlestaff is made with combat in mind, and part of that involves the possibility that you will need to block a blow if your opponent finds a way to come within reach. You can see here how my own weapon has its wood reinforced with a layer of metal. Furthermore, are the multiple runes embedded into its spine…”

His finger traced over the weapon. As if in response to its owner’s command, several symbols glowed across the length of it, brightly shining for a brief moment before settling back to normal.

“These, too, are designed with its protection in mind. And with the mind of maintaining consistent magicka flow. A staff that can no longer provide a steady resonation with its owner’s power is not only useless, but dangerous. Such a weapon risks a catastrophic explosion if the user was not careful; thus, the important of the runes. And as for its bladed tip…”

He gestured to the very top of the staff, in which the blade has been sharpened to fine edge.

“It is not unusual for many staff artisans to include a bladed tip in their work. It does nothing to impair the staff’s traditional function and offers the advantage to utilize it as a make-shift spear, should the need require it.”

He set the staff aside back in its designated corner.

“Staves may not be as….” He gave her an indulgent smile “…flashy as some other weapons, but they are nonetheless perfectly viable, and adaptable to changing situations on the battlefield.”

Elyssa grumbled, unimpressed. “First you order me out of the region, now you’re ordering me to change my weapon—“

“Just another suggestion, Elyssa. A suggestion,” The Count interrupted with wry smile. He went to return to his books once again.

“As you say, Father.” She mockingly shot back. She waited for a moment to see if he’d react to that, if only just a little bit. But her frustration grew a tad when it was clear he was utterly unfazed by the title, continuing on in his books without so much as a raised eyebrow.

She grumbled again, and turned to leave the library.

“And please do not forget to eat before you leave, my daughter.” He called after her.

She froze in the doorway, and took a moment to glance back at him; her face full of surprise.

His reading was as focused as it always was, but he did pause to look up when he noticed her watching.

“Something wrong?” He asked, and the very end of his mouth seemed to twist ever so slightly in a smile that almost looked….devious.

“N-no…” She replied shakily, the surprise lining her face beginning to tinge just slightly with mortification.

She thought the damned vampire elf would be too serious to give much of a reaction, let alone throw her comment back in her face.

“Then by all means: do try to make me proud out there.” He turned the page and returned to his books, still with that damnable little smile.

“I---“ Elyssa closed her mouth almost as soon as she’d opened it, before she said anything she might later come to regret, and decided it was far better to just turn around and walk away.

She could hear Gwendis’ muffled, gentle laughter beside her as she passed the coffins, and it only made her more determined to try and keep the red from her face from showing; it was likely most of the vampiric members of the household had overheard.

Melina, too, seemed to struggle with her own smile as Elyssa passed her.

“Oh,” Melina said. “I believe Ophelia made some honey bread this morning, if that pleases you, dear sister.”

“Shut up.” Elyssa muttered back, and made haste for the guest room before either of them could comment further.

She ignored the tray of alchemy bottles that had been set aside for her on the table, deciding she could figure out the logistics of safely storing them in her pack later. Once safely within the walls of her temporary bedroom, she made a beeline for her gear.

She was quickly getting used to putting it on; the intricacies that went into the chainmail underside and the straps that accompanied the plate outer layer did not seem to trouble her as much as it did weeks ago.

Her feet brought her to stand in front of the mirror, admiring her work. She looked almost like a real soldier.

Honorary member of the Lion Guard, Elyssa Arboretum.

The memory of the guard announcing this while offering the suit of tailored armor played in her head. It was to be expected: in spite of all the things she had (somehow) managed to accomplish, she wasn’t actually a soldier. She had no training in their regiment…nor was she even technically a citizen of High Rock.

‘You’re footwork is sloppy and you leave too many openings’

‘It seems the Divines do more than simply gift you powerful light magic: it appears they’re also the only things that are keeping you alive’

These new words began to rotate in her head, churning into doubts.

Most of her opponents, thus far, had either been werewolves overcome by their animalistic desires, nature corrupting spirits, mindless zombies, or clumsy bandits and disorganized cultist members…None of them had combat styles that could be comparable to word “finesse”. So her usual method of brute forcing her way with powerful spears of light magic before swinging her greatsword around in a haphazard manner had always worked out. Tactics, strategy, and footwork were never things she ever thought about on a regular basis.

Even with Angof the Gravesinger...he almost seemed like the more she fought with him, the more he just…gave up. As if his motivation to defeat her was shriveling away like the very vines he failed to grow. Most of his necromantic abilities didn’t stand a chance against the element of light; she barely even needed to concentrate to sweep the floor clear of his zombies. They faded to dust almost as soon as she touched them with even the dimmest glow of her power. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that she had plenty of help at her side at the time…

….

...What if she’d just been lucky so far in her opponents?

That all of her “deeds” were nothing more than the culmination of her brute forcing her own “prodigy-like” magic and having the “Gods’ luck” on her side?

…..

….Was she actually making a difference?

She struck a pose in the mirror, hoping to look impressive decked out in her armor…but her rounded cheeks and short stature did nothing to wipe away the traditional, youthful appearance of a Breton.

Why couldn’t she have inherited at least a little of her Imperial father’s more chiseled features?

She stuck her tongue out at herself, and was greeted with an even more childish sight as a result. Fully frustrated, she grabbed her pack and stuck a few of her things in it.

She frowned at the alchemy bottles; it was times like these that she wished she had a bigger protective bottle case in her pack. She was grateful that he made her so much, but there was just a few too many to fit.

And she was hungry.

…She huffed, and decided she’d have to figure out the problem of the bottles later.

As she made her way downstairs, she caught sight of Gwendis and Melina chatting at the dining table; Gwendis finally appeared to have made it off her coffin. Elyssa was almost tempted to throw a teasing comment at her for that.

Further downstairs was the basement level.

She’d been told it was always kept locked, mostly so that the household (both vampire and servant) could have a place of privacy away from any visiting guests. The main kitchen was down there, however, and so she found herself knocking at the basement door.

“Why good morning to you, Elyssa!” The cheerful face of an older, gray haired Imperial woman greeted her.

“Good morning, Ophelia. Melina told me you have some honey bread all made up?”

“I do. I do indeed; my lady must have smelled it from the hall. Come in, sweetie, and I’ll cut you a few slices.”

The basement of Ravenwatch castle was, perhaps, even more homely than its main hall. Reminiscent of the guest suite, there were no gargoyle statues or eclectic furnishings (save for the two coffins in the center of the room, one of which had to be Melina’s). A roaring fireplace lit up the place brighter than the other rooms, perhaps for the benefit of the servants as they had their own separate room nearby.

Workstations filled with alchemy ingredients and enchanting components lined the walls. A mysterious door to an even deeper cellar was in the far corner (she was told it was strictly forbidden to anyone not of the House; and that only made her slightly more curious about it). Finally, there was a full kitchen to the side; much nicer than the kitchenette of the upstairs guest suite.

Ophelia wasn’t the only servant awake; the others were out and about as well.

The Breton, Estelle, was by the fire, working on some sort of sewing. She was the only one Elyssa hadn’t formally met; they told her she was of a skittish disposition, particularly around strangers. From what was mentioned, the Count had found and rescued her from bandits who had badly abused her. Until she got used to a new person, it was advised for that individual to leave her alone unless absolutely necessary.

Anise, a Bosmer, was at the nearby dining table, a table that was a much smaller twin to the grander one of the main hall. She….definitely looked like she was still asleep, her small head propped up by her arms at the table. Narcolepsy was something Ophelia had mentioned; apparently Anise had trouble finding someone to hire her in a ‘traditional’ job because of her condition. But the household wasn’t perturbed by the idea of narcolepsy, and had hired her practically on the spot the moment she revealed she was perfectly comfortable with the idea of serving vampires.

Ophelia herself was busy cutting an impressively large portion of an equally impressively large loaf of sweet smelling bread. Elyssa recalled that when she had previously asked what the Imperial thought about living here, the older woman had merely scoffed. For Ophelia, it was just tradition; her family had served House Ravenwatch for a handful of generations. She had literally grown up in the castle. So, naturally, she was quite fine with it all.

Kalin, one of the ones Elyssa had spoken to the most (but ironically knew the least about), was lounging about at the wall near the kitchen, eyeing her carefully. The only information she had on the Dunmer was that he was the oldest and longest serving of all the mortals who stayed there.

“So our guest yet lives…” He said, that slow sardonic drawl of his hanging in the air. “Do tell; how does it feel knowing you survived a night in a vampire’s stronghold?”

“Got better sleep here than in most inn rooms.” She responded, grinning. “You all seem to get along really well with each other.”

He laughed. “Indeed….we’re quite….close with each other…”

“Kalin,” Ophelia warned.

“Some of us ….closer…than others.”

“Kalin.”

“You might even say it’s a regular Ebony Flask around here--”

Ophelia banged her knife down flat with a loud clunk, staring him down with a none-too pleased grimace.

“What’s an Ebony Flask?” Elyssa asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“Now you see? She’s only going to start asking more questions…” Ophelia said.

“What…Is it something bad?”

“Not at all…” Kalin continued, an exceptionally wolfish grin lining his face. “Ophelia is only upset because sometimes even she—“

“That’s it!” Ophelia pointed her knife at him from afar. “You. Out of my kitchen!”

“My work here is done…” Kalin stated in monotone, impish grin still on his lips as he strolled out the basement doors.

He held it open for Gwendis, who had found her way downstairs.

“Gwendis!” Elyssa approached her “Kalin said it’s like a regular Ebony Flask around here; what does that mean?”

Whatever emotion Gwendis’ face had before vanished as she stared off into the distance with pursed lips. She took a deep breath through her nose…

….Then turned and walked right back through the basement doors again.

“Wha-Gwendis?!”

“Never you mind that, sweetie.” Ophelia interjected with an almost strangled voice. “Why don’t you come and have some breakfast? I made you some eggs and bacon too; I think you could use the protein, going out to fight as you do. Might even put a little meat on those bones.”

Melina was next to come through the doors, clutching her satchel of runes and yawning all the while. And Elyssa immediately abandoned her breakfast plate to jump on the opportunity.

“Melina! Kalin talked about an ‘Ebony Flask’. What does he mean by that?”

Melina paused mid yawn, a curious expression forming on her face.

“Oh Elyssa…” She sighed. “I’m afraid I’m much too tired to have this conversation. We can have this talk after I’ve taken my rest…”

“My lady, I must protest!” Ophelia exclaimed.

Melina gained a rather mischievous smile at Ophelia’s outburst. “Very well. We can have this talk after I’ve taken my rest AND after Ophelia has gone to bed.”

“My lady, please.”

Elyssa grinned as Melina gave her a little wink. Seeing that, Ophelia’s protestations started to die down into more of a sputter.

“Herding cats around here…” Elyssa could hear Ophelia mutter under her breath as the older woman re-doubled her cleaning efforts. “Some days, I swear…”

But Elyssa was far more interested in what Melina was doing: heading towards one of the stone coffins in the main area of the room.

Melina caught sight of her following close behind.

“Curious, are we?” She asked with a slightly amused smile.

“I just want to see what’s in it.” Elyssa beamed back at her.

“What might you think is in it?” Melina cocked her head slightly.

“I…” Elyssa tried to think of all the vampire stories she knew. Which wasn’t very helpful. She knew they supposedly slept in coffins, but she never really heard any stories about what they slept with. “…Jewels?”

The lady vampire laughed. “I’m not a dragon!”

The coffin lid scraped across its base as she moved it, revealing a cushioned lining, a small horde of pillows and a patterned blanket. Though the outside was drab stone, the inside looked…rather homey. For a coffin.

“Not quite what you were hoping for?” Melina asked, as it seemed she noticed her dismay.

“I don’t know.” Elyssa frowned. “Why not just sleep in a bed then?”

The vampire bit at her lower lip in contemplation.

“Well…I can’t speak for the others…But in my case…” She shifted uncomfortably. “I--the first days of my new life were spent constantly under threat from the sun, even when I tried to sleep….especially when I tried to sleep. I developed a bit of a phobia for it. And after a while, I just started to feel…more at ease in places that were dark and enclosed.”

She fondly traced the edges of the lid. “Sleeping in a box of some sort is the easiest way to accomplish that. But they don’t usually make human shaped cargo boxes...And asking for one would likely raise too many questions…But coffins…”

The vampire waved towards her open resting place.

“...Coffins are requested all the time. Even coffins ordered to your exact specifications; no one ever bats an eye over measurements…It’s a convenience, really.”

“So…you could sleep in a bed if you wanted to?”

“The bed itself certainly wouldn’t kill us. But….our reactions aren’t always fast when we’re groggy and it’s the middle of the day, so if someone were to open the drapes on any of us while we lay exposed and slumbering…”

“But all of the windows here are glazed over; I could open all the drapes in the castle and the sun still wouldn’t touch you…And I mean…there can’t be that many people who would do something that horrible to you in the first place…”

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Elyssa.” Melina smiled kindly. “It isn’t true, and I think you know that, but it’s very sweet of you to say nonetheless. There are plenty of people out there who wouldn’t hesitate…so…Just…think of the coffin in the same way you’d think of a stuffed toy that a child would cling to; it brings me comfort and assurance to know the sun can’t touch me so long as I’m inside.”

“I’m guessing you’re going to sleep now?” Elyssa watched as Melina kicked off her shoes and settled down among the bright interior of her coffin.

“Mmmm…Indeed. I just simply can’t keep my eyes open any longer…” She sighed happily as she nuzzled one of her pillows. “Won’t you be a dear and close my lid for me?”

“Wait…” Elyssa gestured to the coffin opposite of hers. “Before I do, I wanted to ask: there’s five coffins total, but I thought there was only four of you…”

“Oh…that one would belong to my dear, sweet brother…” Melina lazily said, already with half lidded eyes. “You won’t likely meet him; he’s gone and locked himself in the cellar. Out of abundance of caution, mostly. He’s been having difficulties these days, and…oh, well, he’s such a sweetheart; he’d do anything to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone…”

“I see….” Elyssa said, suddenly solemn as she stared out towards the cellar hatch. “I hope he feels better.”

“Indeed, as do I. I so hate to think of him stuck down there, but it was his choice and my Lord approved…”

She let out another yawn. “Ah…oh, excuse me. I’m so sorry, Elyssa. But I must really bid you a good day; I cannot possibly stay awake a moment longer. Please promise you’ll stay safe. I’ve already become a bit fond of you, and I would hate it terribly if you were injured….”

“I’ll promise I’ll try not to die. Have a good night…erm…I mean day. Have a good day, Melina.”

Melina gave her one last, sweet smile as Elyssa pushed close the lid.

…It was a lot heavier than anticipated.

She had to shove her shoulder against it just to get it shut. The clunk of the stone finding the indentation on its base was louder than she’d thought it would be and caused her to jump.

