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blood-injections · 8 months

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I would love to hear some father figure Doctor D headcannons..

FATHER FIGURE DOCTOR D. YEAH HES YES OF COURSE

He is THE dad of the zones honestly, he literally adoped cherri, he basically adoped the fab four and later down the line vaya and vamos and the girl is like literally his grandchild not literally but as the fab four are his kids so shes his grandchild plus he's like been there since the start he probably knew her mother.

Anyway I've made a post about this bit before ! Show Pony is his biological nephew ! And they grew up visiting him and being a little helper around his radio station in LA and when they hot older, theyd spend their summers staying with him, and he was always a lot funner and when Pony was like ten and realized they felt genderweird. He was way more accepting than their lameass probably transphobic parents so Dr D's their cool uncle but really they see him more as their father figure, and Ponys staying with him one summer when theyre twelve and the helium wars start and stuff shuts down and eventually he has to fight, but he's officially taken in Pony since they cant get in contact with their parents and man, Ponys twelve and its war, they don't want to go back to their sucky parents anyway. And Dr D fucking loves that kid and always hated his stuck up brother, so he never complains.

In the wars he gets really close to another older man he fights beside, a partner, they never label anything but dr d kinda loves him, but things go wrong one day and he loses his legs and his friend all at once. His partner had a son, though, one a little older than pony, and it was just the two of them and so dr d promised his partner he'd look after his son, make sure he wasnt sent to one of the orphanages popping up with bad vibes

So he takes in that 14 year old boy, who will later be known as Agent Cherri Cola, and he loves that kid like his own, because if cherris father and him had both made it through to the end of that war cherri probably would have been his own, if he got to marry that man. Cherri misses his dad like hell but he loves dr d too, and with time sees him as a father and pony as a sibling, for his dad may have raised him but it was dr d and pony that he was with when the war ended and Battery City was erected and when they settled in the desert and watched the zones as we know them be born.

And then its Jet Star, after the zones have been the zones for a while, when cherri and pony are practically grown up, 17 and 20 respectively, Jet's a sand pup, old enough to remember the wars but barely the world before it, so the deserts his home, he grew up out there with his family, on a ranch, and his family then became his crew, who was then lost in a tragic firefight, and jet was alone, drifting the zones at sixteen, its pony that brings it to light, that knows jet and says a friends been drifting since they lot their crew, asks dr d if he can stay with them for a bit at he station. And well, dr d loves his kid, so he says yeah, who is he to deny a joy that needs help.

Jet lives with them for a year, and then moves on to find their own place when they arent so lost, arent grieving their family as hard, but the thing is dr d just has this affect on people, and jet sees him as a sort of father figure too, and he sees jet as another kid, especially when he watches them go stay in the diner, and then take in ghoul, whos just a little fukin kid, ran away from the city at eleven, and somehow survived, not to mention somehow made it all the way out to zone five on foot, and with a gun but hardly being able to shoot it. And jets just seventeen still but they take in ghoul at the diner and kinda teach him the way of the zones, and theyre always over at the station, and ghouls this little kid thats lost everything but hes a fucking spitfire, he reminds dr d of cherri when he first took him in, and of course he helps out jet with teaching him stuff, and ghouls young but hes crazy good at engineering and coding and electronics and stuff, since he grew up with androids and learned early how to help them out, do repairs, hes good at that shit and he fixes some of the old equipment around the station and like seriously, dr d just adopts any kid hes known for more than like a week so hes fucking proud of this smartass kid, and then he gets to see him grow up too and he just loves them all more as time passes.

And then its the venom brothers, two years later, they're older when they get out of the city, and poison at least is already a decent fighter. Jets nineteen and ghouls thirteen and the two of them run into the brothers in a firefight, where poisons shielding their little brother with their body, just them against a group of dracs, and of course jet and ghoul see them just in time and sweep in to help. The brothers have been in the zones for just a few weeks aparently, poisons seventeen and kobras fourteen, and they still haven't found a base, so jet invites them to stay in the diner while they figure things out, who they are, how the zones work, and they agree. And since jet and ghoul already visit the station every other fucking day, now kobra and Poison are tagging along too, and they're fucking weird kids and dr d loves them. Poison and pony take a natural shine to each other and to his surprise, cherri becomes a sort of mentor for kobra, whos a real little shit by the way, like ghoul but angry instead of just.. ghoul. Lashing out because he didnt know hat else to do, but with kobra its a different kind of fire, a melting pot of discomfort with his teenage body and figuring out who he is and neurodivergency and getting overstimulated and just hating society and the world in general. Cherri teaches him how to fight with his fists, channel the rage the kid has, thins poisn cant teach him, not really, theyre protective ayway, dont want him holding a gun yet, like ghoul wasnt learning soon as jet took him in because if youre gonna have a gun, you gotta use it right, and out here, you need a gun.

Kobra kind of idolizes Dr D too, cause he's this wicked cool old dj thats like, zones famous, and talks cool and has cool stories, so hes learning to fight from cherri, and this kid thats know nothing but battery city and pills for his whole life gets to hear about the world befoe and music and the wars they only skimmed over in the schools in the city. Kobra talks all city too, kinda hates how he sounded, cause everyone could tell hes from the city from it, but listening to dr d so much, he picks up his accent, old california native/plain old like, fun radio guy kinda accent, yaknow, he says vowels weird somtimes and does the zonestalk thing where ya' smush words t'gether or slur 'em a bit, like that. And he picks up a lot of slang from dr d too.

And once again dr d watches these kids grow up, choose names, watches kobra kid learning to ride a bike and in a couple years he'll be there at his first race at the crash track and fucking cheering, because theres a ton of older joys like him and theres a ton of kids, but this is one of his. These kids chose him, really, and so he's their family, a friend, a father figure, whatever they need.

#sorry i love him #dr d posting #asks #ttlotfk #danger days #the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #doctor death defying

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frosteee · 2 years

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Three Sanji fic ideas that I must put down before I go insane.

Summary:

Idea 1: Beauty & The Beast (fantasy au)

Idea 2: All Blue Chef (modern au)

Idea 3: Rule of Six (Rule of Rose au???)

[Details under cut.]

Idea 1: Beauty & the Beast (fantasy au)

A witch disguised as an old woman knocks at the door of the Germa kingdom's king, Judge, and asks for shelter. The cruel king turns her away and three of his five children mock and pelt her with things. For their mistreatment, the witch puts a curse on the household, a curse than can be lifted by true love's kiss.

Different from the original story, the curse does not immediately turn the Germa family into beasts, but instead makes the process mirror their characters. The Germa king and three sons are immediately transformed into beasts, although they maintain their reason. They try to use their newfound bestial abilities in warfare, but their rotten characters combined with animal instincts make them wild and dangerous, causing all four to be locked inside their own castle until a cure can be found.

Sanji and his elder sister Reiju are relatively unaffected by the curse, although similar tendencies and traits cause symptoms to appear on their bodies. As the eldest, Reiju leaves the castle in search of a cure, leaving Sanji in the care of their servants.

Years later, Pudding, a princess from nearby Totto Empire, is sent to the Germa castle. Her mother, Empress Linlin, always viewed her daughter as a monster, and so found it fitting to marry her off to one.

All this time, Sanji has kept almost exclusively to the castle, not daring to venture outside for fear of hurting others. Pudding, convincing the prince to let her stay, initially decides to use the situation to her advantage when she sees how unbeast-like he is. She begins to think that she could manipulate the vulnerable prince to do her bidding and become a powerful monarch to spite her mother, but as time goes on the pair begin to slowly fall truly in love with one another.

(I haven't decided who the 'Gaston' character will be in the story, if there should be one at all, or if I should replace him with the monstrous Germa father and brothers instead. This is all I got so far!).

Idea 2: All Blue Chef (modern au)

In this modern au, Sanji is a young man of mixed German/Japanese descent who escaped his abusive household and after years of training and hard work became a chef and scraped enough money together to found his own restaurant - the All Blue. He also has a girlfriend - Pudding, but not named Pudding in this AU perhaps, maybe Charlotte instead?

The only noteworthy thing about this AU in terms of story is that one evening while working late, Sanji discovers a baby girl abandoned in a dumpster outside his restaurant, whom he fosters with Pudding and eventually adopts. Because we all need wholesome Dad Sanji ^-^

Idea 3: Rule of Six (Rule of Rose au???)

Back to the angst! This idea came from the Rule of Rose video game storyline. Bear with me here!

In 1950s West Berlin, Sanji is young trainee chef still haunted by the memories of his past.

His father was a high ranking general in the Wehrmacht who married Sora, a Japanese woman of high birth. He took her to Germany and they had five children. Sanji was bullied by his siblings and his father for not being able to meet his militaristic standards.

Despite the general's status and protection, a enemy bombing struck the family home, killing Sora and injuring the general so badly he was forced to resign. He was assassinated soon afterwards, leaving the five children orphaned.

The orphanage they were sent to was poorly managed and run by several abusive figures, most notably the headmaster. Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji quickly established a cruel hierarchy among the children, with themselves at the very top rung as the Three Generals, ranked as follows: General (Ichiji), Lieutenant-General (Niji) and Major-General (Yonji). As a woman, Reiju received the title of Wehrmachthelferin, Female Wehrmacht helper, in charge of relaying messages from her brothers to the other children, administrative duties, nursing and espionage, among other things.

Sanji received the lowest rank of Private, and was treated as such by his brothers. His only solace was cooking, and he often cooked for his playmates as well as wild animals he came across. Hearing this, his brothers forced Sanji to cook for nobody else but them.

Pudding also features as the 'Empress', having manipulated the boys into making her their leader. She is attracted to Sanji, but her emotional instability and trauma lead to her hurting him more.

The aftermath of his experiences in the orphanage leaves Sanji even more alone than before. Germany's defeat leaves him starving and near death before he is saved.

(Initially I wanted the story to end as Rule of Rose does, but I'm not sure if I want that or how that would come about exactly, and other details.)

#fanfic #fic ideas #fanfic ideas #One Piece fanfic #One Piece fanfiction #vinsmoke sanji #sanji vinsmoke #vinsmoke family #vinsmoke niji #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke judge #vinsmoke sora #vinsmoke ichiji #modern au #fantasy au #charlotte pudding #charlotte linlin #big mom

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teentitanimals · 4 years

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Helena Kyle-Wayne History

The history of Helena Kyle-Wayne based on how I see her! Ties into this Events Timeline :) I might call this Batfam au Earth Never? Maybe? I’m kinda already attached to the name lol

Helena Martha Maria Wayne was born to Bruce Wayne, age 42, and Selina Kyle, age 45, on Earth Never-Two. Her grandfather Alfred Pennyworth was 67, her half-brother Damian Wayne was 13, her adopted brother Tim Drake was 21, her adopted brother and sister Jason Todd and Cassandra Cain were 24, and her adopted brother Dick Grayson was 29. Growing up she learned acrobatics from her eldest brother, how to hold a gun from Jason, how to be silent by her sister, hacking from Tim, animal taming and katana wielding from her favorite brother Damian, how to defend herself from her father, and how to be sneaky from her mother. Needless to say, from a young age, she was pretty skilled, and being raised in a house of detectives, them attempting to keep their secret lives as vigilantes from her didn’t work, as she knew about it from the age of 6 and onwards. By age 14, she became the new Robin under her father.

She was best friends with Kara Kent, aka Supergirl, who was a few years older than her, and Charles Bullock, aka Blackwing, who was also a few years older than her, and was an intern at the law firm created by her father, her eldest brother and a man named Arthur Cranston, aptly named the Cranston, Grayson and Wayne consumer research firm. The three made an excellent team, and were practically inseparable.

Aside from Kara and Charles, though, Helena greatly looked up to the woman who shared her name, Helena Bertinelli, aka the Huntress. This earned Helena the affectionate name of Little H, or Little Huntress, from Bertinelli and others. Helena as Robin often ended up shadowing Huntress more than Batman. She also got along really well with Charlotte “Charlie” Gage-Radcliffe, a young adult who was like a daughter to Bertinelli. It should be noted that the Birds of Prey never existed in this universe, and Barbara Gordon never became a superhero. In this universe, Charlie mimicked the identity of Huntress rather than Batgirl, before creating her own as Misfit. No Batgirls exist in this universe, but Stephanie Brown still became Spoiler- never Robin, Cassandra Cain simply became Black Bat and then Orphan, and Bette Kane never became a superhero, nor did Carrie Kelley, Tiffany Fox or Nell Little.

At one point, a man named Silky Cernak tried to blackmail and frame her mother for killing a cop as Catwoman, but with her and her family’s help, they cleared her name and revealed the truth, arresting Silky.

Eventually, when Helena was 16, a war against Apokoliptians, lead by Darkseid, started, which resulted in a war torn world. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman were all killed during the war, as well as Tim Drake and Helena Bertinelli. Her family grieves them, and Dick takes up the mantle of Batman, and Damian makes his new superhero alias Redwing, a combination of Red Robin and Nightwing in honor of his brothers. Charlie became the new Huntress. By age 18, everything had way gotten worse, and Charlie was killed, and Selina soon followed. Helena then became Huntress, while Kara became Power Girl.

At age 20, she, Kara and Charles chased after someone who they assumed was Darkseid, but they would later find out was DeSaad. The trio attacked DeSaad, but in the process Helena entered a Boom Tube while Power Girl and Blackwing fought DeSaad. Helena would never know how the battle ended, though, as the Boom Tube sent her to Earth Never-Prime. She was stranded, and alone, in a world so similar to her own, but not war torn, and just slightly off. She was a Bat though, and she was well-trained. She laid low and studied the world, learning that Batman was still Bruce Wayne here- and that Bruce Wayne was still 42. And that she had never been (or simply yet to be) born, as Bruce and Selina were not even married like they were in her world, with Selina still acting as the criminal Catwoman. In this world, Darkseid had been defeated already.

She stole money from Wayne Enterprises to get by, just for meals, hotels, clean clothes, etc. Scrounging through Wikipedias can only get you so far, so she took to spying on her family and friends and other superheroes and... finds that she can’t handle it. For the most part, they look so happy. Yeah, Jason’s an asshole, and Damian’s so young and angst-y, but... They’re a family, not split by death and war. Every night, she seems to end up in tears, jealous of this world and wanting her world back- no, her family.

Her secrecy does not last long, as she can’t stop herself from jumping in to help her family (Batman, Robin, Nightwing) when they are attacked by the Joker. She attempts to run away after the battle, but her moves and tricks are the exact same as the Batfamily’s, so it ends up impossible for her to lose them. They interrogate her, and she ends up confessing she’s not from this universe. She tells them she’s a Huntress of another world, but not much else. They’re skeptical of her, seeing as the moves she used would indicate she was close enough to train under and with the Batfamily, so why would she be ‘a’ Huntress (of which they’ve only ever had one)? She asks if they could go to the Batcave or somewhere to talk, instead of staying out in the city. They agree, and ask her to lead them to the Batcave, which she does with ease.

There, she confesses more of her story, revealing she was the daughter of Selina and Bruce, and that Darkseid was currently waging war on her world- and winning. She allows them to run a DNA test on her, and the results match up. They believe her story. They offer to help her get back to her own world and also to house her while she’s here. She thanks them, and offers to help them patrol and protect Gotham in return.

Living in Wayne Manor was... weird, and more often than not she’d end up crashing at a hotel or something instead. Damian was 13, younger than her, and still very... well, Damian. And there was a kid that had never been apart of her family too, Duke Thomas, and also allies like Harper Row, Julia Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, etc... And it was weird living among, to her, ghosts. Zombies. Dead people. She was afraid to get attached to any of them, because they weren’t hers, and she’d go back home, where some were dead or dying, and she’d mourn them all over again. Not to mention, Tim was now only 1 year older than her, Jason and Cass 4, and Dick just 9 instead of 29.... And Dick was even married to an alien princess named Koriand’r aka Starfire- where he was Barbara’s boyfriend in Helena’s world- and they had a daughter named Mar’i. And Jason had adopted a girl named Sasha, aka Scarlet. And, also, perhaps this stung most, that her best friend was no longer the same age as Helena. Which meant that even if Helena had been born in this world, she wouldn’t have been Kara’s friend. And similar with Charles, who was a simple citizen in this world.

While talking to this world’s version of her mother, Selina reveals to her that a Helena had been born in this world, but her father was Sam Bradley Jr. (deceased), and she was born nine-ten years ago. Her name was Helena Kyle, but since Selina was under the alias Irena Dubrovna at the time, her legal name was Helena Dubrovna. She had brown hair and green eyes rather than the black hair and blue eyes Helena Wayne had. Helena is surprised to know of this universe ‘her’, although really it’s her other universe half-sister. She wants to meet her, but Selina explains to her that after the villains Film Freak and Angle Man kidnapped and harmed Helena Kyle, she, Zatanna, and Bruce faked Helena’s death (and Irena Dubrovna’s) and put her up for adoption. To make sure no one could ever find Helena via Selina, Selina choose not to know who adopted her (if she officially got adopted at all and was not still in an orphanage). Helena Wayne accepts this and understands her reasoning. Even she had been kidnapped plenty of times back in her home world, Earth Never-Two.

