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cyanide-latte · 2 months

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Get to know my TWST OCs pt. 3

Copper's Backstory

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Figured maybe doing a series of posts like this would help friends and mutuals get to know my OCs better!

Part 1: What Are They Twisted From? | Part 2: What Nicknames Do They Have?

Special thanks to @blithesharem for prompting me to do some basic character backstory write-ups for you all, starting with Copper~. Apologies in advance, this gets a little lengthy!

Warnings: child abduction, references to emotional manipulation/abuse and malnourishment of a child, references to deadnaming and misgendering, implications of animal abuse

While I try to keep all of the above mentioned mostly vague, I completely understand if you do not feel comfortable reading any of it. So please don't feel obligated to do so, you are allowed to nope out.

We open one stormy night in early May many years ago, on the stoop of an orphanage, where a child is surrendered, the person who brought them fleeing into the night before too many questions can be asked. The only real information known about the infant is that they were born in late April and are only two weeks old, and their birth name was written as Helena B—., the surname having run in the rain to the point of being unreadable apart from the first letter.

The child is raised for the first ~6-7 years of their life in the orphanage, generally keeping to themself and not making many friends. (Why bother when most of them are likely to just be gone at any given point in time due to getting adopted?) They're rather sharp-minded for their age, and pick up rather quickly that they're less likely to get adopted the older they get, as well as the fact they're often passed over for other children who fit the look or the personality that would-be parents are looking for, furthering their loneliness. The only solace they find is in the kindness of the elderly gentleman who helps with the upkeep and work of the orphanage, a cat beastman the children refer to as "Old Flynn". Flynn often takes the time to comfort and reassure the child, teaching them a rhyme to encourage them to have faith that they'll find their place and their family soon enough.

Trouble comes when a shady pair of individuals start sniffing around the orphanage claiming an interest in possibly adopting a child, but refusing to go through the appropriate channels to do so, instead trying to approach the children when they're outside at play. It's during one of these moments when, having learned the approximate times the children are called back inside, that they abduct the child named "Helena" and vanish long before her absence can be noticed. Even after this, police efforts to find the missing child are quickly abandoned in favor of suggesting "she ran away" despite the evidence of suspicious characters. Only Old Flynn retains any certainty that "Helena" was abducted and worries for them.

The abductors—a failed mage and failed performer, Gorgania Stone, and his business partner, Hiram Lurk—take the child with them to dilapidated riverboat Lurk owns, anchored in a place called The Devil's Bayou [not too far removed from the Twisted Wonderland version of New Orleans] and guarded by Stone's pet alligators, Augustus and Octavian. Though frightened, the kid makes it quite clear they're strong-willed and have a defiant streak, and when Stone eventually gets around to indicating they want the child to work to find missing valuables from other wrecks and various sites in the bayou, he's surprised by the kid's attempts to bargain his way through the whole thing. But children aren't too difficult to deal with if you've got a way with them; make them like you, make them trust you, and have the right leverage, that's all it takes to keep them in line.

And that perfect leverage makes itself known when the kid argues they are a boy, not a girl. While Lurk is prepared to try to argue with the kid, Stone sees the opportunity to make the boy pliable and promises that if he stays with them, behaves and does as he's told, he is allowed to be a boy and pick his own name. After all, he has no guarantee that even if he is adopted that a mother and father would let him do that and be himself, now does he? This tactic works, and the boy agrees, elated at the chance to be himself, and picks the name "Copper".

Over the next ~10 years, Copper is repeatedly made to track down lost valuables in the bayou that Stone and Lurk have difficulty in reaching or uncovering due to their size. This results in a lot of withholding meals as a means of keeping him smaller and capable of navigating tight spaces and various wreckage. Along the way he's found to be ambidextrous and double-jointed in most of his fingers, resulting in Stone gradually teaching him various little skills to "help him". In addition, the more lost valuables and treasures Copper uncovers, the more Stone is willing to give some leeway, bringing the boy books to help him along with his education, including tomes of magic once Copper shows an aptitude for it. (Never enough to truly empower him though.) In secret, Copper also practices his magic and befriends several animals that live in the bayou, gradually learning to speak with them and not ever realizing how his skill as a mage is developing.

He makes numerous attempts to escape Stone, but he's repeatedly caught (usually by Augustus and Octavian, with whom he gradually develops a bond and can communicate with, to Stone's increasing ire,) and his attempts are hampered by his inability to swim. Typically he has to be craftier than that. He often tries to slip away on the occasions he's dragged into town to assist Stone or Lurk with something, though these efforts are more half-hearted, quickly thwarted, and more for a show of defiance than anything. The trips to town allow him to gradually develop more of a connection with the culture there, as well as allowing him extra time to plan a more solid escape.

The one major attempt at escape comes during an afternoon when he's 14, during a particularly dry summer. With Mr. Lurk napping and the alligators seeking cool shelter, Copper manages to navigate enough dry and shallow spots to find his way out and into town on his own. Frightened and high-strung, he tries to find help, only to stumble across a community of people who offer him kindness and a chance to partake in their meal. (It's from them he takes the surname Benoit, to always remember and honor the kindness they showed him.) Touched by this and reminded of Old Flynn, Copper has a brief moment of hope that perhaps these people can help him with his escape, if not possibly find him a place to stay among them, only for Stone to arrive and charm his way through them with a vicious smile in order to drag Copper back out into Devil's Bayou. Though he makes no effort to physically punish Copper, Stone has no issue weaponizing other means of keeping him in line, referring to him as "Helena" and "girl", and revealing he knows about the animals. The old books of magic are removed, no new ones are ever brought there, and that same night all of the animals Copper had befriended disappear, never seen again.

After this, Copper is far more cautious and careful in everything he does. He begins to develop a Signature Spell/Unique Magic in secret, one he so closely guards he refuses to even consider the mechanics of how it works or how it reflects his inner resilience and desire for freedom. Over time his constant living with fear morphs into a fear-response where he intentionally starts to taunt or aggravate whatever is frightening him most, in an attempt to see how far he can get in worsening the situation before facing consequences. Stone quickly catches on and opts to ignore this, taking it as a point of teenage rebellion and contenting himself with the fact that if backtalk is all Copper is going to do, he'll live with that. The boy still has his uses.

It's those uses and his unusual gift for turning up lost pirate treasure from so many locations in Devil's Bayou that cause the turning point. The boy has no small talent as a mage, but pirate treasure is often protected by blood magic, and won't just surrender itself so willingly to someone without pirate lineage. Remembering this at last, Stone's frequent trips away from the riverboat increase as he tries to track down evidence of Copper's family tree. While he refuses to share his findings, he comes to the conclusion based on what little he is able to uncover that the boy might be descended from a legendary pirate captain. Which means there's a chance he can uncover a much larger, more valuable find.

Here's where we get into some shared universe world-building with my friends; @inmateofthemind made a post here about the first bit of lore for this, but the idea is that at some point the various arcane academies used to run something of a student exchange program following their winter break schedules, in which students of participating schools are shuffled around to one another in order to build better relations. Crowley decides to try revitalizing the Arcane Exchange for this reason. And during this period of the Arcane Exchange, Night Raven College also becomes just a touch more accessible to former alumni as well.

Stone, who has long suspected that the Headmage of his old alma mater is secretly keeping a legendary pirate treasure hidden somewhere in the depths of Night Raven College, gets wind of the Arcane Exchange and sees an opportunity: drop in unannounced for a visit under the cover story that he would like to spend some time there with his ward to see if Night Raven College would be a good fit for the boy. After all Crowley will be hard-pressed to turn them away, Stone can take this as an opportunity to use Copper to trespass and find that treasure to make him immeasurably wealthy, and perhaps if the boy is allowed the false promise of possibly attending NRC to learn magic should he behave, he'll be better about falling in line.

However, Stone underestimates Copper's capacity to both find and cause trouble, his desire to be free, and especially his eagerness to make friends with other teenagers who have just as big a knack for trouble as he does. And everyone might be also be underestimating the role Scarabia's Housewarden is going to play in all of this.

There is more but as I'm writing most of the rest of this story out in a series of oneshots and short fics, I think I'm going to stop here for now (hopefully this will give me a reason to eventually post the fics I've been writing.)

Taglist: @blithesharem @inmateofthemind @ramshacklerumble @tixdixl @simons-twsted-children @elenauaurs @thehollowwriter @theleechyskrunkly @rainesol (Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!)

#TWST OCs #Copper Benoit #my OCs #get to know my OC #character backstory #Cyanide speaks

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itsuki-minamy · 2 years

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GROUND ZERO: FRAGMENTS

CHAPTER 8: WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS

* List of Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

That day, that time... the night before. Niki Fushimi was drunk in the entertainment district.

Shimohaneda Kabata is a city located on the southern edge of Tokyo, bordering Kanagawa Prefecture. If you go down one station, you will cross the Tama River and enter Kanagawa Prefecture.

"Excuse me for a moment."

The woman got up from the couch with a lazy attitude. With lipstick on her lips, she put a small cigarette in her mouth and lit it with the match that was on the table.

The man whose wife had been crying just now was standing in the bathroom. The man was Niki's partner, but all he knew was his name, "Sarashina". They approached him at the first bar and the conversation became animated. Niki, who was already drunk at the first bar, entered this shop when Sarashina gave him a ride.

If he was invited, he used to follow them without refusing. He wasn't trying to pry into the kind of place he was going, or whether the person he was talking to was trustworthy. A few years ago, he met Kisa at a party where someone asked him to come along.

After being born as a baby, humans seem to adapt to society by expanding the world towards themselves, parents and families, nurseries and schools in the process of forming their identities. In the process of growing up, Niki did not experience the "expansion of objects of interest". He did not arouse interest, emotion and therefore motivation in anything, including himself.

He could clearly recognize what he perceived with his five senses. To Niki, though, all of that was dry and unimportant.

Except for one thing that piqued his interest.

"Hey, client, is it true that you have a five-year-old boy? The client you brought in was talking about it earlier."

"Hmmm. That's right."

With a slurred response, Niki slid off the couch he was lying on to the floor. A high-end suit jacket and a fancy tie that Sarashina had taken off were hanging on the couch diagonally across from him.

Sitting on the floor he reached for the glass on the low table. Hesitantly, he shook the glass with his finger. The surrounding glasses were also caught and fell, and the marble table was wet with alcohol diluted with ice.

"Are you okay? I'll get you a new drink."

The guy immediately ran over and knelt by the table. He put the glasses on a tray.

"What will you do next?"

"I'll leave it to my brother."

"Then let's do something interesting."

He wore a dress shirt, a black tie, and a black vest with a boy's uniform, but he was a young man with hair dyed bright pink from the roots. In a nonchalant tone, he was holding a bottle of shochu and a bottle of beer in his left and right hands.

"How old were you when you had the child? You're still young, aren't you?"

"I was nineteen."

"That means you're in your twenty something years now."

"You're young."

The guy poured two types of alcohol into a glass with his skillful tricks.

"You're young too, aren't you?"

"I'm baby-faced. I've been in this industry for quite some time."

"Manato looks like this, but he's over thirty."

The woman who said that was in her mid-thirties, she was not young. Her long curly hair was luxuriously pinned up on top of her head.

The cabaret club on the outskirts of the city, where each table was separated by a U-shaped couch, was filled with vulgar talk. A stream of purple smoke rose from the yellowish illumination.

"I'm guessing he was given birth to by a random woman, you dumped her anyway. Client, that's what you seem to want to do."

"Ruriko-san is the one who was discarded in that situation. Yes, it's a way of drinking taught to me by a visitor from abroad."

The glass slid cleanly across the wet table and settled in Niki's hand.

"I have not abandoned her, I am well married and I love my wife. My wife, the president. Besides, my son is the most beautiful in the world."

He drank about half the glass in one go. The champagne of shochu and beer stirred in his brain and made him dizzy. He fell on the table with his head on the side.

"Ah... I hope to see you soon... my cute monkey..."

He dipped his cheeks into the puddle of alcohol on the table and muttered that with his tongue trailing.

"If you have such an important family, don't drink in a place like this and go home. I'm starting to want to go home and see my daughter."

"Ruriko-san is really preaching when it comes to children."

The woman's tone took on a serious preaching tone, while the boy's was flippant.

"It's still useless..."

"No, is there a reason you can't go home?"

"I might get bored if I see his face every day. Even the most interesting thing in the world might get bored me if I paid attention to it every day."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

He tried to tilt the glass with his cheek on the table, but his fingers were shaking. The liquid that didn't fit in his mouth wet his chin and dripped over the edge of the table.

"Client, are you taking medication? You are angry, right?"

"Drugs? He'll make you feel a million times better than that."

A month has passed since he saw Saruhiko's face. The inside of his body was dry. No matter how much alcohol he drank, he couldn't quench his thirst. His consciousness was hazy, his throat ached and his body was sending serious danger signals.

"I'll see the monkey after I have reached the limit of my withdrawal symptoms, so I'm going to climax... Seriously, I'm freaking out..."

++++++++++

He woke up with a thud.

He felt a strong source of light and heat beyond his eyelids. Something other than the cold marble table touched his cheeks, something rough and hard.

When he opened my eyes, he was outside. He was forcibly grabbed by his collarbone and lifted up by the summer sky piercing high. Immediately after that, he was struck in quick succession by the sensation of floating and falling, as if he was being knocked down to the ground.

"Hmm... where am I...?"

The voice stuck in his throat was hoarse. When he tried to get up, his whole body cracked in pain. In particular, simply putting too much effort into his stomach caused severe pain as if he was holding an iron ball to his stomach.

It was the seat of a wooden bench that he was resting his cheek on. When he rubbed his face at the red stains on the wood, he could feel the coagulated blood sticking to his temples and the corners of his mouth.

He didn't even know where he took off his shoes.

A glass bottle was suddenly delivered from the side.

"I'm thirsty."

A man sitting in a row of benches said that bluntly. With a long beard that covered the lower half of his face, he looked like a bum, but only the jacket he wore over his shoulders was disproportionately good.

Niki reached for the bottle without hesitation. He looked at the label on the square bottle of whiskey and put his mouth on it.

"What is it? It's water."

He took a sip and groaned.

"Because I put water in the bottle I picked up. Let's add a few drops of sake."

On the tips of the homeless man's emaciated ankles, there were familiar sharp-toed leather shoes.

Niki looked down at his feet, which were only wearing socks, but without saying anything in particular, he placed them under the bench and sat back down.

Beyond the clear sky, heading south, for a moment, he saw some kind of light. The sun was shining elsewhere. It wasn't even the moon. Like the flame emitted by the lighter of a hot air balloon.

Without further thought, he purred and drank water.

The high-pitched voices of the children resounded in the sky. Children gather around children's games, such as slides and swings, and their mothers take care of them. Only the area around the bank with Niki and the homeless was avoided.

At night, it was a small park surrounded by trees in the middle of the city, which became a busy entertainment district. Next to the entrance facing the street, there is a public toilet and a phone booth with a green phone.

Last night, in the shade of the trees, he could see the multi-tenant building where the store was located. He appears to have fallen asleep in the park a stone's throw from the store. Tenant signs protrude from every floor of the reinforced concrete exterior wall, but the neon tubes that gave off a garish pink and purple glow last night are now dead in broad daylight. He didn't know if it was last night because his sense of time was gone.

"Ah, you really were here, Client."

A figure stood next to the bench with a calm voice.

He was wearing a hoodie and a black mask, but his pink hair peeked out from under the hood. It was the boy from the night before, Manato.

"I got a call from Ruriko on my pager saying you were sleeping here. I've been wondering since I closed up shop this morning. He was a weird guy, and he hit you a lot. Are you okay?"

Having said that, he looked like he was last night drinking at the store.

"Ruriko-san."

As Manato said that, a mother who was standing by the gym turned around.

Her long, curly hair from the night before was tied up in a simple bun, and her makeup was light, but she was the woman in the store last night.

Ruriko smiled at Manato, who waved his hand and waved back, then quickly turned her eyes back to the jungle gym. A girl who could be her daughter was climbing a jungle gym.

"Yeah, this. It's mostly empty, but just in case. I hope you're happy to come back with just a brand name wallet."

Manato opened the leather wallet and gave it to him.

As he looked at the wallet on his lap, the memory of last night vaguely revived due to its slow effect.

Sarashina didn't come back to the table like that. Looking at his accounting, he was billed 300,000. There were no credit cards or cash in his wallet. Sarashina disappeared after taking out the contents of Niki's wallet, leaving behind his jacket and his tie.

He recalled how a physically strong man dressed in black appeared from the back of the store, was beaten and kicked, and was thrown out of the store.

The homeless man was looking at Niki's wallet. All that was left was a phone card anyway. Niki tossed his wallet on the bench next to him.

"It's a gift for the water."

The wallet itself was worth a reasonable price. The homeless man quickly stuffed his wallet into his jacket pocket and brought their foreheads together like a hug. When he looked back at him, he wondered if it was also something that he threw away along with Niki, it was the jacket that Sarashina had left behind.

He also lost his mobile phone, but it never came back.

"Client, the shoes and accessories look expensive and you seemed to be doing drugs, so they must have been duped. Be careful who you go out with and what stores you go into."

"Don't do drugs."

"Are you kidding me? Did you just do that? You suddenly broke a beer bottle and hit a black suit. If you hadn't acted violently, you wouldn't have been hit so hard."

"Is that so?" His memory of that part had slipped. "Could have been fine."

Niki's childhood was manic. He was restless all the time, making loud noises and destroying everything he could find.

When he entered high school, he became very depressed.

He skipped high school and studied abroad. While studying abroad, he fell back into an extremely manic state, indulged in debauchery at the invitation of his fellow players, and stopped attending university lectures altogether. With no hope of graduating, he was expelled and taken back to Japan.

"Ah, did you want to die? Then, I understand."

"I don't feel like dying at all. I have a wife and a son who love me."

"I don't quite get it. I thought you were the kind of person who wanted to destroy everything, but you say you love your family."