Giving one last look towards the cellar hatch, as if expecting another vampire to appear any moment, Elyssa went back to the table. Eggs, bacon, and honey bread were shoveled down as fast as she could manage.

~~~

She walked out of the basement a little too full; Ophelia had insisted on giving her a second helping of eggs and bacon, and had even tried for a third. Given the sort of conversations that had accompanied breakfast, Elyssa had a nagging feeling that the older woman had been desperately trying to distract her from Ebony Flasks. And, of course, that did nothing but make her more curious.

Chances were, Ophelia would manage to talk Melina out of explaining it later.

So instead of heading towards the front door with her pack, she made a quick beeline for Gwendis, who had gone back to lounging atop her coffin.

“Psst….Gwendis? Gwendis, what’s an Ebony Flask?” She gave the vampire a few pokes in the arm that was covering her eyes. The skin was oddly cold compared to a mortal’s.

…And the vampire didn’t budge.

“I know you know. You had that look on your face when I asked about it before, so don’t think you can pretend otherwise.”

And the vampire still didn’t budge.

“Aww come on. You can’t be asleep already. And even if you were, there’s a tasty mortal inches from your face nudging you with her fingers. If that doesn’t wake up a vampire, I don’t know what would. So what’s an Ebony Flask? Is it a type of skooma? Do you all get together to use skooma? I won’t judge; I promise.”

She could see Gwendis’ lips twitching against her pale face, but otherwise she continued to remain still.

Elyssa huffed. “Fine. Be that way. I give up. Have a good nigh—day. Day! Ugh. Whatever.”

She passed by Verandis’ study on her way out. He was still in there, working away at his books, as usual. Elyssa was partly tempted to go in and ask him about Ebony Flasks and what that had to do with House Ravenwatch.

But she was still too irritated at him to even make the attempt, and that pushed all other thoughts away; so much so that she simply headed outside without so much as a ‘goodbye’ to him.

The bright sun greeted her as soon as she pushed open the heavy oak doors. She stopped to stretch out as she basked in the warmth.

“Hey don’t forget…” Gwendis’ voice came echoing through the halls behind her, proving that she hadn’t been asleep after all, “…Watch out for the weregoats out there.”

Elyssa’s irritation was matched only by the intensity of how hard she slammed their front door shut.

“I hate you all.” She muttered under her breath. Not that she completely meant it.

But her irritation only grew further as she noticed a bloodfiend at the edge of town, happily gorging itself on a dead citizen.

…

……It was like breathing; such an apt description that Verandis had given her earlier that it became hard for her to think of it otherwise.

Warmth filled the tips of her fingers, a growing sensation that shifted through her palm like a liquid.

Coalescing. Expanding. An extension of her arm, of her will. She often found she only needed to hold the image of a spear in her mind for it to form. And with two steps taken, her momentum helped to send the whole thing forward, hurling through the air.

What was only mere moments resulted in a motionless bloodfiend, a bright spear of solid-like light skewered into its chest.

Unfortunately, it seemed she attracted some attention; another figure lurking in the shadows manifested itself right next to the dead bloodfiend. She readied herself another spear….

…Only to then dissipate the light in her hands when she realized the second figure had cat ears.

And she winced when a rather irate Adusa-daro came towards her.

“H-Hi…Adusa….” She nervously greeted.

“Adusa would appreciate…” The Khajiit began with a glower. “…If the young one would please stop throwing such powerful holy magic so close to this one’s fur…”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just didn’t see you there when you’re dressed in all black like that!”

“Yes yes; this is exactly the sort of thing Adusa is worried about…” Adusa grumbled, but she didn’t actually seem too upset at her.

Then again, it was difficult to tell; the Khajiit’s black and flowing cloak was surely thick enough to ensure no sunlight ever peaked through, and most definitely dark enough to obscure any body language. It looked to be made of the same fine material as the one she’d seen Verandis wear the other day, and she was sure that, like Verandis’, it held a dark grey outline of their house crest on the back as well.

…Although Verandis’ cloak didn’t exactly have cat ear protrusions on the hood; that would have been a definite improvement. (She made a mental note to herself to tell him to get some cat ears on his cloak. Since he was so eager to give her ‘suggestions’ before, he surely wouldn’t mind receiving ‘suggestions’ in return.).

Elyssa frowned as she attempted to figure out where among the bloodfiends the vampire had been lurking. She only found more bloodfiends.

Which only made her frown more because…well….bloodfiends.

“How can you stand all this going on right outside your doorstep? With these poor people like….like this…?”

She vigorously gestured towards a few of the creatures shambling close by.

“Patience, young one. Tell this one; what is the most important thing we must focus on?”

“Killing Montclair?”

“Yes, good. And what else?”

Elyssa strained herself to think: what else was there besides killing Montclair and dispatching bloodfiends?

“….Er…Killing Montclair…a second time…?”

Adusa groaned. “The living, Elyssa. Living people are important, yes? We must kill Montclair and make sure any living survivors are safe. These are the two most important of all things that we must do.”

She could hear the khajiit grunt in disgust as she waved towards the bloodfiends.

“These….creatures. They can wait until later…The dead will always be here later…The living? Not so much.”

“Sorry; I guess I just took it for granted that we’d help the survivors. I mean…why wouldn’t we? But these bloodfiends here…they do still bother you…right?” Elyssa asked in a quiet voice.

Adusa was in the process of taking down fabric around the face area, which suggested that the cloak, like typical Breton hoods, had a built in face mask.

“We may not have always spoken much to the people here…” Adusa said. Pain on her face as cat-like eyes scanned over the town. “But the ones of Crestshade…they were good people. They do not deserve such a fate. It is….very, very difficult to watch. These townsfolk deserve to be put to rest, and not wander like filthy beasts.”

“Is there a chance that Montclair would use these ones for his army?”

The khajiit shook her head.

“Look at them, young one. They are baking in the sun, and they do not even realize it hurts…Montclair would not win this war on the backs of freshly burnt carcasses falling to pieces. No, the bloodfiends sent here were clearly only meant to coax the people out of their homes and scattered on the winds. To turn to the curse any of those who could not make it out…less people he would have to cow to his would-be rule…”

Adusa’s fangs protruded as she softly snarled, her ears hunched back. “…This one also thinks he may have been trying to mock us a little as well…Send bloodfiends to attack the town while we all were away as an insult to all of our efforts…”

Elyssa remained silent.

She didn’t know how to respond except to look out again amongst the bloodfiends stumbling across the ground…

Their bodies did seem like they were coming apart at the seams; many of them had sun wounds that burrowed straight through their skin, creating gaping holes that only hindered their movements more.

“We must rest and work and focus on the two most important things, Elyssa. Never forget the priorities. And speaking of which: Adusa is glad to have caught you before you left. She has need of you. You will help, yes?”

“What needs to be done?”

“Adusa has been scouting to see how far Montclair’s army has taken its curse, how far it has spread. They have taken over a small town called Moira’s Hope in the south. This one could smell the blood of the living there...but there are also many, many bloodfiends as well. She will need help to cut a path through…and perhaps help with the survivors as well; they are more likely to trust a fellow mortal than Adusa, and there may be need to get them out quickly…”

“Right! I’m with you; I just need to go and get Justice ready…”

“Justice?” Adusa followed Elyssa around back to their stables.

“My horse.”

“…Is that not…How does one say? ‘A little on the nose’?”

“Oh I didn’t name her that. That was the name she came with. If you can believe it, I got her for free from this cranky old Imperial man.” Elyssa’s face screwed up as she recalled the memory. “All eight of his horses were white Imperial thoroughbreds, and ALL of them were named Justice….”

Adusa looked at her with incredulity. “…Did he not have trouble telling them apart?”

“He was so angry; I was afraid to ask too many questions.” She flashed Adusa a nervous smile.

“Very generous, a whole horse….”

“I don’t think he could afford to take care of them all after he’d been displaced from the war. And I think he was also looking to help other citizens of Cyrodiil, because he only offered her to me when he found out I was a fellow refugee…”

Her comment cut short and her muscles tensed up when she came face to face…with him.

He was hanging out, casually, by the awning of the stables, right next to Justice.

He lifted his head to watch her as she approached.

Her arch-nemesis.

The bane of her existence.

The damned goat.

Her blue eyes narrowed in on him; her stance braced for impact.

He stared back, creepy little sideways pupils watching her as if to size her up.

She took a few sidesteps to the right, maintaining eye contact.

He mirrored her maneuver, his soft bleating filled with obvious faux innocence.

She stopped.

He stopped.

The irritating fiend was playing hardball.

Slowly, she inched her way towards her horse, eyes dead center on her foe in anticipation of the slightest mo—

“What...” Adusa’s voice intervened, “…In the name of the blessed moons are you doing?”

“Your goat is pure ev—“

Only a moment; Elyssa had only looked away from her dreaded foe for a moment, and the beast, sensing weakness, lowered its horned head to charge. Just barely was she able to escape the horror of it all by scrambling up the stable post with a yelp.

Adusa stood where she was, her arms crossed, and surveyed the scene with eyes aglow with amusement.

“Hibiscus must like you. She does not usually react in such a manner with anyone else…”

“You call this liking?” Elyssa grimaced as she clung to the stable post and tried to shoo the goat away by waving one foot while trying to balance on the other. “Look at the eyes, Adusa! Those are the eyes of a bloodthirsty creature who has killed before…and will kill again!”

“Speaking as one who knows bloodthirsty creatures, Adusa can assure that Hibby is both safe and does not consume blood,” Adusa began to make her way back around the castle. “This one will see you at Moira’s Hope, then.”

“Wha-you’re leaving me??!” Hibiscus the goat was already making the attempt to scale up the stable walls just to get to her enemy.

“Adusa has every confidence you can handle little Hibby. If not, Hibby’s treat bag is at the right of yourself. Feed her no more than three whole apples; a fat Hibby would make Anise very concerned.”

And with a wave over her shoulder, the hooded Adusa was gone.

Elyssa turned to her adversary.

“So….You’re a girl goat, huh? That’s quite a coincidence. I happen to be a girl human. We have so much in common; please stop trying to kill me.”

The horizontal goat pupils didn’t seem to falter, and she idly wondered if goats were carnivorous.

Her fingers strained as she tried to reach the treat bag, but she only ended up in an awkward, stretched out position with her torso still at the post and the weight of her upper half held up by her reaching fingers. She looked at her horse, who was calmly grazing at a pile of hay.

“A little help?” She asked, not actually expecting her horse to respond.

Sure enough, the horse stared back at her, unfazed and ignorant of her situation, before dipping its head to take in another mouthful of hay.

“First Adusa, now you; the double betrayal hurts just a little bit.” She said, purposefully overdramatic. If only to make herself feel better about the whole situation.

The goat seemed to be getting impatient, as it begun to ram its horned head against the sides of the stable. As if to try and knock her down.

“I have to wonder if you really are trying to kill me…” Elyssa winced as she made a solid lunge for an apple peeking out of the leather bag. Another effortful motion and an apple was tossed as far away as she could manage.

It was a gift from the Gods that Hibby’s priorities involved eating first and everything else second; Elyssa was finally free to drop down. Not necessarily in an elegant way, given her strained position; she ended up with a face full of hay, with her horse making the move to try and lick it off her face.

Straightened up with hay brushed off, she moved to get her horse’s tack on as quick as she possibly could before the demonic goat got back. Part of which required giving a jealous Justice an apple of her own to get her to cooperate.

Her weapons and pack at the ready, she hoisted herself up atop her steed; just in time to watch a distraught Hibby cower from Justice’s mightier hooves. Up high on a horse, she felt a bit more like a knight, regardless of whatever her image in the mirror had shown her before.

Ready to take on the world itself.

A click of the tongue and a flick of the reins, and she was well on her way.

Racing past the bloodfiends as the sun shone in the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Author note: Bold of you to assume Verandis wouldn’t adopt your rebellious mortal ass, Elyssa.

#verandis ravenwatch #the elder scrolls online #eso #gwendis #adusa #my fanfiction

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r00en · 4 years

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Still Good Chapter 5

Calculated Competition

All Might / Reader, Slight Aizawa / Reader

Aizawa never did like All Might but he always kept things professional at the very least with the occasional cold behavior and rude attitude, but this might be pushing it.

(Listen, lemmy self indulge in two hot guys fighting over the same girl but in dumb slow burn ways okay!?

EDITED: For all the horrible mistakes, it was bugging me)

Absolutely nothing could ruin All Mights day today. He had woken up with a smile and carried it through is morning routine. Even humming a bit as he packed is boring lunch and snacks for the day and shoved a few rice crackers in his mouth while changing. Standing in front of the mirror he tried his best to adjust the lopsided tie that hung lose around his neck, fix the drooping shoulders of his pinstripe suit and make sure his belt was tight enough to keep his pants snug on his skinny hips. His cheeks burned slightly as he tried to smooth out his hair only to watch it spring back into place. Useless. Why was he suddenly so worried about how he looked? 'Because there are millions of other good looking, younger men out there for her to pick from....'

That may have been true but so far she had shown no issue with his current look at all. He wasn't dirty at the very least. He could take pride in that much. And his cloths had to be baggy otherwise they would rip right off him each time he powered up. He couldn't carry around different pairs of clothing each time he wanted to, waste time changing back and forth. This was practical. Still...he felt stupid suddenly worrying about this sort of thing so late in the game. Is that what it was like for young men every day? Was it going to be like this for him from now on? The thought had him sulking a bit until he mind kindly reminded him of the cute, sweet, young nurse waiting for him at the coffee shop. Even the creepiness of that thought couldn't keep the smile from his face. Glancing down at his phone he nearly had a heart attack. He was going to be late! He already missed the first train that would get him there early, and now the second that would drop him right on time.

"Holy, stinking, super crap!" He was out the door so fast he would have to apologies to his neighbors for slamming the door hard enough to rock the foundation. With a bit of steam and a loud pop he was sprinting over root tops like his feet were on fire.

Hiding out in a back ally way was his best option to power down. The last thing he needed was reporters following him to school just yet, even less catching him having breakfast with a fellow coworker. No one knew All Might was working at UA. Very few people knew he was in town to stay yet. Low profile was best so he deflated with the rest of the trash, standing awkwardly next to a butcher shops old meat scraps. Fitting. Once he was sure no one saw him sneak in here, nor anyone coming from either direction less he look creepy stalking out of the darkness. Cost was clear and the coffee shop was in sight. And if he squinted real hard he could see his target standing by a few out door tables looking at her phone with worry. This would be the second time he made her wait, a habit he was really hoping he could break soon. Picking up a light job he made his way over. "H-hey sorry I'm late....again. Got held up at the station-" As that beautiful, bubbly face turned to greet him it was over cast by a dark shadow like figure that loomed behind her should like a bad omen. Coming into clear focus as he stopped just short of the two.

"The number one can't even have the manners to show up on time...can't say I'm surprised...." That sullen, annoyed voice. That mess of pitch black hair. Those blood shot angry eyes.

"Ah, Aizawa....what are you..." She answered his question before he managed to mutter it out. Thankfully as Toshi couldn't keep his slightly annoyance from seeping out at his fellow teacher. "Ah, Mr. Aizawa saw me waiting here and came to say hello! He said it's on his way to work every morning isn't that funny?"

Both men started at each other for a moment. Toshi didn't like that smirk he was wearing but was far to polite to do more than cough into his fist. "Yeah? What a coincidence. I had no idea you lived around here." There it was again, that smirk just hidden behind his capture scarf. "Small world. I figured I would grab a cup of coffee with a fellow colleague since I'm here. Catch her up on what's going on from the teachers perspective. Would be nice if we were all on the same page. Less troublesome. But it seems you beat me too it...." That sounded logical and if it was coming from anyone else; Mic for instance Toshi would have brushed it off with a smile. But this felt wrong. Toshi never mentioned his friendship with the new nurse to anyone save for Young Midoriya who of course had no contact with the teacher at UA. He must have happened on her while heading to work like he said and she mentioned their meet up in casual conversation. Could he be planning something devious? A plan made up on the fly so quickly? Toshi knew he wasn't Aizawa's favorite person. He often made that more than clear during his past meetings. Something about the spotlight rubbed the sullen hero the wrong way and All Might was a spotlight in and of himself. But she didn't look any different even with Aizawa looming behind her like a dark cloud of distaste. She just smiled at him, readjusting her glasses waiting for him to fully join what now seemed to be a group date.