It’s a year of living like this. She talks with the Selina Kyle of this world, with Helena Bertinelli, with Zatanna Zatara, with everybody. She still closes herself off though, calling Bruce “Uncle Bruce” to distance him and her father in her mind. By the end of the year, a part of her realizes she’s never going back... and another part wonders why she would even want to. She could have happiness here. But, at the same time, to give up her friendships with Power Girl and Blackwing? (And what if they were dead by now?) It’s difficult, but finally, with the advice from her other universe family, she decides she wants to try making a life here, just in case she really never can go back. Of course, Bruce offers to adopt her, but Helena can’t bring herself to fully accept this world’s Bruce as her dad yet, nor could she handle being official, legal siblings with her brothers and sister. She still hasn’t adjusted to them, how they are now, how young they all are, how younger Damian is. If anything, she’s most okay with Duke Thomas, someone she had never met in her universe.

To her surprise, as they contemplate making her a fake civilian identity, Selina offers to adopt Helena. Helena, after thinking it over, accepts. She would not have as much hounding from the press, from the media, from the public, as she would if she was adopted into the Waynes. She would not have to deal with the weirdness that was her alternate universe siblings as much, living with Selina. (Not that she needed to live with Selina, she was 21, after all, but Selina had told her that she was welcome to crash in her house anytime- an offer she often took up on when the Manor was stressing her out.) Selina was still a criminal in this universe, but she only robbed banks from time to time, really, nothing major, and she was slowly becoming more hero and ally than superthief by the time Helena had come to this world. Selina had been dead for only 2 years to Helena, while Bruce had been for 4 years, and had died when Helena was young and not used to death. Bruce’s death had a bigger impact on her (alongside Tim and Bertinelli’s), but with Selina, it was easy to imagine she had simply been gone for two years.

So, Helena became Helena Martha Maria Kyle, adopted daughter of Selina Kyle. She slowly built herself a civilian life, working for a law firm under Wayne Enterprises in honor of her friend Charles and his job. And a superhero life, too, as the Huntress. Of course, since Bertilleni was also known as the Huntress, Helena often went by Little Hunt. They called her Little H and Little Huntress at first, but it reminded her too much of her old world, that she requested they use Little Hunt instead. It was similar, of course, but just different enough. Just like this world was compared to hers.

She worked solo, with Catwoman, with the Batfamily, and with the Birds of Prey mostly. It was a challenge, she would say, to adapt back into the old rules of “No Killing”... It’s a dark secret of hers that she became more ruthless ever since the death of her father, blood soaking her hands. But she was almost relieved to be back to No Killing- as, to her, it meant no war. No death. No pain.

Catwoman seemed to reform completely right alongside her, and the day Bruce proposed to Selina, Helena couldn’t be more happier. She was finally ready to be officially apart of the Waynes again. Selina married Bruce, and Helena took on the Wayne name, becoming Helena Martha Maria Kyle-Wayne, loud and proud. It was weird, but somehow she got used to Damian being younger- and boy did she discover how fun it was to tease him. And alongside that, she got two new younger sisters too, in the form of Carrie Kelley and Alina Shelley-Wayne. Her family, she will say, was much, much more bigger than it had ever been in her own world.

Eventually, as years passed, she found herself more attached to this world than her war torn world. She often wonders, if given the chance, would she still choose to go back to her old world, her old family? It’s a question she can never answer. And one she might not have too, as the Kara of Earth Never-Two would eventually find a way onto Earth Never-One.

Name: Helena Martha Marie Kyle-Wayne

Gender: Female (She/her)

Parents: Bruce Wayne (Biological father; legal step-father), Selina Kyle (Biological mother; legal adopted mother)

Adoptive Step-Siblings: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Alina Wayne

Half-Siblings: Helena Kyle (Current name unknown), Damian Wayne

Adoptive Step-Nieces and Nephews: Sasha Todd, Mar’i Grayson, Jake Grayson, John Grayson II (on Earth Never-Two only)

Hair Color: Black

Hair Length: Long

Eye Color: Blue

Aliases: Robin, the Huntress

Nicknames: Helly, Hel, 'Lena, Hello Kitty, Little H, Little Huntress, Little Hunt

Robin Run: 4 years

Huntress Run: 4 years and ongoing

Reblogs appreciated <3

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bayoubashsims · 3 years

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Naturally

Naturally is a short story about the life of a Dutch-American woman who settled in Indonesia during the early days of its independence, the legacy she carried across the ocean, and the legacy she built in her new homeland. The story reflects on the most poignant events in her long and candid life; from the circumstances that made her birth possible, her childhood in the tumultuous early twentieth century, her new life in a new nation, to the troubles of her offspring, the return to her birthplace, and her dying days. These vignettes of Eleanor Mangkoedimedjo’s life serve as a testament that much of what we are we owe to those who came before us (whether good or bad), particularly our mothers and the mothers before them, and understanding our past often means understanding our future.

Name: Eleanor Mirabelle Mangkoedimedjo Maiden Name: Schuyler Other name(s): Laila Mulyati Place and Date of Birth: Batavia, New York, August 11, 1928 Parents: Lucas T. Schuyler (Adam Sutansyah) and Ana L. Schuyler (née Lahaije); Rosminah Sutansyah Grandparents: Pieter Lahaije and Johanna Lahaije (née van der Maas); Thomas E. Schuyler and Eleanor C. Schuyler (née Thompson) Sibling(s): Coralea Schuyler and Miriam van de Plaas Spouse(s): R. Prabowo H.L. Mangkoedimedjo Children: Matilda E. Willem and Philomena K. Develsbourne

Prologue

Maastricht, the Netherlands 1932

Gerrit Beuling was a tall, thin man with a long swan’s neck and a protruding Adam’s apple. His long, auburn hair went to his shoulders, and was combed back. He trudged along the brick road in that humid summer with a wooden case under his right arm, and he carried with him a manner of expectation.

He stopped when he came to a narrow alley with a stone staircase that led to a wooden door to its left. He cautiously made his way through, up and in, passing by one grimy corridor after another. He arrived half panting at a room at the end of the corridor, covered with faded ruby-colored floral wallpaper and adorned with fine furniture. He placed his case down and took off his coat. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and took a deep breath.

“I don’t understand why you’re wearing a coat like that in such a hot day.” Said Madame Lahaije. She was perched upon a crimson chaise-lounge by the window in a severely outdated, purple buttoned up dress that seemed to betray her own words to the young painter.

“For presentation, of course. And I put a lot of my things inside my coat pockets.”

Madame Lahaije sneered. “A gentleman never puts things inside his pocket. Unless it’s money, of course.”

“Are you ready, Madame?” He asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Do you think this dress is fine?” She asked, adjusting the stiff collar of her dress.

“It’s beautiful. But what a dress to wear in such a weather.” He answered. He was happy with the ironic echo.

“For presentation.” She replied, reassuringly. “Let us adjourn to the other room, shall we?”

She rose up slowly from her seat and walked to the other room as if Gerrit wasn’t even behind her. The other room was a brightly lit, white-paneled alcove at the side of the building that faces the garden, and beyond the horizon lies the countryside. She then proceeded to sit upon a blue, velveteen chair and pointed Gerrit where to sit. Gerrit opened his case, and laid out a set of watercolor paint on a table next to a wooden easel. He placed a canvas upon it and looked at his subject.

“Am I good enough?” She asked. “Of course.”

Madame Lahaije looked at the boy sitting across her.

‘So young’, she said to herself.

She carefully combed a few strands of loose hair from her teased grey crown and adjusted her collar.

There were a few minutes of silence.

“Eh-hem.” The lady cleared her throat to break the awkwardness. “Getting impatient are we, Madame?” Asked Gerrit. “No. I understand this will not be fast work.” “Are you sure you’re comfortable in that dress?” Her eyebrows went up and her eyes squinted. “Would you rather I take it off?” Gerrit bit his lips. “My apologies.”

“You know,” she uttered, her face building up to a slight smile “the last time a man said that to me was my husband, asking me about my wedding dress on our wedding day over 50 years ago. We didn’t have a conventional wedding, you know. My family had disowned me for running off with a man twenty years my senior, and he didn’t have any family left, so it was a few friends and the servants. I remember the dress was white and was very tight. I hated being in it but I looked good in it. Pieter said to me 'Johanna, are you sure you’re comfortable in that dress?’, because he heard me gasping whilst my bridesmaids were closing up my corset. He must’ve thought I was choking or something. It was a humid day, much like this.”

Gerrit’s eyes didn’t turn from the canvas. “You must’ve looked beautiful.” “It was a hundred years ago.” “Oh, I don’t know. You’re still beautiful now.” Madame Lahaije was not one to take compliments or responded to them, but enjoyed them altogether.

“Don’t you have a girl, Gerrit? How old are you now, 27?” “28 this October. And no. I don’t have that much interest in courting girls.” “Do you like the boys, then?” She asked mockingly. Gerrit made no response.

“My daughter must be around your age now. I wonder if she’s married.”

“Don’t you keep in touch with her?”

“She hates me so. She lives in America. Ran away 5 years ago.”

“Why does she hate you?”

“Ah, who knows, schaadt. Us mothers do what instincts tell us to. At the end of the day, it’s still a stab in the dark to assume whether or not our children like us. At one point, they will hate you.”

She continued. “I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but she was an accident. I didn’t plan on having kids with Pieter, but then we did. And not long after she was born, he died, which is when I started the business. I made deals with a few men in some places. I took in homeless girls and groomed them. Of course, I am no Saint for turning them into prostitutes. But at least it provided food at the table for them and a roof over their heads and mine, ja?”

“I suppose.”

There was more silence. Madame Lahaije scratched her right eyebrow half-unsure, wondering if the painter will find it annoying that she’s moving around, but there was no response from him. She looked as stiff as a sculpture, like a purple tulip turned upside down, frozen in winter. She was in her mid-seventies then but retained the outline she had in her youth—a dark and well-pronounced outline that emphasized her bones and her heavily-lidded eyes. In her youth, she was a great beauty, though she never thought of herself that way.

Eventually she asked Gerrit ‘normal’ questions—of the weather, of recent happenings in town, and of the interesting stories that happened in her brothel, for instance, the girls who became pregnant would be sent to the abortionist, and those who choose to have the baby will be sent away. She also told him of men who trespassed the boundaries in treating the girls and how often she had to march into the bedrooms and pull them out by any of their parts and kicking them out to the streets. Gerrit nodded and gave some short responses. Madame Lahaije simply went on and on. It was just the way she talked.

“But I do miss Ana sometimes, you know.” Madame Lahaije uttered, wilting a bit. She was talking about the bad economy a few seconds ago. “How can I help it? She came out of my mangy twat and she’s the only family I have.”

“Such are the ties in blood.” Gerrit said.

Madame Lahaije turned back to concrete. “I was turned away by my own mother, left at the backdoor of an orphanage like a grocery delivery.” She said coldly. “The family that took me in, the van der Maas bunch, was more than kind. But I rebelled. I ran away with the painter and never saw them again. I was disowned. So what? I’ve been disowned the minute I crawled out of my mother. I couldn’t stand being locked up in the house.”

“But,” She added. “thanks to the education that they provided, I turned into the woman I am today. I am no idiot like the tarts I employ, who can strut but everything they hear on the right come out of their left. I keep a close eye on my accounts and I know of a great deal about literature, economy, and politics. So I am grateful, I suppose. If I weren’t a lady I’d have gone to war.”

Gerrit smiled.

“My adopted father was a timber businessman. The mother did nothing but groom her daughters, which included me, into fine ladies every single day from the minute she wakes. The brother was, oh, a handsome gentleman. He followed in his father’s footsteps. He died, however, a good six years before I fled. Of cholera.”

Her head was straight and poised, with her eyebrows way up on her forehead. “He was my first love.” She uttered, and continued. “Mother van der Maas was a strict woman, unlike her husband, who was very much at ease. She was the only sort of mother I ever had, and I was 9 when they adopted me. My need for a mother had rotted years before I met her. Such a shame, no? Nevertheless, I pleased her need for a daughter. Her real daughters, Maria and Nelia, were skittish little things. Very fragile. And so Mother van der Maas took a preference for me. Can’t imagine how she felt when I left them. Mustn’t be like what I felt when Ana left. I remember, I caught Ana leaving with a suitcase in one hand, down by the foyer. I say to her, ‘Must be so easy to leave all this behind’. Well, I thought it, but I did not say it. I simply acted as…a figure of authority, if you must, to this young girl, whom I knew I will never see again or hear from again. She said nothing and left hurriedly. “

There was a silence for a few moments.

"Ah, well.” She shrugged. “I guess I was never meant to be a mother.”

Gerrit smiled.

There was a silence for a few moments.

Gerrit suddenly rose up. “I think that’s enough for today. I’ll continue again tomorrow.”

Madame Lahaije was somehow a bit surprised at this but felt settled. “Fine.”

He draped a white cloth over the canvas and packed his things into the case.

“Same time tomorrow, then?” “Yes.” Answered Gerrit.

Gerrit approached Madame Lahaije, and gave her his hand. Not for a handshake, but for a kiss on her hand. She let him. The kiss was swift, and almost felt like a knife.

“Thank you, Gerrit.”

Gerrit smiled and walked away.

There, in the silence, Madame Lahaije looked out from the window, to the meadow just beyond the house a few miles away.

“What are you thinking?”

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The Past

Batavia, New York - Bandung, the Dutch East Indies 1924-1945

The best thing she did was pretending that she wasn’t hurt.

Eleanor had always been a woman with such pride and stubbornness; even when she was a little girl, her mother Ana would chide her for sassing back. Her poor old mother didn’t want to be harsh on her, because her own mother was draconic to her. Ana had three children, but Eleanor, the youngest, stopped becoming her child and became her daughter when she was just six.

Oh, how Eleanor reminded her so much of her own mother. Even when Eleanor was named after her paternal grandmother, her temperament was quite similar to her maternal grandmother, a proprietress of a Maastricht brothel that Ana had abandoned out of spite at the turn of the century.

Before we go to Eleanor, we must learn of the stock that she came from; Ana was born Ana Louisa Lahaije to Pieter Lahaije and Johanna Lahaije (née van der Maas)

Just twenty-one years old back then in 1924, Ana sailed for six days from Hoek van Holland to the shores of America on a migrant ship. As far as she was concerned, she never had a mother, only a cold, leering phantom that she used to see at the other end of a dinner table. It was the prostitutes that worked in her brothel that became Ana’s mothers: Fleurtje was a great cook, Trienke taught her how to sew, Lotte gave great advice, and Madeleine sang songs with her. Johanna Lahaije only did three things for her throughout her life: she gave birth to Ana, she criticized her, and she let her leave. Johanna had caught her leaving with a suitcase at dawn and said nothing. She stood atop the staircase with her claws on the balustrade and she stood by as her daughter, like a deer caught in headlights, fled for the so-called Land of Opportunities. Of course, it was easy to assume that Johanna never loved her. Who knows, right? People tell you ‘I love you’ in different ways.

She had settled in New York and was married into a rather affluent Boer family, the Schuylers. She had married their youngest child, Lucas Schuyler. Her in-laws were the personification of Great White Hunters, who were ‘adventurers’, so to speak, along with their business ventures that took them around the world, while Lucas helped his mother at home and studied architecture in Cornell. Ana became a seamstress and found clientele in the sprawling metropolis, and gave birth to three daughters: Coralea, Miriam, and Eleanor. The Great Depression struck and though they did not suffer too much, the marriage between Lucas and Ana had cracked beyond repair from arguments regarding money to the spoiling of the children.

Lucas, envious of his father and brother’s adventures, decided to leave for the Dutch East Indies, having heard of the nation’s struggles for independence from the colonials that Lucas descended from. Ana refused to go, of course, since she did not drag herself all the way from Europe just to sail to some godforsaken land at the edge of the world. Much to her chagrin, Eleanor went along with her father. She enjoyed hearing the tales she used to hear about her grandfather and uncle, and she wanted to be an adventurer herself. They said goodbye and little Nortje was none the wiser. To the end of her days, she had always been her father’s child.

Eleanor was so proud of herself and her father. She had heard about the Emerald of the Equator from her father, a land so rich and green—filled with opportunities much heartier than the selfish aspirations of America—and thought of her future and the nation’s. One would think that a New York gal would be used to the urban ways, but even her days on her grandparents’ farm was nothing compared to the years she spent in this new land, and she fit right in with all the things other ‘expatriates’ couldn’t stand. They changed their names, too, and their religion. They settled in Bandung and became Muslims, thus Lucas and Eleanor Schuyler became Adam Sutansyah and Laila Mulyati. Mama Ana was not there to reprimand her for sassing, but instead it was Ibu Rosminah, a Sundanese lady so delicate and earthly one would think she was a fairy of the forests. When wartime came and the whites fled, Laila’s family stayed in support of the nation’s independence. The family did not approve of this. She didn’t care. Laila Mulyati did not care.

