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spacebarbarianweird · 6 months

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headcanons or one-shot (pick your poison!) of astarion and gn!tav celebrating midwinter/winter solstice together? technically, it does exist as a holiday in the forgotten realms! blessed yule as well! :D

I suppose this prompt can't wait forever so here we are. A short fluffy drabble.

Prompt ✶New Beginnings✶ for BG3 Winter Holiday Challenge

Thanks @bhaalbaaby for beta-reading! Especially for re-writing some sentences!

I fucked a bit and didn't notice the requester asked specifically for gn!reader and did f!reader as usual. So, this one is f!reader and I will do gn! later

Winter Solstice

Synopsis: Astarion and Tav spend Winter Solstice in the northern town of Firesheer, and the subject of marriage comes up.

Tags: fluff, comfort

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

You are freezing.

You've never been so far to the north, and you have never understood why people were afraid of winters.

Now, you do.

It's Nightal, 20. The longest night of the year. And probably the coldest, because the only thing you can think of, is how to get inside the inn and hide under fur blankets.

Till snow melts.

You look around. People of Firesheer are festive as if the cold doesn't bother them. They sing and dance, resting after months of hard work in the mines.

You put your hand inside the pockets of your traveler fur coat, golden coins jingling in the pockets. The only redeemable quality about this frozen hell is the danger always lurking. The city is always under attack: orcs, crag cats, giants. Though citizens have their army, they don't mind paying adventurers rather than risking their own people.

"Bracelets! Rings! Necklaces! All of the finest copper and silver!" A dwarf shows you his goods, "Take a look, traveler!"

You look disinterested as you take a look at the jewelry, shrugging at the selection.. You can wear silver things, but Astarion won't talk to you anymore if you put on something like that. Meanwhile copper... He would find it dull.

"No, not interested."

"This is copper of the best quality! Will last for generations!"

You chuckle. There is a very popular joke about things made by dwarves. They think humans are dumb to buy something that lasts only for four generations. Forgetting that the human generation lasts less than a century.

"Look at these bronze rings. They are engraved with protective runes!"

The ring is simple. but there is something elegant, something powerful about it. You look at the runes - "protection", "love", and "safety".

"I will take this one", you say.

"Oh no," the dwarf laughs. "This is a wedding ring, you need two. Unless there are more people involved."

And before you manage to object, both rings are placed in your palm.

And why in nine hells did you decide to buy them?

You've never discussed marriage with Astarion. Boundaries? Traumas? Feelings? Yes. Sometimes, you talk about the future. But such things as marriage never came to your mind.

You have no idea what he thinks about it. You have no idea what you think about it.

But now you have two wedding rings in your pocket. Dwarven bronze will last for centuries.

You look around, trying to notice the familiar silver curls. Astarion has gone to see the ocean at sunset, and you agreed to meet in the city at midnight.

“Darling, there is something utterly nightmarish about a dark cold ocean."

You refused to go. Astarion is already dead - he can even swim there if he desires (the ocean isn't running water, so he will be fine). You, on the other hand, want to keep this heart beating.

Suddenly, a drunk man blocks your way.

"Leave me alone," you mutter, putting a hand on your dagger hidden below the cloak.

"Why is a beautiful woman alone? It's a sin to be on your own at the Winter Solstice."

You step back. The man is much bigger than you, but he can barely stand on his feet. If you were out of the city, you could snatch your dagger - but within the walls, fighting isn't wise.

"So, what d'ya think, pretty girl?" he reaches out for your chin, but before his dirty hand touches your skin, the man is pulled away from you.

"Hands away from my wife", Astarion hisses. "Or I will turn you inside out and feed the crag cats!"

The man recoils. "I-I beg your pardon, didn't know she is... taken."

"Fuck off," Astarion is quiet, but you know - one false move and the vampire will rip his throat.

The man stumbles and walks away as fast as he can. “Thanks”, you mutter, still feeling scared. "How was the ocean?"

"Dark. Cold. Frightening," He wraps his hand around your waist and tugs you closer. There is something possessive in this gesture. You don't mind. "Come on, we have the longest night ahead!"

You shiver. Night plans are set in stone. Astarion cherishes the nights when he can walk freely and see the world not hiding in shadows, and he rarely wants to walk alone. Besides, you already abandoned him when he went to the seashore. You can't leave him alone again for the rest of the night.

You walk through the city square. The songs are loud and lively, and the festive mood warms you up. Or maybe this is Astarion's presence. You plant a kiss on his cheek and notice he stiffens.

"Let's go somewhere less crowded," you suggest.

Maybe he is afraid people will notice he is a vampire. Maybe big crowds remind him of his hunting spots - who knows how many drunk idiots he would drag to their deaths during the same festivals.

You walk together in silence until the houses disappear. The winds howl like hungry wolves. The snow reaches up to your ankles.

Astarion kneels and you notice he tries to make a snowball but the snow crumbles in his hands.

"I see what you are doing," You say, "Don't you dare"

"I was just touching snow," He smiles innocently.

You put your hands deeper into the pockets and feel the bronze rings. Wedding rings.

"When that man approached me, you called me your wife."

Astarion turns away as if trying to see something in the distance. "Never mind, just slipped off my tongue."

"Why did you call me that?"

"I am sorry to have offended you with such vulgar words."

"That’s not what I mean. Just weird, considering we have never officiated anything."

"Do you want me to kidnap a cleric and make him marry us? I don't know... I just... " he sighs. "We sleep together. You care about me, and I care about you. I want to be with you until your mortal days are over or until I am killed by some monster hunter."

"And how long have you seen me as your wife?"

He shrugs. "The night in the graveyard, when I realized I'd never truly experienced real lovemaking? When you found me in that cellar, hiding from the sun, and kissed away my fears and pain? One of those nights when I woke you up, screaming, and you held me until the nightmare finally let me go? What about you? Have you ever thought about me as your husband?"

"I mentally married you when you tried to slice my throat. But, I realized you were mine when I noticed you standing between me and danger for the first time,” You say, stepping closer to your love.

“So, what now?" he asks.

You grin, playfully pushing Astarion into the snow. He either expects that or simply decides to play along.

You straddle Astarion, taking in his expression. He smiles - a very rare joyful smile when he doesn't try to pretend or to laugh things away. It's the real him you saw for the first time on his grave. It's the real him you see in the darkness of the tent when he thinks you are still asleep. The real him who somehow survived his own death.

"What are you up to, little pet?" he grins.

You snatch the rings from your pocket, quickly taking his left hand.

"Will you marry me?"

You wait for his reaction. Sometimes even the most sincere forms of affection cause him mental pain, and he locks himself inside the shell. Once, he couldn't bring himself to talk to you because you tried to force him to stay inside the tent during a snowstorm.

Maybe it's too much, you think, ready to let him go. It's not like he doesn't like being dominated by you, but it depends on his mood.

"How could I say no?" He grins, allowing you to put the ring on.

You giggle like a little girl, leaning down to kiss him.

"There is supposed to be a second one," He notices when you pull away.

You give him the other ring, and he graciously takes your hand. Before putting the ring on it, he kisses your wrist and pierces it a bit with his fangs.

You sit like that for a while, looking at each other. Gods, does he even know how truly beautiful he is?

Your love. Your man. Your husband.

The winds howl again, and you shiver.

"Seldarine. Why didn't you tell me you are so cold?"

"Didn't want to ruin the longest night for you."

"Really? So you decided to ruin the next two weeks for me because you will get sick, and I will have to take care of you?” he chuckles. “Besides, we are married now, and I don't have any excuse to leave you!"

"Oh, I would never think I was such a burden to my husband!" you pout.

The next moment you are in his hands. You love being carried like that, especially knowing you are weightless to him.

"You are the most insufferable sweet burden I've ever wished to have, my little wife," he kisses you. "I suggest we return to the inn and consummate our marriage."

You giggle again and wrap your hands around his neck.

"As long as you offer me a hot bath as a wedding gift."

"It absolutely can be arranged, my dear!"

Nightal ("The Drowing Dawn") - the last month of the year. Winter Soltice is celebrated on Nightal, 20.

Firesheer - a mining city in the Frozenfar in northwest Faerûn

Seldarine (Elven) - Gods

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @astarion-beloved @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati

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magnoliacharmed · 5 days

Text

Lace

18+, Shawn Michaels x Bret Hart one shot

[Also available on Archive of our Own!]

Tags: Lace panties, daddy kink, creampie, porn with feelings (they say "i love you")

Word count: 2491

Summary:

Shawn has a surprise for Bret.

Shawn stepped out into the beaming Texan sun, shielding his face with his hand while he squinted his eyelids. The parking lot of the strip mall was weirdly crowded for a weekday at noon. He wondered why no one was at work, then immediately remembered someone was probably thinking that about him too. Technically, he was at work. Or at least preparing for it. Having a good tan was a crucial part of being a wrestler as far as he was concerned.

Clutching a tiny black gift bag in his free hand, he made his way through the parking lot to his rental car. With the way the sun beamed off of the surface of cars and the blacktop of the lot, he wondered why he even bothered to stop at the tanning salon. A tan just as nice as the one he received from the salon could have been achieved by letting himself fry like an egg right there in between cars. When he threw himself into the driver's seat and tossed the bag behind him carelessly, he sighed. He just wanted the night to turn out well.

---

Another show, another match, another win. Shawn was sweating like a sinner in church as he headed backstage, high fiving and waving at his adoring fans while he walked. It's not like it was a particularly hard fought match against Goldust. They'd ran it about a million times by this point in house shows around the country and it was beginning to get a little stale in his opinion. Despite it not being the most fulfilling experience, he was happy that he wouldn't be too exhausted after it. His sudden case of sweat could only be blamed on the contents of the gift bag that was burning a hole in the trunk of his car. Worst case scenarios flashed hot in his nerve-addled mind; what if some carjackers chose his vehicle out of all the ones at the arena? They'd steal the damn thing, pop the trunk looking for valuables, then bam! A pair of tights with "Shawn Michaels" scrawled on the back and a bag that had--

"What's your problem? You look like you're about to shit a brick."