He could deal with this. It wasn't like he planned on confessing to her any time soon, surely not today. He just needed to keep telling himself that this wasn't a date. Who cares if Aizawa was there? He could still talk to her! Swallowing the lump in his throat Toshi spurred forward with a happy, friendly smile.

"Me and ____-chan here are excited to start the school year together...isn't that right?" Toshi watched in horror as Aizawa moved his hand from his pocket to rest it on her head. Rubbing softly like she was some kind of cat. The action seemed to fluster her beyond believe and she held her glowing cheeks with embarrassment. "W-well it's surely an exciting time. With it being my first year living in Japan and working at UA of all places I really hope I can handle it." He was grinning that creepy grin again. She couldn't see from her perspective, head tilted down as she shyly fiddled with her fingers. It was directed at him. Why?! "You'll do fine. You're Recovery Girls own granddaughter, that counts for something. UA is filled with exceptional teachers and staff and you'll be no different." It all sounded so friendly but his tone, it was off.... Since when did Shota Aizawa pep-talk anyone? Let alone in that cheerful voice. "I'll buy you a coffee this time. As a welcome to the school. You don't mind....right All Might?" His voice was dripping with venom and all Toshi could do was nod. "Y-yeah...no problem."

The three made it inside with little to no issue, though Aizawa insisted on keeping himself firmly wedged between the two of them like some odd chaperon. Tossing Toshi rather loaded looks as the ordered and Aizawa payed, though at least he could enjoy the cute way she tried to order her own drink but fumbled with the odd names of coffee she never needed to use before. Toshi turned his head to keep his fellow teacher from seeing the pleased look on his face. Something was up and he wouldn't give Aizawa any more reason to be suspicious. Taking their seats Toshi decided it was best not to put up a fight at all and slid himself across from the two willingly. This was far better for conversation anyway and would have been the arrangement regardless. Rubbing his temple he let out a sigh, he was over thinking things. Aizawa just disliked him and was using this as some odd excuse to make his day harder. That's all this was. It didn't make him feel any better but he couldn't shake the feeling he deserved a bit of this given the circumstances. He was going after someone nearly twice is junior. He was being creepy again...thinking about it like that.

Suddenly she was talking, as if Aizawa wasn't there which put a mildly annoyed look on his face that please Toshi greatly. "So I had some questions about the game show last night. They kept flashing your catch phrase 'I am here' but they kept putting cotton candy around it....is that some sort of inside joke? I don't get it." He grinned, this would surely cement their friendship outside of work and put Aizawa off his teasing. "It's not that complicated, you see if you write out the phrase it's only a few character off from 'It's Cotton Candy!' so from time to time people make the reference." He motioned the kanji in the air as if she could follow though she seems a little lost. "Mmm...we sort of have that in english but the differences in words are not so extreme. Read and read are two different words written the same way but they are close in context. Don't even get me started on 'their'...Present Mic is going to have his work cut out for him. Grandmother said I should try and help with some of the more advanced classes but if I'm honest I'm not really the student type. If I make a mistake teaching kids I'll ruin them for life! No way I can take that responsibility on!"

Toshi wanted to say something like 'You'll make a wonderful teacher' or 'Everything you do is great don't worry!' but Aizawa was glaring at him again and didn't stop even when the waiter brought them their coffee. His was a simple tea, Aizawa apparently liked his black though she had some sort of foaming latte type drink that looked to be more milk than coffee. Just as sweet as she was. "You watched TV together last night?" That cold, spine tingling voice cut through their otherwise cheery cloud of a conversation and both Toshi and her were sent cowering from the angry dark aura drifting it's way closer to them. "A-aha...Toshi stopped by to get some help with his injured side on his way home last night. It was my fault...I offered him dinner and it would have been rude for him to say no. We ended up just watching TV and talking through most of the night. He had to explain so many things to me on the programs that I think I kinda ruined some of them..." She was shyly pulling at the wrapper of her straw and smiling at him from behind the rim of her glasses. As if the memory was enjoyable even if it was so recent. Aizawa made a 'tsk' sound and slumped forward.

"Didn't know you two were already so friendly, already on to first names... Moving a bit fast aren't you All Might?" They both sat confused for a moment trying to determine their colleagues motives and attitude. Toshi knew him as always standoffish and moody but this was something else. Only the sound of a rather loud and rather peppy ring ton cut through the tension at the table like a chirping knife. Scrambling for her phone she took one glance at the screen and waved her hand at Aizawa "S-sorry I need to take this do you mind?" While he looked like he most certainly did mind he did the decent thing a stood, only enough that she was still forced to brush most of her body against him as she pulled herself from the booth and headed to the door. Both men staring each other down during the whole ordeal until the fellow teacher flopped down with a grunt. "Don't tell me you like them younger..."

Toshi felt like someone dumped ice water over his head. He sputtered out a bit of his tea and took the excuse to hide his face behind his napkin. "I-I'm sorry I don't think I follow you." That earned him a glare. "You're not stupid so don't act like it. She might think it's cute but I don't." Toshi sat up a little straighter, leveling his own glare at the dark haired man. "I couldn't care less what you do with your time or your title All Might, but going after another employee seems a bit close to home even for you. Couldn't you just pick up any of your fans? Keep your privet business off school property? It would be troublesome if it came down on the school or you started drama between coworkers...." Toshi clenched his fists in his lap. Aizawa was always blunt but this was bordering on rude. Still he wasn't really 'wrong'. Mislead, condescending and indecent but not wrong. The thoughts swirling around inside Toshi were confusing yes but they were also honest. He didn't choose to feel this way and truth be told he wasn't even sure what he was feeling. It was all so new for him in so many different ways and the confrontation about them so harshly put was jarring. But he knew how he felt, and he hoped he knew how she felt. Glancing outside he watched her happily chat away on her phone. Cupping her mouth and speaking softly as people walked by as to not be rude. Once she caught him staring she smiled and gave him a little wave and he was sure he saw her cheeks paint a light pink. That smile meant the world to him and he would be damned if anyone, even a 'friend' was going to take that away from him.

Turning back to a pissed off looking Aizawa he cleared his throat. "I'm not sure what you know...how much she told you but if you think my interest in her is indecent...." he would be right, the dream he had last night was the epitome of it "Not that it's any of your business," He added, taking a sip of his tea for good measure. "...we are friends above all else. I offered to help her during her time at UA and we both enjoy each others company. I can't help but wonder what it matters to you Aizawa, it's not like you to poke around in other peoples business." If Toshi didn't know any better he could have sworn he saw a blush flash across the sullen mans face. Ever so slightly hidden as he scrunched down and used his scarf as a shield. "She wouldn't shut up about you..." Aizawa muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets so he could lounge back against the booth. "The second she saw me she told me she was meeting you and she had this 'look'...she's my age All Might...." Now he sounded like a protective older brother and Toshi couldn't find it in him to be angry about that. "And you're the symbol of peace. Think about her...your spot light comes with risks and pressure. And I wasn't just blowing smoke about the schools image. If this goes down wrong-" Toshi held up a hand and surprisingly it stopped his little speech. "If that's your concern I can assure you both of us are consenting adults. Nothing has gone on between us that is any of your concern...but has been nothing more than friendly."

Aizawa gave him a look that spilled over into disbelief. The way they looked at each other was not just on friendly terms. Even with all his intrusive behavior, blunt conversation and general looming presence the two of them oozed a level of chemistry Aizawa had never seen before. At least not in person. It was kind of disgusting to watch the great All Might all glassy eyed and smitten even in his weak state. And she was no better. It was easy to fluster her truth be told. He learned that the first day they met when he stood a bit too close to her and glared down at her trying to give off his 'just leave me alone' attitude without words. She all but hid behind her clip board and shuffled behind her tiny grandma for support. The great Paladin who could take a beating better than any pro hero on the market was out done by personal space and eye contact. Though he was loathed to admit it these two idiots were made for each other. She also had a pension for sticking her nose in other peoples emotional business, and from the way All Might carried himself the man needed a good scream cry or two.

Giving a shrug as if he was indifferent to his words Aizawa stood from his spot and started to lumber away. "I won't make this easy for you All Might. You haven't needed to fight for anything in a while...so call it a strategical test of will." His eyes wild and blown wide as he stared back at the number one hero, all teeth and unease. "You'll have to fight for it like the rest of us." And with that cryptic message he was off and out the door. She stopped him as he tried to sneak away and earned herself another head pat but it seemed like little else as Toshi watched his fellow teacher stalk off to towards the school. What the hell was that suppose to mean 'fight for it'? Wasn't that what he was already doing. Losing sleep and suffering though what he could only assume was cardiac arrest each time he had to so much as talk to her? It had only been a day since he even admitted his own feelings to himself and already he apparently had some twisted rivalry with a fellow teacher. Did that mean Aizawa had feeling for the new nurse too? Did they spend time together outside of work as well? Too many thoughts buzzed around inside his head and he downed his cooling tea in one gulp out of frustration.

"Sorry about that! Grandma needed some information on the applying student files I organized the other day. I messed up and forgot that here you guys use last names more often than first...." she was flustered but otherwise seemed normal. Sliding back into her seat but this time directly across from him. "My first real day as a nurse and it will be a seriously dangerous entrance exam. Talk about stressful. And speaking of what was up with Mr. Aizawa? He normally acts like he can't stand to be around me....strange change, maybe he fell out of bed this morning and hit his head..." the image was enough to make them both chuckle.

Toshi carefully, and oh so slowly reached out and brushed his fingers across her hand that was resting on the table. "Don't worry about either of them. You'll do great, you're more than qualified and your put your heart in everything you do. I'm sure those kids will be in good hands. Besides the entrance exam wasn't too bad for me when I started out." She suddenly had this funny look on her face. Puffy cheeks and glittering eyes. "Oh geez I wonder what a young Toshi looked like back then. I bet you were super tall right? Like much taller than your classmates?" she teased and it caused him to blush as it always did. "Something like that. I didn't look like this I can tell you that much...." "Ohh like a meat head? You know all buff and strong like your hero form?" She tried to pose and flex her arm a bit and it worked in getting him to laugh along with her. "Nothing like that...I'll see if I can dig up some old pictures. Young Midoriya would love that I'm sure...."

With that they both lulled into a quiet conversation about Midoriya's training, her own work with Recovery Girl, the day ahead filled with filing papers and filling out forums. Anything and everything. And as they spoke they leaned closer and closer to each other until to the outside world it looked far more like a date than either of them intended. Their hands still brushed close on the table.

#All Might/Reader #all might #all might x reader #Toshinori Yagi #toshinori x reader #fanfiction #MHA #my hero acadamy

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immortalbutonlybyname · 4 years

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Reviewing Dramas I have watched part 3

My rating system goes like this: 1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn’t watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again (or for movies may watch again), 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved

TV Series

Pinocchio: 4/5

Trigger warning: Suicide, Victim blaming, attempted murder, actual murder

Pinocchio is about a kid who, after a massive tragedy blown up and twisted by the media causes his mother to attempt a murder suicide by throwing them both in the ocean, gets washed ashore a small neighboring island and takes on the identity of a old man with dementia’s deceased son. Him along with his “niece” who has Pinocchio syndrome, where one will get uncontrollable hiccups whenever they lie, must work to become reporters for two different goals and find themselves facing a giant conspiracy and a question of fact versus impact in media. I really enjoyed this show, it was especially nice how each episode was named after a children’s story. I began this show because I really loved Lee Jong-Suk’s acting in High School 2015 and I was not disappointed. The episodes had a lot of painful scenes but also plenty of funny scenes to balance it out. It kept my interest really well throughout and I don’t remember an episode where I was bored. It does have darker themes so I would be wary of those if you are sensitive to such themes.

I Can Hear Your Voice: 4/5

Trigger Warning: Attempted murder, Actual murder, Victim blaming

I Can Hear Your Voice follows a woman who witnessed the murder of a father and the attempted murder the victim’s son, despite her fear she decides to testify as a witness. Her statement and evidence as a witness gets the criminal a guilty sentence, effectively making the murder wish to seek revenge. Years later, she is a lazy, cold public defense attorney who does not care for her clients and lacks manners, the young man whom she saved from the murderer and helped is actually a telepath and they meet again. The two of them, along with a former police officer turned lawyer, work together to help those who are truly innocent while also protecting themselves once the murderer has finished his sentence and begins to seek revenge. This show was great, it was funny, sad, annoying, and cute. I watched this one shortly after Pinocchio and it was kind of similar in feel but personally a little more interesting in my opinion. There were a lot of moral dilemmas that not only the characters but I as a viewer struggled with. I even got on my group chat with my friends and asked them about the issues and they struggled as well. I liked a lot of the characters, including the female prosecutor who is the main’s rival. Overall a really great show, definitely worth watching.

Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency: 5/5

Warnings: Forced suicide, OCD/Nervous habit/ possible hint to self-harm warning.

Flower Crew is about a former, escaped slave who becomes a member of the most sought-after marriage agency in Joseon era Korea after her husband disappears before their wedding leaving her with many debts to the aforementioned agency. She soon finds herself in a very sensitive situation of pretending to be noble and going through the queen choosing tests to save her slave brother, all while trying to decide if she loves the cold, stand offish leader of the marriage agency or if her heart is still after her missing fiance. The best thing about this show is that each character gets their backstory and closure they needed. Usually with shows, my favorite characters (as they are usually the secondary ones) never get the closure or even backstory they deserve. In usual my review fashion, I will not lie to you, I found out about this show about a week before the first episode aired and decided to watch it as it aired mainly because Park Ji-hoon was one of the main actors in it, and he didn’t let me down, he was a proper cringey asshole but I loved him so much. I was worried as the show progressed that he wouldn’t have a proper backstory and only the few hints they threw at me that I would have to piece together, but I was more than pleased when his arc finally came. It was definitely worth the wait and while waiting I ended up loving all the other characters and actors/actresses involved in this show. Definitely would recommend however, dark themes are a regular.

Beating Again (aka Falling for Innocence): 4/5

Trigger Warning: Heart conditions

Beating Again or Falling for Innocence depending on where you watch it, is about a stern, cold hearted man with a genetic heart disease and a kind but serious secretary whose father betrayed the main character’s father when they were kids making them enemies. After a set of coincidences, the main character goes through a heart transplant and ends up with the heart of the secretary’s husband. Shortly after the transplant he begins to experience new mannerisms and personality traits that were once the husbands as well as finding himself falling for his secretary. Throughout the show they work to fix his past mistakes, trying to find out what exactly happened to the secretary’s husband, all while figuring out if he is the one in love or if it is his heart who loves her. I really enjoyed this drama; it was more on the serious side most times but had some great humorous moments as well. It also did an amazing job at pissing me off towards the end, most kdrama’s do but this ish was next level anger. I saw it on YouTube and decided to watch it while bored one day and I was not disappointed it was such a great show.

Who Are You School 2015: 2/5

Trigger Warning: Attempted suicide, HEAVY Bullying, Depression, Victim blaming,