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Bandung and Kuningan, Indonesia 1945

Laila met her husband, Raden Bei Prabowo Mangkoedimedjo, in Bandung. Bowo was a neighbor’s pen pal and of gentry birth, and he was instantly head over heels with the dark-eyed Laila, as if a personification of the girl in Panon Hideung herself. They married just as Indonesia gained independence and had twin girls in the following year. Laila was just eighteen when she had babies and it was not easy. Motherhood was something foreign to her and she had to learn it by herself. As nice as Ibu Ros was to her, her volatile relationship with her biological mother was enough to leave her incapacitated when it came to motherhood (mothering, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether). Still, she tried her best. She really did.

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Kuningan, Indonesia - Boca Raton, Florida 1975

Philomena had graduated from college. Her twin sister Matilda did not stick with her as planned and decided to settle and breed with her high school sweetheart. Philomena did not have the patience to be an egg-brooding hen. She had expressed to her friends that she wanted to leave as soon as possible, especially from her Moes’ smothering. She had chosen to study Sociology at the University of Indonesia and stayed at a boarding house there. That never stopped her mother from dropping in from time to time all the way from Kuningan. She allowed Moes to smother as she pleased because she wouldn’t have to use her own money to buy food when she’s visiting, but it is quite exhausting to allow yourself to be smothered for years and years. Moes overheard this exchange (being the devil incarnate) and the next morning, she told Philomena she is to stay with her Aunt Coralea in Florida for a year.

Philomena was stunned, of course, and before she knew it she was in her aunt’s little condo in Boca Raton. The stay did not prove futile, as she became engaged to Southern aristocracy in the two years she was there. They had two wedding ceremonies; one in the US and one in Indonesia. Moes had a dance class to teach (she taught traditional dancing to the young ladies of Paterosari), so she did not see Philomena off on her day of departure. She hugged Moes goodbye at the door and left. Philomena was none the wiser.

Would you feel hurt telling your child goodbye as she became your daughter?

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Batavia, New York 1988

Ana’s three daughters came back to New York. Ana had experienced a series of illnesses and was bedridden, so of course they had to settle the estate. When their father left for Indonesia, their paternal grandparents ‘adopted’ their mother and left her the land. The land had been divided and sold throughout the years, and by that time, it was just a small but beautiful piece of land that had been the last home of Ana Schuyler. Her daughters were no longer little girls then. Coralea never married and became a landlady in Florida, so she knew the details of the estate business better than her sisters. Miriam knew next to nothing, having jumped from relationship to relationship and marriage to marriage, hoping that she’d at least get some of her mother’s jewels. Her husbands had always been Dutch men, and Ana refused to visit her in the Netherlands.

And then there’s Laila. She had grown so much from that little girl she saw leaving on a ship with a flowery hat. Still Ana chided her for her sassing even when Laila had two children and four grandchildren by that time, but the years had mellowed them to the point of the interaction becoming in jest. In Laila’s eyes, Ana saw herself, and for the first time, Ana understood her.

She came home as Eleanor. She thought it was the least she could do. She had such pride, that woman.

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Kuningan, Indonesia 2012

Matilda had died then, of emphysema and lung cancer. Her husband Hugo had disappeared years ago with no explanations, which sent her spiraling to instability. They had four children, and even their children were affected by Matilda’s thunderous descent. She had manic depression, apparently, and Moes remembered she saw the patterns in her own family—the aggression, the moodiness, the pitfalls of depression. It was harder for her to see her daughter suffering than to see her dying, though both practically ripped her apart. Still, she did not show it. Everyone was amazed at her strength.

By the time she was a widow, she had been many things and seen many things. She was involved with revolutionary women’s groups in the past and had joined efforts with other women to fight for the women’s cause in her town—and she understood her privilege as a descendant of colonials. In wartime, she volunteered as a nurse and eventually became one of the most senior members of the Indonesian Red Cross. She hinted, at one time, that she was a spy for the Indonesian rebels, and she defended her medical station from the Dutch with guns blazing. Of course, nobody ever found out if those things were true, but it made interesting conversation in her dance and exercise classes, knitting classes, and bird watching group.

Philomena had buried a husband and divorced two husbands by that time, and she had nothing left to stay on. She had been married long enough to her archeologist first husband to see the world. She had performed in nightclubs, cabarets, and theatres from Las Vegas to Paris. She had discovered a type of lizard in Brazil that was named after her, she had lived through the frigid winds of Siberia eating only dried food, and she even visited the elephant matriarch that killed her Grandfather Thomas in Tanzania. She had a trunk full of pictures, two trunks of knick-knacks, and a lifetime of memories to bring home when she decided to move back to the little town of Paterosari in Kuningan.

For forty years or so, she never stepped foot into her home country. Moes never allowed her, you see. It was always ‘I’ll come over to Atlanta to see you’ or anywhere else Philomena was staying in the US. Philomena never understood why. She never really understood why she was sent off to live with Aunt Lea back then and why, for forty years or so, she was not allowed to return home. As far as she was concerned, she wasn’t a communist connection forbidden to enter Indonesia because of the New Order’s restrictions (though her mother was probably closer to that), so why isn’t she allowed to come home?

It was 2012, and as she walked through the front garden of her house in Kuningan, laden with ferns and devil’s ivy, she decided that this was her last stop. It was as if she had always been there all this time. It was as if she were there just yesterday. Moes greeted her as any mother would, and soon began her readjustment from her worldly past life to her current, more provincial condition. Could it be that Moes was afraid that if her daughter returned home, she would never want to leave again? That she would stick by her dear old mother just to please her? That she would give up her exciting life in the great world beyond for the guilt she felt over leaving Moes?

Philomena never knew, not even when Moes died many years later. She did believe, strongly, that all this time she had been on the longest leash. She and her sister Matilda were her mother’s first and only children. As much as she struggled with motherhood, Moes was fiercely devoted to her children. A lot of this was lost in translation, Philomena supposed, which is why she wanted to leave. Perhaps Moes felt that she did not want Philomena to stick by for her sake. She did not want Philomena staying with her while dreaming of another life, while wondering what could be or what could have been.

Perhaps Moes loved her too much for that, so she allowed herself to be ripped apart for her flesh and blood to be happy. She did live that life, so she did not wonder about what could be or what could have been because she had been, and now it’s over. Philomena thought of how unlucky it is that children cannot choose their parents and how most of the time, it is parents that choose to have children. In retrospect, she was quite thankful.

---------------------------------------------

The Future

She would remember, as she lay dying many years later, that she had many names. Eleanor, Nor, Nortje, Laila, Ibu Mangkoedimedjo, Oma, and Moes. All her life she had been known by these different names, and different people called her these different names in different situations. She had learned the pain of having dragged one’s ass from one place to another and the cognitive dissonance of having several names. She was no stranger to ambiguity and ambivalence. She reassured herself, in the silence of her cold bedroom, that it was never anyone’s fault. The broken hearts, the damaged consequences, and the wounded egos—all of them are inevitable in any sort of relationship.

The children were born into this world and they were never theirs to keep. Soon they will build dream after dream, and some dreams are ruined by their parents, parents that they did not choose. Is it their fault? Of course. As adults, they are obliged to be responsible for their actions. Anyone who says otherwise is a goddamn idiot. But then again, there are many ways to say ‘I love you’, and a lot of these things could easily be lost in translation. Does it matter, then, whose fault it was at that point?

At some point, the little eggs must leave the nest, and at that point, they were no longer eggs. What restrains someone from running towards their loved ones who are about to depart as they wave from an airport gate, a train station, behind the fence of an ivy-laced garden, or a wooden door? What difference would that make? Would that keep them at your side for another day? For what purpose?

It is rather difficult to think how hard it was for one to uproot oneself to another place, only for your offspring to come back to the place that was left behind. After all that hard work? What difference would it make?

Well, at one point, one must’ve breathed a sigh that could not be helped. As the world turns and turns you long for it to stop, for you to sit comfortably in your chair without the hours robbing you of your loved ones. You ask whether or not generation upon generation of guilt, of pain, of hurt, of joy, of laughter, and of love was worth all that trouble all your life.

At least she had lived her life then, and most importantly, at least she had come home.

#paterosari #indonesia #dutch east indies #indo belanda #words

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luckyjak · 5 years

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Why I Don’t Ship Widojest: A Master Post

An anon sent me an ask about this topic, and I debated for quite a bit about how to answer it. Then I decided the best way was to do a long post like this. I put a lot of thought into why I don’t like it, and I thought to share it.

A few things: 1) I am not telling you not to ship it. The goal of this is not to say “Don’t ship Widojest! It is a bad ship and you are a bad person for shipping it!” That is not my goal, okay? The internet and fandom in particular is meant for fun, and if you enjoy Widojest then more power to you! Don’t let me or anyone else stop your fun! Lord knows I have shipped significantly more problematic things. All I ask is that you tag shit more but that’s beside the point.

2) I am not particularly interested in argument. You are not likely to change my mind. I am not trying to be hostile, but if you know reading this is going to piss you off, then don’t read it. A question was asked of me, and so I thought to share my opinion. Unfortunately for everyone involved I am a high school English teacher, and so I cannot think about anything without completely overthinking it.

About my shipping preferences: generally, I like all the ships! I was particularly fond of Widomauk before Molly died, and I now I really enjoy Shadowgast, but I also like Fjorclay, Fjester, Beaujester, Beauyasha, Widofjord, Clayleb, Lavorclay, and, as the only person on earth, Yasha/Caleb. Hell, if Astrid gets a good redemption arc? Caleb/Astrid or even Caleb/Astrid/Edowulf. Any of those ships could become canon and I’d be tickled pink! You can even throw Nott into the mix, even though I mostly ship her with her husband. Nott/Fjord? Delightful. Nott/Caleb? Weird flex but why not? Nott/Jester? Absolutely! They are the best detectives!

I just don’t like Widojest and I don’t want it to be canon, and here’s why:

Doyalist Reasons First:

1) Laura and Liam played twins for years, still act like siblings even though they aren’t related by blood, and it squicks me to think of them together romantically.

Laura and Liam are fantastic actors. If they were hired to play a romantic couple, I have no doubt in my mind they could knock it out of the park.

But why on earth would they want to pretend to be a romantic couple, in a game they both play for fun?

It would be weird. I play D&D with several guys I consider my brothers, and I can’t imagine pretending to romance either of them in d&d for that same reason. It would be weird.

Maybe it wouldn’t be weird for Liam and Laura. Maybe they are more dedicated to their RP, and they’d be able to push that aside for the sake of fictional romance. But for me, that would be the last thing I’d want to play, and I suppose I project that onto Laura/Liam.

2) A lot of “evidence” for the ship is the way Liam looks at Laura.

To which I say...did you watch Vox Machina?

That’s how Liam looks at Laura all the time. He’s the president of her fanclub. He’s her twinsie. He always looks at her with hearteyes. I have a hard time seeing that as “evidence” for him having feelings for her when...that’s just what his face looks like.

Now, for Watsion reasons:

3) It has all the benefits for Caleb, and none for Jester

Seriously. What does Jester get out of a relationship with Caleb?

Don’t say someone who understands her, because Caleb certainly doesn’t. In fact, the only person who routinely “gets” Jester is Beau. (see: their conversation on the ship.)

Lots of people accuse Widojest as being a Manic Pixie Dream Girl ship because...let’s be realistic, it has all the makings of one. Tortured, broody man meets young, innocent girl who teaches him to enjoy life once again? Wikipedia’s definition is “[girl with] eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish. They invariably serve as the romantic interest for a (most often brooding or depressed) male protagonist.” Guys, that is textbook Manic Pixie Dream Girl! It gets even worse because Jester’s character is a healer! You want her to heal him? That is squicky!

And yeah, I trust Liam and Laura to be more nuanced than that, but do you know who I absolutely do not trust to be more nuanced?

The fandom. The fandom that is already producing mass amounts of Manic Pixie Dream Girl fanfic. And as that’s where I spend a lot of my free time...egads. I do not want that.

The few Widojest fics I have read (which, admittedly, are not a lot, because again, I don’t like the ship. The few I have read have been tagged as gen and then come to find out, weren’t.) have the distinct problem of woobie-fying Caleb so that Jester can take care of him, and gosh, I do not want that to become a trend.

4) Age Gap

Yes, thirteen years is not that major of an age gap. Yes, Fjord/Jester also have a large age gap.

However, there is a world of difference between “20 year old girl displays romantic interest in a 30 year old man, who decides he likes her back after getting to know her for months” vs “33 year old man decides to pursue a 20 year old woman after they danced one time when he was drunk and held hands and she showed general concern for his well-being.” One is decidedly more creepy.

(And would Jester be the one to pursue a relationship with Caleb? I almost think she’d have to, but again, why would Jester ever pursue Caleb when Fjord/Beau are right there.)

(Also, side note that I thought about making it’s own point but then decided it was petty: if Jester’s type is Fjord--tall, broad-shouldered, dark haired, muscled, then Caleb--skinny, red-head, shorter than Fjord--decidedly isn’t her type.

You know who is tall, dark, and handsome though? Beau.)

And do not say Jester is mature for her age, because she absolutely isn’t! In fact, the whole point of her character is that she’s not mature, she’s very immature and childish on account of her being locked away and being incredibly sheltered most of her life!

Also not a good excuse: Caleb spent 11 years in the asylum and therefore he’s only mentally in his 20s. Uh, no he’s not. He was in an asylum: he was not brain dead. He lived those years. He might’ve been crazy, but he was alive then. Nothing Liam’s done suggests that Caleb is mentally in his 20′s.

5) What would they even talk about?

This is probably actually the one that bothers me the most out of all these reasons, but uh....what would Caleb and Jester talk about, if they were in a relationship together?

Seriously.

They could talk about books? But Jester only ever reads terrible romance and smut. We saw when she tried to pay attention to the dunamancy lessons that she struggles to be interested in that academic stuff that is Caleb’s bread and butter. They could talk about their childhoods? That will go over well. Jester was locked away from society and Caleb straight up murdered his beloved parents. If they manage to avoid that, I’m sure they could fight again over income, what with Jester being a rich kid and Caleb being a poor farm boy. Pranking? Caleb enjoys a good prank now and again, but I can only imagine he’d tolerate getting banned from so many libraries.

They are a cat and a dog, literally. Caleb is an introvert and his idea of a good time is a quiet night at home with a good book. Jester’s idea of a good time is a party with lots of people! Yet I’m supposed to believe they’d have a happy and fulfilling relationship? Don’t get me wrong, many introverts and extroverts do get married in real life, but like...I have a hard time seeing this one working out. How many dicks do you think Jester draws in his spellbooks--which are expensive and time-consuming and require precise work--before that becomes a point of contention?

6) He doesn’t trust her enough to tell her his secrets

Hey quick poll! Who in the Mighty Nein doesn’t know that Caleb murdered his parents?

Fjord. Caduceus. And look, Jester.

I have a hard time buying that he sees her romantically when he can’t even tell her one of the biggest things about him. And he’s known her for months at this point.

If I liked a guy, and I found out he had this big secret, and he had told Beau but not me this secret? I would think he didn’t trust me.

I suppose you could argue that he’s trying to protect her. But then that just goes back into the whole “he doesn’t trust her” argument. He even had the opportunity to and he didn’t during their whole hand-holding thing a few episodes ago!

7) What does their ending look like?

Listen, my ideal ending for Caleb at the moment is “maybe after ten years of friendship he lets Essek tenderly hold his hand for just a moment but no longer” but that’s just me. I see a lot of people who seem to think Caleb’s going to settle down and marry Jester and they are going to have kids, and I just--

Caleb? Having children? Caleb, who murdered his parents and has severe PTSD surrounding that? Caleb, who was abused by his mentor daily for many years? You want to give that Caleb children??? Children who he would constantly worry may grow up to kill him, like he did his own parents, or worse, that he’d do something to accidentally hurt them in a fit of madness?

I could see Caleb maybe adopting a kid if one was forced onto him, but I cannot see him going “ah yes we should procreate!”

Jester, meanwhile, needs like approximately fifteen kids ten years from now, I think. She’d love them. She’d just adopt an orphanage and let the kids run wild and be the best at playing games with them.

Also, character arcs are important. Because Caleb’s ideal ending is stability and Jester’s is exploration.

Caleb, traumatized child soldier who has spent the past 15 years in an asylum and also fighting for his life, and before that spent time traveling between the Zemni Fields, Ikithon’s home in the country, and the Empire’s Capitol, who then escaped the asylum and spent all of his time running, trying to avoid being caught by Ikithon. The best ending for Caleb is to find peace; peace that involves not having to move around anymore, and having a home again, something he hasn’t had in almost twenty years. Maybe that home is a tower in Nicodranas. Maybe it’s a house in Xhoras with six other people. Maybe it’s a quiet bookstore in Zadash, or a little cabin in the Zemni Fields. A garden/graveyard in the woods. Either way, it doesn’t involve a lot of travel from place to place.