He squinted at the dazzling light that filled the open air and took in the idyllic landscape of the park. A girl slowly climbing up a jungle gym was crouched in a place that was not very high. Ruriko encouraged her daughter who was crying and looking back.

Another boy smoothly overtook the girl and made it to the top with no problem.

"Mom! Look!"

The boy let go of his hands and proudly greeted his mother.

But, the jungle gym suddenly shook vertically.

The boy's body was thrown into the void without resistance. He heard the cry of his mother.

"Eh?"

Immediately after Manato was shocked, the tremor reached Niki and Manato's feet. It was a huge vertical swing, as if a giant grabbed the edge of the ground and rolled it up. The bum fell off the bench next door. Niki's butt also bounced off the bench seat.

"An earthquake?!"

Manato crouched down and gripped the edge of the bench.

The launch itself lasted less than five seconds. In that short period of time, the earth trembled and the iron jungle gym, slides, and swings were distorted into a shadowless figure. All the children were thrown from the playground equipment, and all the mothers around the playground equipment could not stand up and fell.

The children began to cry as if they were on fire.

"Gish..." The warped jungle gym made an eerie noise and tilted further.

"Ruriko! This way!"

Manato raised his voice. Ruriko's daughter clung to the bottom and luckily avoided being kicked out. Ruriko, who had been on her buttocks, stood up as if repelled, grabbed her daughter from both sides of her, and pulled her out of the jungle gym.

Behind Ruriko, who started running with her daughter on her chest, the jungle gym tilted at a fast pace. Immediately after Ruriko caught up with Niki and Manato and covered her daughter, it completely collapsed as rolled a large amount of sand in the park.

Ruriko raised her pale face and looked towards the park that had changed the peaceful landscape of the day.

"The earthquake just now...? I've never seen an earthquake like this before..."

The launch didn't come after the first, but the remnants of the tremor still crackled in the air.

The road outside began to roar with the sirens of ambulances and fire trucks. Trees surrounding the park had also snapped or fallen from their trunks. Buildings emitting black smoke and buildings with collapsed exterior walls could be seen beyond the crooked trees.

There were also cracks in the walls of the multi-tenant building where Manato's store was located. The cabaret club sign on the 7th floor came off the wall, collided with the consumer finance sign on the 6th floor and they both fell. The brand name product recycling store sign on the 5th floor was covered in snow. There was a sign for a ticket shop on the fourth floor.

"Mom, what is that?"

The daughter supported by Ruriko's chest pointed to the sky over her mother's shoulder.

Manato's eyes traced in that direction and reflected a red light.

"Wow. What is it?"

Manato moved his hand to his chin and murmured.

Niki slowly looked up as half of his buttocks had slid off the bench.

A gigantic object suddenly appeared in the void. In the southern sky, it was the direction where he could see the light that he mistook for a balloon burner. A pillar-shaped object engulfed in swirling flames connected the ground and the sky.

The clear blue summer sky reflected the color of the pillar and was eroded by the color of blood.

"What's that...?"

"Was it really an earthquake? It's like the end of the world."

In contrast to Ruriko's trembling voice, Manato's voice was stunned, but there was something lurking in his voice that seemed to anticipate something.

It seemed that the mobile phone was getting difficult to connect. People flocked to phone booths and the lines were growing fast.

"Yeah... it's the end of the world... oh..."

The homeless man sitting in front of a bench knelt while he looked at the southern sky.

"Oh, it is the wrath of God. God has judged. I hope the stupid humans perish!"

He picked up a bottle of whiskey, which was just water, and danced out into the middle of the park. With Sarashina's jacket and Niki's leather shoes. Spinning around like a girl in a fairy tale who can't take off her shoes.

The children cried when they saw the pillar of fire. The mothers were shouting the names of their children.

People were cursing because their phones couldn't connect. Many people were running to the phone booth in a hurry.

A man whose heart was beating at the beginning of something extraordinary. A scared woman. A madman who toasts and dances.

Niki stared at the various reactions of the people in the park with emotionless eyes.

There was also an ugly human pattern unfolding in front of him. A strange sight that rose beyond the sky. The tragedy that was occurring just below that sky.

Nothing aroused Niki's emotion.

There was nothing there to move Niki's emotions.

The ringtone began to play in the pocket of Manato's hoodie.

"Oh, manager... Yes. Yes. I'm safe here. Ruriko-san is close now. Yes. See you."

Manato calmly ended the exchange and hung up the phone as he ignored the damn queue at the phone booth.

"It seems like the PHS tone is more connected. I was lucky I haven't switched to a mobile phone yet."

"Lend it to me."

Niki grabbed Manato's wrist, who was holding a small stick-shaped mobile device. Manato was slightly surprised by the sudden movement.

"Go ahead. Do you want to contact your family?"

He handed it to him.

He entered a phone number by pressing the number pad on a mobile device that fits in one hand with the thumb. Tsu, tsu, tsu, after an inorganic sound wandered looking for the destination for a while, the calling sound began to sound safely.

"Yes. It's Fushimi."

When the call was cut off, a professional female voice answered.

"Kisa-san. Where is the monkey today?"

There was a moment of surprise when Niki suddenly spoke, and then a high-pitched voice returned.

"I don't know. It's Sunday, so he's not home. I'm going to board now, so I'll hang up. Wait a minute. What was that? Aren't you coming back?"

Kisa's voice grew distant, and he could hear the rapid conversation back and forth. Kisa's voice came back on the line with a sense of bewilderment and tension.

"Something happened in eastern Japan. Thanks to you, I'm stuck here."

"Kisa-san, aren't you in Tokyo?"

"I'm going to Los Angeles from Kansai airport via Seoul, but today's work has been cancelled. Where are you now?"

"By the way, what about the monkey? Is he really home?"

"I'll check with Nishida-san. Should I call this phone back? I've been waiting. I'll call you back in five minutes."

The call was cut off. The line at the phone booth continued to grow, but the Manato PHS rang within a quarter of an hour. During that time, Kisa collected as much information as she could about the disasters that had occurred in eastern Japan.

A large explosion occurred somewhere in Kanagawa, and an earthquake was observed over a wide area of eastern Japan. It was reported that the entire Kanagawa area could be devastated.

According to the housekeeper, the earthquake was felt around Tsubakimon's house, but it wasn't severe enough. She saw Saruhiko in the house fifteen minutes before the earthquake occurred, but she noticed that he had run away from the house about five minutes before the earthquake occurred. He must have gone for a walk in silence as usual, and the housekeeper did not rush to find him, thinking that he was a smart boy and that he would come home alone.

"A five-year-old boy doesn't go far in fifteen minutes. At least he wouldn't have been in a place where the damage was so bad. However, Nishida-san is worried about his house, so he will go out today from work."

"I'm going home, I..."

"Are you worried about that child? I made arrangements with the dispatch company to send a representative immediately, and the area around Camellia Gate is safe. The transportation network is now paralyzed. I can't go home soon. It would be foolish that you suffer a secondary disaster. In the event of a disaster, the smartest thing to do is not to run blindly home."

"No way!"

Niki suddenly screamed.

The voice organizing the correct arguments on the phone suddenly stopped.

"I'm going home. I have to see the monkey's face."

Kisa hung up before he could get his voice back.

"Are you going home? In a way, you're a father."

Manato, who received the PHS, shrugged between admiration and boredom.

"It's obvious. Anyone who becomes a father is like that." Ruriko looked at Manato and said to Niki, "Come back whenever you feel like it."

"Well, I don't know if I can continue with the business."

Manato put his hand to his forehead and looked out of the park.

The building in question was in a partially destroyed state. Signs on every floor had collapsed and most of the exterior walls had collapsed, exposing the steel frame.

"It's my rule of thumb, but I've never met a person as a customer "again". Even if you hear the news, he's already dead. Goodbye, take care of yourself and go home. If possible, may you be in good health for forever."

++++++++++

When he started walking in the direction of Camellia Gate, the railway was at a standstill and he couldn't even hail a taxi. The city was full of people acting the exact opposite of what Kisa called "intelligent behavior".

Eventually, the railways in Tokyo seemed to be restored, but he kept walking and in the end it took six hours to get to his house.

He was dizzy because he had only drunk the water the bum gave him six hours ago. He fell against the heavy door and managed to make a hole and roll inside.

He lifted his head as he knelt down. The dim light from the chandelier that did not reach the ground dimly illuminated the entrance hall of the atrium.

As he traced the stairs in front of him with his gaze, he saw a small figure sitting on the edge of the bottom step in a compact residence.

Nikki got up slowly.

The figure was the first to notice that Niki had returned home. The usual reaction used to be to run away, but this time he didn't run away and he was looking at him with round eyes behind the tortoiseshell glasses because of the smallness of his face.

"Are you lonely, monkey? What are you waiting for? Why are you lonely?"

"...Frankenstein."

Saruhiko opened his mouth vaguely.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"Could it be that you're dead...? Did you die from an explosion...?"

"Eh?"

Saruhiko's eyes turned to Niki's feet.

Those were the feet that had been walking on the asphalt for six hours without shoes. His socks were torn and his toes were badly scraped and bleeding. The hem of his leather pants was also frayed. He still had blood on his temples because he hadn't washed his face since he was beaten in the store last night, and his clothes were a little dirty.

Frankenstein, he agreed with that. He didn't know where Saruhiko got that knowledge at that age.

"Oh, yeah. There was a big explosion today, right? It shook everything. Were you scared?"

Saruhiko shook his head once.

"No way."

"Did you see the huge pillar of fire? Didn't you get scared?"

"I could see it. It didn't scare me at all."

"I see. I was very close to the explosion. So, as the great monkey detective deduced, I died."

Niki spread her hands over his head and showed himself.

"Really...? Did you really die?"

"Oh, so I'll be going to the afterlife soon. Well, in sixty seconds."

Saruhiko's eyes widened. The light from the finely crafted chandelier shone brightly in his eyes. The color of spongy blood inhabited his pale cheeks.

It was clear that the light of hope had shone in Saruhiko's world.

"I came to see the monkey before I went to the other world. So please show me your face up close one last time."

Nikki turned around. Saruhiko hesitated a bit and covered his lips.

"Ok. No, I'm about to disappear. Look, my hand is transparent. You can see it, right?"

Saruhiko showed interest and lifted his hips off the stairs.

"I'm about to disappear! Hey, let's hurry up!"

He fixed his gaze on Niki's outstretched hand, pulled on his socks, grabbed the railing, and lowered himself closer to him. He stopped at the same height as Niki, who was waiting below, and grabbed Niki's thumb and little finger with both hands.

Immediately, his face changed.

Gyu-gyu, he squeezed him a few times to make sure he was real. "Understanding" spread across Saruhiko's face. His face, which had been glowing with hope for a moment, suddenly stiffened and repainted with despair.

"You're not dead!"

Saruhiko let out a hoarse cry and released Niki's chest. The recoil made his socks slip and he landed on the steps behind him. Niki didn't resist and fell backwards into the hall.

"Gyaahahahahahaha! No way! I'm sorry! I was kidding!"

Loud laughter echoed from the vaulted ceiling.

He came home feeling a bit regretful for not having "prepared" anything for that day, but he suddenly thought about it. Anything to scare, annoy or despair the cutest monkey in the world.

However, today seems to have been the best day to return. It was worth waiting until today to "give up the monkey" until he fell into the final stage of withdrawal symptoms.

At the edge of his field of vision, Saruhiko scrambled up the stairs on his back and escaped to the second floor. He couldn't help but laugh at how unnecessarily funny he was.

"Die, die! I'll die laughing! Ahahahahahahaha!"

On July 11, 1999, Niki Fushimi experienced an unprecedented disaster that affected the entire Kanagawa prefecture, outside the disaster area. But that in itself did not arouse any emotion in Niki, nor did it have any effect on him.

The man lived without mixing with the ups and downs of destiny that secretly moved the Dresden Slate.

#k #k project #k ground zero #fushimi niki #fushimi kisa #fushimi saruhiko #k stories

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projecteldritch · 8 months

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Eldara - Meet the characters! (spoilers)

I have been writing since june of 2014 and (hopefully) gotten rather good at it. That being said, most of my writing is in the form of worldbuilding; characters, settings, locations, maps, etc.

Here's a quick rundown of my characters with some more detailed descriptions below the break:

Kody - space mage assassin

Orthus - ancient dragon

William - ranger with a perfect aim

Zeenie - young dragon wanting to prove herself

Ezon - dark strider with a hard shell but a soft heart

Violet - rogue mage with a long life of trauma and alienation

Kody Johnson:

Bio: Cis gay/asexual man, white skin, short, black hair and black eyes, short, compact build

Age at start: 22, working as an assassin for the last 6 of them

Magic: space magic (teleportation, extra-dimensional spaces), telekinesis (weak/latent)

Inspiration: mostly all AC games and an initial self-insert/edgy character whom I've worked to make more realistic since

An assassin by profession, space mage by birth. Born into a high noble family, trained to kill, then disowned when he failed a family rite of passage (which was probably set up for him to fail). He lives in a house he built with Orthus, his dragon companion. It is partially inspired by the TARDIS of all things, being just a door on the outside, but a full-fledged home on the inside. Built with perhaps a bit of megalomaniac zeal, it has way too many rooms for just the two of them, but it serves as a good base of operation for the team once it assembles. He's pragmatic, tactical, but prone to over-straining his magic and ending up exhausted after any given high-intensity event.

Orthus:

Bio: Trans bisexual/biromantic man, dark skin (in human form) and pitch black scales (in dragon form), dark hair & eyes, variable stature & build

Age at start: at least 3000, though he might be significantly older. Has been living with Kody for the last 7 years.

Magic: Shapeshifting (inherent with dragons, but especially versatile in his case), space, fire, earth, shadow, etc.

An ancient dragon with a particular soft spot for humans. Born very long ago in the middle of a war, he hatched in the arms of a young, human girl, and grew up as her companion. He's gotten into a lot of trouble over the millennia and knows a few gods on a personal basis. Respected by Aquilan (northern/wood) elves and has a statue dedicated to him in the capital of a southern union of former Empire colonies. Transitioned after having to really consider his gender after getting pregnant and abandoning his daughter (an egg which comes up eventually in the story). He's calm, collected, a appears pretty stoic at first, but you'll get to know him as someone who cares deeply about everyone around him.

William Wolf:

Bio: Cis straight man, with shoulder-length, blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin, tall, slender

Age at start: 23, 17 of which were spent with the rangers

Magic: undetermined, but he has a low intensity, but long range ability of telekinesis, which is unusual

Inspiration: Aragorn/Legolas

A Ranger Patron (one down from Master) with high chances of making it to Master. Born in a small village of magic users, William always felt a bit of an outsider. His sister, Violet, who's 3 years older than him, was the reason that their parents moved there. From early on, a Ranger Master called Halt was interested in young William, who showed special promise to be a great ranger. When he was 6, their village was razed by empire troops, and he found an unhatched dragon egg under their home, which hatched in his hands. The young dragon is Zeenie, and has been with him since. After the fires died down, he and Zeenie escaped to meet Halt in a nearby town. Halt took them in, and raised William as his son, inducing him into the ranks of rangers.

Zeenie:

Bio: Cis girl (sexuality not addressed), short, thin, light green scales (in lizardfolk/vern form), blue/white scales (in dragon form), white skin and short, blonde hair (in human form, later dyed blue)

Age at Start: 17, hatched when William found her egg, beeing living with him since

Magic: limited shapeshifting, water/ice, air, light, etc.

Hatched from a long-forgotten egg buried under a family home, Zeenie had very little to go on by herself. She's become strongly connected to William, his initial burst of emotion being the thing that triggered her hatching. Through the years, she's been treated as an extension of Will, an accessory to him, and it has been bothering her for a while. Never having seen another dragon in her life before, when Kody mentions he is good friends with one, her mind was made up. Her journey is centered around learning to be a dragon, and above that, her own person.

Ezon Athor:

Bio: Cis bisexual man, medium height, bulky build, slightly hunched over posture, black hair and eyes, tan skin

Age at Start: 40+ (unknown), his past is a bit of a mystery even to him, having forgotten significant portions of it. He ages differently to other humans due to a number of invasive magical experiments performed on him as a child.

Magic: Absorption (he can forcefully drain any source of (regular) magic to bolster his own strength and endurance, accelerating his healing to unnatural levels), preconception (limited)

Inspiration: Bucky Barnes

Born into a small village, he was kidnapped by cultists as a baby because of his connection to one of the Elder gods (Nemun). He was experimented on (basically tortured), and gained a number of strange abilities with it. His perception is slightly skewed through time, making him see a bit into the immediate future, enhancing his reaction speed. His left arm was infected with a magical fungus, which enabled him to absorb all (regular) sorts of magic into him. He eventually escaped and later founded a family, which was then destroyed along with his new home in an attack by a fractured god (Nefest). He's been trying to gain power to defeated the god ever since.

Violet Wolf:

Bio: Cis bisexual woman, medium height, compact build in good condition, red hair, blue eyes, white skin.

Age at Start: 26, escaped the attack that left her and William orphans. She spent a few years on the run, then a few more at a wizard's home as his apprentice. She's been jumping from town to town for the last 10 years.

Magic: Blood magic (a chaotic counterpart to nature magic, the generic healing/life force magic, discriminated against even amongst magic users and subject to a witch hunt a few hundred years back. She can sacrifice life force to open portals into a doomed realm to draw on its chaotic power)

Inspiration: Jean Grey (X-men, Dark Phoenix), Katarina (League of Legends), and eventually Violet (Arcane)

Having escaped the Empire raid on their village, Violet and her friends fled to the same nearby town as William did, but they did not know they had an ally there. One of the girls' parents lived there, so they spent the night there, but were attacked by assassins hired by the Empire (Kody's later estranged father). Only Violet managed to escape, and spent a few years homeless. A wizard took her in, so for a few years, she had a teacher and a home. It all ended bad however when he figured out her magic was blood magic, and she was forced to flee yet again. Thoroughly traumatized and with an unhealthy lack of trust in people, she acquired a daemon (symbiotic dark spirit feeding off of her emotions, acting as a permanent companion and occasional protector), and has been spending her time in random places for as long as people will have her. Meeting her long-thought-dead brother was a bit of a shock for her, and she's got some enemies to take care of.