Who Are You School 2015 is about two long lost twins, one living the life of a pretty well off school bully and the other still living in an orphanage and being ruthlessly bullied. After the bullied twin attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge, the adopted twin who just happened to be nearby due to a school trip saves her. The bullied twin wakes up with amnesia and gets mistaken as the adopted twin, but as she gains her memory she discovers that while she lived the twin who saved her died in her place leaving her with not only guilt for surviving but also with the blame of the death of a friend from her sisters past. This story deals with finding who she truly is and coming to terms with her past while also trying to find the truth behind her sister’s past. This was a good show, however it took me forever to finish as the content messed with my own mental state if I watching too many episodes at one time (and I am a perfectly healthy person mentally so please be careful when choosing to watch), a few episodes was okay for me but when I first attempted to binge it was not a very good idea. I did honestly watch it for Yook Sungjae as I loved his performance in Goblin and while I knew what I was getting into, I did not expect it to affect me as much, his acting is great as usual and his story line just broke my heart. This show also does have a love triangle and it’s honestly the worst written most dissatisfying love triangle I have probably ever personally seen, so, there’s that. Once again very good show, however, practice caution if you are at all sensitive to these topics.

A Korean Odyssey: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Jump Scares, Anorexia, Self-Harm (sort of)

A Korean Odyssey is loosely based off of the famous Chinese story A Journey to the West. It follows Jin Seon Mi, a young girl who can see ghosts and Son O-gong, a former monkey deity reduced to the status of a common monster after being punished and kicked out of the spirit realm. After Seon Mi frees O-gong from the marble mountains she is cursed with the fate of Samjang, a human who must protect the world from evil spirits. If the Samjang is devoured, the monster who eats her becomes incredibly and uncontrollably powerful. O-gong wants to eat her to gain this power, however a deal made to get Seon-Mi to release him from the mountains, stops him. In fear of O-gong, Seon Mi, with the help of the demon king, gives the monkey deity a Geumganggo, a magical bracelet which makes it impossible to go against the words of or hurt the one who has gifted it, with an unexpected side effect, he is now uncontrollably in love with her. Now Seon Mi has to deal with saving the world from horrible destruction all while dealing with a head over heels and hating every second of it, deity meanwhile questioning both her feelings for him and his true feelings for her. I absolutely love this show. It is my favorite kdrama to date, I am actually watching it a second time with my friend and we are about halfway through, then a few days ago started watching it over again with my older sister so I would say this was deserving of a 5 ranking. I really love all the characters honestly (minus the main bad guys but no spoilers, if you’ve seen it you know who they are) they are all equally assholes and precious children who must be protected. I have to admit though, my favorite story line was the devil king and my favorite character has got to be the shopkeeper’s grandson despite his lack of scenes. I have never seen or heard of One (Jung Jae-won) before this show but I love him so much now. I actually watched this for Hong-ki (notice a pattern, but hey, at least I am honest in my biases.), but I finished this show with more favorite characters than I thought was possible. It does have ghosts and demons which can be creepy to some, but as someone who has yet to be affected by scary movies such as The Ring, and the whole Conjuring series, it really just looks to me like those demon snapchat filters so it’s not actually scary. Overall an amazing show, definitely recommend, 110% worth watching.

Korean Movies

Secretly, Greatly: 5/5

Trigger Warnings: Graphic images of gore, Mass suicide mentioned, Suicide, Death and Loss

Secretly, Greatly is about three North Korean spies who were sent to South Korea and are given disguises as a fool, an aspiring singer, and a high school student. They soon become accustomed to South Korean lifestyle and find happiness in each other, wanting to live their lives happily instead of spying for North Korea. After an information leak of all the identities of the North Korean spies they must stick together to survive while being hunted down by both sides. It’s a movie about finding family and happiness even in the toughest situations, questioning where one’s loyalty lies, and the strength of the bonds between those who have nothing but each other.

Northern Limit Line: 2/5 and 5/5 explained below

Trigger Warning: Graphic images of gore, Death and Loss, Actual funeral footage,

Northern Limit line is a movie based of the true story of the North Korean attack of South Korean naval ships during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It follows the crew members on one of the navy patrol boats, from when Corporal Park Dong-hyuk joins, to after the attack. This movie is really great, and I still love it. The ONLY reason I am giving this a 2/5 is because it messed me up for three whole days afterward. I was an emotional wreck; I had no previous knowledge of this attack and the extent of my knowledge of the movie going in was that it was based off a true incident of a North Korean attack. While I don’t regret watching it, I would probably never watch it again unless I really really wanted to and had like 3 days of free time to be emotionally damaged simply because of the heavy content of the movie thus the 2/5. It is rather graphic with quite a few shocking scenes and even real clips of the actual funerals of the fallen crew members and their families grieving. I cried, and honestly still feel like crying as I am writing this. I did lots of research on the incident afterward as well to further understand the content of the movie. Every actor did amazing in portraying the highs and lows of serving in the South Korean navy and the eventual close friendship between all of the crew only made it even more tragic. If you are able to handle the heavy material of this movie, I highly recommend it as it truly is an amazing and sad story that everyone should see at least once.

The Con Artists: 4/5

The Con Artists is about Ji-hyuk, a thief that specializes in safe-cracking who teams up with the young genius hacker Jong-bae, and the planner Goo-in for their biggest mission yet, to steal $150 million from Incheon Customs in 40 minutes. This show was pretty good, I liked all the twists and turns as the movie basically took you on a roller coaster ride throughout. At one point I was thoroughly pissed off, but I was played, and it only made the movie better. If you are looking for plot twists galore, you are in the right place with this one. I can’t really say much about it without giving any spoilers (that’s how elaborate it is) so I shall end this review here. Highly recommend!

Taiwanese Movies

Secrets in the Hot Springs: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Death and Loss, Jump Scares, ghosts

Three teens who have begrudgingly, at least to two of them, become friends go to one of the characters families hot spring to help run the place during school break, strange and hilarious things begin happening around them. They now must figure out the secret behind the mysterious hot spring. Personally, I feel this movie is so underrated, so much so I can not even find a gif for it so, have a picture. I decided randomly to watch this movie after boredom scrolling through Netflix one day and I am so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it and did end up watching it again the day after. It’s really cute, if not a little awkward at points, and definitely hilarious. I didn’t find it exactly scary because the humor really distracted me. Some of the humor might not land exactly right with some people, like the constant mention and jokes of two of the boys being in a relationship together when neither were gay. I personally didn’t mind these and see them simply as a culture difference, but some may be a little more sensitive to these materials. Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone who wants a funny, slightly suspenseful, feel good movie to watch.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 5

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blk-chauvinist · 4 years

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Why Women Aren’t Funny

BY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

JANUARY 1, 2007

Be your gender what it may, you will certainly have heard the following from a female friend who is enumerating the charms of a new (male) squeeze: “He’s really quite cute, and he’s kind to my friends, and he knows all kinds of stuff, and he’s so funny . . . “ (If you yourself are a guy, and you know the man in question, you will often have said to yourself, “Funny? He wouldn’t know a joke if it came served on a bed of lettuce with sauce béarnaise.”) However, there is something that you absolutely never hear from a male friend who is hymning his latest (female) love interest: “She’s a real honey, has a life of her own . . . [interlude for attributes that are none of your business] . . . and, man, does she ever make ‘em laugh.”

Now, why is this? Why is it the case?, I mean. Why are women, who have the whole male world at their mercy, not funny? Please do not pretend not to know what I am talking about.

All right—try it the other way (as the bishop said to the barmaid). Why are men, taken on average and as a whole, funnier than women? Well, for one thing, they had damn well better be. The chief task in life that a man has to perform is that of impressing the opposite sex, and Mother Nature (as we laughingly call her) is not so kind to men. In fact, she equips many fellows with very little armament for the struggle. An average man has just one, outside chance: he had better be able to make the lady laugh. Making them laugh has been one of the crucial preoccupations of my life. If you can stimulate her to laughter—I am talking about that real, out-loud, head-back, mouth-open-to-expose-the-full-horseshoe-of-lovely-teeth, involuntary, full, and deep-throated mirth; the kind that is accompanied by a shocked surprise and a slight (no, make that a loud) peal of delight—well, then, you have at least caused her to loosen up and to change her expression. I shall not elaborate further.

Women have no corresponding need to appeal to men in this way. They already appeal to men, if you catch my drift. Indeed, we now have all the joy of a scientific study, which illuminates the difference. At the Stanford University School of Medicine (a place, as it happens, where I once underwent an absolutely hilarious procedure with a sigmoidoscope), the grim-faced researchers showed 10 men and 10 women a sample of 70 black-and-white cartoons and got them to rate the gags on a “funniness scale.” To annex for a moment the fall-about language of the report as it was summarized in Biotech Week:

The researchers found that men and women share much of the same humor-response system; both use to a similar degree the part of the brain responsible for semantic knowledge and juxtaposition and the part involved in language processing. But they also found that some brain regions were activated more in women. These included the left prefrontal cortex, suggesting a greater emphasis on language and executive processing in women, and the nucleus accumbens . . . which is part of the mesolimbic reward center.

This has all the charm and address of the learned Professor Scully’s attempt to define a smile, as cited by Richard Usborne in his treatise on P. G. Wodehouse: “the drawing back and slight lifting of the corners of the mouth, which partially uncover the teeth; the curving of the naso-labial furrows . . . “ But have no fear—it gets worse:

“Women appeared to have less expectation of a reward, which in this case was the punch line of the cartoon,” said the report’s author, Dr. Allan Reiss. “So when they got to the joke’s punch line, they were more pleased about it.” The report also found that “women were quicker at identifying material they considered unfunny.”

Slower to get it, more pleased when they do, and swift to locate the unfunny—for this we need the Stanford University School of Medicine? And remember, this is women when confronted with humor. Is it any wonder that they are backward in generating it?

This is not to say that women are humorless, or cannot make great wits and comedians. And if they did not operate on the humor wavelength, there would be scant point in half killing oneself in the attempt to make them writhe and scream (uproariously). Wit, after all, is the unfailing symptom of intelligence. Men will laugh at almost anything, often precisely because it is—or they are—extremely stupid. Women aren’t like that. And the wits and comics among them are formidable beyond compare: Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, Fran Lebowitz, Ellen DeGeneres. (Though ask yourself, was Dorothy Parker ever really funny?) Greatly daring—or so I thought—I resolved to call up Ms. Lebowitz and Ms. Ephron to try out my theories. Fran responded: “The cultural values are male; for a woman to say a man is funny is the equivalent of a man saying that a woman is pretty. Also, humor is largely aggressive and pre-emptive, and what’s more male than that?” Ms. Ephron did not disagree. She did, however, in what I thought was a slightly feline way, accuse me of plagiarizing a rant by Jerry Lewis that said much the same thing. (I have only once seen Lewis in action, in The King of Comedy, where it was really Sandra Bernhard who was funny.)

In any case, my argument doesn’t say that there are no decent women comedians. There are more terrible female comedians than there are terrible male comedians, but there are some impressive ladies out there. Most of them, though, when you come to review the situation, are hefty or dykey or Jewish, or some combo of the three. When Roseanne stands up and tells biker jokes and invites people who don’t dig her shtick to suck her dick—know what I am saying? And the Sapphic faction may have its own reasons for wanting what I want—the sweet surrender of female laughter. While Jewish humor, boiling as it is with angst and self-deprecation, is almost masculine by definition.

Substitute the term “self-defecation” (which I actually heard being used inadvertently once) and almost all men will laugh right away, if only to pass the time. Probe a little deeper, though, and you will see what Nietzsche meant when he described a witticism as an epitaph on the death of a feeling. Male humor prefers the laugh to be at someone’s expense, and understands that life is quite possibly a joke to begin with—and often a joke in extremely poor taste. Humor is part of the armor-plate with which to resist what is already farcical enough. (Perhaps not by coincidence, battered as they are by motherfucking nature, men tend to refer to life itself as a bitch.) Whereas women, bless their tender hearts, would prefer that life be fair, and even sweet, rather than the sordid mess it actually is. Jokes about calamitous visits to the doctor or the shrink or the bathroom, or the venting of sexual frustration on furry domestic animals, are a male province. It must have been a man who originated the phrase “funny like a heart attack.” In all the millions of cartoons that feature a patient listening glum-faced to a physician (“There’s no cure. There isn’t even a race for a cure”), do you remember even one where the patient is a woman? I thought as much.

Precisely because humor is a sign of intelligence (and many women believe, or were taught by their mothers, that they become threatening to men if they appear too bright), it could be that in some way men do not want women to be funny. They want them as an audience, not as rivals. And there is a huge, brimming reservoir of male unease, which it would be too easy for women to exploit. (Men can tell jokes about what happened to John Wayne Bobbitt, but they don’t want women doing so.) Men have prostate glands, hysterically enough, and these have a tendency to give out, along with their hearts and, it has to be said, their dicks. This is funny only in male company. For some reason, women do not find their own physical decay and absurdity to be so riotously amusing, which is why we admire Lucille Ball and Helen Fielding, who do see the funny side of it. But this is so rare as to be like Dr. Johnson’s comparison of a woman preaching to a dog walking on its hind legs: the surprise is that it is done at all.

The plain fact is that the physical structure of the human being is a joke in itself: a flat, crude, unanswerable disproof of any nonsense about “intelligent design.” The reproductive and eliminating functions (the closeness of which is the origin of all obscenity) were obviously wired together in hell by some subcommittee that was giggling cruelly as it went about its work. (“Think they’d wear this? Well, they’re gonna have to.”) The resulting confusion is the source of perhaps 50 percent of all humor. Filth. That’s what the customers want, as we occasional stand-up performers all know. Filth, and plenty of it. Filth in lavish, heaping quantities. And there’s another principle that helps exclude the fair sex. “Men obviously like gross stuff,” says Fran Lebowitz. “Why? Because it’s childish.” Keep your eye on that last word. Women’s appetite for talk about that fine product known as Depend is limited. So is their relish for gags about premature ejaculation. (“Premature for whom?” as a friend of mine indignantly demands to know.) But “child” is the key word. For women, reproduction is, if not the only thing, certainly the main thing. Apart from giving them a very different attitude to filth and embarrassment, it also imbues them with the kind of seriousness and solemnity at which men can only goggle. This womanly seriousness was well caught by Rudyard Kipling in his poem “The Female of the Species.” After cleverly noticing that with the male “mirth obscene diverts his anger”—which is true of most work on that great masculine equivalent to childbirth, which is warfare—Kipling insists:

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same, And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail, The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

The word “issue” there, which we so pathetically misuse, is restored to its proper meaning of childbirth. As Kipling continues:

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast May not deal in doubt or pity—must not swerve for fact or jest.

Men are overawed, not to say terrified, by the ability of women to produce babies. (Asked by a lady intellectual to summarize the differences between the sexes, another bishop responded, “Madam, I cannot conceive.”) It gives women an unchallengeable authority. And one of the earliest origins of humor that we know about is its role in the mockery of authority. Irony itself has been called “the glory of slaves.” So you could argue that when men get together to be funny and do not expect women to be there, or in on the joke, they are really playing truant and implicitly conceding who is really the boss.