"Huh?" The alarm in Shawn's voice shocked Diesel just the slightest. He seemed kind of coked up, like he'd snorted one bump too many.

"You're sweating. Your little mirrors are all wet." Diesel flicked a thick finger against one of the dangling mirrors on his vest.

"Shit. I'm good, man. Aaaaalllll good."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you're on, remind me not to take any tonight. You comin' out with us or are you headed home?"

Shawn shook his head no quickly. Luckily Austin was only around an hour, hour and a half drive away from his home in San Antonio. Whenever Diesel decided to head out, he was going to grab up his duffel bag and peel out of the arena in a hurry. If this conversation ever ended.

"Gonna head home. Not feelin' so hot tonight."

Diesel wanted to pry more at Shawn's strange behavior, but decided against it. Whatever problems he was causing himself, he didn't really feel like getting himself involved.

"Okay, well page me if you change your mind."

Diesel's eyes followed Shawn's laser-locked stare in the direction of Bret Hart. He gave Diesel a short nod as he walked past them, ignoring Shawn completely. He had an air of determination in his step, walking as if he didn't immediately head to the locker room right that second his night would be ruined. The muscles in his thick legs mesmerized Shawn with every step. Everything about Bret, from the way his oiled up arms gleamed under the lights like the cars in the lot earlier to his post-match fluffed out head of brown hair, got Shawn all twisted up. Shawn began to chew on his bottom lip absentmindedly, Diesel's words not registering in his mind.

"You fuckin' fiend."

Shawn blinked dreamily. What?

"What?"

"What?" Diesel mocked Shawn's accent. Added a little more drawl to it, to Shawn's amusement. "You may not be on anything tonight, but I can tell you need a hit of something."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A violent blush colored Shawn's cheeks. He was just too easy.

"Aww, so that's why your tan looks so fresh tonight. I was wondering why you were hitting the booth for a house show. You had to get all ready for your boyfriend."

Diesel made kissy noises at Shawn and laughed. He was so obvious when he had a crush. It was sweet when it wasn't so over the top. A quick punch to the arm, one with no real violence behind it, only made Diesel crack up harder.

"Have fun!" he called out as Shawn stomped away in the direction of Bret.

"Shut up!"

Shawn brushed past Bret leaving the locker room just as he was entering. As usual, his expression was relatively unreadable… to the average person. But Shawn was anything but average. Searching Bret's eyes, Shawn saw the embers of a fire beginning to light up.

"Already headed out?" He asked, tamping down any worry in his voice.

"Yeah. Got a little bit of a drive. Shouldn't you be on your way out too?"

"Yep, was just grabbing my stuff." Shawn jutted a thumb in the direction of his waiting duffel bag.

"Guess I'll see you soon, then."

"I have a surprise for you!"

Bret widened his eyes at Shawn's outburst. Is this why he was being so fidgety? All over a silly surprise?

"...Okay."

"You'll see it--" Shawn cleared his throat and coughed, lowering his voice to what he thought was a whisper. "Ahem, later."

"Alright, Shawn."

Bret turned away from the nervous man and began to head out to his car. He could be such a strange guy sometimes. Cute, but strange.

---

Even though he left a few minutes after Bret, Shawn arrived to his home before him. He knew the drive like the back of his hand. Plus, he was speeding. Not so much though that he'd risk getting pulled over, and even worse, arrested. There was no way he'd be able to explain his mystery bag to a cop. He breathed a long sigh of relief as he shut his front door behind him, making sure not to lock it so Bret could walk right in. He peeled off his jeans and t-shirt, stripping completely down to nothing with every step towards his downstairs bathroom. Placing the gift bag carefully on the bathroom sink, he held his hands up at it as if it was about to get up and walk away. He had to be quick. Bret was pretty good with a map, but the Texas highways were still unfamiliar territory to him.

Shawn's shower was efficient. He took the extra few minutes he saved by being fast to assess his tan. It looked great, nice and even. The trunks he wore created an appealing tan line that he was sure Bret would appreciate, especially in tandem with the real star of the night. He raked a brush through his damp hair in a hurry. The sound of a car approaching signaled him to reach into the bag and finish the final part of his look. God, he hoped this all worked out.

Bret pulled into the driveway and shut his car off. It was time to find out why Shawn was being even weirder than usual. He could tell he wasn't high or drunk at the show-- he was a lot more loose with his words when that was the case. He was the opposite, a tightly wound ball of nerves that was very unlike him.

Bret approached the front door and reached up to knock. He stopped before his knuckles hit the wood. Something was telling him to turn the knob instead. When he twisted it to find the door unlocked, he was surprised to see that his instinct was correct.

"You should keep your door locked, you don't want any intruders-- Oh, wow."

Shawn's feelings of worry melted away when he heard the breathlessness in Bret's voice. He approached him slowly, pressing right into his personal space as he reached behind him to lock the door.

"What do you think?"

Before he was able to answer, Shawn pushed Bret down onto his couch. He wasted no time straddling him, a picture perfect sight that Bret was still processing in his mind. Dragging his eyes down his body, he came to rest on what Shawn was apparently so stressed about.

A pretty, white lace pair of panties.

They were bleach white, almost glowing against the tan surrounding them. Shawn's erection strained against them and tented the delicate fabric up invitingly. A tiny wet spot was starting to form against the surface of them, no doubt from how turned on Shawn got wearing them. The fabric was alien to him, yet at the same time felt normal, felt right.

Bret could only take ragged breaths. There were so many things he wanted to say, but he couldn't make the words leave his lips. Shawn reached to grab his hand and place it against his ass, wanting him to feel the stretch of the underwear there too.

"You like it, daddy?" Shawn whispered. He wrapped his arms around Bret's neck and stared down into his brown eyes, tilting his head to the side with the best "fuck me" eyes he'd ever given. Bret blinked once, then squeezed his hand against Shawn's ass. He'd never called him that before. The way it fell out of Shawn's mouth, all wrapped in lust and that accent of his only made Bret harder. It wasn't going to take much to get used to, that was for certain.

Bret maneuvered Shawn's body to place him on his hands and knees. He was impressed with how quickly Shawn managed to get into position, arching up just the right way so the panties caught between his cheeks. A flash of untanned skin that peeked from where the underwear had moved made Bret's breath hitch again.

"Fuck, you look good."

Shawn spread his legs open farther and smiled. Just what he wanted to hear.

"You bought these just for me to see?"

Shawn nodded, his head softly hitting the couch cushion. "Uh-huh."

"So I shouldn't rip them off then." Bret hooked a finger under Shawn's waistband and tugged impatiently.

"Not unless you wanna see them on me again."

Bret worked that over in his head. The ripping would have to wait. Maybe he'd buy Shawn a cheap pair just so they could be torn off. He reached over to the coffee table for a bottle of lube Shawn had remembered to leave out in the nick of time. Messily coating his index and middle finger, Bret used his other hand to move the panties to the side. Shawn's aching cock fell out from the fabric, hanging heavy and neglected below him. Bret pushed his fingers inside of Shawn's tight hole and felt his own dick twitch at the way Shawn groaned from the sensation. When he pushed back against him, fucking himself and begging for more, Bret knew he wouldn't be able to tease him for long.

"Need you, Bret. Need you," Shawn mumbled. His hole spasmed around Bret's fingers, eagerly awaiting what he really wanted.

"Who do you need?"

"You, daddy." Shawn wanted to jump for joy that Bret liked his new nickname for him.

Bret undressed faster than he ever had before. As soon as he'd kicked off his pants and lubed himself up, he pressed the tip of himself against Shawn's hole.

"Beautiful."

Shawn felt his eyes roll back in his head with Bret's first, smooth stroke inside of him. His body felt loose as he struggled to hold himself up. Bret fit perfectly inside of him, better than anyone else ever had. When he moved, a pace that Bret hoped seemed made him seem like he was in control instead of restraining himself, jolts of pleasure wracked through Shawn. As badly as he wanted to push himself farther onto Bret's cock, both his own body and Bret's strong hold on his hip kept him from doing so. He reached a hand down to stroke himself fast, grabbing what he could of the panties to feel them rub against his sensitive skin with every pull. His frenzied movements made his back muscles move mesmerizingly.

"Flip me around, please," Shawn's voice was soft and small under the sound of Bret's groans. "I'm close."

Bret was happy to have a second to breathe. He turned Shawn onto his back and thought he would come just from the way he looked up at him. Sweat soaked strands of blond hair cut across his face while his lips parted open sensually. A stream of precome leaked down his cock, staining the panties and turning them translucent.

"You drive me crazy, daddy."

A renewed vigor took over Bret's body like a specter. He dug himself deep inside Shawn, carving out a new space no one else would be able to fill. Shawn's breathy pleas for Bret to fuck him harder, deeper, just like that, were reverberating around Bret's skull like calls to battle. He would do whatever Shawn wanted, whatever he asked.

"Tell me-- tell me you love me, Bret."

"I fucking love you, Shawn. Daddy loves you."

Shawn gasped as he watched himself come. It leaked out in short spurts across his underwear, ruining it. Bret continued to fuck him through his orgasm, his pace getting faster now that Shawn had came. Bret's muscles tightened up at the base of his neck every time he thrusted. When Shawn gave him a lopsided smile and adjusted the panties around, moving them against and away from his dick to give Bret more access, he abruptly stopped moving. Seconds later he felt himself come deep inside of Shawn, an out of body experience he'd never had before. Bret pulled out and readjusted the underwear back into place just in time enough to watch his come leak out of Shawn's ass and into the fabric. Now they really were ruined with both his and Shawn's release making them damp beyond belief.

"Do you really love me?"

