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allisondraste · 5 years

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Temperance (12/?)

Pairing: Nathaniel Howe/ Female, Non-HoF Cousland

Story Summary: Nathaniel and Elissa were childhood friends, but time and distance tore them apart. In the aftermath of the Fifth Blight, and Ferelden’s Civil War, both Elissa and Nathaniel must attempt reconstruct their tattered lives. As a series of events lead them to be reunited, both are reminded of so many years ago when things were much simpler.

Chapter Summary: Liss knows she’s in trouble when her father uses her full name.

First Chapter Previous Chapter [AO3 LINK]

Highever, 9:18, Dragon

Liss was to be on her best behavior. That was what her father told her, and he had used her full name, so she knew that there would be serious consequences if she did not obey. Still, she wasn’t quite sure what her best behavior was. She always tried to stay out of trouble, to do good, to be kind, but somehow, it never quite worked out for her. The only reason she hadn’t spent most of her summers scrubbing pots was because Fergus and Nate came to her defense more times than they probably should have. She just liked to have fun, and sometimes that meant breaking the rules. Sometimes, it meant convincing Delilah Howe to sneak into the Great Hall with her to see the arrival of King Maric and his entourage.

Glittering and golden, Maric walked with an air of easy confidence one would have expected from a rebel hero and now King of Ferelden. He was exceptionally tall, but his loose posture and gentle smile made him seem far less imposing than the taciturn man at his side. Teyrn Loghain walked next to him with hard, clanking steps and a scowl upon his face. In many ways, he reminded her of Arl Howe, but in many ways he didn’t. There was a soft admiration in his eyes when he looked at Maric that became even softer when he looked at his daughter. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Howe look at anything with admiration except his own reflection in the mirror.

Lady Anora was everything Liss had imagined her to be, tall and graceful with hair as golden as the king’s armor, braided into an intricate design at the back of her head. Teyrna Mac Tir had not accompanied her family on this trip, so Liss wondered if Anora had a handmaiden who did her hair, or if she’d done it herself. It would have certainly been a surprise if the grumpy teyrn knew how to create such elaborate braids. She stood quietly, with perfect posture, and Liss was completely enamored. She had never seen someone so beautiful in real life.

Then there was Prince Cailan. He was shorter than his betrothed and lanky, with hands and feet he hadn’t quite grown into yet, much like Nate. In fact, Liss remembered reading his birth year in one of the books Aldous had given her, and she thought they were around the same age. Yet, the prince could not have been more different than her friend. Like his father, Cailan carried himself with a swagger and a flare of irreverence and disregard for the fact that his father and the other adults were engaged in a very formal introduction. He fidgeted and looked around the Great Hall boredly, whistling the tune of Andraste’s Mabari. He had no sense for the rhythm, but she’d recognize the notes anywhere.

“The prince is so… handsome,” Delilah giggled beside her and Liss turned to look at the raven-haired girl, who abruptly brought her hand to her mouth to keep herself quiet. Liss joined in her laughter but refocused her eyes on the scene before them.

“I don’t know, he’s alright I guess,” Liss whispered, disinterested, but watching Anora’s every motion.

“Oh, right,” Delilah said with another laugh, elbowing Liss in the arm, “You like my brother.”

“Don’t be silly, Delilah.” Liss rolled her eyes. “I already told you I don’t think of Thomas like that. I know everyone thinks we’ll be married someday, but that’s dumb. Papa says I don’t have to marry anyone I don’t want to, and that I’m too young to decide right now anyway.”

“I wasn’t talking about Thomas.”

Liss froze even as her face grew hot, that final comment enough to finally draw her attention from the scene before them. “ What ,” she hissed, causing an uncharacteristically mischievous grin to cross her friend’s face.

Her smile deepened as she sang her brother’s name, playfully. “Nathaniel.”

Liss huffed and turned her nose up at the suggestion. “That’s even sillier than Thomas.”

“You’re only saying that because it’s the truth. Your rosy cheeks are giving you away, Liss.” Delilah reached out and pinched Liss on the cheek.

“Even if I did,” Liss snapped, swiping Delilah’s hand away, “Nate doesn’t think about me like that. I’m just like an annoying little sister to him.”

Delilah opened her mouth to speak, but at the same time her eyes locked onto something across the room. Liss turned to see Cailan leaning around Anora, and looking directly at them. A smile stretched across his face and he winked. Anora turned to scold him, but her eyes flicked toward Liss and Delilah too, and she frowned, her pretty brows pressing together. She elbowed Cailan, who grumbled under his breath, catching the attention of both the king and the teyrn, as well as Liss and Delilah’s fathers.

Liss’ stomach twisted into knots, and she knew what was going to happen. She tapped Delilah on the arm repeatedly. “You have to go,” she whispered urgently, “Go.”

“But you’ll get into trouble.”

“Not as much as you,” she urged even more desperately, pushing Delilah out of the line of sight. “My father won’t be as angry as yours.” The other girl seemed to understand what she meant and hurried away as quickly as she could.

“Cailan,” Loghain barked, “Is there something you’d like to share?” Liss was shocked by the impropriety with which the man spoke to the prince, as well as by the lack of response from the king.

Cailan was flippant in his answer. “Not particularly.”

“Cailan,” Maric scolded, eyes still kind beneath serious eyebrows.

“Not particularly… ser?” Cailan laughed despite Loghain’s obvious seething and Maric’s forced attempt at a stern, fatherly expression.

Uncomfortable with the direction in which the conversation was headed, and fearful that Cailan might divulge Delilah’s presence there as well, Liss stepped from behind the pillar where she hid and out into the open. She curtsied as low as she could and kept her gaze down at the floor until she heard her father speak, or rather, sigh. “Elissa.”

It was her full name. She was in trouble.

“I know I’m not supposed to be here,” she explained, trembling, eyes still locked on the floor, “But I was so excited that the King would be visiting. I just wanted to see. I hid, but Prince Cailan saw me, and I distracted him. I’m sorry.”

A hand fell upon her shoulder, and she looked up expecting to see her father, but instead it was Maric who towered above her, an amused expression painting his face. “Tell me, dear girl,” he said, bending down slightly so that he was closer to eye level with her, “Now that you’ve seen me, am I worth all the excitement?”

“No, your majesty,” Liss blurted, without thinking. She could hear Arl Howe gasp in the background. “You’re just a person… with pretty armor.”

“Elissa!” Her father’s voice was more stern than she’d ever heard it, and she knew she had messed up. She’d be doing worse than scrubbing pots. She’d never see the light of day again.

Then, to her surprise, the king began to laugh, a hearty roar of a laugh that filled the entire hall. Liss’ father and Arl Howe wore confused expressions that seemed to echo what Liss felt in the moment, too. Behind Maric, Teyrn Loghain stood and watched, an amused smile perking up at the corners of his mouth as his eyes darted from Maric, to Liss, and then back to Maric.

“I like this one,” Maric said as he straightened his posture and looked at her father, ”Bryce, this must be your daughter. She is just like Eleanor.”

“Yes,” Loghain said in a manner that Liss could have sworn was playful, “It is good for the king to be reminded that the only thing that separates him from the common man is a suit of ‘pretty armor’... Lest his head become too big for his shoulders.”

Arl Howe continued to look horrified, and her father still looked disappointed in her. Not even the king’s approval would keep her from her punishment. “Forgive me, your majesty, but I specifically told my daughter she was not to cause a commotion,” he bit down on the end of his sentence as he approached both Liss and Maric, “She has to learn that there are consequences for her actions.”

“Cailan could stand to learn that as well,“ Maric said, darting his eyes to the prince, who just shrugged, “So could I, come to think of it. Very well!” He backed away from the two of them, and moved to stand by Loghain and the others.

“Pup,” her father said, lowering his voice, “How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t just do whatever you want, whenever you please?”

“Sorry, Papa.” Tears brimmed in Liss’ eyes, even at her father’s gentle words. She hated disappointing him, and she seemed to do it so often.

“Nothing happened this time because King Maric is a kind man.” His voice became more stern. “But most people are not. Your reckless behavior and your tongue are going to get you into trouble.”

“I know, Papa.” She hung her head. “I’ll do better.”

He placed a large, rough hand on her cheek, and wiped away a tear before bending down to kiss the top of her head. “That’s my girl,” he whispered, pulling back to look at her directly in the eyes. “Why don’t you show Lady Anora to her room, and you and I will discuss your consequences later?”

Liss perked up at the opportunity to talk to the older girl, but tried her best to not show it. She wasn’t even sure she would want to speak with her after the events of the past few minutes. She’d made an utter fool of herself, and graceful Anora wouldn’t and shouldn’t want anything to do with her at all.

As it turned out, Lady Anora had no such reservations about following Liss to her room. In fact, she appeared to be relieved when Liss approached her. It must have been hard to stand with her back so straight all the while putting up with Cailan -- Not that Liss had any problems with the prince, of course. She had eagerly nodded and accompanied Liss out of the great hall and toward her room.

They walked in awkward silence for more time than Liss thought she could bear, or at least it felt awkward to her. Lady Anora smiled gently beside her, seemingly unbothered by the lack of conversation. The way she carried herself was so mature, it would have been easy to assume she was an adult. Liss would have thought so, had she not known the girl to be her brother’s age.

“I am sorry that Cailan got you into trouble,” Anora said finally, breaking the silence.

“It’s my fault, my lady.” Liss answered with a sigh, “I was told to stay out of trouble. I wasn’t supposed to be in there. I knew better..”

“There would have been no trouble if you had not been seen,” Anora smiled, blue eyes sparkling. “And there is no need to call me ‘my lady,’ unless you prefer such formalities. We have the same status, do we not?”

“For now,” Liss said with a shrug, “But I am not betrothed to the prince.”

Anora laughed with a sadness that Liss could not quite place. “Is my relationship with Cailan to be the only thing notable about me?”

Her words were little pinpricks, poking holes into Liss’ view of the world. She had never thought about what it might be like to be betrothed. All of her stories told her that it was the most important role a woman could play, to be the backbone to a powerful leader. She never thought about how it would feel to be forced to play that role. She had never imagined that Anora was anything but happy about it.

“I didn’t mean to -,” Liss began, but trailed off, not sure what to say. “I am sorry.”

“You didn’t know better,” Anora assured her, “No harm done.”

They continued on without a single word between them for some time, and Liss could have sworn the hallway that led to the guest wing had gotten ten times longer since the last time walked down it. She was both eager to speak to the older girl, but also afraid of shoving her foot into her mouth again. Finally, something came to mind.

“I like the way you wear your hair.”

Anora’s face brightened, and a smile not unlike her father’s twitched on her lips. “Thank you.”

“How did you learn to make it look like that,” Liss asked, pleased that her statement had not caused offense, “Do you do it yourself? Or does somebody help you?”

“My mother taught me,” Anora explained, “But my father actually helped me with this one.”

“What?” Liss halted briefly, stunned, and then continued to move forward again “Really? Your father? Teyrn Loghain?” She mentally scolded herself for babbling.

“Mhmm. According to Father, it is an old Alamarri tradition for warriors to braid their hair before going into battle. He says that it’s still common among the Chasind and Avvar, but that it has fallen out of practice among Fereldans.”

“How did your father learn about it?” Liss was enthralled by the new information. It wasn’t something she’d ever read about, or that Aldous had mentioned.

“My grandfather.” Anora smiled fondly. “I never met him. He died during the Rebellion, but Father says he was a good man who taught him everything he knows.”

“Even braiding.”

“Yes,” Anora chuckled, “Even braiding.”

Liss slowed to a stop as they reached the door that led to Anora’s room. “This one is yours.” She motioned to the door with her hand.

“Thank you being my guide, Lady Elissa,” Anora said, bowing her head slightly.

“Liss. You can just call me Liss, er, I mean… If you want to.”

“Thank you, Liss.” She turned to enter the room, but paused when Liss called after her.

“Anora?”

“Yes?”

“Just so you know, you’re not important because you’re going to marry Cailan,” Liss said, matter-of-factly, as if her thoughts should be common knowledge, “You’re important because you’re going to be Queen.”

Anora blinked, appearing to search for an appropriate response.

“The Queen with the Warrior Hair,” Liss added playfully.

“I… thank you.” Liss just nodded and offered her the brightest smile she could muster, before leaving her to her room. After all, she figured the longer she hung around, the more likely she was to say something else to upset the other girl. It was only inevitable.

The walk back to her own room felt much shorter without the impending sense of potentially saying something embarrassing. Even so, she dreaded the conversation with her father that awaited her once he finished up with the esteemed guests. She imagined what it might be like to be confined to her room for the remainder of the summer, her only interaction with the world being someone sliding trays of food through a slit in the door. Of course, her father wouldn’t do that to her. He’d just give her that sad, disappointed look that broke her heart into tiny pieces and make her work in the kitchens with Nan for three hours a day.

Guilt bubbled in her stomach. All her bad behavior ever earned her was chores. Nate never did anything bad, ever, but he seemed to always be punished for something. Liss didn’t know how Arl Howe punished his children, but she didn’t think Nate, Delilah, and Thomas would all be so afraid if it were just scrubbing pots. She would be thankful for whatever punishment Papa chose to dole out.

When she reached her room, she opened up the door to see Fergus lying on her bed, muddy boots dirtying her newly washed coverlet. He mocked her with his deceptively genial grin.

“What are you doing in here?” She tried as hard as she could to make her words sound sharp.

“ Oh, just catching up on some reading,” he said as he held up her journal, “Last time I saw this, it was just stories and drawings. Now there are secrets in here, too.”

“You read my journal?” Her blood turned to ice.

“Shall I tell Nathaniel that you think he’s the,” Fergus paused turning back a few pages, “Most beautiful person you’ve ever met.”

“You wouldn’t,” she stomped over to stand beside her bed, looming over him, “You promised me you wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah, but now you’ve written it down,” he laughed and shrugged, “So it’s official.”

“Stop it,” she ordered, frustrated and terrified tears filling her eyes as she reached for the journal, which Fergus held out of her reach with his stupid long arms. “Give it back Fergus.”

“When is the wedding, Lady Howe?”

“I hate you,” she shouted, throwing a punch that landed with a smack against her brother’s shoulder.

“Was that supposed to hurt,” he teased, tossing the journal aside and standing up so that he towered over her. He was so much taller than he used to be, but he didn’t scare Liss.

Taking a few steps back, she yelled and charged at Fergus, throwing herself against him hard enough that he lost his balance and tumbled to the ground, pulling her along with him. She moved to sit atop him, swinging her fists wildly as she did so. She landed a few blows to his chest and shoulders, but he didn’t even seem to feel them, and he blocked the rest with his large hands.

Just as she was about to hit Fergus again, the door to her room swung open abruptly, slamming against the wall.

“Liss! Are you oka--” It was Nate, and he stopped, frozen as his eyes moved skeptically from Liss to her brother.

Fergus smiled deviously, and Liss warned -- no, pleaded -- him with her eyes to not do the thing she knew he was thinking of doing. “Oh hey, Nate,” Fergus said nonchalantly, as if he weren’t being assaulted, “Mind giving me a hand with my sister? All I said was that I thought Lady Anora liked me better than her, and she just went mad!” He darted his eyes back to Liss and winked.

Relief washed over her, and she played along. “She’d never like someone as ugly and stupid as you,” she shouted, smacking at him with open hands this time. “She’d be disgusted because you put your muddy boots on the bed!” It wasn’t entirely untrue, and she managed to swipe him across the cheek.

“At least she doesn’t think of me as annoying, sticky little kid,” Fergus said tersely, pressing a hand against her shoulder to hold her as far away from him as he could.

“The only person annoying and sticky here is you , you big… mean... arse!”

Fergus feigned a gasp. “Elissa, you said a swear! What would father think?”

“He’d agree with me.” She pulled her fist back to strike him again, but she was stopped by a hand grappling at her wrist. She looked to see Nathaniel holding her back, keeping her from potentially breaking Fergus’ nose. Maker knew she was still mad enough.

“Let go, Nate,” she warned, furrowing her brows at him, feeling more than a little betrayed despite the fact that they were supposed to be having a pretend fight. “He deserves it!”

“I know that’s probably true. I want to hit Fergus a lot, too,” Nate said calmly, “But I don’t think it’s a good idea to break your brother’s nose on the same night you insulted King Maric.” He raised his eyebrows.

“But I -” She deflated, and moved to stand up, allowing Nathaniel to help her to her feet. “That’s not what happened.”

“You did what now?” Fergus, still lying on his back, began to laugh so hard that he couldn’t catch his breath.

“My father seems to think that’s exactly what happened.” He smiled, but it was sad. “He said that if he were the king, he would have ordered you flogged.”

Fergus sat up. “Liss, what did you say?”

“He asked me if he was worth me being so excited that I snuck into the Great Hall when Papa told me not to,” Liss explained, “I said no.”

“Maker, sis. You can’t just talk to the king like that.”

“He thought it was funny, and said he liked me,” she said proudly, “He told Papa I remind him of mother.”

Fergus rolled his eyes. “Of course you’d luck out like that. If you’d said that to anyone else, you’d be dead.” He rose to his feet, shaking his head. “You need to be more careful.”

“I know.” Liss hung her head, ashamed, once again. Fergus reached forward and tousled her hair gently, and then looked over to Nathaniel.

“Thanks for saving my nose, Nate.” Fergus tousled his hair, too, before walking out of the room, winking at Liss one last time before he closed the door. She scowled at him.

There was a long, heavy silence that Liss had never before experienced with Nate in the years she had known him. Of course, she wasn’t really surprised. Due to Arl Howe’s vulture-like circling around the castle for the past two weeks, they hadn’t exactly gotten to talk.

Nate’s eyes darted around the room uncomfortably before they settled back on her. “Delilah said you saved her from getting caught.”

Liss nodded. “It was my fault she was there anyway.”

“I figured,” he said bluntly, but it was accompanied with a fond smile so she decided to not let it hurt her feelings. “Still, thank you. I don’t know what Father would have done.”

“You’re welcome.”

There was another pause in the conversation, so tense Liss could barely stand it. She opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

“I should… probably go,” Nate sighed, pointing to the door.

Liss’ heart sank at his words. She knew he was right, that if his father found him in her room he’d probably never get to come back to Highever. Nathaniel was always right. That didn’t mean she had to like it. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her face into his back.

He tensed noticeably at her touch. “Liss. I can’t stay… if Father --”

“I know,” she interrupted, voice muffled against his shirt, “I just missed you.” Liss released him, and he turned to look at her briefly and sadly, before walking out of the room without saying a word.

There was no punishment her father could give her that would feel worse than that.

#dragon age #dragon age origins #nathaniel howe #cousland #cousland x nathaniel howe #loghain mac tir #anora mac tir #maric theirin #king maric #cailan theirin #temperance #update #my writing

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

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12/14/2019 DAB Transcript

Jonah 1:1-4:11, Revelation 5:1-14, Psalms 133:1-3, Proverbs 29:26-27

Today is the 14th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and here we are at the end of another of our weeks together and we only have about two and a half of these left in this year. So, we are definitely moving forward and as we keep pointing out, we’re moving fast through a lot of territory in the Bible because of the shorter duration of the books as we get to the end. So, we’re working our way to the minor prophets in the Old Testament and we read Obadiah yesterday, which brings us to the book of Jonah today and we’ll read the entire book of Jonah in today’s reading.

Introduction to the book of Jonah:

And Jonah is another one of the minor prophets but it…it…it's kind of a prophetic book with a twist. Jonah lived in the northern kingdom of Israel pretty much due west from the southern portion of the Sea of Galilee. And he lived, obviously in the divided kingdom era under King Jeroboam the second. Here's the twist. Most of the prophets in the Bible were called by God to their own people to go and offer a prophetic message that was calling them to repentance to a renewal of the covenant that they had broken. Jonah's mission was different than that. He was called to go and speak a message to the city of Nineveh, which is one of the largest cities in the world at that time. And it's its ruins still exist today near the modern city of Mosul in Iraq. Nineveh, actually kinda made the news in the last several years because there was a lot of destruction to those ruins by…by Isis. Anyway, Jonah was not happy about his assignment at all. God wanted him to go to a people who were considered enemies of Israel and for that matter, the enemies of God. So, instead of going to God's and Israel's enemies, Jonah went the other direction and went to the Mediterranean coast to the city of Joppa, which is like Jaffa, which is near Tel Aviv now. Incidentally, this is the same place where later on in the New Testament the apostle Peter would go and receive a vision of a sheet coming down from heaven that would radically transform his understanding of what God was doing in the world, especially among Gentiles. But Jonah's story is obviously very famous. Jonah ends up in the belly of a great fish and then three days of repenting go by and then he's spewed out on the shore alive. And, so, for those who believe in Jesus there is obvious foreshadowing's of Christ in that story. But Jonah contains parallels with our own lives in dramatic ways when…when we allow fear or misunderstanding or pride or…or just simple dislike of what we’re being asked to do. When we allow these things to lead us on a path of disobedience and rebellion, then…then we are signing up, like we are starting to take the first step on the run from God. But God is everywhere. Running from God is impossible. So, even though Jonah ended up getting swallowed in the open sea by a great fish, that fish was his salvation. As uncomfortable as that must've been, he would have died any other way. And although, I mean when I sit and think about the journey Jonah went on, its terrifying beyond belief, even though he would've been terrified, even though he would've been a supremely uncomfortable, God used that fish to deliver Jonah alive and gave him another chance to fulfill his mission. And I doubt that anybody here doesn't know what it feels like to be on the run from God at times and…and we’ve probably all experienced the way that life swallows us alive when we do that. And yet, we’re still here. So, we may find that the things that engulf us are also transporting us back to firm footing again where we can make a choice. This is called grace. This is what God does in our lives and we’ll watch this play out in the life of Jonah. So, we’ve been reading from the Common English Bible this week, which is what we'll do today. And we will read Jonah in its entirety. And Jonah has four chapters. So, we’ll begin with Jonah chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, as we and another of our weeks together and realize that there's just…just a couple more week endings that are left in this year, we are continually reminded of Your faithfulness and we thank You for it. In fact, it's not just a thanks…thanks, for being faithful. We worship You. We are experiencing a love that is beyond our comprehension and we are grateful, and we are humbled. We reach for You God as we reach into these last weeks of this year. We ask that You speak to us through the power of Your Holy Spirit and through Your word as You continue to lead us on the narrow path. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website and it is where you find out what's going on around here.

And I’ve been saying it all this week, it's Christmas time pretty much wall to wall around here because we got a couple of things going on. And, so, let’s get to that. We are a virtual community as I've said several times this week and we have an annual Christmas party, but we hold it virtually and we release it as a program. And, so, every year we call in our holiday wishes and prayers and stories to each other and we compile those and create one of the most touching things, you'll see, touching things that we do in a year as a community. So, we’ve been taking those calls all week and they’ve been flooding in and today's the last day for that. So, if you’ve been procrastinating, today is the day. And it’s pretty simple. We use the same methods that we use to call in our prayer requests to each other. So, press the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253. There is a couple of rules. One rule is, since that is the prayer line and that's what it's for you might…you might be carrying some things this season that you don't…like you really have no business carrying these alone. It's like slumping your shoulders and it feels like something's tied you your ankles and you’re just slogging through. And there's tens of thousands of us here and…and we pray for each other and it matters. And, so, the prayer line is for…for prayer…prayer calls but we’re using it for these Christmas greetings too. The…the request is don't combine a prayer request and a holiday greeting in the same call. Like, this is one time to break the rule and make two calls and keep them separate. And, so, if you have been kind waiting to the last minute, this is the last minute. So, make sure that you get your holiday greeting in today.