The ancient annual festivities of Saturnalia, where the slaves would play master, were a temporary release from bossdom. A whole tranche of subversive male humor likewise depends on the notion that women are not really the boss, but are mere objects and victims. Kipling saw through this:

So it comes that Man, the coward, when he gathers to confer With his fellow-braves in council, dare not leave a place for her.

In other words, for women the question of funniness is essentially a secondary one. They are innately aware of a higher calling that is no laughing matter. Whereas with a man you may freely say of him that he is lousy in the sack, or a bad driver, or an inefficient worker, and still wound him less deeply than you would if you accused him of being deficient in the humor department.

If I am correct about this, which I am, then the explanation for the superior funniness of men is much the same as for the inferior funniness of women. Men have to pretend, to themselves as well as to women, that they are not the servants and supplicants. Women, cunning minxes that they are, have to affect not to be the potentates. This is the unspoken compromise. H. L. Mencken described as “the greatest single discovery ever made by man” the realization “that babies have human fathers, and are not put into their mother’s bodies by the gods.” You may well wonder what people were thinking before that realization hit, but we do know of a society in Melanesia where the connection was not made until quite recently. I suppose that the reasoning went: everybody does that thing the entire time, there being little else to do, but not every woman becomes pregnant. Anyway, after a certain stage women came to the conclusion that men were actually necessary, and the old form of matriarchy came to a close. (Mencken speculates that this is why the first kings ascended the throne clutching their batons or scepters as if holding on for grim death.) People in this precarious position do not enjoy being laughed at, and it would not have taken women long to work out that female humor would be the most upsetting of all.

Childbearing and rearing are the double root of all this, as Kipling guessed. As every father knows, the placenta is made up of brain cells, which migrate southward during pregnancy and take the sense of humor along with them. And when the bundle is finally delivered, the funny side is not always immediately back in view. Is there anything so utterly lacking in humor as a mother discussing her new child? She is unboreable on the subject. Even the mothers of other fledglings have to drive their fingernails into their palms and wiggle their toes, just to prevent themselves from fainting dead away at the sheer tedium of it. And as the little ones burgeon and thrive, do you find that their mothers enjoy jests at their expense? I thought not.

Humor, if we are to be serious about it, arises from the ineluctable fact that we are all born into a losing struggle. Those who risk agony and death to bring children into this fiasco simply can’t afford to be too frivolous. (And there just aren’t that many episiotomy jokes, even in the male repertoire.) I am certain that this is also partly why, in all cultures, it is females who are the rank-and-file mainstay of religion, which in turn is the official enemy of all humor. One tiny snuffle that turns into a wheeze, one little cut that goes septic, one pathetically small coffin, and the woman’s universe is left in ashes and ruin. Try being funny about that, if you like. Oscar Wilde was the only person ever to make a decent joke about the death of an infant, and that infant was fictional, and Wilde was (although twice a father) a queer. And because fear is the mother of superstition, and because they are partly ruled in any case by the moon and the tides, women also fall more heavily for dreams, for supposedly significant dates like birthdays and anniversaries, for romantic love, crystals and stones, lockets and relics, and other things that men know are fit mainly for mockery and limericks. Good grief! Is there anything less funny than hearing a woman relate a dream she’s just had? (“And then Quentin was there somehow. And so were you, in a strange sort of way. And it was all so peaceful.” Peaceful?)

For men, it is a tragedy that the two things they prize the most—women and humor—should be so antithetical. But without tragedy there could be no comedy. My beloved said to me, when I told her I was going to have to address this melancholy topic, that I should cheer up because “women get funnier as they get older.” Observation suggests to me that this might indeed be true, but, excuse me, isn’t that rather a long time to have to wait?

From Vanity Fair

#Men Are The Prize #Anti-Feminism #Humor

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growingpaynes-art · 5 years

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The Lion King 2019 Review: What I Liked, What I Didn’t, and How It Compares to the Original

Non-spoilery overview and note to anyone debating watching this-

If you’re looking for this film to give you something that the original didn’t, you will be disappointed. This is a nearly shot-for-shot exact recreation of the original for most of the movie. There are some minor changes, but no major differences in plot.

However

It’s definitely worth seeing- once on a matinee ticket at the very least- if you enjoyed anything about the original. It’s pretty faithful to the source material and the hyper-realism of the animation really is best viewed on a big screen. The comedy is solid, the changes they made to the story and characters were good decisions, and as a guy that was literally raised on the original movie and grew up loving every part of it, i did legitimately enjoy seeing this remake with my mother (who introduced me to the original when I was very little) and getting to share this story that I loved with my younger sister for the first time.

If all you are here for is the “Let’s Go Lesbians” guy you will be satisfied

Spoilers under the cut

What I Liked:

The visuals of the opening sequence alone are worth the price of admission. They’ve lovingly recreated the iconic intro nearly frame for frame in astounding detail. It really succeeded in taking me back to my three-year old self seeing the original for the first time on my family’s little box tv, captivated by the visuals and score.

Timon and Pumbaa were legitimately funny and are stronger characters than in the original.

They kept the aspects of Scar that made him sinister, conniving, and creepy without stepping into queer-coding territory. They also didn’t apply racial coding to him in the overt way they did in the original.

At first I was disappointed by Rafiki’s lack of a staff in the opening, but I was later pacified by its appearance for the final battle. I would however, have liked to see the “oh yes, the past can hurt” bit between him and Simba, which was absent in this version.

I felt that the introduction of the hyena characters in the elephant graveyard was stronger in this version, but i do wish that the chase scene had gone on for longer. It’s significantly shorter than the original, and the cubs don’t fight back like they did in the original.

The hyenas played a larger role where they had much more agency, and the relationship between them and Scar was on more equal footing. Shenzi was an especially welcome change, presenting a truly chilling presence easily rivaling Scar’s. Florence Kasumba’s performance really stands out. Additionally Eric Andre and Keegan-Michael Key’s hyena characters served as quality comic relief without any jokes straying into possible able-ism.

The ‘pinned-ya’ scenes were re-choreographed to be more like two kids wrestling and didn’t have the awkward sexual implications some people point out in the original.

This version offers a quick explanation as to why Scar is living with the pride despite the typical customs of real lions

The mouths were really animated very well, and were for the most part very expressive. They were a bit hard to track during the songs, but generally words were formed pretty believably in their mouths and expressions such as smiles or grimaces were rendered very clearly without looking foreign on an animal face. This was by far best achieved on Timon and the hyenas, but was decent on the lion cubs, Scar, and most of the minor characters as well. The other adult lions weren’t as expressive, but they’re weren’t terrible either.

The animation of Timon, Pumbaa, and the hyenas continually impressed impressed me throughout the course of the film. They were simultaneously the most consistently realistic looking and the most expressive. I honestly don’t understand why some people are coming for Pumbaa and saying he’s ‘nightmare fuel’, his design was both very friendly looking and accurate to real warthogs. He and Timon seemed to be the favorites of both the kids and adults in my theater.

The short scene where adult Simba gleefully pounces after a pair of butterflies and invites a scared Hartebeest hang out, oblivious to his own status as a carnivore, was pretty adorable.

Timon and Pumbaa were more or less confirmed to be a gay couple, and are shown with their own piglet during the ending sequence. This isn’t lingered on for longer than necessary, just long enough for you to appreciate how adorable the little striped piglet is, and thus it comes off as more genuine than performative allyship (it’s definitely better than Beauty and the Beast’s “exclusively gay moment” or Endgame’s Gay Joe Russo). It also helps that Timon isn’t being portrayed by a straight guy leaning as hard into the camp gay stereotype as possible. It was a moment that I, as a queer person, actually enjoyed.

What I Didn’t:

I felt that the musical score wasn’t as strong as the original. I wanted that first note over the sunrise to shake the theater, to bang across the screen in brilliant gold, and when it didn’t, I was disappointed. I felt this way regarding the score and soundtrack for much of the film.

While much of the dialogue matched the original nearly word for word, the delivery of most of it was much more subdued. I understand that they were going for a grittier tone that was less cartoon-y, but a lot of Scar and adult Simba’s lines seemed like they were mumbled off at the end of a work day and they’d just given up on trying to get a better take. Donald Glover seemed to teeter between Marshall Lee and complete disinterest a lot of the time.

I would have liked to have seen more of Rafiki than what we got, and I’d been hoping for an expansion on his role from the original rather than a reduction.

The “I killed Mufasa” bit was done very well- Chiwetel Ejiofor’s delivery of the line was chilling (although not as much as Jeremy Irons’), the expression in Scar’s eyes was very sinister, the light of the fire hit him just right. The following revelation of this truth to the lionesses however was bumbly, and seemed like it was originally written to be longer but was quickly and awkwardly condensed. It really didn’t flow as well as the original.

The end battle between Scar and Simba was anti-climactic. The choreography and visuals were much more creative and suspenseful in the original. The blows didn’t really have much weight or ferocity to them, and they didn’t coincide as well with the score. There also was no sick kick move, Scar literally just accidentally rolls off the cliff. The showdown between Nala and Shenzi is far better- it’s vicious and animalistic, with a few shots having them silhouetted with fire roaring behind them, Nala’s massive teeth shown off impressively in profile.

From the very first introduction of Scar, it’s strongly and very overtly implied that Sarabi is the one that gave him the scar after he attempted to advance on her despite her rejecting him. This is revisited again when he commands Sarabi to be his queen upon his assuming of the throne. She again rejects him. With this moment being played twice, I expected this to be a plant for a later third scene of Sarabi temporarily putting Scar back in his place, or at least threatening to take his other eye, to replace the scene from the original where he slaps her across the face. Scar and Sarabi do eventually come to blows as Simba and Nala return to Pride Rock, but it’s very brief and sort of just a clumsy grapple without a clear winner, and with no reference to their apparent backstory. This comes off as a case of planting without payoff. I expect that either a scene such as the one i described was originally planned and cut for time, or it was thought that the implications of such a scene might bring the film up towards a PG-13 rating.

I wish that in the more harrowing sequences, such as the elephant graveyard chase and the stampede scene, that we could see some real fear on the character’s faces. There’s some really good tensing of the body and some bared teeth, but there’s not much in the eyes. I feel the emotion would have been communicated better if the pupils were dilated, if the eyes were darting back and forth with the whites showing at the edges occasionally, the ears flattened down hard against the head.The child actors put forward some really believable fear and sadness through their voices, but the faces just didn’t quite match it. I do however understand that this is a kid’s film, and that showing a hyper-realistic lion cub gripped with sheer terror or coming to the understanding of the gravity of death is probably too much for most young kids. I personally just prefer to have truly heartwrenching, impactful, and emotional scenes in the media I consume, and I often walk away unfulfilled in this respect (although, i admit i am very difficult to please in this area- i’ve been a die-hard mcu fan for the better part of a decade and i left my first watch of infinity war almost completely unaffected.)

Continuing from the last point- The eyes on most of the characters were very static. They rarely blinked, only really looked straight ahead and lacked any range of expression beyond neutral and slightly squinted. The expression of emotion could have been greatly facilitated by the use of the brow muscles, dilating and contracting of the pupils, more squinting and widening, some side-eye or eye-rolling, etc. Even using some more body language would have made a world of difference (for example- an excited cub wriggling with excitement, his paws shifting and his little butt scooting in the sand because he just can’t contain himself, his shoulders shaking with high-pitched giggles) Emotion was delivered quite well through the mouths, but almost not at all through the eyes. This made the scene where Simba discovers his dead father especially awkward looking. JD McCrary delivers some heartbreaking cries and a few tear-choked lines, and the little cub body shakes and cowers, but Simba’s cgi face retains a completely neutral expression. Its a very cute, and perfectly realistic face for a lion cub, but it’s a face that feels inappropriate for this context. Adult Simba and Nala are the worst offenders in this respect. Simba looks almost like a plush doll, almost never changing expression at all. Nala looks superbly hyper-realistic, but... too realistic. She’s as perfect of a cgi lioness model you could possibly ask for, but because of this, there’s no intelligence in her eyes for some of the shots. It’s strange and distracting to hear a human voice come out as her mouth moves realistically while the eyes retain a vacant animal stare. This is really weird to me as there are multiple moments in the film where they absolutely nail the eyes- the sequence where Simba chases Rafiki through the dense jungle, several shots of Nala sneaking away from Pride Rock by moonlight, the close-up of Scar as he reveals to Simba that he killed Mufasa. The commonality between these shots seems to be strong directional lighting, where light from the moon or a fire can catch the irises and make the expression in them really pop. Closeups of Mufasa’s face showed that they had unprecedented control of the facial muscles- they moved with intricate complexity under the skin and fur- and yet the eyes were blank. It’s disappointing that they clearly had the capability to get the eyes right and apparently just didn’t allow the cg artists enough time to apply this consistently.

The slow motion zoom away from Simba’s face as he watches his father fall from the cliff face is admittedly ridiculous looking in cgi. This “long live the king” doesn’t come anywhere close to the original. Mufasa’s climb up the cliff is pretty good, but the fall feels flat and unemotional.

The sequence tracking the wad of Simba’s hair went on for too long.

The story seemed much faster paced than the original, and each scene seemed to be too short, leaving me wanting more. Some of the scenes feel awkwardly chopped or condensed, and some of the dialogue is a bit bumbly. This movie kinda relies on you being very familiar with the original.

#lion king #the lion king #lion king spoilers #lion king review #review

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imyourliquor-youremypoison · 5 years

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A Girl’s Best Friend (Peter Parker x OC) - Part 8

Synopsis: Diamonds are man’s best friend- or dogs are girls’ best friends, wait… how does the saying go again?

Warnings: Family issues; Peter has a crush and it’s complicated; mention of assault; good dogs; College AU; aged up! characters; TONY STARK IS ALIVE AND WE ALL LIVE IN A HAPPY PLACE CALLED DENIAL

A/N: In this story, Peter has Tom’s dog, Tessa.The dogs in the story play a minor but key role.

Word count: 3.2k

Part 7 <<< >>> Part 9

MASTERLIST

“Hey, kid,” Tony called him, making Peter look up from the 3D project he was working on, some new gadget for his suit. “Care to give a hand? I only have two.”

Tony was struggling with a giant pipe that he was trying to bring all the way across the room to the opposite wall, to achieve not even God knows what. Peter had asked, mind you, but the answer had been as vague as it was complex, and he wasn’t entirely sure he understood any of it.

With Peter’s help, it was done quickly. Tony often forgot the kid had super strength – or maybe he just didn’t like to be reminded of his own lack of superpowers when he wasn’t wearing the Iron suit. Peter thought the second option more likely, as Tony had sounded immensely offended that one time Peter called him ‘old man’.

He grunted when they put the pipe down, then stretched his neck.

“Haven’t seen your face around in a while,” he commented. “I chose to take it as a good sign. Nothing bad happen in Queens these days?” Tony inquired.

Peter shrugged – he had definitely picked up that habit from Emmeline.

“Nothing worth mentioning,” he answered, sitting down on the pipe, elbows resting on his knees. “It’s been a while since anything serious happened. It’s mostly small crimes, robberies, drug dealings, sexual assaults.” His mouth became a little dry. “I’ve got it, don’t you worry, Mr. Stark.”

“It’s been how many years and you still call me Mr. Stark. I’m gaining in age but I’m still Tony for you,” he told him – again. He might as well repeat it until his tongue fell off, Peter would always call him Mr. Stark, doing otherwise went against everything he was taught.

“What about you? Any villain sightings to report?” Peter asked, electing to ignore his previous remark because they both knew it wasn’t going to happen.