Bret stopped in his tracks on his way to Shawn's bathroom to turn to face him. "I wouldn't have let you call me… that. If I didn't. I'm not into it."

Shawn huffed out a short, smug laugh at Bret's seriousness. "Seems like you are."

"Well, I'm not. Don't expect it to happen again."

Shawn rolled his eyes and lazily stretched his body out like a house cat when Bret turned back around. "Mm-hmm, you got it. What color panties do you want me to wear next time, daddy?"

"Pink and black." Bret's voice was deadpan, the bathroom door shutting behind him with a strong click.

#bret hart #shawn michaels #magnoliafanfic #wrestling #wrestling smut #wrestling fanfic #bretshawn

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thedramasummer · 2 months

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Tagged by the lovely @msmarvelouswinchester for WIP Wednesday! This one is from my fic of Witness Protection AU. Basic summary is Alex ends up in WitSec after being a whistleblower after finding out creepy behavior from a senator by using is charm and dealing with all that follows after

Tagging the wonderful @anincompletelist @firenati0n @emmalostinwonderland @cactusdragon517 @jackzimmermemes @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @cheesecurdsgravyandfries

Putting the snippet under the cut because it contains some gross behavior from said senator that involves inappropriate flirting if that is not your jam. Also brief mention of emeto

Senator Pollack has said some things to Alex that make him take a step back. It started off weird, but benign. You look young for your age, sport or if you’re not careful, I’ll steal you away from Luna. Alex should probably tell someone, but he isn’t going to snitch if it isn’t relevant.

So he decides he’ll figure out if it is something that’s a significant concern. He plays the game, leans into the shoulder rubs, laughs at creepy jokes that make him vomit in the toilet in his dorm when he’s alone.

Unfortunately it isn’t enough. He’ll have to raise the stakes. He won’t go too far, but he needs to prove this bastard is doing something.

Pollack brings him to the bar. He might be 21 in a few months, but he’s still technically underage. But Pollack talks his way into making sure the bouncer avoids looking too closely.

He offers to buy Alex a beer. Strike two. Alex politely declines, blinking his eyelashes. “I don’t drink on school nights, Senator.”

Pollack puts a hand on his knee, moving up his thigh. “You’re a good boy, Alex. You’ll make a fine senator one day.”

“Thank you, sir. That means a lot coming from you.” He prays the mic under his collar is picking this drivel up.

“You know, I’ve been able to help ambitious young people like you out. I like teaching them how to walk the walk and talk the talk. I like seeing them grow.”

Alex blinks owlishly. “And what would I have to do to learn from you? I’m learning so much from Senator Luna already.”

Pollack laughs. “That upstart? He’s young, Alex. You need someone with experience. You need someone who really understands how the political circles work. What people really want.” His hand creeps up again, and Alex twitches. This is bad. So fucking bad.

“Thank you for the offer, Senator. I really appreciate your insight, but I’m fine with my current position. And thank you for offering me a drink, but I should really go.” He’s trying to play it cool, but his brain is on overdrive.

“You should stay, sweetheart.”

#wip wednesday #rwrb fanfiction #rwrb #alex claremont diaz #firstprince #henry fox mountchristen windsor

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strangesickness · 3 months

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what if i wrote an IT competitive swimming AU... what then...

i have so many fic ideas and so little time... in the meantime... the losers as competitive swimmers (this is so niche oh my god)

lots of hyperspecific headcanons can be found under the cut lol

mike hanlon: he's a butterflyer mainly but also strong in backstroke. weirdly good at counting his strokes and has never hit his head going into the wall on backstroke. his favorite race is the 100 fly, but he's not the type to complain when his coach puts him in the 200 fly or an IM race (IM is individual medley, it means all the strokes back to back in one race). he brings snacks to share at competitions but doesn't let anyone eat on deck. got into competitive swimming fairly late (about 14) because he enjoyed doing the distance swim when he was getting his lifeguard qualifications. he's a strong swimmer and probably has the most endurance out of the group, but not in a long distance race kinda way, more in a "i could swim across the lake if push comes to shove" kinda way. he's the only one who can correctly keep track of what rep they're on during training, everyone else always turns to him when asked.

bill denbrough: he's been with the swim club since he was seven and has basically always been a freestyle (basically the same as frontcrawl, except you can technically do whatever you want. everyone does frontcrawl though) sprinter. excels at the 50m freestyle sprint and broke the club record for it when he was seventeen. he leads warmup and organizes everyone for cheers and travel competitions. dislikes breaststroke but is frustratingly good at it so his coach frequently makes him swim it. can't stop hitting his head on the wall on backstroke and has been banned from doing crossover turns (special turn between backstroke and breaststroke used in IM, your face gets very close to the wall) in races after an unfortunate incident involving his face and the wall. he's responsible for drawing mini heat sheets (packets of paper with all of the race information, including athlete names and lanes) on everyones arms, he does a little grid too, its all very professional. he is the keeper of the spare caps and goggles. when they were younger he kept track of everyone during warm-up to ensure no one got trampled in the mess of people.

stanley uris: backstroker through and through, wishes there was a 400m backstroke, once his coach put him in the 400m freestyle and he did backstroke out of spite. his best race is the 200 backstroke. he takes every opportunity presented to him to talk shit about butterfly. makes sure the losers don't miss their races and is the only person allowed to touch the heat sheet. you know he cares because he highlights all the losers names in colorcoded markers on his heat sheet. he's not here to be the best he's just here to humble richie at backstroke and have fun with his friends. he gets split times for the other losers and keeps track of everyones personal best and qualifying times. he complains his friends are the ones always nearly missing their races but he has been known to get distracted highlighting everyones names on the heat sheets when he really should be warming up.

beverly marsh: good at every stroke so mainly an IMer but she's a big fan of 200m races which disturbs everyone around her (200m races are detested by many for being an awkward distance between a sprint and long distance). is really good at dives and turns and has on more than one occasion gotten disqualified for going too far under water off the dive. has an extremely powerful kick but frequently forgets to put strength into her pulls. if richie's doing backstroke in an edge lane she will lean over the edge of the pool and mimic kicking with her arms ("kick faster!") because she knows he hates it. has planned 99% of team building exercises which always go terribly wrong in some way but she finds a way to save them from disaster. past team building activities have included: laser tag, bowling, and tracking down a ghost house in the middle of the woods. this last one was not well received but they did find the house so she won.

ben hanscom: long distance swimming legend, he's a freestyler and his best race is the 1500m. incredible at knowing what pace to go and recognizing how much energy he has left so he doesn't go too slow off the start but doesn't die in the first half either. is strongest in the third quarter of a race and tends to overtake people during this period because he doesn't let the pressure get to him (the third quarter is typically the hardest and most stressful of the race, you are tired and likely in pain, but don't yet have the adrenaline rush from being in the final stretch). he used to crash and burn during the third quarter, but one day something just kind of clicked and he got it. he still gets nervous before races but when he's in the water he doesn't falter. he always gets the best spots at meets and the losers build bag forts in the bleachers to camp out in for the long stretches between races. he also always finds the best places to hangout outside the pool deck while the losers are waiting for finals to start.

richie tozier: mainly a flyer but he got really tall when he was sixteen and his coach started putting him in more backstroke races, he's pretty even between the two strokes at this point and does a lot of IM. number one breaststroke hater in the WORLD, it hurts his knees because he does it wrong but no matter what corrections people make he can't get it right. does not understand how people like breaststroke and isn't convinced it doesn't hurt for everybody. cheers a ridiculous amount. his voice is always hoarse for days after a competition because he cheers so loudly. he's always leading group cheers, even when he was a crackly-voiced 13 year old he was insisting he lead cheers. he's really loud because of it and is great at throwing his voice over the noise of the pool. they're always at races until the very end because ben is usually in the 1500 and richie will cheer for nearly 19 minutes until all the losers are rushing to the end of ben's lane to get him water and help him stay standing and richie can just give him a thumbs up because his voice is totally gone.

eddie kaspbrak: was a breaststroker for most of his life until one day his coach was like. yknow what. fuck you. butterfly time. and now he's a flyer. his best race is the 200IM though and he hates 200m fly. he gets really in his head about it and has on multiple occasions completely died in the third quarter because he's so anxious. he always gets out of the pool after 200m flys feeling like he's going to black out because he's so stressed about it. every once in a blue moon though he just doesn't stress for some unknown reason and does amazing. loses his mind at the losers when they don't wear flipflops on deck or in the showers. like do they know how gross pool decks are? no they want infections? if they're doing single length sprints during practice the other losers will walk his flip flops to the other end of the pool so he doesn't have to touch the deck with his bare feet. you would think swimming would be the most miserable sport in the world for him due to the general... disgustingness... of pools but he loves the sport so much that it manages to outweigh his neuroses most of the time. hates backstroke, its a stupid stroke and he keeps getting water up his nose and what if he hits his head, why do mike, stan, and richie even stand it?

also i did my best to explain anything that might be unintelligible if you weren't deep in the trenches of competitive swimming as a teenager but if anyone has questions, either about the AU, or just clarifications about swim racing in general, feel free to ask! i love talking about this stuff.

#this is so self indulgent #audience for this post: me #i obviously based a lot of this on my own experience so it might not track to other swimmers lol #will need to make a separate post for richie and eddie in this AU because it will get long because they're actually insufferable.#it 2017 #it 2019 #it stephen king #it chapter 2 #it chapter two #mike hanlon #bill denbrough #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #stanley uris #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #posts afflicted with a strange sickness #red's ramblings

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vintagetvstars · 8 days

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I want to be clear that I'm not writing this in anger as my favourites are long gone and they didn't lose to her, but surely you must have noticed a pattern in the victories of one particular actress? What some of her fans are doing may technically not be against the rules but it feels against the spirit of the competition. I realise there is probably nothing you can do about it but it stinks.

Thanks so much for the ask and for your concern! We've been talking about this for quite a while and both had several points we wanted to address with this and so we decided to put our responses under the cut. There is also a TL;DR included at the bottom of the post for anyone who wants a more brief response.