Meanwhile, Jester, who was trapped in exactly one place for her entire life, deserves a chance to explore the world. Even when the Mighty Nein disband, I can’t see Jester being happy to just go back to Nicodranas and stay there for the rest of her life. She may settle down eventually, but uhhh, not for several decades, I don’t think. Part of why my two big ships for her are Fjord and Beau: Fjord wants to be a sailor again, I think, which involves travelling the world, so I could see Jester going out with him. Beau, likewise, is an Expositor whose job is to seek out corruption, which again, means travelling, which Jester would be happy to do with her. Hell, the three of them could go together, sailing and punching evil for all of time! It would be great!

(Also: her god is called the TRAVELER why would you want her to settle down and be a mom??? What part of her story makes you think she needs to stay in one place?)

Lastly

I apologize if this post offends anyone. I’ve just been thinking about it for a while, and while Widojest as a ship has surged in popularity, I suppose I wanted to make a counterpoint about my feelings towards the ship. This isn’t meant as an attack on anyone, again, and please, if you like the ship then don’t look at this as a reason to stop liking it! Fandom is for fun! Keep liking what you like!

And I can’t promise I’m always going to feel this way about the ship--hell, the VOD of Thursday’s episode may come out on Monday, and I may watch it and be converted myself. Who knows! I didn’t like Vax/Keyleth at first either, but it grew on me and now it’s one of my favorites from Vox Machina.

(ALTHOUGH Mr. O’brien I swear to God if you romance Jester while flirting with Essek in a direct parallel to Keyleth/Vax/Gilmore I’m going to fly to LA just to punch you.)

Part of me wonders too if it just comes down to character interpretation, if there is something about their characters that is clicking for some people but isn’t for me. Admittedly, I love Caleb and Jester’s friendship, and I see them more as growing like siblings that romantically, but I’ve been wrong before and who knows, I may be wrong again. But if it is a character interpretation, I just wonder what they are seeing about the characters that squicks me but appeals to them.

#critical role #cr discourse #anti-ship #anti-w*dojest

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aki-draws-things · 3 years

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NaNoWriMo 2020 #11

I’m not sure this is the best i could write, it probably isn’t but the day hadn’t been merciful on me, at all, and by the end I probably let more emotion slip through and I’m not sure I managed them right as i wanted or I just wrote myself.

This part anyway is not like the previous ones, there’s not going to be a happy ending there. sorry... I hope you’ll like it anyway ~

Day: 11/11/2020

Prompt: Emergency room

Ship: Mingjue/Zonghui

Word Count: 1820

Differently from mingjue, zonghui always picked his calls after the first ring, just the time to look at the caller, only exception were unknown numbers, he tried to think if it could be someone he knew and was calling from a different number or some annoying seller, two or three rings in that case. Most people would give up sooner and try to call again later. That number that night was insistent. It was a public one, calling from their town, a house number or something. Maybe it was mingjue who had left his phone at home or it was out of battery and he was calling to tell him he arrived and ready to pick up his drunk brother. He thought he had saved huaisang's friends number too, perhaps not the house one.

"'ello?" he yawned as answering, not bothering to check the hour. He had probably fallen back asleep after mingjue left, it couldn't be passed too long anyway, Wei wuxian' s house was about 5 km away from them, and no one was around at that hour of the night.

"zonghui."

"... You're not mingjue."

He was a little more awake. He picked up very much convinced it was his husband calling, who else would do it? Most people he knew were sleeping at that hour, his brother was either sleeping or at work, he didn't remember his shift that week. - hell, he hardly remember his own shift at that hour. - he also knew the voice who called, she just needed a nam--

"Wen-jie?" At that point zonghui found himself even more awake. He knew Wen Qing for two reasons. Her little brother was one of huaisang's friends, how was a still running mystery since Wen Ning was the most shy boy they ever met and huaisang's usual company was very outgoing and loud. And Zhuliu lived in the Wen household for more years than he could remember, he knew wen Qing well and even outside the house he saw her at work. After the Zhao brothers finally found each other again most of the Nies got used to calling her sister too, it just fit her like a glove, just like most people always called mingjue Da-ge.

"Wen-jie, what happened?"

ZongHui was not just awake, he was already out of bed and searching for a sweatshirt to throw on, not bothering to change pants. He always reacted like that whenever she called, even more if it was in the middle of the night. Why else would a doctor of the central hospital call if something didn't happen?

"your husband - too polite, too distant to be good. Zonghui put the phone between the ear and the shoulder and tied the hair. - had a car accident."

No.

He grabbed the phone before it fell and remained silent a moment longer.

"he's being transferred here as we speak."

"is -- is it bad?"

"I don't know yet." yes, zonghui. Yes, it's bad. It's really bad. Bad enough for Zhuliu to speed through a couple of red lights with the sirens on. Which he, of course, can, but-- "you should come. I'll let you know when I know more."

She closed the call and watched as an ambulance stopped in front of the doors, she briefly caught the driver's eyes and her heart dropped. You should never show up on a scene only to find out the victim of the worst car accident of your shift was your brother in law.

She stepped on the side as they pushed a gurney inside and tried to assess the situation with a look; well, it was enough, she worked at the hospital long enough to know when things were bad. She knew when things were hopeless too.

Zhuliu tumbled down the ambulance slowly, ungraceful, face white as he stopped with both hands on the vehicle and breathed in. And out. And in.

Wen Qing walked closer, even if she wanted to help there were already enough people dealing with mingjue, he was, she knew, in good hands, in the best hands they had that night.

And out. And in. And out.

"zhuliu." she called, her hand close to his arm but without touching him, she knew better than touch him before he noticed her presence and he didn't seem to have noticed her. Or anything beside the ambulance.

In and out. Long out and in again.

"Zhao zhuliu." she tried again, his face remained blank and pale, his breath itched. "Zhu'er." sweet, kind, concerned. Then he turned even more pale, his legs gave out and he slumped on the ground, her arms barely managing to hold him.

"zhuliu. Zhu'er! Listen to me, okay? Easy… Easy, breath. You're doing just fine, just keep doing it and don't make me have to call for another gurney because we have a fainted driver, okay? Can you do that? For me? For your brother who's coming here?"

He nodded, still disconnected, still mostly unaware of his surroundings. He didn't want to faint anyway, it would be pointless, useless. He would be of no help.

Well, he wasn't of any help already anyway. He almost threw up when he got on the scene, not because of the blood, he was damn well used to the blood and the most gruesome scenes, no, it was the person covered in blood, with a metal shard sticking out of his left side, pointed slightly upward, blissfully unconscious. Dead. Yes, he almost did it. He had to look away, sent the fastest text to wen Qing, full of typos and missing words. "cae cident. Uts MingJue" at least the name was correct, she would guess the rest.

"zhuliu!" she shook him forcing him to blink and get the world back into focus, still on the floor of the parking beside the ambulance.

"Didi. Need to call didi…." he touched his pocket, then the other, slightly panicked when he couldn't find the phone before remembering he threw it on the empty passenger seat.

"called him already. Zhuliu, you need to calm down, just… I'll take you home, okay? We’ll call the shift over for you, you're definitely not in condition for driving. You’re in no condition for anything actually."

He nodded mechanically letting her help him back on his feet just as Zonghui's car entered the parking lot.

When he stopped the car the silence was stretching between him and Huaisang. There was a little voice in his mind who tried to make him blame Huaisang. If only he stayed home like MingJue asked, if he never called to be taken home. It was stupid, and ZongHui shut the voice almost immediately as he stepped out of the car.

“Go change, I’ll take care of them.” Wen Qing said and pushed Zhuliu toward a side entrance, he didn’t look entirely stable on his feet but managed to reach the door and disappear inside.

“What— What happened?” HuaiSang swallowed, his lips trembled like he was going to cry at any given moment, and he looked like he had just stopped. Qing took a deep breath.

“All I know is that there had been a car accident. Someone slammed in the driver’s side and MingJue went out of the road.”

“How’s…” ZongHui's voice was unnaturally small, soft, chocked.

“I don’t know yet. Let’s get inside first.”

She had to brace herself to stay calm, professional, detached. It wasn’t easy when the person that just got there was someone she knew well.

“There are some papers to fill. - She said placing them and a pen on the small table beside the seats they were occupying. - the usual things, personal informations, allergies.” ZongHui nodded but didn’t make a movement to take the pen, he stared at his own hands in silence, like his hands now held all the answers he needed. There was no answer in them, there were only more questions.

“Can we see Da-ge?” Huaisang sounded suddenly young, lost, tears were falling silently, his mind replaying the moment before he stepped outside to go the the party, the last moment he saw MingJue that night, the moment when he thought they had all the time in the world to make up for every single word they said. All their time now was gone and he never apologized. “I want to see Da-ge…”

“Not yet.” Was always her answer.

There were words in the background that ZongHui only caught in bits and pieces. Stabilize. Surgery. Organ damage. He stared at the birthday date for five minutes, suddenly forgetting the right day.

There were more words that Wen Qing whispered in a strained voice while Huaisang was finally asleep occupying two chairs and his head on ZongHui's legs. Ready. Worst.

He felt cold. He felt… nothing.

He thought of death before, he knew MingJue's family history, he knew how HuaiSang's mother died for birth complications, how MingJue's father condition got worse and worse, degenerative, until hallucinations and paranoia led him to grab a kitchen knife and slash MingJue's mother open before killing himself. How MingJue was the one finding them getting home from school, how afraid he was to have inherited it. They talked about death in the past, but none of those talks ever prepared him for that. In the moment he found himself facing the potential death of the man he loved ever since he was a teen, the man he married, the man who proposed him to adopt the little girl from the orphanage who always came crashing against his legs when he showed up, in that moment ZongHui felt empty.

And in that emptiness he felt everything at once. The pain, to sorrow, the guilt for letting him go on his own, the rage for the person who crashed against him and probably left. The emptiness was cold, like ice cubes swallowed one after the other, sitting in the middle of his chest uncomfortably, waiting to melt and disappear like everything else. Burning in their cold, freezing his blood and his mind and his breath.

There was no peace in the emptiness for peace now laid on a bed with a tube down his throat, with the soft beep of a machine next to him, with his hand held carefully in huaisang ones, cold and motionless as the younger nie cried and begged him to wake up and how sorry he was, for everything he said.

Nie ZongHui felt empty and cold and alone.

“Da-ge?”

The picture before his eyes blurred through the tears, Huaisang was thrown against him, they were poshed out of the room ignoring the desperate cries of Huaisang. The world blurred and hot tears seemed to scorch his skin, seep inside of him and melt the ice.

Emptiness disappeared, dissolved in smoke as coldness left his chest in favor of a burning feeling. The world crashed on him and ZongHui fell on his knees.

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pocket-luv101 · 4 years

Text

Happiness || Chapter 7

Fandom: Servamp Characters: Mahiru, Kuro, Licht, Hyde Pairings: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side)

Summary: Mahiru found a baby in front of his orphanage and he thought that it belonged to Kuro. But the infant could be the key to finding his lost mother. {Historical Romance// Family AU}

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || Ch.6 || (Ch.7) ||

“Look here, Machi.” Mahiru shook a rattle in front of the toddler. She laughed and reached forward to take the toy in her tiny hands. Machi leaned forward a little too much and she almost flopped onto the ground. He caught her before she could hit her head on the ground and helped her sit up. He placed the rattle in front of her and she cheered.

“She has the balance of a baby deer and I keep worrying that she’ll fall on her face or something.” Kuro commented as he watched Machi play with the rattle. He had to wonder if she knew that they were referring to her since she pointed her rattle at him. He couldn’t understand her babbles but Mahiru seemed to be able to. Mahiru helped her move closer to Kuro. She pushed herself up but she merely swayed back and forth as if she was about to crawl forward.

“I wonder when she’ll start to crawl.” Kuro said. “Our father kept me separated from my siblings so I don’t have many memories from when we were this young. He thought we all needed to focus on our role in the family. I’m the oldest so he expected me to take the title of duke. If only he was alive to see me here instead of our country house.”

“That’s the role he wanted for you but you’re a better brother than a duke. You are close with Lily and Hyde respects you.” Mahiru knew that family was important to Kuro. He had told him about his past when they were together. “Machi will learn things at her own pace. I don’t know what kind of environment she lived in before but she’s thriving in your home.”

Kuro was certain that Machi’s smile was caused by Mahiru’s influence more than the house. He had the unique ability to bring out people’s best. He watched him lift Machi and lightly bounced her in his arms. The small gesture made her laugh and she clapped her tiny hands. She looked around and waved towards a pile of books. “Machi is a curious cat, isn’t she?”

“She’ll cause a lot of trouble when she starts to crawl. I don’t know if I can handle that.” Kuro said and chuckled lightly. He took a book and opened it in front of her even though she couldn’t read it. She struggled to turn the pages and crumbled the paper in her hand. “We should get her some children books. They might help her sleep at night.”

“I’ll be here to help you, Kuro.” Mahiru smiled at him. “You’re a night owl and I’m a morning person so we can split up taking care of Machi well. How about you read to her at night and I’ll cook breakfast.”

Kuro recalled the mornings they would share when they were lovers. He would wake to hear Mahiru humming softly as he cooked breakfast for them. After they broke up, he missed those simple mornings. It felt right to have Mahiru fill his days again but he reminded himself that he couldn’t forget the reason he left. Life with him would be difficult for Mahiru and he deserved better.

A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. They weren’t expecting Hyde to return until the afternoon since he offered to help the orphanage. Kuro wondered if one of his siblings had decided to visit like Hyde had. His butler went to answer the door and Kuro stood to greet the visitor. He didn’t recognize the woman the butler escorted into the room though.

“My, you have grown so big, Ash! Where is your brother, Lawless? He wrote me a letter but he isn’t here. I thought I taught him better manners than to leave his elders waiting.” She said and patted his head. Her eyes fell onto Mahiru and asked, “Are you going to introduce your nanny to your friend here?”

“Reika?” Kuro hadn’t seen the woman since he was a child so he didn’t recognize her immediately. They sat on the couch and he told Mahiru: “This is Reika. She was my siblings’ nanny and she helped raised us after our mother disappeared. Reika, this is Mahiru Shirota. He’s my lov— my friend. Mahiru is helping me with a few things.”

“And what about this tiny girl? I don’t remember raising this little one but she must be a Servamp. She has red eyes.” Reika said and pinched Machi’s cheek. While she wasn’t hurt, she began to cry and turned to Mahiru. He started to comfort her but then Reika took her from him. She cooed down at Machi. “Don’t cry.”

Machi only sobbed louder and Mahiru attempted to take her back. The woman turned away from him and he bit his lip in frustration. He didn’t want to yell at her but he could see that the stranger was making Machi more uncomfortable and scared. He was also worried he would accidentally hurt Machi if he took her back by force. Mahiru was glad when Kuro spoke up.

“Can you hand her back to Mahiru? Machi isn’t good with strangers.” Kuro nodded towards Mahiru who held out his arms for Machi. Reika appeared reluctant but she placed Machi in his arms. Her tears slowed to a stop as he rubbed her back and comforted her. Machi rubbed her eyes against his shoulder a few times and then Mahiru gently wiped away her tears.

“It was my job to care for the Servamps for ten years so I simply jumped to work when she started to cry. I think of them as my own children. I didn’t mean to scare you, Little One. Did you say her name was Machi?” She asked. Mahiru nodded instead of answering her because he was focused on Machi. He softly sang to her and she began to mumble along with him.

He looked back to the woman when she said, “I don’t know of the Shirota household.”

“I’m not from a noble family. I help run the orphanage where Kuro decided to adopt Machi. Kuro is great with the kids at the orphanage but he never raised a child before. I offered to help him with Machi. Kids need a warm home so I’m glad Machi found one with Kuro.” He told her. While the woman worked for the family, he wasn’t certain if he should tell her everything about Machi and Kuro’s mother.

“Oh?” Reika’s tone became dismissive. “Kuro, shouldn’t you be more selective when you hire the help? You must be more careful with who you let into your house because of your family’s name. People will question why you let a common man care for your daughter, even if she is adopted.”

“Reika, that’s enough.” He stopped her before her words could offend Mahiru further. From the way Mahiru turned his face away from them, he knew that she had already hurt him. Kuro’s anger rose slightly and he instinctively felt protective of him. At the same time, he felt guilty that his title had led to him being judged. He had left Mahiru to protect him but he was still hurt in the end.

Kuro placed his hand on Mahiru’s shoulder and said, “Mahiru works with kids and he’s a great man. You’ve already seen how comfortable Machi is with him. I would like to know why you came today, Reika. Hyde told us that he sent letters to our former staff but he didn’t say anything about you would be visiting us. Is there something you needed to tell us in person?”

“Hyde asked about your mother. He wrote that he would prefer us to reply in a letter but I knew I had to come down. When your mother disappeared, he was the most determined to find her again. I thought he gave up since he stopped speaking with us on the matter. Something must’ve happened for him to make him resume his search. Now that I’m here, I can see why.”

Her eyes moved from Mahiru to the child in his arms. He thought that she had realized that Machi was connected to their mother and he stiffened. Mahiru placed his hand on her hair protectively. Reika made a sad smile and said, “You want your adoptive daughter to know her grandmother. I will tell you where your mother is.”