#project eldritch #Eldara #original character #fantasy #magic #Kody Johnson #Orthus #William Wolf #Zeenie #Ezon Athor #Violet Wolf

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merrock · 2 years

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CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Sophie Bush

full name: Thea Eloise Waldrof

nickname(s): Thea, Honeybee

pronouns & gender: She/Her // Cis Woman

sexuality: TBD

birth date: December 24th, 1982

birth place: Merrock, Maine

time in town: Born and raised, moved at 18, returned at 38.

housing: Her father’s old place in the suburbs.

Occupation: Lighthouse Keeper and Manager at Gull’s Landing

Family: TBD

Personality: Thea is a very outdoorsy person. She’s always loved anything that had to do with outdoors. She loves hiking, and would rather be outside hiking than doing anything else. She’s outgoing, and passionate about the things and people she loves and she cares deeply about things that most people probably wouldn’t find important. She’s strong willed, and will do anything to encourage others.

BACKGROUND / BIO

Trigger warnings: parent death, grief, abusive/controlling relationships, abandonment, cancer, negative self-talk.

Tw: abandonment, please proceed with caution!

Thea Waldrof was always the light of her father’s life. From the moment she was born, the girl was her father’s entire world, and Franklin Waldorf knew that there was nothing that could change that. His wife - Thea’s mother - left the two of them days after Thea’s birthday - leaving a working man alone to care for a newborn baby with no real idea of what he was doing. That of course didn’t stop Franklin, and the male made Thea his first priority.

Thea grew up with many nights being spent at the lighthouse as her father stayed up all night trying to guide any sort of ships that would doc at sea. While most people assumed the lighthouse only housed the light station, the lighthouse at Merrock was full of secrets that only people who were there actively would know about. The upper section of the lighthouse was the light station and the lantern room like you’d see in any given lighthouse. These - along with the watch and service rooms - were used to function the lighthouse fully and properly on any given day. But those weren’t the things that made the lighthouse special to the members of Merrock. It was the other elements of the lighthouse that were the most magical.

Inside, a makeshift living area had been added. It had never been much of anything. Camping supplies were a big hit; cots, portable stoves, cooking supplies, and even a small battery operated television. All things to be able to live inside the lighthouse properly if that’s what someone chose to do. Franklin knew that the lighthouse wasn’t a proper house for a child, however, to Thea it grew to be the place she loved most very quickly. Meals were usually shared among the daughter/father duo, mac and cheese being a favorite as it was simple and Thea could never truly get enough. There were many nights that Franklin would have to pull a double - he was always the more reliable of the people who worked there, and Thea would find herself sleeping on the old camping cot until daybreak where she’d get up and start her day all over again. It may not have been much, but for Thea and Franklin, it was theirs.

Starting school seemed to change things slightly for the duo, Thea’s nights would be spent with a friend studying and doing homework and her and her father would mostly only be together later in the evening and night time when it was time for bed. Though Thea loved spending time with her father, the sense of independence she gained from it seemed to be good for the girl. Her grades were always good - mostly A’s, but the occasional B in certain subjects - but school for Thea was mostly a breeze.

At the age of seventeen, Thea started planning for college, applying to several universities around the United States in hopes to get into the best school. Marine Biology was her passion, and her dream was to get into the University of Miami, where the need for the career really seemed fitting. When she got her acceptance letter, she was ecstatic, and although his baby girl leaving the city he’d loved for so long was hard for him, Franklin Waldrof was excited for her. Moving to Florida was a dream come true. She settled into college - which was much more a breeze than she’d expected - started classes and even made some friends. One person in particular that would make a lasting impression; Patrick Stinnett who just so happened to become the love of Thea’s life.

Thea and Patrick hit it off rather quickly. Coffee dates, study sessions, and many other nights spent talking until three in the morning despite the class they shared at eight, it all seemed so natural, and Thea was certain that she’d never met someone she bonded with quite so quickly. One thing led to another and within two months of meeting the two began dating, and Thea was taking Patrick home to meet her father. The trip to Maine led to Patrick asking for Franklin’s blessings to marry his daughter, and though he was hesitant due to how quickly their relationship was brewing, Franklin agreed. The lovebirds were married by the summer going into Thea’s senior year of college - an extensive work load for Patrick’s junior year was his excuse to slow things down - and Thea couldn’t have been happier. Unfortunately, though, not every love story ends as happily as it begins now does it?

Tw: abusive/controlling relationship, and negative self-talk please proceed with caution

The abuse began almost immediately after the two were married, and while Thea was too in love to see it as a fault, she often times would use the excuse that she could do better, that she could be better. That all of the reasons why Patrick was so mean towards her was her own fault, and that if she would just be a better wife it would be better. However, with each passing day the controlling behavior, the emotional trauma, the abuse, none of it seemed to stop. It almost felt as if the more she changed, the angrier Patrick got, and the more scared Thea seemed to be. Everytime she left the house, it was another phone call asking more questions than necessary, or accusing words about what she was doing. All more than any 21 year old - or any person of any age, honestly - should have to deal with.

The hours turned into months, and the months into years, leaving Thea feeling trapped in her own household. Trips to Maine became less frequent, and while her relationship with her father was just as strong as it had ever been, she knew that she wanted to return home and visit as the phone calls simply left a hole in her heart that could only be filled by a hug from her father. Her relationship with her husband grew more and more strained, and with each passing year, Thea wished she’d never gone through with it. However, once she’d landed a job at her college working in animal research months after graduating, she began to save up money in hopes to convince her husband to move with her somewhere closer - a better job was in the works, at least in her mind - and hope to take more frequent trips to visit her father. Because if you were miserable in your own home, you could at least go home to feel better, right?

The years seemed to grow longer and longer as Thea and Patrick’s marriage stood at a stand still. Nothing seemed to be changing, and Thea longed for some sort of change of scenery. After many years of looking - Thea was now 28, her marriage now seven years ‘strong’ - Thea landed a job at a Sea World a few towns over, and reluctantly convinced her husband to move with her there. Accepting the offer - merely because Thea would now be making more money which meant he could finally lessen his hours at work like he’d planned to do all those years before - the couple moved a few hours north, which also meant that Thea was now a few hours closer to Maine.

The Stinnett’s had settled into their house calmly, and for once things didn’t seem quite as bad as they had once been. Sure, the controlling behavior had never stopped, however, it was much less frequent now that Patrick was able to stay home more, his days mostly consisting of baseball game marathons on the couch while Thea did most all of the work. And while Thea still didn’t love the idea of being married, she was hopeful that the least rewarding part was behind them. That, of course, was until Thea’s thirtieth birthday when she received the phone call that would change her life forever.

Tw: cancer mention, please proceed with caution

Thea’s father - her absolute best friend in the entire world - had been diagnosed with cancer, and Thea was devastated. Sure, there were treatments - all of which she had strongly encouraged her father to do - and the cancer was still early enough on that he had a fighting chance, however, the thought of knowing her father was sick and Thea was miles away was heartbreaking. How was she supposed to stay here when her father needed her there? There was no way that she could stay working as many hours as she was currently and also be there to take care of Franklin. Sure, her father had promised her he could manage on his own, that he was fine and that she didn’t need to worry, but, that didn’t really ease Thea’s mind. The only thing she wanted more than for her marriage to work was for her father to be healthy, and for him to be okay.

With much convincing of her husband - and many hours spent in arguments about it - Thea was able to convince her husband to let her travel to Maine once a month to be there to help her father after his treatments, and her hopes were to eventually convince Patrick to return with her so they could start fresh in a town that meant so much for Thea. But for now, she was grateful to get to be there for her father in ways that she’d never imagined.

Tw: divorce, please proceed with caution

Just like most of the things Thea had always dreamed about, though, her and Patrick’s relationship came to an end just a year after her father’s diagnosis, and Thea felt defeated. Divorce had never been in the cards for her, and while she had wanted nothing more than to stay with him, she knew deep down that she had to move on. Her life with him no longer fulfilled her in a way that she felt it should, and divorce was the change she needed. Her job stayed the same, and she got herself an apartment on the opposite side of town. Her travels to Maine still happened monthly, until her father got the news that he was in remission and he was healed. In the middle of what felt like the biggest storm of Thea’s life, she’d received a rainbow of hope.

The years passed and Thea felt as if her life was just one big ‘muscle memory’ of events. Between work, phone calls with her father, less frequent visits and living life as a single person for the first time in over ten years, Thea didn’t feel as if she was doing much. Sure, she was happy, she loved her job, and she was truly starting to find herself again, but something felt off. Something felt like it was missing, and the uneasiness of trying to find it was eating at Thea more than anything. But, just like all the other times, life goes on, and Thea knew she just had to make the best of it.

tw : cancer mention, death and grief are in the next three paragraphs, please proceed with caution.

By the time she was thirty eight, Thea was at the prime of her career. People knew her by name and she was finally happy again. She’d dated several times over the course of the years - had even had a serious relationship with someone she worked with, but the two had had a mutual agreement to end things when it just felt they were more like friends instead of a couple. But, no one had quite stood out to her as much as she’d hoped, and though it was a little disappointing, Thea was happy. Her life was good, and she loved the way things were going for her. Of course, that was until she was awoken at four in the morning by her Uncle Jack; her father had been taken to the hospital and his cancer had returned, and this time he only had a few months to live.

Returning home to Maine to spend the last bit of time with her father that she could, Thea was able to share two full weeks with her dad before he passed away, cancer taking his life as Thea had feared all of those years ago. Overtaken by guilt for all of the time she wasted not getting to be with her father, along with the pain of knowing she’d lost her very best friend, Thea began to grieve, the loss of someone so close to her more painful than she’d imagined. She had Jack to lean on, and truthfully she was certain that if it weren’t for him she would’ve never been able to deal with it. But, Jack needed Thea as much as she needed him; he’d too, lost his best friend.

Time seemed to move quicker than Thea could imagine, and while she began to sort through everything of her father’s - she’d inherited everything when he’d died, seeing as how she was his only living relative - and the longer she stayed, the more put together her life seemed to become. She loved Merrock, and even though the person that had made this place feel so welcoming before was no longer here, this was the place that Thea felt the most like she belonged. So, Thea made the executive decision to leave Florida, quitting her job, selling all of her furniture in her apartment, and moved back to Merrock to move forward with her life.

Thea’s father has now been gone for an entire year; and while having Jack around had been more than enough to help Thea cope with the loss of her father, the two had packed up just a few months after Thea returned, traveling the world together before Jack settled in a small apartment in upper New York while and Thea began traveling again, returning back home to Merrock just a few months later. With Jack gone, Thea now does some lighthouse keeping along with museum tours, but her primary source of income is now through Gull’s Landing - the local bed and breakfast in town - where she is a receptionist. While Merrock feels a little different without her father, and her Uncle Jack, Thea has never been more thankful to be in Merrock, just the place to call home.

#merrockbio #theawaldrof #parent death tw #death tw #abusive relationship tw #abandonment tw #cancer tw

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streetlight11 · 3 years

Text

Daycare

Summary: He sends his daughter to a daycare centre during the day when he's busy working. He loves his daughter so much but is unable to give her full attention. However, the little girl understands. Just so happens, the little girl has grown really fond of one of her daycare teachers and she loves to tell her father about her. What happens when he meets his daughter's daycare teacher one day out of pure curiosity only to fall for her later?

Theme: Family, stranger(?) to lovers

Genre: Fluff

Pairing: IdolParent!Taehyung x DaycareTeacher!Reader

Word count: 4.4k

A/n: Hi, hello. I just get so soft when I see my favourite kpop boys interact with kids and I know Taehyung loves kids so I thought of writing this. Let me know if there’s any mistakes! Other than that, enjoy reading! :)

“Okay guys, you can take a break. We’ll resume in 15 minutes.” Their choreographer said as the 7 boys let out tired groans and sighs before collapsing to the ground. Taehyung took a few heavy breaths before making his way to the bags where he took his phone out to make a video call.

A few seconds later, a familiar high pitched voice ringed through his phone speaker as the little girl stepped in front of the front camera where her grandma was holding up the phone.

“Dada!”

“Hi my flower! How are you? Have you eaten?”

“Yes dada! Grandma made chicken soup today!” Just then, the rest of the boys came rushing to Taehyung’s side as they were all taking turns to say hello to the little girl.

“Ahh! Lily ahhh! Hello!” The boys said while the little girl giggled excitedly before waving to the camera.

“Omg so cute.” Namjoon commented, only for him and Hoseok to wriggle at how cute Lily was being.

Lily was Taehyung’s daughter. Yes, he and his ex-girlfriend was still young at the time when she accidentally conceived the little girl. However, Taehyung’s ex left the baby for Taehyung’s care, completely abandoning them. Taehyung of course didn’t have the heart to throw the baby away so he ended up taking care of her.

He got the help of his family to look after the kid while he was preparing to debut. At the time, nobody knew about this except for his family. It was after he debuted that his members and his CEO and soon after, the company staff members along with his manager found out about the child.

However, Taehyung wasn’t kicked out from the team. In fact, he was given the chance to continue his career but that would mean less time to spend with his daughter. Taehyung wanted to work hard and be successful in the future for himself and his family, that includes his daughter.

Hence, the reason why he stayed with the team.

It has been 9 years since her birth and now that Bangtan was doing quite well, Taehyung was able to support his family and his daughter.

“Dada! Dada!” She called, making the boys squeal at her cuteness.

“Yes my flower?”

“I’m going back to school tomorrow! I can’t wait to meet Miss Pretty!”

“Do you really call her that?”

“Yes!”

“And she’s fine with it?”

“Miss Pretty is very nice! She’s not like the other teachers.” Taehyung laughed, staring at his daughter with such loving eyes. But soon, his happy little time had to come to an end since practice was about to resume.

“Sweetheart, Dada has to go now okay? Say bye to your uncles.”

“Bye bye uncles! Bye bye Dada!”

“Bye Lily!” The boys said in unison before Taehyung blew her a kiss and she did the same. After he hung up the call, Yoongi spoke up.

“Who’s Miss Pretty?”

Taehyung just shrugged his shoulders indicating he doesn’t know.

“I only know she’s one of the daycare centre teachers where I send Lily to everyday but I’ve never met her before.”

“Lily seemed to really like this ‘Miss Pretty’ a lot.” Namjoon commented.

“She likes everyone.” Taehyung said before going back to the middle of the room.

“No she doesn’t. She told you she doesn’t like some of our female staff members, remember?” Namjoon said, causing the rest of them to laugh.

“Maybe because they didn’t really know how to handle her.”

“Hyung, she told me Shiyeon and Jaemi noona scared her.” Jungkook said, causing Taehyung to sigh.

“I guess it doesn’t matter.” Taehyung confessed.

A few days passed by, as usual, Taehyung couldn’t pick Lily up from school due to his late working hours so his manager went to pick her up at 630 in the evening. It was 10 minutes past 6 and some of the kids had gone home with their parents.

Lily was just sitting in one of the small tables, playing with a board game alone when (Y/N), one of the daycare centre teachers, who was also ‘Miss Pretty’ as what Lily likes to call her, came up to the little girl only to join her at her seat.

“Hi Lily.” (Y/N) said with a soft smile on her face.

“Hello Miss Pretty!” Lily said as she got out of her seat and went to wrap her arms around (Y/N)’s hips. (Y/N) giggled. Hugging the little girl back before they went to take a seat. They chatted for the next few minutes while they waited for her guardian to arrive.

“Lily, can I ask you something?”

“Mhm!”

“The man who picks you up everyday, is that your uncle?”

“Nope! He’s my Dada’s manager. Dada is a singer!”

“Oh? Really? Who is he?”

“He is in a group!”

(Y/N) stared at the little girl in awe as the girl began to hum to a song that she recognized. She knew it all too well. It was Run.

“You mean, Bangtan?”

“Yes! Hehe. Do you know my uncles and Dada?”

(Y/N) didn’t want the girl to be afraid or feel like she was going to expose her to the fans that she was a child to one of the members so she shook her head. Just then, the little girl told her to turn on a song by BTS on youtube because she wanted to show (Y/N) who her dad was. (Y/N) did just that, only to click on the most recent comeback they had a few months back with the song title ‘Black Swan’.

The video played but Lily never stopped it, just enjoying the music together with (Y/N) but then she suddenly clicked pause when one of the members got a close up shot and she immediately smiled while eagerly pointing to the screen.

“Dada! That’s him!”

With that, (Y/N) took a good look, only to realize that it was Taehyung. Who happens to also be her favourite member. (Y/N) wasn’t disappointed that he has a child. Instead, she was happy that he never gave up and continued to persevere for his daughter.

“This is your dad?”

“Yeap! He is awesome isn’t he?” The little girl giggled.

“Yeah. He is.” (Y/N) replied with a smile when a familiar voice calls out to Lily from the class door.

“Uncle Sejinie!” Lily said as the man smiled to both (Y/N) and Lily.

(Y/N) returned the gesture, walking Lily to him. Once they were at the door, Lily went ahead to put on her shoe when the man said to the little girl.

“Lily ah, your father wants me to bring you to the company building. He wants to see you.” With that, she began to jump up and down excitedly while holding onto (Y/N)’s hands. The man glanced at their locked hands and frowned.

“But your teacher won’t be coming with us.”

Lily pouted sadly only to ask why, her voice laced with sadness. (Y/N) looked at the man and he was visibly feeling bad but she completely understood why.

“Lily, sweetheart, listen to me okay? I have no special connections with your dad so I can’t go in there. But you’ll still see me here everyday? Right?” (Y/N) tried to talk some sense into the little girl as Lily began to tear.

“B-But, I want you to meet Dada…”

“Next time okay sweetie?” (Y/N) said, only for Lily to nod. She gave (Y/N) a warm hug before waving goodbye to her.