Ah yes, the icon herself, Itatí Cantoral. Recently fans of Itatí have been tagging a popular blog with a large following in order to give more people a chance to vote for her - which is really great for all her fans! It's also extremely fun from our end to see the massive amounts of love pouring out from the fans in the form of extremely enthusiastic tags.

I understand this can be frustrating to those rooting for the competition though. Because we are a smaller blog with a smaller following and voting pool, it means that if her poll does get reblogged by a popular blog, then a massive amount of votes in her favor happen very suddenly, and it can quickly and unexpectedly flip the results.

Ultimately though, we love all the love for Itatí and don't want to stop people from participating or voting for her. The majority of her fans might not follow this blog directly or the tournament overall, but they do genuinely deeply love Itatí Cantoral and are extremely excited about her being included in the tournament!

We want this to be a fun experience for everyone, so we encourage anyone who sees their favorite contestant losing to reblog and tag their own favorite popular tumblrs and get other fans involved. This past round was close (Itatí only won by a margin of about 14% - less than 200 votes out of the total 1,287) and Lucy Lawless definitely could have turned it around and won if the poll had reached her fan base.

Don't lose hope for your remaining favorites yet - Itatí is beloved and deservedly so, but anything is possible in the finals.

- mod violet

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Ideally everyone participating has a fun time because really what we are trying to do here is give people a place to gush about their favorite vintage stars and share them with more people! But this is still formatted as a competition so it’s understandable to feel frustrated or upset when one or your favs is losing.

We want to encourage positivity on this blog and so far the large wave of Itati Cantoral fans we have been seeing have been largely positive and enthusiastically declaring their love for her and engaging with the polls she’s in!

We never want to stop excited and enthusiastic fans from participating because that’s what this blog is about! So if you find your fav is losing please feel free to get more engaged! Spread and share your love for your favorite with other fans who haven’t found our small blog yet! Don’t feel like you need to hold back propaganda for your fav either! If you want to share the same propaganda every round then we are happy to help spread it every round!

And lastly to everyone who has lost a fav and didn’t get to share everything they wanted to about them, please know as long as this blog is running we will always keep it a place for you to share your love for your vintage tv favs! In between tournaments and during the break before next years tournament we would love to continue sharing anything you’d like to say about your vintage tv favs whether they won, lost, or didn’t even compete in this years tournaments. We won’t be reblogging it during active tournaments as we don’t want to distract from those actively competing but anytime there isn’t a full blown tournament going on please feel free to tag us or send asks about your favs! We’ll be reblogging and talking about our favs during those times and would love to have more voices added to the conversation!

- mod vintage

TL;DR - Itatí Cantoral's polls are being tagged by a very popular blog, resulting in her flipping several polls dramatically during the last 24 hours. We understand that for fans of her competitors that this can be frustrating or disheartening, however, all the fans coming in are excited, enthusiastic, and staying within the spirit of the tournament, so we welcome their engagement. We want to encourage anyone who's favorite is losing in any of the polls to go out and tag popular blogs, submit propaganda, and drum up fan support.

#vintage tv stars poll #station letters

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thesparklingwriter · 2 years

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a modest proposal

"Would you let me stay by your side for the rest of my life?”

tags: soft Zhongli, canon divergence (Zhongli has mora), fem!reader, Zhongli and reader are in a relationship, proposal, dinner date, zhongli being Zhongli, he knows he's slightly out of touch but he's trying

masterlist | ao3 link | taglist | next

i'm also taking requests for the rest of the flufftober days, feel free to leave any suggestions, no matter how self-indulgent they may be.

You've always been very vocal about things people do that they pretend are for their benefit, but are actually power plays to show the rest of the world how well they're doing. Namely, useless degrees in the Akedemiya, (You once met someone who had a degree in rockology. When you told Zhongli, he laughed and said he wouldn't teach a rockology class, because by simply opening his mouth, he would already be speaking at a level higher than most of the class's comprehension. You said he was harsh, but not incorrect.) massive houses that you spend most of your life cleaning, (your house was the only exception to the rule, since the only beings around were adepti, and they truly didn't care enough about you to pass judgement, for better or for worse) and finally marriage.

You were very against marriage. Or at least the silly kind you often encountered in Teyvat—people were married, but barely even knew each other's names. They just got a kick out of saying 'my wife' or 'my partner' and it irked you. You were essentially married to an Archon, but did you scream it off the rooftops? Technically, you screamed it off the mountains, but that was more Zhongli's fault than yours.

But Zhongli, being the most annoyingly perfect man on Teyvat, seems to see right through your act. It wasn't that you didn't want to be married. You just didn't want to be caught in the kind that made you feel suffocated. Some nights, when Zhongli was fast asleep and you found your thoughts drifting, you wondered whether you'd really want to be married to him. You concluded that you essentially acted like a married couple anyway, so it would just be an excuse for you to wear a pretty dress, which again, you weren't too bothered for or against. You wouldn't reject it if it were ever to happen, but you wouldn't actively chase it either.

Or at least, that’s what you’ve been telling yourself, instead of getting your hopes up. Over the past week or so, Zhongli has been banging on about doing things the ‘human’ way. That involves actually walking to places instead of letting you teleport, carrying your own groceries home instead of letting him teleport them home…It seems Zhongli views teleporting things as inherently unhuman, despite the fact that you spend your time teleporting across Teyvat. You’ve kept that particular commentary to yourself.

He keeps taking you on lavish, expensive dates—that you thoroughly enjoy—but always serve to remind you that you’d rather be at home with him, quietly reading a book together.

So today, you decide that even though it’s going to sound rude, you’ll tell him that you’d much rather be at home with him. That is, you’ll tell him after you’ve devoured your food.

“Are you alright? You’re eating much slower than usual.” Zhongli says to you, nudging you slightly under the table. He never sits opposite you, always next to you, as if you being on the other side of the table is too far away from him.

“Hm?” You look up from your plate. “I’m alright. Are you?”

“I’m also alright,” he chuckles. “You’re being really quiet. Have I done something to offend you?”

You feel your eyes widen. You hadn’t realised that you’d been showing your emotions on your face so clearly. “No, not at all!” You protest. “Actually, if anything, you’ve done the opposite. All these dates, and the good food… I’ve really enjoyed it. Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Zhongli smiles. He was worried he’d come off as too overbearing or creepy by being so frivolous with his spending with you. But the god of mora could always make more(a), so he didn’t see the need to be so frugal with his cash. He was beginning to worry that you would grow to dislike the quiet nights at home.

“But I have to ask,” You twist the ring Zhongli gave you. Today, like some other days, he’s gifted you a new outfit to wear. You try to not take it to mean that he doesn’t like the rest of the clothes in your wardrobe. He wasn’t often one to add jewellery, and when you started to look at it more closely, he finally finished dressing and you made your way to the restaurant, so you didn't get to have a good enough look. “What’s going on with these dates? I enjoy them, don’t get me wrong, but I miss our quiet nights at home.”

“That’s because you’re in heat again, aren’t you, love?” Zhongli jokes.

You squeal in shock, glancing quickly around the room. “You shouldn’t say things like that in public. I am not in heat.” You hiss quietly. He chuckles, taking your hand in his. "I don't go into heat. I don't have the biological facilities for that."

“In all honesty, I would not be surprised if you did, and simply didn't know it," he smiles. "As for the dates, I thought that you’d maybe miss the more normal aspects of being in a relationship. I suppose I overdid it though.” He sighs. “I don’t want you to resent me for being so unconventional.”

You can’t help it. You laugh. “Li, when have I ever wanted anything conventional? All I’ve wanted is to be with you. I keep telling you, and you don’t listen. I don’t care about fanfare, okay? I care about us.”

“So you don’t mind being behind the rest of your friends?”

“Of course I don’t. Sometimes, I wonder if we really have much in common anymore. All they ever want to do is talk about their husbands and the children they’re going to have and their scheduled—”

“You don’t want any of that?” Zhongli asks you.

“No, I think the whole scheduling thing is more headache than it’s worth.”

“I am not talking about that. You’re not interested in having a husband or children?”

“Li,” you sigh, cupping his face lightly. “I don't care about the semantics, as long as it’s with you. I admit those aren't my priorities in life, but I don’t mind either way. Why do you look nauseous?” You’ve never seen Zhongli look so out of his element before. The only other time was when he first asked you to meet him.

“Because I feel nauseous,” Zhongli replies, chuckling softly. “I know being married isn’t very high up on your list of priorities, and I know you don’t care for it, but I’d like to do things the human traditional way, like you did for me. I’d like to afford you the same luxuries.”

To be completely honest, the whole dragon mate thing was the most lowkey tradition you’d ever experienced, and that made you pretty happy. But as much as you want to pretend like you have no feelings for or against being married, the inner child who longed to be married is squealing her head off.

“You want to get married?”

“Only if you do. It doesn’t have to be a ridiculously grand affair, it could even be solely the two of us,” Zhongli flushes. “I don’t want you to feel like I’ve deprived you of an experience you clearly want.”

“You’d marry me? Even if it were to change nothing about the way we live?”

“I see the way you stutter when you introduce me to your acquaintances. At least this way, you could say ‘my husband’ and not have to deal with the confused stares.” Zhongli smiles. “And I’d like your parents to feel secure in the fact that I’m not going to disappear.”

Now you start to tear up. You haven’t visited your parents in so long, whisked away by the demanding nature of your life as an adventurer-come-errand runner, but Zhongli is right. All they ever wanted for you was for you to be happy and secure. The fact he thought about your parents completely sways you. If there was ever a fragment of doubt in your mind about whether you’d refuse him or not, it’s shattered now.

“What do you say, love?” Zhongli asks, taking your hand and twisting your ring slightly. “Will you marry me? Would you let me stay by your side for the rest of my life?”