“You know what happened to Mother? You didn’t tell Hyde when he asked a decade ago or during the police’s investigation.” Kuro’s eyes widened. It was rare for him to raise his voice but, as he thought of the years that he spent mourning his mother, he couldn’t stop himself. The anger he held faded once Mahiru placed his hand on his shoulder. Machi mimicked Mahiru and patted Kuro’s arm.

Reika sat down on the couch and sighed. “Your mother was the one who commanded I keep that night a secret. Now that you’re all adults, I think I can tell you. As you know, your mother and father married for political reasons. That is quite normal considering their family name. But… Your mother fell in love with another lord. She ran away with him to France.”

“She left us?” He couldn’t hide his doubt from his voice. “Mother wouldn’t have left her eight children and make them think she was dead.”

“You called her your mother but she wasn’t the one who raised you. I was.” Reika stood and walked to Kuro. She tried to embrace her but he stepped away from him her. She frowned and added: “I lost contact with your mother after she moved to France so I can’t prove she’s there. But it’s the truth. Kuro, you must be disappointed but you need to be strong for your family. That’s your role as heir.”

“Excuse me,” Mahiru spoke over her. He stepped between them with his back turned to the woman so he could focus on Kuro. Tenderly, he stroked his cheek and then he held out Machi to him. Kuro didn’t say a word but he held the baby when he passed her to him. Mahiru faced Reika again and said, “It’s time for Machi’s nap. Kuro is the only one who can make her put her to sleep. I’ll show you out, Reika.”

“I was hoping I could stay a little longer since it has been so long since we’ve last talked.” She said but she let Mahiru lead her to the door. On the steps, Reika turned back to him. “Hyde’s letter surprised me but the fact that Kuro adopted a child is more shocking. I raised him and I never imagined him as the type to want a family.”

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you like to think. From my time with Kuro, I can tell you that his siblings and family has always been important to him.” He didn’t hide the edge in his voice. Mahiru thought of how callous she was as she told Kuro about his mother. He took a deep breath to calm himself. “If you learn more about where Kuro’s mother, please come back and tell us. You should apologize to Kuro for disrespecting his mother as well.”

“You’re bold for someone without a title to his name.” She had a slight smile as she said the words. “Kuro hired you to help take care of his new daughter and I hope you understand your position.”

“The only thing I want is to help Kuro and Machi.” Mahiru told her and closed the door. For a moment, he leaned against the wood and let out a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes and tried to gather his composure after the conversation they had with Reika. He heard Kuro’s voice from the next room where he was singing to Machi. The meeting must’ve been more difficult for Kuro.

He walked to the living room and paused in the doorway. Kuro cradled Machi in his arms and she was sleeping soundly. The quaint sight warmed his heart but, even from a distance, he could see the conflicting emotions in his eyes. Mahiru walked forward and stood in front of him. He whispered, “Are you okay, Kuro? I’ll put Machi in her crib and we can talk.”

“I was hoping to get more answers but not I’m not sure if I should’ve. I don’t know how Hyde will react to this news.” Kuro glanced at the clock and dreaded the time when his brother would return. He wasn’t the best with words.

“At least he’ll hear it from you and you’ll take his feelings into account when you tell him. That means a lot.” Mahiru was more confident in him than Kuro himself. He smiled to reassure him and then stepped closer. Kuro felt his heart squeeze from how close he was. He merely slipped Machi from his arms and he took her to a baby swing.

Kuro felt a little disappointed when he stepped away but he reminded himself that he couldn’t let his feelings for Mahiru resurface. Mahiru walked back to him and sat on the couch. After Kuro sat down, he said: “Your family’s nanny said your mother went to France with her lover. How did Machi find her way to our small village if what she says is true? Someone brought her here and they’ll know more.”

“Hyde and Licht said a man tried to take Machi the previous day. He might be the father.” Kuro said but he couldn’t fully absorb the fact that his mother left his family willingly. “Reika claimed she left with a lord. I can’t recall news of a lord disappearing around the same time as my mother though. Then again, there were so many rumours that it was hard to keep up with all of them.”

“We can talk to Hyde and Lily about who the lord could possibly be. They might know more.” Mahiru offered the reassurance. He placed his hand on his leg and looked up at him. “Reika might’ve been mistaken when she told you why your mother left. You know your mother and she’s caring. Maybe she had a good reason for leaving.”

“I don’t want Machi to grow up wondering like I had to.”

#servamp #kuromahi #sloth pair #servamp kuro #mahiru shirota #fanfiction

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just-my-fandom · 5 years

Note

do u think u can write a piece with nat where f!reader is a writer & she's at a cafe late one night and nat happens to be there with the other avengers and she's like "ur really pretty, can i use u as the model for my main character?" and the boys all think it's about them and are arguing and being smug until r gives nat her number right before leaving? ty!!

This one was changed a bit :/

___________________________________________

Its the red hair. That firey, god damn red hair is what you first notice of her. She's sitting with a group of men, all chatting away and leaving her to eat her salty fries alone,

You cant seem to look away. Getting every chance you can to scan her face to realize it matches the exact description of your stories character, (Girl/Name)

Your coffee becomes cold, because you want, need to talk to this woman and ask if she can be used for your books video, but the men around her stop you because, what if shes married to one of them?

Your chest tightens when the question hits your mind because its when you finally realize, you like this stranger and you don't even know her name,

It takes you mere fifteen minutes to boost enough confidence to even stand up, looking around because you know you look absolutely strange just standing there without a purpose, and you pick up your book, walking up to the table,

"U-um, excuse me?" The group looks up at the voice, your figure coming to their view. You wore a plain sundress, given it was nearly ninety degrees, and your hair pinned back gave them a great look of your face

"Im sorry," You say quickly, holding up your journal, "I-Im writing a book, and Im in need of a character outlook of my story and I was wondering if you could model for them. It's just, you have the perfect look for one of my characters and I need models for a video on the book," Your eyes meet the woman's, and she senses your worry in rejection, smiling,

"Of course. When do you want to meet up?" She asks calmly, your shoulders dropping in exhaustion before jumping at one mans laugh,

"Its obvious shes talking to me, Natasha," The man lifts his sunglasses, and you notice him as Tony Stark, billionare playboy, "Want my number so we can figure out a place and time?"

"Oh," You quickly look at the girl, Natasha, and see her glaring at the man for startling you,

"Shes not talking to you, asshat," She stands up, gesturing away from the table,

"Well then," Tony scoffs, Steve rolling his eyes and watching Natasha sit next to you at your booth,

"Does he always act like that?" You ask quietly, Natasha smiling as you fiddle with your book and nods,

"So whos this character you need me to model for?" She asks gently, and you quickly look down, opening your book to the characters descriptions,

"Her names (Girl/Name), she was raised by her older brother, who had died when she turned seventeen, and she went into an orphanage. People called her cherry because of her red hair, but even with a rough life shes become a tough young woman set out to live on her own and im talking to much," You lean back into your seat, hands at your face,

"No no," Natasha laughs, taking your hand off your face and squeezing, "It sounds like a great story. Whats your name?"

"Oh, shoot, sorry," You shake the hand she was already holding, face red, "Im Y/N, im a writer here in New York, just starting so Im not familiar with walking up to strangers saying, 'hey can I use you as a model?'"

"You're cute," Natasha grins, and pulls out a slip of paper, "Heres my number, Y/N. Call me whenever you're ready and we can meet up back here then to your place,"

"Great," You breathe, smiling, "Thank you,"

"Anytime," Natasha smiles back, "And maybe if the whole modeling thing goes well do you maybe want to get coffee sometime?"

"Yeah!" You tuck her number into her book, "That sounds great,"

Natasha nods, waving, and you wave back before she turns to walk back to her group, and you catch Tony point a finger at her, Natasha smacking the hand down,

You release a heavy breath, sliding out of your booth and rushing to the door of the cafe, missing the warm smile Natasha sent to your back

#natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #peter parker x stark reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker x sister reader #peter parker x reader #peter parker #tony stark smut #tony stark imagine #tony stark x reader #tony stark #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers

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blueyesandleatherjacket · 4 years

Text

The Fallen, 16/17

Volume: 1.

Number of parts: 16/17.

Pairings: Nine x Rose.

A/N: Tagging @thebookster on her demand.

“We've all fallen, but at the same time we're not broken. There is the hint that we are going to get up again.” - Amy Lee.

CHAPTER 16:

The doctor Nash Grieve hadn’t disappeared. She was still working under Jeremy Backfire’s orders or, should she say, threats, in his mental hospital that was now qualified as the cheapest and worst institution of London and of Great-Britain. However, it was of no importance to the man. The upper part, the public part of the hospital was ruled by one of his trustworthy friends. It was done properly enough to avoid any kind of suspicions that would lead to an in-depth investigation. That would be really problematic. There were things that couldn’t be found underneath the surface. Under the hospital, there was a prison for supernatural beings, a prison built in guts of Earth, buried so deeply for the screams and begs to neve reach the world; a prison but also a laboratory to run experiences on those beings who weren’t considered as beings and were refused all rights. No one knew they were there; no one would ever know they were here. The only one to have escaped was Maxence Spitz. Jeremy Backfire had been furious to find out that his son was gone, even ore when he found out that Maxence was back to his mother and was, consequently, protected. Joanne Spitz was his ex-wife, the woman he had had Maxence with and also the only person on Earth he feared. He would admit such a thing since he was the perfect example of the macho man, all in masculinity and thick mind on certain subjects, but contrarily to most macho men, he was clever enough not to hate on woman. He secretly feared them. Well, only their name was Joanne Spitz. That was why he had never tried to get his hands on Maxence since he was back home despite his burning desire to force him to reveal the Doctor and the Wolf’s secrets. He was fairly certain that Maxence had been helped for his escape. His suspicions were on Nash. She had been the first one to talk to him when he was brought to that hospital. A relationship of trust was born that day, and nothing of what she had done to him on his orders had broken it for some reasons. Jeremy had interviewed her in his office but could get nothing from her. He had taken her in the coloured rooms. He tortured her in every one of them like she had tortured Maxence, still under his orders. He even tortured her dear friend Maya but couldn’t get a word from her. He proved her mind, and was left clueless. The woman who knew everyone and everything about the place couldn’t tell how Maxence had escaped. The Wolf probably managed to get out of here on its own, the human wasn’t clever enough for that. Human were despicable in every single aspect: they were fragile and fell to pieces with the light push of the wind in their back; they were vulnerable to the tiniest of germs that could kill them in a couple of hours; they were limited and powerless, stuck in a weak corporeal shell, unable to use their brain cells to their full capacities. Jeremy had been one of those humans since his birth and had always been frustrated by this condition. Of course this revelation hadn’t hit him before he was a man in his late twenties, about to enter his thirties. It was after Joanne had kicked him out of his house in Manchester. He had moved to London where repeated and unexplained attacks had pushed him to do his own inquiry and soon he found himself obsessing over his need to meet an alien properly. Despite their obvious presence everywhere he was unable to find one. His first encounter with an alien had happened three years ago. At that time, he was well established in London as headmaster of one of the numerous jails of the country, one where all the worst psychotic criminals were locked away. He had rebuilt his life with another woman, was fostering kids. It was hiding the darkness growing in him ever since the birth of his first son but this violence and darkness had taken an unexpected turn when his wife brought a fifteen-year-old teenager from the orphanage she was picking all of her lost causes in. The girl was shy, easily intimidated and had issues being comfortable around anyone. She also had a tattoo – that she called a birth mark she had had since forever – he had seen a couple times before in his researches: she was a hidden shapeshifter. She ignored everything of her true nature, was living as a human, was weak, gullible, easy to manipulate. He had intimidated her, had murmured in her ear at night, made her fall under his complete control. He was human still at that moment but he could feel her fear. He could smell it on her, on her clothes reeked of her sweat, on her skin when his lips brushed over her body, in her words and in her body language when he was around her. He had become obsessed with her, with her body, with her scent… And the idea of her genes had been driving him insane. He literally had had alien material by hand and couldn’t use it, couldn’t do anything of it. He had lost his ability to sleep, spent his night watching her sleeping. Until he couldn’t just sit and stare. He had begun touching her, stroking her skin with the back of his fingers, dropping kisses along her jaw and neckline. She had tried to fight him, tried to defend herself but what could a teenager do against an adult? Who could she talk to? She had nothing and no one to turn to, no one who would believe her. He would have turned everyone against her if she even had tried. He had her in his total control and she was powerless when he had murmured that it was all her fault and had taken her most precious belonging. He had sent her back to the orphanage she was coming from a couple days later, accusing her of being a troublemaker, just before Christmas. A few weeks later, he had found out that she was pregnant, which could have been good news – it meant he would have upgraded the Backfire lineage – if he hadn’t been told that when she had a miscarriage and lost the baby. He had influenced her doctors with enough money for them to give him the dead foetus and also to make sure the young woman would never be able to procreate ever again. If she couldn’t carry his children, she would carry none. It was also another successful attempt to intimidate her so she wouldn’t say a word about what he had done to her. She hadn’t talked, had kept silent when she was interrogated about the incident. She had been suspected to have had sex with another teenager from the orphanage or someone from the outside. It was perfect for him. No one knew about his past – Joanne and Maxence had never talked or filed a complaint, kicking him out was apparently enough – and his reputation was intact. Later, he was promoted headmaster of this mental institute in Peckham that was threatening to close its doors since no one could handle the patients that were locked away in there. He had accepted for the place was presenting all the advantages he had been looking for to continue his researches. The basement contained the remains of the past when torture on the patients was allowed, before it was declared illegal and abandoned there. Perfect. He had drawn new plans for the place, had them done quickly and secretly and soon the basement was equipped with laboratories and rooms for the most difficult patients as he called them. Patients that would be aliens in captivity, but that was his secret. He couldn’t talk about it to anyone before he found the right persons to work with, meaning he had to operate a total reorganisation of the staff. A staff that appeared to be pretty interesting in the end. Many non-terrestrial creatures were hiding in this building, as patients and medical staff. Among them he found what looked like a family of shapeshifters: Nash Grieve, only qualified therapist here, was the oldest; Maya and Oliver Carson were a married couple; and Alex Baxter was Maya’s young brother. He had made sure the two men would be locked away in the new cells of the basement so the women would work for him without causing troubles. They obviously would ignore what was happening to their friends. There were numerous other races of aliens hidden there. He had only kept the most interesting ones and had turned the others into slaves working for him and obeying his every order – unlike Maya and Nash who had a quite rebellious attitude toward him. Rebellious but not suicidal, they knew where to stop. His experiences were going well, and he was testing some alien genes on the scums of this society, improving these lost causes or leaving them to die in terrible pains and getting rid of the bodies in an incinerator. When the results were pleasing to him, he would put his life on the line and improve himself with new genes. It wasn’t without pain but he never felt so strong and so powerful in his entire life. He was enjoying every bit of advantage the alien genes and technologies had and throwing away the inconveniences. But this power wasn’t enough. He needed more, more of all of this, more of species, more experiences. Nash, Maya and company belonged to a special race of shapeshifters; shifters that had been exposed to experiences before. Their genes had been modified so that they could become immortal, so they could heal and ‘regenerate’. A gene he hadn’t been able to reproduce from her DNA, a gene belonging to a no longer existing race. That was when he found out about the Doctor, a lone survivor of the Time War thar had exterminated all of his species and the Daleks. That’s when he found out his son had become the Doctor and was running around the universe as an elusive chimera, a myth, a legend only a few privileged persons had caught sight of. He had been reported to be around London a lot, then spotted in Manchester and back in London where he was caught babbling deliriously before being brought to Jeremy’s institute. Fate was being good on him that day. The Doctor being a prisoner of his hospital without him even trying to catch him – not that he had had the time to think about a strategy to draw him here – and it turned out he had brought an even powerful entity with him called Bad Wolf. This was more than Jeremy could ever have dreamt of. The wheel had turned, he could get his revenge on both his son and ex-wife, and continue his quest for power. First, he had had to steal the patient from Nash who had made it a point of honour to keep him hidden from him even after finding out how dangerous he was and what was his real identity. The Doctor had protected Maxence well for all the time he was there. So did the Wolf. The duo nicely settled down in the head of a human being going mad from such a power had done their best to screw every research he ever did on him. No bit of data was even usable. They had scrambled and faked everything they could before vanishing into thin air, and what they couldn’t have messed with wasn’t giving convincing results. This was why Jeremy was so furious. Had Maxence been a patient here for a longer time, the results would have been much better. But he hadn’t, and worse than that, he had messed with his father’s mind and created damages that had needed time to heal before Jeremy could come back to work with a rage harder than previously. One way or another, his son would pay for this. He just had to find a weak point. He remembered the Doctor calling a name when he was in an agitated sleep, in an excruciating pain. A name he wouldn’t even have pronounced if his mind had been sane. His mind wasn’t sane. Not anymore. The power hidden inside him was too much to handle for anyone and it was driving him insane to the point of spilling non-sense to anyone foreign to his world. Non-sense that seemed important enough to Nash Grieve who had written it all down. At least, at the beginning of the therapy. She had been quick to destroy the rest of the file as the months passed by. A way to protect her patient from the darkness of her boss, from the darkness of a father who had already hurt his son in the past. He could never get his hands on the rest of the file but the scraps of data he got were enough for him to pursue his researches on the Doctor. He couldn’t reach the new face involved. It would be too dangerous to have him around. Rose. This name was the only lead Jeremy had to draw the attention of the Doctor stuck in his son’s mind. If he managed to find her, to bring her to his hospital – he could find any reason to have her locked away – that would send a strong message to this uncatchable alien that kept slipping between his fingers like water. Rose was a common name in the United Kingdom but there was only one Rose who went missing at the same time as Maxence Spitz. No one had thought that these two disappearances could be linked before him. How could humans have with their tiny little brains? Jeremy needed the Doctor’s brain. Not just bits of it like he had taken over the months. He needed to kill the man and dissect him like an animal to find out all of his secret. He would feel no remorse in killing his own son. Maxence had never meant anything to him. All he had been was a nuisance to his life and projects. Rose Tyler was his best shot for this revenge, and he lost no time in trying to get to her. He didn’t elaborate strategies, didn’t plan anything. He had to be clever and clear and go straight to the point if he wanted work as fast as possible. He went to the Powell Estates in person, introduced himself to Jackie Tyler and before he could say anything else, he was kicked out with names and fury. Apparently, the woman mistook him for his son who was his spitting image and thought he should go to hell before even thinking of coming back around her daughter. This attempt was a failure but it confirmed Jeremy’s thoughts that Rose Tyler was the person they had been looking for all along. She had been traveling with the Doctor and he had left her behind when he changed. Perfect. Now, he just had to be patient and build a real plan to make her fall into a deadly trap…

To be continued...