The other thing is the family Christmas Box for 2019 is available. The cut off for domestic shipping within the United States is this coming Wednesday. So, yeah, if…if we have supplies until then, that’s when we will cut that off. So, we’re kind of getting down to the last minute there as well. So, please check that out. We have packaged this Christmas box full of resources. Like…like you can’t get much more in the box, it’s full. And that's full of things that are resources for the journey for the rhythm of life that we share as a community going through God's word together. So, be sure to check those things out in the Christmas section of the Daily Audio Bible website in the Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link and it lives on the homepage and I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if the mail is your preference, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have prayer request or comment or today, holiday greeting, you can dial 877-942-4253 or just press the Hotline button that is at the top of the app and begin to share.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

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elsaclack · 5 years

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Hi :) This might sound weird haha but I adore reading you talk about your writing, it's really inspiring and I feel like I learn a lot of things every time I read you talk about it (you know I'm a fan of your style haha). And anyways while I was reading your answer to your last anon, this struck me: "when i was outlining that chapter i think the only line i dedicated to the actual fight itself was “and then they have a crazy knife fight (good luck future me)”" and I wanted to ask you (1/2?)

(2/3?) do you have like any tips for writing a multichapters fic? I guess from what you wrote here you outline the whole thing before you start with it? Or it depends or the story and sometimes you just go with the flow and see where it goes haha? Do you mind sharing some of your writing process of multichapter fics? :3 Bc I tend to get "bored" really easily and if I don't finish something in one sitting I usually never ever finish it. But also I'd like to learn how to take my time sometimes

(3/3) and idk maybe learning how to properly "get ready" to write something long would help haha. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense at all but yeah in any case just thank you for blessing my nights with your fics and killing me over and over with feels, I'm sure I said it before but you (and all of the amazing writers this fandom is blessed with) are a true inspiration!!!

you are SO sweet to me i die fhflkdsjf

i’m gonna go ahead and throw 100% of my answer under the cut because i haven’t even started yet and i know this is about to be. So Long. i am sorry in advance lmao

there are a couple of different aspects to this ask that i want to touch on so i will be as brief as possible but as i have proven twice over tonight alone, i am really not capable of that lmfao

i’d say first and foremost, the biggest thing you can do to help yourself in this arena is figure out how to best discipline yourself. which SUCKS it’s like the worst most mom answer ever but in all honesty, developing discipline in writing is what separates the “i could write a book” people from the people who actually do write books. everyone is capable of writing, but not everyone has the discipline or patience to do so. long-form narrative requires even MORE discipline than a one-shot (or even a long one-shot) because it’s like you said, it requires the author to come back over and over and over again to write new material and edit existing material and figure out a way to cohesively connect everything they’ve written into one consistent narrative, and some people have a much harder time with that than others do. there’s nothing wrong with that either way!! the world needs short stories just as much as it needs longer stories. but if you’re wanting to work on writing longer-form narratives, working out a way to best discipline yourself should probably be your number-one goal.

that kind of brings me to my next point (and also ties in part of what i was talking about in that other ask) - comparing your writing style, your progress, your everything to other writers will only lead to heartache for you. when i first started reading and writing for b99 i came across a specific author (who is now one of my dear friends) whose fics were just. next-level works of art. and while i read through just about everything she’d written for b99 and LOVED every single one of them, i found myself getting more and more down on my own writing, because i knew i’d never be able to write like her. but the more comfortable and confident i got in my own writing, the more i realized that it’s less about writing more like That Person and more about developing my own style (my favorite comparison to make between my writing and hers now is that hers are like beautiful and intricate fairy tales, and mine are more of a smokey back room at a bar where a guy is sitting alone at a table and he says “come here and listen to this story.” they’re both Very Different, and perhaps have varying audiences, but one is not inherently Better Or Worse than the other). all of this to say, if you’re working as hard as you can and being really disciplined but still find yourself struggling with writing a multichap, THAT’S OKAY!!! there’s NOTHING wrong with that!!! your writing, however short or long, serves an INCREDIBLY important purpose within the fandom as a whole and no matter what, there will ALWAYS be an audience for your writing.

so okay as for the actual Advice!!! i actually have a couple of steps that i usually follow prior to actually Writing the first chapter of any long fic i’ve written (or am in the process of writing...@king and lionheart yikes). i have yet to really find any consistency in how i think of ideas for multichaps - so far the idea every multichap i’ve written has come from a different source (which is actually kind of Frustrating for reasons i won’t get into). but basically once i actually have An Idea, i’ll take a day or two to kind of think it over and flesh it out as much as possible. if it really starts expanding in detail and an actual Story constructs itself around the idea, i’ll move on to the next step, which is to find a few trusted mutuals here on tungle.corn and say “heyyYYY CAN I YELL ABOUT AN IDEA I HAVE FOR A SECOND” and then spill everything i’ve thought of so far. usually i can tell if an idea will live or die based on these conversations - if the other person is Into It and we start sort of developing the world within the chat, i know it’s time to really sit down and make an effort to pursue the fic. in that case, i will go and copy&paste that part of our chat into a google doc and i’ll build an outline in a separate doc. i used to despise outlines and i would refuse to do them in high school, but once i got into writing as a hobby and i started pursuing longer narrative forms, i tried once or twice to write a multichap without an outline and i just forgot a lot of the details i originally wanted to include, which left me feeling really frustrated with myself and with my writing. i came to realize that outlines kind of a necessary evil, so in writing them i made them as fun for me as possible (i.e. the “good luck future me” line from the king and lionheart outline i mentioned lmao). now i love them and i have them open at all times while i’m working on writing a new chapter.

so i know that i started this off by saying that writing multichaps requires a special kind of discipline, and i stand by that, but also...writer’s block and real life responsibility and just plain exhaustion are all Very Real Things, and they take precedent over keeping up with a publishing schedule (if you’re so inclined to make one of those for yourself). when i started writing king and lionheart, i didn’t know at that point that i would be headed back to school in the spring, and thought that i would have all the time in the world to write. right around november, i realized that i would be going back to school - that’s about the time i took an unofficial hiatus from writing king and lionheart, because i knew trying to keep up with writing that fic the way that i want it to be written and all of the intensive and demanding coursework was going to kill me. taking a step back from posting and coming back to it later is okay. i know i talk a lot about feeling guilty for not having an update for king and lionheart (and the cancer au before it) but in all honesty i know that it’s okay for me to take some time and deal with my real life. and, you know, it’s also okay to lose inspiration for a while and to take a step back until that inspiration comes back. i think it’s that fear of not being able to take longer breaks between updates that scares a lot of people off from even trying to write a multichap - as the queen of procrastination, i am here to tell you that it is 100% okay to start a multichap and to take a break and come back to it when necessary!

writing a multichap is very much like running a marathon - it requires a different kind of energy than a 400 meter sprint or a 1k fluffy oneshot. it’s gonna hurt and it’s gonna suck and there are gonna be times when you’re ready to just quit writing altogether. but there will be parts that are really fun and really easy and you’re gonna get some really great views along the way - and at the end when you cross that finish line and you’re able to check that “complete” box on ao3 before you post the last chapter, you won’t remember the parts that sucked. trust me!! i wouldn’t write as many as i do if the actual shitty parts of the writing process negated the good things that come from writing it and sharing it with other people!

it’s also worth noting that just because you get bored with an idea doesn’t mean that you can’t pick it up again later!!! honestly the first 2 or 3 paragraphs of on your heart like a tattoo sat in my google docs for MONTHS before i randomly decided one day to open it and take a crack at finishing it, and to this DAY i’m still getting people regularly commenting on it. every idea has its purpose and its place, even if it doesn’t always immediately seem like it.

i really hope this helps and i’m sorry if it doesn’t!!! you are such a kind and wonderful person and i absolutely adore you

#em answers #nice people #guys i adore adele #seriously #writing advice #b99peraltiago

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ruckusheaven · 5 years

Text

A Coon In A Colorful Heaven: Chapter 5- “It’s All Pink on the Inside..”

Coon- A black person who is ignorant to white discrimination and unknowingly suffers with self hatred.

This chapter continues to follow the eternal story of a man named Damien. When we last saw Damien he was taken to his family’s club by Angie. Once there he was greeted by his Uncle Craig who took him to see his Great Great Grandmother Lisa. Surprisingly enough she was one of the very few actually happy to see Damien. But as they began to speak, Damien started to explain his views on women and his preference; which started an argument about colorism and the struggles black women face. But before the conversation could be finished they noticed and were informed by Angie about Damien’s Soul Confliction. With little to no hesitation “GG” Grandma Lisa figured out the perfect way to educate Damien on colorism...Was by meeting his Great Great Grandfather Julian.

-inside of Damien’s Family Club-

Damien: Great Great Grandfather Julian??

Damien: Why haven’t i heard of that name before?

Uncle Richard: Because he was never worth mentioning, hell we barely knew about him ourselves when we were alive.

Damien: Huh?

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *looks down* Listen Damien there’s a lot about this family that you never knew about. But to be honest how could you have?

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *looks back up at the crowd of people* Our Family did a terrible job at trying to keep our family history and connection together...

“GG” Grandma Lisa: So many stories... so many faces... I have been in Heaven for more than a century in your time and i still discover something new about this family almost everyday.

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *walks around the room* So much Pain and Love. Hatred and Compassion. Fear and Understanding. Destruction and Creativity. and Secrets... So many secrets

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *looks back at Damien* In due time you will see for yourself what i mean, I promise you that. But first we need to deal with your little Soul Confliction issue

*A Bright Light Crashes Down, Leaving behind Aunt Tanya and “GG” Grandfather Julian*

“GG” Grandfather Julian: WHAT UP FAMILY!!

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Speaking of which, perfect timing.

Aunt Tanya: You know... That beam is damn near instantaneous and i swear it felt like we were in there for hours. He just keeps talking.

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Girl hush, i made that ride entertaining!!

Aunt Tanya: More like annoying...

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *Walks towards Julian with open arms and a smile* Hi Julian

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Oh my God Lisa *Hugs Lisa* *holds Lisa waist while staring into her eyes* Every time i see you it’s like it for the first time all over again

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Oh Julian..

Uncle Craig: Oh God

Aunt Tanya: You know for a couple that’s separated, y’all sure don’t act like it

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Heaven is place of forgiveness Tanya, you know that. I have no hate in my heart for this man, there’s no point in it.

Aunt Tanya: I can think of few but those would all be considered “Preferences”

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now Tanya i know you was slow in the head but i would think that me admitting 100 times that i was wrong would eventually stick in your brain

“GG” Grandfather Julian: I thought something would finally stick in you

Aunt Tanya: You son of a-

“GG” Grandma Lisa: ENOUGH!! from the both of you. Acting like damn fools for no reason

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Apologize both of you

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now why i gotta apologize she the one that started-

“GG” Grandma Lisa: *grips Julian’s hand hard* I said apologize

“GG” Grandfather Julian:

“GG” Grandfather Julian: I deeply and sincerely apologize Tanya, i was way out of line

Aunt Tanya: Mhmm i’m sorry too

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Good. now you two can fight it out some other time, but right now we need to help my Grand Baby fix his Soul Confliction

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Right right, Tanya said that’s why ya needed me. So where lil man at *looks around the room*

Damien: *stands up sticking his hand out* You mean grown man Grandpa

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Well right you are *shakes Damien’s hand* good to see ya boy, good to see ya!

Damien: *smirks* Good to see you too Grandpa

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Boy did anyone every tell you, that you look just like your Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Great x53 Grandfather Musa Keita??

Damien: Ummm.. no

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Boy you gotta sit down and meet that man one day. He was doin his thang in the b.c time, boy you wouldn’t believe!

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Listen here man we come from Kings! you hear me, real Kings!

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Now Julian i’m sure Damien would love to meet and hear all about our history but we have more *cough cough* pressing issues to go over..

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Right Right my bad. So what seems to be the problem *grabs a chair and sits in front of Damien*

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Well our Grandson here seems to think that Light Skin women are better than Dark Skin women

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Ok ok....... see now i said what’s the problem, this right here just sounds like a preference

Aunt Tanya: Here we go

Uncle Richard: Is everything always a joke to you Julian?

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Boy the only joke here is you. You the only negro i know that still needs glasses in Heaven.

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Heaven can fix and heal everything, and i mean EEEVRRRYYTHING..... but 20/70 vision. Ain’t that bouta bitch.

Uncle Craig: Should I throw him out now or after the ass kicking?

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now don’t you touch me Craig!! *stands up*

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Last time you touched me, i had to soak in a realm made of lotion for weeks just to get your ash off of me

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Julian..

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now Lisa you know im just messing around with everyone. Everyone is so uptight today.

“GG” Grandma Lisa: For a very good reason

“GG” Grandfather Julian: You right, You’re absolutely right.. I apologize

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Ok lemme start this over

“GG” Grandfather Julian: *grabs Damien by the collar* Aye little nigga whats wrong with you and not liking Dark Skin Women!? Ain’t Ya Momma as black as November 23rd!!

Damien: *in shock* what the hell!

“GG” Grandma Lisa: JULIAN!!

“GG” Grandfather Julian: What?... This is what i did last time..

“GG” Grandma Lisa: Can you take it down a few notches and act like this is your Grandson and not some random thug that’s trying to fight you..

“GG” Grandfather Julian: *sigh* ok my bad, my bad

“GG” Grandfather Julian: *fixes Damien’s shirt* sorry about that man *sits back down*

Damien: *catching his breath* what the hell is wrong with this family!

“GG” Grandfather Julian: A lot more than we have the time to discussion right now. So can you please sit

Damien: *Takes a deep breath* whatever man *sits back down*

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Alright look man, that whole light skin is a preference and all that nonsense is some bull shit.

Damien: Once again how can you or anyone tell me what like is wrong, I was never attracted to dark skin tones, that’s just who i am

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Boy ain’t nobody born hating or disliking an entire color. That shit ain’t genetic, as you can see you come from some dark moutherfukas and we love ALL shades of chocolate *stretches his arms out*

The Crowd of Family: Amen to that! I know that’s Right! You ain’t neva lied!

“GG” Grandfather Julian: See

Damien: I get that’s how y’all are, but that’s not me. Why can’t y’all accept that i’m different.

Damien: Im not saying that i hate Dark Skin women or anything like that. I just choose to not be around them, they’re a mess for the most part.

The Crowd of Family: *gasp*. No this nigga didn’t...

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now Now everyone let’s relax. Before we jump in his ass lets see where he’s coming from. Go ahead and explain yourself

Damien: Ok look, all my life i have seen nothing but ratchetness and ghetto shit from Dark Skin women.

Damien: From Tv, Movies and my encounters with them, they’re always loud, obnoxious, always ready to fight someone, always wearing weaves and wigs, always trying to live off someone else and just all around one note.

“GG” Grandfather Julian:

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Now i have heard some shit in my day, but boy i have never heard someone so passionately explain they’re ideology based around assumptions, one sided opinions and shit they saw on tv..

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Oh wait yes i have.. From racist white men and women that never had a conversation nor would even want to with a black man or woman.

Damien: Huh?

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Boy, do you know that what you just said is eerily similar to what white people have said about black folks for years?

“GG” Grandfather Julian: “ they’re always loud, obnoxious, always ready to fight someone, Violent, Always dependent on welfare, uncivilized, thugs” etc etc or as you say “one note”

Damien: Yea but that’s just white people being racist

“GG” Grandfather Julian: Negro where do you think colorism started!

“GG” Grandfather Julian: For hundreds of years your great female ancestors were raped and used as cattle, play things and servants. Then once these women had these kids that came out lighter then them, not only were they separated from their kids but they were also told to treat them as superior.

“GG” Grandfather Julian: That was one of their greatest schemes to slowly break us apart. Treating some of our own blood as superiors or servants so that those kids would eventually see Darker skin as beneath them. It was a way for white people to make them seem even more powerful just because of their skin; while also creating a form of control that made their job easier.

Damien: This all sounds like some white man conspiracy bull shit.

???: I’m afraid it’s not *walks trough the crowd and stands next to Julian*

Damien: Who are you?

???: Hello my name is Claudia one of your great cousins. I was born a slave in 1720..and i think my story could help shed some truth on what Julian is saying.

Damien: What, you’re going to tell me more stories? Listen Claudia, no disrespect but i don’t have the time for any long winded storytelling

Claudia: Oh i won’t be telling the story, I will show you it..

Damien: What are you talkin-

*Claudia places both of her hands on Damien’s head, taking both of them to huge forest*

Damien: *in shock* what the... where the hell are we

Claudia: We’re in my Memory Realm.

Claudia: In this realm i will show you a brief glimpse of my life and the story i wish to show you

Damien: What are you talking about?

Claudia: *sticks her hand out pointing in a direction*

Damien: *confusedly walks to where Claudia is pointing*

*After pushing his way through a huge bush, Damien looks on in shack and awe*

Damien: *takes a deep gasp* where... where are we exactly

Claudia: We’re in the 1720′s, in Alabama on the plantation i was born

Claudia: Welcome to my Life and now see my Story..

THE END OF CHAPTER 5

#vol1

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fruitful-blogger · 6 years

Text

Flipping the Script (Part 2)

Part One | AO3

It's the first day of school, Gurls, and we gotta meet some of the other cast! Roman is also breaking the patriarchy as one does.

“…and that, my good sir, is why the patriarchy is a disaster.” Roman concluded with a nod as he finally sat in his seat. The teacher and other students about were staring, some with open mouths, and others just. Befuddled.

The teacher fell into the former category.

“That was… eloquent, Roman.” The teacher coughed. “But I am very lost right now.”

A student raised their hand. “What the hell does that have to do with Trigonometry???”

Roman opened his mouth only for a hand to cover it. “No, no, no more.” The star athlete silenced his desk neighbor. “That was stupid enough the first round.”

The darker of the two swatted the hand away. “I was just saying that the system in place has…”

His reiteration was cut off with the bell alarm, a loud digital tone that yelled out through the speaker system. “Ok class we start the laws of sine and cosine tomorrow. Please do practice problems one and four in chapter 1.” The teacher told as he looked to Roman and Logan cleaning up. “And please, Roman, save the patriarchal debates for Civics. I’m sure Veronica would love it.”

“Oh, I will!” Roman defended as his backpack was grabbed by its loop. He was easily pulled across the floor and out of the classroom, where he spun on his captor. “Rude, but also hella good timing. Great for the whole dramatic factor.”

Logan groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I just… it’s lunch. We’ve barely made it half the day, and you’ve already given me a headache. New record. Congrats.” He spun on his heal to walk away, but Roman was following him. “…you have lunch now too, don’t you.”

“Yup! Besides, who would you sit with besides me? The other tennis guys?” Roman replied cheerily.

“Maybe. They at least know the difference between duce and advantage.” Logan threw. “They also won’t somehow decide Tennis is a pathetic excuse for a sport.”

“Hey, I like tennis!” Roman added as he skipped ahead. “It’s scoring system is crazy enough to confuse the masses, and I can stand behind that. My problem is with some of the more archaic rules that are somehow still a thing, like rules on women’s outfits.”

Logan adjusted his glasses. He’d taken a quick shower after the work out and now wore his normal day clothes. Because it was the first day of school, he hadn’t gone straight for the basketball shorts and sweats (yet) and instead had a pair of jeans that were a bit wrinkled from being thrown in his bag and a navy button up with the top buttons undone, sleeves rolled to the elbow. He had a fitbit on as part of his training regiment with a beaten pair of trainers on his feet.

Unlike the uncultured swine that Roman had seen on TV (and met in real life a handful of unfortunate times), Logan wasn’t the stereotypical meat-head jock. Yes, he loved his sport and a few others, but he was in no way blind of the outside world. He was a really good student – probably would have been on the same level as Patton if he wanted to apply himself to it, but he loved tennis through and through. Outside of tennis, he was also the sports editor for the school paper and also liked to debate (usually about healthy lifestyles).

Roman liked that about his friends. While, on a surface level, they all seemed to fit nicely into the typical goth, nerd, prep, and jock categories, they weren’t just that.

Like now, as Roman stopped by his locker, he saw the bubbly genius bound down the hall towards them. “LOOOOOOOGAAAANNN! ROOOOOOMMMAAAAAANNNN!” Patton called, but, unfortunately, crashed on arrival. Logan was able to avoid most disaster, though, by jumping out to catch the other junior before he rammed into a hall garbage can. “Woah! Thanks, Lo! I underestimated the friction my shoes would have on this part of the floor!”

“No problem, Pat.” Logan smiled as he righted the teen. “Are you headed to the lunch room as well?”

Patton held up his lunch box with a grin. It was a pretty pastel blue with a picture of the solar system on it (though Patton noted that it was proportionally inaccurate, but it made a good learning tool at times). “Yeah! Virgil had to swing by the office, but he’s headed there now, too! Do you guys have lunch this period?”

“We indeed do.” Logan nodded as Roman tossed the last of the books in his locker. Logan rolled his eyes at the mess that was there as he crossed to his own that he’d left open. Most of the locker was taken up by his tennis bag, so he kneeled down to grab the books at the bottom, stacked in a little organizer to make the most of the room. When he stood, he also reached into the top nook to pull out his lunch.

Roman nodded as he hiked up his bag. He’d brought money for lunch but, if the menu sucked, he’d try to trade around. Logan always packed healthy but in excess (he burned calories like crazy), but Patton always brought extra sweets to share. “We should head down ASAP. The tables always fill up so fast.”

The other two nodded as they headed to the lunch room. Patton paused as they approached long enough to dig some ear plugs out of his backpack and put them in. Roman and Logan noticed but did not comment – this was simply a thing. Patton was a Hypersensitive Person. In a broad sense, it made him, well, more sensitive to the world in a variety of ways. He could walk into a room and instantly pick up on the micro-signals that others gave off, allowing him to better notice emotions and read the environment. He was very in tune with the needs of others because of it, but, sometimes, the stimuli became a lot and he needed to diminish it. For him, loud noise was usually a factor. He used to hide in the library a lot, but he’d gotten earplugs from Roman before a movie once (the goth had seen them at the store and figured it was worth a go), and he always carried them now to help.

It was good timing as the noise doubled once they entered the cafeteria. Students of all grades scattered about, most with lunch trays but a few with sacks or pails of food. Nobody understood how it was established, but the freshman always seemed to coagulate at one end of the room by the lunch ladies, then the sophomores, juniors, and seniors would separate towards the back.

“Hey, Logan!” Logan looked as a student waved their hand. “Get over here! We got a table!”

Logan nudged Patton and Roman and pointed to the table, which was only a third filled. The three headed over and set their stuff down, the faces there mostly familiar to the three.

Lauren was the one to wave them over. She and her boyfriend, Kai, were already seated there while another friend, Elliott, was scribbling away at a notebook. Elliott had a saved seat down next to them, but the rest were still open.