Now the tears are really falling, and you don’t want to draw attention to yourself, so you nod as vigorously as you can manage. “Of course I will,” you sniff.

Zhongli kisses your hand, and as he lowers it, a light catches your ring, and it suddenly dawns on you.

“You made me put on my own engagement ring?” You ask him, slapping his shoulder lightly. Of course, he would make you do all the work. He even left you to figure out the ring's significance by yourself!

“Well, I thought it was too pretty to go to waste if you didn’t accept my proposal. I didn’t want you to dislike it.”

You study the ring in more detail. It’s not like the normal engagement rings your friends flash at you, and you’re grateful for it. It’s marbled with gold and brown crystal, and topped with a shimmering Cor Lapis. It’s almost a ring version of Zhongli, and that makes you love it even more.

“So,” You smile. “What type of rock is the brown crystal?”

Zhongli clears his throat. “It’s not a crystal.” You tilt your head in confusion, and Zhongli explains further. “I have an adeptus friend who likes to collect things, not that he’d openly admit to it. He had a couple of my scales saved from before I had a vaguely humanoid form, so I called in a favour.”

Your jaw drops. “This is a piece of you?”

“Does that offend you?” Zhongli asks, quickly. “I can always get it changed.”

Even if it did, you’d never tell him that, not after he’d put all this effort into putting it together for you.

“No. Don't do that. I love it,” You smile. “I love you.”

a/n my mother watched me write this and asked why i looked like i was crying so i told her i was doing schoolwork and she just nodded

#tswzhongliflufftober #zhongli #zhongli fluff #flufftober #flufftober 2022 #genshin fluff #zhongli x reader #zhongli fanfiction #genshin fanfiction #fanfiction #genshin #genshin impact flufftober #genshin impact #your honour i love him

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skullfaced-fruitcake · 10 months

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TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE MARINE ARCHIVES AU (I'm using the Eyes power to Compell you and it's working)

OKAY SO BASICALLY. I made this AU because of the dumbest pun imaginable, involving Helen and Melanie.

I’ll show the pun at the end of the post.

Under the cut is an assortment of fish character conversions and headcanons. :)

Melanie King: pufferfish.

Helen Distortion: I originally thought of her as an eel, but later on I changed her character to a catfish. Y’know. (as much as the Distortion can be one single species)

Michael Distortion: cuttlefish. They can change their colors/patterns to deceive prey!

Jonah Magnus: Malawi Eyebiter. This one might be self-explanatory, but I think it’s fun to picture little eyebiter Jonah living inside Eel-Elias’s head. speaking of which,

Elias Bouchard: Green Moray Eel. Did you know that green moray eels aren’t even actually green. How fucked up is that.

Jonathan Sims: Cuatros Ojos (Four Eyes). They technically only have two eyes, but their eyes are split so that they can see above and below the surface of the water!! I think they’re neat. They’re also known for refusing to die when they’re outside of the water and exposed to air.

Nikola Orsinov: clownfish. Pretty self-explanatory, I think.

NotThem: octopus. Slimy little bastards who mimic other animals.

Georgie Barker: jellyfish. It just feels right to me.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten with character conversions, but I also have some random headcanons:

During the fisheyepocalypse, holes in coral could be seen to have eyes peeking out of them.

Allegiances between entities are slightly different! For example:

The Dark and the Stranger kinda band together at the bottom of the ocean, and the Vast is extremely powerful.

The Buried has a lot more to do with water pressure, but many statements that would have been related to heavy rain or getting choked on water now have to do with suffocating on air underwater.

The Hunt now obviously has a lot more to do with underwater predators than wolves and things like that above water. They have more power in this fish world.

The Vast also has pretty easy prey, and avatars sometimes take the shape of very large creatures such as blue whales.

The Slaughter is probably not as powerful here, because I don’t know how many fish go to war with each other…

I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t look up spider fish because that sounds like nightmare fuel to me, but I know that they exist. They scuttle around on the floor, and that’s what the Web embodies itself as, instead of regular spiders.

I think that the Extinction might actually be more powerful here, and may have become a fully fledged Fear. Y’know, because of all the plastic, oil, and general trash that’s contaminating the ocean.

The Corruption probably has a similar influence, but maybe a little less potent because of the lack of hive-minded bugs (at least, I think there are no hive-bugs underwater. I don’t really want to look that up).

I think it’d be really funny if the Spiral just worked like normal, and it opened like, mini doors in coral for fish to swim through.

Although I guess in this AU, there needs to be some sort of institute and fish society. So yeah, the Distortion could function pretty similarly to canon TMA.

As for the Lonely, I think that would work pretty similarly (see above), but its famous fog might not work out underwater. Maybe it just makes the water go really still and cold, indicating the absence of other life-forms.

The Eye is one I’m not so sure about, but if we believe the previous (^^) statement, the Eye might function pretty similarly to canon.

Now I’m gonna include the joke that started this off in the first place, but bear in mind that this might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever thought of….

Fish!Helen: What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fish!Melanie: ... Fish!Helen: A fsh! :)

(I’ll tag you because I know that tumblr can be weird about answered asks. @samwise1548 )

#its okay the pun is pretty much the dumbest thing ever #but i like this au lol #damn i guess the eye really did compel me because this might be the longest post i’ve ever written #tma #the marine archives #tma au #ALSO im sorry for the ass formatting; tumblr just will not work with me

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theflyindutchwoman · 6 months

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It's been a while without the rookie so between the fanfics, the wishes for chenford and the ideas of what chenford could be and others shows who focus more on relationships, maybe it got lost that the rookie isn't as angsty that what some peoples think it is right now. Angela/wesley for the past 3 seasons, nolan/bailey in s4 with the ex husband, they got their up and downs but they don't break up. Once they have their endgames the show don't throw breakups for the fun or angst of it. The show priorites isn't relationships dramas, if it was they could have done SO MUCH MORE in s4 with chris,ashley and chenford. This is also why I respectfully don't understand peoples who think a breakup would be fun for angst because the only angst you'll have is them looking at each other for 3 sec if we are lucky like in 5x3 and then they'd be off doing their cops things. Waiting week after weeks for this would be boring and annoying as hell after waiting 5 years. And I know some peoples are worried about it, but a breakup wouldn't be spoiled.

Honestly, I just think people were simply stating what they wished to see. Someone asked them a question and they answered. It was about their preferences… I know that when I received a similar ask in the past, the logistics of the show didn't necessarily factor in my reply.

I can't speak for anyone who would like to see a breakup - or anyone else for that matter - but I think it's pretty fair to assume that what they want is a separation that makes sense, that is properly developed, with decent screentime and a real storyline that involves far more than just 3 seconds of pining here and there. The same way I want to see Lucy and Tim face some ups and downs : it's under the assumption that it is going to be written in a beautiful way and not rushed. And it is technically doable. Take episodes 5.08 to 5.12 for instance : Tim and Lucy had a fair amount of screentime dedicated to their relationship. The writers could easily use that same amount for a more angsty storyline or a breakup. Especially if it's related to UC : it could be linked to a case. A bit like 5.20 and 5.21. Though a shorter season does present a bigger challenge, that's for sure.

And you're right, the show doesn't really do 'breakups/reconciliation' storylines. Actually, it doesn't really do 'breakups'… Rachel, Gino and Isaac are still waiting for one. Jokes aside, the show did have a storyline like this for Wesley/Angela, but that was at the very beginning… I don't know if Bailey/Nolan broke up once it was revealed she was still married, but since it was solved by the next episode, I guess it's a moot point. Same with Nyla/James. And with her sleeping with her ex-husband, there was a reason to go there (though I'm grateful we were spared a 'who's the father' storyline). All these arcs could have been much more dramatic, that's for sure. So far, the show hasn't really leaned into that side. That's why I'm a bit sceptical that they would do a plotline like this. On the other hand, Tim and Lucy's relationship has been far more developed… So it wouldn't be completely beyond the realms of possibility either.

I also doubt that Eric would spoil something like that. More than once. Then again, this is the same guy who made a video last year with his new uniform, spoiling his promotion in the process. So who knows?! I have to say though, the timing of this makes me curious. As far I can tell, he only started talking about breakups after he was directly asked about his opinion on the matter. Not before. I mean, I may be wrong on the timeline here since I don't check his cameos. But that's the way it appeared to me. It could be that he received more information in-between… In which case, talk about perfect timing. That said, I get why some would rather be prepared or are worried. That's not my place to judge them.

(I won't take the risk of tagging anyone here, not in this volatile atmosphere, but feel free to pitch in or correct me).

#ask & ye shall receive #the rookie #chenford

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hriobzagelthewanderer · 5 months

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[So far, I have touched upon how I have structured my blog's 'primary' AU's (not counting ships as most of them are sub-verses in each setup), and how they are based on Tarot cards thus far:

The Fool, for Hriob at his 'baseline' on his own, as well as covering the majority of his ship-verses as per multi-shipping standards.

The Emperor, for Hriob as the head of his own Fae Court, and unwittingly setting himself up to realize sudden realizations about himself with the aid of those he enlists. [Essentially a Political Fantasy AU revolving around alliances, intrigue, and preparations for a potential apocalypse, but its also the only verse to eschew multi-shipping rules as a potential polycule situation for reasons of drama and hilarity.]

The Hanged Man, for Hriob as a humble high-school teacher by day, and a masked Fae vigilante by night in a setting that ditches his ancestral home to join one city or another [Possible options include Gotham and Japan, but will be sub-divided by additional tags accordingly].

The Tower, a.k.a. the 'Sinister AU', for Hriob in a 'Bad End' where his mother died, and he took it rather hard... to the point of shunning the outside world entirely and taking a near-flagellant approach to his own life in the ruins that he calls home. [Heavily involving the absence of @melodiadraconis's Lyth and incarceration of one of @shatteredwastes's many AUs of the Jumper, aka Gaolbird].