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#doctor who #ninth doctor #rose tyler #doctor x rose #dw fic #the fallen

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the-canary · 6 years

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Return to Sender - B.B (6/10)

Summary: James Buchanan Barnes loves Dolores Lewis. At least, that’s how history makes it out to be. (1940′s!Reader/Bucky Barnes)

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

A/N: welcome to our protagonist's sweet self-destruction.

Please enjoy and feedback is always welcomed.

New York City -- 2010

Samantha learns a lot about herself in the year shortly after her mother’s death. She learns to forgive, she learns how strong Alice was even when everything was going downhill around her, when she was slowly losing her mind and memories to a disease they really couldn’t stop. Sammy also learned that there was a lot of things her mother feared as well -- the past was one of them, as she searched through whatever belongings Alice had left behind. Alice wrote a lot, journals and journals full of them. It was quite the opposite of her own parents, who Samantha had realized had left hardly anything behind when they passed away -- her grandmother more than either one of them. Samantha had only realized this after reading through one of her mother’s journal dating back to sometime when this woman Sammy had never met passed away -- rather young in the 1970’s.

Aside from some jewelry, mother left nothing else behind for dad or the rest of us to remember her by. It makes me wonder if she was ready to leave. Towards the end, she just kept repeating this name over and over again, crying as dad tried to calm her down. I wonder who they could be, how much must she have loved them if she was so haunted by them. But, mom was always a secretive person -- she took those memories to the grave with her.

I can only hope she can find peace now.

Sammy wonders this as well, but besides her older sister --married and with children-- she really has none else to turn to about such questions. And though she doesn’t know why, Samantha keeps rummaging through her mother’s old things, even going as far as to look into the old storage binds her parents had placed in upstate New York. It’s springtime when she finally manages to find her grandmother’s things: a jewelry box, old red lipstick, some letters and books as well. She’s looking through these items when one hidden item drops, green eyes widen at the name written at the center of the envelope.

Sgt. James Buchanan Barnes.

“Ah shit, Jessie’s gonna freak,” she murmurs to herself, thinking about how big of a historical nerd her brother-in-law can be sometimes. She pockets the letter before leaving the storage place, unsure of what to do next, but Sammy had always been the driven one out of Alice’s two children.

Then, Captain America comes back from the dead, and Samantha knew she had to do something about the letter.

“And do you, Darlene take…”

Watching the ceremony in front of you, as the dark-haired beauty smiles at her husband, you come to realize what you have always sort of known -- love is a very fickle thing. It takes a strong sense of commitment to a person and the idea to start a relationship, even stronger to commit to marriage though that could always be exchanged for other things, more convenient things to said person. Glancing at Candice, who had made you come to the wedding of a mutual ‘friend’ from your dancing class days, and the bride, you wonder what exchange had been made so that they could happily be with their chosen ones at their side.

“Don’t you love him too?” Candice asked, curious after the lights had gone out, though you were still struggling to finish your latest letter to James -- trying to finish telling him about your trip with some girls upstate. With every letter sent back, he struggles with trying to bring you back to Brooklyn --to spend the day with you, take you to his favorite places-- but you keep making up excuses even though he had even offer to pay for it. The truth was something else completely.

“I don’t know, Candy,” you give a breathless answer, as she shakes her pretty red curls at your response. She knows you like the back of your hand, she knows your greatest fears and hopes -- and she had honestly thought that this could change how you viewed yourself, she guessed wrong.

“Yeah, you do,” she says in a serious and even tone that makes you look away, “But, you neva gonna be happy if you keep thinking that way.”

“I now pronounce you…”

You glance at the married couple and then to Candice who is happily holding Henry’s hand, as they had become more serious than anyone you had seen your best friend with before. Love was all around you, but your fears (Why did your mother die? Why couldn’t you had been adopted? Why was it always Candice who got the lad?) made your chest burn and ache terribly at the thought of Bucky Barnes falling in love with you, of him falling out it when there was someone more beautiful waiting around the corner. Hadn’t you just been replacement for Dolores? Who knew what he did when he wasn’t writing you lovestruck letters?

You needed James Barnes, but you were sure as hell he didn’t need you. Love wasn’t meant for you, like the nuns always told you back in the orphanage -- you weren't good enough for anyone.

“Here,” Candice murmurs softly, handing you a handkerchief as she grasps your hand tightly. To anyone else, you are just crying at a beautiful wedding taking place, but she knows the truth.

For the very first time in your life, you’re in love and in a fit of fear, you can’t have that.

Dear James,

I regret to inform you that I will be taking some secretarial courses outside of New York for some time. I am uncertain of when I will return, thus I completely understand if you wish to end our correspondence here.

Bucky sits on the letter for a long time. The excitement he had felt in autumn drags into an unfamiliar sinking feeling as he welcomes a new year -- one he had so much planned for. He had been saving up to either get to see his mysterious girl or find a way to bring back her to Brooklyn -- to ask her to be his best girl officially, but then she had sprung this on him, with no way to contact her or when she was coming back. He could keep sending letters, but he wouldn’t know who would be getting them at this point -- something that had gotten him in this predicament in the first place, but he didn’t want anyone else -- he wanted his bubbly, intelligent, if a bit sarcastic and jaded Peaches.

The question was whether she would want him back, but he could deal with that as it came, consequences be damned. He would do whatever to make her smile, to see her laugh and dance the night away with her again.

Bucky Barnes was in love, and he would try his darnedest to have her look his way.

He’s prepared for anything when he checks the mail for that day, hoping for some kind of letter even though it has been weeks since the last time she sent one. However, he gets a different notice instead with the U.S Army logo on it.

Draft No. 32557038.

James Buchanan Barnes has been drafted into the war effort.

Part 7

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #1940's bucky barnes #bucky barnes #40's bucky barnes x reader #james buchanan barnes x reader #james bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fan fic #bucky barnes fic #series: return to sender #fabiola trying to write

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daphner20 · 3 years

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Ethan Morely

Peace

Prologue

“ You don’t have to make that decision now Elise,” said Ethan.

“ Uncle Ethan, this is what I want to do,” cried Elise.

“ You are 18 years old, and it’s your graduation day, you should be celebrating with your friends, not making life choices, like this,” said a frustrated Ethan.

“ It’s not my choice, it is the call of God on my life, and he calling me to be a nun,” Elise said with such conviction.

As Ethan, looked into the face of this beautiful young woman, he had to reflect.

18 years ago, his younger brother Eric, and his wife Regina, were involved in a head on collision with a drunken driver. Regina died instantly, and Eric three days later. Before he died, he implore me to take care of Elise. She was 3 months old, and was in the backseat, she was unscathed.

I was 28 years old, and was focused solely, on my career in the foreign/diplomatic services, in my country, with an ultimate goal to become an Ambassador.

But, I knew, I will honor my brother’s request. Furthermore, I was the only family she had now.

The first time I held her in my arms, I knew that she had a purpose higher than I could ever imagine. And that I would protect her with my last breath.

So, for the last 18 years, I have devoted my life to her. From Pre-k to grade 12, she attended only Catholic Schools. Her milestones: First Penance, First Communion, Confirmation, and now Graduation. I don’t have any regrets. My career didn’t go as planned. As a lawyer, I worked in the Attorney General Office, as a constitutional lawyer. I remained a confirmed bachelor.

As I looked in her earnest face, I knew what I needed to do.

“Yes, you have my blessings, to become the nun that God, has called you to be,” said Ethan proudly.

Chapter 1

Most convents or orders, prefer their novices to enter with a Bachelor’s degree, so they can work in the community. However, those like Elise, who wanted to go right after high school graduation, must be financially stable, so they will not be a burden on the convent.

Although Ethan gave Elise his blessings, he didn’t want to let her go. He had no Peace in this matter. So he prayed to God, for direction and favor, his prayers we answered a few days later.

The Bahamian Government, offered him an Ambassadorship, in Western African. In a country call Adori. This was our first embassy in Africa. It was the government position that a relationship with Adori will bring economic investments and trade to our country.

Next, it had a sizeable convent there, The Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. Elise will be a pre-novitiate, where she will live on the compound, work with others sisters, for about 2 years. She will be responsible for her own expenses, (which were covered). The blessing to me was that she was only 30 miles away from me.

So we arrived in Adori, several months later. The Bahamian Embassy, was in the capital city of Antioch. And the convent was 30 miles out of the city.

For the next year, life was peaceful enough, I saw Elise, when she came into town with the other sisters. Adori was a country of 6 million people, with diverse ethnicity and religious freedom.

I told Elise, constantly, always stay with your sisters, and don’t reveal to anyone outside of the compound that you are Catholic.

A few days later there was a frantic knock at the Embassy door, it was Mother Superior.

“ There has been a raid, at the high school, and 50 of the girls have been captured including Sister Elise!” sobbed Mother Superior.

Chapter 2

Ambassador Ethan Elijah Morely, screamed “No,” in anguish.

Mother Superior, finally composed herself. Then she relayed to me Adori’s dark secrets that didn’t make international news.

For the last several years Adori, was becoming more Anti-West, and more extreme in their religious beliefs. They have a King that has tolerated religious freedom for years. But there are a few in his higher echelon, that doesn’t share his views.

“Why the raid on the school, and Elise?”

“ The King is looking for a new wife, and in this country, some of their ancient customs, are still practice. So they round up virgins and the King will choose one for his bride.” Said Mother Superior.

Ethan was so stunned, he didn’t speak.

“ They have never taken one of our sisters before, we have been protected these many years,” sighed Mother.

“ How do we get her back,” cried Ethan in anguish.

“ I know, the woman who is charge of the girls, at the Palace, I will get word to her, don’t worry Ambassador we will get them all back,” said Mother convincingly.

Ethan couldn’t eat or sleep, he was in torment. But he had so much work that he had to attend to urgently.

After several days, I found out from Helga, she was the housekeeper at the Embassy Compound that Elise, was here in the capital, in the King’s Palace, in the women’s quarters.

“ Is she alright?” asked Ethan.

“ She is Ambassador,” said Helga.

Helga, oldest sister Agnes, was in charge of the women quarters in the King’s Palace. They were both raised in the orphanage, that was run by Mother Superior, so they were indebted to her.

“ Don’t worry Ambassador, she is a lovely girl, and she has found favor, with everyone,” said Helga.

“ Has she reveal her identity?” asked Ethan.

“ No, they believe that she is a girl from another town, she will be fine. What ever message you have, we will give it to her,” said Helga.

Ethan didn’t like it, but it was better than no communication at all.

So this arrangement went on for about 6 months.

Until Helga told me, “ Sister Elise has been chosen to be King Adamo’s next bride and Queen.”

Chapter 3

Ethan rent his clothes, in total despair. This was his fault, he brought Elise to this country and could not keep her safe, he had failed her.

For days he locked himself in the Ambassador residence. Refusing to eat, or see anyone. “ Lord did my blind ambition, put my daughter in harm’s way,” he cried day and night. There was no peace for Ethan’s soul.

Then one day Agnes, showed up!

“ Your daughter Elise is very concern about you,” said Agnes.

“ She is concerned about me, I am worried to death about her,” said Ethan bewildered.

“ Queen Elise, is beautiful inside and out, please trust the reason why the LORD has sent you to this country at this time, now gird up your loins, for there is a work for you to do, in my Country,' said Agnes prophetically.

“ She has found favor, with King Adamo, and he loves her more than any wife before her. He will not let any harm come to her,” said Agnes.

Two days later, my beautiful niece, a Caribbean Catholic, became Queen to the most powerful man in Western Africa.

I was invited to the wedding, like all of the foreign dignitaries in the country. God knows I didn’t imagine Elise’s wedding day to be like this.

I would have known the groom, he would have been Christian, preferably Catholic! I would have walked her down the aisle, as her father giver. And finally the most important, she would have chosen who she wanted to marry!

There was a moment at the reception, that we were allowed to congratulate the ‘happy couple’. The King was 60 and my daughter will be 20 in six days. “ Lord strengthen me”, I prayed in my heart. I haven’t seen her in 8 months.

“ Congratulations, King Adamo, on your wedding, and also your beautiful bride,” I said smiling.

“ Thank you Ambassador Morely, I have heard of the great work you are doing at the Embassy,” he said.

“ Thank you, Your Majesty, I nodded and bowed at Elise, in this country it was punishable by death to speak to the Queen, without the King’s permission.

It was a brief glance, but Elise was telling me that she was okay. I was not, I just wanted to run out with her, back to The Bahamas!

Chapter 4

For the next three years, Elise and I communicated, through Helga and Agnes. She hadn’t gotten pregnant yet, which she said was fine with the King. He had grandchildren her age.

But I had two issues of my own. I had one more year on my contract, as Ambassador, my country was holding General election next year. And a new government, may want a new Ambassador. Also, the people on the ground were telling me that more Christians were being targeted. Homes and businesses were burnt to the ground. Families were also disappearing.

A few days later, a royal decree was sent to all provinces in Adori, that all Christians, must leave Adori within a year or face imprisonment, expulsion, or death.

Ethan told Helga to tell Agnes to show this decree to Elise.

“ I haven’t seen the King, these thirty days,” wrote Elise.

“ You have come to the Kingdom, for a such a time as this, this decree not only affects the Christians, but you as well,” wrote Ethan.

“ My maidens, and I will fast and pray for three days and three nights, you and the sisters do the same,” wrote Elise.

Ethan and the sisters did likewise. And on the fourth day Ethan was summoned to the Palace.

“ Queen Elise, has told me that you are her uncle, and you both are Christians,” said the King.

“ That is true, Your Majesty, but there is a sect in your government, that is Anti-christians, and want annihilation of all.

“ What do you propose we do?” asked the King.

Ambassador Morely then laid out the strategy that the LORD, had given him for Adori.

First the United Nations Peace Corps, was called in to help the Christians, guard and protect their homes and businesses. It included Christian charities, like hospital, schools and orphanages.

Next, the government officials from the top to bottom, were imprisoned or exiled, who participated in the attempted act of genocide.

Finally, there has to be constitutional changes, that will guarantee the right of each citizen, to exercise their religion expression, and equality of men and women.

Eventually, Ethan Morely, was advanced to second in the Kingdom to King Adamo. And was great among the Christians and well received by the people of Adori.

Ethan spent the rest of his days speaking peace and truth, to the Country.

The End

#God #spiritual #inspiration #Jesus Christ #faith #faith in jesus #jesussaves #trust #story #helpful #Christian #church #powerful

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yeeqing1203 · 4 years

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Retyped all the short story included the handwriting letter content（completed）

The topic i choose is no.8 Religious book. This religious book is about sui sui ping an ,encourage people to cherish the moment with family.

1. This story begins with a family living happily ever after.One day when brother was eating, he accidently dropped a bowl and it fell and broke, and mother told him it was all right, sui sui ping an. But one day, father was in a car accident , my mother rushed to the hospital where he was in a coma, leaving 15-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother at home. Sister and brother burst into tears when they heard about Dad's accident, and he broke all the dishes in the house no matter what Sister tried to stop him, but he kept on breaking dishes. When Mom came home and saw all the dishes broken, she was even more furious. Mom was already worried about father's accident, but when she came home and saw this, she was devastated, and she cried and scolded him for doing that, and brother cried and said, "I just want my father to be safe." You said it sui sui ping an before and when I break all the dishes, Dad will come back and be safe. However, the dishes fell and Dad didn't come back.