“Mmh, no. It’s been terribly boring the last two years. I keep all my eyes open but nothing worth my attention came up.” He sat on a desk chair and rolled it all the way back to his desk, opening his emails and creating a 3D projection to show Peter. “See this? I’ve been filtering the emails of all the politicians and important figures that are, were, or plan to come to New York. I’d appreciate it if you could keep this on the downlow by the way, it’s not exactly legal, I just took the liberty,” he added, sending Peter a sharp glance. Peter raised both hands in the air.

“Anything interesting?”

“Oh, the usual threats from unhappy and concerned citizens of our beautiful city, but they all appear to be all bark and no bite,” Tony said offendedly, deleting messages as he spoke. “But then, there’s this one. It looks pretty personal so I’m not too worried, but it’s the only serious one. Looks like mister mayor did someone dirty.”

Peter froze. Tony was reading through the message again, trying to pick up clues but it was too short and to the point to hide any kind of intertextual clue about the person who sent it. It was a death threat, telling Pascal Gerard to go f*** himself and that he should stay locked inside if he didn’t want a bullet between the eyes.

He couldn’t help but wonder what Emmeline would say if she knew her father was receiving colorful death threats. A part of her wouldn’t be surprised, that he was sure of. He half expected her to send some of them herself – she was big on letting out the steam after all.

“Should we keep an eye open then?” Peter asked.

He would keep both eyes open, regardless of what Tony told him. Both eyes wide open and set on Emmeline.

“I’ll take care of it, kid,” Tony said, spinning around to face him. “No need to worry, politicians are used to these messages, it’s nothing new under the sun.”

He wanted to keep his mouth shut, he should have kept his mouth shut, but Peter couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“What about his family? He has a daughter, right?”

Tony stopped mid-gesture when he was about to throw a decorative art piece in the air, staring at Peter with a curious kind of smile.

“He does, yes. She’s the same age as you,” he told him, not dropping the self-satisfied smirk. Peter really should have kept his mouth shut. “Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s majoring in biophysics at Columbia too. What a coincidence!”

“Alright, I get it,” Peter said, rolling his eyes and standing up. “You already knew, you were baiting me!”

Tony had the gall to look offended.

“I would never.” Peter squinted his eyes. “So, how are things going? Asked her on a date yet? Is she as smart as she is pretty?”

Peter groaned and ran a hand through his hair, turning around. He should have known better and just kept his damn mouth shut.

“Actually, she is. Now that you mention her, I wanting to ask you something-“

“No.”

“You didn’t even let me say what I-“

“Yeah, no. It’s a no,” Tony cut him off, wincing and shaking his head. “A big no.”

“Would you let me finish?” Peter crossed his arms over his chest. Tony had watched him grow up and gain in confidence over the years, but since he still couldn’t bring the kid to call him ‘Tony’, he still held the authority. “She could come work in the lab. Her place is here, I know it.”

“You know jack shit,” Tony said with an eyeroll. “My lab isn’t the right place to hit on a girl, Peter.”

“I’m not asking because getting her through the doors of the Tower would make me earn points with her,” he assured Tony. “Though it would. Just sayin’. Please, think about it. She’s very resourceful, she might have some good ideas you’d like to listen to.”

“It’s still a no. What about keeping your secret identity a secret?” This argument was always Tony’s last resort, Peter could already taste the victory.

“She doesn’t know I’m Spider-Man but everyone knows you're Iron Man. Even if she finds my Spidey underwear in your lab, she won't connect it to me, but to you. You're an Avenger, Spiderman is an Avenger. It makes sense.”

Tony rolled his eyes and pointed at Peter with a piece of hand shaped metal he that picked up from his desk.

“You-“ he began, pausing for dramatic effect. “-are justifying bringing her here because you want to show off to the girl you like. Are you a peacock, Peter?”

“No, bu-“

“Then don't act like one.”

“I'm not, Mr Stark, just-“ Peter closed his mouth and shook his head, becoming serious now. “Trust me on this, please. She belongs in this lab. And also... also- I'd like you to meet her.”

Tony ended up agreeing and Peter would never know what convinced him. However, he was content with seeing the look of bafflement on Emmeline’s face when they entered the elevator in Stark Tower, and F.R.I.D.A.Y asked Peter if they were going to the lab. Her eyes shone brighter than a kid’s a Christmas morning.

“Did the elevator just speak to you personally?” she wondered.

“Not the elevator, miss,” the disembodied voice came again. “My name is F.R.I.D.A.Y and I am the A.I created by Mr. Stark to help him manage his affairs.”

She asked F.R.I.D.A.Y relentless questions until the doors opened again and Peter dragged her out.

“C’mon now, F.R.I.D.A.Y is everywhere, not just in the elevator.”

“That is correct,” the A.I spoke again when they entered the lab. “I’m at your service if you need anything, miss Gerard.”

“She knows my name!” she wondered, eyes going wide.

“Yes, she has facial recognition and everything,” Peter explained.

But Emmeline’s attention was elsewhere already. She didn’t know where to look, she was surrounded by what must certainly be the most advances pieces of technology in the world, only God and Tony Stark knew what all of these machines could do, and she was in the presence of one of them.

“Ah! You must be Emmeline,” Tony quipped, smiling as he turned around on his chair, a strange piece of metal attached to his head and covering his right eye. He removed the helmet-like device and set it on the table. “Peter told me a lot of good things about you.”

“Did he now?” she laughed nervously, squeezing Peter’s arm tighter than necessary as a warning. What on heaven and earth did he tell Tony Stark about her? “I’m sure he exaggerated.”

“I’d be greatly disappointed if he oversold your abilities,” Tony said, coming up to greet her. He wiped his hands on a towel and swung it over his shoulder before shaking her hand as a formal greeting. “But we’ll find out soon anyway.”

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Peter. He shrugged. He didn’t know what Tony had planned for her; he only knew what work he was assigned.

“Peter, why don’t you go play in a corner and leave us alone, will you?”

Tony smirked and Peter knew, he knew it was payback for insisting on bringing Em here. Tony often helped Peter get the full experience of having embarrassing parents, which he never got to experience with his own. Reluctantly, he scooted over to his workshop, still glancing towards Em and Tony who now walked to a different part of the lab, their backs turned to him.

Peter was patient. He was very patient. He waited to whole hours before leaving his desk to go see what Emmeline was working on. He could see her being crouched over a desk through the glass walls of the office Tony assigned her. Sometimes she stood up and stood by the 3D holographic table but he couldn’t make out what she was doing.

When he knocked on her glass door, she jumped back so high he had to make fun of her.

“Ha. Ha. So funny. Buzz off, Parker, I’m busy trying not to throw away my one chance at impressing Tony Stark,” she said, shoving him out of her way.

Peter resisted and pushed back, looking over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

“The Iron suit?” he asked, surprised. “What did he ask you to do?”

She sighed and stopped trying to kick him out.

“He asked me to take a look at it and suggest modifications to improve it.” He knew that tone, he recognized that tone because he was usually the one using it. She was stuck. “It feels like working on a finished product. Of course, everything can always be improved, but this suit...” She let her fingers run over the blueprint of the helmet, following the line of the mask. “It's the most advanced and complex piece of technology I've ever seen, and it's been undergoing constant upgrades for years and years by the one Tony Stark. It goes underwater and to space. Resists scalding and freezing temperatures alike. Has a wider range of weapons than anything I can think of. The A.I provides more information than any built-in system ever could. I just- I don't feel like I can do anything better. I’m just not… there yet.”

“He’s probably just testing you, to be fair. I don’t think he expects you to actually improve his suit in one day, even he can’t do that. Like you said, it underwent upgrades over the course of the years. It didn’t become that-“ He made a hand gestures towards the blueprints. “-in one day,” Peter tried to reassure her.

“I’m sure you’re right.” She didn’t sound convince, and while Peter understood where her frustration came from, he couldn’t do anything about it. He didn’t have the slightest idea how to improve Tony’s suit, and even if he did, she wouldn’t want to cheat and use his idea. “I’ll tell Tony.”

“If there’s anything-“

“You got me in, Peter,” she interrupted him with a smile. “You’ve already done more than enough.”

With a tight-lipped smile and a nod, peter wished her good luck and returned to his own devices, keeping an eye on her back the whole time. She told F.R.I.D.A.Y that she’d like to speak to Tony and he came not five minutes later.

“I can’t do it. It far above my level, and I would take me days just to browse through all the features the suit already has, let alone come up with a new one. I’m sorry.” The shame and self-disappointment were clear in her voice. Tony gave her a crooked smile.

“Alright, kid. Let’s find you something more in your range, yeah?” He never expected her to do anything to his suit, he only wanted to assess her reaction when he put her to a task too great for her. He watched her look at the blueprints, flip through his notes, listened to his journal entries and disassemble his suit with the 3D table to try and see all the layers. She had done good, even if she thought otherwise. “Follow me.”

Head down and spirits at their lowest, Emmeline followed Tony from desk to desk, watching him take this or that device in his hands, have a quick look at it, then put it back down, probably deciding that it was yet another thing that was beyond her abilities. She was wasting his time.

They were approaching Peter’s workshop now, catching his attention. Emmeline looked up and winced a little, wishing he would focus on his work – she was embarrassed enough of her failure.

Suddenly, she froze mid-stride and looked to her right. Something had caught her eye, and Tony noticed. Something red and blue, stored away behind a glass panel.

“You know Spider-Man,” was the first thing she said when he looked over his shoulder to see what fascinated her so.

“Hum?” Tony hummed, pretending to be disinterested. “Oh yeah. I'm his designer. He swings by some times,” he chuckled as if he was in on a joke she didn’t get.

From the other side of the room, Tony could see Peter glaring at him and making big arm gestures to tell him to stop talking. He had left the nano suit there on purpose.

For months now, Emmeline had contemplated the idea of telling Peter about her encounter with Spider-Man. Not because the super hero kept nagging her about talking to someone about her traumatic experience, but because she felt alone with her secret. Like it was a wall between her and Peter.

He caught her daydreaming sometimes, looking into the distance, eyes trained on the skyline, and when he asked her what she was thinking about, she was tempted to tell him the truth. That she was thinking about Spider-Man. Of course, he wouldn’t understand. How random that would be! She could have to explain what happened, how Spider-Man saved her and then made it his duty to check on her every now and then. She would admit to missing his visits now that they became scarcer and scarcer.

But would he understand? Would he even believe her? A part of her liked to think that Peter wouldn’t put her word in question, but it didn’t mean that he would understand. Besides, sharing her secret with someone else felt akin to betrayal. She had confided many a secret in Spider-Man, and she hoped he didn’t repeat any of them to anyone. Maybe he had too. Maybe he had told her things he didn’t tell anyone else. How would he feel if she shared that with a boy on the sole ground that she liked him?

Therefore, she kept quiet. She kept everything to herself.

“Can I take a look at it?” Emmeline asked before she could think twice.

“Oh, it's not finished and I had something different in mind since suits don't seem to be your thing-“

“I actually have a few ideas for that one,” she said, rather cryptically, eyes not deviating from the suit behind the glass panel. “Can I see it up close?”

“You look much more interested in Spider-Man's suit than mine,” he commented, barely hiding his grin, watching Peter walk towards them from the corner of his eye. “Are you a fan?”

Em flinched and finally turned towards Tony.

“He... helped me out once. I'd like to repay the favor if I can.”

Peter froze and stayed back, watching Tony's proud grin and Em's beaming smile when he gestured her to go in and take a closer look.

“Well, if you feel up to the task, I won’t stop you. Maybe Peter can give you a hand? He looks bored.”

Tony pivoted on his heels and grinned like the Cheshire cat. Peter blushed and stuttered out something about being busy, even though he was standing right there behind Emmeline and Tony, looking mightily interested in what they said, and not at all by what he had been working on up until now. To be honest, he hadn’t gotten a lot of work done today, his mind had been elsewhere.

Emmeline doesn’t take no for an answer and quickly gestures him to come with her and together they stand in front of Spider-Man’s nano suit. It hovered over a magnetic table designed to keep it afloat and she looked on, in fascination.

“How does it even work?” she asked, to herself mostly, but Peter still answered. Stunned, she turned to him, frowning. “How do you know that?”

He blushed.

“I- I’ve met him once. He’s cool. And nano technology is so wild, I had to study his suit.” It was the closest thing to the truth he could tell her. She seemed to accept his explanation, however lousy it was. “Look, if you use this panel…”

He began to show her how to make alterations to the suit, demonstrating that it would instantly adapt to whatever changes she would make to its design and functions. Emmeline asked more questions than Peter could answer but he tried his best nonetheless. As soon as she understood the basics of how it worked, she began to draft something, talking about adaptability and stealth, and Peter listened to her in utter fascination, barely following her train of thought but enthralled all the same.

“What do you think? You like it?” Emmeline asked him after showing him her concept.

Peter had a funny moment of brain freeze where he couldn’t answer. It felt like she was asking him Spider-Man, owner of the suit, instead of Peter Parker, fellow student and engineering amateur.

“I think it's great. But how will you make it work with the...” He began pointing at something on the 3D model and Emmeline nodded.

From afar, Tony watched on, sipping on his cup of coffee, looking deeply satisfied and feeling a sense of accomplishment. The two of them worked great together. They probably hadn’t noticed yet that it was pitch-black outside and the whole afternoon had ticked by in a blink.

The elevator dinged and Pepper walked out, interrupting Tony’s musings. When she saw him smiling fondly, she followed his gaze. He had told her about Peter bringing his crush over, she knew who the girl was.

“The kid's all grown up now, isn't he?” Tony asked her.

She laughed, reminding him that Peter had been quite grown up for a while now, squeezing him arm gently and urging him to leave the two alone and come join her and Morgan instead. It didn’t require a lot of convincing.

Reblog to save a writer

Taglist: @justanothercynicalgenzkid @of-virtuoso

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capicactus-blog · 4 years

Text

Rant #1

It's been three days since i laid off my Instagram and Facebook accounts. It's amazing sometimes how certain moments may seem to affect you greatly, post-momentum i.e. Surely during the moment it is an entirely different feeling and thought process running through your mind. It is certainly confusing of how our brain works. Sometimes it is hard to narrow down my own self into a mould of 'who i am'. My reactions, which define who i am, cannot be contained into a bottle labelled with my name. I'm reaching out here and there, all over the place and i realize, human beings can't simply be restricted by definitions and one-word contractions of who they actually are. Like this post which will all be over the place because i can't stay focused on one topic. It is not that i am completely freeing myself from my social media accounts (though there is hardly anything happening over there and it is drier than the Sahara).Like i said, i do not grasp the functioning of our brains and much relatedly mental disorders. I really don't understand the schematics of depression. Like i just woke up on 6th January, 2020 and realised that my body has decided to produce the sad hormones and....sadness in just a generally large scale. I was going through that horrible process of my depressed state again, after months. The urge to eat, clean or even move was gone entirely. I am just filled with a certain lack of will. (Fuck you, will. Come back.) What is not a coincidence is that i heard my ex was back in town just the previous day and it seems like he tagged my depression along. (Pfft. ikr. Always an ex situation depressing someone). I am proud to say, for the first time since my breakup it is not entirely him as a reason for this downtrodding. It just piled up slowly and facepalmed me gloriously, my sister leaving after the holidays (Backstory: we are extremely close and fond of each other), the stress and influence of social anxiety stemming from a birthday party i attended (Plus i'm an empath, it was fucking overwhelming, i am not exaggerating). The afterbite of socializing is often bitter and this one was no less. I'm extremely scared to remind myself and face the facts of the embarrassing embodiment of the person i am in social events, the one who tries so hard to be funny, to please everyone and simply desperate to blend in. Mostly i like being away from people because i hate the influence they have upon me. It takes upon a heavy toll on my mental state and i end up reeling myself into a horrible place from all the overthinking and flashbacks of potential embarrassments. When i am alone, i am truly at peace and have everything in my power. I'm not influenced and i can be truly my idiotic self with no one to ask me what i am doing or even just merely stare at me. No matter how much i try to expand my boundaries, i can't ever be that cool calm person blending within a group. I simply am not that kind of person and i have accepted that. I love who i am (occasionally). The one truly sad thing about us introverts is that the people around us never understand get this part of ourselves, this anxiety and the peace of being alone. It is always "you never go out" "why don't you talk to anyone" "you're so quiet." "try to be a little social atleast" and other infuriating questions. I guess we just have to keep going through these with an awkward smile. Like always.