The two of them soon left the centre while (Y/N) quickly packed her things and went to tidy the class a little before heading home. After she locked the centre, she slowly walked towards her car. She got in and soon drove off. But her mind drifted back to earlier.

“Is Taehyung a single dad then? Where is Lily’s mother? I feel so bad that she grew up without a mother figure…” These questions floated in her head as she drove back to her apartment.

But this didn’t make her look down on him. He was still human and humans make mistakes. No doubt, even though she found him to be the most charming and cutest member of Bangtan, she just couldn’t help but wonder just how adorable he would be with his daughter. She would probably melt if she saw how he is with Lily.

That same evening, Taehyung’s manager and Lily soon arrived at the Bighit building as his manager led her up to the 9th floor of the building.

He showed her which room they were in, only for her to run while the man held her bag for her. Lily reached for the door handle with a little jump. She pulled the door handle down and soon pushed the door open. The guys were just scattered around the room, practicing for the upcoming comeback in a few months.

“Dada!” Lily’s voice echoed in the room. She ran to Taehyung in a heartbeat. His face immediately lit up upon seeing his daughter, easily scooping her off the ground.

“My flower! Omg you’re here!” Taehyung said as he kissed her on her soft cheeks and also on her tiny lips, making the girl giggle.

The rest of them began to huddle around the parent and child as they took turns to greet the little girl. They ended up being distracted by her for a while but she listened to her father when he told her to wait quietly at the couch until he ended practice and she did exactly that.

She even fell asleep with Taehyung’s phone in her small hands while waiting for him. Taehyung took her to his dorm as she slept over there for the night since it was a weekend the next day and the guys were having two days off.

During the weekend, Lily couldn’t stop talking about (Y/N) even though she still calls her ‘Miss Pretty’ when talking to her dad about her.

Taehyung has been hearing all these nice stories of this teacher of Lily so he figured, maybe it was time to meet the person who has been taking very good care of his daughter when he’s busy working everyday and night. It was a Wednesday evening and Lily was just talking to (Y/N) at one of the tables as usual while waiting for her guardian to pick her up.

Just when she was about to tickle Lily for stealing her markers, a deep raspy voice spoke up from the entrance. A sense of familiarity to the voice lingers in her ear for a little too long.

(Y/N) glanced over to the door, only to see a young man standing there with a white mask over his nose and mouth but his eyes were too familiar for her not to recognize.

“Lily ah, Dada’s here.”

That’s when Taehyung finally locks eyes with (Y/N), only then he realizes how true his daughter described her to be. She was a lot cuter than he imagined with the genuine smile on her face as she joked around with his daughter.

With that being said, Lily gasped, running straight to Taehyung. (Y/N) watched as he scooped the little girl up swiftly, nuzzling his face in her small neck. (Y/N) giggled softly at the cute interaction between a father and a daughter. Once she was standing in front of the idol, she suddenly felt nervous and shy, in which he seemed to notice.

“Hi, you must be Lily’s dad. You can call me (Y/N), I’m Lily’s class teacher.” (Y/N) said, holding her hand out. Only for him to smile behind the mask. Taehyung took her hand in his and shook it gently before he introduced himself.

“Hi (Y/N), I’m Taehyung. Thanks for taking such good care of my little flower.” He said, only for him to feel a slight electric shock when their skins made contact for a little too long. They both pulled away sharply but then apologized. Just then, Lily spoke up.

“Yay! Does that mean Miss Pretty can see Dada more now?”

With that, (Y/N) choked on her own saliva while Taehyung’s eyes grew wide in shock.

“Lily…”

“Oh Dada, come on! I like Miss Pretty. Don’t you?” Her question came to them by surprise when he locked eyes with (Y/N) for a while but then a small smile appeared on his lips.

“I do, baby. Now enough of chatting. Let’s go. We wouldn’t want to hold Miss Pretty back from her rest now do we?” Taehyung said while Lily shook her head. However, (Y/N) was flustered when he used the nickname Lily gave her instead of her name. Taehyung flashed her a shy smile as he soon asked if she had a ride home. When she told him she drove there, he nodded.

“Alright then. Drive safely. Thank you again for everything you’ve done for Lily.”

“It’s my pleasure, Taehyung. Goodnight, and I’ll see you tomorrow pretty flower.” (Y/N) said. Tapping Lily’s nose, making the girl giggle. Only for the little girl to bury her face in Taehyung’s neck.

The next day, (Y/N) didn’t expect to see Taehyung again in the evening as he took his time to fetch Lily from the daycare centre although he was in the middle of practice. Slowly, this became a routine for him to come pick Lily up from school. At first his member’s were confused as to why he was suddenly eager to fetch his daughter almost everyday. But after a while, they knew exactly why.

Taehyung wanted to see (Y/N).

This went on for a few weeks with the both of them already exchanged numbers and he would sometimes video call her during lunch just so he could talk to Lily, and maybe (Y/N) too. The members have spoken to (Y/N) a few times before and some of them have even met her in person. All of them seemed to like her as a person.

However, it was Taehyung’s birthday today and the boys had to work. Taehyung apologized to (Y/N) through text saying that he probably couldn’t come and fetch Lily due to his busy schedule but she told him it was fine.

Little did he know, the boys had planned something to surprise the single father.

(Y/N) and Lily went to go get a small cake for Taehyung before heading to the company building. Once they managed to get in with the help of their manager, he brought them to the level where they were at.

(Y/N) prepared the cake and candles as she hid outside the practice room door while Lily hid on the opposite side of (Y/N). She texted Yoongi to get Taehyung out of the room and soon, when the door opened with a clueless Taehyung stepping out to leave, Lily and (Y/N) came out front to surprise him. The poor male jumped back in shock as he clutched to his chest.

Everyone began to sing for him the happy birthday song as they gathered around the door. A smile crept onto his face but he was still confused to see them there.

“Happy Birthday Dada!” Lily said after they finished singing for him while Taehyung glanced back and forth between the adult and the kid.

“Happy Birthday Taehyung.” (Y/N) wished as she held the cake in front of him.

“Make a wish.” She said, only for Taehyung to listen.

He closed his eyes and soon made a wish in his head before blowing the candles out. Everyone cheered before re-entering the room to celebrate briefly. They were all having bite after bite of the cake, only for Jungkook to whisper to Hoseok quietly while (Y/N) was talking to Seokjin and Yoongi.

“Wah hyung, she’s really pretty. She’d make such a cute couple with V hyung.”

“I agree. Plus, she’s already won Lily’s heart. It makes her one step closer to being Lily’s mother figure.” Hoseok said, seeing her giggle at Seokjin’s comment about her having to be stuck with Taehyung of all people. Their break time was about to end when (Y/N) spoke up, catching the attention of everyone else.

“I’m really thankful I got to be here and celebrate your birthday. Who would’ve thought I would be sitting here with a famous artist group huh?” They laughed at her words, telling her that they were happy she could feel even the slightest bit comfortable being with them as a normal person and not as an idol with a fan.

Just then, she took this chance to continue.

“Even so, I shouldn’t be here for too long. I don’t want people to get the wrong information.” This caused the boys to look at her in shock while some frowned.

“What do you mean? You’re leaving already?” Taehyung asks suddenly from beside her as she locks eyes with him. She found it hard to answer him so he continued.

“Stay… please.” His words were soft and almost as if he meant every bit of it without any hesitance in it.

“But-”

“I know you’re worried about our fans and the media, but I promise you’ll be safe.” His words brought so much comfort to her but for some reason, she was still afraid. So for the first time, Taehyung reached down to place a hand on top of her own that was resting in her lap while he gently caressed it with his thumb.

“Please stay (Y/N).” The room fell silent, the boys glancing back and forth between the two expectantly.

She didn’t feel right to reject him with how gentle he was being so she decided to give in.

“Okay…”

With that being said, the members smiled in victory as they soon cleaned up the place before going back to practice. As promised, (Y/N) stayed longer while the boys practiced their upcoming song. (Y/N) was just sitting with Lily at the couch, entertaining the little girl by watching a cartoon with her. Halfway through the cartoon, Lily began to yawn as (Y/N) turned to her in concern.

“Are you sleepy?” She asked, her voice slightly louder so she could hear past the music playing in the room.

Lily nodded as she turned to (Y/N) with her arms out. It was out instinct that (Y/N) immediately got up and rested her hands on Lily’s underarms before lifting her up. She puts Lily on her waist as the little girl wraps her arms around (Y/N)’s shoulders. Lily pressed her cheek on top of (Y/N)’s shoulder with (Y/N) supporting the girl by resting her arms under the girl’s thighs.

The boys were still focused on dancing when Taehyung noticed (Y/N) carrying Lily through the reflection.

She was swaying from side to side, gently patting Lily’s back to lull her to sleep. Since it was pretty noisy in the room, (Y/N) decided to bring Lily outside so that the little girl could sleep in peace. All the while, Taehyung watched as (Y/N) carried Lily out of the room quietly without interrupting the boys.

A few of the members noticed this too but they weren’t as focused as Taehyung. Almost an hour later, they decided to call it a day as they began to take a short rest while packing their stuff.

“They’re not back yet?” Taehyung asked when he realized (Y/N) and Lily weren’t in the room. The boys shook their heads, only for Taehyung to leave the practice room in search of his two precious gems. Only to find (Y/N) standing at the very end of the hallway, softly humming to a song.

Taehyung lightly jogged towards her as she turned around upon hearing his footsteps.

“We’re done with practice. Did you drive here?” He asked.

“Mhm.” The room fell silent for a bit before he spoke up.

“I really mean what I said earlier.” She looked at him in slight confusion before he explained himself.

“You don’t have to worry about anyone. I promise you’ll be safe. I’ll keep you safe.”

With that, she smiled as she reached up to cup his face, making him lean into her touch.

Both of them have yet to confess their honest feelings for each other but it was pretty obvious that they liked each other. However, because of his profession, it would be slightly hard for him to actually be open about being in a relationship with someone even though he wants to be in one with her.

But that didn’t stop them from being honest and true to one another while nobody else was looking. With that, Taehyung gently wraps his fingers around her wrist as he caresses her hand softly before he speaks up.

“I know this is a little much to ask, but is it okay if you let Lily stay at your place tonight, I have a busy schedule all day tomorrow and I can't put her at the daycare since it’s a weekend. My parents are out of town at the moment too.”

“Yeah sure. No problem Taehyung.” She said with a genuine smile.

“Thank you so much (Y/N). I’ll come pick her up after my schedule is over.”

“No worries Taehyung. Just give me a call before you come okay?”

“Okay.” With that, the 9 of them soon left the building as she took Lily with her.

A few weeks passed and both (Y/N) and Taehyung have been showing more and more intimacy but without any PDA. Whenever the boys were at their dorm, they would often ask when Taehyung would ask her out or make it official but it seems like he has too many things on his mind. But they didn’t rush him into things so that was good. Today however, was a little different.

(Y/N) got a text from Hoseok asking her to come to the company building saying that Taehyung injured himself during the practice and nobody was around to take care of Lily. With that being said, she quickly rushed over to the company. Once she arrived, she went to find the room.

The minute she pushed the door open, she was met with a very cute setting where there was a foldable table with a laptop, a picnic basket on top of the pretty blanket covers. She got confused as she stared at it for a second, only for someone to cover her eyes from behind. She gasped as she jumped back, crashing into a firm chest.

“What are yo-”

“Shh, it’s just me.” Taehyung’s voice resonated in her ear as she couldn’t help but giggle.

He guided her inside not before closing the door and lock it. After they were inside, she turned to him and faked a hurt expression.

“Hoseok told me you got injured. Why would you guys lie about that? I was so worried for you!” She said as he chuckled, finding her super adorable. Taehyung took her hand and led her to the layout where the picnic blanket was laid. They soon took a seat before he then spoke up.

“I know this isn’t a perfect first date, but I knew you’d feel uncomfortable if we were out in public because you know, with all the public eye and media…” With that, she looked at him. A tint of pink crept onto her cheeks.

“A d-date?”

“Oh, yeah, forgot to properly ask you out. Unless you don’t want this to be a date, I’m totally fine with it! You don’t have to-”

“It’s okay… I- I want this to be a date.” She confessed, making him smile as they soon continued with their indoor picnic date. Where they watched a movie in the dark while they cuddled on the blanket. Halfway through, she was feeling slightly cold since she only wore a crop top and jeans. Taehyung gave her his jacket but she was still cold so he offered to keep her warm.

She got flustered at first but then she decided to just go with it due to coldness.

Hence the reason why she was now snuggled in between his legs, her back resting against his chest while he had his arms around her body.

She slowly got distracted by him drawing lazy patterns onto her waist. Her head was just below his chin so if she tilted her head up to look at him, their faces wouldn’t be too far from each other. Just then, she gently rests her cold hands on top of his forearms, making him look down. That’s when she decided to be brave and look up.

Taehyung stared at her with a gentle smile on his face, glancing down to his lips. Her heart was beating so fast against her chest, she could almost feel as though he could hear it. Taehyung slowly leaned down, testing the waters to see if she would pull away.

When she didn’t move, that’s when he finally pressed his soft lips on hers. She closed her eyes in bliss as she reached up to cup his face. Taehyung pulled away with a soft sound before kissing her again. He was getting drunk in her lips when she turned her body slightly so that she wasn’t lying in an awkward position. Taehyung kissed her passionately before pulling away for the second time.

They left their faces so close to each other to let their lips graze against one another.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to be the mother figure of my daughter.” Taehyung whispered as he locked eyes with her again. She smiled as she sneaked a kiss before she spoke up.

“I love that girl with all my heart, and you too.” Taehyung chuckled shyly as he kissed her again, the movie long forgotten by now.

#bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #v scenarios #kim taehyung scenario #taehyung fluff #taehyung imagine #taehyung x reader #bts taehyung

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jinx-jade · 3 years

Text

Cries of a hummingbird part 2: Last time

The Waynes cringe a little at the devastating sound that seemed to be louder than normal.

It had been a while since Hummingbird visited Gotham last.

While the Waynes were happy she wasn’t having as many breakdowns, they were also aware that meant she was keeping all her emotions on a tight leash, which can be extremely harmful to your mental health.

It took them a second to realize, the screams were louder tonight because they were coming from above them.

She was on the roof of Wayne Enterprises.

They quickly made their way to the roof, hoping to be able to finally have a conversation with the little bird they had become so emotionally attached to.

By the time the Waynes had made it up to the roof, the screaming and sobbing had stopped. They were about to head back to Bruce’s office, where they had previously been, but as they were leaving they saw her, most of them doing a double-take.

Hummingbird was lying unconscious on the roof, tear tracks visible down her cheeks.

The Waynes looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do.

They ended up bringing Hummingbird into Tim’s office since it has a napping space, pillows, and blankets, due to Tim’s many late nights working in his office when he wasn’t busy with his other late-night job.

Once she was settled, the Waynes began debating what to do with her. Ideas ranging from moving her to Wayne manor, or getting her some medical attention.

“We can’t ask Pixie what she wants to do, now can we since she’s not even conscious,” Jason says with a huff, as Hummingbird began to sit up.

“Nevermind. Guess we can ask her,” Jason states absentmindedly.

Dick rushed to her side, helping her sit up. Hummingbird accepted the help before seeming to realize something and cringed away from him. The Waynes of course took note of this reaction.

“How are you doing?” Stephanie asked, moving forward to take Dick’s abandoned spot.

Hummingbird didn’t answer. Instead, she curled in on herself, moving away from all of the Waynes.

The Waynes all took a few steps away from her, putting a little space between themselves and Hummingbird so she wouldn’t feel trapped. This seemed to make her relax, even if she was still wound up and tense.

“What’s your name?” Bruce eventually asked, breaking the silence.

“Don’t have one.” Hummingbird said in a neutral yet soft, voice.

“You don’t have a name?” Dick questioned, wondering how someone could live for years without ever making up or being given a name.

“...Don’t have one…” Hummingbird repeated with hesitation.

The Waynes shared a look. It was clear to them that she had one at some point, but for some unknown reason, Hummingbird considered the name dead.

“How old are you?” Tim asked, changing the topic since it seemed to make her uncomfortable.

“Fourteen’” Hummingbird told them.

“Do you have a parent or guardian we can contact?” Bruce of course being the one to ask the black-haired, blue-eyed child about parents.

The question seemed to upset Hummingbird, but she still answered, shaking her head no.

“Do you have a safe place to stay?” Bruce questioned, receiving a hesitant shake of her head.

“What B. here is trying to ask, is if you would be willing to be adopted,” Jason says as he interrupts Bruce’s questions.

Hummingbird looked at them as if they were some strange creatures.

“Ya, B. has a habit of adopting Black-haired, blue-eyed kids, with a troubled past. You’d fit right in!” Steph cheers.

“You’re blonde,” Hummingbird says with furrowed brows, making the Waynes laugh.

“Yup! That’s why I’m the unofficially adopted kid.” Steph claims with a grin.

The Waynes continued talking with Hummingbird until Alfred came to pick them up.

“I prepared a room for the new young miss. However I was unaware of what the young miss would like, so there will need to be a shopping trip to pick out personal decorations.” Alfred informs them on the drive home.

Hummingbird still kept a distance from them in the car like how she had at the office, but she seemed to be more relaxed.

At some point during the trip, Hummingbird fell asleep. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Almost as if she hadn’t been the one screaming and sobbing for the past few years.

Once they arrived at the manor, Bruce picked up the small child, Alfred guiding them to the little Hummingbird's room.

They had all agreed to talk about the logistics of the adoption in the morning.

Most of the Waynes slept in the manor that night, only a few going out on patrol since they all couldn’t skip patrol on the same night.

They didn’t end up talking to Hummingbird till after lunch due to her sleeping in.

Once they were all settled in the living room, they began to go over the adoption paperwork.

“Going off of the fact that you don’t have a name, I can only assume that you don’t have identification papers. Such as birth certificates, medical records, school papers, or anything similar to these items.” Bruce states.

Even though it wasn’t a question, Hummingbird still answered.