[Other Cards may be planned already in varying stages of preparation, However, I am considering taking advantage of one aspect of Tarot-reading to help inspire/open up even more AU's - the aspect of an 'Inverted' card, where the meaning of the card is reversed or turned on its head... though it is easy to assume this means 'worse', it not usually a case of 'normal means good and reversed is bad'. However, what that means for Hriob and the blog is interesting:

The Fool - Reversed, Unplanned, but likely a verse where Hriob as-we-know-him never came to be, and Krakonos still continues on as the Mountain King without incident.

The Emperor - Reversed, for Hriob as a member of Gaki's Court in a timeline where they never broke up [reference to @nomercyleft and one of their AU's - and ironically part of another polycule].

The Hanged Man - Reversed, Unplanned, but likely for Hriob in an Urban setting not as a teacher or vigilante, but more of a pure Celebrity, likely an actor and investor of some kind [Again unplanned but likely using the same city-setting-specific tag system].

The Tower - Reversed, for Hriob starting in the parameters of the 'Sinister AU', but leading to a confrontation with a certain grieving empress that leads to a renewal of his former relationship with her [once again heavily involving yet another AU with @nomercyleft].

[Again, the second set is mainly under-construction still, but have a lot of groundwork settled for at least a handful to get the ball rolling. I fully intend to extend things further across the Arcana. Some plans are as follows:

The Devil, A verse where Hriob loses and Owen wins in their little tug-of-war for the fate of the world, resulting in him being reincarnated into the new world with... more baggage than anyone involved would have asked for. [Technically another nomercyleft verse but actually focusing on characters in @thelittlestdemon's blog].

The Star, for a verse in the future involving the version of Amelia known as The Seeker, aka Lillium... and the newest reincarnation of Hriob's spiritual lineage, a young boy named Casimir, in her care [yet another collaborative verse with the many versions of the star of @shatteredwastes].

[I admit that some of these have been in the works for over a year without much opportunity to focus on them, and others are rather fresh ideas from recent plotting sessions with my many friends and compatriots over on Discord, but all the same I hope this little sneak peek gets me more of a foundation to get my Writing New-Year's-Resolution started, and get more of you on-board with planning and starting a lot of these verses soon!]

#ooc #the mun speaks #about hriob #thelittlestdemon #nomercyleft #shatteredwastes #melodiadraconis #the fool - mainline #the emperor - fae court of the wanderer #the hanged man - of classwork and vigilantism #the tower - a sinister fate #the tower reversed - the eclipse shatters #the star - the prodigious echo #the devil - the monster they made #the emperor reversed - on mending jade #the hanged man reversed - on the shoulders of giants #the fool reversed - for want of a knell

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ecosystem-administrator · 2 months

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Mayhem Moondrop

WoL/OC tag meme! thanks @anneapocalypse for the tag!

Tagging in turn: @elizabethrobertajones, @tinygamertris, @gachabastard, @thesingingscorpio, @vitaecryptid, and @grahatiasravetower just in case you see this in a few months when you remember to log in again

(Choose whichever WoL/OC you want, do it more than once, ignore me entirely. what am I, a cop?)

B A S I C S

Name: Mayhem Moondrop

Nicknames: Mayhem is already a stage name and doesn't really need abbreviating. They will respond readily to whatever non-obscene epithets you choose to bestow, though.

Age: mid to late 20s at this point? 23 at the start of ARR

Nameday: 18th sun of the 4th astral moon

Race: Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te

Gender: No (agender)

Sexuality: Yes (pansexual and polyamorous)

Profession: Bard (actor, folklorist, and historian all in one word, what more do you need?)

P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: Black, currently worn short but growing it back out - they had to cut most of it off after nearly losing an ear at the edge of the universe.

Eyes: Silver - Moon Keeper eyes are slightly reflective

Skin: Grey

Tattoos/scars: I don't mod aside from reshade so until they give us a fashion accessory, you'll just have to imagine an Archon mark on their right cheek post-Endwalker. They have relatively few scars - the most prominent is along their scalp, mostly covered by the hair that's still growing back in from when it was left.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Their mother was a poacher-turned-bandit in the Black Shroud; she was killed by Wood Wailers when Mayhem was barely old enough to say their own name, and they don't remember anything about her, or the gang she traveled with. Father unknown, and considering how Keeper culture works, was likely never expected to participate in parenthood beyond the siring of a child anyway.

Siblings: Due to how Moon Keeper naming conventions work, Mayhem is aware based on their original name that they were not their mother's first "son". No siblings have ever come forward to be associated, and they've never been interested enough to go looking.

Grandparents: Under the circumstances, good luck. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Emotionally they sort of consider Jehantel to be their grandfather, although it's not something they've ever discussed outright.

In-laws and other: No in-laws, although Count Edmont would be perfectly willing to consider himself for the role even though they were never married to Haurchefant; Mayhem is polite but keeps their distance a little bit because they don't want to explain to him their opinion on the Fortemps family dramas. Post-Endwalker the adult Scions are involved in a polycule which technically would add Wilfsunn and Bloewyda (as Urianger's adoptive parents) to the potential in-law list (excellent) but might also add Matoya (terrifying), so we're just not going there. As far as other blood relatives, in theory Mayhem could go back to the Shroud and find their mother's clan in hopes of reaching out to find some, but they're not interested in participating in traditional Keeper culture (which is highly gendered), and none of those people came looking for them when they were getting raised in Gridania, so they don't feel like there's much point.

Pets: None; they're not really an animal person

S K I L L S

Abilities: They've always been good with a bow, which was how they got their start as a wagon guard for some traveling performers, and gradually invited to participate in performances as their interest became clear. Over time, they've started to learn a few other fighting styles: red mage for when they want to take center stage rather than play narrator, astrologian for when the path of the story needs a little help to get on the right track, and most recently warrior so that they can pick up where someone else left off. They trained a little with firearms when they were in Ishgard, since Stephanivien had access to the best practice shooting range that would actually welcome outsiders, but ultimately they prefer archery.

Hobbies: Reading, writing, crafting, performing. For all that their formal education was pretty basic and perfunctory, Mayhem is a deeply curious person and loves to learn, and to share the knowledge they've gained in turn. They have a knack for understanding how to connect to an audience and meet them where they're at in order to draw them into a story or an explanation. While they were with the performers they also learned to make and repair costumes, and have kept up the practice enough that they're now a fairly accomplished weaver. Naturally, as a bard, they also sing and dance, and relish the chance to get back up on the stage from time to time to put on a proper show.

T R A I T S

Most positive trait: I would say their curiosity. The drive to learn and keep learning, to never assume they know everything, has kept them humble and compassionate throughout their journey.

Most negative trait: Avoidance and deflection. They love learning about other people but they rarely talk about themself, and especially early in their journey they took a very long time to bond with others in a way that would actually make them want to stick around. It wasn't until near the end of Heavensward that "run away and change your name and try to never look back" stopped being an option in the back of their mind.

L I K E S

Colors: They usually default to green for clothing choices, but they really love vivid colors in general, especially in intricate patterns. Thavnair was a delight.

Smells: Subtle, natural smells, mostly - flowers on the breeze, the forest after a rain

Textures: Soft and fuzzy, squishy and comfortable. They like the subtle roughness of old paper, too.

Drinks: Usually favors cool and sweet and fruity. Still has a melancholy weakness for hot chocolate.

O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: Nah, too much risk of messing with their voice

Drinks: Enthusiastically at social gatherings. Has been carried to bed more than once.

Drugs: Doesn't seek them out but is willing to partake if offered.

Mount Issuance: Their Grand Company mount has lived a pampered courier's life at the Rising Stones ever since the Scions moved in, and has most recently been transferred into Tataru's possession. Mischief, the black chocobo they consider their primary mount and companion, was a gift from Haurchefant, and is technically a little too big for them because Ishgard breeds chocobos meant for Elezen and Hyuran riders. They love her anyway.

Been Arrested: They've always managed to talk themselves out of trouble, aside from MSQ incidents.

#ffxiv #mayhem #warrior of light #meme #I have to run to a thing but I'll come back to re-read/edit this later maybe

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iviarellereads · 6 months

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System Collapse, Chapter 2

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which the legal complexities are a bit overwhelming.

When they're out of sight of the B-Es, Murderbot takes its weight off Ratthi, and he asks if it's alright. It says it is, but Iris suggests it stay with them for the last router. MB agrees, and Art recalls its shuttle. MB hopes this might encourage the B-Es to believe they've left.

The original B-E team told Art's team that the new ship was a scheduled arrival, not in response to the beacon. Seth thought that was a lie, so they've been operating under the assumption that B-E have more reinforcements waiting at a nearby wormhole. Unfortunately, no support ship from Art's university has been as forthcoming.

"Phase I of Plan A: Get the Hell Out of Here" involved getting decontamination routines into the locals' MedUnits, so they can decontam themselves of the alien remnants. Everything was proprietary and antiquated, so it took longer than expected. At least everyone's level of paranoia about contamination was up to MB's standards, so they didn't have as much trouble as they might have.

Phase II is the legal case for independence, which Pin-Lee is also working on. To summarize without the technical details, B-E has to make a case that the contamination can be effectively sealed to colonize it, and if they can't, the old colonists become salvage. So, the next step is to ask the colonists what they want, but it's unclear who to ask as they've split into even more factions. MB recounts a conversation between Thiago, Karime, and Mensah about how the colonists have been dealing with what they did to each other. MB thinks they should first get somewhere they won't be corporate slave labour THEN deal with their feelings.(1)

The last router isn't too far, and by the time they get there, the other operation, that MB would have been monitoring security for before the redacted incident,(2) is in progress. Karime, with Three, have arrived at the second colony site, where the colonists went after they discovered the pre-Rim site's contamination. MB monitors things from afar.