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

Note

Can we please have more of Uncle Oz? That prompt was beautiful and my little heart needs more. Specifically why Oz slept on the couch before as Yang mention it has happened in the past. *puppy eyes*

Okay, okay, I’m an IDIOT who doesn’t remember her own writing. Because my fool brain ended up writing about Qrow sleeping on the couch instead, for undetermined reasons. Will I ever successfully answer a prompt? Will Qrow and Oz ever end up in the same drabble together again? Stay tuned to find out!

(Prompt list is here)

Tai took two steps into Ozpin’s latest apartment, saw the quilt lying haphazardly over the couch, and had the distinct urge to walk back out again.

“What did he do this time?” he sighed.

Ozpin’s lips thinned. He cast his own look at the messy pile of pillow and blankets, seeming to project an unwarranted amount of disdain at the poor, innocent fabrics. They wouldn’t be the first inanimate objects to take the brunt of Ozpin’s emotions. In lieu of people—and very much to their benefit—Ozpin tended to take his rare anger out on the trees of Forever Fall Forest; the occasional dish that gave a satisfying shatter. Those moments truly were rare though. More often than not Tai simply found piles of methodically torn up paper on Ozpin’s desk.

Right now the sleeve of his sweater was slowly coming undone, the loose thread rolled, rolled, rolled between two fingers. Yep.

“Don’t even try it,” Tai said, gesturing at the weak smile Ozpin had just conjured out of will alone. “If you tell me not to worry, say it’s nothing, or worse, start going on about how I came here for a nice visit? I will take this umbrella and shove it straight up your ass.”

“Hardly the best way to start our evening together.” This time the twitch of his lips was genuine. Ozpin swept aside to let Tai through, arm falling in a graceful arc to indicate the umbrella stand and a small mat for his shoes. “Truly though, you didn’t come here to—”

“Finish that sentence, Oz. I dare you.” Tai shook the umbrella and a thousand water droplets scattered across the floor.

“Oh for dust’s sake. You’re as stubborn as he is,” and with a huff Ozpin turned on his heel and headed back towards the kitchen.

Hmm. That didn’t bode well.

A lack of reprimand for getting water all over his entryway? Check.

Insulting his guest—because yes, any comparison to Qrow was an automatic insult in this family—right when they’d arrived? Check.

Visible frustration, petulant attitude, further faux pas by abandoning Tai to his own devices? Check, check, check. Tai cast a longing look at the door and kicked off his shoes.

“Formal announcement,” he said, wandering into the kitchen to find Oz slamming milk onto the counter. “I would like to remind everyone here,” Tai gestured to an invisible audience, “that I am not even related to you. Not technically. Not since I dumped Raven’s fine ass. And yet here I am, the best of fake brother in laws, here to be your shoulder to cry on. Metaphorically. Because I just bought this shirt and I’m not prepared to find out what two-thousand year old tears might do to it.”

The look Ozpin cast him could have melted iron. “Are you going to be like this all night?”

“Until you tell me what happened? Absolutely.”

“Very well. That shirt is horrendous though. By the way.”

“Thank you. Wore it special for this visit. Oh, extra marshmallows in mine. Don’t be stingy, old man.”

Ozpin agreed with a roll of his eyes, plopping said marshmallows into two mugs as the milk began to steam. He’d said once that only fools put the marshmallows in last. Pouring cocoa over them ensured the perfect, almost-melted-but-not-quite consistency for scooping up with a spoon. Tai had said he was crazy and had said spoon chucked at his head.

The cocoa was very good though.

“I can hear it buzzing,” Tai said, taking a seat at the counter. With speed worthy of a huntsmen Oz had his scroll out and tucked away in a drawer. Neither he nor Qrow had much time to cook, so their kitchen had the sort of aesthetic perfection usually only found in domestic magazines. Tai ran his finger over the absurdly clean marble top, tracing a line from mug to salt shaker. “You ever going to answer him?”

Ozpin pulled up a stool directly beside Tai, their knees now pressed together. Need for physical contact? Check.

“My silence is answer enough.”

“Oz.”

“He—”

Ozpin cut himself off and all at once the wind went right out of Tai’s sails. Oh. No more jabs or check-lists then. That expression wasn’t something to trifle with. He…

Well. Let’s just say the last time Ozpin looked like that he’d had the name ‘Summer’ on his lips. Dejection of that sort—pulling at an intrinsically optimistic nature—only ever meant someone’s death.

The mug of cocoa slammed down on the counter. “Qrow’s dead?”

“Tai.”

“Right, right, sorry. Stupid, knee-jerk question. So he…?”

“Almost died, yes.” Ozpin delivered the news without a trace of emotion. Not to the casual observer, at least. “Of course, he’d never admit as much to himself. Let alone to me. Oh no, the man will go to his grave—literally!—insisting that he’s never made an impulsive decision in his life. Not on the battlefield, anyhow.” His own mug was snatched up and half the chocolate poured down his throat. “I married a fool.”

Been there, Tai almost said, but bit his lip at just the last moment. Right. Serious conversation now. It was just hard when he could so clearly see the picture spread out before him. He hadn’t visited last week because Qrow and Oz were out on a mission, the sort of thing that wasn’t secret exactly, but played close between them for Tai’s own peace of mind. They had to have encountered grimm because Ozpin would have been on a warpath if any humans or faunus had gotten between them. So maybe Qrow took on too many. Or, as Oz said, played the over confident fool. Maybe he was just careless.

…or maybe, based on how Oz was rubbing at his shoulder, Qrow had taken a hit meant for him.

“How bad is it?”

The question came out a whisper, but you’d have thought Tai shouted it with the way Ozpin jerked. Right. Pretty unused to having other people read him so easily—or at all. Tai would have liked to rib him on it. Only problem was, Oz was only transparent like this when something was well and truly bothering him.

Damn his own, kind nature. Tai was a freaking saint and everyone was going to realize it one of these days. He should really get some sort of medal.

Ozpin, meanwhile, had deliberately moved his hands back to his mug and carefully re-schooled his features. They might as well have been discussing budget reports.

“He dodged it,” Ozpin said, each word clipped and a little bit fragile. “Barely. After pushing me out of the way, of course. You’d think two thousand years of training would keep me from making an initiate’s mistake, hmm?”

“You’d think two thousand years of training would have taught you the lesson you’re always pushing on us.”

“Which is?”

“No one’s perfect, Oz.”

A curl of his lip and two taps against porcelain. It said, I should be.

“I don’t care about perfection.” Liar. “But I do care if my mistakes endanger others. More pressingly, given that it’s clear I will continue to make mistakes, I care greatly when others wish to take on my consequences when there is absolutely no need.”

Tai forced himself to swallow down another sigh. Oh, they all knew that speech well now. The problem with befriending an immortal was that he believed, with every fiber of his being, that he was meant to take the hit. Always.

Tai also knew damn well that he wouldn’t be the guy to talk Oz out of that. That particular honor went to the man currently banished to the couch.

Funny the irony there. And by ‘funny’ Tai meant ‘Not at all what the absolute fuck, Ozpin.’

“What I’m hearing,” he said slowly. “Is that you’re punishing Qrow for doing—wait for it—this absolutely horrible thing called loving you.”

Ozpin scowled. “You know very well it’s more complicated than—”

“Get over it.”

Ozpin blinked.

“Everything’s complicated for you. Everything is always going to be complicated. So for just this one thing get over it and accept that Qrow loves you. That loving you might include dying for you. I sure as hell hope not, but if you don’t allow him that then you’re gonna reach a point where he’s not even sleeping on the couch anymore.”

Impassioned speeches, thy name is not Tiayang Xiao-Long. He’d tried though. With good reason. Ozpin was staring at the countertop now, one foot lightly bobbing over the rung of his stool. A bit of his bottom lip pulled up between his teeth. That was something.

Oh, Tai was under no illusions that he’d change someone like Ozpin so easily. But for now? That lack of pushback was just enough.

Finally Ozpin raised his head. He moved it in what might have been Remnant’s smallest, most terrified nod.

Or maybe Tai was just finding what he wanted to see.

“You want to see Ruby’s latest drawing?” he asked, tapping the space above his heart. Pure coincidence that his girls’ artwork happened to be tucked in the pocket there. “She’s got some pretty awesome ideas about what the grimm must look like.”

Ozpin’s eyes shown. “But of course. Although… perhaps we should wait for Qrow?”

Just like that. Smooth it over. Tai was good at that, though he had no illusions that he’d never again walk in to see Qrow’s pillow stuffed onto one end of that couch. Dust only knew how Oz would react the next time he tried to play hero… or whether Tai would ever be allowed to die for him as he would any other friend. That might be too much to ask him for.

Remember he’s different, Tai thought. Every victory is so much larger when it’s with Oz. You’ve just gotta remember that.

Tai lifted his mug in a toast. “Sounds like a plan.”

The cocoa was cold now. Tai decided to focus on the sweetness instead.

#rwby #ozqrow #rwbyfic #Anonymous

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ritebeforeyoureyes · 6 years

Text

Helpless

This was requested by the Timzussy Cokeheads!

Masterlist – Plot: Tom misses Zendaya when in London and resorts to watching old interviews of her.

Helpless (One-Shot)

One day – it was all Tom needed for him to start missing Zendaya again.

Despite having elongated his stay in L.A. following the Oscars and spending every waking moment by her side, a few hours apart was all it took for the sadness to kick in. He had thought that sometime at home, before the first leg of the Infinity War press tour, would do him some good. After Infinity War promotion, Tom was scheduled to be shooting movies back-to-back in the States and he didn’t know when he’d have the time to come back to London next.

But here he was, at home, sat with the likes of Harrison, Harry and Tuwaine and all he could focus on was the biracial beauty he had left weeping in her car at the airport. Their goodbyes were always tough; hiccups, tears and long hugs. And this time had been no different.

It seemed Zendaya had become selfish since the offset of the new year. Her and Tom had spent so much time together as of recently that finally letting him go made the pain increase threefold.

“Tom.” She had hiccupped in his arms, her nails refusing to release the t-shirt she was clinging to ever so tightly. “A month is a long time-“

“I know, baby, I know.” Tom had just held her as she cried into his chest, his eyes glancing between her and the watch on his wrist. As much as he wanted to soothe her, he had a flight to catch and he was already late. “But I have to go, okay?” Zendaya nodded slowly in his arms, her forehead resting against the slightly damp spot on his shirt. “I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you.” She had said after reluctantly pulling away so that their lips could skim over one another briefly.

“I love you too.” Tom’s voice had been sullen. This upcoming month of absence was going to be busy for both Zendaya and Tom and despite wanting to be idealistic, he knew their video chats and phone calls would be a rarity. So, he’d kissed her goodbye again, his mind desperate to memorise every little detail of her.

But that moment of memorisation was to no avail. Because, as Tom sat with a beer and his dearest friends close by, his mind couldn’t seem to conjure up a definitive image of Zendaya. He couldn’t remember if the tips of her hair were more soft brown or blonde; if the light dimple was on the left side of her cheek or her right. He was obsessed and regardless of how much he missed his friends and family, they were no longer at the forefront of his mind. The thoughts of Zendaya were penetrating his every thought and he couldn’t seem to focus on anything else.

In fact, he was so clouded by Zendaya’s entirety, he was sat Googling his own girlfriend. Like he had presumed, the time difference between L.A. and London was problematic and Zendaya wasn’t answering his calls. So, that only left him with one other option – stalking her online. It was like he’d been transported back to the day he’d first met her. He’d previously seen her goofy videos - singing to Beyoncé in her car- but it was after her screentest when he’d truly taken a moment to do his research on her.

But that research-based stalk wasn’t as extensive as the one he was partaking in now. At first, his stalk just consisted of pictures. It had been an amateur attempt; a simple name drop into a search engine. And as he scrolled and admired, Tom realised how crazy it was, how there was so much of Zendaya’s life that he didn’t know about. There were photoshoots from Dolce and Gabbana and Cover Girl; big projects he didn’t know his girlfriend had been so heavily invested in.

It was then that Tom’s stalker grew wider. An article had cropped up about Zendaya’s coinciding musical and fashion involvement with Vivienne Westwood and Tom couldn’t help himself. He was sat in a bar, completely anti-social, as he watched Zendaya’s ‘Close Up’ video.

Admittedly, it was his first time seeing the video and he was gobsmacked by that fact. There was his Disney Channel affiliated girlfriend with smouldering eyes and wet clothes, her body rocking to the beat of an avidly sexual song – her song. Her hands roamed her body, her fingers playfully knocking off the sleeve of her dress and Tom felt his mouth go dry. Slyly yet skilfully, at the end of the video, Tom had his knees pulled close to his chest; a feeble attempt at hiding his now raging boner from his little brother sat next to him.

From then onwards, it was a downward spiral. YouTube’s automatic playback feature was on and Tom was helplessly compelled to watch video after video.

Up next on his list was a video that featured him – it was from the Spider-Man: Homecoming press tour and Tom inwardly cringed once he noticed the exact video he was watching. It was a day that had consisted of great damage control. He and Zendaya had been in the early stages of their relationship, at the time, and he’d thought he’d been sly when he’d mumbled how ‘prepared’ and ‘pretty’ she looked. The compliment had been instinctive, and he thought nobody would catch on. But, once people began to analyse his every word and move, Tom truly realised how his life was about to change. It was the moment that the light bulb went off over his head and he realised that all of this was real. No longer was he Thomas Stanley Holland, the little boy from Kingston, he was Tom Holland, the actor, the person whose every little detail was scrutinised – including his love life. It was safe to say, that interview had catalysed the media obsession with the label behind Tom and Zendaya’s relationship.

The video Tom watched after that one was an interview, a recent one – The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. She was dressed in that all black and red ensemble with a huge slit up her leg. The interview did nothing to help diminish how turned on Tom was but, it did make him smile too. Unlike some people he had had to face in the industry, unbiasedly, Zendaya didn’t have to uphold a façade when in front of the camera. She was herself, cracking jokes and making people laugh.

And that naturally funny character was translated in the compilation of her old Snapchat videos. As Tom had learnt over the course of their relationship, Zendaya was a terrible driver and that was embodied through the Snapchat series of videos that she’d posted when she’d gotten her car stuck hanging off the sidewalk. He watched the videos with a great fondness, his smile reaching his eyes as she stubbornly tried to fight her mum who was the least bit impressed.

Others who also weren’t impressed were Haz, Harry and Tuwaine. They’d brought Tom out to spend some time with them and he’d spent the majority of the night sat in the corner on his phone. His eyebrows would pull together occasionally, and a stupidly bright grin was plastered across his face, a tell-tale sign of him thinking about Zendaya.

“Yo, Tom.” Tuwaine threw a screwed-up piece of tissue at him, the thing landing smack bang in his face. Tom glanced up from the Versace on the Floor video unenthusiastically and jokingly scowled as he noticed Tuwaine filming him for his Instagram story. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I think I might head back to L.A. a little sooner.” Tom tried to play his comment off casually, but his friends were quick to catch on.

“Oh! And why is that?” Haz mocked, his chin resting on his hand as he tried to look greatly interested in the question he already knew the answer to.

“I know, I know. Pick me, pick me!” Harry raised his arm in the air and eagerly pestered Harrison as if he were a child at school, begging to answer a question in class. Harrison just nodded, the chuckles leaving Tuwaine whole heartedly. “Because his girlfriend looks like this.”

Harry turned his phone around slowly to show off Zendaya’s new collaboration photoshoot with the clothing brand, Boohoo and Tom’s jaw hit the floor. She was beautiful, so beautiful it was hard registering the fact that she was his. And within seconds, his erection was back at it again. He snatched Harry’s phone out of his hand and scrolled through the handful of shots – why hadn’t Zendaya sent him the pictures herself? Of course, he knew she was involved in the project, he just didn’t know the pictures had been released so soon. Harry showing him them was like an ambush, an ambush he had no control over. Blood was rushing to his groin and he groaned, Zendaya was sporting look after mother fucking look, her long legs and flat stomach on display.

“Shut up.” Tom whined lamely, his mind unable to think of a witty comeback. Honestly he had no leg to stand on because, it was the truth, Zendaya was definitely the only reason he was eager to head back to L.A.

If you enjoyed this piece and would like to help further me and my work, please support me whilst I get through university. The money you donate will go towards assisting me in my student fees. It is one hundred per cent a voluntary pursuit and greatly appreciated, however, your lovely comments and votes are always welcomed too. Thank you for being the greatest: https://ko-fi.com/D1D072V0

#tomdaya fanfiction #tomdaya #tomdaya fan fic #tomdaya fan fiction #tomdaya fanfic #ritebeforeyoureyes #helpless