“Salutations, Lauren.” Logan greeted with a nod before looking to Kai and Elliott. “Hello to you both as well.”

“Hi again!” Patton waved as he plopped down.

“Greetings my colorful friends! Except you, Elli. LOVE the dress.”

Elliott looked up with a smirk. The non-binary teen had actually come into the fold thanks to Roman. They’d transferred to the school last year and, not really knowing anyone, just kind of decided to approach the first person who looked mildly interesting. That person had been Roman, who, upon hearing their pronouns, dragged them to the GSA meeting. Roman had introduced them to Logan, Patton, and Virgil, who introduced them to Kai and Lauren. Nowadays, the teen was usually with the couple. Lauren and Elliott bonded over food, and Kai loved to watch all the B-rated movies with the teen that Lauren hated. “Thanks, Ro. Felt like a no-pants day, honestly.”

“It’s very pretty!” Patton complimented as he pulled out his lunch. Sure enough, about six cookies fell out.

Roman only threw down his bag before snatching his wallet. “Guard my things with your lives.” He warned as the others waved him off, them all having already gotten food. Roman weaved through the rows to the lunch line, greeting a few fellow drama nerds that he remembered from last year. A few of the freshmen who noticed him approach seemed to shy back, but Roman got that. He sometimes looked a little scary and out of the ordinary, but he loved that about himself.

Besides, anyone who spent more than five minutes with the guy knew how much of a bubbly theater geek he was.

Roman got into line as he spotted a familiar face. “Remy! There’s my favorite sleep-deprived zombie.”

The figure turned, revealing glasses indoors upon his face. “EEEYYY It’s my favorite gay!” Remy threw as he tossed an arm over Roman’s shoulders. “Gurl, where have you BEEN all day? Like I had the trippiest morning in Mr. S’s class. I swear I thought the starbs guy finally spiked my drink.”

Roman snorted as they got into line. “Gurl, that’s just Mr. S. You should know that by now.”

Remy was a senior who was also the president of the GSA and on student council (if only to get the administration to put a Starbucks in the cafeteria). He was as flamboyant as they got, but he also was the king of gossip. He knew it all, even things people didn’t know about themselves. When Roman, a baby goth gay, and Patton, a nervous genius gay, had graced the hallowed doorway of the GSA that first time, Remy had adopted them on the spot.

“Still, he nearly blew up the classroom! On the first day! That HAS to be a new record.” The teen threw as he grabbed a tray. “And don’t get me STARTED on Dot. I love that woman, I really do, but do you know what she did today? She let her pet MAN EATING PYTHON out in the wild of our halls!”

Roman couldn’t help but laugh. “Python??? Dude, it’s a foot long, max, and she calls it Fluffy.”

“Gurl, who’s telling the story? Anyway, apparently one of her kids wanted to hold it. TO HOLD THE BEAST! AND SHE LET THEM!!!” Remy paused to turn to grab a burger as he passed, gaining a few confused (and concerned) looks from the lunch ladies.

Remy went on about this crazy ‘escaped demon snake’ until they paid and got back to the table. Remy decided to grace the juniors with his ‘gorgeous’ face, even as he could have sat in the senior section.

When they got to the table, though… there were two Virgils staring each other down and hissing at one another???

Roman had to stare and blink a few times.

“What the hell?” Remy spoke.

“Language!” Patton chided, not taking his eyes off the book in front of him. “And we seem to have an imposter! Virgil A came over here and started having lunch with us, but then Virgil B came in and noticed us. They’ve been hissing at one another since then.”

“Well when I came back from the office to see this JERK…”

“You mean when I came back from the office only for this PRAT to walk in…”

Roman sighed as he looked between the two before grabbing both their wrists. They both yelped as they nearly fell, but Roman allowed their sleeves to fall. “This one is Virgil.” He lifted the arm that belonged to the later Virgil.

“How can you even tell???” Logan asked, stumped. “I’ve been throwing questions at them for ten minutes!”

“Ok, it has not been that long, but still.” Kai threw as he looked between the two.

Roman grinned as he showed off the light pen marks on Virgil’s wrist that looked vaguely like a swirly. “I drew this earlier today when Virgil was distracted. He tried to clean it off, but you can still faintly see it.”

Virgil blinked before grinning, turning to his double ganger. “Yeah, ‘Virgil,’ looks like your costume isn’t so perfect after all.”

“Dang it.” He said as his voice shifted. He hissed a little before shoving his hands in his pockets and glaring at Roman. “Had to ruin me, didn’t you?”

Roman shrugged. “Sorry, Dee, but good effort.”

The person huffed as they fell into the chair open, shedding the preppy jacket and messing up their hair. They also took a moment to dig out some make-up wipes from their bag and an extra shirt. The purple polo was removed to reveal a black tank, which was quickly covered by the yellow flannel, left open. He used a few wipes to remove the contouring make-up, and soon a plum discoloration on the left side of his face was revealed.

Demetrius, or Dee, was a bit of a wild card when it came to South Hamilton High. He was beloved by almost all the teachers (especially the biology teacher and her snake – he loved the snake to bits) because he was a good student and relatively trustworthy… until he pulled out his make-up bag. He was renowned for his ability to transform himself and others, and he just loved to pull harmless pranks.

Virgil snorted as he sat. “Finally some anarchy does me good. No, you cannot use that as a platform for me to get the school spray-painted black or something.” He threw as he saw the look on Roman’s face.

“Uhg, you suck.” He huffed as he dramatically downed his milk.

Remy plopped down next to Dee as he nudged the dude. “Gurl, you will not BELIEVE the gossip I have.”

“Oh, no, you should overhear what Samantha told ‘Virgil’ today…”

“Stop impersonating me! I have a reputation!” Virgil threw with a hiss. Virgil and Dee had some mysterious past that they never really talked about, but they often butted heads whenever nearby. Really, a teacher’s pet and a prep would usually at least function in the same general vicinity, but Virgil and Dee where not that. It didn’t help that Dee and Virgil shared enough similarities that Dee only had to break out the contouring to get them to look identical as opposed to the wigs and lifts of most of the staff.

“SHHH I have some important gossip about Samantha right now, Virgie.” Dee waved off as he turned back to Remy.

Remy and Dee were besties over their shares in the gossip empire of not only the school but most of the town. “Don’t tell me it’s about Todd again.” Remy threw as he bit into a fry. “Seriously, that girl needs to dump his ass.”

“Oh, but that’s the best part! She didn’t, but he did!”

Remy choked. “No.”

“YES!”

“OMG SPILL!”

Virgil groaned as he lay his head on the table. “This is only the first day what the fuuuu….dge. Fudge.” He amended as he noticed Patton’s stare. They may be in high school, but Patton kept their language clean.

“Well, now that THAT is figured out,” Logan turned back to the group. “How is everyone’s first day been so far? Because, honestly, I’d rather be home watching TV. It’s the same drivel they all give every year.”

“Pretty much.” Virgil shrugged. “Although Patton correcting the teacher this morning was entertaining.”

“Well, I had to clarify that Hades wasn’t originally the villain of the Persephone story!” Patton nodded to himself. “The book was far out of print, and more recent evidence shows the potential influence of male translations of many of the stories.”

“Down with the Patriarchy!” Roman, Lauren, and Elliott all said at once. Roman went to high five both.

Patton nodded, still reading, as Logan rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone to scroll through some sports news. Virgil attempted to keep his composure as he ate, even as half the table began to chant “Down with The Man! Down with The Man!”

Roman led the charge on that last one.

#Sanders Sides #Flipping the Script AU #Roman Sanders #Logan Sanders #Patton Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Deceit Sanders #Elliott #Kai #Lauren #General tomfoolery #High School AU #Role Swap AU

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bookishreviewsblog · 5 years

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Sarah J. Maas: Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) | Lara

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an epic, unforgettable conclusion. Aelin Galathynius’s journey from slave to king’s assassin to the queen of a once-great kingdom reaches its heart-rending finale as war erupts across her world. . . Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day… With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world. And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever. As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.

4,5 STARS

“Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom …” After eight books of this amazing story I still can’t believe it is over. Although I started Throne of Glass series in May, I still find these books very dear to me and Celaena’s journey will stay with me for a while. I will most likely put a lot of spoilers in this review, because I am not sure I will be able to write it without some references, so be careful (there will be warnings of course). Even though this book was almost a thousand pages long, it wasn’t anything near boring. It was filled with action and twist from the beginning to the very end. Story and Celaena/Aelin herself have changed so much, that it seems so painfully far to look at the beginning of Throne of Glass. Maas introduced many more characters and storylines, that the length of the book seems quite fair since there was a lot of questions unanswered and stories unfinished. I like world-building and concept of Sarah’s worlds. In fact, if there is a map I can follow through the book while reading about war tactics there is 90% chance I will like the book. By now I can say I know the whole continent by heart since I used to check every city, river or mountain that was mentioned. Something about Sarah’s world-building that bothers me since A Court of Thorns and Roses is that there is no magic system. There are no rules of inheriting power or knowing how powerful one can be. Characters are just born with enormous power and every one of them has some different magic. Book was easy to read, chapters were short, each from different perspective. Descriptions were thorough and beautifully written as well as dialogues. I always admired Maas’s writing, but in this book, I was amazed by all those remarkable descriptions of places, battles and of course characters and their feelings in this amazing world she created. I could picture every scene and even empathize with characters I don’t like. Maas certainly knew how to make this one last story epic and unforgettable, while still pleasing us readers and fangirls. I still feel like there isn’t anything I can write that will put my feelings about this book in one place, but I will try with the characters. As I said before, long way since that lonely assassin in castle, hating the king and struggling to choose between crown prince and head of the guard. Story, characters, even villains have changed, completely. Perhaps I should start with Aelin, because she was character, I was most pleasantly surprised with in Kingdom of Ash. My perspective of her character changed a lot through the series. I loved her character from the beginning. She won my heart in The Assassin’s blade and I loved her strength and determination as well as the idea of 16-year-old assassin. Somewhere in Queen of Shadows, after she took her role as a Queen of Terrasen, she became annoying and I started to dislike her character. She kept her plans to herself and everyone praised her a bit too much, to the point where it felt like she was supposed to be the only important character in the story (where there are dozen main characters). I guess author was trying to make an impression of her being a good queen, still learning to rule, but it was rather annoying more than convincing. But I must say from the beginning of Kingdom of Ash, I started liking Aelin immediately. Maas did a really good job in writing her in state of torture, recovering and finally, continuing fight she started. *spoilers about Aelin’s character development ahead*Aelin showed her strength once again, during two months of brutal torture, by Maeve who wanted her to tell her where are the keys. She never once broke thinking about her country and how she must save it. During that period, I started to understand Aelin more, her motives and personality: how ashamed she was that she left Terrasen for 10 years and now she suffered so her people could stop suffering. From her recovery (which was very realistically described!) to her return to Erilea I forgot all about how she annoyed me. She has changed, started trusting her friends and allies, but those traits that made her one of my favorite character of all times still remained. Brave, willing to sacrifice herself for her friends and her country. She fought through all her pain and loss to glory and love. That scene where she ran out in golden armor in battle and when she stopped the river from destroying entire army were one of my favorite scenes in whole book. Maas did really good job with Aelin in this book, putting her a little bit on the side and creating some space for other characters, but still keeping Aelin as the initiator of everything and never letting her loose her value. There is nothing much to say about Rowan, my opinion on him remained the same as in the past two books – I feel like he is there only to play the role of love interest. Yes, I love him and Aelin together, but I could never connect with his character on a level I could with others and I haven’t seen much development of his. My favorites and the best power couple ever are Manon and Dorian. They were my OTP from the moment Manon was introduces to the series. I love them both so much and hey are my favorite characters from these books. Lots of angst and feelings, but I was disappointed *spoiler* they got separated at the end. I love cruel Chrochan Queen who was raised to kill and torture, but still finds her way and believes in herself. Her character was one of the best developed and most interesting character of the entire series. I loved her from the very beginning, but in Kingdom of Ash she showed not only her brutal side of a warrior and Ironteeth, but merciful and brave side of a queen who will unite and bring her people home. Her relationship with Abraxos and The Thirteen were one of my favorite friendships, **BIG spoiler* the scene of The Thirteen’s sacrifice was really painful. “The choice of how our people's future shall be shaped is yours," Manon told each of the witches assembled, all the Blackbeaks who might fly off to war and never return. "But I will tell you this." Her hands shook, and she fisted them on her thighs. "There is a better world out there. And I have seen it.” I wasn’t particularly fond of other characters, except Dorian and Chaol because they are part of the original trio. There was a whole lot of new and old characters and I couldn’t make myself care for all of them. I literally see no purpose of creating Elide or Lorcan than to add another perspective. Elide wasn’t even that interesting and her so called powers were brought up twice (I even forgot what were they). Sure, I started to like Fenrys, Lysandra was inspiring and I loved Aedion from time to time (although I find his character annoying and poorly developed). *SPOILER* When they are all summed up, we end with a big specter of main characters and, surprisingly, not single one of them died. I mean, I get it, it was a lot of pain and sacrifice throughout the book, but there was so many characters and I guess I even expected to be some painful deaths (that were not sideline characters). *following paragraph contains major spoilers for ending of Kingdom of Ash* “Let’s make this a fight worthy of a song.” I have a desperate need to comment on the ending of Throne of Glass series. As I said before, I was disappointed in lacking of deaths. It is not that I enjoy watching my favorite characters die, it is more about the impression certain ending leaves. I think ending should be emotional, especially after such a big finale. After finishing Kingdom of Ash, I was in state of “book hungover” for two hours (which is negligee compared to few-weeked depressions I endured after really emotional endings). Actually, the only things I was sad about was Aelin’s loss of power and separation of characters. Another thing that slightly bothered me, although I can’t say I am entirely unhappy with the outcome, is how forging of the lock turned out. I expected it would kill Aelin in some very emotional way, or at least it will take an enormous toll on her or Dorian, but at the same time I am glad they survived since they are my favorite characters after all. The whole ending just leaves the huge expression Maas didn’t want to kill of any important character and tbh I find that quite unrealistic and disappointing. Final battle was really tense, well written and I enjoyed reading it. I loved how it was all untangled between Erawan and Maeve. It would be pretty predictable and boring if it ended by them being destroyed with the keys, so this final battle gave the ending an epic note. “Aelin looked at Chaol and Dorian and sobbed. Opened her arms to them, and wept as they held each other. “I love you both,” she whispered. “And no matter what may happen, no matter how far we may be, that will never change.” All in all, I can say I am quite satisfied with this book since I have waited it for a few months and have been dying to see how will it all turn out. Throne of Glass series are really good work and I recommend it to any fantasy lover. The journey of young assassin has come to an end, but I can’t say I regret one moment of it.

#books #bookreviews #sarahjmaas #kingdomofash #throneofglass #youngadult #fantasy

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getoffthesoapbox · 6 years

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[VKM Spec] Investigating VKM 14

We’re starting the year off on much more solid footing than we began last year--with VKM 13.5 and now VKM 14, the story seems to be headed in a better direction than before. I, for one, am relieved to see this, and hope this trend continues for the remainder of the story. We only take small steps forward this chapter, but the good news is, as far as I can tell, we don’t take any steps backward either.

The irony hasn’t escaped me that not three days after I complained about Hino’s storytelling tanking, she put out what is arguably the best action/suspense chapter she’s written since the end of the Rido arc. Either someone put a bug in her ear, or we’re headed in a direction that she’s actually excited about writing. Whichever it is, this is a distinct improvement to the lackluster writing and artwork we’re accustomed to, and it’s a welcome change. The old girl’s still got it in her. Let’s see if she can keep it up.

That being said, let’s get to it. Scanlations can be found in the usual places.

Obligatory disclaimer for the sensitives: This post is “zeki criticism” and “anti ky”. Please blacklist those tags accordingly.

Marking Time

The first thing that struck me when I saw the opening page of this chapter was the teaser line. I couldn’t figure out what it was about the line that gripped me, other than the obvious: it’s clearly a reference to the significant amount of time Zero’s been waiting for Yuuki to say something to him. But when I was flipping through volume 19 the other day, I realized what it was that had caught my attention--this teaser line in VKM 14 is a direct reference to Zero’s request from the original epilogue of Night 93, a request that apparently narratively is still unanswered from Yuuki.

So this teaser line is a callback to that chapter, and it also tells us several things:

Zero is still waiting for Yuuki’s reply to his request from Night 93.

VKM 9′s confession was not the answer to that request.

We are not going to be ignoring the events that took place at the end of the original series in order to move Zero and Yuuki’s story forward.

We will likely be revisiting the original series to sort out why Yuuki still hasn’t given Zero an answer after all this time.

While it’s disheartening to recall how long Zero’s been waiting for a response to his request in Night 93, at the same time I’m quite heartened by the fact that he (and Hino and her editor) does not consider his request properly responded to by Yuuki. This is a huge relief to me as someone who was not happy with Yuuki’s manner of confessing to Zero in VKM 9. One of the weights from my shoulders as far as this story is concerned has been lifted with this reference, at least for now. I’m now hopefully optimistic that we’re not finished with the revelations on Yuuki’s side about her past and her past choices, and I’m also more hopeful that we might actually get a legitimate confession from her about her true feelings for Zero in the future.

So as far as I’m concerned, this little teaser line was a great way to start the chapter. If this was all the chapter contained, I’d be happy enough, but lucky for me this is only the beginning of the goodies.

The Usual Suspects

This chapter really expanded the possibilities for the suspects behind the Vampire King bombings, but it also threw some of my theories right out the window, which is rather interesting. There’s a lot to unpack on this side of the plot, so buckle your seat belts and get ready for the ride.

We begin the chapter with a secret meeting in the underground area between Maria and Kaien. @jadedmemories mentioned to me that if we take the title page as a canon “scene”, it’s quite possible Zero was listening in on what Maria and Kaien were discussing, as in, potentially he doesn’t trust either of them. It’s an interesting possibility, and one worth keeping in mind as future chapters unfold, I think. For now there’s not much to be done with the information.

It’ll probably be easiest if I separate this section by suspect and work through what we know and don’t know of each one. I made a funny list of suspects here for anyone who wants a more thorough review of each one, but for now I’m only going to discuss the most likely suspects and the ones that are relevant to this chapter in particular. First, we’ll start with some general observations:

The Vampire King’s True Purpose

Before this chapter came out, I was hesitant to make any guesses as to what the Vampire King mastermind was aiming for. But with three bombing incidents under our collective belts, a few potential purposes are starting to rise above the others.

With only the first two incidents, I was torn as to who the target of the Vampire King’s ultimate “message” was--I thought it could be Zero, Yuuki, Zero and Yuuki together, or the general efforts of Yuuki/Zero/Aidou/Takuma/Kaien to make the world more accepting of vampires.

With this third incident, I believe the target of the Vampire King’s message is either Yuuki or Zero specifically and individually. The rest is smoke and mirrors to give the group legitimacy and to act as a screen for the true purpose. I’ll break down the two options for now and explain which one I’m leaning toward currently, but we can’t make any positive conclusions until we get more information:

Target A: Yuuki - Yuuki being the ultimate target for the Vampire King’s mastermind is on the surface the most sensible conclusion. The name “Vampire King” itself is a direct reference to Kaname that would strike her heart more than any other’s. The first attack happened to Yuuki’s friends, the second attack happened to her pseudo-partner, the third attack both threatened something she holds dear (children’s safety) and also stole her pseudo-partner from her (Zero’s kidnapping). If she’s the target, the Vampire King likely a.) wants to use Zero’s safety as leverage to stop her from doing something (likely the cure research, since she’s in charge of Aidou) or b.) wants to separate her from Zero for some reason or c.) wants to harass her and cause her pain out of a misguided attempt to “get even” for Kaname’s past actions, since she’s connected to him.

Target B: Zero - Although I think the Yuuki option has potential, ultimately my gut is telling me Zero is the true target of all of this insanity. And by target I mean he’s both the person to capture (literal target) and the person to whom the message of the group is meant to be delivered. The group’s name “Vampire King” will still reach Zero just as much as it would reach Yuuki--Yuuki, in this variant, is the “bait” to get Zero involved, rather than vice versa. So the first attack happens to Yuuki’s friends, which gets Yuuki involved, which gets Zero involved. But the second attack is deliberately for Zero, and the vampire who commits the action has an insult specifically for Zero, despite Zero not even knowing the guy. The third incident, in this scenario, is actually a decoy and a set up--whoever the Vampire King mastermind is, they know Zero will be in charge of the investigation, so they pick a target he’s sensitive to (children) and set up landmine explosives in an obvious location where he’s sure to be the first to try to help anyone who gets caught up in it. They may or may not plant info with Kain to get Kain to bring Yuuki (though right now I think Yuuki’s presence was a mistake and unintended by the Vampire King mastermind), and then while Zero’s distracted “saving” whoever gets caught up in the mines, he either dies or gets kidnapped (the true objective). If this is true, then the kidnapping is actually to get Zero before the Vampire King mastermind to allow the mastermind the opportunity to talk to him without a certain nosy pureblood’s interference. Likely, if Zero is the true target, the Vampire King mastermind is going to use Zero’s desire to save people as leverage to get Zero to do something for him/her: either a.) stop Aidou’s research, b.) separate Zero from Yuuki, or c.) help Aidou’s research to get Kaname back sooner, depending on the ultimate goal. They’d get Zero to help them by blackmailing him, using a threat against future targets as bait. Then they’d likely release Zero so that he can return to Yuuk on his own, but with the blackmail hanging over his head. For an example of how fun this type of plotline is, see Sherlock BBC’s The Great Game episode.

The reason I’m currently leaning toward Zero as the ultimate target of the mastermind is simply because Yuuki’s for the most part a fairly passive character and because of how long it’s been since the forge was created. If the mastermind was after Yuuki because of some grudge over Kaname, well, it’s been 50-70 years depending on how old Yori was when she died. That’s a long time to hold a grudge against someone who’s just related to the person in question. It’d be far better to just plan an attack against the forge itself, if the forge was the problem. As for other reasons to go after Yuuki’s loved ones, there really aren’t any other than maybe a bored Pureblood wanting to start a war and stop the coexistence efforts. Even if that’s true, this particular style of Vampire King activity doesn’t seem particularly effective toward that end. Especially when it’s highlighting the vampires as the problem, rather than simply being a declaration against Yuuki herself or her comrades.

If Zero is the person the mastermind is after, we have a lot more room to play. Zero has more enemies than Yuuki, and more people with animus toward him for his role as a Hunter and as Yuuki’s pseudo-partner. Zero also has unresolved pot threads about his special status as the only hunter twin to ever be born a twin, not to mention Takuma’s secret in reference to the Shizuka incident. On top of that, it’s been made very clear that his relationship with Yuuki is not approved of in most quarters, and the hunters (who would go after Yuuki, rather than Zero) for the most part seem accepting of his situation, thus they’re unlikely to be part of the problem. Zero also is potentially a cure component, which may be a factor, and he’s part of the reason the hunters aren’t killing vampires anymore (so if this is an action by the anti-vampire faction, Zero might be a prime target as an agent of improving the lot of criminal vampires and thus seen as an enemy to their agenda).

Again, at this time this is only speculation at best; we simply don’t have enough information to make any firm conclusions either way. I’m honestly not sure anymore how smart Hino is, so perhaps the most obvious conclusion is the best in this situation.

