#there isn’t a single person in this household that cares about me

[pinkeoni]

Dustin’s Absent Father and the Effects on His Character

Here’s something I don’t think I’ve made before, it’s a Dustin analysis!

In season 2 we are introduced to Dustin’s mom, as well as the lack of Dustin’s father. It’s not hammered over the head or anything, but it’s there. We aren’t explicitly told what happened to him, and we don’t necessarily need to be told. There are plenty of kids who live in single parent households, and we don’t need to hear the details of this story to understand it. However, the show may be telling us in subtle ways how this effects Dustin, and also what exactly happened to him.

The absense of Dustin’s father seems to make him reach out to others as a replacement father, as well as want to become a good caregiver himself. He does both of these things in season 2, where he simultaneously becomes a adoptive father of D’Art as well as seeks out Steve Harrington as a surrogate father figure (whether he was conscious of this or not)

I think that Dustin’s dedication to D’Art may give some insight as to what happened to his father, or at least, how his father’s absence has affected him. When everyone is arguing about what to do with D’Art, Dustin blurts out this telling line:

I believe that this line may be a projection of Dustin’s personal experience when it came to his father. He promised that he would take care of Dustin, but ended up leaving and/or possibly even dying. Either way, he still left in some capacity and was unable to fulfill that promise.

Dustin says to Mike that he moved to Hawkins in the fourth grade, so I’m willing to bet that his father left and him and his mom moved because of this. This happens to families all the time where they have to relocate because a major source of income has left. We see this happen with Max and her mom in season 4 when they downsize after her step-father leaves. The Henderson’s do seem financially stable though, not as well off as the Wheelers or Sinclairs, but more money than the Byers or the Mayfeilds. I’m willing to bet that Claudia works too, based on her wardrobe. She often dresses in collared shirts and either pants or a skirt with tights underneath, outfits befitting of office-like job.

When Dustin interacts with Claudia, it feels a little different than how other characters like Mike or Will interact with their moms. He’s not as mama’s boy as Will is nor does he argue with her as much as Mike does with Karen. Their interactions are friend-like, almost as if Dustin views her as another one of his friends and less his mom. I think about the scene in the beginning of s2 where Dustin is searching for coins, and he makes weird noises to mock his mom. I’m about to make a wierd comparison, but their dynamic reminds me a little bit of Eric Cartman and his mom from South Park.

Now OBVIOUSLY Dustin is not mean towards or controlling of his mother like Cartman is, but both are single-mom and only child households, and Cartman also sometimes talks to his mom in a similar way that he would talk to his friends, while his mom is extremely loving and doting on him like Claudia is to Dustin. (Loose connection I know, but I’m trying to make a point 😭)

It’s almost like because of the lack of a strong male presence in the house, Dustin almost sees himself as equal with his mom. There isn’t another man that he sees as seperate from himself that establishes a power dynamic, if anything he sees himself the man of the house.

Dustin does however seek out that older male father figure, in both Steve and Eddie. Dustin goes to Steve as a bit of a last reaort, but I think he may have also subconsciously been seeking out and older male to protect him, similar to the role of a father. Off the bat, Steve's relationship with Dustin does begin pretty fatherly. Steve is giving Dustin dating advice, similar to how a parent might talk to their kid about dating. He then gives Dustin a ride to the Snow Ball, who has done his hair the way that Steve told him. We even see this right after we see Max’s mom helping her with her hair.

In season 3, their relationship shifts. Similar to how Dustin interacts with his mom, he now sees Steve as more of his friend rather than his father. He is on equal level with him. Their first interaction of the season is the two of them playing lightsaber with each other— their relationship has definitely shifted from father-son to big brother-little brother.

Dustin even gives dating advice to Steve now, except for the other way around. Dustin's status as a man with the girlfriend gives him a sense of superiority against the man who is effectively bitchless. However, I do think that Dustin is still seeking out that fatherly connection. Dustin goes to Steve after he has already been abandoned by the rest of his friends, something that was echoed with his real dad.

Once season 4 roles around, Dustin starts spending much more time with Eddie than he does with Steve, which is told to us through the dialogue. I think part of the reason why Dustin prefers Eddie over Steve is because Eddie is fulfilling the surrogate dad role better than Steve at this point. How is Eddie more fatherly than Steve? It's not that Eddie is more mature than Steve, but rather Eddie asserts a type of power in his relationship with both Dustin and Mike. He tells them that they are both his sheep and he is essentially their shepherd, or what could be interpreted in Dustin's mind as "You are my son, and I am your father." Eddie even dictates how they dress, what with the Hellfire shirts and whatnot. Eddie even uses the example of "Clothes that your mommy bought you at the goddamn Gap," creating another parent parallel. It’s similar to how Steve was instructing Dustin how to wear his hair.