Iris and Tarik start on fixing the router. MB thinks about how, if the shuttle failed, the humans could walk in the direction of the space elevator until Art's drones found them and it sent down another shuttle. Meanwhile, MB could walk in the other direction and… it tags the rest of that thought for deletion.(3)

MB notices that Three's body language is a little too stiff, and asks if it's running the human gait code. Three says it is, but makes some adjustments, and says it's difficult. MB says it's doing great. It thinks how they don't want the colonists to know Three is a SecUnit, because they'll still remember how intense Art was about bombing the planet to get its SecUnit back.

Art is monitoring everything, because it's still unhappy with its humans being on this planet at all. (MB shares a transcript of a conversation demonstrating how intense it was about it when planning all this. It then adds some context, describing how Iris explained its behaviour: Art has just been through a trauma, and will act out verbally until it's fully processed. In response, Thiago said Art just enjoys terrifying people, and Iris smiled politely and ignored the comment so they didn't have to fight about it. This makes MB realize in realtime that Iris is Art's Ratthi.(4) MB then clarifies that Thiago wasn't quite right: Art doesn't enjoy terrifying people, but it does enjoy getting its way, and terrifying people is one of many tools it uses to do so. But, Iris is correct that Art is still processing, and MB would worry about the fact that Art had such great success with arming its pathfinders, but it's got a lot on its plate right now.)

It's difficult to watch Karime go into this meeting, and it's almost as difficult to watch Three being so awkward, trying to be human. MB knows it must have been that awkward at some point as well, but that doesn't make it easier. They're meeting with Bellagaia, who leads Faction One who want to cooperate, and Danis and Variset, who lead Faction Two who don't know what they want or who to trust. Karime was the best candidate, not only as Art's best negotiator, but also as one of the least threatening-looking.

As the meeting gets underway and the nicenesses observed, Tarik is carrying the tools back to the shuttle, while Iris tunes into the team feed to watch the meeting, and Ratthi watches Tarik walking.(5)

At the meeting, Bellagaia tells Karime there's another colony here. After some confusion, she clarifies that she means another colony site at the pole, where there's some terraforming still going on. Art cusses, and when Karime clarifies privately, Art suggests maybe Bellagaia is intoxicated. They debate whether their imaging could have revealed it, but they didn't expand much past the terraforming equipment, so likely never would have seen it.

Bellagaia continues that they split when the contamination first became obvious. The equipment blocks some comm signals, so they haven't been in regular contact in some time. Then when the latest outbreak started, they worried about spreading it to a community that was never infected. Danis mutters that they only think the pole colony was never infected, and they could be dead by now.

Karime says they can go to the pole and ask them what's going on and warn them about B-E, but asks if B-E knows about them yet. Danis says Faction Two would never tell them, though Variset is less confident in that, and even Danis acknowledges subfactions might have done so.

Another human points out that the colony site wouldn't have been on the charter, because it wasn't meant to be a secondary site. On Art, Seth groans, and it takes MB a moment to figure out why: this means another revamp of the forged charter, while they're already running out of time.

More debate in the feed about how they missed the site.(6) The unnamed human is named, Corian, who uses vi/vir pronouns, and is the local historian and record-keeper. When Karime asks if there's anything else to know about the other colony site, Corian says contact ended twenty years ago, and there have been reports of attempted connections, but no verified contact since. The group was separatist already, so the lack of communication isn't so surprising. And, vi has no records of where the official site was set up. There were only rumours that it was in a cave system.

This leaves Karime a little visibly sunken, and the rest of the team visibly shaken as well. Karime asks if vi thinks it's another contaminated site, and Corian says either way, the problem is obvious.

Mensah taps MB in the feed, so MB loops her in as well. Some of the other colonists are protesting that there's no evidence of another contaminated site, but Bellagaia looks exhausted, and Karime's still just listening intently to Corian, though vi has little more to add.

Mensah had had time to review the feed video. She muttered, “Oh, you have to be kidding me.” Yeah.

=====

(1) A truly noble goal. Though, I'm not sure we'd be better off if more humans were able to detach/compartmentalize enough to do that. (2) Surely this can't last all book right? We have to get an answer eventually? (3) Even aside from its old traumas, Murderbot is dealing with such big fresh ones. It's so much. My poor blorbo. (4) This is one of the little quotes I was spoiled for, and I'm so pleased to find it in its original context. And, we haven't spent a lot of time with Iris, but I can see it. But, this also indicates a little bit of... Well, Ratthi's always been there, but Mensah's always been MB's focus-human. It's interesting that it considers Ratthi its primary human, since that seems to be Art's dynamic with Iris. (5) Another bit I was spoiled for, and WHO CAN BLAME THE GOOD PEOPLE OF TUMBLR?! (6) This is a little bit wearing on me, I feel like they're just repeating over and over to confuse and add tension? Also I don't remember mentions of air bubbles in Network Effect over the settlements… It's all just a bit odd to me.

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot diaries #system collapse #murderbot #secunit #ratthi #tarik (murderbot)#iris (murderbot)#seth (murderbot)#martyn (murderbot)#art (murderbot)#thiago #karime (murderbot)#ayda mensah #corian (murderbot)#bellagaia (murderbot)#danis (murderbot)#variset (murderbot)#three (murderbot)

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moonchildreads · 9 months

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y'all get to find out random shit about me thanks to the always gorgeous and unfortunately too far away for me to hug right now @duquesademiel so yay! tag games are fun!

rules: color the ones that are true and tag fifteen (15) people

appearance:

i’m over 5’5" // i wear glasses/contacts (i wear reading glasses when i need them) // i have blonde hair (technically yes, i'm a 7 ash blond naturally - yes, it is the same colour as eddie's wig lmao) // i prefer loose clothing to tight clothing (no preference tbh) // i have one or more piercings // i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes // i have dyed or highlighted my hair (i've had my tips dyed blue, teal, purple and green throughout college) // i have gotten plastic surgery // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily // i have freckles // i paint my nails (sometimes, when i remember) // i typically wear make-up // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look (long journey to get to this point but i am happy now) // i prefer nike to adidas // i wear baseball hats backwards

hobbies and talents:

i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami // i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing (i sing badly but i enjoy it) // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with friends // i travel during school or work breaks // i can do a handstand

relationship:

i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years // my parents are together // i have dated my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have a long distance relationship // i am an only child // i give advice to my friends (no comments on whether it's good or bad advice) // i have made an online friend // i met up with someone i have met online

aesthetics:

i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sun rise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep // i enjoy thunderstorms // i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colours // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favourite season

miscellaneous:

i can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // i am the mom friend (not to all my friends, but to some of them, yes) // i live by a certain quote (do whatever you have to do to be happy) // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities // i enjoy Mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift (badly, but i do. i need to practice more so i can get my driver's license but i don't have the time) // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower // i wish i lived in a video game // i have a canopy above my bed // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least three dogs

i don't think i even know 15 people irl so i'm just tagging people i think are neat: @justahappycloud @gutterratt @so-inlove-with-the-wrongworld @munsonology @queenimmadolla @1lostsoul0fishbowl @eddiemunson95 @lesservillain

#tag games

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geekgirlsmanifesto · 1 year

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Typically I leave tumblr for my interests and try as hard as I can to keep my life out of it but I need a place to just get some things off my chest that is unlikely to be stumbled upon by some well-meaning person who knows the other parties involved in this rant.

Maybe I shouldn't call it a rant because I'm not angry. If anything I'm just exhausted. It's partly my own fault because I'm seemingly incapable of handling money like an adult even though I am far into my adulthood. But there are a lot of other things that are contributing to things right now.

I decided years ago to stay with my grandma and my aunt and let the release the rest of the family from their unique needs emotionally. My brother who is older than I am freely raised his family and ended up the IT Manager at a major teaching hospital.

I ended up working at Target.

Technically I was working in human resources until a single mistake cost me my job and the only thing I could find at the time was Target. At the same time my grandmother's ability to care for herself without serious assistance deteriorated to the point that she was moved to a nursing home. And I suddenly because financially responsible for myself and my aunt who hasn't worked since the 1980s. My grandma has been fighting a lot of paranoid hallucinations about people selling her house out from under her so I have to make sure I keep the house that she and my grandfather had worked so hard for. But it's impossible on my income. And over the last year I have just found myself in a deeper and deeper hole.

Additionally, I have found myself responsible for my father who does NOT live with me but is facing a rapid decline due to ALS.

Over the last few months I have been looking hard for a new job but I'm having no luck. And I'm getting more and more behind on things.

And then Wednesday the loan company called and told me that if I didn't pay them $600 by today they would repossess my car. The car that so many people rely on whether it's to pick up medicine that is keeping them alive (my dad), getting me to work (me), or taking my aunt on daily visits to see my grandmother (both my aunt and my grandmother). So I asked my dad to borrow the money from him because my checking account balance was already in the red.

And then last night my dad texts me (because he can no longer talk) and tells me that the car that he owns broke down while his sister-in-law's friend was driving it and he wants to fix the car but has no money. And now I feel like a completely horrible person for borrowing the money.

Plus I have to pay him back within three weeks which means giving him everything I make every day. Which is just going to put me back in the same boat with the loan.

I am so far past drowning now that I don't even know which way is up anymore.

I'm not tagging this because I'm not looking for attention just someplace to dump all the things that I can't tell my family. And this massive post isn't even beginning to touch on the uselessness and self hatred I feel right now about my own inability to make more than $15 an hour.

I question my intelligence. I question my own ability. I think that I'm basically worthless because I can't take care of myself, let alone my family.

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onewomancitadel · 2 years

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I see. I'm going through the knightfall stuff now and maybe I'll try the fic as well if I'm looking for something to read. One more question though. If Ruby is purifying Cinder and Jaune is healing her then who is helping Oscar? From what I've seen you say in here Oscar and Cinder are supposed to be reflections of Jaune and Ruby right? and he's sort of got a curse as well. How does he fit into all this? How does he get fixed?