Kidnapped!

Zero’s kidnapping this chapter brings up a few questions:

Was the purpose of the bombing threat a decoy to lure Zero out and to kidnap him?

Is Zero’s kidnapping part of the Vampire King’s plot or is it from a second party?

Was Zero the intended target or was he captured by accident?

If Zero was the intended target, why? If he was captured by accident, who was the real target?

Did Zero orchestrate his own kidnapping for a reason?

It may seem kind of silly to bring up the idea that Zero might have had himself kidnapped but given how peacefully he departs from Yuuki’s side, it’s quite possible. There’s no sign of a struggle, and although he does look over his shoulder before he disappears, his expression isn’t anxious or shocked. Whatever he sees isn’t unexpected.

I’m not sure how likely this is, however, but if his kidnapping was a genuine kidnapping that leaves even more questions. Why was he not shocked to see the person kidnapping him? Why didn’t he struggle? How did the kidnapper surprise him and knock him out without a struggle or even a word of warning to Yuuki? How did Yuuki not notice another person was there?

There are a couple options I can think of. One is that the person who approached Zero was one he expected to be there (limiting our options to Maria, Goggles Guy, or Mimi), who perhaps covered his mouth with something like a chloroform-soaked cloth to knock him out. The other is that a person didn’t approach him--a pureblood blood creature did, such as Sara’s spiders or Kaname’s bats. If it’s the latter, he could be easily whisked away the way Kaname did for Yuuki in Night 60 or the way Touma did with his bats in Night 59 and 60. This would imply a pureblood is working with the Vampire King, though they may not be the mastermind. We know Yuuki has a hard time sensing the pureblood creatures, as it took her a few minutes to figure out the fake Kaname back in Night 76; it would be entirely possible for a pureblood to whisk Zero away quickly using these creatures rather than their physical selves.

All of this brings up some very interesting questions, which unfortunately we’ll have to wait two months (or perhaps more) to get answers.

Suspect A: Kaien

In my review of VKM 13, I mentioned Kaien as a potential suspect. After VKM 14, I’m leaning toward him being a red herring, as much as this pains my Kaien-detesting heart. =P

On the surface, he’s still a great candidate for mastermind of the whole operation. Here’re the points in his favor:

He meets Maria in secret and spills a “secret” to her.

He has time to plant the bombs.

Although he’s not at the scene of the crime, that could be because a.) he already planted the bombs, b.) the Zero kidnapping isn’t part of the Vampire King activities, or c.) he planted the bombs and his associates kidnap Zero, leaving him free to attack other towns.

At the mayor candidate rally, he talks about his ideals and runs off with a suspicious bag in his hand. (Thanks, @jadedmemories for pointing that out to me.)

That being said, here are the reasons I feel he’s a red herring now:

Yuuki got caught up in the mess, which I don’t feel he would have intended, and surely he’d know that this particular style of target would get her attention.

The target was a bunch of kids, which isn’t his style--although he has no problem putting teenagers in danger, he still looked after and cared for Yuuki and Zero as children and likely wouldn’t threaten kids.

Although we don’t find out Kaien’s secret, we do find out that he asked Maria to reach out to the Academy alumni, which (while perhaps a decoy) implies whatever he’s working toward is ultimately altruistic or at worst benign in nature and something he thinks other people will support.

Hino made a point in VKM 11 of showing Kaien has some regrets about how he handled his life, and she reiterated this in VKM 6 when he was talking with Yori’s dad.

His motives for committing these attacks (especially now that human children have been involved) seem fairly weak and counterproductive to his other stated goals.

All in all, while it’s still certainly possible that Kaien could be the ultimate mastermind or part of the Vampire King group, in the end I think he’s probably a red herring whose activities will end up helping Yuuki and/or Zero in the end. He does have access to a pureblood, Isaya, who could have helped him kidnap Zero, but there are also other purebloods who could do the same thing with potentially more motive.

Suspect B: Maria

Hino conveniently decided to bring Maria back after all this time in VKM 14. I don’t think she was brought back just to resurrect Yuuki’s limp jealousy over a man she’s been pushing away romantically for over 50 years. Depending on whether or not Maria has a role to play in the Vampire King group, the reason for her return will change.

It is possible she’s part of the Vampire King group, and we’re meant to suspect her. If she is a part of the group, however, I don’t believe she’s the mastermind. Before we get to that, let’s start with why she might be a potential suspect:

She randomly decides to help patrol the tunnels despite this being out of character for her, which Zero (being the most intuitive character of the cast) immediately points out.

She has a secret meeting with Kaien where she’s framed suspiciously.

When she talks about people being on the move thanks to the academy in the first scene with Kaien, Hino puts her speech bubble over the crime scene from later in the chapter. The framing is rather ominous.

She’s working with a human we’ve never met before, who has some ambiguous connections to the former academy.

We know nothing of her whereabouts during the last few years since Night 93. We only know at some point there was a scene where she sadly watched Zero walking away, which was during the original Night 92 epilogue and where she had her original hairstyle. When that scene was and what it was about, we still don’t know.

Hino makes rather a big deal out of her wish to protect “what” she loves like Ichiru. This might imply that, if she is involved with the Vampire King, she is doing it out of misguided altruism.

She’s clearly still interested in Zero romantically, even if she’s not actively pursuing him.

She and her human partner were patrolling the area near where the landmines were, yet neither of them noticed the landmines.

Her human partner has a suspicious line about suspicious things “lying around” right before Yuuki and Mimi step on the landmines.

It’s quite possible that the reason Zero isn’t shocked or startled by whoever approaches him from behind is because it’s Maria herself, who he expects to be in the area. He likely wouldn’t struggle against her initially if she was the one who kidnapped him.

I think it’s certainly possible Maria might be involved with the Vampire King, but it’s also possible that she’s not and her partner is, and that it’s a huge coincidence that she happened to be there at the time. If the latter, then her role will likely be to cause some small trouble for Yuuki and make Yuuki question some things about herself, as Maria’s role has been since arc 2.

If Maria is involved in this whole business, she’s certainly not the mastermind. She doesn’t have nearly the motive or connections to mastermind this. While she does care for Zero and has certainly worked with shady figures in the past (Shizuka), she usually is on the side of right or good--though she was Yuuki’s rival for Zero, she still helped her against Kaname and Sara. The only way I can see her being involved in this is if the mastermind has convinced her that Yuuki is bad for Zero and needs to be separated from him (hearkening back to her wish to protect the things she loves like Ichiru). Maria doesn’t love the kids at the kindergarten, and as far as we know she only cares about two things: Ichiru (who is inside Zero) and Zero. This makes it likely that the thing she wants to protect is Zero. If that’s true, then it’s quite possible she’s involved in his kidnapping.

However, it’s also possible that she (like Kaien) is merely a red herring. If she is just a red herring, then her open and honest confession of her goals and feelings is actually in the story to serve as a foil to Yuuki, who lies about hers. Maria’s open and honest affection stands in contrast to Yuuki’s inability to be truthful about her own feelings, something she’s struggled with for the entire story. Even if Maria isn’t involved in the Vampire King organization, she still serves a vital purpose in both making Yuuki reassess herself in the canon itself and also stands as an ideal to contrast Yuuki for the reader.

Suspect C: Goggles Guy

Maria’s human companion, who I have dubbed Goggles Guy in lieu of a proper name, has a few points in his favor as being partnered to the Vampire King group, but if he is partnered with them, that opens up a whole different can of worms as to why a human would be partnered with Level C and potentially noble/pureblood vampires to sow chaos and drag the vampires through the mud. His involvement with the Vampire King group muddies the waters of potential motives, but he’s suspicious enough that I can’t write him off simply because he makes things difficult.

Points in his favor as a potential member of the Vampire King group:

We’ve never seen him before, yet he knows enough about the tunnel threat to volunteer for the vigilante group.

Although his story about his grandmother may be true, we know nothing about the remainder of his background. He could potentially be from a hunter family and be bearing some kind of grudge.

Hino has him speak a suspiciously prescient line about suspicious objects being set up and returning to an “original objective.” On the surface, this line is innocent, but as a foreshadowing technique it may implicate him as the very one who set the landmines.

This is intuitive on my part, but Hino drew his goggles to be deliberately provoking--whenever a character’s eyes are hidden, that’s usually a sign to pay attention. There was no reason to remove his goggles when we first meet him and then put them back on his face right as he speaks his most suspicious line.

If the above points are true, he is, just like Maria, probably a pawn being used in the Vampire King mastermind’s ultimate plan. This guy just doesn’t seem to have enough going for him to be a mastermind in his own right, and certainly not one who could organize kamikaze Level Cs/Ds to bomb themselves.

But as with Maria and Kaien, Goggles Guy may also ultimately be a red herring. Points against him:

His motive for joining the vigilante corps seems legitimate and sincere; Hino doesn’t use any paneling or screentone tricks to make his story feel suspicious.

Even if he’s an angry member of the anti-vampire faction, it seems strange that he’d join an organization that utilizes vampires and looks down on humans (if we assume that the second suicide bomber was an accurate representation of the people involved with this group).

He’s a human, and should have more trouble kidnapping Zero than a vampire might.

His motives seem weak, despite how suspicious he looks.

We know nothing of this guy, which narratively renders him fairly innocuous, much like the evil purebloods in volume 19. Hopefully Hino isn’t going to repeat that mistake again.

Of the characters presented this chapter, Goggles Guy is the most likely to be involved in some way, though I doubt he’s anything more than a pawn ultimately.

Suspect D: Mimi

The last suspect really highlighted by this chapter is Mimi. I’ll cover the other options in the last sub-section together. Mimi’s only appeared in two chapters so far--VKM 6, where she annoyed Yuuki at the vampire lounge and later attacked Yori with the yankee doodle vampire, and now in VKM 14. Of the potential suspects this chapter, I feel she’s the weakest, but she is the last known person to have seen both Zero and Yuuki, and that can’t be discounted entirely.

Points in her favor as an accomplice to the Vampire King plot:

She has a known animus against Zero in particular and humans in general (Yori).

She’s a petty criminal and knows the tunnels very well.

She appeared suddenly this chapter after not being mentioned at all for a while.

She’s in the last panel showing Zero and Yuuki fighting the bomb. It’s quite possible she’s the one who runs up to Zero and knocks him out.

That being said, I really don’t think she’s involved at all. Reasons why I lean this way:

Mimi’s dumb as a box of rocks and can’t keep her mouth shut for two minutes flat.

Her narrative role appears to be filling in as the Yuuki sidekick character since Aidou is being used for other purposes and Zero has been removed.

She’s being used to help Yuuki articulate her thoughts in a sincere way, and these conversations would be seriously undermined by villainous activity.

She steps on the damn landmine. What conspirator steps on the landmine? Yes, it offers authenticity, but there was no guarantee she’d escape unscathed unless it was a dud she stepped on which we know it wasn’t.

Unless she’s speed running in that last panel that shows her head, she’s too far away to be the culprit who kidnaps Zero. The shot we see from behind her is also potentially a perspective shot of the person who DID attack Zero, and who IS running past her to get to him (hence the angle and speed).

Hino never paints her suspiciously in the chapter, unlike Kaien, Maria, and Goggles Guy.

There’s an interesting moment where Mimi points to Zero with Maria/Goggles Guy and demands to know why he’s not on Yuuki’s team and is on Maria’s. This is a potential narrative device foreshadowing the arc that’s about to come, with Zero “on the Vampire King’s side” due to blackmail, and Yuuki/Mimi having to figure out why. A device like this normally isn’t used for or by villainous characters.

It may be my bias toward Mimi talking here, but honestly she’s the most refreshing character in this story since Ai lost a lot of her charm and flatlined, and I’d hate to see her used for villainous purposes when there are plenty of other, superior candidates.

Suspect X: Everyone Else

I won’t go too deeply into the other options for the Vampire King mastermind this chapter, but a quick list of characters who are still potential masterminds despite not being directly involved this chapter:

Ai - Ai’s an unlikely candidate, but since we know she can wake up and go back to sleep, it’s entirely possible she’s somehow involved, rendering this whole Vampire King thing a big sham. Given how violent it has been so far, I think she’s an unlikely choice, but we can’t rule her out yet.

Isaya - Isaya’s not normally an active character, but he can be in the right situation. Perhaps he’s off his rocker.

Takuma - My favorite option, and the one who appears the most innocent and has the most potential for juicy narrative twists. He’s not in this chapter of course, but “someone” had to tip Kain off on what was going on, and we don’t know who that someone was.

Kain - An unlikely option, given he was one of the earliest victims, but still possible since he’s the one who gave Yuuki the intel.

Kaito - With the return of Maria, the first of the two anti-Zeki characters, it’s not a stretch to imagine Kaito might return as well to be a foil to Zero, especially if in the interim between Night 93 and VKM 14 Kaito was attacked and turned by a pureblood. Kaito has a distinct animus against vampires and purebloods, and he is not supportive of Zero’s relationship with Yuuki. There’s also a scene in Night 93 of Kaito watching over Zero hugging Yuuki which might feed into this possibility. Hino hasn’t shown us what happened to Kaito for a reason, and what that reason is may be relevant to this new plotline.

Other random purebloods/nobles/level cs/humans/hunters - The Vampire KIng mastermind could certainly be someone we’ve never met yet. I would be disappointed if this were the case, but it’s entirely possible. Who knows who or why this group has been cobbled together.

So as is evident, we have quite a bit of potential for who the Vampire King culprit is. Hopefully the next few chapters will give us some new information, but for now we can enjoy the speculation. ;)

A Breath of Fresh Air

Mimi is a complete delight this chapter. She brings back some much-needed humor in a natural way. She’s not enabling Yuuki or interested in babying her. She’s dumb, but has a sharp intuition, if pointed incorrectly. Hino’s incessant need for comedy plays off well with this character, in a way it didn’t with Ai. As someone who is uninvolved in all the drama of Kaname’s interference in everyone’s lives from the previous series, Mimi has a refreshing outlook that helps break the story away from the bleak shadow Kaname cast over all the characters.

I love Mimi’s assessment of Zero. It tickles me pink that she thinks he’s a cheater and off wooing all the ladies and that he “seduced” Yuuki. This just shows how off-base she is, but I do believe she is picking up on his dissatisfaction with his current relationship, and is just reflecting it back to Yuuki in her own unique way. What I love about her perception of Zero is that she has no idea that in reality he never even tried to steal Yuuki--Yuuki chose him, Yuuki latched onto him, and Yuuki wouldn’t let go of him. The only “seducing” Zero ever did was simply be a hurt and fragile boy who stood in front of Yuuki on a dark night. The rest was all Yuuki. But of course Mimi wouldn’t know any of this, so it’s cute to see her misread the situation. ;) It also is a nice reminder of how charming, handsome, and attractive Zero is--that he is a catch and one who rightfully should have his pick of the ladies, even if Hino won’t give that to him because, well, they’d clearly outshine our “heroine,” who wouldn’t be able to compete with a proper rival. =P

I also love that Mimi has no reverence for Yuuki at all, despite dubbing her “Yuuki-sama.” She also cuts through Yuuki’s bullcrap in a way none of the other characters seem capable of in recent chapters. She honestly is a better friend to Yuuki in this single chapter than Yori was in the past 13--and I don’t mean better as in better person, but simply better in the fact that real friends don’t enable bad behavior for an entire lifetime, and Yori enabled Yuuki whereas Mimi reminds her to stop moping and dwelling and just do what she thinks is right. It’s so refreshing, and I’d love to keep this girl around for a while.

Her simple foolishness is charming and fun in a way Yuuki’s false obliviousness is not anymore, and it acts as a good contrast to Yuuki’s fake attempts at playing such a character. With Mimi around, even more than when Ai was near, Yuuki is forced to step into the adult role she’s meant to have and stop playing the eternal child who doesn’t know her adult responsibilities. All I can do is tip my hat to Mimi and thank her for channeling the true spirit of the Eternal Fool, the very person who lights the way for heroes to become heroes. All heroes step through the Fool’s Way first, and it’s long past time for Yuuki to get her own journey started. If Mimi can light the way for her, I’d be quite pleased.

Welcome Home

I won’t cover Maria as a potential suspect in this section, but I do want to talk about her role as a character and why she has returned at this time to the story. This section will assume Maria is not a suspect, but even if she is, her function in this chapter doesn’t change all that much, it just gains additional layers. Assuming she’s innocent, though, she still brings some interesting and much-needed layers to the table.

Maria is an active foil to Yuuki this chapter. In many ways, she is Yuuki’s superior and is closer to living as Yuuki’s “ideal” than Yuuki is, and this is a factor that I feel is not lost on Yuuki. Here are the ways that I feel Maria is acting more heroically than Yuuki this chapter:

Maria finds out on her own about the terrorist attack using her own intelligence-gathering abilities. (Assuming she is innocent of being part of the Vampire King plot, of course.) Yuuki, on the other hand, is sitting on her thumbs at home and the information has to be brought to her. Maria is active, Yuuki passive.

Maria is acting in the memory of her beloved and without his direct involvement and without any direct recognition from anyone. Yuuki only acts when she feels social pressure to do something, because it looks good in front of her friends.

Maria helps form and collect the members of the vigilante group. Yuuki sneaks around and drags uninvolved parties into danger.

Maria takes action despite the risks to her. Yuuki remains passive and uninvolved despite having immense power and political clout.

Maria is honest and forthright about her reasons for stepping in. Yuuki is cagey and unable to articulate why she is doing what she’s doing.

Maria’s activities bring the sincere admiration of Zero, while Yuuki’s bring only his irritation and concern.

Maria responds to Zero openly and sincerely, while Yuuki remains unable to express her true feelings honestly, despite knowing she should follow Ruka’s example.

Maria is acting out of a sincere desire to help, Yuuki to get attention and show off.

Again, the points above are assuming Maria is not a suspect. If she’s a suspect, some of the sincerity of her actions is diminished, but her role as a foil to Yuuki still remains intact because Yuuki believes she’s sincere.

I was chatting with @vampireknightmeta about why Maria comes across to me as sincere this chapter and why Yuuki doesn’t, and she brought up a brilliant point about the difference between the two (and the difference between Zero and Yuuki). I felt her point was very relevant and explains the difference well: Yuuki is the type of person who deep down knows that her natural inclination is not to do the right thing, and so tries to “act” like a good person. Maria (if she’s not acting duplicitously as a member of the Vampire King group) and Zero are the type of people who instinctively do the right thing because they are good people. They don’t have to act like good people, they are. This isn’t to say Yuuki isn’t a good person or doesn’t have the potential to be a good person--rather, it’s the difference between a person who follows laws because they’re “afraid” of the consequences of breaking them (and who, if there were no consequences, would do the acts that the laws warn against) and a person who follows laws because they genuinely believe the laws are good and are of benefit to themselves and others (and even if the laws never existed would choose to follow them on principle). The outcome is the same--both types of people follow the laws and would be viewed as “good” and “innocent” by bystanders looking in, but in their hearts the two are very different--one type is genuinely good and altruistic, the other is not but wishes they were.

I do believe Hino is trying to help Yuuki grow into such a person, a person who--although she is fully capable of great evil and great caprice--deliberately chooses not to be because in her core she truly has embraced altruism and genuine love. This hearkens back to VKM 3, where Yuuki talks about the seed of desire and her fears about it. Yuuki has never truly faced herself and the darkness within herself and the darkness she’s capable of creating, and because she hasn’t incorporated her shadow, she can’t actualize her full potential as a person the way Zero and (potentially) Maria can. Until you face your shadow, you don’t really know who you are, and I believe Maria’s return to the story (assuming she’s not part of the Vampire King plot, or even if she is) is meant to help Yuuki identify where she’s failing as a person, and why her relationships never unfold correctly. Maria’s role is always to help Yuuki course-correct, and I believe she is reprising that again this time. She represents a woman who isn’t relying on a man as a crutch, but who is using a past love as inspiration for moving forward, a direct contrast to Yuuki who is both using one man as a crutch and using a past relationship as a reason not to move forward.

By using Maria as a foil, Yuuki’s flaws as a heroine come into stark relief, and we can see more clearly where she needs to go and what she needs to do in order to achieve the happiness that surely she desires somewhere, deep down inside.

Closer to Shadow than Light

I’m feeling pretty darn ambivalent about Yuuki this chapter, and this section will reflect that ambivalence. There are aspects to what we saw unfold this chapter that I enjoyed and am pleased to see, and there are other things that I’m not so pleased with when I pull back to the macro level. Unfortunately they’re all kind of meshed together, so I’ll have to talk about them together. If anyone reading this is the kind of person who is defensive of Yuuki, I’d recommend just skipping this section and going to the next one. There’s a lot to deal with here, and I’m not going to be going easy on the girl.

Yuuki is more talkative and friendly this chapter than she has been in any chapter since Night 89. It almost seems like she’s had a personality transplant, honestly. She is actively trying to learn a new skill with Ruka, she opens up about herself and her feelings to Kain and Mimi, she’s more proactive and adventurous, she even openly admires and talks about Zero. It’s like we’ve been transported back in time to the Sara mini-arc, where she was running around doing her Night Class restoration thing. She treats Kain and Mimi better than she’s treated anyone since Night 89--she’s genuine and honest with both of them. While this is nice to see in general and is certainly a step forward from the lifeless doll she’s been recently, for me it feels like too little too late and makes me genuinely angry on behalf of Zero, Ai, Aidou, and Yori. Yuuki’s been dishonest and cagey with all of the people dearest to her for decades, yet all of sudden she’s now blabbing everything about herself to two people who aren’t even her friends. It’s frustrating that she’s kept this habit from her teen years, and it’s a sign of how little she’s grown in the decades since the final volume of the original series. And this is just the tip of the iceberg that is the mess that is Yuuki in VKM 14.

When we first encounter Yuuki in this chapter, she’s in her own home having a cooking lesson with Ruka. This fact is glossed over lightly due to the scene beginning in medias res, but it brings up some interesting questions:

Why is Yuuki suddenly interested in cooking? She’s never been good at it or interested in it in her over 70 years of life.

Does Zero know about these lessons, or are they a secret?

I wouldn’t find this lesson remarkable if this was during Ai’s childhood or right before or right after Yuuki and Zero became official. But it’s arguably several months after VKM 9′s official announcement, and the timing is suspicious for Yuuki to suddenly take an interest in being domestic where before she was content to leave it to the servants/Ruka (when taking care of Ai) or leaving it to Zero. It seems too coincidental that this sudden interest in being a more attractive and useful partner comes directly on the heels of VKM 13′s final scene; we don’t know how much time has passed since then, but clearly whatever transpired afterward led to Yuuki taking a sudden keen interest in improving herself. I’ll discuss the ramifications of this more later on, but for now it’s fair to leave this as a point of interest.