2. I hate my dad. He's always leaving early and staying late, and sometimes he doesn't even come home, my mom was very worries about him. Every time he comes home he gets a few more scars on his body. I don't like that about my dad. Other people's dads play with them, but I don't even have time to eat with my dad. Until one time when there was a big earthquake and I was trapped in my room, the door was pinned against a pillar and I couldn't get out, the only way out was through the window. I found out later that my dad was a fireman, a great fireman, and that his job meant that he couldn't be home with me much because he was always on call, and that he had the scars from when he saved people's lives, and my dad told me that was proof of his bravery, that my dad was a brave hero.

3.Grandma was diagnosed with heart disease, but she didn't tell her granddaughter for fear of worrying her, but she felt that Grandma was annoying and nagging, and was always controlling and trying to restrain her, and she had a big argument with Grandma. At night, when she was sleeping, she heard the sound of glass breaking then she ran to the kitchen,she saw a broken cup and her grandmother on the floor. She quickly send her grandmother to the hospital. The doctor told her that Grandmother was having a heart attack and that her life might be in danger, and told her to be prepared for her grandmother's death. At that moment, she suddenly realized how important Grandma was to her and that she was the only family she had left, but she didn't even know she had a heart attack. All she wanted now was for her grandmother to get better, but God had taken her life away. Grandmother said broken is safe, the cup has broken but Grandma is no longer with her.When granddaughter went home, she saw the note that grandmother had left for her on the table and she cried.

NOTES CONTENT : 'Granddaughter, don't be angry. Granny is worried about you. If you're annoyed with Granny, Granny will say less next time, okay.

Unfortunately there is no next time.

4. The son was busy with work and sent his father to a nursing home. The son bought a mobile phone for the father to call him whenever he missed him. But the son got busier and busier and the son didn't pick up the call from the father. Since the father couldn't contact the son, he left the nursing home in secret to look for his son. But the father had already forgotten the address of his son's company, but the father held the address of his son's company in his hand and asked passers-by, but since he was an old man with dementia, passers-by disliked him and no one want to tell him where to go. As the father was crossing the road, because he didn't see the traffic light, a car rushed by and hit him. Before father died, he still held his son's company address，a letter ，the broken phone in his hand.(电话screen碎了）

LETTER CONTENT : "Son, I miss you so much"

The letter was full of "Son, I miss you so much" and the father, who is mentally retarded, can't read or write... and his handwriting is very sloppy. Because of his son, he learned to write in a nursing home. In his whole life, he only knew seven words, his son's name and “I miss you so much”.

5. Fei is a responsible delivery boy. One day, when Fei was delivering food on his bike, a child suddenly ran off the road. 'peng' Fei crashed into the car himself to avoid the kid. The child is safe and Fei is only slightly injured. But Fei's job is gone because of the accident. Fei saved the kid in the accident but broke his own job(饭碗摔碎了 fan wan shuai sui le）. But then he got a letter from the kid

LETTER CONTENT : 'Uncle, I'm sorry that caused you to have an accident. The key ring that my father gave me accidentally fell off when I was crossing the road , my father pass away fews month ago, and the key ring is the only things that my father bought for me, that's why I rushed out to the road to pick it up, but I didn't notice the traffic light. Thank you for saving me. Without me, mom would have been all alone. Thank you, uncle.'

6. Tian Tian and his grandmother had lived together since Tian Tian was young, but Grandmother died of illness, leaving him only a dilapidated house and his grandmother's favorite potted plants. Grandma planted the potted plants on the top floor so that they could get enough sunlight. Tian Tian also took care of his grandmother's favorite potted plant after she passed away, and it was like a substitute for her, staying with him for a long time. However, one day, a heavy wind and rain suddenly fell in the sky, and Tian Tian remembered the plant are still on the top floor. Tiantian immediately ran to the top floor and tried to move the plant to a safe place. But the wind was so strong that it blew the potted plant over the railing and Tian Tian was so anxious to save the plant，he climbed over the railing to pick up the fallen plant. Tian Tian tried to climb back over the railing, but the wind was too strong and his center of gravity was unsteady （重心不稳 zhong xin bu wen ） , and the pot fell from the top floor. The flowerpot broke but Tian Tian met his grandmother.

7. The magical old man sells the watch to a boy. He tells the boy that the watch can let him back to the past and fix all the regrets of the past, and then the old man disappears. The boy is half convinced, but he wears the watch anyway. But if the watch can really go back in time, he wants to go back to before his fight with the girl. Two years ago, he and the girl had a fight and left her alone, with the girl following the boy. The boy, in a fit of pique, ran across the street with five seconds left at a traffic light, thinking the girl wouldn't follow him. But the next thing he knows, she's too late and hit by a car. The boy saw the girl get hit by a car right in front of him and regretted it. 'Why did he have to be so childish?' 'Why was he so headstrong?' 'Wait for her maybe she would have been fine, she wouldn't have died' He thought it was because of him that the girl died, and he very regretful and guilty. Just then he instantly went back to before the fight with the girl, this time he didn't fight with the girl but she still got hit by a car. He kept going back to the girl's accident, and as soon as he did that, the watch would go back to the past again. He keeps going back to the past to try to save the girl, but every time he goes back to the past, even if he doesn't argue, the girl gets hit by a car and dies. Then the old man appeared and told him, 'A watch can only make up for your regrets, it can't change the past' and then the oldman disappeared again. The boy went back to the past again, this time the boy still did not fight with the girl, but he hugged her tightly and said sorry, this time the girl gave the boy the letter in his hand. After that, the boy returned to the original world, the watch broke, although the girl was still not safe, but the boy had no regrets after he read the letter.

LETTER CONTENT : Hi, my love i met the magical old man and he told me everything.Don’t try to save me,I no longer exist on Earth. I don't blame you for the car accident, I didn't look at the traffic light. You don't need to feel sorry for yourself or blame yourself. I should be thanking you properly for being there for me all these years because of you I've had a great time. When you have a stomach ache, remember to eat on time, and when you can't sleep, remember to turn on the aromatherapy and set your alarm before bed.I'm not by your side anymore, no one will remember for you, in the end, please forget me, live your life, and in the future, get married and have children with someone who loves you. We're not destined for each other in this life. It doesn't matter. I'll see you in the next life.

8. Junichi had a younger sister who was 10 years younger than him. Their parents divorced because of debts, and their mother died after giving birth to the younger sister. The two siblings grew up in an orphanage. Junichi had a heart condition since he was a child. He had many operations and needed a heart transplant so he could live. Junichi was a very sensible brother who didn't want his sister to worry, so he told her, "My heart is made of glass, and I have to take a lot of medicine to keep it from breaking. What she didn't know was that his glass heart could only last for 3 years and had to be replaced every 3 years. The heart that brother is using now has a few months to go before it reaches three years. If the glass heart breaks, it means that brother will not live. Junichi heart has a few months to go before it reaches three years, but the hospital has yet to find a heart donor and he can only take medicine. Once the three years are up, Junichi glass heart will shatter. He took his sister to an theme park while he still had a few months left, and even though he couldn't do the thrilling things himself, he went with his younger sister because he knew he might not have the chance to play with her again after fews month ago. Junichi told her that he was going to the moon to be with his mother and might not come back because his mother was so lonely all alone there. The younger sister thought about it and also felt that mom was very lonely by herself at least she still had friends from the orphanage to accompany her and told brother to go to stay with mom early. A few months later,Junichi glass heart shattered and he passed away, but to his younger sister, his brother only went to the moon to be with mom. A few years later, the younger sister grew up and was adopted home by a couple. After leaving the orphanage, Junichi younger sister also received a letter from the head of the orphanage, and when she opened it, she saw Junichi's handwriting.

LETTER CONTENT : 'My dear sister, have you grown up well? I will tell you a secret now, actually I did not go to the moon but I went to a place more beautiful than the moon, HEAVEN. My glass heart was broken when you were a child, and the hospital couldn't find a heart to fit me, so I was forced to go to heaven and couldn't stay on Earth to grow up with you. You're a beautiful girl, and you'll be adopted by a happy family, and then they'll be your parents, so listen to them well, eat your meals on time, study hard, and come to the big city to work and repay your adoptive parents. I almost forgot, you may have a boyfriend in the future, but my brother may not be able to help you verify it, so listen up, your boyfriend must be educated and tall, and preferably know a little bit kung fu, otherwise how can he protect you and most importantly, he must love you very, very much, and love you more than I do. Lastly, if you feel unhappy one day and can't find anyone to talk to, it's okay, you can just say it to the sky, I'll hear it at any time, although you may not hear my response, but you must remember that i will always be there for you.

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throughtheflamesnovel · 5 years

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MINOR CHARACTERS

• Jon Jane

- Lydia's father

- Full Name: Jonathan "Jon" Jane

- Age: 45

- Marital Status: Married to Lily Jane

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 22, 2015 (burned alive)

- Physical Appearance: gray hair and blue eyes; stood at 6'0" with an athletic build. Jon was professional, and mostly wore a suit and tie to work.

- Personality: Very protective over his daughrer and only wanted the best for his family moving forward; he firmly believed that Jack was not good enough for Lydia.

- Education: Honors diploma from Cleveland High School (1988); Realtors' license from Realtor School of Oregon (1993)

- Occupation: Realtor for Hasson Company Realtors' (1993-2015)

- Biography: Jon spent his entire childhood in an orphanage; when he was 15, after months upon months of begging, they allowed him to go to school with kids his own age. There, at Cleveland High, he met Lily Smith and thought she was pretty. He fell in love with her over the next four years and they married on August 18th 1990. All Jon ever wanted was a family, and a good job; he got both. In the summer of 1993, Jon got a good job at a realtor company; in October of 1996, Lily conceived a child. A daughter, whom they would name Lydia Nicole. It was the perfect age, the perfect time, and they lived little Lydia more than life itself. Leading into Through The Flames, Jon had just celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary with Lily, and he makes it clear that he does not like how close Jack and Lydia have grown to be.

• Janet Daniels

- Jack's mother

- Age: 35

- Marital Status: Single

- Physical Appearance: Brunette; light brown eyes and stands at 5'5" with ivory skin; has an athletic build. Janet's hair is always curled, and she wears black most of the time.

- Personality: A tough cookie to crack; very protective over her son, and blamed Lydia for Jack's near-death experience.

- Education: Mead High School (1998)

- Occupation: Restaurant owner/chef at Janet's.

- Biography: Janet Daniels had a rough start in life, being born to a sixteen year old prostitute and her pimp in the backseat of a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro; Janet’s childhood was something no child should ever have to go through. Living in filthy conditions, with her mother having a different man in her bed every night, Janet was taught that sex was just something fun to do; meaningless. At eleven years old, Janet was placed in foster care after her parents were arrested; six counts of illegal prostitution and eight counts of illegal drug dealing. Tyson, her father, was sent to prison for twenty years; Gina, her mother, was given five years at a woman’s correctional facility in Seattle, Washington. Janet’s foster family typically left her to her own devices, and like her mother, Janet became sexually active at the young age of thirteen, losing her virginity to her sixteen year old boyfriend; he broke up with her when he graduated. Janet, sixteen, then had rebound sex with his 24-year-old brother, resulting in her pregnancy with her son. Embarrassed, Janet never told him of her pregnancy, believing he’d want nothing to do with his unborn child. When Janet was eight months pregnant, Gina got out and requested to have her daughter back; Janet was happy to go home with her mother, hoping it could be a fresh start without her toxic father around. They both got waitressing jobs at a diner in town. In January of 1997, Janet gave birth to Jack; Gina helped her daughter out a lot, allowing her to finish school. Six years passed before Gina went back to her old ways; Janet came home from work one day to find her six year old son crying over his grandmother’s dead body. With a mixture of fury and sadness in her heart, she fled with her son, only stopping once she was six hours away, in Oregon, to call the paramedics. In Through The Flames, Janet owns a restaurant named Janet’s; she bought it on lease after a few months on living in a motel in Portland, using the money she took from Gina’s apartment.

• Julie Ryan

- Choir teacher; Lydia’s close confidant

- Age: 28

- Physical Appearance: Golden blonde curls and brown eyes; stands at 5′7″ with an athletic build

- Personality: Southern charm; kind and extroverted; a great teacher and a true friend to Lydia

• Laura Bailey

- Anna’s sister

- Full Name: Laura Marie Bailey

- Born on March 1, 2001 to Adam and Anne Bailey in Portland, Oregon

- Physical Appearance: Dark brown hair and eyes to match, with ivory skin; stands at 5′5″ with a petite build. Like Anna, Laura enjoys wearing makeup and expensive, brand-name clothing.

- Personality: A lot like her sister; bubbly and energetic.

- Education: Da Vinci Middle School (8th Grade)

• Dylan Harris

- Cleveland High Student

- Age: 15

- Physical Appearance: Sandy blond hair and brown eyes stands at 5′4″ with a fair complexion.

- Education: Cleveland High School (9th grade)

• Torrance Johnson

- Holly’s father

- Age: 43

- Marital Status: Single

- Physical Appearance: Blond hair and brown eyes, standing at 6′0″

- Occupation: Author

• Melissa Jaton

- Victim of Ethan

- Age: 34

- Marital Status: Widow

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 27, 2015 (slit throat)

- Physical Appearance: Sandy blonde hair and blue eyes; stood at 5′5″

• Tylee Jaton

- Victim of Ethan

- Age:13

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 27, 2015 (stabbed)

- Physical Appearance: Blonde hair and blue eyes; wore her hair in a braid and stood at 5′4″

• Sandra Clover

- Eric’s mother

- Age: 32

- Marital Status: Married to Andrew Clover

- Physical Appearance: Raven hair, brown eyes, and stands at 5′6″

• Andrew Clover

- Eric’s step-father

- Age: 39

- Marital Status: Married to Sandra Long-Thomas

- Physical Appearance: Raven hair and blue eyes, standing at 6′0″

• Sherrie Blanchard

- Julliard Musical Associate

- Physical Appearance: Blonde hair and blue eyes; tall, at 5′8″ with soft beige skin

• Dr. Jones

- Holly’s attending doctor

- Physical Appearance: Bald with silver/grey eyes; stands at 5′6″

• Nurse Irina

- Holly’s nurse

- Physical Appearance: Light blonde hair and grey eyes

• James Hawthorne

- Ethan’s father

- Full Name: James Jedidiah Hawthorne

- Born on March 23, 1963 in Milwaukie, Oregon

- Age: 35

- Marital Status: Separated from Delilah Hawthorne; in a relationship with Billie Larson

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 22, 1998 (strangled)

- Physical Appearance: Light brown hair and brown eyes; fair-skinned and stood at 6′1″

- Education: Diploma from Putnam High School

- Occupation: Auto-shop owner/mechanic; Hawthorne Auto Repair

- Biography: James was born to a mechanic named Jed, and his wife Cecilia. Unfortunately, Cecilia died giving birth to James, so he never got a chance to know his mother. He grew up in a nice house, in a good neighborhood, and never wanted for anything. Growing up, his dad was like his best friend, teaching him all about hunting, and sports, and cars. When James was sixteen, while visiting his grandparents in Salem, he met Delilah Farris; she was thirteen. James’ flirting game was strong that night, and Delilah developed a strong crush on the older boy. All three days that James was in Salem, he spent with Delilah. He nicknamed her Della, and the two shared their first kiss the night before he left. Once arriving home, James tried calling her everyday but there was never an answer; James was obsessed with Delilah Farris. After two weeks of nothing, James became fed up; he bought a bus ticket and rode over two hours to Salem, and to Delilah. James walked in the night, finding Delilah’s home with the lights on. Delilah answered the door, a purpling bruise just under her left eye. Furious, James demanded to know who had harmed her; Delilah tried to brush it off, claiming she ran into a door at school. Her father came to the door, then, and a fight ensued. Gangly 16-year-old James against a 45-year-old ex-convict was not a fair fight, but James won, punching and kicking; he took a few jabs himself, and fell down a few times, but he got back up. After falling through the glass table, Delilah’s father was knocked unconscious, and the two teenagers fled. Over the next three months, James and Delilah grew extremely close; Jed offered Delilah a home, no questions asked. James learned that Delilah got daily beatings from her father ever since her mother passed when she was eleven; he secretly wished he had killed him. On Christmas night, after knowing each other for a little over six months, James made love to Delilah for the first time; that night resulted in a pregnancy. Although they were both terrified, James only sixteen and Delilah just now fourteen, they kept their unborn child. Jed, being the man the man of God that he was, made the two get married; On January 26, 1980, they married when Delilah was a month pregnant. On September 11, 1981, Delilah gave birth to a baby girl; they named her Samantha June, named after Delilah’s mother. The three were happy together for a time; however, in 1985, Jed was diagnosed with lung cancer, which was already well progressed. With nothing for the doctors to do, James was by his father’s side every waking moment, until he eventually died in his sleep. James was devastated, feeling like he lost his best friend; the night of the funeral, however, James just needed to feel close to someone and he and Delilah made love, resulting in her pregnancy with their second child. It was a rocky one for Delilah; James began to drink heavily, no doubt stressed from having to take over the auto shop his father had left to him. On top of that, she had to take care of Samantha, who was only three years old at the time, all the while only being eighteen years old herself. James was falling into a depression and didn’t want to be around anyone or anything. On March 22, 1986, the day before James’ 22nd birthday, Delilah gave birth to a baby boy. Ethan James, after his father; but, James wasn’t there. He was too busy having sex with Billie, the mechanic he had hired to help out at the auto shop. James didn’t admit this to his wife until she was 7 months pregnant with their third child in 1997. Delilah didn’t have any choice but to forgive him; they two children and another on the way, and they lived off of James’ paycheck. On July 22, 1997, Delilah gave birth to their third child; Vivid Nicole. Only a month later, after finding James and Billie together in his office, Delilah called it quits; James let Delilah and the kids keep the house, and he moved in with Billie. Through The Flames begins with the Hawthorne family still reeling from the impending divorce between James and Delilah after 18 years of marriage, all the while trying not to break their children’s spirits.