“I don’t have anything like that since I don’t technically exist.” Bruce nodded at her response. Letting her know that this was the circumstance that he was expecting after finding her on the rooftop.

“What name would you like to go by?” Bruce asked, starting the questions for the official paperwork.

Hummingbird didn’t answer right away, seeming to be lost in thought.

After four or five minutes Hummingbird gave her answer, although she wasn’t sure if the Waynes would like the name. In response to her uncertainty, she curled in on herself.

“Ari?” Hummingbird suggested with a small, soft voice.

In response to the name she suggests, the Waynes gave her encouraging words, sounds, or movements, about what a nice name it is, and how well it fit her.

The process seemed to repeat for every question she was asked by the Waynes.

The newly dubbed Ari would be asked a question. She would hesitate before answering. Then she would be showered in praise. Even Damian joined in on praising Ari for the ideas she came up with.

By the end of the day, Ari Eme Wayne, the youngest of the Wayne family by two years, was created and adopted.

Having the paperwork filled out may not stop Ari’s screaming and sobbing.

It probably won’t stop Ari from bottling up her emotions.

She will always have nightmares no matter what she did.

There will always be pain and suffering in her life.

Yet one thing was clear to the Waynes.

The cold night on the rooftop of Wayne Enterprise will be the last time that Ari Eme Wayne ever felt that all alone, and abandoned ever again.

#maribat #maribat march 2021 #cries of a hummingbird

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lassieposting · 3 years

Note

d'you think Erskine was ever jealous of Skug?

God, yes.

Honestly, I think jealousy has just always been a massive part of Erskine's personality, like. His entire life is an exercise in what an inferiority complex can do to a person.

With the backgrounds I've given them, Skug and Saracen are both Old Money Aristocrats. Their families have been landed/titled/insanely wealthy for generations upon generations. They're the 16th century equivalent of the 1%.

Erskine, on the other hand, is part of the nouveau riche that emerged as industry started to become a thing. His father was born in the gutter, grew up a street rat, and became a self-made man over several mortal lifetimes thanks mostly to being a) morally unscrupulous in his financial dealings and b) in the right place at the right time. So while Erskine's family is also insanely wealthy by the time he's born, he doesn't have that history. He isn't part of a family whose crest everyone knows. His father married the younger daughter of a minor noble family, so they're aristocrats a) by marriage and b) by the skin of their teeth.

In the 1600s, the old money aristocrats didn't like the new money aristocrats, in general. Erskine's family would've been seen as overambitious social climbers, white trash pretending to be upper class. So Erskine, from the very start, is having to try very hard to break into a world that Skug and Saracen have lived in from birth. He would've had a lot of doors closed in his face and missed out on a lot of opportunities purely by dint of having a father who aspired to better than he was born with.

And this is a recurring thing as he grows up. He goes to the same fancy school Saracen went to (several hundred years earlier), but he gets picked on by the old money boys because they stick together, and he's the outsider. He always has to work twice as hard to prove himself, to prove that he's just as clever, just as capable, just as worthwhile. He has the same interests as the other boys his age, and he's pretty, so he grows into a popular, handsome young man who likes hunting and horses and gambling and frittering money away on whatever or whoever catches his fancy, and on the surface he's practically indistinguishable from the Saracens and Skugs of the world, but on the inside he's still got that little voice whispering they think they're better than you and no matter what he does, he can't get it to be quiet.

And then he joins the army the way most young aristocrats did in those days, by purchasing the commission he wanted, and it looks like that's going to go really well for him, because suddenly he's surrounded by the enlisted rabble, and they don't know the difference between him and any other officer. He's a little lordling in their eyes, and that's validating, because he's so much more like the boys who bullied him at school than he is like these unwashed, uneducated people.

But he makes friends with Hopeless, and at some point he gets introduced to Hopeless' friends, and then he's drafted into a different squad and suddenly his new CO is Skulduggery Pleasant, hero of the Battle of Black Rock, the youngest captain in the forces at that time and promoted via field commission. Where Erskine bought his way in, Skug signed up as a bog-standard soldier (because while he could afford officership, Ghastly couldn't, and they signed up together), and got promoted on merit. So now Erskine's got a massive shadow to get out from under, and isn't that just his luck?

And, he likes Skulduggery. He does. He's a fantastic leader and he doesn't give a rat's ass about Erskine's background and Erskine learns a lot from him. But he's also completely unaware of just how spoiled and privileged he is, and it's infuriating. Skug will bitch and complain about having to go to balls and galas and fancy high-class dinners, and snipe at his own class for the backhanded way they do things, and all Erskine's ever wanted is to fit in with those people the way Skug can. Skug has every opportunity Erskine's ever longed for in his entire life. He could've married a great lady and become Lord Somethingorother and never had to sweat a drop for any of it. And instead he...abandoned his house and family, took up with a tailor's family instead and then married a working class girl? No matter how much Erskine likes Skug as a person, he's appalled by his life choices. All Erskine's dreams on a plate, and Skug spat on them.

Skug also notices leadership potential in Erskine and lowkey grooms him for command the way Corrival did with him, so after a century or so there is. Tension. They butt heads A Lot over how the Dead Men operate, the command structure, who's got the better plan. Erskine very badly wants to make a name for himself, but it's very difficult to do that when you're overshadowed by an established war hero at every turn.

Ultimately though, he was never gonna be Skug. He was a perfectly good soldier, but his primary talent wasn't in punching people and leading a cavalry charge, it was schmoozing and persuasion and being charming. He would've made a fantastic politician if he hadn't fallen in with the Children of the Spider. But they looked at him the way people usually looked at Skug, like he's their golden boy, their guiding light, their spokesman, and he is deeply vulnerable to the sort of gratification that gave him. Adding in that they saved his life and nursed him back to health while the Sanctuary essentially abandoned him and then replaced him, it's understandable why he changed sides. But he could've made his name as an Elder if he hadn't thrown his lot in with the creepy spider people.

tldr; yes he was jealous, but of an entire class of people, not just skug

#skulduggery pleasant #sp headcanons #erskine ravel

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snicketstrange · 3 years

Text

Rereading The Chapter 14 (The End)

I believed that in ASOUE's universe, chapter 14 was apparently written some time after the rest of the book. But I abandoned that idea. Lemony wrote to the editor that chapter 14 could be found at the end of the same manuscript.

We then have the epigraph of Le Voyage. It's an excerpt that portrays the moment of death, and perhaps the acceptance of death. But I don't think this means that Lemony is completely certain of the Baudelaires' death. I think it means he's pretty sure he won't write about the Baudelaires anymore. I think the right question is "why did Lemony decide to stop writing at this point in the story?" "Why did he plan to write more and then stop writing?" I think Lemony didn't promise to write the entire story of the Baudelaires. He promised to write the story of the conflict between the Baudelaires and Olaf. So when he was sure of Olaf's death, and that was only with the additional information he had probably had access to through Beatrice Jr, Lemony realized that the research might be over. The certainty of Olaf's death was the event he determined when the narrative came to an end. So, it makes us wonder what kind of promise Lemony made. Apparently he promised that he would clarify the facts surrounding the charges the Baudelaires went through, as well as the contexts in which these events took place. That's why it was so important to get this information out to the general public. Because it involved the honor of the Baudelaire family. Furthermore, this explains why he could not rely solely on the account given by the Baudelaires themselves: after all, they were being accused of being lying criminals. Lemony needed to clear their name, proving, so to speak, that the facts reported by the Baudelaires were real, and it was not enough just to record what he read in the island book.

I think this is the most sensible explanation, and as a theorist I will defend it. But as a fan willing to come up with slightly bizarre ideas, I feel like imagining Lemony realizing that his own death was close to happening. It would be interesting to imagine that Lemony's research took so long that he was an elderly man when he was publishing The End. And the reason Lemony finished his work at this point would be his physical limitations. That would explain shocking secret #13: "he's finished." And more than that: it would even explain the title of the book: "The End of Lemony Snicket". And furthermore, this would explain Lemony's dedication to Beatrice in chapter 14. After quoting the words of Charles B., in which the poet compares the hour of death with the setting off of a ship, Lemony claims that both he and Beatrice are like boats sailing at night, but especially her. Both were on a dark and lonely journey, but she was already dead. "

Beatrice's last words recorded in the book were really emotional to me when I first read them, and they still are today. Especially after I watched the Netflix series, it's now possible to imagine a very specific face when I picture Beatrice. And it's possible to think of a specific soundtrack when I read this.

About the baby's name, on my Headcanon Violet is the name of Mrs. W, who was presumed dead around the same time as Lemony. And in my Headcanon, just as Lemony didn't really die, she didn't either. I still like to think that she was the mystery woman on TGG, and that's the real reason Quigley used the name Violet in the message he sent to submarine Q.

I think this is the first time I stop to think that the Baudelaires ate crab. This is unclean food for those who practice Judaism as a religion, isn't it? I even thought the roast lamb was a reference to the Passover celebration, but they wouldn't do that by eating crab. Or is it that in a book in which Daniel Handler implicitly criticizes religion, he did so on purpose? I think it's unlikely, but still possible. But, albeit unintentionally, the Baudelaires rejected the religious customs of their ancestors in a book in which religious customs are questioned and this is significant.

"The baby had heard about danger, too, mostly from the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind from which the Baudelaires read out loud each evening, although they had not told the infant the whole story. She did not know all of the Baudelaires' secrets, and indeed there were some she would never know."

The above excerpt is important as it reveals that Lemony has information about Beatrice Jr's future as he was writing this chapter. This explains how Lemony knows what happened in this chapter: Beatrice Jr told him. Lemony did meet her, and he realized that the Baudelaires hadn't told her the whole story.

A detail that has always pleased me in this book is to notice that after 1 year, Sunny stopped babbling words and has a more conventional and extensive vocabulary. I find this compatible with the fact that 1 year has passed and it's also compatible with her character development arc. One of asoue's themes is "how some children are forced to mature too quickly because of tragedy". Sunny, for example, needed to learn how to cook and convince herself that she loved doing it and that she was good at it in a few days. And all this before she learned to speak English properly. She needed to help with a birth long before she fully understood issues related to human procreation. But in chapter 14, she finally had the opportunity to develop without tragedies forcing her to skip important steps in life.

"Do we take this?" Violet asked, holding up the book from which she had read out loud.

"I don't think so," Klaus said. "Perhaps another castaway will arrive, and continue the history."

"In any case," Sunny said, "they'll have something to read."

Please realize how important this dialogue is. Daniel Handler placed this dialogue here to make sure the reader understood the source of information Lemony had access to: the island book. The children wrote about their own story in that book, including their thoughts, feelings, and private conversations. The children shared some details about ancient events, about when Sunny wasn't even born. In the book, Lemony found details about some events that took place on the island before the arrival of the three Baudelaires.

"I want to make sure these life jackets I've designed will fit properly."

Well... It's good to know that, even though the boat sank, the Baudelaires had lifeboats. Their chances of survival really increased a lot. And knowing that Beatrice Jr managed to survive a shipwreck, it's quite possible that they did too.

The Baudelaires watched her approach, wondering what the next chapter in this infant's life would be, and indeed that is difficult to say. There are some who say that the Baudelaires rejoined V.F.D. and are engaged in brave errands to this day, perhaps under different names to avoid being captured. There are others who say that they perished at sea, although rumors of one's death crop up are often revealed to be untrue. But in any case, as my investigation is over, we have indeed reached the last chapter of the Baudelaires' story, even if the Baudelaires had not.

Lemony just reports here what he heard. Although Daniel Handler intentionally wishes the ending to be left open, and I will respect his decision, I will speak my opinion. They didn't die at sea, though. Note that Lemony directly relates the baby's future to the future of the three Baudelaires. The way Lemony wrote here suggests that the baby's future is as uncertain as the future of her adoptive parents. But we TBL readers know the truth about Beatrice Jr.'s future. Beatrice is alive! So the most likely situation is that her parents are also alive. ( And who knows other characters that we thought had died there on TBB... could it be that at least one of them could also have survived?)

But the question is: if Lemony knows the baby survived, why did he hide this information from the reader? Certainly to protect his niece. Lemony didn't lie, just omitted some details.

The baby paused, and looked at the back of the boat, where the nameplate had been affixed. She had no way of knowing this, of course, but the nameplate had been nailed to the back of the boat by a person standing on the very spot she was standing—at least as far as my research has shown.

Lemony once again dismantled specific knowledge through research, which could only have been done through information provided by others. Beatrice Jr needed to tell Lemony exactly where she was at that moment and Lemony needed to compare that with the information Beatrice Sr and Bertrand wrote in the island book. And then, on visiting the site, Lemony was able to ascertain the most likely position for those descriptions. While Lemony is a bit mistaken, the research process must have been like that.

Finally, she uttered a word. The Baudelaire orphans gasped when they heard it, but they could not say for sure whether she was reading the word out loud or merely stating her own name, and indeed they never learned this. Perhaps this last word was the baby's first secret, joining the secrets the Baudelaires were keeping from the baby, and all the other secrets immersed in the world. Perhaps it is better not to know what was meant by this word, as some things are better left in the great unknown. There are some words, of course, that are better left unsaid—but not, I believe, the word uttered by my niece, a word which here means that the story is over. Beatrice.

Oh... How I love this ending. That's when I felt my head explode for the first time in my life, and I'm still picking up the pieces.

#asoue #asoue theory #lemony snicket #a series of unfortunate events #asoue theories #beatrice baudelaire #snicketverse #beatrice snicket #beatrice jr #violet baudelaire #sunny baudelaire

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anxiouslyfred · 3 years

Text

Janus Parents Who?

for @dukexietyweek‘s day 4 prompt ‘parents’

Summary: Remus and Virgil know they aren’t brothers, despite both thinking of Janus as their Dad. The argument over whose dad Janus actually is carries on through their childhoods, reconciling when Thomas accepts all his sides and eventually starting to Date. Janus just hopes there’s a final resolution to be found because the screaming is over dramatic.

Warnings: Caps Lock Screaming, arguments, spider mention,

/\/\

Janus had come out of his room some time after yelling had broken out. He knew from the start that raising and looking after Remus and Virgil would be a challenge, but had also realised within a few arguments of theirs that intervening at the beginning would only lengthen how long they might disagree for.

“Well now, you two seem to be perfectly at peace with each other. Whom shall I thank for the relaxing evening?” He got their attention in an instant, sarcasm dripping from his words.

“We aren't BROTHERS!” Remus screamed, flinging an arm towards Virgil in accusation. “You're MY DAD! Not HIS!”

“Janus was my Dad first. That means you're the adopted one!” Virgil hissed back, moving to tug on one of Janus's arms, eyes pleading for his side to be taken.

That was clearly the worst thing Janus could do. Taking either side would be bad, but letting Remus feel rejected so soon after losing his brother and the complete rejection of Thomas knowing him could quite possibly destroy what control he'd maintained.

“When did you two decide that you aren't brothers? So far as I was aware I have 2 children to look after and oh, look at this, there are 2 children living with me.” Janus played surprised, counting his fingers and then the other sides in the room. “We all know that no matter what my role is, mathematics doesn't lie.”

Today he would work soft words to calm the boys down, and try to figure out just why they no longer believed themselves to be brothers. Hopefully tomorrow he would know how to resolve the argument properly.

/jrv\

It had been a long time since Janus had seen that specific glare on Remus's face and despite the urgent summons from Patton that had brought him there, he was very tempted to just fetch something from the kitchen before going to hide.

“Janus is my Dad. You can't Have Him!” Remus growled out, and yep, the glare was for exactly the same reason it always had been. That sounded like Virgil had mentioned liking having him as a Dad once more so their old feud was beginning all over again.

“Dude, it was Roman who said Janus acts like my Dad and he's always been that to me anyway. You can't dictate who my Parent is.” Virgil had almost hit Roman in the gesture towards him while glaring at Remus.

Patton was already hurrying over, ever ready to try calming down any argument. “Come on kiddo's. Being a Dad to one person doesn't mean you can't be to someone else. I thought you liked each other now so why not try-”

“WE AREN'T BROTHERS!” Janus had yanked his hat down to cover his ears just in time to muffle the combined scream of Remus and Virgil. He'd still never got a good explanation over why that decision was made but had learnt a million times over not to question it.

“Yes, that's been blatantly obvious as long as I've know you both. You're as different as Roman and Remus, I'm sure.” Janus drawled, mostly just to get the attention away from Patton before he tried again to suggest they could be.

It was almost too predictable that both sides he'd raised immediately gestured to the other angrily. “Tell him I'm your son and he isn't!”

“Hang on, Remus is my brother. Should I be included in this argument or not?” Roman's question only caused more arguing between Virgil and Remus, things Janus had heard them say a million times.

Only after Logan had emerged wondering what all the noise was about did Janus realise the vehemence wasn't in the argument any more. It was almost like the pair were just arguing over who he was a parent to as a way to reconnect with each other. Perhaps he wouldn't ask Patton what to tell them about who he was a parent to; not just yet anyway.

/VJR\

Remus and Virgil starting to date should have settled the issue.

Seriously, Janus could not believe that they still wanted to know who he was a true parent to after all this time and was honestly convinced that no side was actually a parent to any other. It wouldn't make sense for there to be parental relationships among the sides, given they were all just parts of what made up Thomas Sanders.

One thing was clear though and that between Roman, Remus and Virgil there had been an agreement struck that they were the children of the family and all children must have parents. Perhaps it was something to do with how they used the imagination to create and resolve situations or something, but the trio were resolute. If only they could be equally resolute on who was their assigned parents.

“JANUS IS MY DAD! PRODIGAL SON IF YOUR GOING TO QUOTE THE FUCKING BIBLE AT ME!!” Virgil's scream broke through what had been a quiet afternoon as he stormed out of his room and down into the living room.

Remus was already giving chase though. “MINE! At least I stuck with him and listen to the rules he makes!”

“That doesn't make you his son, it makes you a fucking suck-up!”Virgil hissed back. “Besides families have arguments sometimes. Don't try to claim otherwise cause I've seen how you react to your dearest brother.”