We begin the scene with Kain informing Yuuki of the next potential plot of the Vampire King group--to plant bombs under the sewers of the kindergarten and daycare centers. Why this group would broadcast their plans should be the real issue for the investigators--that alone should have been a red flag that their goals weren’t the bombing itself--but that aside, Yuuki gets herself worked up into a rage over the issue of children being targets. There’s an distasteful element of hypocrisy in Yuuki’s sudden desire to protect children that bothers me deeply as a reader. Yuuki declares very forthrightly that she won’t forgive anyone who targets children. Yet this is the same woman who spared not a single moment of regret for what Rido did to her real baby brother, the real Kaname, and free-passed and ignored what Kaname’s own crime of targeting Zero and Ichiru as children. For her to run around screaming that she won’t forgive anyone who targets children now, when she’s already done such a thing in the original series, is less than convincing and is outright distasteful in my opinion. I can only hope Hino recognizes this herself and doesn’t think Yuuki’s outrage in this scene is merely a cute way to show how altruistic and kind Yuuki is--because if that’s true, then that shows that Hino (and Yuuki) both think only criminals one doesn’t know are evil, and that the criminals one does know are excusable especially if they’re romantic interests, and that is reprehensible in the most vile manner. It’s okay for Kaname to target two innocent twins for Yuuki’s sake, but it’s not okay for the Vampire King group to do the same for their own reasons. The hypocrisy is a little too thick to be ignored on this one, and I hope Hino has Yuuki get called out on this later on in VKM.

On top of this, Yuuki’s outrage is rather out of proportion to the threat, especially with so many good people (including the man she supposedly cares about) on the case. It’s clear something more is going on beneath the surface than concern over the safety of children. Even Ruka, who is one of the most maternal characters in the story besides Yori, has a much more reasonable reaction to the news--she calls the perpetrators out for being despicable, but doesn’t let it steal her chill. Yuuki flies off the handle melodramatically and is rightfully stopped by Kain--she’s out of control, and her involvement isn’t going to help matters. Ruka’s solution works out well for Yuuki, but it read more to me like an adult stepping in to keep the peace rather than a genuine compromise. Still, Yuuki trying to be proactive is better than Yuuki sitting on her thumbs, so baby steps I suppose. The most damning news, and likely the real reason why Yuuki wants to get involved, is because Zero didn’t tell her this was going on and concealed it from her. She’s upset that he’s not involving her in the case, but also knows she has no right to get her nose out of joint because it’s his job. Sneaking in and sniffing around gives her an excuse to keep an eye on him. Trying to protect children is most likely a cover up for her real reasons for going. Yuuki always tries to look good in front of others to hide her real motives; typical pureblood activity.

This scene with Ruka and Kain isn’t just to establish Yuuki’s reasons for trespassing into Zero’s territory; it’s also meant to serve as a mirror, with Ruka and Kain’s relationship reflecting Zero and Yuuki’s. Remember, Ruka and Kain are a settling relationship, the one Zero and Yuuki should be if Yuuki genuinely loved Kaname and is just moving on with Zero as her second best option. If Ruka and Kain, who are a settlement pairing, are shown in a more positive light than Yuuki and Zero, it should serve as a red flag to a careful reader.

And that’s exactly what Hino does with this section--Ruka, the woman who settled for Kain, is shown behaving like a proper wife to him. She gets upset when he dismisses the importance of their time together as a married couple, she encourages him to do his best at his work, she expresses her explicit faith in and admiration for his abilities, and then she sends him off to do his duty while going about her day, having absolute confidence that he’ll return to her in the end. This woman, a woman who held favor for Kaname for nearly as long as Yuuki, is capable of being such a wife to a man she settled for, a man she clearly cares deeply about but who wasn’t her first choice. If Yuuki’s issues with Zero are simply her failure to move on from Kaname, she should be more like Ruka, not less.

Instead, Hino casts Yuuki unfavorably in contrast to Ruka. Unlike Ruka, Yuuki has no faith in Zero as a partner. Though she does admire him behind closed doors, she never openly speaks of her pride in him when he’s present, as Ruka does to Kain. She doesn’t appreciate his hard work or his efforts, she doesn’t nag him for time together, she doesn’t support his endeavors. Instead she frets over his safety and looks down on him because he’s not immortal like she is. She doesn’t trust that he’ll return to her, as she admits to Mimi later on in the chapter. Where did all this fear and distrust come from? It certainly didn’t come from the original series, at least not before she herself destroyed their bond in Night 88--she held a deep trust for Zero before then and didn’t fear for him during the Sara arc. In fact, she even said as much openly to him back then--she “wasn’t worried about him” even as she sent him to drink Sara’s blood. That same girl now has no faith in this man at all, despite all he’s done in the meantime. Something has gone terribly wrong, and from her conversations with both Kain and Mimi, she knows it too, even if she’s unwilling to face why.

Yuuki has her first semi-breakdown around Kain in this chapter, but she’ll break down around Mimi as well. She admits that she’s all scrambled, because she knows she should be more like Ruka but can’t quite get herself to that point. Instead of taking the time to sort herself out, she focuses on irrelevant things that won’t solve the real problems--such as interfering with Zero’s investigation. She basically says that rather than deal with the snakes in the garden, she’d rather go out and hunt the wolves howling outside the walls. This section reveals her real intentions for going out on this case--she’s not interested in protecting the children, but in preventing Zero from being involved. This mindset, as her own narration implies, will come back to bite her in the future. From some point in the future, she admits that during this period all she could do was eliminate the immediate fires, rather than preemptively planning for them.

What’s interesting about the way Hino frames this discussion with Kain (if it can even be called a discussion; it’s more like Yuuki talking to herself in front of Kain), is that Kain is clearly uncomfortable with Yuuki suddenly blabbing to him about her inner worries. This tells the reader a few things:

Yuuki and Kain are not normally close enough for these kinds of conversations to be normal.

Yuuki’s starting to crack under some kind of internal pressure to the point where she’s talking to people she normally doesn’t talk to.

Notice she doesn’t talk to Ruka about her worries, despite the fact that Ruka is a far better option for this sort of discussion than Kain. In the past, she did the same thing to Yori--when Yori tried to ask her about herself, she’d clam up (as she does in VKM 13.5) or deflect. Yuuki hasn’t talked about herself openly in decades, and so for her to start blathering her true thoughts now, well, that can only imply something...unusual...has triggered this sudden need to talk to everyone who’s not involved with Zero.

She does another thing that’s rather interesting during this whole scene with Ruka and Kain--she brings Zero up when no one else brought him up. Kain never once mentions Zero, only the hunters in general. Yuuki brings him up twice on her own when no one asked her to. This also implies that whatever it is that’s spurring her into action, it’s related to him and nothing else. Coming on the heels of VKM 13, I smell a rat that’ll need to be buried in future chapters.

This all would be more than enough to chew on if the chapter ended there, but there’s still more to unpack once Yuuki gets herself into the sewers. She’s joined by Mimi, the culprit of the attack on Yori in VKM 6, who has “reformed” (so she says) thanks to Yuuki’s intervention. Mimi’s a charming girl, and she brings some of Yuuki’s flaws and failures as a person into stark relief for anyone with a knowledge of the original series.

The first thing we find out about Mimi is that Yuuki’s helped her get her life back together after her crimes, and Mimi’s grateful to her. Yuuki flat out tells Mimi that the only reason she helped Mimi was to keep her from returning to her criminal ways. When Mimi acts like she probably hasn’t, Yuuki asks her if she’s really gotten her act together.

While this is a cute scene on the surface, and if this was any other character (Zero, Aidou, Yori, or Ai, for example) who helped Mimi, it would be just a funny character-building scene for Mimi; unfortunately Yuuki’s past history with a certain other criminal highlights another aspect of her hypocrisy this chapter: she judges Mimi for her unlawful actions, but she refuses to hold Kaname accountable for his--instead she blames herself, rather than Kaname, for his crimes in order to excuse him and absolve him of them. For her to judge Mimi, whose crimes are much lower on the scale of criminality than the man who fathered her first child, is a pretty classless and hypocritical move as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure Hino just meant this scene to be a cute example of Yuuki helping people, but it was a fairly tasteless choice in my opinion. As I said earlier in the Kain section, I can only hope Hino knows how tasteless this is going to come across and accounts for it with a reckoning later.

While Mimi herself is adorable, Yuuki is fairly gruff and curt with her in the first part of their scene together; it’s clear she doesn’t like Mimi and finds her to be useless at best, irritating at worst. Mimi’s worth as a character won’t appear until later, but we can already start seeing the role she’s going to play for Yuuki in the upcoming chapters: she’s taking Aidou’s place, since Aidou is now a serious character who can’t play the fool for Yuuki, while Zero is gone from Yuuki’s side. Mimi is here to point out the things Yuuki won’t say, and to hint at resolutions to the things Yuuki is running from, just as Aidou was before her during the second arc of the original series.

When Yuuki realizes Zero is one of the three people she’s sensing in the tunnels, she aborts her mission rapidly--her hope to capture the culprits before Zero gets involved is immediately quashed. She tries to backpedal before Zero notices her, but of course no one escapes the greatest hunter who ever lived, and certainly not two girls as blockheaded as Yuuki and Mimi. But the mere fact that Yuuki tries to avoid Zero highlights a few issues right away:

Yuuki doesn’t want Zero to know she’s there.

Yuuki didn’t tell Zero she’d be there.

Yuuki knows she shouldn’t be there.

Interestingly, earlier on in the scene with Mimi, Mimi mentioned that running into the association members is what she really doesn’t want to do, likely because they’re the most dangerous for vampires. Yuuki carefully ignores her comment, but we see here that Yuuki had the same intention, if for very different reasons.

Hino uses screentones to show Zero’s none-too-happy about the appearance of his pseudo-girlfriend in the tunnels. He and Yuuki look like they’re about to get into it, but then Mimi distracts Yuuki by insulting Zero, which pisses Yuuki off. Any ensuing argument is cut short by the sudden appearance of Maria, who Yuuki clearly hasn’t seen in a while. The two teams chat for a bit, and Yuuki grows increasingly tense the longer the discussion goes on.

As I mentioned earlier in the Maria section, Maria is another foil for Yuuki, much as Ruka is, in this chapter. Beyond being a general foil, she highlights some of Yuuki’s deep insecurities specifically about Zero. Yuuki’s jealousy in this chapter, while funny on the surface, actually serves to highlight some of the true sources of her real fears about Zero, the ones she conceals behind fear for his safety, which is a more appropriate fear than her real ones. The first moment that worries Yuuki is when Zero openly admires Maria for doing something brave that is out of character for her. Zero then tells Yuuki about information he learned from Maria, implying that he and Maria have a “world” together that Yuuki’s not a part of (of course, this only because Zero just ran into Maria, so this is just Yuuki’s perception, and Zero’s being very upfront and honest).

Yuuki watches (as does Mimi) this little world Zero and Maria are creating between them and becomes increasingly anxious with each moment. Mimi serves to highlight this for the reader, because Yuuki’s unwilling to let her true feelings be known other than some leaky facial expressions. Zero makes a comment showing he resents Yuuki hesitating about whether or not he’s cheating (the guy has waited patiently at least 70 years for this girl to have a real relationship with him; he’s no cheater and she shouldn’t be fretting over that--it’s insulting to him), and Maria quickly steps in to try to resolve the issue. Of course, the manner in which she does it just digs the hole further--she elicits a gentle response from Zero that continues to create a “world” around them that Yuuki isn’t a part of.

Maria’s interactions with Zero establish a few things for Yuuki:

Zero honestly compliments Maria, yet he doesn’t compliment Yuuki or appreciate her efforts.

Zero respects Maria, yet he doesn’t seem to respect Yuuki.

Zero openly shows affection for Maria, but not Yuuki.

Maria is open and honest with her feelings for Ichiru and Zero, while Yuuki remains closed.

Zero relies on Maria, but not on Yuuki.

Yuuki is diminished standing next to Maria; her efforts to be helpful all pale in comparison to Maria’s. Zero’s admiration and affection and attention are all directed toward Maria; Yuuki is an irritation and an afterthought to him (from Yuuki’s perspective, though of course that’s likely not true in reality). Zero is warm and affectionate and openly speaks about his beloved brother with Maria. The reality of all of this makes Yuuki surly, and she brushes Zero off with a curt goodbye rather than wishing him well as Ruka wished Kain earlier. Even now, Yuuki’s still failing to fully take her place at Zero’s side.

Maria stands as a symbol of what Yuuki should be: a woman who openly speaks of her affection for the ones she loves and who acts to protect not only the ones she loves but all the things she holds dear. Yet Yuuki’s failing to do any of this, and this is why Maria receives the reward Yuuki wants--Zero’s affection, respect, and admiration. But Yuuki hasn’t done anything to earn those things from Zero, and we’ll see this continues to be true even to the very end of the chapter.

Before I leave this section, I just wanted to mention one thing I found incredibly irritating about Yuuki’s reaction in this section. Yuuki’s spent 70 years moping over a guy who is “dead” in name only by Zero’s and Yuuki’s own choice in VKM 8; Zero’s spent the same amount of time silently holding his own losses in his heart without complaint. The reason Zero is affectionate and kind to Maria in this chapter is because of her connection to his own loved one, and he actually has a chance to talk about his loved one with another person who loved him, unlike Yuuki. Yuuki can’t even handle this much; she’s too busy focusing on herself to see how good this is for Zero, how healing it is for him, and how much he’s needed this. Yet, she gets to mope about Kaname and talk about Kaname to her daughter and all Kaname’s friends and Zero, but can’t even afford a single tiny conversation about Zero’s brother to Zero because *egads* Maria has feelings for Zero and Zero might find a girl who lets him talk about his interests more attractive than a girl who whines to him about his mortal enemy in nearly every conversation for the past however many decades. It’s absolutely preposterous and honestly I hope Yuuki pulls her head out of her rear sooner rather than later because I’m getting hellaciously tired of her narcissistic naval gazing.

That aside, we come to the most revealing part of the chapter--after this new stress on her psyche, Yuuki breaks down to talk to yet another person she’s not close to, because apparently that’s how Yuuki works through things. She admits to Mimi that she knows her fears for Zero’s safety are potentially overblown, but that she can’t seem to have faith that he’ll return to her. Mimi, being a bit dumb but a good girl at heart, thinks the solution is as simple as Yuuki just letting go and having faith, rather than focusing on her anxiety. But obviously Yuuki’s anxieties aren’t about Zero dying--oh, no, they’re about him leaving. Yuuki clearly is aware she’s not the best girlfriend and that there are other women who are superior to her, and that if she doesn’t take action soon, after VKM 13, Zero might actually start to consider at other opportunities that are definitely out there. Maria clearly still is an option, Yuuki’s own daughter is an option, and we know from VKM 5 that Zero has had other opportunities. This is the first positive sign that Zero’s outburst in VKM 13 has made Yuuki realize not all is well with him, and that the status quo is no longer good enough to lead him on into the future. Her “restart” plan is starting to fail, and she has to figure out why. This is the real reason she’s talking to random people like Kain and Mimi, rather than her friends or Zero--she doesn’t want anyone to know how bad things have gotten, or how close she senses Zero is of realizing he doesn’t need her or her Kaname baggage anymore.

She clinches this with a thought that Zero smiled for Maria. That means Zero hasn’t smiled for her in a loooooong time if she is struck by his basic polite smile to Maria. He probably hasn’t smiled since Ai grew up, as we see in VKM 10 that Yuuki loves his smile for Ai and thinks that things are well because of it. But Yuuki doesn’t make him smile, and rightly so--she’s honestly a terrible girlfriend, and worse--a terrible friend. She can’t even do friendship properly with Zero anymore, much less the relationship and intimacy he clearly needs. For her to get envious over Zero smiling politely and even a bit fondly at another girl, she has to have robbed him of his smile for so long that even that sad sorry state of a smile seems brilliant to her. It’s pathetic, but perhaps it’s the wake up call she needs to get her act together.

Sadly, we don’t get any more reflection from her because of course Mimi just has to step on a landmine, and Yuuki follows suit. This yet again highlights the fact that Yuuki can’t seem to do a single thing right and always needs Zero to save her--far from saving him, he’s the one saving her. Mimi wonders if Yuuki will save her, to which Yuuki replies in the affirmative. But in Yuuki’s mind, her first instinct is to panic--rather than immediately dealing with the threat and expelling Mimi herself, she stands frozen, trapped in thought, until she senses Zero coming for her.

Despite my complaints about Yuuki in this chapter, this section is my favorite. Her fear and her love for Zero are actually palpable in this scene, more than we’ve seen since Night 88. She actually seems to care about Zero’s wellbeing here, which is more than could be said about her in previous chapters. Unfortunately, her care for his wellbeing has a darker underbelly--she stands around wasting time yelling at him rather than being useful and dealing with the threat before he gets there.

Mimi is clearly in danger (the bombs could actually kill her, unlike Yuuki), and rather than immediately getting Mimi out of the blast zone (the way Yuuki will do as soon as Zero arrives), she stands around shouting at Zero like a spoiled child. Their bombs could go off at any minute if Mimi or Yuuki moves at all, yet Yuuki’s wasting time yelling at someone who isn’t even at her side yet or in danger. Clearly it doesn’t matter to her if Mimi’s head gets blown off, so long as she “proves” that she can protect Zero. It’s foolish and stupid, and it just goes to show how much growing Yuuki needs to do and how useless she is unless she has Zero as a crutch.

When Zero reaches her side, instead of thanking him for coming (because, as always, his presence calms her mind and helps her focus), she goes all tsuntsun on him and snaps that she was going to deal with it herself. But she clearly wasn’t dealing with it--she was panicking and frozen and wasting time yelling at him and spinning her useless brains instead of focusing and doing something. She comes across not as a capable woman who is a good partner to Zero but rather as a petulant child who was testing Zero to see if he’d come running for her despite her protests. And as she surely knew, he came running to her side to save her, abandoning Maria in the process despite Yuuki playing the “bigger person” and telling him to stay by Maria’s side. If she were truly the capable woman she wants to pretend she is, she’d have already begun dealing with the bomb before he arrived to support her--that would have earned his admiration and praise. Instead, she’s uselessly standing around until he’s at her side, and then suddenly her brains work. Magical.

I do want to stress that it’s not at all that I truly believe Yuuki isn’t capable of courage, bravery, and being a useful member of the team. It’s the very fact that I know full well she’s capable of great courage and bravery (the Rido arc, the Sara arc) that makes her behavior this chapter so grating on my thinning patience. That’s the very reason why her behavior is so frustrating here--as soon as Zero is at her side, she instantaneously transforms into the capable woman she’s always been. She gets Mimi out of danger and starts dealing with containing the blast. If she’d just do this and trust Zero to support her and back her up, she’d find she likes herself a lot more, I think. That’s how they’ve always worked together, and for her to forget that after all these years shows how far she’s fallen.

There’s a weird moment when they’re bickering with each other where he touches her arm and her eyes go wide with shock. This to me says they’re really on the rocks if she’s shocked that he’s touching her. Their bickering itself only reveals surface-level issues which by now I think is clear aren’t their real issues. Yuuki does reveal she resents Zero not telling her about the investigation, so likely she’s upset that he’s not wanting her as a partner in crime anymore. But given how reckless and unreliable she is, and how for a long time she made them do things separately due to their bench agreement, it’s hard to blame him for not being a mind reader and knowing she wanted back in on the action. Really she’s just being unreasonable, and she knows it.

Of course, Zero then disappears before they can work through anything. Whether he’s been kidnapped or he disappeared of his own volition remains to be seen, but whatever is about to happen is surely to test Yuuki at last. It’s time for her to face being alone without a man to use as a crutch--no Kaname, no Zero, no Aidou. She might even grow from the experience. Wouldn’t that be something extraordinary?

The thing that bothers me a bit about how Hino’s handling Yuuki this chapter is that this sudden “action heroine Yuuki” is too little, too late. Yuuki’s failed as an action heroine since the second arc of the original series began. This girl spends more time sitting on her rear than she does helping anyone in this story or doing anything useful. Most of her “activities” are pointless and result in no lasting consequences. It’s honestly laughable that Hino wants to try to go back to the Yuuki who stood against Kaname and Rido at the end of the first arc of the original series, but we’ll see. Maybe she’ll surprise me. I doubt it though.

The Solitary Sun

The flip side of Yuuki this chapter is Zero. While Yuuki’s thoughts are laid bare for us to see, Zero’s are, as I predicted, hidden. No surprise there, because Hino probably doesn’t want any Zeki fans to run away, and a peek in Zero’s head would probably send the remaining readers bolting for the hills. Better to stick with Yuuki for now.

However, we have enough clues to theorize where Zero’s headspace potentially is this chapter. We learn that he’s actively hiding intel from Yuuki, including information about the vigilante groups, which Maria (her rival) is a part of. While the likelihood of him cheating is low, this does demonstrate a lack of reciprocal trust in Yuuki’s maturity and judgment.

It’s likely that Zero’s concealing of intelligence from Yuuki is partially motivated by the outcome of VKM 13. There are a few hints that he’s still unhappy about the unresolved issues from VKM 13--he becomes angry with Yuuki the minute he sees her in the tunnels (inappropriately so; despite Hino trying to play it off as a comedic moment, there’s really no reason for him to be that angry at an immortal woman taking part in vigilante activity), and he’s the first one to bring up Yuuki’s VKM 13 request that he not die during their bickering fest as they disarm the bomb.

Given that Yuuki wanted to avoid him this chapter and he’s displeased to see her, this implies he’s at the very least been stewing on VKM 13 for an indeterminate amount of time, even if he hasn’t yet taken any action or made any decision about them as a couple yet as a result of it. It does appear that publicly he’s still holding his position in their relationship--he’s openly bothered by her pause before she rejects the idea of him cheating, and he openly calls her the woman he loves during the bomb disarming. However, these also may be signs that internally he’s starting to wonder about their relationship and is over-emphasizing it in order to keep legitimizing it. His doubts may be crumbling the foundation of the relationship beneath his feet faster than he can rebuild. Not once in all of VKM has Zero called Yuuki the woman he loves. For him to be saying this now, on the heels of VKM 13, strikes me as a red flag, and not of the “Zero’s about to be kidnapped” foreshadowing flavor. If Zero’s pulling out all the stops and openly declaring his feelings before he’s happy with Yuuki, we’re at the end of the line. This strikes me as the last desperate push to make things right before they all fall apart and he has to at last admit the experiment was a failure. But we’ll see. The kidnapping might give him a reprieve.

I don’t have any evidence for this, but his behavior with Maria vs. Yuki this chapter brought up some questions for me. He openly admires Maria’s courage, despite her actions being against her regular character. Yet when Yuuki does the same thing, he doesn’t admire her actions or her attempts at bravery--he doesn’t encourage her, as he does Maria. I’m not sure if he’s doing this deliberately or if he’s just tired of Yuuki in general and thus can no longer be a supportive figure in her life. I think what he admires about Maria too is that she’s putting her life on the line in a genuine way, a way Yuuki can’t do because she’s a pureblood and thus doesn’t have to fear those things anymore. That’s something Zero may deep down wish he still had--the ability to walk the same lifespan with Yuuki, and to take risks together with her, as opposed to being the only truly vulnerable one of the two of them.

I also was struck by how he handled the moment when Maria was explaining how she had to insist he abandon her. Zero’s obviously a kind person, but it was a surprisingly manipulative move on his part to express his concern in the manner he did in front of Yuuki. It reminded me a little of an insecure man slyly trying to make his girlfriend jealous more than a sincere question. The rest of his interactions with Maria felt platonic and sincere to me, but that particular moment struck me as odd.