Haha, now you're getting more out of my wheelhouse because the Ozma curse solution is more imprecise, since it involves (likely) direct involvement of the brother gods. It's very likely that helping Cinder sets up Oscar, Salem and Ozma; this is all endgame stuff, by the way. It might be that both Oscar and Cinder seem doomed to their Dark Curses until it's averted.

Under my Reverse Ozlem tag I did establish that Penny's overall character arc reflects Ozma's, and Penny projecting her Aura to create a material form might give us some of the basis for what will happen with Ozma. I think it's very likely that the curse will be broken for Oscar. There's no way it isn't just because it's been made to seem so inevitable. If we go by his Little Prince influence (Oscar's V6-current outfit is The Little Prince's and there are a few other clear influences of it in his story--- in this example you can even see they've posed him the same way lol)

the prince may or may not be dead at the end, and that ambiguity is up to the reader depending what they want to believe in. Given that Oscar-Ozma can both be 'alive' and 'dead' - Oscar can be alive and Ozma dead - that might just fulfill the criteria. (Then again I'm not so certain that Ozma isn't the pilot, but I imagine Ruby/Oscar fans have more developed opinions than me on this front - and allusions are never exact and more tonally made to fit to the story, so maybe the prince survives and the pilot may or may not survive).

But the Ozlem resolution is really more than just Ozma and Salem because it involves the brother gods whom I don't believe to be in the right (really I think the fact we're supposed to empathise with Salem on some level is overlooked lol) and I might go so far as to speculate there's something off about the genie-gods of the Relics. But I would prefer to save that speculation for my own fanfic as opposed to here - not trying to make you read it, I just don't speculate on certain things because of what I'm writing lol, especially the exact Ozlem resolution.

But since we've been given what is effectively lore-building with the Aura with Penny (and essentially Ozma's entire arc including rebelling against the Brother of Light analogue) I do feel a bit more optimistic on predicting that front.

From what I've seen you say in here Oscar and Cinder are supposed to be reflections of Jaune and Ruby right?

Technically speaking Jaune is Oscar's Shadow and Cinder is Ruby's Shadow, so yes, effectively reflections for the sake of this discussion, though not quite in the order you put it. Part of why on this front I feel Jaune/Cinder is critical is because that is part of the major Ozma dilemma, and for solving Oscar's curse you've got to solve Ozma's ultimate task of stopping Salem. If Jaune/Cinder is the most literal realisation of their enmity that haunts the story, fixing that to more specifically help Oscar is pretty organic as well. This is sort of what I mean about the romance realising thematic ideas and serving character purpose which even ends up transcending Jaune/Cinder.

For what it's worth I also think Oscar as a role in getting Ruby to help Cinder, because as inevitable it may seem to me it's not so inevitable to the characters and is actually a major development.

My opinion on this topic is less passionate and more academic, so I am looking at it from a structural perspective. I do like that Oscar's figuring out how to handle the bad wizard in his head and beginning to empathise with him though, and I think that's good portents for the direction with Salem.

If you have any more questions I am happy to answer them, especially if you want me to explore Jungian storytelling in more detail or summarise it succinctly. I don't think it's totally crucial though, it's just a way of discussing the mechanical ideas in the story that are realising the thematic ones. (If it seems mildly esoteric, it really isn't, and it's very helpful for writing an ensemble cast).

I hope that answers your questions.

Regarding my fic, you are welcome to read it (just spare me if you don't like it (:) though I should add the caveat I have been told by my readers it's somewhat polarising if you are expecting it to be like other predominant R/WBY fic. Which can be a good thing or a bad thing. I mostly just mention that my fanfic is more my space for exploring ideas because I think that's where some of the best emotional stuff can happen as opposed to only in analysis posts.

Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

#seraphina's asks #user: anonymouse #r/wby ensemble cast tag

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surftrips · 2 years

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Just My Type — Chapter Two (Jay Halstead x woc!Reader)

Word Count: 1210

Chapter Summary: Dr Y/L/N assists Detective Jay Halstead and the Intelligence Unit on a call involving a serial killer.

A/N: Been having so much fun writing this series, thank you for all the support on Chapter One! If you would like to be tagged in future chapters, just leave a comment or message me and as always, show this post some love <3 <3

CHAPTER ONE / SERIES DESCRIPTION

Case File 081: In pursuit of a male suspect with sociopathic tendencies targeting prostitutes in the Chicago area.

Location: Unknown

Relatives: Mother (DECEASED) / Father incarcerated

You began to read over the case file Detective Halstead handed you. Ever since you helped him out with the witness at Med, he had been calling you up to assist on more and more cases. This one involved a serial killer that Intelligence has stumbled upon.

Chicago wasn’t a stranger to infamous killers, but you were surprised that Intelligence hadn’t transferred this case to another division in the CPD or the FBI.

“Hey, aren’t serial killers outside of your jurisdiction?”, you asked Jay.

“Yes, technically… but I told Voight we should pursue it,” he responded.

“And why did you say that?”

“I told him I know someone that can help.”

You chuckled. You couldn’t say no to him, and he probably knew it. “Alright fine, I’ll finish up looking over these files and meet you at the station after my shift. I get off in a few hours.”

“Great, thanks Y/N,” he smiled at you on his way out.

…

True to your word, you headed over to the station after your shift. You tucked your motorcycle helmet under your arm before walking in.

Even though you had met all of the other officers in the Intelligence Unit, this was the first time you were actually upstairs in the bullpen.

“Dr. Y/L/N! Jay told us you were coming over, it’s nice to see you, ” Adam Ruzek greeted you.

“Hey, nice to see you too! Where is he by the way?” you asked.

Just then you heard Jay’s voice, “There’s my favorite psychologist! Hey- I didn’t know you had a bike,” he said, noticing the helmet under your arm.

“Jay, how many times do I have to tell you I’m a psychiatrist?”

“Well, either way, I’m glad you’re here. Let me show you what we’ve got so far.”

He led you over to the large whiteboard they kept in the middle of the room. You saw photos and names of the victims, the suspect himself, possible locations he frequented, there was barely any white space left.

You pointed to the picture of the man they believed to be the suspect, “What do we know about him?”

By then, the rest of the team had begun filing in: Kim Burgess, Hailey Upton, Antonio Dawson, Kevin Atwater, and of course, Voight.

It was Kim who responded to you first, “Not much. He was seen in the area after the police discovered three of the bodies, we thought that was too much to be a coincidence. Usually people run into just one of these crime scenes, but the murder locations are scattered across town, so it doesn’t really explain why he was at three of them.”

“We went to his last known address but it’s empty. Checked out next of kin, but his parents aren’t in his life, he has no siblings, and no known associates,” Kevin added.

You took a minute to think. “Alright, so this guy is a loner. Likes to do things his own way. By visiting three separate locations of the crime, he thinks he is invincible, that we’re never going to catch him. Tell me, were there any trophies he took from the women or symbols he left behind?”

Antonio said, “Not that we know of, but you’re welcome to take a closer look at the bodies if you want. I can show-”

“Actually, I can take her to the morgue,” Jay cut in before Antonio could finish his sentence.

Antonio nodded, like they had some sort of silent agreement going on. “Sure, man,” he said.

…

“Hey, what was that all about?” you asked Jay as soon as you two were in his truck.

“What was what all about?” he asked, clueless, or at least pretending to be.

“You interrupted Antonio when he offered to take me to the morgue.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I just need to make a stop and it’s on the way to the morgue, so you know, convenience and all that.”

“Oh, sure,” you said, trying to hide the disappointment in your voice. Of course, you were just going to be accompanying the detective on his errands, nothing more. Unless..?

Your thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of Jay turning on the radio. “What do you think is appropriate music to listen to while driving to the morgue?” he asked.

You chuckled, “Hmmm.. I always say Taylor Swift has a song for everything, but I’m not sure about this one.”

“You’re kidding! I say the same thing all the time!”

“Do you really?”

“Haha, no. I’m just messing with you. But Taylor Swift is good, I’ll give you that.”

You playfully punched his arm in response to teasing you. “Don’t you ever joke when it comes to Taylor Swift again!”

…

At the morgue, you observed the five bodies closely. On the outside, there was no real resemblance between any of them, but you did notice that the first two victims were brunettes, while the most recent three were blonde.

“Do you think there’s a pattern there?” Jay asked when you told him about your observation.

“Possibly, it’s not uncommon for a killer to use people as stand-ins before they build up the courage to pursue their real targets. We just have to figure out what his endgame is here.”

“So you’re saying the first two victims were for practice? His real target is a blonde woman?”

“I think so, we need to go back and see if there are any women in his life that he could be harboring resentment for.”

“Copy that. Come on, let’s get back in the car.”

…

After cross-checking the list of possible targets for your suspect, the team landed on a woman named Samantha Jones. She was a few years older than the suspect, grew up in the same neighborhood as him, and after interviewing her, found out that she had embarrassed him by rejecting his advances all those years ago in high school.

Confident that she was the next target, Intelligence was able to get to her house in time and bring the suspect into custody.

“Another case for the books,” you were reconvening with everyone after the arrest at Molly’s. “I must say, that was pretty exciting. I’m starting to wonder if I chose the wrong career path.”

“Y/N, as much as I think you would make a great cop, I think you’re an even better psychiatrist,” Jay responded.

“You really think so?— Wait, did you just get my job title right?”

“Uhhh, yeah I think I did. That calls for a celebration! Next drink on me?” Jay chuckled.

“In my professional opinion, I think it would be wise for me to take you up on that offer,” you said, smiling like a loser. He was cute, there was no denying that.

It wasn’t until later in the night when you were lost in conversation with Jay that you realized he never ran that errand on the way to the morgue. You wondered if he had just forgotten, or if luck had fallen into your lap and maybe he did like you after all.

#jay halstead #jay halstead x reader #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago pd fic #chicago pd imagine #jay halstead imagine #jesse lee soffer #just my type fic

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