As ever when Roman was mentioned in a vaguely complimentary way he spoke up, “Well how about that, I already have a Dad, so maybe Janus actually is Virgil's dad after all.”

Only a beat of silenced passed before Remus was screaming, wailing almost over being the rejected son, abandoned at birth, with Virgil wrapped around him and glaring for anybody to agree with Roman.

“No no no, Octospider, you weren't. You were always loved and I can't imagine anybody doing something like that. Janus must be your Dad, cause nobody could bare to lose a wonderful gremlin like you.” The crooning words made all the other sides, now all present after hearing the screams, freeze.

Patton had been moving forwards at Roman's reasoning to agree and make some dad jokes to try and finally settle the ongoing dispute, never thinking about what that would mean given the divide split the sides for most of Thomas's life. Now he could only hope Roman had some other idea that would calm them both down whenever the brother comment was actually questioned and glanced to Janus to check how he'd taken Virgil's change of heart.

Janus had already moved to join Virgil in holding Remus, “There we go Darling. I'm your Dad, and have always kept you with me. Nobody has been rejecting you here, just hoarding your madness all for myself. It was far to precious to even dream of sharing when you were younger.”

“B-b-b-But Patton Hates me and he's Roman's Dad, how – how can I be yours when my brother is his?” Remus managed to ask, burying himself in Virgil's hoodie after asking the question. It looked like there could be tentacles as well as arms tying Remus to his boyfriend as he continued to wail.

“Must have been a really messy break up, I guess. We're like Parent Swap twins. Janus and Patton had such a big falling out they each took one of us and vowed to never see each other again.” Roman mused, nodding encouragingly at the questioning glances he got from the 3 other sides still standing.

Virgil's arms tightened then, his eyeshadow lengthening on his face, even as he kept up soothing strokes over Remus's back. “So I was the abandoned child then?”

“We are all the same age, Virgil. I don't think any of us even have parents, let alone understand all this drama for seeking them out.” Logan began, only to be cut of by a small cheer Roman made.

“Adopted out, I believe. After all our teacher was far too focused on making Thomas learn all the things and discover even more for much of our youth, but as soon as you started becoming known to Thomas was more than ready to help you through your worries.” Roman had moved over to Logan's side while speaking, listing out his reasoning excitedly. “Therefore we must believe that Logan is your Dad, Dearest Nightmare, but found himself unable to care for you and help Thomas with learning everything a young mind can so asked if Janus might raise you instead.”

Remus peeked out of the hoodie now, glancing suspiciously from Logan to Virgil's face. “I copied my eyeshadow from you. You just started getting it some mornings. Was that cause you couldn't try to steal Logan's glasses? I can make you some now if you like?” He offered.

“No need. Though I guess we need to find some other random thing to argue over now. Who's the better kisser perhaps?” Virgil offered, snickering at the confused glances they were now being shot.

Remus just pulled him down into a kiss before darting away. “I already won that one. What other suggestions do you have?”

Virgil watched him leave getting to his feet after a moment. “Thanks for the solution Roman, but seriously, if you ever upset Remus by making him feel abandoned again all the spiders in the house will find their way to your room, possibly including the ones from the imagination too.” With those parting words he hurried to follow Remus.

“Young love?” Patton asked, somewhere between thinking the scene was adorable and wondering what on earth just happened. Janus could only nod, feeling exactly the same over the two sides he had raised.

At least there was some story over how they weren't brothers now.

#dukexiety #dukexietyweek2021 #remus sanders #virgil sanders #Janus Sanders #parent confusion #caps lock screaming #roman sanders #dad janus #patton sanders #creativitwins #logan sanders

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the-writing-mill · 3 years

Note

Fantasy au arranged marriage, pairing of choice involving Obi-Wan?

Is this... is this about the arranged marriage fantasy AU I abandoned for homework on the discord yesterday? Is that what’s going on here, anon? Are you on the discord server or does everyone just have this sort of thing on the brain recently?

In either case though I shan’t rehash that but do something else lol

Obi-Wan is born as the third royal prince in a mountainous, vaguely European country. The world is about at renaissance level technology, with a few bonuses due to the presence of magic (and magical creatures)

His majesty, King Qui-Gon Jinn, is a moral, stubborn ruler who is thought of fondly by the commoners but who is also quite unthinking at times, a bit neglectful and letting the nannies and governesses raise his children

His royal highness, crown prince Freemor is studious and quiet, and frequently works in the gardens. People are tentatively approving of him as crown prince, since he should be able to handle managing the kingdom’s graneries and other food resources well, but are worried about what will happen during foreign affairs, especially if they go to war.

His royal highness, second prince Xanatos, is... certainly aggressive and ambitious like is needed for foreign affairs, but there are too many rumors of underhandedness and selfishness for him to drum up support, especially by the public

Obi-Wan Kenobi, the third prince, grows up feeling the need to rise to his title. His brothers are already well-versed in their studies and have their own strengths physically. Further, Obi-Wan was told by a nanny when he was young that a true prince has a duty to help their citizens as much as they can and he’s never let that go

Obi-Wan, like all members of the royal family, also has the ability to use magic. And so he is sent off for a few years of his childhood to the academy run the druids/[insert magic pseudo-priest group here]. There he makes good friends with Quinlan Vos, a count’s son whose family is well known as sword mages

When Obi-Wan learns the basics of magic enough from the academy, he’s sent back to the royal family, where he proceeds to take a bre- proceeds to start studying even harder. (Obi-Wan has no chill)

Obi-Wan doesn’t take a break from studying combat, magic, politics, diplomacy, etc. (and becoming a pretty good dragon rider) until basically a few years later when Quinlan graduates from the academy’s full program and shows up to get Obi-Wan drunk. Obi-Wan’s servants quickly pull every favor they have in the palace to get Quinlan hired as Obi-Wan’s aide

Obi-Wan convinces Quinlan that he needs more experience in the real world, and that he needs to prove himself capable by his own abilities, not just the royal name. Quinlan agrees to help Obi get the experience so long as Quinlan comes along

Thus they begin their careers as errant knights

They gain a reputation for bad luck/chaos, and so eventually are only hired/requested when everyone’s sure some mission will go to hell anyways, in which case they’re very good at getting out of things in the best case scenario

During this time they also meet a certain disguised person from a certain royal family in a tavern and Obi-Wan of course flirts and tries to drink the man under the table

After a few years of this, with a few scattered months of being recalled home to the palace or sent to help protect a border from his father, Obi-Wan is called back to the palace again

It’s now that Obi-Wan finds out he has been promised to a neighboring kingdom’s crown prince to diffuse tensions, as there were two neighboring kingdoms seeming to be preparing to make a move. Obi-Wan getting married off to one prevents that kingdom from being able to attack and gets their support to help make the third kingdom back off

Obi-Wan is back for less than a week before he’s being sent off to his new life, which isn’t actually enough time to come to terms with his life getting completely uprooted and him apparently no longer being allowed to serve his kingdom how he planned to/was tying most of his identity to

Obi-Wan arrives at his new home the day before the wedding, and does not see his husband until part way through the wedding ceremony where they both take off their ceremonial veil/headpieces that covered their faces, revealing the man from the tavern

Crown prince Cody does not insist on having sex, although the are required to share a bed, and thus begins Obi-Wan’s somewhat awkward attempts to adjust to his new life

Obi-Wan attempts to be a perfect husband/married in royal, polite, keeping quiet, not causing trouble

He thinks that things are going well, and that he’ll be able to have a perfectly proper, tolerable life until he overhears his husband and a few of his brothers complaining about how distant and cold Obi-Wan apparently is, and how it seems like Obi-Wan’s birth kingdom didn’t really want the marriage

Obi-Wan runs away to the stable where his dragon is being kept, and stays with her for a while, cuddling up against he warm belly

He stays like that until he hears someone enter the stables and reflexively hides. Cody comes over to Obi-Wan’s dragon and takes care of her for a bit, checking her over and petting her and giving her a snack. Obi-Wan’s dragon clearly likes Cody (yes the dragon is Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, why do you ask?) and given the kind way Cody treats her, Obi-Wan can’t really blame her

Obi-Wan, after a night or two to settle himself down, decides to make a concerted effort to actually being a good husband by his new family’s standards

He invites Cody to tea, which is awkward until Obi-Wan switches the subject from personal matters to the latest political/governance problem. He shows up at the training arena more, until he runs into a few of the other princes and gets to spar with them a few times. He shows off a few magic tricks to the curious youngest prince Boba, when the boy finds him in the library

The princes seem to respond in kind, inviting Obi-Wan to things and being very friendly and affectionate, especially physically, which Obi-Wan’s not used to

The day Obi-Wan sasses something at Fives that leaves the man sputtering is Cody’s “oh no” moment, not that Obi-Wan realizes that the funny look Cody’s giving him is his husband trying to refrain from kissing him

Cody starts actually trying to court Obi-Wan after that, not that Obi-Wan does more but obliviously accept the attention, not even suspecting that Cody’s feeling more than a slight increase in respect and friendship for a few months

And then Obi-Wan gets word that King Qui-Gon Jinn has died

Obi-Wan is able to convince his new family to let him go back for the funeral with a well-guarded but small (and therefore fast) retinue, which includes Rex and Wolffe (? Probably? Another brother who is very competent and is not Cody, because crown prince)

The funeral is somber and formal and very much unlike Qui-Gon Jinn, and Freemor’s coronation is smooth and as simple as a royal coronation can be. Obi-Wan gives Freemor a thoughtful coronation gift and leaves. Rex and Wolffe have also come to understand what made Obi-Wan who he is much better and are very much planning on telling Cody and their brothers

A few months go by in which Obi-Wan finds himself falling for Cody more and more, and feeling guilty because he’s decided that Cody is only looking at him as a good friend now. Cody meanwhile is a bit frustrated by his new and improved seduction strategy both clearly working and not being enough to get Obi-Wan to make a move

Before Cody can act on a decision to just kiss Obi-Wan himself, Obi-Wan gets word that Freemor has died in an “accident”

This time, the kingdom is getting ready for harvest, so they can’t afford to let Obi-Wan go back. Obi-Wan sends a letter of condolences and sends an equally appropriate but far less thoughtful gift to Xanatos for his coronation

A year and a half later, after getting the kingdom through two winters very successfully, Obi-Wan finally confesses to Cody that he’s fallen in love with Cody, even though they had agreed to be political partners at the beginning. Cody (who had backed off on the seduction after Freemor’s death) responds enthusiastically

As they’re settling into their new relationship and dealing with much teasing, Quinlan Vos breaks into the palace (much to the chagrin of prince Fox, captain of the royal guard) and informs Obi-Wan that Xanatos has quickly proved to be a tyrant who can’t handle/care about running the country well enough to keep people from starving, putting most of the budget towards himself and the army

Obi-Wan… can’t exactly depose Xanatos. Even though he was third in line, he gave up those rights when he married the crown prince of another country. And the more distant relatives, while not as cruel as Xanatos, are in no way good candidates for the throne

The obvious solution, the Fetts decide, is to invade the country and take it over. Obi-Wan can’t really find a good argument since all the planning involves trying to keep civilians out of the line of fire

Usually, taking over a mountain region is very difficult, especially if you’re from a coastal trading kingdom. But they have Obi-Wan there to give them all the information they need

They spend the winter planning and begin to prepare, get everything ready after winter, and march in mid-spring

By the end of the summer, most of Xanatos’s army is defeated, or defected once they realized their royal prince/Ben the errant knight is trying to save the country with his new people

There’s some cool epic battle where Obi-Wan breaks the siege at the capital where Xanatos is holed up by flying him and Cody and a few others on dragons straight into the throne room/castle

Obi-Wan fights Xanatos as two sword mages, but Cody gets in the killing blow, despite being injured/knocked out earlier in the fight

Xanatos is given the proper funeral for a disgraced noble, and the people in the capital throw a party (technically it’s a belated coronation celebration for their new King Jango Fett)

Cody and Obi slip away from the festivities to watch from afar, and start talking about plans on how to actually rule the new territory and help it out after all the damage Xanatos did to it

The conversation ends with Obi-Wan expressing that he’s looking forward to going home (which is the first time Obi-Wan’s called the Fetts’ kingdom home) and Cody takes a moment to get over his shock before kissing Obi-Wan as the fireworks start going off overhead

Have I ever told y’all that I write really long outlines, btw?

(Also, side note: King Jango has a somewhat strained relationship with most of his sons. He raised them with very high expectations and little praise, and would not give them any responsibilities he didn’t think they were ready for. This led to, among other things, an almost co-dependent kind of closeness between the brothers. Jango, however, is more of a jerk than a bastard in this AU, so when his younger brother Alpha came back from abroad he was able to beat some sense into Jango, literally and figuratively. Boba is significantly younger than the rest of them and is being raised much more properly, but Jango is still in the process of mending his relationships with his other sons)

#ask meme thing #arranged fantasy AU #Codywan #I'll write a quick bit of prose after lunch #Anonymous #look at least this outline was only like three and a half pages

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ibijau · 3 years

Note

you’ve managed to give me an unquenched taste for nhs/jzx, and now i’ve come crawling back for more. them with 69 please (maybe a/b/o, you do a good job with it)? love your stuff!

“This is all your fault anyway,” Nie Huaisang grumbled, burrowing himself further into his pile of embroidered cushions.

Jin Zixuan, kneeling next to the bed, made an effort not to roll his eyes. He had learned, over the past few months, that it was a dreadful idea. Nie Huaisang, already capricious because his brother spoiled him, had become quite temperamental as of late. It was bad enough when he started shouting and arguing, but sometimes he started crying when he was upset, and that was just the worst.

Besides, he knew that Nie Huaisang didn’t really blame him for this situation. It had been Nie Huaisang who had suggested they fool around, after Jin Zixuan’s engagement had fallen through, and it was Nie Huaisang again who had professed that there really wasn’t much of a chance of any consequences for said fooling around. An omega outside of heat wasn’t that fertile, Nie Huaisang had said, and neither were betas in general, he’d added. Between a mother who had ordered him to never share anyone’s bed until marriage and considered she’d done her job educating him, and a father who’d given him a list of brothels for his fourteenth birthday and told him to figure things out himself (a list Jin Zixuan had promptly burned, terrified his mother might find it and punish him), Jin Zixuan hadn’t been in a position to do anything except trust his friend.

A mistake, as it had turned out.

A huge mistake. Nearly as huge as Nie Huaisang’s round stomach.

“More tea,” Nie Huaisang demanded.

Jin Zixuan immediately obeyed, pouring some fresh tea for the other boy.

“How was the archery contest then?” Nie Huaisang asked after taking a sip. “Da-ge said you placed well?”

“I came third,” Jin Zixuan confirmed, picking a slice of peach from the tray he’d brought, and holding it for Nie Huaisang to bite into, which he did. “Only because Lan Wangji threw a tantrum though, so I feel I didn’t do so well. Everyone wondered why you weren’t there, by the way. Jiang Cheng was very cross.”

“He’s always cross anyway,” Nie Huaisang retorted, before opening his mouth to silently demand another slice of peach. Jin Zixuan obeyed of course. “Did they figure anything was off?”

Jin Zixuan shook his head. Although Jiang Cheng had seemed somewhat suspicious, when Nie Mingjue hinted that he just didn’t like to bring his brother in Wen territory, not even for a discussion conference, everyone bought into it. Who would have imagined the truth, anyway? Nie Huaisang acted a little flirty with everyone, but he was the one person everyone would have assumed to be knowledgeable enough to avoid such a situation.

Even if somehow the news breached out, who would suspect Jin Zixuan of fathering that child though? Although they had become quite close in private, in public Jin Zixuan had still acted aggravated by his friend’s antics in public, to the point of usually refusing to acknowledge they were friends at all. It would have been easy to pretend this situation had nothing to do with him, to leave Nie Huaisang to his trouble and go on with his own life without ever thinking of his bastard child, except to remember in the future that it couldn’t be used as a match for the legitimate children he’d have with a spouse chosen by his parents.

It would have been easy.

It would have been what his father would have done, what his mother would have encouraged, still hoping for an alliance with the Jiang.

Instead Jin Zixuan had run to Qinghe the instant he’d received a letter from his friend hinting at his predicament, and hadn’t left again for months, not until his father threatened to come get him by force if he didn’t show up at the discussion conference in Nightless City. Even then, he’d refuse to go home with his parents, pretending he was tired of Lanling and wanted to explore and Night Hunt on his own. He’d managed to convince his mother that his father’s behaviour disgusted him too much to be around him lately, and his father that he’d found a pretty face to have fun with in Qinghe.

It wasn’t even a lie. Nie Huaisang really was pretty, and Jin Zixuan really despised his father for all the bastards he’d sired and abandoned over the country.

“I wish I had been there with everyone,” Nie Huaisang sighed. “It would have been fun.”

“It really wasn’t,” Jin Zixuan insisted. “The Wen were furious to have lost their own tournament, your brother says they’re probably going to retaliate in some way.”

Surprised to hear this, Nie Huaisang sat a little straighter in his nest of cushions.

“Da-ge said told me there was nothing to worry about!”

Jin Zixuan winced, and offered his friend another slice of peach as a distraction. It didn’t quite work, Nie Huaisang pushed away the piece of fruit and frowned.

“Since when does da-ge even talk to you? Wasn’t he mad about…” Nie Huaisang gestured at his round stomach. “Did you two make up?”

Jin Zixuan shrugged. He didn’t know where he stood with Nie Mingjue. The man had punched him in the face hard enough to break his nose when Jin Zixuan had told him he was responsible for Nie Huaisang’s predicament, and then refused all of Jin Zixuan’s offer for an honour marriage. But at the same time, he hadn’t kicked Jin Zixuan out of the Unclean Realm yet, and didn’t seem to mind that Jin Zixuan was spending most of his time in Nie Huaisang’s room now that Nie Huaisang couldn’t appear in public.

It would be a far cry to say that Nie Mingjue liked Jin Zixuan, but he might have somewhat approved of him, at that was already more than Jin Zixuan would have expected.