Overall, in the initial scene with Maria, Zero doesn’t give Yuuki much warmth at all. Mimi even picks up on it, though she immediately assumes he’s cheating (in other words, she misreads the energy, but the energy does exist). He’s deliberately warm and supportive to Maria. This might be genuine, or it might be manipulative on his part, I’m honestly not sure yet. A Zero who is capable of what he did in VKM 13 is a different Zero than i’m used to, and so he may have some new snakes in his heart than before. Hence, he might be capable of new behaviors that he wasn’t capable of previously. If Zero is sincere in his admiration of Maria, it shows that he can tell the difference between her efforts and Yuuki’s. He knows exactly what Yuuki’s up to (spying on him and snooping), but Maria (as far as he’s aware, of course) seems to be genuinely working toward a higher cause, which Zero admires.

That also says something about the state of how Zero feels about Yuuki that is truly heartbreaking for me. Zero used to admire her straight-forward gaze and her inner courage and strength and kindness throughout all of the original series. For him to now be at a point where he’s not even acknowledging what she’s trying to accomplish, that leads me to only two conclusions: 1.) he doesn’t believe her sincerity due to his suspicions about her true motives, or 2.) he’s so angry with her he can’t appreciate her right now. It could also be a combination of the two, which is particularly unfortunate.

The other thing I feel is lurking under the surface in Zero’s interaction with Yuuki this chapter is a sense that he feels resentful of her inability to trust him. He wants her to have faith in him and his abilities, as she once did when they worked together in the original series. I think he resents (on multiple levels) her obsession with his death--she’s not appreciating his life and is myopically focusing on something that may or may not come to pass. This comes out in his deep frustration with her at the end of the chapter; he hates the idea of being her damsel in distress that she has to rescue simply because she happens to be the longer-lived of the two of them. He still has his pride as a man and wants to protect her with his own skill, even if she’s technically stronger than him.

Some of this comes back to what I feel his true issues are lurking deep beneath the surface, which I mentioned in my review of VKM 13. His real issues center on a deep insecurity about his place in her heart versus Kaname. Kaname, on the surface, is a far better partner for her--he’s immortal, like she is, he’s older than she is, he’s more mature than she is. Zero is all these things as well, but he’s not “immortal,” only long-lived. If Zero is beginning to fear that Kaname (and Kaname’s lifespan) is what’s really at the center of Yuuki’s “fears” about Zero’s lifespan, then his outburst at the end of VKM 14 may be due more to his own insecurities than any genuine fear about the trouble Yuuki might get herself into. Of course, he loves her, so he doesn’t want her to suffer, but if he had faith in her (as he wants her to have faith in him), he’d know she could get herself out of any scrape she got herself into. So this to me indicates he’s really worried about something else, and that her “arms getting blown off” is more of an excuse than the real reason.

I want to do a write up on this separately at some point, but for a long time now (since before the original series ended), I’ve had this sense that Zero is the real shoujo heroine of this story, and that the traditional “character roles” have been gender-reversed. This chapter added fuel to that suspicion, because normally the shoujo heroine is the one who gets kidnapped so the hero can come valiantly rescue her. However, I don’t think this particular kidnapping is going to play out that way--honestly I still believe this kidnapping is meant to isolate Zero so a deal can be struck with him; I don’t think Hino wants him to be seen as the damsel in distress. But with everyone targeting him in particular, and with the purebloods wanting him in the past, and with him being labeled as special far more than Yuuki ever was or has been, the chips are stacking in his favor that he’s the “real” shoujo heroine of this story, and thus many of the heroine character beats are going to him rather than to Yuuki. This makes for a difficult road for Yuuki as a heroine, because she’s not traversing the masculine beats very well--she’s just not capable enough. The Hooded Woman was a much better character for those sorts of beats, but Yuuki’s just too damaged, fragile, and flawed to play them out correctly. We’ll see how it unfolds, but for now I’ll keep mulling this over.

Ships Passing in the Night

I don’t want to talk too much about Zeki as a couple, simply because they’re in a very frustrating spot and I’ve already labored over them enough separately. However, I do want to point out a few things about their situation together this chapter that struck me.

First is that I think it’s fairly clear that underpinning the whole chapter is VKM 13, which indicates a lack of resolution on the part of that chapter. I think it’s safe to say that nothing was resolved between them, and that Zero’s words to Yuuki (that her fear was her own curse on herself, rather than anything legitimate) hit home to her, while Zero is confirmed to not be buying any of the snake oil she’s selling with her “fears” for his life. We can see this in how they both behave in the chapter:

Zero’s behavior:

Zero’s the easiest, because the best way to prove he didn’t buy what Yuuki was selling in VKM 13 is to look at his behavior. If he’d bought into her fears as legitimate, he’d be doing a couple things this chapter that we don’t see:

He’d have told her what was going on with the investigation.

He’d have asked for her help in securing the scene of the crime.

He’d be making sure she was emotionally okay with the idea of him doing his job.

He’d be kinder to her for sneaking around to check up on him.

He would be taking precautions to ease her worries.

Zero does none of this in VKM 14. Instead he:

Hides what he knows about the investigation from her.

Gets outright angry when he finds her in the tunnels.

Is not taking any precautions to protect himself, and is instead protecting other people.

Throws her “curse” and her “worry” in her face in the middle of their bomb disarmament.

Flat out rejects her worries by pointing out that he hates the idea of her getting her body parts blown off, implicitly admitting that he’d rather die than witness that.

This all points to Zero not buying what Yuuki was selling in VKM 13, which I think puts to rest the idea that his “behavior” in VKM 13 was in any way shape or form genuinely a response to her fears and a “taking on” of her fears--he was mocking her then and taking out his frustrations on her, not “empathizing” with her or giving her what she wanted. If he genuinely felt her fears were legitimate, he’d be taking them into consideration in this chapter. I feel the case is closed on that at this time; now all we have to wait for is to find out what he was really upset about in that chapter, because now we know he was��upset about something unrelated to her preposterous anxieties.

Yuuki’s behavior:

Yuuki’s behavior this chapter implies the opposite of Zero’s, another point in favor of Zero’s accusation that her curse was her own and not legitimate during VKM 13. If she felt her behavior in VKM 13 was legitimate and that her fears were legitimate, we should see some different outcomes from her this chapter:

She would be angry at Zero for getting involved in another case despite her fears. She would be upset with him for not taking her feelings into consideration. (Ironically, this is why she comments to Kain that she should be “worried” like Ruka--the fact is, she isn’t worried for his safety; her fears have nothing to do with whether he’ll get blown up or hurt or killed--they’re about something she’s not willing to face.)

She would be hunting Zero down in the tunnels openly to yell at him and drag him off the case.

She would immediately deal with the bomb herself without shouting at Zero when she and Mimi step on it, because that would prevent him (and Mimi) from being in the blast zone if she handled it promptly.

Instead of this, what we get is the following:

Yuuki suddenly wants to improve her cooking skills! (That’s a bit of an odd reaction to fearing for your man’s life.)

Yuuki has a sudden “need” to be part of the investigation just because she overhears what the target is, when she wasn’t interested before other than in passing.

Yuuki suddenly starts talking to random people about her issues, as if she realized she needs to work through them and get to the bottom of them. (She even flat out admits she’s a mess and can’t work through that mess easily.) This alone confirms she knows she’s full of horse manure and that Zero was right when he called her out in VKM 13.

She immediately has anxieties about Zero and Maria, despite all she and Zero have been through since the original series. Her anxieties aren’t even about Maria--they’re about Zero!

She envies Zero smiling at Maria! If her true issue was his safety, who he smiles at shouldn’t bug her in the slightest because she has a good relationship with him and is being genuine and sincere with him.

She admits to Mimi that she doesn’t even have faith he’ll come back to her. This is not about him dying--this is about him leaving her.

We see from Yuuki’s actions this chapter the first true hints (which her actions in VKM 12 support) that she’s afraid Zero is finally fed up and is thinking of leaving. That all she’s done to string him along and “keep” him is no longer enough--her blood’s not enough, sleeping in bed holding hands isn’t enough, being “platonic friends” isn’t enough. He has finally hit the end of the road with her “I won’t let you go but I won’t do anything with you” declaration in VKM 9.

What she’s afraid of isn’t Maria per se--Zero isn’t going to leave her for Maria. But what about some other girl she doesn’t know about? There are thousands of women for Zero to choose from--thousands who, like Maria, would openly appreciate him and react warmly to his advances rather than shutting him out and clinging on to the memory of a man who hurt him deeply. Yuuki’s real fear isn’t that he’ll die--it’s that he’ll live, but not with her.

Yet for her to keep Zero, she has to “clean up the mess,” which she herself admits is “hard.” So instead of doing the real work of dealing with her own issues, she goes off to play investigator and spy on Zero and play “hero” when she has no right to. Basically, this kidnapping is quite good for her, in my estimation, because it means she’ll have to start facing those things she doesn’t want to face--the real reasons Zero is unhappy with her and their relationship isn’t progressing. What’ll come of that is anyone’s guess at this point.

Zero and Yuuki’s mutual issues from VKM 13 bleed into their teamwork this chapter--although they still work together well, it’s not seamless like in their younger days. Yuuki trying to test Zero doesn’t help much, either--your partner isn’t going to respect you if you’re testing their loyalty when you yourself have been disloyal for 70 years. Seriously, why is Yuuki always one step forward, fifty back, I have no idea. It’s very frustrating for a reader, and I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for Zero to have to live with that.

Ultimately, I’m pleased as punch they’ll be separated for a while. But more on where we’re going from here next.

Past Reflections Echoing into the Future

If VKM 13 was VKM’s version of Nights 61-64, VKM 14 picks up as the inverse of the Kuran Manor mini-arc’s Nights 65-67. I suspect the parallels will continue into the future, which is why I expect Zero to “return” of his own “free” will after he’s been blackmailed by the Vampire King group’s mastermind to act “against” Yuuki (and thus parallel the Rogue Kaname mini-arc from the original series).

Because Zero was kidnapped, unlike Kaname in Night 67, this gives a different general atmosphere to this parallel to the original series, but ultimately the point is to separate Yuuki from the crutch she’s leaning on (Zero now, Kaname back then) and send her on a journey of self discovery, which hopefully this time will actually lead to growth rather than regression as it did in the original series in Volume 19.

I see us being set up for a new arc where Zero’s return gives Yuuki initial relief, but because he’s being blackmailed he has to protect her by pretending to break things off with her. In this process, he will likely say quite a few “true” things that actually do reflect his true feelings--the best way to fool your enemies is to fool your loved ones, and the truth is the best way to accomplish that. So while Zero is saying these things to keep her safe and in the dark about what he’s about to do for the Vampire King (and in order to keep other innocents safe, because Zero’s lovely and altruistic like that), Yuuki will “believe” what he’s saying, because he’ll be speaking the truth from his heart at last.

I suspect we’ll finally see that he has been afraid that she truly loves Kaname, despite what her blood tells him. We may see that he’s been contemplating bringing Kaname back for her again once the cure is in place. We may see that he’s open to the idea of disappearing from her life, because he feels he’s brought her nothing but misery. We may see that he feels Kaname was wrong in Night 93--that he doesn’t believe he and Yuuki were meant to be at all. All these fears and more are what could potentially be revealed on Zero’s side via this arc, and I would feel so relieved to see him finally speak these oppressive thoughts he’s clearly been suffering under for so long.

Even if none of this comes to pass and Hino has other less interesting reasons for these events, Zero’s kidnapping is the best thing that’s happened to this story since Night 87. Even though I didn’t get Zero walking out on Yuuki (which I would have preferred), the kidnapping still forces them to separate and (hopefully) will force Yuuki to begin to examine what’s wrong in herself and her relationship and why it’s gotten to this point in the first place.

This will work especially well if Zero does come back and is forced to act cold to her in order to protect innocents due to blackmailing from the Vampire King group’s mastermind. This would force Yuuki to have to examine how much she trusts Zero, how much of his words are true, and what all of it means for her. It’s a far greater test than what Ruka put her through when she gave her the illusion of Zero shooting her--because everything Zero will say to her here will be truth--perhaps incomplete truth, but still truth that she needs to acknowledge and deal with at last.

As for what else is coming our way, perhaps we might finally start seeing some movement on the cure. I’m quite looking forward to how that plotline mixes with this one, if indeed that’s what Hino intends for these two plotlines.

All in all, I think we’re still on track for things to unfold happily for our two star-crossed lovers, as long as Hino stops setting us back with detours. It’s time for Yuuki to get her act together and decide which man she wants in her life and what she actually wants for herself. It’s time for her to decide she prefers happiness to misery, whether or not she deserves it, and that Zero deserves happiness from her if she wants to stay with him or freedom from her if she wants to be true to Kaname. And since we know that he dies in her arms, I’d say chances are higher for the former happening than the latter.

And that, as they say, is that. Until next time!

#vampire knight #vampire knight memories #vkm spec #vkm speculation #zeki criticism #anti ky #vkm chapter review

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nochuobsessed · 6 years

Text

Reign || Pt 16

Reign Masterlist

Word Count: 4.6k

Groups: BTS, EXO, Blackpink, Twice

Au: Royal

Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader, Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Angst | Fluff | Smut | Au

Warnings: Super long chapter, fluff overload

Previously:

“Do you regret saying yes?” Jungkook asked, seeing you look out the carriage window.

You turned to your fiancé, your face beaming, “Jungkook. I am so incredibly happy when I am with you. When I first met you, I had no idea how much you’d mean to me. But you entered my life, and became it. Nothing could ever persuade me to leave you. You must know that.”

Jungkook captured your lips, smiling into the kiss. He pulled away, and cupped your face, “There is no word powerful enough to explain my love for you.”

You lean forward into him, your lips moving together once more. You broke apart once the carriage started moving, giving Jungkook an excited smile.

Jeon was like nothing you had ever seen before. People lined up on either side roads, waving and throwing flowers to welcome the Royals back into the country.

“Is it always like this?” You ask, waving out the window to the people as Jungkook did the same.

“Always,” Jungkook says, pulling you closer to him, “We have a strong relationship with our people. We care for them and they care for us.”

You rested your head on his shoulder, “Park isn’t like that, I’ve never met the people.”

“We have weekly meetings with the people. They bring things like baked goods, blessings, as a thanks for what we do in the kingdom.”

“Tell me, what have you done for the kingdom?” You ask, a teasing smirk on your face.

Jungkook raised his eyebrows at you, “I helped set up schools in some of the poorer villages, and I taught kids how to joust.”

“You are so very kind, my love,” You say, pressing a kiss to his neck, “But don’t you think jousting is more of an adult sport?”

“Love, neither of us are adults,” Jungkook said, making you laugh, “They only had a small horse, jousting sticks wrapped in fabrics, and more armor than nobles wear.”

“Would you teach our child at such a young age?” You ask, “Our prince?”

“All young nobles and royals learn, it is the custom,” Jungkook explains, “But if you oppose to it, I will not press the matter.”

You let out a sigh, “He will learn everything necessary to become a great King, just like his father.”

“We’re not even married yet and all we seem to talk about is a child,” Jungkook said, placing a kiss on your forehead, “I meant to ask, our wedding night… will you be okay?”

You sat up. You too had been thinking about it. You knew he was not Yoongi, but you could never stop thinking about it.

“I- I want you to make me forget,” You say, cupping his cheek, “Forget everyone that abused me, that touched me where I ought not to be touched.”

Jungkook leaned forward and kissed you, running his thumb over your cheekbone, “My love I would do anything for you. After tomorrow night, the only fingerprints on you will be mine.”

You kissed him again, not breaking away until the carriage stopped moving.

You looked at your fiancé with an excited look on your face, “We’re here?”

Jungkook smirked at you, taking your hand and leading you out of the carriage.

The sight in front of you was beautiful. All the members of court were in two lines, a path set in between them for the royals to walk through.

“Is this normal too?” you ask, walking hand in hand down the path. Everyone bowed as you made your way to the castle.

“Every time we leave or enter the castle for official duties,” He says, his sisters walking up to the two of you and bowing.

You bowed back, “Sana, Mina, it’s lovely to see you again.”

Sana gave you a happy smile, “I knew you were the one for my brother. Kookie you must be the happiest man in the lands.”

Jungkook’s hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer, “I am. I am the most happiest I have ever been in my life.”

“And tomorrow you will be married,” Mina said, before getting distracted, “Who’s that?”

You turn around, and look back to Mina with a smile, “Jongdae, my older brother.”

“The illegitimate one?”

“Yes,” You say, “I have a question for the two of you, and you can say no.”

“Anything for our new sister,” Sana said, Mina silently agreeing.

You look at Jungkook who nods to you, “I was hoping you two would be a part of the wedding ceremony?”

The two Jeon girls eyes lit up, beaming and nodding, “We would love to!”

You smile, “I’m so glad. I’m not yet familiar to all of the Jeon customs yet. You two grew up here, you’re the heart of the royal family. I could really use the help.”

“My dear you will be fine.”

The King and Queen had appeared behind you. The group of you bowed to the sovereigns, and they nodded, “My daughter-in-law!”

“Father we aren’t married yet,” Jungkook said, his arm still firmly around your waist.

Junghoon raised his eyebrows to his son, “Twenty-four hours and it will be true.”

Jungkook kissed the top of your head, “Twenty-four hours seems like so much.”

The Queen looked up at her husband, “We should leave our son with his bride. You can give her a tour of the castle, but then you must not see each other until tomorrow.”

You and Jungkook looked at each other in alarm, “Mother-“

“Jeon Jungkook you know the rules,” Hyeyeon said, “Y/N will be spending time with us, along with her mother and Queen Jennie.”

“So I must be away from her?” Jungkook asked, “I refuse.”

“Jungkook,” You quietly say, leading him away from his family, “It’s only a day- less than a day.”

“I said I would not part with you again,” He says, anger crossing his features.

“It is just this once,” You say, placing your hands on his chest, “When we next see each other, we will be married. And you still have to show me the castle. That could take hours.”

“We will make it take longer than it should,” Jungkook said, his hands tucking your hair behind your head, “When we are married, no one, will ever separate you from me.”

You stood on your toes, and pressed you lips to his, “We must go back to your parents, Kook.”

“Kook? You’ve never called me that before.”

“You shall have to get used to it,” You say, kissing his cheek and walking back to his parents.

To say that the Jeon castle was much grander that Parks would be an understatement. The rooms were being, the thrones were covered in gold with blue velvet. The grey stone walls seemed to go on forever.

Jungkook had shown you everything, except one room.

“These are my chambers- well, our chambers.”

The Jeon guards opened the door, and Jungkook led you into the large room. It was simple, but grand. His bed was coloured gold and blue, much like everything else in the castle. He had swords, bows, and armor mounted on the walls, proudly decorated with the Jeon sigil, the dragon.

“You have a lot of weaponry,” You point out, running you hand along the flat side of a sword.

“They’re more for decoration,” He explains, hugging you from the back, “However I can use them.”

“You must show me,” You say, placing your hands over his, throwing your head back in order to be closer to him.

He hummed in agreement, “Maybe I can teach you how to use a bow. I’ll get one made for you.”

He placed kisses down your neck, and you bit your lip, “Shouldn’t we wait until tomorrow my love?”

“That’s so far away,” He whined, pulling you closer, “No one would know any better.”

You turn around in his embrace, wrapping your arms around his neck, “We would. I may not be virtuous, but we will still wait until tomorrow.”

Jungkook connected your lips, his hands placed in your hair and the small of your back. He deepened the kiss, a small moan leaving your lips. He moved to your neck, as you tried to catch your breath, “If this is what we do now, I must be in for a real treat tomorrow.”

Jungkook stopped his attack on your neck, and chuckled, “My love you will be treated like the Queen you are… or will be.”

You went to kiss him again, but stopped when you heard the door open.

“Her Majesty Queen Hyeyeon, and their Highnesses, the Princess Sana and the Princess Mina.”

Jungkook let out an annoyed sigh, pulling you to his chest and resting his head on yours, “Mother please don’t take her from me.”

Hyeyeon sent a sympathetic smile to her son, “Jungkook, I promise you that once you have married, you will not have to part again. But you know the rules, no more contact.”

He pecked your lips, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You looked at your fiancé longingly, before following the Queen and her daughters out of Jungkook’s chambers.

“Y/N, I’m sorry I have to separate you two.”

Sana placed a hand on your shoulder, “You’ll get through it, and then you can help me with my marriage to Hoseok. Thank you, by the way, for everything you did for the two of us.”

“When we first met, he spoke so highly of you. I knew I was right in helping you,” You say, smiling at your future sister-in-law.

Sana and Mina we very close. They were close in age, and were raised together. Your sister was distant, and left as soon as she could.

“We have to welcome our guests downstairs,” Hyeyeon explained, “Your family, other Royal families and our extended family.”

“You’ll get to meet Sehun, our brother,” Mina said, “He doesn’t like Kookie much, but that’s another story. I’m sure he will be happy to meet you.”

You place your hand on the gold hand railing, careful not to fall as you walk down the stairs, “We are going to the throne?”

“Yes, Junghoon will not be there, he will be with King Jimin and Jungkook,” Hyeyeon explained, “If you wish to leave at any point, just say the word.”

You nodded, and stood in front of the entrance to the throne room. You held your breath as you were announced, and carefully entered. Samuel walked towards you, and took your hand.

“Sister.”

“This castle is quite big, isn’t it?” You say, as he offers a warm smile, “Is Somi here?”

“Yes,” Samuel says, “Mother will not let us marry until I am your age.”

“That is only two years,” You say, approaching the rest of your family, “Mother.”

“Y/N,” Your mother says, bowing lightly to you, “Tomorrow you will be married. I am very happy for you you.”

“Their Majesties, King Jiwon and Queen Jieun.”

Your eyes widen in surprise when you see your older sister and her husband walk into the throne room. Jieun sees you and points you out to her husband, and made their way to you.

The group of you bowed when they approached, and you looked down away from your sister.

“You didn’t say you were visiting,” You mumble.

“I don’t have to,” Jieun said, “My sister is getting married, of course I would come.”

You walk forward and hug your sister, “Jieun I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” She says, before turning to her husband, “Ji, is it okay if I talk to Y/N for a bit? We have a lot to catch up on.”

“I don’t mind,” he says, “I want to say hello to Jimin anyway. Take your time.”

Jieun smiled and kissed her husband, before taking your hand and dragging you outside to the garden.

You sat there for a while. She told you about her life in Kwon, and you filled her in on everything that had happened recently.

“I wish I could’ve been there for you,” Jieun said, leaning her head on yours, which was already on her shoulder, “No one told us, we didn’t get a letter about anything.”

“Mother probably didn’t want to worry you,” You say, “She wants you to get pregnant, and stress is bad for babies.”

Jieun looks at you sadly, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Jiyong is worried I can’t produce an heir. It would be the end of his line.”

“I’m sorry,” You say, “It will happen one day.”

Jieun took your hand, “I hope so. What use is a Queen that can’t produce an heir?”

“You are a great Queen, and I can only hope I’ll be half the Queen you are,” You confess, Jieun letting out a small laugh.

“You will be,” She says, rubbing your arm, “A gracious Queen, with many little Princes and Princess’s. Who knows, you might even have a wedding night baby.”