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facetiousfanboy · 6 years

Text

Roommate Romance 2

It has been one week since Pearl move into Yellow Dorm. Due to the constant demands of college she hasn’t been able to spend any time with her friends, but thankfully they will all be able to meet tonight, but an unexpected guest may complicate things.

Part 1

Pearl carefully organized her notes and put them back into her folder. She stood and left her calculus class, heading out across the campus. She was due to spend some time with her friends at a diner in the nearby town. They had agreed to meet there for dinner and to talk about how their first week of the semester had gone.

Pearl wanted to drop by her room first so she could freshen up before heading over. She was also hoping that she would run into Garnet. After living with her crush for a week she was flustered to say the least. Garnet had no qualms about wearing loose-fitting jerseys and gym shorts when studying or reading and Pearl had found it rather distracting when she was trying to study herself. Of course she was certain the other hadn't noticed her looking, probably.

Garnet was also surprisingly conversational when she wanted to be. Pearl and her had stayed up a few nights already just talking about little things like classes and their childhoods. Garnet had this adorable giggle that made her shoulders shake and Pearl felt a warm feeling in her chest whenever the other did it.

Pearl snapped herself out of her thoughts as she approached her dorm and entered. She had to get ready, had to look nice. She walked down the hall towards her room but stopped when she noticed a large woman with dark skin decorated with patches of white standing outside of her door. She had a hand raised as if she was meaning to knock but she seemed to be hesitating. She quickly stuck her hand in her pocket after a moment and her head sunk between her shoulders as she turned and started back towards her own room.

She stopped when she noticed Pearl standing in the hallway and blushed lightly. "Pearl! I um, I was just... Hi." She lifted her head and pulled her hands out of her pockets before walking closer.

Pearl looked up at her. This woman seemed familiar to her but she couldnâ€™t immediately determine where she knew her from. As she drew closer Pearl was suddenly reminded of a stranger who had woken her up from the previosu week. "You're that woman who was outside my door on the first night." She tapped her lip in thought. "Was your name Jansen?"

She gave a hearty chuckle. "No, it's Jasper." She smiled. "I um, well I wanted to apologize for that. I was a bit drunk and I mistook your door for mine."

Pearl shook her head. "It's perfectly alright. Those kinds of things happen I'm sure." She took a few steps forward. "I do need to get to my room though."

Jasper didn't move. "Well the thing is, I um, I wanted to make it up to you."

Pearl stopped. "Oh? Well there's no need to worry about it, it was an honest mistake." She walked forward, â€œnow if you don't mind-"

Jasper moved to block her path. "Wait, please."

Pearl paused and looked up at her. She could tell she would never get to her door until she dealt with Jasper. She sighed and checked the clock necklace she wore. She was running short on time. "Alright, fine, but can we discuss this in my room? I have to get ready."

Jasper nodded and moved. Pearl walked past her and opened her door. She walked in and looked around. The room was empty, Garnet's bag was gone too. She must have left to take care of something before heading to the diner.

She looked back at Jasper. The large woman walked into the room and closed the door. She looked around and took in the room. "Wow, it's really tidy."

Pearl nodded. "I should hope so, I work hard to keep it clean." She walked to her desk and grabbed her makeup kit. "So what did you have in mind to repay me?" She then walked into the bathroom, leaving the door open so the other could talk to her while she readied herself.

Jasper cleared her throat. "Well I know a good night's sleep can't be regained once lost and that a college student needs sleep more than anything."

Pearl nodded. "Mm-hm, go on." She carefully did her make-up, making sure everything was straight and perfect.

"But I don't know how to repay sleep so I thought I might try something else. So I wanted to invite you out to dinner and buy your meal for you. We can go tonight if you like! What do you think?"

Pearl was a bit surprised by the others offer. She was finishing up her make-up. "Well if you really insist we could do that sometime, but I'm afraid that tonight I'm going out to spend some time with my friends." She finished her make-up and moved on to her hair.

"Oh! Well if you want I could come along and I could buy your meal for you." Jasper suggested.

Pearl froze. She hadn't even been remotely suggesting that. She finished combing her hair and applied some perfume. "You don't have to, I told you it's perfectly alright."

Jasper shook her head. "No it's not. I bothered you and I need to make up for it." She was very insistent.

Pearl could tell that the other wasn't going to give up on this. She sighed and nodded, walking out of the restroom. "Alright, since you're so insistent I'll allow you to accompany me to meet my friends and buy my dinner but that will be all."

Jasper nodded and smiled. "That's all I ask."

Pearl grabbed a small blue purse and put her things in it. "Very well, let's get going."

Jasper opened the door for her. "After you."

Pearl sighed. This was going to be a long night. She stepped out and Jasper followed. They left the dorm and walked through the campus and into the nearby town.

"So Pearl, what is your major?" Jasper asked.

Pearl looked at her. "I'm a communications major."

Jasper nodded. "That sounds interesting."

Pearl nodded. "It is, I greatly enjoy it. What do you study?"

"Kinesiology with a minor in Athletic Training."

Pearl didn't understand what she said. "Kinda what?"

"Kinesiology, the scientific study of human movement. It's really fascinating stuff." Jasper insisted. "Though it is a lot of work."

Pearl processed that. "I see. So you study the body?"

"Basically. How to make it stronger, better, how it moves, all that stuff."

"I see. Here's the diner." They finally reached it. Jasper quickly grabbed the door. "After you."

Pearl walked in, thanking her as she entered. Jasper followed. Pearl looked around and quickly spotted the pink mane of hair that belonged to Rose Quartz. Rose was sitting with Amethyst, Garnet, and surprisingly Peridot. They were laughing and enjoying what looked like milkshakes. Pearl walked over and smiled at the group. "Hello, sorry I'm late." She gestured to her guest. "This is Jasper."

Jasper waved and then froze. She had locked eyes with Amethyst and seemed to grow uncomfortable. "Hi Amethyst..."

Amethyst smiled. "Hey Jasper!"

Pearl was confused. "You two know each other?"

Amethyst nodded. "Yep! We're family." She hopped out of the booth and stood beside the impressive woman with a arm around her waist as that was the highest she could reach on the woman. "Can't you see the resemblance?"

Jasper sighed and crossed her arms. "We're cousins."

Amethyst smiled up at her. "We sure are!" She chuckled and got back in the booth.

Pearl cleared her throat. "Yes, well Jasper is joining me tonight." She looked at the group to see how they reacted. Most everyone seemed indifferent to it. Garnet was of course impossible to read behind her sunglasses and Rose was all smiles. Amethyst and Peridot were absorbed in conversation and flirting again in seconds.

Pearl carefully sat down. "Did you order me a milkshake as well?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, Vanilla, neat and normal, just how you like it."

Pearl nodded and smiled as Jasper sat beside her. "Wonderful."

Garnet looked at the large woman and clenched her hand under the table. Who was this woman? She had never met her before and now this stranger was showing up with Pearl like a... Like a girlfriend...

That idea scared her. Was Pearl dating this woman, she was admittedly very pretty and seemed to fit some of the things Garnet thought that Pearl found attractive. She wanted to ask, but she had to try and be nonchalant about it. She took a brief sip of her milkshake and waited for the waitress to bring one for Pearl and get an order for one from Jasper before speaking.

"So Jasper, how do you know Pearl?"

Jasper blushed lightly at the question and rubbed the back of her head. "Well um, it's kind of a funny story."

Pearl looked at Jasper. "Funny might be a strong word." Garnet noticed that. Pearl seemed a bit annoyed with the woman, maybe their arriving together really was just a coincidence.

"Well I knocked on her door in the middle of the night about a week ago."

Garnet was surprised. "Knocked on her door?" How had she not heard?

Jasper nodded. "Yes, I had been out drinking and when I returned I misread the room numbers and mistook her door for mine."

"Why didn't I hear this?" Garnet asked.

"You were sound asleep, and it was very early in the morning. I tried to be quiet as well, I didn't want to wake you." Pearl explained.

Jasper was very confused and looked between the two, waiting for an explanation.

Pearl turned towards her. "Oh sorry, Garnet is my roommate." She gestured towards Garnet.

Jasper's eyes widened I'm realization. "Oh! That makes sense." She looked at Garnet. "Nice to meet you."

Garnet nodded. "Um nice to meet you too... So is that why you're with Pearl?"

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to buy her dinner to make it up to her."

Pearl nodded. "Yes, and hopefully you won't knock on my door in the middle of the night again."

"I'll try not to."

Garnet let out a breath, relaxing in the knowledge that the two werenâ€™t out on a date. The waitress brought Jasper's milkshake next and took their orders. Garnet got the chicken parmesan sub. Pearl got the salad, Amethyst got the Philly steak sub with extras, Peridot ordered pancakes and sausage, Rose ordered a Panini with soup, and Jasper got a cheeseburger and fries.

After the waitress left conversation broke out at the table. Rose, as usual, took the lead.

"So, how was everybody's first week of school?"

Amethyst spoke up first. "It was okay, kinda boring."

Peridot raised her nose, as she often did, and spoke in a nasally tone. "I found it very fulfilling. I've already learned three things I did not already know and I'm quite excited to continue learning. I am also studying rather diligently to ensure my grades do not drop."

"By which she means she stays up half the night reading her textbooks," Amethyst interjected. "Peri why do you have to spend so many nights studying? It's only the start of the year. Wouldn't you rather be cuddling with me?" To emphasize her point Amethyst wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's midsection and nuzzled her head against her shoulder.

Peridot's entire face turned red and she became flustered. "I, I'm just making sure I'm prepared!" Her voice cracked when she spoke.

Pearl notably rolled her eyes and looked away.

Garnet knew Pearl had mixed feelings about Amethyst and Peridot's relationship. She had stated that she wasn't certain how those two could stay together since they seemed so different. Garnet had tried to explain that there was more to them than what Pearl saw.

Garnet sometimes wished Pearl would be more open minded but she knew that it would never happen unless somebody helped her. She sighed without realizing it and attracted Rose's attention.

While the rest of the table continued to talk about their weeks Rose leaned over and whispered to her. "Is everything okay Garnet?"

Garnet looked at her. "It's fine, I'm just thinking."

Rose looked at the table. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Garnet looked at her. As long as Garnet had known her Rose had been a confidant of sorts, someone she could rely on when she needed someone to talk to. She just didn't want to discuss this now. "Maybe later."

Rose nodded and smiled in understanding. "Alright." She touched Garnet's hand in a show of friendship before looking back to the table.

"Hey Jasp! Tell us about your week." Amethyst insisted, smiling at the larger girl.

Jasper seemed surprised someone was talking to her. "Oh, it was um, it was alright."

Amethyst leaned forward. "Come on cus, spill."

Jasper hesitated. "Well um, it was kind of fun. I made the football team again, we're starting practice next week."

Amethyst raised a hand out towards Jasper. "That's awesome!"

Jasper carefully gave her a high-five. "Yeah, um, I'm learning a lot too."

Rose nodded. "You seem to be a very diligent student Jasper."

Jasper shrugged. "I just do what I can."

Their food arrived and they all started eating. The conversation slowed down a bit but they kept talking about their experiences and what they would be doing in the coming weeks.

Soon enough they had finished eating. They all paid and left, walking down the street together. Rose split off from the group partway through the walk, heading towards Pink Dorm. But the rest continued towards Yellow Dorm. Peridot invited Amethyst back to her room on the way so they could watch a show together. Peridot didn't currently have a roommate so she could invite Amethyst over whenever she liked.

Jasper seemed to fall a bit behind the group. She felt as though she didnâ€™t really belong among them, the only people she actually knew were Amethyst and Pearl and she barely knew Pearl. She did manage to get into a conversation with Amethyst about some of the local sports teams but they soon reached Yellow Dorm and went inside.

Peridot and Amethyst went to her room, intending to be alone for the rest of the night. They seemed rather excited and said their goodbyes before leaving the group.

The other three went down the hall and walked to Pearl and Garnet's room. Garnet entered while Pearl stayed outside with Jasper for a few moments.

"So I'm happy we could do this and I hope you've forgiven me now." Jasper stated, looking at Pearl.

"I forgave you before, but thank you all the same." She looked up at the tall woman. "Is there something else?"

Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I was wondering if you'd like to do this again."

Pearl hesitated. "I don't think so, I have much too much work to do."

"Oh, you're sure? It doesn't have to be food, we could go shopping or see a movie or something else."

Pearl glanced at the door to her room and then looked back to Jasper. "I'll think about it."

Jasper smiled. "Great!" A thought occurred to her. "Why don't I give you my number so you can text or call me?" She suggested, pulling out her phone.

Pearl nodded and pulled her phone from her purse. "Alright." They exchanged numbers before Jasper wished her goodnight and returned to her own room.

Pearl sighed and entered her room, setting her purse on her desk and sitting down in her chair. "I know that Jasper means well but I must say, that was a bit exhausting." She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to relieve some of the stress of the day.

Garnet walked over and leaned against the desk. "Pearl, are you okay?"

Pearl looked up at Garnet. "Yes, I suppose so I just..." She sighed. "I wasn't expecting Jasper to come with me to dinner."

"See doesn't seem that bad."

"Sheâ€™s not, though she is a bit pushy." She blushed lightly. "Although I suppose she was just being honest about trying to make it up to me."

Garnet kept watching her. "What's really bothering you?" Garnet had known her too long. She could tell there was something else on Pearl's mind.

Pearl sighed heavily and looked at Garnet. "I wanted to spend tonight with you and Rose and Amethyst, even Peridot... I feel as if I was robbed of that. I think that college is forcing our group to drift apart. We aren't like we used to be, we rarely see each other aside from chance passing on campus and we have to organize little get-togethers like these so we can actually have a conversation."

Garnet reached a hand out and touched Pearl's shoulder. "It's college, everybody is just busy." She gave a reassuring smile. "Besides, we have each other."

Pearl looked up at Garnet, her blush growing. She began to form a word on her lips but she hesitated before she said it.

Garnet took on a neutral expression. "You know you can say anything you want to me Pearl."

Pearl looked down. "How did you feel? Seeing me with Jasper tonight?"

Garnet hadn't expected that question. "How did I feel? What do you mean?" She was a bit nervous about answering that.

"Exactly what I said. What did it make you feel to see me arrive with another woman, one you had never seen before?"

Garnet hesitated. "I felt..."

Pearl watched her, waiting for the others answer.

"I felt confusion. I wasn't sure who she was, and I was a bit worried."

Pearl looked away again. She hadn't gotten the answer she had wanted. She put a hand on the desk and tapped a finger against it as she thought. "Do you remember when we were in high school and I wanted to ask out Rose but I had no idea how? I went to you for advice and you told me to be myself and to be direct." She looked at Garnet.

Garnet nodded. She did indeed remember that, it was one of their first serious discussions. "I remember."

"Good.â€ She took a breath before continuing. â€œGarnet, do you like me?"

Garnet started, a blush decorating her features as she looked at Pearl in surprise. Her mouth grew dry. She cleared her throat. "Of course I like you, you're one of my best friends."

Pearl scowled. "That's not what I meant." She adopted a softer expression and touched Garnet's hand. "I'm asking if you want to date me."

Garnet only blushed more and a shiver ran up her body. She had to stop herself from freaking out. "I..." She didn't know how to answer, should she tell Pearl the entire truth, just come up with some excuse? Maybe she could move to Venezuela and live as a goat farmer or something.

Pearl sighed and pulled her hand away. She pushed her chair back and stood up. "Fine, don't answer. I'm going to sleep." She stated, waiting for Garnet to move.

Garnet sat there dumbly for a few seconds before realizing she needed to move. She shot up, moving out of Pearl's way. She stood straight, facing away. "If..." She took a deep breath. "If I said I did, what would you do?" She waited, hoping Pearl was still listening.

Pearl embraced her from behind, wrapping her arms around Garnet's waist and pressing herself up against her back.

Garnet nearly jumped out of her skin but she soon relaxed and looked over her shoulder at the shorter woman.

Pearl looked up at her. "C-can you please say it? So I know."

Garnet slowly turned around, not pulling from the others embrace but instead moving she could embrace her in return. "Pearl, I like you as more than just a friend."

Pearl smiled and then reached up and cupped Garnet's cheeks. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled Garnet's face down, planting a loving kiss on her lips.

That’s the end of part 2, hope you enjoyed it! Here’s Part 3

Please feel free to tell me what you thought and please like and reblog. As always thank you for reading!

#fanfiction #steven universe #college au #human au #slow burn #fluff #mutual pining #pearlnet #pearl #garnet #jasper #rose quartz #amethyst #peridot #angst #side amedot #kissing #my work

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