“I wonder if this is it,” Nie Huaisang sighed, flopping back against his cushions with a sour expression. When Jin Zixuan threw him an inquisitive look, he clarified: “I mean, if there will be a war. I know Qinghe Nie is ready for it, da-ge made sure of it, but the others… well, first of all, for small sects it’s a big risk. And then… the Lans are pacifists, Jiang zongzhu is the backbone of overcooked noodles, and your father…”

Nie Huaisang hesitated, but there was nothing he could say that Jin Zixuan hadn’t already thought.

“My father is pretty likely to side with the Wen, unless they insult him somehow,” Jin Zixuan said, and while Nie Huaisang grimaced, he still nodded a touch too fast.

“If he does, what will you do?” Nie Huaisang asked.

The question, asked with affected casualness, took Jin Zixuan by surprise, but not as much as the speed and intensity with which the answer hit him.

“I’ll fight alongside your brother,” he exclaimed, taking one of Nie Huaisang’ hands in both of his. “I’ll protect your and our… and your child, no matter what.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes went wide at that earnest declaration. He quickly looked away, trying to discreetly blink away a few tears.

“Nobody’s asking you to do that,” Nie Huaisang mumbled. “I’m… you don’t even like me all that much. You don’t need to turn against me for someone you just happened to fuck once or twice, someone’s that’s not even your friend.”

It was Jin Zixuan’s turn to stare with wide eyes.

There was that funny thing about Nie Huaisang. Because he was the first one to point out his faults, the first one to laugh at his own expense, because he never took himself seriously, it was easy to think he really didn’t care what others thought of him. But he listened and memorised everything that was said or done, and took it to heart.

“You are my friend,” Jin Zixuan retorted. More than a friend, perhaps. He’d really enjoyed Nie Huaisang’s company even in Gusu, and after several months in each other’s company, with this child they’d have in just two or three weeks… maybe it wasn’t only friendship anymore, though it definitely was that as well. “And do you think I could ever look at myself in a mirror if I abandoned my friend, my child?”

“And since you’re so vain, it’d be hard for you to live without mirrors,” Nie Huaisang said with a devious smile that made Jin Zixuan want to… but they hadn’t kissed since he’d rushed to Qinghe months ago. It used to be Nie Huaisang initiating everything, but he hadn’t started anything all this time, so to Jin Zixuan the message was clear. He might have started feeling more than he ought to, but Nie Huaisang probably didn’t want anything but friendship. “You really would stay here with m… with us?” Nie Huaisang insisted. “Against your family?”

“At this point, aren’t you family as well?” Jin Zixuan asked, one of his hands letting go of Nie Huaisang’s to come and rest on his round stomach. Right then the child was quiet, but he could still feel its bursts of spiritual energy now that the date of birth was approaching. “Both of you are who I want to be with.”

“You’re so stupid,” Nie Huaisang grumbled, putting his free hand over Jin Zixuan’s on his belly. “If you keep that up, I’ll tell da-ge to say yes if you ask again that we marry, and then where will we be?”

“Together,” Jin Zixuan replied, his heart thundering in his chest. “So maybe I’ll ask again, while we can.”

“Idiot,” Nie Huaisang grumbled, turning away as if that could hide how red his face was turning. “I hope the baby is smarter than you.”

“Hopefully it’ll get your brain, my good looks, and your brother’s good sense.”

Nie Huaisang, still looking away, still red in the face, laughed. It was the most beautiful sound in the world, and Jin Zixuan hoped he would continue hearing it for the rest of his life, however short or long that might be.

#sangxuan #jin zixuan #nie huaisang #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #a/b/o #jau writes #today in things that could so easily go so wrong because of canon...#Anonymous

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yellowmagicalgirl · 3 years

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Seklos and Gaylen, They Were Cagemates! Chapter 1: Captivity

Agents of Area 49-B are there during the chaos of the Eternal Night, and unnoticed they manage to capture two specimens: an emo wizard and an Akiridion prince. Douxie and Krel must rely on each other to make it out alive, but neither expected such a deep bond to form between the two of them.

Do not let the meme title fool you, this fic will be dark.

Trigger/Spoiler Warning for Chapter 1: electrocution, kidnapping, and references to canon-typical violence as well as child abandonment.

AO3

FFN

Douxie wasn't sure why he expected the future to be void of Gumm-Gumms. Sure, according to Zoe, trolls had largely disappeared from the world at the same time that Merlin and Morgana did. And Tatik Margarid had only seen a troll once. Thus, Douxie had assumed that trolls had largely disappeared, having crawled deep underground. Orglak and his horde had stopped trying to kill humans, and the only threat to stray cats (or dragons who looked like cats) were Shadow Mephits.

Naturally, Douxie had been wrong. Gumm-Gumms had attacked the Battle of the Bands. And obviously, some people had known about them, like Claire. She had been better prepared, with her armor. There was something familiar about it. Something that made him feel homesick for Camelot.

It really sucked. And the Battle of the Bands had been going so well before the sky went orange and the Gumm-Gumms attacked. The competition was, for the most part, the way it had been last year - a bunch of amateurs who were looking for fame and had thus trained themselves to sing and badly play guitar in a month, and music students hoping to impress their teachers even though the school year had just ended. But there had been a boy who fulfilled two out of the three indicators of Douxie's type. He had wavy, chin-length hair, and he was good at music. Douxie didn't normally like dubstep, and yet that boy's music had been so mesmerizing.

Oh, who was Douxie kidding? The dubstep artist was mesmerizing in general. Douxie got the feeling that the others in Ash Dispersal Pattern would be teasing him about his latest crush right now if they weren't…

Douxie didn't know where they were. He bit his lip. Could they be dead?

He shook his head. No. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. He knew that a lot of normal humans had immediately ran for cover, so he had to think that his bandmates were still alive and in hiding. He could find them, and possibly grieve them, when the Gumm-Gumms were gone. Or he could finally reveal to them what he had been keeping a secret from the world ever since he was fourteen, and before that, until he was taken in by Merlin. It was lonely, having to keep the truth about himself hidden from his friends, and maybe this sudden incursion of Gumm-Gumms were a blessing in disguise. A chance to reveal himself. Though, he would have to check with Tatik Margarid and the hedge wizards first. He wouldn't put them in danger for his own desire to not have to hide a part of himself. After all, they couldn’t be sure if humans would accept them or not.

Douxie pushed the thoughts out of his head as he readied yet another spell. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted. Not now, not when he was in the middle of a battle. If he got too distracted, he could lose a limb or have his head bitten off.

Or, as he would later piece together, if Douxie got too distracted a normal human could hit him with a taser, knock him out, and kidnap him.

Krel let out a sound that might’ve been considered a scream of frustration had it been louder. The Mothership had been fixed! They should have left sooner, but no, they had stuck around on this mudball so that Krel could have made his mark on the humans of Arcadia Oaks. Kleb, that decision was so stupid! They should have just left. His family and Zadra would be safely hiding, and the traitor would be exiled in a place that Aja and Krel would know about.

He would never admit it to anyone, but Krel had been so stupid. Stupid, and egotistical, and so many other things he wouldn’t dare to admit to anyone.

Krel stood up and stretched. Ricky and Lucy were always trying to tell him that fresh air was good for him. It was a fault in their programing, to try and be parents to the human versions of Aja and Krel, since Akiridions didn’t need to breathe. How could the freshness of the air affect him? Moreover, how could the unfiltered air outside be fresher than the air inside?

But after all these horvaths of trying and failing, Krel would take their more-than-likely faulty advice.

Zadra was arguing with Ricky and Lucy, so Krel was able to sneak around her. Aja was closer to the door, talking on her phone.

“One moment, Steve,” she said before pressing the phone to her chest. “Where are you going?”

“Out.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure you’ll be safe?”

“Yes, Aja.” He held up his serrator. “I’ll be fine. Don’t tell Zadra.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, before going back to talking to Steve. Ugh, hopefully they weren’t planning on doing more K-I-S-S-ING.

Krel exited the Mothership, looking up at the evening sky. Given how far they were from the city, Krel could just make out the beginnings of stars, as well as the brighter, more constant glow of the other planets in this system and the moon. The sky was so different here, compared to home. If he really focused, maybe he could figure out which star was nearest to home, but from so far away he would probably need some of the Mothership’s help.

Krel sighed. He didn’t need to, since he didn’t need to breathe, but it did have a calming effect. Huh. Perhaps Ricky and Lucy were right. The outdoor air was helping him.

Maybe Earth wasn’t too bad. They had to constantly hide, and it was a primitive planet, but Krel felt like he was starting to understand it. Leaving would throw the bounty hunters off their trail, yes, but it would also be a new set of social rules to learn.

Likewise, maybe it was nice that the Mothership had landed so far from the city, instead amongst all the trees. No pesky humans were there to watch Krel in his true form and talk about how all aliens wanted to suck humans’ brains out through their ears. He wouldn’t need to hide like this.

He tripped over a tree root.

Stupid. This planet was so stupid, and so were trees. Krel couldn’t wait to leave this stupid, stupid mudball.

Krel picked himself up, dusting himself off. Home didn’t have dirt. The Mothership didn’t have dirt. He hated it. Its texture was so gritty and frustrating. Stupid mudball made of dirt. Oh, why had he left the nice, clean Mothership?

Krel began to turn around when he saw bright orange through the trees. He would be best off ignoring it. As the past delson had proved, Earth was a very strange place, with things that Krel didn’t need to investigate.

But he was curious. Besides, it could be a threat.

He walked towards it. He wouldn’t get too close, just close enough to take a picture and tell Aja so she and…

Oh, kleb, he was going to have to tell Zadra that he snuck out.

He stepped on a twig. As it snapped loudly, he realized the orange formed the shape of a bipedal, two-armed life being.

It wasn’t the first time Krel had been electrocuted, but it was the first time he was knocked out because of it.

It had been a long time since Douxie had had to sleep cold, in threadbare clothes and sitting up, pressed against a wall. And never had he been alone; even as a street rat he’d had Archie. Then again, the last time he had been in this position, it had been on rough stones with space to stretch his legs and only the light of the stars, moon, and perhaps a distant home washing upon him.

He had awoken in a glass tube with an aching back and dressed in a thin white hospital gown and a pair of cuffs around his wrists with strange green flashing lights on them. Overwhelming green light lit the tube from multiple angles, and no matter how Douxie turned his head the light was always in his eyes. He’d tried to talk to the few, orange-suited figures walking around, but they had all ignored him. He wasn’t sure how long he had been here, but he had started to become hungry when the orange-suited figures had tossed a four-armed, blue-skinned person into the formerly empty tube that had been near Douxie. Douxie’s first instinct was to assume this person was a troll, but the person had been glowing blue before the green light of the adjacent tube had washed it out. Troll bodies didn’t glow.

Who or what was this person?

Krel came to with an aching shoulder. It felt like he had messed up on the wiring and –

And he’d been electrocuted by it. Or by the figure in the woods. They had been wearing orange, like the scientists of…

Krel opened his eyes to the green lighting of Area 49-B.

No.

Oh, kleb, no!

Krel looked around. Had they gotten to Aja and Zadra? Or worse, Mama and Papa? What about –

Krel grit his teeth. If they had found the traitor, and Varvatos had told these humans roughly where to find the Mothership, then Krel would kill him, Aja’s pardon be klebbed by Seklos and Gaylen.

“So, you’re finally awake.”

Krel’s head snapped to the direction of the voice. There was a human, trapped in a similar cage to Krel’s. “Why are you here? You’re human.”

Well, was Douxie human like this person thought Douxie was? That was a question that both magic and mortals had been arguing about since long before Douxie’s birth. It seemed that the orange-suited figures thought that Douxie was too magic to be human, and they were the ones doing the trapping.

“I mean, I don’t exactly know where here is. You do?” Despite the fear coursing through his system, Douxie felt the smallest of smiles beginning to form on his lips. He wasn’t completely alone.

#krexie #hisirdoux casperan #krel tarron #aja tarron #area 49b #3below #tales of arcadia #and they were cagemates #seklos and gaylen they were cagemates!#you don't know how excited i am to finally be publishing this

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dwellordream · 3 years

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“The abandonment of infants in medieval Europe, a topic mentioned fairly often in the sources of the period, has been the subject of many modern studies as well. Expositio was a crime for which parents, and especially mothers, were blamed—the commonly portrayed situation being that of a woman who left her child on the church steps or at the entrance to the local monastery. Some modern scholars have argued that such acts were an almost certain death verdict for the abandoned children, since their chances of finding someone to care for them were minimal. Others, first and foremost, John Boswell, have argued that the “kindness of strangers” often saved these children’s lives. The phenomenon of abandonment is more heavily documented from the thirteenth century on, although there is evidence of the practice from ancient times.

According to one legend, after frequently witnessing infants cast into the Tiber River by their mothers, Innocent III (1160–1216) established a home for foundlings. During the course of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, many foundling homes were established. It is impossible to determine whether the practice of abandoning infants became more widespread or if the relative wealth of sources creates the impression of a new social concern. While some have claimed that the practice stemmed from the cruelty of parents, others have argued that children were abandoned only by those whose economic and social circumstances—extreme poverty, mothers of children born out of wedlock—did not permit them to keep them. Furthermore, the children were left in places where they believed that their child’s chance of survival was greatest.

Turning to Jewish society, we find few cases of abandonment in medieval Jewish society. The Talmud does include two categories of foundlings—asufi and shetuki. Both terms refer to children found in the marketplace. The distinction between them is that an asufi is found in the marketplace and taken in (la’asof—to gather), and the identity of his/her parents is unknown. In the case of a shetuki (from the verb lishtok—to be silent), the identity of his/her mother is known, but not that of the father. These children are mentioned in the context of forbidden marriages, since when these abandoned children grow up and wish to marry, their parentage is not known and certain legal problems come up. There are few references to these categories in medieval literature, and, on the whole, these mainly repeat what was already said in the Talmud.

…I have found, however, one reference to the abandonment of a baby. An unpublished responsa from the collection of R. Meir b. Barukh’s responsa reads as follows: “It happened that there was a baby abandoned in the street, and a rumor circulated about a single woman who had given birth to him, and it was an incessant rumor, and she became betrothed to a cohen [a person of priestly descent].” According to this short report, there were rumors that a certain unmarried woman had given birth to a child and abandoned him. Unfortunately for us, the supplicant is more interested in determining the status of her subsequent marriage than in providing details about the abandonment of the child. Hence, we have no further details about the child’s abandonment and we do not know what happened to the infant. In fact, had the woman not been subsequently betrothed to a cohen, we would have probably never heard about the matter.

This case certainly refutes any claims that Jews could not or would not abandon children for reasons of moral superiority. While I would agree that cases of abandonment were few and far between within the Jewish community, they were by no means unheard of. In addition, this woman, who purportedly abandoned her baby, was, like many of the Christian women accused of the same crime, a single mother. Abandonment cases were probably fewer among Jews than among Christians for two reasons: First, the Jewish communities in Ashkenaz were small and tight-knit—hiding a pregnancy in such a community was probably very difficult, and abandoning a baby after attempting to hide a pregnancy—even harder. As the case above demonstrates, there were incessant rumors about the identity of the mother of the abandoned baby.

A second reason Jewish mothers, even in dire circumstances, would have been more hesitant to abandon their infants than Christian women, is that Jews were a minority culture. According to Jewish law, an abandoned baby found in a Christian city was by definition not a Jew. Furthermore, if this infant were taken in by passersby, they could just as well be Christians as Jews. In other words, abandoning an infant probably meant abandoning him to Christianity. Boswell and others have indicated that abandonment on the church steps or in the marketplace was only one of the ways for parents to rid themselves of unwanted offspring. In addition, some infants were killed immediately after birth, often by their mothers and the women who attended her. Some of these children were born with handicaps and peculiarities and were killed out of dread of such physical impairments.

Sefer Hasidim discusses a case in which an infant was born with “teeth and a tail.” Some people recommended that the infant be killed immediately, but eventually, following the advice of the sage, they cut off the teeth and the tail and allowed the child to live. In this case, it was not the mother who wanted to kill her child but “some people.” This fear of deformed infants, a fear that exists in modern times as well, does not illustrate medieval cruelty so much as the fear of deformity. In medieval times, malformed children were often considered bewitched or changelings, causing parents to fear them and at times even to expose or kill them. Despite this fear, and the fact that many of these infants died for natural and unnatural reasons, medieval Christian sources manifest the tremendous devotion of some mothers to their deformed children. They searched for remedies and went on pilgrimages to holy sites, praying for miracle cures. Perhaps the case mentioned in Sefer Hasidim, in which the sage is asked for his advice, is a Jewish parallel to the quest for miraculous cures.”

- Elisheva Baumgarten, “Parents and Children: Competing Values.” in Mothers and Children: Medieval Jewish Family Life

#children #history #medieval #jewish #religion #elisheva baumgarten #mothers and children

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dragonotaku-justineverything · 4 years

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In regards To the abandoned arc Au I’d like to see how jaunes family reacted to his uncle dumping him some where and if possible how they reacted once Jaune got to Argus with his team

(I decided to focus on keeping this more as an origin post. I can answer the “meeting in Argus” part in another ask though.)

(Angst and dark themes ahead. You have been warned)

Nicholas looked down at the bundled up blanket in his arms as he stood in a somewhat crowded hospital room. His wonderful wife was resting after she finally finished giving birth their eighth child, who was also their first son!

When Nicholas and Juniper found they were expecting a boy, they nearly fainted from both joy and relief. Raising eight girls would have been an even bigger nightmare.

But after a long night, as the clock just ticked past 11:00 P.M., Juniper had finally given birth to their newest child Jaune.

Sadly, it wasn’t a picture perfect moment. Their poor boy….he had been born without his left arm. In the place where the limp was supposed to be was only a fleshy lump.

But that didn’t mean a damn thing to Nicholas, Juniper, any of his daughters, or Jaune’s grandparents. He was their family, no matter what he looked like, be it deformity or disability, they loved him and they would always love him. They all looked on with love as Nicholas held his child.