“I do not think I am going to have a baby anytime soon,” You say, “It’s only been weeks since Soyeon- you know.”

“Everything will work out,” Jieun said, “I must visit more often, we will have a niece or nephew soon.”

“And you will have a baby,” You say, “We must all meet again in the future, with all our children.”

“Yes,” Jieun said, “We will all be happy.”

Night had come. You were given private chambers, as tomorrow you would move into Jungkook’s chambers. It was late, later than you normally slept. No matter how much you tried, you couldn’t sleep.

You were standing by the window, watching the lake rippling in the moonlight. It was calming, and you were slowly becoming tired.

You walked back to your bed, slipping under the covers and closing your eyes.

An hour later you still weren’t able to sleep. Standing up, you decided to take action against your seemingly sleepless night.

You left your room, jumping in surprise to see Minseok and Jongin standing guard.

“Princess? You’re still awake?” Jongin asked, looking at you in confusion.

“I can’t sleep,” you say, “I know I’m not allowed to, but I need to see the Prince.”

Jongin and Minseok shared a look, before agreeing and taking you to the other side of the castle where Jungkook’s chambers were.

You entered the room, to see Jungkook staring out the window. Hearing your footsteps, he turned around and sighed in relief. He quickly made his way over to you, pressing his lips to yours.

“My love, today was excruciating.”

“I don’t know who’s idea it was to separate us,” You mumble in between kissing Jungkook, “But they need to rethink their life choices.”

Jungkook guided you back to his bed, “I couldn’t sleep without you.”

“I couldn’t either,” You say, slipping under the covers with him. “It’s excruciating.”

He pulled you into his chest, kissing the top of your head, “We can sleep now love. Tomorrow will be the happiest day of our lives.”

You had never fallen asleep so fast as you did in Jungkook’s arms.

The day had come. You were to be wed to Prince Jungkook, and you had never been happier. The two of you had gotten in trouble when you were found together in the morning, but it was quickly brushed aside so the servants could start preparing you both for the wedding.

Your Mother had given you a tiara that your father had made for you when you were a baby. Gold weaved with diamonds fit for a future Queen.

“You wore it at your christening,” Jieun said, helping you mother style your hair, “I remember being so jealous, but then remembering I too had one.”

You smiled to your sister through the mirror, seeing that she had worn her tiara too, “Father was rather generous to us daughters.”

“He never met Jina,” Your mother says, “He had gone out hunting the day before the twins were born. The day after I gave birth, we received word he was dead.”

“Mother,” a sad expression crosses your face, “I’m sorry-“

“Enough about that,” your mother says, “You were found this morning in Jungkook’s room. You know the Jeon rules.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” You say, “When I went to him he couldn’t sleep either. You must understand-“

“I do,” She says, finishing off your hair. She placed the tiara on your head, moving your hair around the metal. “Y/N, you look beautiful.”

You stand up, still in your bed gown, “Thank you. Has the dress arrived yet?”

“I believe it’s in the next room,” Your mother says, a knowing smile on your face. You give her a weary look, before leaving the room.

You entered the next room, your eyes widening when you see who was in there.

“Surprise!”

You run forward, hugging the girls in front of you, “Jisoo, Rose, Lisa, Jennie!”

“I live with you, by the way,” Jennie said, the five of you in a group hug, “You shouldn’t be this excited to see me.”

The group of you laughed, and you turned to Jisoo, “You got married!”

“It was a private ceremony,” Jisoo said, “It’s strange, isn’t it? Two of us are Queens, one of is a future Queen, one is pretty much raising the Royal twins and the other controls what the Royals wear.”

“We have all come so far since you first met your Prince, Y/N,” Rose says, “We are sorry for your losses-“

“I do not want to speak of that,” You say, “I need my dress.”

Rose gives you a smile, before walking over to the desk, picking up the beautiful white and gold dress.

“Did you design it?” You ask, running your hands over the material, “It’s beautiful.”

“Your mother wrote to me and asked me to make it,” Rose says, “We need to get you into it, the ceremony starts soon.”

You nod, smiling at your old ladies, as they prepared you biggest day of your life.

“Sister.”

“Jimin.”

“You look beautiful,” He says, “Jungkook is a lucky man.”

You smile at your big brother, “I suppose we must walk now.”

Jimin held out his arm for you to take, and led you to the throne room.

“Are you ready?” Jimin asked, a growing smile on his face, “From this point onwards, your life and safety rests with your husband, not me.”

“You won’t miss me too much,” You say, “You’ll have a child soon to watch over. But thank you, for giving me a beautiful childhood, and helping me find my Prince.”

Jimin kissed the top of your head, “Shall we?”

The giant double doors opened, and all eyes were on you.

People were standing on either side of the aisle, smiling widely at seeing you and your brother.

At the very end, was Jungkook. His jaw had dropped, and you could see the happiness in his eyes. You couldn’t help but smile, as you walked towards him.

Jimin leant over to you, “Don’t fall.”

“Don’t let go of me,” You say, raising your eyebrows to him.

You were sure that your mother had started crying, the long dress trailing behind you. You only looked at Jungkook.

The aisle seemed to go on forever, but you finally reached your prince.

You stood next to him, Jimin letting go of you and giving Jungkook a stern look before smiling.

The two of you turned to the Minister, and began the ceremony.

“Into this union Princess Y/N of Park and Prince Jungkook of Jeon now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now, or else forever hold your peace.”

You held your breath, and smiled when no one spoke up.

“I charge you both, here in the presence of God and the witness of this company, that if either of you know any reason why you may not be married lawfully and in accordance with God’s Word, do now confess it.”

Jungkook squeezed your hand, a wave of calmness spreading over you. You knew everything would be all right from now on.

“Princess Y/N, will you have this man to be your husband; to live together with him in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto him as long as you both shall live?”

“I will,” you say, glancing at Jungkook with adoration in your eyes.

“Prince Jungkook, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?”

“I will.”

“Will all of you witnessing these promises do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage?”

You bow your head as everyone behind you agrees to the marriage, the minister in front of you nodding.

“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?”

Your brother speaks up, “She gives herself, with the blessing of her mother and sovereign.”

Jungkook turns to face you, holding your right hand up to his chest, “In the name of God, I Prince Jungkook take you, Princess Y/N, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

You drop hands, before taking Jungkook’s right hand to you chest, “In the name of God, I, Princess Y/N, take you, Prince Jungkook, to be my husband, to have and to hold form this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”

Jungkook takes your left hand, kissing it softly before placing a magnificent ring on your fourth finger, “I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

You admire the ring, before taking Jungkook’s hand, placing a ring on his fourth finger, “I give you this ring as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

“Now that Princess Y/N and Princess Jungkook have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

Jungkook smiles at you, before pulling you towards him and pressing his lips to yours. He held you in his arms, dipping you as you held onto his neck. He brought you back to standing, and pressed his forehead against yours.

“I love you, my wife.”

You smiled, wider than you thought possible, “I love you too, husband.”

You looked out at all the people that had come to witness your marriage. Hoseok and Sana were standing together, hand in hand. Your family on your right, Jungkooks on the left. Jisoo stood with Seokjin, smiling to each other. Taehyung and Namjoon were there too. Everyone was happy.

“I am yours forever, my Prince,” You whisper, finally married to the one you love the most.

“Do we really have to consummate in front of everyone?”

“Sorry Y/N, you know the rules.”

You nodded. The wedding reception had been amazing. You spoke to so many people, everyone happy for you union. But then came the consummation, in which had to be viewed by the family.

Your wedding dress had been removed, and you were left in a white flowy gown, decorated with lace.

“You are not virtuous, my daughter,” your mother says, untying your hair, “You know how this goes, you will be fine.”

“Yes mother,” You say, before Jungkook walks in with the male members of the family.

He walked up to you, kissing you passionately. He guided you to the bed, pushing you gently on the mattress.

“I wish they would all go away,” You say, as the curtains around you bed closed.

Jungkook started kissing your neck, “We are the only ones here, the only ones that matter is you, and me.”

You smiled at him, your eyes filed with lust. You pulled his lips to yours, his hands roaming your body. His hands went up your dress, his thigh in between your legs.

He broke away from you, pulling his shirt off. You let your hands trail along his chest, feeling the toned muscle underneath your fingers.

“Tell if you want me to stop,” He says, unbuttoning his trousers. His cock sprung out, hitting his stomach. You took it in your hand, giving it a few pumps, Jungkook letting out a groan.

He pecked your nose, before trailing his hand up your thigh, feeling your wet core. He circled your clit a few times, before slowly inserting one finger.

“So tight,” He whispered, “No one but me will ever touch you like this.”

He pumped his finger in and out, curling it around your edges. You let out a whimper, and Jungkook chuckled.

“Don’t hold back,” He says, entering a second finger. You enjoyed the stretch, moving your hips up to meet him.

“Another-“

Jungkook leant forward and kissed you, entering a third finger. He broke away, and helped you take off your gown. His eyes roamed around your body, trailing his fingers down your neck, to your breasts. He took the left in his mouth, causing you to let out a moan as his teeth grazed your nipple.

“Jungkook.”

“Yes, my love?” He asked, spreading your folds with his finger.

“I need you, in me, now.”

Jungkook nodded, kissing you once more, before aligning his hardened member against your core. He stroked it against your heat, before entering slowly. His cock stretched your walls, the pain pleasurable. He stopped, letting himself feel you around him.

“My darling you feel exquisite around me.”

“You’re not even all the way in yet,” You say, seeing that he was yet to let you feel all of him.

“Patience, my love, patience.”

He pulled out, before thrusting back into you. You let out a choked moan, wrapping your legs around his waist. Jungkook let out a groan, and started picking up the pace.

Jungkook captured your lips with his, thrusting into you at a perfect pace. You bucked your hips up as he found your g-spot, repeatedly hitting it, letting out a groan as you called out his name.

You had forgotten about everyone in the room, being mesmerized by the amount of pleasure your new husband was able to give you.

Jungkook moved closer to you, going deeper than before. You let out moan after moan, your nails digging into his back. He lets out another groan, as you clenched around him.

“My love, I cannot hold off much longer-“

“C-cum in me, my husband,” You say, feeling your own orgasm approach, “M-make me yours.”

At your words, Jungkook’s thrusts got faster, his hand coming down to circle your clit.

“J-Jungkook!”

Your hips bucked as you came, clenching down on Jungkook as he too came. You seemed to have milked every drop of his cum, being filled to the brim with his seed.

“I love you,” He said, pressing is lips to yours, still in you. He pulled out, and flopped on the bed next to you. He pulled back the curtains, only to see the room empty, “I guess they left.”

Jungkook pulled a sheet over the two of you, letting you curl up to his side.

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Jeon Y/N”

178 notes · View notes

dfroza · 3 years

Text

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Proverbs and book of Psalms

for june 19 of 2021 with Proverbs 19 and Psalm 19, accompanied by Psalm 92 for the 92nd and final day of Spring and Psalm 20 for day 170 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 19]

[Wisdom Exalted]

It’s better to be honest, even if it leads to poverty,

than to live as a dishonest fool.

The best way to live is with revelation-knowledge,

for without it, you’ll grow impatient and run right into error.

There are some people who ruin their own lives

and then blame it all on God.

Being wealthy means having lots of “friends,”

but the poor can’t keep the ones they have.

Perjury won’t go unpunished,

and liars will get all that they deserve.

Everyone wants to be close to the rich and famous,

but a generous person has all the friends he wants!

When a man is poor, even his family has no use for him.

How much more will his “friends” avoid him—

for though he begs for help, they won’t respond.

Do yourself a favor and love wisdom.

Learn all you can,

then watch your life flourish and prosper!

Tell lies and you’re going to get caught,

and the habitual liar is doomed.

It doesn’t seem right when you see a fool

living in the lap of luxury

or a prideful servant ruling over princes.

An understanding person demonstrates patience,

for mercy means holding your tongue.

When you are insulted,

be quick to forgive and forget it,

for you are virtuous when you overlook an offense.

The rage of a king is like the roar of a lion,

but his sweet favor is like a gentle, refreshing rain.

A rebellious son breaks a father’s heart,

and a nagging wife can drive you crazy!

You can inherit houses and land from your parents,

but a good wife only comes as a gracious gift from God!

Go ahead—be lazy and passive.

But you’ll go hungry if you live that way.

Honor God’s holy instructions

and life will go well for you.

But if you despise his ways and choose your own plans,

you will die.

Every time you give to the poor you make a loan to the Lord.

Don’t worry—you’ll be repaid in full for all the good you’ve done.

Don’t be afraid to discipline your children

while they’re still young enough to learn.

Don’t indulge your children or be swayed by their protests.

A hot-tempered man has to pay the price for his anger.

If you bail him out once,

you’ll do it a dozen times.

Listen well to wise counsel

and be willing to learn from correction

so that by the end of your life

you’ll be known for your wisdom.

A person may have many ideas concerning God’s plan for his life,

but only the designs of God’s purpose will succeed in the end.

A man is charming when he displays tender mercies to others.

And a lover of God who is poor and promises nothing

is better than a rich liar who never keeps his promises.

When you live a life of abandoned love,

surrendered before the awe of God,

here’s what you’ll experience:

Abundant life. Continual protection.

And complete satisfaction!

There are some people who pretend they’re hurt—

deadbeats who won’t even work to feed themselves.

If you punish the insolent who don’t know any better,

they will learn not to mock.

But if you correct a wise man,

he will grow even wiser.

Children who mistreat their parents

are an embarrassment to their family and a public disgrace.

So listen, my child.

Don’t reject correction

or you will certainly wander from the ways of truth.

A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice,

for the wicked never play by the rules.

Judgment is waiting for those who mock the truth,

and foolish living invites a beating.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 19 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 19]

God’s Witnesses

For the Pure and Shining One

A poem of praise by King David, his loving servant

[God’s Story in the Skies]

God’s splendor is a tale that is told,

written in the stars.

Space itself speaks his story

through the marvels of the heavens.

His truth is on tour in the starry vault of the sky,

showing his skill in creation’s craftsmanship.

Each day gushes out its message to the next,

night by night whispering its knowledge to all—

without a sound, without a word, without a voice being heard,

yet all the world can hear its echo.

Everywhere its message goes out.

What a heavenly home God has set for the sun,

shining in the superdome of the sky!

See how he leaves his celestial chamber each morning,

radiant as a bridegroom ready for his wedding,

like a day-breaking champion eager to run his course.

He rises on one horizon, completing his circuit on the other,

warming lives and lands with his heat.

[God’s Story in the Scriptures]

Yahweh’s Word is perfect in every way;

how it revives our souls!

Yahweh’s laws lead us to truth,

and his ways change the simple into wise.

Yahweh’s teachings are right and make us joyful;

his precepts are so pure!

Yahweh’s commands challenge us to keep close to his heart!

The revelation-light of his Word makes my spirit shine radiant.

Yahweh’s decrees are trustworthy.

The fear of Yahweh is pure, enduring forever.

The rarest treasures of life are found in his truth.

That’s why God’s Word is prized like others prize the finest gold.

Sweeter also than honey are his living words—

sweet words dripping from the honeycomb!

For they warn us, your servants,

and keep us from following the wicked way,

giving a lifetime guarantee:

great success to every obedient soul!

How would I discern the waywardness of my heart?

Lord, forgive my hidden flaws whenever you find them.

Keep cleansing me, God,

and keep me from my secret, selfish sins;

may they never rule over me!

For only then will I be free from fault

and remain innocent of rebellion.

So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts,

and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing,

acceptable before your eyes, Yahweh,

my only Redeemer, my Protector.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 19 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 92]

A Song of Praise

A song for the day of worship

It’s so enjoyable to come before you

with uncontainable praises spilling from our hearts!

How we love to sing our praises over and over to you,

to the matchless God, high and exalted over all!

At each and every sunrise we will be thanking you

for your kindness and your love.

As the sun sets and all through the night,

we will keep proclaiming, “You are so faithful!”

Melodies of praise will fill the air as every musical instrument,

joined with every heart, overflows with worship.

No wonder I’m so glad; I can’t keep it in!

Lord, I’m shouting with glee over all you’ve done,

for all you’ve done for me:

what mighty miracles and your power at work—just to name a few!

Depths of purpose and layers of meaning

saturate everything you do.

Such amazing mysteries are found within every miracle

that nearly everyone seems to miss.

Those with no discernment can never really discover

the deep and glorious secrets hidden in your ways.

It’s true the wicked flourish, but only for a moment;

they foolishly forget their destiny with death,

that they will all one day be destroyed forevermore.

But you, O Lord, are exalted forever

in the highest place of endless glory,

while your opponents, the workers of wickedness,

will all perish, forever separated from you.

Your anointing has made me strong and mighty.

You’ve empowered my life for triumph

by pouring fresh oil over me.

You’ve said that those lying in wait to pounce on me

would be defeated,

and now it’s happened right in front of my eyes,

and I’ve heard their cries of surrender!

Yes! Look how you’ve made all your devoted lovers

to flourish like palm trees,

each one growing in victory, standing with strength!

You’ve transplanted them into your heavenly courtyard,

where they are thriving before you,

for in your presence they will still overflow and be anointed.

Even in their old age they will stay fresh,

bearing luscious fruit and abiding faithfully.

Listen to them! With pleasure they still proclaim:

“You’re so good! You’re my beautiful strength!

You’ve never made a mistake with me.”

The Book of Psalms, Poem 92 (The Passion Translation)

[Psalm 20]

For the worship leader. A song of David.

May the Eternal’s answer find you, come to rescue you,

when you desperately cling to the end of your rope.

May the name of the True God of Jacob be your shelter.

May He extend hope and help to you from His holy sanctuary

and support you from His sacred city of Zion.

May He remember all that you have offered Him;

may your burnt sacrifices serve as a prelude to His mercy.

[pause]

May He grant the dreams of your heart

and see your plans through to the end.

When you win, we will not be silent! We will shout

and raise high our banners in the great name of our God!

May the Eternal say yes to all your requests.

I don’t fear; I’m confident that help will come to the one anointed by the Eternal:

heaven will respond to his plea;

His mighty right hand will win the battle.

Many put their hope in chariots, others in horses,

but we place our trust in the name of the Eternal One, our True God.

Soon our enemies will collapse and fall, never to return home;

all the while, we will rise and stand firm.

Eternal One, grant victory to our king!

Answer our plea for help.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 20 (The Voice)

to be accompanied by these lines:

That clinches it—help’s coming,

an answer’s on the way,

everything’s going to work out.

See those people polishing their chariots,

and those others grooming their horses?

But we’re making garlands for God our God.

The chariots will rust,

those horses pull up lame—

and we’ll be on our feet, standing tall.

Make the king a winner, God;

the day we call, give us your answer.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 20:6-9 (The Message)

0 notes

willag42 · 6 years

Text

Yuri!!! On Ice Fanfic Recs with Reviews ["W" Authors]

Note: Doing some major reformating of the YOI fanfic rec pages. The pages that include my reviews are now having the posts separated alphabetically by author (see below). I am also creating separate page(s) that allow filtering the fanfics by category. It's a work in progress, but I'm having fun with it.

This page includes my YOI fanfic recs (with reviews) for authors whose names begin with "W".

Note: For any authors whom I don't know the gender, I refer to them with they/them. If any authors wish to correct me, please do so.

AUTHORS REC PAGES: #0-9 -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z

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Refer to this masterlist for all of my YOI fanfic recs.

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whelvenwings (@whelvenwings)

You Set My Heart on Fire

Rating: Teen Words: 34.6k Status: Complete Relationship: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Tags: Alternate careers AU; Painters; Soulmates AU; Anxiety ❤❤❤❤❤ Summary: Everyone has a soulmate. And everyone sees any marks on their soulmate's skin appear on their own body; it starts with the first marks, drawn on by the midwife at birth. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a soulmate who replies, but Yuuri does, and he knows that he should feel fortunate - however, when he's trying to make a living as a small-time painter, and his soulmate is the famous artist, Viktor Nikiforov... well, it seems slightly less than fortunate. Yuuri can't help but feel self-conscious. So self-conscious, in fact, that he's never even shown Viktor his face, never let Viktor hear his voice. The only way that they've spoken is through ink, writing message after message to each other on their skin - but that's all about to change. ❤❤❤❤❤ Review: This soulmate fic takes place in an alternate universe where Yuuri and Viktor are painters. They have been communicating with each other since Yuuri's birth by writing to one another on their skin. Yuuri is an extremely anxious and very sensitive in this AU, nervous to let himself be known to many people, including Viktor. Eventually, at 24, he works up the nerve to call Viktor on the phone and soon gets wrangled into a painting competition with Yuri using Viktor's body as the canvas. This is a story about Yuuri slowly becoming more confident and bold in both his relationship with Viktor and with his art. A big setback occurs which results in Yuuri withdrawing from Viktor, but gradually they work their way back and further beyond. They learn to work with each other's opposing personalities to strengthen and improve themselves and their relationship. This is a delightful fic with a really sweet ending.

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witchbane (@witchsbane)

Kintsugi

Rating: Explicit Words: 114.1k Status: Work In Progress Relationship: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Tags: Mafia AU; Enemies to lovers; Angst; Slow burn ❤❤❤❤❤ Summary: Yuuri Katsuki is a hitman burdened with a debt he can never repay. His target: Viktor Nikiforov, next Pakhan to one of the most dangerous families in the Russian mafia. When the two are drawn into a treacherous alliance after a mission gone wrong, the bonds of love and loyalty to family and duty begin to unravel—even as they get more tangled up in each other. ❤❤❤❤❤ Review: I'm normally not much for mafia AUs. I don't enjoy stories with main characters that are genuinely despicable, assholish, or psychotic, and I like it even less when my favorite characters are changed and portrayed that way. What works with Kitsugi is witchbane's talented, careful handling of the characters, more broken and hardened from their experiences, but still likeable and similar to their canon counterparts. Yuuri is turned into an efficient and capable killer in order to pay off a debt, but he hates what he does, feeling guilty about several of his actions, but is determined to see it through because he desires to finally go back home to his family and earn his freedom. Victor is colder and more ruthless, but does so out of loyalty and care for Yakov and others in the mafia family, and he values loyalty in others. He's an asshole to Yuuri at first, being a for-hire hitman and outsider, but comes to genuinely care for him, respecting Yuuri's desire to not be forced into sex, worrying over him when he gets injured, and trusting him with secrets. They are slowly forging a loving bond in harsh, cruel conditions, and it will be interesting to see where the story goes from there considering how much Yuuri is hiding from Victor. The story is realistic, gritty, and angsty, doesn't glorify or romanticize the lifestyle, and still maintains sympathetic characters. It makes for a fascinating fic, and I really appreciate what witchbane has done with it.