• Delilah Hawthorne

- Ethan’s mother

- Full Name: Delilah Kaye Hawthorne (nee Farris)

- Born on October 11, 1966 in Salem, Oregon

- Age: 31

- Marital Status: Separated from James Hawthorne

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 22, 1998 (burned alive)

- Physical Appearance: Raven hair and caramel brown eyes; stood at 5′4″

- Education: Stephens Middle School (8th grade)

- Occupation: Waitress at Red Lobster (8 months)

- Biography: Delilah was born to Johnny and Samantha Farris in 1966; she spent most of her childhood with her mother, as her father went to prison for vehicular manslaughter when she was only four years old. In November of 1977, Johnny got out on good behavior, and returned home to his wife and eleven year old daughter. Not long after, Samantha died of head trauma; Delilah never knew for sure, but she suspected Johnny killed her mother. That’s when the beatings began; at breakfast, after school, before she went to bed at night. Her life was hell, and Delilah saw no end in sight. When she was thirteen, Delilah found a savior in sixteen year old James Hawthorne. He was sweet and flirtatious, and Delilah was instantly smitten with him. Johnny, was however, less than ecstatic that Delilah had gotten a real boyfriend. Her beatings got worse, managing to sprain one of her ankles when she pushed her down the stairs. Delilah refused James’ phone calls, terrified of her father; when James showed up on her doorstep two weeks later, a mixture of fear and hope passed through her. Fear of what her father would do to both of them; hope because she finally saw a way out. Delilah fell in love with James when he fought for her, and won. When she saw her father’s body, passed out on the broken glass table, she prayed that he was dead. They left together, and Delilah knew she’d never love another man the way she loved James Hawthorne. Returning to Milwaukie with James, she found a home. On Christmas night that same year, after only knowing each other a little over three months, Delilah and James made love for the first time, resulting in the pregnancy of their first child; James’ father, being the man of God that he was, insisted that the two get married. On January 16, 1980, they got married at a lovely ceremony in a snowy landscape. Then, eight months later, Samantha June was born, completing their little family. The three of them were happy for a while; James finished high school and worked at his father’s auto shop, and Delilah was a fourteen year old stay-at-home mom. Then, in 1985, James’ father died from lung cancer, and their marriage started to deteriorate. Out of grief and loneliness, the night of Jed Hawthorne’s funeral, Delilah conceived her second child from James; Delilah thought this child would somehow bring James out of his depression, and drunken stupor, but she was wrong. She gave birth to Ethan James on March 22, 1986, but James wasn’t there to see the birth of his son; in reality, James was having sex with his new mechanic, Billie Larson. Delilah, however, didn’t find this out until she was 7 months pregnant with their third child, leaving her with no choice other than to forgive him. Delilah didn’t have a job or a high school diploma, with two children and another on the way; she knew she couldn’t survive without James. On July 22, 1997, Vivid Nicole was born, bringing peace to the Hawthornes. For a time. For Delilah, it was the last straw when she found James and Billie together in his office, thus setting into motion their long coming divorce; they both believed that’s what was best. James was in love with Billie now, and Delilah admitted she hadn’t truly loved James in many years. Leading into Through The Flames, Delilah has a good waitressing job at Red Lobster, and has all her children under one roof; her impending divorce from James was in its final stages and she was actually happy about it.

• Samantha Hawthorne

- Ethan’s older sister

- Full Name: Samantha June Hawthorne

- Born on September 11, 1981 in Milwaukie, Oregon to James and Delilah Hawthorne.

- Age: 18

- Death: Killed by Ethan Hawthorne on September 22, 1998 (burned alive)

- Physical Appearance: Raven hair, dark brown eyes and ivory skin; stood at 5′4″

- Education: Putnam High School (12th grade)

- Biography: Samantha was born to teenage parents, 17-year-old James and 14-year-old Delilah; she had a happy childhood, though, living with her parents and grandpa Jed. She was a grandpa’s girl and was devastated when he died when she was four. Samantha had a close relationship with her mother, as her father was almost never around after the death of her grandfather; she witnessed the downfall of their marriage, through two more children, Samantha saw their couldn’t possibly last. Though she loved her siblings, Ethan and Vivid, more than anything, Samantha couldn’t help but wish her parents had stopped with her. Moreover, Delilah filed for divorce when Samantha was seventeen; she couldn’t help but think “about time”. Though she never knew what made her mother file, she figured it had be a really good reason. Leading into Through The Flames, Samantha and her siblings lived with their mother, and she helped her mom as much as she could to take care of Ethan and Vivid without James around.

• Vivid Hawthorne

- Ethan’s little sister

- Full Name: Vivid Nicole Hawthorne

- Born on July 22, 1997 to James and Delilah Hawthorne

- Age: 4

- Death: Killed in a car accident with her foster parents on December 24, 2001

- Physical Appearance: Dark brown hair and brown eyes, with an ivory complexion.

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future-nurses · 5 years

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Lion

By Desiree Dale M. De Leon

The movie that is based on a true story was begin with Saroo a five year old boy who has a brother named Guddu they sneak and steal coal. They sell the coal in Khandwa Village where saroo sees jalebi and his brother promise him that he will bought one someday. After that they return to their home where their sister namely shekila and their mother Kamla was there.

The next day, Kamla leaves to collect rocks which she does for a living. Guddu is going to leave for a week then Saroo asks him to take him along. At first guddu doesn’t want his brother to come with him but then he agrees to let saroo come along. In arriving the train station saroo wants to sleep so his brother decide that he will come back and he will just going to check on the work. A few moments later when saroo wakes up he find and look for his brother until he goes inside the train. The little child fell asleep and when he wakes up again the train was moving. He called for help then the rain stops at Calcutta. Saroo becomes a street children in calcutta until he is sent to an orphanage. Soon, Saroo is selected to be adopted by the Brierley family in Tasmania. He meets his adopted parents, John Brierley and his wife, Sue. Two years go by and now they adopt a second boy from India, named Mantosh. But the young Mantosh is very standoffish and requires a lot more patience than Saroo.

Saroo goes to Melbourne for his course and met Lucy. They’ve both walk to a party the other students ask saroo where he’s from and he says Calcutta. Saroo goes in the kitchen and notice the jabelis that causes him to have a flashback. Eventually he admits he isn’t really from Calcutta where in he got lost and couldn’t know how can he go back to their village. Someone suggests he research how fast trains go and estimate how many he was on the train to figure out how many miles he traveled. Another girl tells Saroo about Google Earth, a new site at the time which allows users to search the world through satellite images. Saroo begins doing the math to calculate how many miles from Calcutta he was. Until one night, Saroo is on Google Earth looking at all the places inside the giant circle he's pinpointed as his possible village. This leads him to the village that he used to run home to every night. It is a suburb called Ganesh Talai. Saroo travels to Ganesh Talai in hopes of finding his mother, sister, and brother, even though its been 25 years since he knows they last resided there. He makes his way to where he used to live and sees it's now used as a pen for goats. A man who is multilingual approaches and Saroo tells him he is looking for his mom and his siblings, Guddu and Shekila. The two make their way through the village until they stumble upon a group of women walking home. One of them is an older woman who is clearly his mother.

She recognizes him as her son; they hug each other and cry. Her mother introduced him to the now grown Shekila. Saroo asks where Guddu is but everyone becomes somber then the man told him that Guddu is with God. Guddu died when he left Saroo and walked on the train tracks unfortunately he was hit by a train. At the end of the movie Saroo also learned he had been mispronouncing his name his whole life his name is actually Sheru which means LION.

Guide Questions

1. What life lessons can be learned from the movie?

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing occurs by chance, It’s all part of God’s divine plan. Learn to trust it and go where he leads you.

When saroo lost and became one of the street children I believe that it happens for a reason that god has a better plan on him. Eventually he got adapted he made a life in Tasmania, Australia. Through the help of his un-biological parents he grew up and became a good man. To cut the long story short all of his struggle in searching her true family was worth it and really a right time

2. What part of the story told by the movie was the most powerful? Why?

When Saroo visits his parents' home and has a conversation with Sue, She reveals she could have children and she didn't adopt him because she had no other choice. Sue explains that she married John because they were of like minds and both agreed there were too many people in the world and they'd rather be parents to someone who needed saving. I am really touched in this scenario because sue was so selfless and think about the kids out there who needs a parent to love and take care of them as she do.

3. Who was your favorite character in the movie and why?

My favorite character in the movie was Sue the mother of saroo because she’s a wonderful woman where in she said “there are enough people in the world, but to take two boys who are suffering and give them a chance in life, that’s something.” Well As for me I’ve always had a soft spot for children in need and maybe that’s the reason why sue is my favorite character because we have something in common.

4. Did anything that happened in the movie remind you of something that has occurred in your own life? Or that you have seen occur to others?

When a lady named Noor helped saroo I’ve reminded something that occurred in my life, but this moment does not goes with the exact scenario where Noor and her accomplice plan to sell Saroo into sexual slavery. I’ve experienced helping a child also I can’t forget this day because it was my special day when a boy approached me and seek for a food. I gave him a food to eat and in return he gave me a necklace that is full of flowers.

5. If you had a chance to ask a character in this movie a question, what would it be? I would ask sue if what can she says to the kids and parents who have a problem that are exactly or a bit the same with the experience that happened in their family and to those parents who are planning to adopt a child.

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livinglavidalibro-blog · 7 years

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

Wow, this book is a wild ride. So many emotions, so much going on, so little time. And I really mean so little time because you will not be able to put it down, so you’ll really finish it fast. 9/10 one of the best books I’ve read.

DETAILS 2007 novel by Khaled Hosseini

SUMMARY Mariam grew up outside of the town of Herat, Afghanistan, with her mother. Her father, Jalil, was a wealthy businessman who lived in Herat and came to visit her once a week. Her mother had been a maid in her father’s house and when she became pregnant, she was fired by one of Jalil’s wives. Mariam loved and idolized her father, though her mother warned her he was ashamed of her because she was an illegitimate child. One day, Mariam walks to his house, only to be turned away – she realizes her mother was right, but when she arrives home, she finds her mother has killed herself in response to Mariam’s disappearance. Jalil then quickly married Mariam off to a much older man named Rasheed and she moves to his home in Kabul. At first he is nice, but soon he turns abusive and controlling. For a few years they attempt to have a child but eventually give up. Shortly after Mariam moves to Kabul, their neighbor gives birth to a daughter. The young girl is named Laila and she grows up in a very liberal household; she and her best friend Tariq fall in love when they are teenagers, but when the war begins, he and his family leave Afghanistan. Laila is hurt in a bombing, which kills her parents, and subsequently taken in by Mariam and Rasheed, whom she agrees to marry after discovering she is pregnant with Tariq’s child. At first Rasheed is nice to her, but after she gives birth to a daughter instead of a son, he becomes abusive to her as well. Mariam and Laila slowly develop a close friendship, and Mariam becomes like a mother to Laila, helping her raise her daughter and the son she later gives birth to. As the war drags on, Laila and Mariam try to escape, only to fail and face worse abuse at home. Laila’s daughter is sent to an orphanage because they cannot afford to feed everyone. Eventually, Tariq reappears and he and Laila fall back in love. Rasheed finds out and beats Laila and Mariam both – in the heat of the moment, Laila strikes him and kills him. Mariam takes the blame for it, and helps plan to get Laila and the children out of Afghanistan with Tariq. Mariam is executed, while Laila and Tariq take the children and live in Pakistan and save up money. One year later, they return, as Laila wants to help rebuild her country and be closer to the place she and Mariam lived, and the place where Mariam died.

ANALYSIS This novels focuses a great deal on parent-child relationships. As a young girl, Mariam is desperate for her father’s love and idolizes him, only to realize that her mother is right and he is ashamed of her. During her childhood, Laila has a loving father but her mother can be distant and favors Laila’s older brothers. As adults, both women are heavily influenced by the relationships they had with their parents. Mariam is always obedient, even to her abusive husband, because she feels guilty for leaving her house to go to her father’s house, a direct defiance of her mother’s orders, which resulted in her realizing her father was ashamed of her and her mother killing herself. Laila on the other hand chooses not to leave with Tariq when he and his family flee the country, because she knows her mother will never go, meaning her father will not go. She does not want to abandon her father, the only good parent she ever knew, and so she refuses Tariq’s offer and stays in Afghanistan. When she has children of her own, she is fiercely protective of them; Mariam sees Laila as her own child and becomes equally as protective of her; both careful to make better parents than their own were to them.

In addition to the importance of parent-child relationship, this story emphasizes that people can have power even when others underestimate them or assume they are helpless or oppressed. This theme of agency is displayed in the protagonists of the story. A Thousand Splendid Suns details the lives of two women living in Afghanistan between the 1980s and early 2000s. The women were married to the same man, who was generations older than them, they underwent regular beatings by him, and they both wore a burka because their husband (and eventually, the law) made them. It was published in the US in 2007, in the midst of the war with Afghanistan, a time when some of the most popular pro-war rhetoric was that women in the Middle East were severely oppressed and powerless. Mariam and Laila were indeed oppressed and abused, absolutely, but Hosseini uses their story, however, to prove that people are not always as powerless as they seem – and that power comes in different forms. Both Mariam and Laila are undoubtedly strong women, despite their circumstances. They suffer through years of abuse and yet they refuse to give up. When their plan to escape fails, they recognize the flaws in that plan and rethink their strategy – instead of trying again and putting themselves, and more importantly, the children, at risk of more abuse as a result, they focus on relying on each other for strength and protection – for themselves and for the children. And when it comes down to it, Laila has the strength to do what she has to to protect herself and her children: she kills Rasheed. And Mariam is strong enough to take the blame for it and suffer a painful public death, after years of abuse, for a crime she did not even commit, in order to protect her loved ones. While at first glance, it appears that these women were stuck in a situation without any agency, as we read the book we learn that they are in a situation that they know they cannot escape from with help, so instead, they suffer through it, sacrificing their own well-being and health to protect each other and the children. In the end, they prove to be incredibly brave and strong. And this strength and agency is Hosseini’s way of showing us – us being western, specifically US based – readers, that strength comes in different forms and people deal with difficult situations in a variety of ways and sometimes the strongest people are the ones who may seem weakest at first.

This theme is explored throughout the entire novel with Mariam and Laila, but it is also highlighted, albeit in a briefer anecdote, with the character of Tariq. Tariq lost one of his legs at a very young age to a landmine and as a result has a prosthesis. This, of course, would make anyone assume he would be weaker, slower, and less physically capable than most people. But that is not the case at all. Tariq is strong and very fit. And he is not strong in spite of his prosthetic leg – no, the thing that most people would think makes him weaker is actually a source of power for him. As a young boy, he often would take of the leg and use it in fights to defend himself and Laila when people were picking on them. Once again, Hosseini is highlighting the fact that power and agency come in different forms for different people and just because people look like they are in a tough situation does not mean that they are powerless or totally lacking control over their lives. Sometimes they are just demonstrating a different kind of strength. This is an especially powerful message given the fact that the book was published at a time when many people in the United States were picturing Afghanis as citizens with no power who needed the help and guidance of the US – not only in driving out the Taliban, who were undoubtedly an unjust governing force – but also in rebuilding their lives and government and economy. Hosseini is making the point that the US should not look at Afghanis as a group of incapable and powerless people, but rather as strong people in a bad situation who would be just as capable of moving on after the war as any other group of people would be, and that the US should not look down on them.

THOUGHTS This is an incredible book and I really think Hosseini is one of the most talented writers I have read. I really could not put this book down and I fell in love with the characters. I am a sucker for selfless, loving characters who sacrifice themselves for the people they love (see: Sydney Carton, Boo Radley) and so naturally I love Mariam’s character and I also love that you get to see her continued impact on Laila’s life even after she dies. It really didn’t feel like I was reading a book, it felt like I was witnessing the lives of these women in real life. It was touching and sweet and emotional and stressful and scary and just a whole crazy mix of emotions and I was sad when it was over because it was so amazing to read. There is so much that happens in only a few hundred pages, but it never felt like it was rushed or there was too much going on that it wasn’t believable. This book broke my heart and destroyed my faith in humanity, but then quickly rebuilt my faith in humanity and let me witness incredible love. It is such, such, such a good book. A little bit emotionally exhausting but still, such a good book.

#A Thousand Splendid Suns #Khaled Hosseini #books #review #analysis #summary #queue

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