He looked down at the small face of the newborn in his arms. His first son…he finally had a son. He loved his daughters and wouldn’t trade them for the world, but he’d always dreamed of having a boy of his own. He knew Juniper did as well. When they got the news that this time their child was gonna be a boy, they felt over the moon!

Now, it was bittersweet. Their son had a hard life ahead of him with only one arm…. but maybe when he was older they could get him a prosthetic. Sure they were really expensive, but he could just take a few extra mission every now and then to save up for it! Though, Juniper might not like it. She was suppose to be retired, and she had been begging him since their first child to only take small, easy missions close to their home town if they needed any help to cover any unforeseen expenses. They had investments around their hometown for regular income.

A hand being placed on his shoulder drew Nicholas out of his overthinking mentality. Nicholas looked away from his son to trace the arm back to his older brother, David. They had the same build, both being broad shouldered and well muscled upper body overall. Though where Nicholas had a short, rough beard that was well trimmed, David had no facial hair whatsoever. His hair was also buzzed to contrast Nicholas’s shoulder length golden locks.

David spoke before Nicholas could ask anything. “Can I hold him?”

Nicholas smiled warmly as he nodded lightly. “Sure thing brother. Hold out your arms.”

David did just that and Nicholas carefully transferred Jaune’s sleeping form over into his brother’s arms. David looked like he was holding a glass bomb that was ready to blow at any second, but Nicholas only found that funny because that’s how he always looked whenever he held any of their children as babies. Somethings just never change.

David didn’t have much time to look uncomfortable with Jaune though before the Arc family was interrupted by a nurse opening the door and stepping inside. “Excuse me, but we need to have your newborn moved to the maternity ward to be monitored for the night. I can take him there if you’d wish.”

“No need.” David was the one who answered. “I’ll take him there.”

Nicholas tried to intervene, thinking it was his duty to take his son. “Dav, you don’t-”

“Stay with your wife Nick. She’s had a long night and needs her rest, and you need a break. I’ll get him where he needs to go.”

Nicholas looked his brother in the eyes before looking back at his disheveled wife in her hospital bed. She had two of their daughters laying down with her as they slumbered, but her full attention was on Nicholas and David. She gave her husband a slight, reassuring nod to show her agreement. Nicholas looked back to his brother and passed on the nod. “Okay.”

David turned around and offered a somewhat distracted, “I’ll be back.” and moved towards the nurse.

“Okay then, follow me sir.” Together, the two of them left the room, the door quietly clicking shut behind them.

Little did they know the nightmare that was about to happen.

After about 30 minutes of either silence or quiet small talk, the door opened again. The nurse from before came in. After she did a quick survey of the room, she started to become frantic. “T-that man. The one that followed me out of the room. Have you seen him?”

Nicholas brow furrowed in confusion. “My brother David? Not since he left with you. Why?”

“O-oh dear.” Without another word, the nurse hurriedly walked out of the room once again.

Silence permeated the room. No one spoke a word as they all tried to understand what just happened. Before anyone came to a conclusion, the nurse returned through the open door, this time being accompanied by a handful of doctors and security staff.

A man stepped forward. He was wearing a uniform and a utility belt so Nicholas knew this was a security guard. His graying hair showed that he was much older than the other guards. In a very serious voice, he asked, “Everyone, are you all absolutely certain that none of you have not seen the man that left with your child?”

Juniper’s tired voice spoke up from her bed. “Wha-? What’s going on?”

“The man that left with your newborn. Have you certainly not seen him since he left this room?”

“Are you talking about David?”

The nurse from before spoke up, “Yes, your brother, the one you gave your son to to follow me to the maternity ward.”

“N-no… we haven’t seen him since he left with you.”

The nurse rounded to face an older looking doctor. “Just like I said!”

“Michelle, calm down.”

Nicholas’s father, Alexander Arc, seemed have had enough being in the dark. “Will anyone please explain what the dust is going on?!”

The guard was silent for a minute. Then he spoke in a flat tone, “We believe that your brother possibly le-”

Before the man could finish, another person walked into the room. It was David. He walked through the open door of the hospital room and paid no mind to all the sets of eyes that turned to look at him as he sat down in one of the cushioned chairs. Things weren’t silent for long as the same guard that had been speaking started giving out orders. “Michelle, go check the maternity ward again, Rick, go with her, radio me what you find.” The nurse and a security guard ran out of the room. “Vicky, go check the security cameras. If you see him leaving on any of them, radio in where.” A female security guard nodded and took off herself. The older man, now only accompanied by one other security guard, turned towards David. “Alright sir, where is he?”

David didn’t say a word. He just kept looking down at the floor.

So instead, Nicholas spoke up. “Okay, for the last time. What is going on!?”

The security guard glared at David before turning to look at Nicholas. “Michelle, the nurse from before, told us that when these two reached the maternity ward, she’d just finished putting the ankle tag on your boy when she turned around for moment. She claims that when she turned, he was gone and the baby was nowhere to be found.”

“So what? Your saving my brother abducted my son?” That’s stupid, he’s right here. Tell him Dav.”

David once again said nothing.

The radio on the guard’s shoulder ‘chhrk’d to life and a voice called through it. “Sir. The child in nowhere in the maternity ward.”

The guard leaned in towards his radio and pressed a button. “Roger.” The guard sent a David once again. “Tell us where the kid is. Now.”

Nicholas had enough of this. He stepped between his brother and the guard, holding up his hands towards both of them. “Okay, look. I’m sure this is all just a mistake. My brother wouldn’t do a thing to hurt my children. Tell him Dav.” Nicholas got no response. That prompted him to turn his head to face his silent brother. “David?”

David looked up finally, meeting his younger brother’s gaze. Then his lips parted and he finally spoke up.

What he said horrified everyone in the room. “I did what I had to.”

…

Screams of surprise came from the people in the hospital hallway and lobby area as a wall exploded in a shower dust and drywall. Two bodies came sailing through the cloud of dust, one was tackling the other to the ground. Several dull ‘thuds’ were heard from the settling cloud. As the dust thinned, they saw exactly what was happening.

Nicholas was kneeling on top of David, his fists were raining down into his older brother’s face. Blood sprayed as his nose shattered. Aura be damned, Nicholas’s punched harder than a Ursa Major.

David tried to fight back, throwing is own punch up at Nicholas. Nicholas caught the punch by David’s wrist. Without a second though, Nicholas hammered his free hand as a fist into his elbow, bending it inward and breaking it with an unforgivable ‘CRACK’.

David screamed in pain as his arm fell limply to his side. Nicholas slammed his hand down on the shattered elbow, getting another scream from his ‘brother’. With a look of absolute rage, he roared in the bleeding man’s bloodied face. “WHERE IS MY SON YOU BASTARD!?! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIM!?!”

Through what was probably a broken jaw, a concussion, and pool of blood forming in his mouth, David sputtered out, “B-ba-ac…g-ga-targ.”

“WHERE!?!”

David had to swallow the blood pooling in mouth to speak again. “G-g-ta-age.”

Garage. Nicholas didn’t waste anytime jumping to his feet, accidentally knocking down the few people that had been trying to pull him off the man. Nicholas bolted off down the hallway.

As Nicholas’s thunderous footsteps grew quieter and quieter. Another sound was heard by the crowd that had gathered to see what all the commotion was.

Juniper Arc sobbed openly into her hands. Her mother-in-law quickly stepped over and hugged the distraught mother into her shoulder. She wailed on as everyone watched.

Everyone except Alexander Arc. The old man walked forward towards his one....son. The man was now sitting up, but being detained by the security guards that had been in their room. The blood was no longer in his mouth and was instead running down his chin onto his shirt. “What have you done David...”

David looked up at his father. The cold stare that was staring him down was something he’d feared since he was a child. With his Aura finally kicking in to repair the damage Nicholas had done, he was able to speak a bit more clearly. “W-what needed to be done. That disfigured thing would only have been a disgrace to the Arc family.”

Alexander’s glare didn’t change. “No....the only disgrace to the family here is you. And you better pray Nicholas finds his son.”

...

The door into the hospital’s parking garage blew open as Nicholas slammed through it. “JAAAAAUNE!” He new his son couldn’t answer him, but he hoped for something. A cry, a gurgle, a cough, a sneeze. Anything that could help him find his son.

Nicholas sprinted through the entire garage, looking around every corner and under everything. He kept calling out his name and asked everyone he saw, but no one had seen a child missing his left arm. Nicholas reached the last floor of the garage, and he hoped and prayed his boy would be here.

But he wasn’t. His son wasn’t here.

Nicholas fell to one knee on the concrete. Tears had started flowing sometime during his search, and they only flowed harder now. His son was gone. Somewhere out in this cold world all by himself.

Nicholas let out one last “JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUNE!!” before his voice cracked and he broke down, weeping into his hands.

Jaune Arc, his son who he’d only had the chance to hold for a few measly minutes, was gone...

(This is probably the darkest thing I’ve ever written, but it was a nice change of pace.)

#rwby #jaune arc #nicholas arc #papa arc #juniper arc #mama arc #david arc #alexander arc #arc sisters #arc family #abandoned arc au #ask #sfw #angst #dark #soulreaver656

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monst · 4 years

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HI! I absolutely love your work and I was wondering if you could give me some much needed angst to fluff in my life. So Overhaul gets his s/o pregnant and gets disgusted with her and completely walks out on her. Maybe comes back and tells her to give birth on the cleanest place ever, his bed. She ends up passing out and he realizes his feelings. Sorry if it's too complicated I just really wanna see it.

I’ve always cared.

Chisaki Kai (Overhaul) x Reader

Warnings: Pregnancy? Chisaki leaving you? I think these are warnings? Angst/fluff bittersweet!

Too complicated?..... Maybe just a bit since Papi-Kai is a sociopath. Actually this was a bit more difficult due to Chisaki’s personality. So I hope you don’t mind but I changed it a bit.

Actor au! I had to look up film production and childbirth….. Fun.... Well I dunno I actually like this Piece :’) It’s that good hurt.

You didn’t know why you did this to yourself... It was ridiculous. He had made it very clear that he had wanted nothing to do with you or your child… His child. And, yet you still tried his number, you still tried to contact him but the messages and calls never made it through. Blocked, he had blocked you from all his social-media platforms and even went as far as to tell his security guards not to let you near his condo.

You felt stupid for even thinking he cared, for thinking that Chisaki would want to start a family with you. When you had told him of your pregnancy you were nervous but mostly excited because you were going to have a child with the man you loved. You weren’t expecting the horrified look on his face, the disgusted sneer, nor his harsh words.

“M-my career is just taking off” He frowned. “You know how many fans I’d lose if they found out I was seeing someone? Imagine telling them I’m going to be a father? And the mother is some shitty background character from My hero academia!?”

“How on earth was I not careful? I don’t want anything to do with you or that child” He sneered; his lips curling in disgust when you attempted to touch him. “Don’t fucking touch me.” He panicked, he was quick to get out of your sight afterwards.

“It’s okay” You had told yourself as he left you there pregnancy test in hand.

“Yo (Name) ready to shoot the next- Eh? You okay?”

When your friend Tenko found out that Chisaki had said that to you he went on a riot. He was royally pissed and he may or may not have been the one to tip the crew and tell them to leave Chisaki tied to the bed frame for a bit longer… Maybe it was due to all that time he spent tied up on the ground but it seemed as though sense had finally spat in his face. Literally…

“You're such an idiot.” Tenko scoffed. “I thought the whole dumbassery was just an act”

“Shut up.” He frowned. “And untie me already! I wanna go home. Eri is-”

“Eri is fine she went to go check if Mr. Sasaki wasn’t actually hurt.” Tenko huffed. “But we’re not talking about her, we're talking about your second child you dipshit.”

“Listen I know I said some hurtful things to (Name) but I just- I can’t. My hands are full with Eri and I-”

“So, you're just gonna pull what your ex did and abandon your child?” The blue haired male hissed.

“That has nothing to do with anything and-” He was cut off by Tenko flipping him off.

“You know, you're just as shitty as the character you play.” He scoffed before stomping away in anger.

Months had passed. Your belly was nice and round and your due date was near. Your heart still ached when you thought of Chisaki but you knew that you couldn’t bemoan him forever, so you resolved to better yourself for both your sake and that of your child. In fact a week after Chisaki had left you, you were given an opportunity to join the editing team. You had never been more grateful for taking the classes Chizome recommended.

When Chisaki had finally wrapped up his portion of the series you no longer had to see him in person. However, you did have to see him in panels and there was also his child... You saw Eri a lot and although you loved the cheery girl to bits she reminded you that you weren’t good enough to be in Chisaki’s life. That his life was already full and you had been the one wanting more… You weren’t going to dwell on it.

“(Name)! Thank goodness you're still here!” You heard the green haired protagonist sigh.

“Midoriya? What are you doing here? I thought you guys were filming outside today.” You asked.

“We are!” He panted “I-it’s just that Eri’s part is over and she wants to go home and no one else knows where Mr. Chisaki lives and he said he won’t be able to come by for a couple hours and Eri is crying and we don’t know what to do and I thought I’d ask you because you-”

“Midoriya! Breathe.” You laughed. “I can take her, it's fine.”

“Thank you!” He grinned sheepishly. “Guess Deku’s habit has rubbed off on me.” He laughed.

“So sweety, which flavor do you want?” You chirped, watching as the young girl beamed at the prospect of eating ice cream before dinner. You had decided to get the bluenette a small treat before taking her to-

“I want that one- Ms. (Name)? A-are you okay!” She yelped.

“Hah~ I-I’ll b-be fine my w-water just broke.” You gasped; leaning over the ice cream vendors cart to grasp at the metal pole tightly. It fucking hurt. You were scared.

“What d-does that mean?” She panicked watching as the ice cream man tired to call an ambulance.

“The baby.” You groaned. “I’m about to have my baby.”

“Here?! C-can’t you hold it in?”You let out a pain filled laugh at the question and shook your head.

“Eri I’m going to need you to call your daddy so that he can pick you up.” You breathed, thanking the ice cream man for calling the ambulance. He waved off your thanks and helped you to a bench as Eri dialed her father’s number.

“D-daddy? Yes I know but I need you to pick me up…… No (Name) can’t take me she’s going to have her baby….. I don’t know I told her to hold it so I think she’s going to wait until she gets to the hospital…. The street? Um 401 Shisui Dr… Okay, I will, I love you, bye.”

You breathed in and out deeply as per the instructions of the ice cream man when you felt Eri slide her hand into yours.

“Daddy said you might be scared and that I shouldn’t leave you alone.” She smiled. You were grateful. It felt as if though hours had passed but it had really only been five minutes. Chisaki’s car screeched to a halt at the curb and he quickly stepped out.

“Eri, get in the car. Sir I can take her from here thank you for your help.” He told the ice cream man as he helped you stand.

“He already called the ambulance.” You protested.

“There’s a roadblock on fifth, it’s roadwork and there going to have to take the long way. Besides, I already called and told them not to come.” His words flowed from his lips in a quick panic as he helped you into his car.

“This isn’t the way to the hospital.” You panted.

“I know but I already told you about the block.” He stressed.

“.....You know I won’t push him out right away right?” You deadpanned. “Besides my contractions just started so I’m sure going to the hospital is the better bet.”

“I’d rather not risk it.” he replied.

“You rather not risk it?” You scoffed. “I’m the one in labor! Besides, since when do you care.”

“...I’ve always cared.” he mumbled.

“Bullshit!” You hissed in pain.

“Language.” He frowned looking at you and motioning to Eri.

You had been on his bed for hours. Sweat drenched your body and his sheets as you moaned in pain.

“Fuck you! It hurtssssssssss” You hissed; glaring at the golden eyed man.

“It takes two to tango.” he shrugged. He had made arrangements so that Eri could sleep over her friend's house and he promised her that you would be alright.

“Ahhhhhhh” You wailed as another voilent contraction surged through your body.

“You can do this (Name) Your strong-

“Of course I’m fucking strong! No thanks to youuuuuuuu” You clenched your teeth.

It was a long night……..

After one final push you heard the wails of your son. And when Chisaki handed him to you, you burst into tears. And, even though he looked like an alien you thought he was the most beautiful thing in the world. However, you were so exhausted. Chisaki let you drift off into a peaceful slumber as he held his son….

His yellow eyed looked down at the pudgy thing in his arms and he felt tears gather at his waterline. He looked to you and then to the child. He hoped it wasn’t too late to fix things between the two of you. And as he cleaned up he prayed that you could forgive him.

“He’s so cute.” You gushed when you had woken up. The small being’s lips closed around your nipple as he drank your colostrum. Chisaki watched the exchange silently, before deciding that he needed to come clean and apologize.

“(Name).. I know you hate me. I mean I would hate me if I were in your shoes. I was an asshole to you and said things I didn’t mean… I won’t try to justify myself but I thought you should know the truth as to why I tried pushing you away… I.. I never stopped caring about you. Truth is I’ve always cared.. I was just so.. Scared. Everytime I look at Eri I wonder if I’m doing a good job. And sometimes I can’t help but think I’m a shitty father. Then there’s you. We had been together for two years. I was never able to give you anything. Not a ring, or a home and sometimes not even my time.

It scared me when you told me you were pregnant. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if I was going to be any good and so I ended up hurting you. I understand if you don’t want to get back with me or if you don’t want me in his life.. Fuck i really fucked up.” He cried. “(Name) I’m so sorry. If I could take it back I would! I’m a fucking coward and I’m even more shitty for waiting so long to tell you.”

Your heart still longed for Chisaki, but you weren’t sure if you were ready to be with him again. You wouldn’t deny him from seeing his son but for you to give him a second chance so that you all could be a family… That was going to take time.

“H-how about we talk about that later.” You sniffled motioning him over. “For now let’s settle on naming him. Then we can talk about me forgiving you.”

#Papi-Kai #Chisaki kai #chisaki kai x reader #chisaki x reader #overhaul x reader #bnha fluff #bnha angst #Overhaul angst

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