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writingfromtheshadows (@lovingnikiforov)

Equivalent Exchange

Rating: Mature Words: 129.6k Status: Work In Progress Relationship: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov Tags: Fantasy AU; Royalty AU; Politics; Magic; Hurt/comfort ❤❤❤❤❤ Summary: Without the Katsuki line to protect and maintain the laws of magic, Great Mages have become so few and far between that many believe the age of magic is coming to an end. However, when he comes across a young man weaving tales with figures of fire, Viktor begins to wonder if magic is truly dead, or if it lives on in the body of the storyteller with warm brown eyes. ❤❤❤❤❤ Review: This fic is absolutely amazing. Hands down one of the best royalty, political thriller fanfics for YOI, with everyone being a competent badass in their own special way. Dessa takes great care at carefully developing the plot and characters, never sacrificing one for the other. The beginning of the fic sets the stage for Viktor and Yuuri's relationship, both ommitting key facts about themselves, but still able to create a connection. Viktor is a king who just wants a break from the ever-constant responsibility and to connect with someone who just sees him as Viktor. Yuuri is a mage who pretends to not be one, and becomes attached to this man who seems to have a target painted on his back. The beginning is mostly light-hearted, with hints of the trouble to come. The Nikiforovs have a powerful, magical enemy that is determined to destroy their dynasty, and Yuuri becomes the only possible person to combat these attacks. The plot is gradual to work its way in, but once it does it hits in full force, and the topics tackled are heavy - regicide, mass murders, discrimination, duty/sacrifice. The story approaches the conflicts and politics in a realistic manner - everybody has to sacrifice something for the greater good. As much as some of Viktor's advisors would like to play the part of Viktor's friend and trust his faith in Yuuri, they must remain skeptical and wary. As much as Yuuri would just like to run away and hide who he is, he is the only force powerful enough to protect Viktor and change the course of the battle. As much as Viktor would like to be more familiar around Yuuri, he must maintain a certain distance. Dessa utilizes multiple POVs so that you understand the motivations behind each of the main characters. Everyone is so well-rounded. I love it how in one chapter I can be so frustrated with the actions of one character, and in the next I'm sympathizing with their plight and reasons behind their actions. And it's not just one character, it's multiple. They all make frustrating mistakes, but they all also learn and grow from these mistakes. Their inner thoughts and interactions with one another builds the careful framework that this story thrives on. Wow, I really really really can't wait to see how this fic is resolved - this is the story I most eagerly anticipate updates for.

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Wynn (@astreetcarnamedwynn)

Wynn is so great with balancing the dynamics between Yuuri, Victor, and Yuri. Normally I don't care for Yuri taking away focus from Yuuri and Victor, but I love how she weaves him into her fics. She is perhaps one of the few authors that I will gladly read Yuri's POV and interactions with Yuuri and Victor.

Sixty Impossible Things

Rating: Teen Words: 77.9k Status: Work In Progress Relationship: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov; (platonic friendship) Yuri+Yuuri Tags: Canon divergent; Alterate meeting after Sochi; Sassy Yuuri; Pining Victor; Anxiety; Getting to know each other; Learning to relationship ❤❤❤❤❤ Summary: Yuuri sits shellshocked at the barrage of messages. His friends and family in Hasetsu possessed a modicum of chill, as Phichit would say, at least when it came to phones and social media. This blitz... possessed no chill whatsoever. None. Yuuri thinks even Phichit would be awed. "Yuri Plisetsky and Viktor Nikiforov are messaging me the argument I think they’re having with each other about each other while likely standing right next to each other while texting me." Celestino stares at him a long moment, silent. Then he lifts a hand to his temple, closes his eyes, and sighs. ❤❤❤❤❤ Review: This is a canon divergence fic where Yuri starts contacting Yuuri soon after the Sochi Grand Prix, and things barrel out of control from there. Something that I absolutely LOVE is that Wynn focuses on Yuuri's relationships with Yuri, Viktor, Phichit, Celestino, and Minami. The way Yuuri interacts with each of them is different, and I appreciate the care and emphasis she puts on making each one important for Yuuri. Celestino is often an overlooked character, so I really appreciate her attention to him. The conversations are honest, occasionally savage, occasionally funny, and just generally sweet. I especially love how he responds to Yuri's rudeness with equal rudeness initially, which is refreshing to the normal "oh what a cute kitten." Yuri can be a real dick, and it's nice to see him called out on such dickishness. And while the interactions between the two are petty and contentious from both sides for a while, this slowly changes as the fic continues. Originally, this story was set as complete at five chapters and has since been continued, which I was so excited to see! Each chapter continues to get better, further developing the dynamics between Yuuri, Victor, and Yuri. Recent chapters have seen a break through between the three, being more honest with each other, and all the angst and stress beforehand was worth the heartwarming payoff. I love this story so much, and I'm glad that Wynn decided to continue it!

Yuri, the Vampire Slayer

Rating: Teen Words: 20.9k Status: Work In Progress Relationship: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov; (platonic) Yuri+Yuuri; (brothers) Victor+Yuri Tags: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU; Vampire slayer Yuri; Vampire slayer Yuuri; Watcher Yuuri; Witch Victor; BAMF Yuuri ❤❤❤❤❤ Summary: One month after the death of his Watcher, Yakov Feltsman, sixteen-year old Yuri Plisetsky struggles to deal with the grief he feels at Yakov's death as well as the burden he bears at being a vampire slayer, particularly keeping his secret from his best friend, Otabek Altin. Yuri's brother, Viktor, struggles as well, having traded ballet and the Bolshoi for lawnmowers and suburbia following the death of their mother two years prior. Into both of their lives walks Yuuri Katsuki, a walking knot of contradictions, with his ugly tie and slicked back hair, bearing the news that he, now, is Yuri's new Watcher. ❤❤❤❤❤ Review: I was hesitant to start this story despite being a big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan (favorite American tv series still to this day). I saw the title, wasn't too enthusiastic for a story where Yuri was the main character, and stayed away. I shouldn't have worried, because Wynn does a great job balancing the scenes between all three characters. And despite Yuri getting the title role, the Buffy mantle is shared between him and Yuuri (Yuuri is 7th season Buffy to Yuri's 1st season Buffy). Yuuri shares several of his slaying stories with Yuri, which any fan of the Buffy series will recognize (the drowning, fight with the mayor, etc). I love how much of a BAMF Yuuri is. Yuri is understandably angry with the whole situation, slowly improving with Yuuri's guidance. And Victor is desperate to protect his brother and keep their family together. It's really well done, and I hope that Wynn eventually gets back to the story.

#Victuuri fic recs #YOI fic recs #W authors

4 notes · View notes

vodkawrites · 7 years

Text

Yuuri Week 2017, Day 2: Family & Friends Title: 28 Tuxes Chapter 2 Genre: Alternative Universe Pairing: Katsuki Yuuri / Victor Nikiforov, Jean-Jacques Leroy / Isabella Yang Characters: Katsuki Yuuri, Victor Nikiforov, Jean-Jacques Leroy, Isabella Yang, Leroy Family Rating: Teen and up audiences Warnings: None Summary: While planning his 28th wedding, Yuuri begins to wonder if he can ever find love for himself.Or; the victuuri 27 dresses AU absolutely no one asked for.

Read the second chapter on AO3

“Yuuri! Your clients are here!” Phichit, his assistant, calls from the front desk.

“Send them in!” Yuuri answers back.

Yuuri collects the papers that are scattered on his desk and shuffles them into a green folder. He knows that he had tidied his office three times in preparation - four if he counts Phichit’s efforts - but he supposes nothing is too excessive.

The office is nothing special to begin with, but he supposes it is rather nice for a wedding planner. There’s a large desk with an equally large computer (with two unnecessary but also completely necessary monitors) near the back of the office. Towards the middle of the room are a set of couches and coffee tables for clients to use. Lining the office are two bookshelves filled with books that range from flower symbolism to colour theory to just about anything necessary to plan a wedding. The room is mostly illuminated by two floor length windows but there is a warm overhead lamp for extra ambiance which makes it have an almost homey feel. So his excessive cleaning is necessary just to impressive his arguably most important clients.

Apparently, the groom to be is rather famous in Canada but he doesn’t know more than that. He wonders if he is a hockey player or Justin Bieber or something of the sort. He fully braces himself for whatever may be waiting behind his door.

What he doesn’t expect is an entourage of guests. Yuuri gathers that the others must all be family members. It isn’t uncommon for family members to help with wedding planning - especially if they were paying for the affair - so he shouldn’t be as surprised as he is. However, he finds six people (two of them being under the age of 16) to be a bit excessive.

He easily picks out the bride from the crowd. She doesn’t seem to resemble any of the others in the crowd, but she has her own sort of beauty. The bride-to-be is stunning in every definition of the word with short black hair and bright blue eyes.

The groom, however, Yuuri isn’t too sure which one he is. He knows he should be able to pick out one of Canada’s quote-unquote heroes but despite living in the country for four years, Yuuri can’t seem to recognize him, but certainly not among two other males who look almost identical. Even down to their haircuts, it seems difficult to tell the two apart.

“Ah, so nice to meet you all!” Yuuri says politely, addressing all of them. He stands from his chair and holds out a hand for them to shake.

“We’ve heard so much about you,“ the eldest woman says. She shakes Yuuri’s hand politely but Yuuri finds it stiff and uninviting. "I’m Nathalie and this is my husband Alain, the twins Justin and Juliette, and the bride and groom Jean-Jacques and Isabella."

Yuuri head spins. He hardly thinks he is going to remember all of those names (let alone which one is the groom and which one is his younger brother). He silently wishes only the bride and groom came alone but he supposes beggars can’t be choosers. Besides, isn’t it supposed to be the bride’s family that gets involved in planning the wedding?

He chooses not to voice those opinions out loud.

“It’s so great to be here! We’ve heard only good things from Milla and Sara,” the taller of the two Leroy sons says. He deducts that this one is most likely the groom to be, given his stature and how his hand is holding onto’s Isabella’s.

Yuuri smiles uncomfortably. He reminds himself that this is the wedding that could start his career as a famous wedding planner. Or it could end going down in burning flames with his name forever blacklisted from every couple in the country. You know, one of the two.

“Please,” Yuuri begins. He gestures to the leather couches. “Make yourself comfortable."

The group situates themselves on two separate couches: Isabella and JJ on one couch while the rest of the family piles onto another. Yuuri goes over to his large bookshelf before pulling out two large books. One is a lengthy catalog that features ideas for venues, flowers, dresses, decorations, and all the other basic necessities. The other is an empty planner to keep track of their progress and basic details. He grabs his own notebook and a ball point pen before shuffling over to the couches.

He sits down at one of the empty arm chairs across from the couple.

"So how did you two meet?” he asks to make conversation. He knows to some it is simply protocol, but Yuuri genuinely loves to hear the romantic ways his clients meet. Everything from meeting in a coffee shop to being college roommates, he’s heard it all before. Personally, he thinks his favourite is the couple that started off as rivals but ended up falling in love. It may sound a bit cliche, but Yuuri finds it extremely romantic.

“They were high school sweethearts,” JJ’s mother answers.

Yuuri blinks. He would be lying if he says he isn’t a bit put off by the fact JJ’s mother answered for him, but no one else in the room seems to mind. In fact, both Justin and Juliette are both on their phones, ignoring the conversation completely.

Instead, Isabella continues the story as if nothing is unusual. “We were in class together back in Montreal.” She looks over at her fiancé, flashing him a warm smile. “JJ asked me to our junior prom and we’ve been together ever since.”

“That’s very sweet,” Yuuri says genuinely. It’s a rather typical answer, especially for couples as young as they are, but it’s not unwelcome. In fact, Yuuri finds it extremely romantic.

“And now we’ll be getting married. Soon we’ll be officially Mr. and Mrs. Leroy-Yang,” JJ announces. He places a hand atop his finance’s and begins to rub soothing circles into her knuckles.

“We want them to get married before JJ starts school in Toronto,” JJ’s father explains.

Yuuri nods.

“You two seem very eager,” Yuuri muses outloud.

“Isn’t everyone eager to get married?” JJ’s mother asks.

JJ and Isabella eye each other, their expressions unreadable. It lasts only for a brief second but Yuuri still notices how tense they seem. He tries not to dwell on that.

“I suppose,” Yuuri hums in agreement.

He supposes he too is eager to get married. Despite that he doesn’t have a significant other (at the moment, he reminds himself) doesn’t mean he hasn’t dreamed about the day when he would wed.

He knows it has to be an early spring wedding, one where the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom. He knows he wants Phichit to be his best man and his parents to walk him down the aisle. Whether or not it’s a big wedding with needless ice sculptures and seven course meals or an intimate affair on the sands of a rocky beach, Yuuri doesn’t exactly mind. All he knows is that he wants a wedding with someone who truly loves him.

He shakes those thoughts away. Today isn’t about him to imagine his perfect - albeit nonexistent - wedding. No, he must focus on the people who are actually getting married.

“Why don’t we get started?” he asks.

“Of course! We have no time to spare. Jean has to be back by two for practice,” JJ’s father points out as if Yuuri is supposed to know his client’s schedules.

Yuuri ignores that last part and starts his typical pitch.

“Did you two decide on a date?” he asks.

He begins to absentmindedly thumb through one of the volumes, looking for some sort of inspiration. He isn’t sure how exactly to plan a wedding for this situation. Sure, he had planned twenty seven other weddings which have all be successful, but none of them have been even close to this caliber. Jean-Jacques Leroy is a big celebrity here (or at least as big as ice skaters who recently won gold at the Olympics); therefore, he needs to create a wedding for for a king - or rather for King JJ.

“We’d like spring. Preferably May after the season is over. They’d do earlier but Jean is going to be travelling so much it’s not worth it,” JJ’s mother explains.

Yuuri stills. May? As in the May of the following year? As in the May that is exactly nine months and three days away?

Yuuri feels his breath hitch at the mere thought of planning a wedding in a mere nine months. Not to mention that this wedding is for a famous celebrity in which his reputation depends on the success of the wedding. A wedding for someone of JJ’s caliber already put a lot of pressure on him. And now with the extra stress of planning a wedding in a mere nine months; it is almost too much to handle.

He silently regrets taking on the request. He knows that he only agreed because Phichit encouraged (rather forced) him to take the job. Something about planning for someone like JJ would give him some fame within the wedding planner industry. Honestly, he would be just as happy planning for two average people who just want their perfect wedding.

Yuuri feels a headache forming.

“Alright,” he says, trying to show no form of discomfort. He must remain neutral for his clients - particularly for clients who could make or break his career as an official wedding planner.

“Do you have a specific budget for the entire thing?” he continues.

“For everything? Probably $100,000 but we can compromise. Nothing is too expensive for their big day,” JJ’s mother cooes.

Yuuri nods but doesn’t say anything about the budget. Sure, it is a ridiculous amount of money - $100,000 dedicated to one day is more than Yuuri will ever see in his life - but he supposes love doesn’t have a price. Besides, there are weddings that cost ten times more than that so who is Yuuri to judge (even if the average wedding is 1/5th the cost).

“Do you have anything in mind, as of right now?”

JJ and Isabella eye each other, as if they want the other to speak first.

Eventually, JJ admits “not really. We haven’t really talked about wedding plans a lot.”

“Is there anything you want specifically?”

“I want a big wedding!” Isabella blurts, her eyes wide.

Yuuri chuckles at her innocence; he easily learns she is only nineteen after all. He finds is rather endearing how excited they are about planning their wedding. He always appreciates it when the couples are enthusiastic.

“That can be arranged.”

“We are inviting at least 500 people so we need a big enough place. I’ve got a big family,” JJ’s father explains.

Yuuri taps his pencil on the page before jotting down some basic notes.

-Big venue

-Lots of people

-May wedding

-Flexible budget

“Do you have any venues in mind?” Yuuri asks, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“It has to be in a church for the ceremony. And then we were thinking of a place with an ice rink for the reception. We want our first dance to be on the ice. Isabella even took lessons.”

Yuuri internally groans at his suggestions. Of course the famous couple would want something so ridiculous and contrived as to have their reception at an ice rink instead of something more traditional. As if planning the wedding isn’t already hard enough, add in a fancy ice rink that can hold 500 people and their high expectations to the mix.

“Hmmm…I’ll have to look around for options, if you don’t mind,” he confesses. He hopes the couple can take the hint and suggest something more reasonable.

“Very well,” JJ’s mother says with a surprising amount of understanding.

“Take your time,” JJ insists.

Yuuri lets out a breath he isn’t aware that he is holding in. He truly thankful that they are forgiving of the situation. He relaxes into his seat - only slightly though because he certainly doesn’t want to appear unprofessional (no matter how uncomfortable sitting up straight is for his back).

He continues with some other questions. They’re not really that important or interesting, but it is protocol that he asks anyways. Things like type of flowers, people in the bridal party, if they want a limo and such; it’s all very basic questions and he is grateful that these specifications are easier than finding their perfect venue.

“Alright. I think there’s enough to work with for right now,” Yuuri says. He looks down at his notes for emphasis, memorizing the specific bullet points. There’s nothing truly unreasonable - aside from the ice rink but he hopes they might change their mind in the upcoming weeks - so Yuuri is rather grateful.

“I can begin by finding some venues and we can start from there. I can give you a call next week when I have a few suggestions.”

“Perfect,” JJ says with a grin.

The couple stands up from the couch followed by the rest of the group.

“It was nice meeting you, Mr. Katsuki,” Isabella says politely. She offers him a warm smile which Yuuri easily reciprocates.

“Please, call me Yuuri,” he says before wishing the rest of them a pleasant goodbye.

He watches as the entourage (because that is exactly what six people including the bride and groom are at this point) exists his office, waving goodbye to his receptionist on the way out.

Yuuri lets out a heavy sigh. Sure he loves planning weddings - he practically lives and breathes to design the perfect wedding - but he always forgets how absolutely draining it is. Finding the venue, picking the flowers, deciding on the dresses, and the cake. Not to mention picking items for the registry, deciding on the theme, inviting the guests and determining the seating arrangement; it’s all very tiring. And all in nine months, nonetheless.

He needs some strong black tea and he needs it now.

He walks out of his office, hoping to go to the coffee shop around the corner. It should only be about five minutes and he doesn’t have that much work to do at the moment so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

He walks out of his office, turning the corner only to be met with what can only be described as an angel sent from the heavens above.

Yuuri looks up at him, drinking in his form. He is beautiful - gorgeous really; there is absolutely no denying that. His hair is a bright platinum blond that makes Yuuri wonder if it is natural or a product of too much bleaching. His eyes are an inviting shade of blue that makes Yuuri never want to look away. He’s never seen someone with such a strong jaw and chiseled features.

He knows it must be silly for a grown man to pine over someone he hasn’t even said anything to, but he finds himself doing so anyways.

“Are you here for an appointment?” Yuuri asks, a bit reluctantly. He sincerely hopes the beautiful man isn’t here to plan his own wedding.

To be honest, he doesn’t remember having anymore appointments for the day - JJ and Isabella are supposed to take up most of his time so he really can’t afford to see anymore clients. Plus, September isn’t always the most popular season to begin planning a wedding.

“Not really,” he admits but he doesn’t exactly look ashamed of that fact.

Yuuri furrows his eyebrows, a bit confused by that comment. Why else would a beautiful man in a neatly pressed suit be at a wedding planner’s office? It is entirely possible that he is an undercover spy or a prince of some faraway country or a male model ready to help Yuuri sell his business. Judging by how he looks in his navy blue suit, it’s hard to imagine him as anything but a male model.

“I’m here for JJ.“

Of course.

Of fucking course.

Yuuri scowls. He isn’t here for Yuuri (or even for Yuuri’s business); he’s only here to exploit JJ and Isabella for an autograph or a story or a selfie to get him his fifteen minutes of fame. He doesn’t know what disappointments him the most: the fact that he is here for his clients or that Yuuri almost fell for his stunning good looks.

"I’m sorry and you are?” he asks with more bite than he intends. Yuuri shifts his weight to one leg, cocking out his hip in the process which makes him feel like a mother lecturing a small child.

To be honest, he just wants his tea and maybe a nap for the rest of his life; he certainly doesn’t want to deal with whatever the mysterious stranger has to say.

“Victor, Victor Nikiforov,” he emphasizes as if it is supposed to mean something.

Yuuri narrows his eyes. His name doesn’t help to clarify anything, but this Victor character seems to think that his name alone means something to Yuuri.

“And you’re here because…?” he asks, letting the words hang in the air.

“I’m JJ’s reporter,” he explains He holds up some official looking badge that hangs around his neck by a teal lanyard. It has a flattering head shot along with his age, profession, and company’s name. Yuuri ignores the details.

Instead, he scans the beautiful man skeptically. He doesn’t exactly look like a reporter - not that he knows what a reporter should even look like - but there is no evidence that says that he isn’t a crazy fan

“Look, I’m a sports reporter, nothing more. Here’s proof.” The reporter reaches into the front pocket of his neatly pressed slacks and fishes out a card. He hands Yuuri a business card.

“How do I know you didn’t forge this?” Yuuri asks.

He scans the business card for any irregularities, holding it up to the light in hopes it will give him some sort of answers. Instead, it seems to be just a business card, one - in Yuuri’s humble opinion - that is rather boring. It’s a plain white with blue text reading his name and his company. Towards the edge is an obviously poorly rendered clip-art image of an ice skate that makes it look like a four year old designed his business card on PowerPoint.

“You can look up my articles online. Or in the paper, but no one reads the paper anymore.”

Yuuri hums, storing the card in his own pocket. He supposes he can’t argue with that logic.

"So why are you here?” he asks, his voice devoid of its usual professional demeanor. He hopes the reporter can pick up on that little subtly and leave him alone. "Don’t you write sports articles?“

"I do but my boss wants an article about JJ’s wedding. Apparently skating fans care about his love life. Trust me, I don’t want to be here. Love makes me sick.”

Yuuri rolls his eyes.

“So, is there anything their official wedding planner can tell the readers?” he asks, holding a recording device up to Yuuri’s face.

Yuuri takes a step back, careful that he isn’t too close to the recording device. He wouldn’t want it picking up any sort of negativity, or anything for that matter. He couldn’t have his clients think he is breaching their privacy. Weddings are intimate occasions, after all.

“Well all information is confidential,” he replies stubbornly.

“Confidential?” Victor asks. He lowers his hand with the recording device but Yuuri notices he didn’t shut it off. “I’m sorry I don’t think you understand-”

“I do understand,” he interrupts. “Weddings are special; they shouldn’t be exploited for a cheap pay check.” For emphasis, he gestures to the recording device.

"Hey!” he defends. He pouts a bit, making Yuuri’s thought about being a mother lecturing a small child to be even more accurate. “My writing is not cheap.”

“Well I suggest you use your writing talent and find a new story focus, Mr…”

“Nikiforov,” he answers, puffing his chest out. “Victor Nikiforov.”

“Yes, Mr. Nikiforov,” he begins. He hands the business card to the stranger, hoping that he never has to see his beautiful face ever again. “I suggest you go back to writing about sports and stay out of JJ’s personal life.”

“Trust me, if it were up to me, I would,” the reporter says with a scoff. “But my boss is insistent.”

“Well then tell your boss that I refuse to give people like you any information about their wedding.”

Victor looks a bit taken aback. “You won’t tell me anything?”

“Nothing,” he states with a smug grin.

Victor narrows his eyes.

“Mark my words, Yuuri. I’ll get the information from you one way or another.”

Yuuri smirks.

“I’d like to see you try.”

#2017 yuuri week #yuuri week 2017 #yuuri katsuki #victuuri #victor nikiforov #Viktor Nikiforov #yuri!!! on ice #yoi #yoi fic #my fic #theme: friends and family #day 2 #27 dresses au #28 tuxes

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