I don't necessarily think that Mike sees Eddie as a dad but more as a role model that he wants to be like, which is shown through his hair and style shift that attempts to replicate Eddie. Dustin, however, DOES see him as a dad.

So then, if Dustin sees Eddie as replacement for his dad that left him, then that makes this scene all the more sad.

Which begs the question, did Dustin's real father die? There's no conclusive evidence (as far as I can tell) to suggest that he did, but there's also nothing to say that he didn't. If he did, it would definitely make Dustin experiencing the death of a father figure all the more tragic than it already was.

So what does this mean for Dustin's character going forward? I think that we might see a repeat of what happened in season 2, where Dustin steps into a caregiver like role. Not that he's going to get a new baby to replace D'Art, but rather he might assert himself as a protective figure, as to not lose anyone else to the Upside Down. Out of everyone, especially with his science knowledge and interest in research, that he would become the survivalist and the one most prepared to try and keep everyone safe, similar to a parent. No more failing anyone like D’Art, or losing anyone like his dad or Eddie.

#stranger things #stranger things analysis #my analysis #dustin henderson #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things 5 prediction

[thetravelerwrites]

Ynghadin Pt. 4

Rating: Mature Relationship: Female Elf/Male Minotaur Content Warning: Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Kidnapping Additional Tags: Exophilia, Monster Boyfriend, Interspecies Romance, Reader Insert, Minotaur, Manhwa Tropes, Reader-Insert, Second Person Perspective Words: 5439

The reader learns why she was engaged to Elyngar, and his origins. Please reblog and leave feedback!

Every ounce of drowsiness left your body as you sat up. “Fiance?”

The duchess held up her hands to placate you. “I know that sounds strange, seeing as you only just arrived, but it wasn’t a decision we made arbitrarily. There are many reasons why this engagement is necessary, for you and for Elyngar. Plus, the engagement is not set in stone. We’d never make you marry anyone if you didn’t want to. It’s just on paper as of right now and it’s been announced, sure, but we haven’t even filed the engagement papers with the imperial palace yet. It can be broken with a single word, if that’s what you wish.” 

You sat in your sea of bed linens and frowned. “Why do we need to be engaged?” 

“When we decided against having more children and chose to adopt a successor instead, there were many amongst the nobility who wanted us to take their children as adoptees. For us, watching those parents take advantage of our tragedy and try to sell us their children in exchange for power… it made us sick. It was like they were trampling all over our anguish. So we chose to extend our hand to a child who was close to the family, but had lost his own parents and was in need.”

“Elyngar,” You replied. 

She nodded. “Yes. He came to us years ago, desperate and alone. We took him in and made him our successor, much to the dismay of others attempting to curry favor with us. Even still, there were many among the nobles who looked down on him, as he isn’t elven.” She sighed, though you weren’t sure why. “Are you aware that most of the nobility in this country are elves?”

You shook your head. “Why?” 

“Several reasons, but the main one is that we are a long-lived race, the longest lived race of all the mortals, so we’re capable of outliving most of our opposition if we merely wait long enough. However, there are a number of noble houses that are not elven, and Elyngar’s family is one such house. Since Elyngar’s a distant relation to the current head of his household and had nothing to do with them before becoming orphaned, there was little chance that his family could use him to get closer to us. It was one of the main reasons we chose him over everyone else.”

“Is that why you chose engagement?” 

“Yes,” She confirmed. “There are many who would refuse to recognize Elyngar’s legitimacy as our successor, regardless of what powers we were to afford him. In order to solidify his position, it was better for him to become your fiance than merely our son, since your right to inherit is more concrete than his.” 

“Why is it good for me, then?” 

“Ah,” She sighed again. “Your father and I were concerned about what would happen to you if anything happened to us, so we wanted to ensure there would be someone strong and capable to look after you if we were unfortunate enough to not be here when you returned. Someone who was in your debt as well as ours, and therefore couldn’t betray us without great detriment to himself. Elyngar is just such a child.” 

“So you engaged me to him for my protection?” You asked.

“Yes. You’re still our main successor, but we wanted to make sure there was someone who could take care of that until you felt prepared to inherit, even if it takes decades. We wouldn’t expect you to take over the duchy right after returning, so Elyngar is the interim successor, to take charge until you decide to do so or until your child inherits, should you have any. We wanted you to be safe no matter what. Having a husband who’s sworn to support you and protect you is the best way, and Elyngar agrees, though it took him a while to wrap his head around the idea. He was just a boy when this union was first proposed, after all. Of course, there were conditions.” 

“What conditions?” 

“Several, but there were three main ones. Number one: he must find you alive. Engagement would serve him no purpose if you were never found, and we would never step down if that were the case, therefore we would no longer need a successor. At least, not for a long while yet.”

“He’s fulfilled that condition, then.” 

“Indeed,” Elythuin said with a smile, stroking the peach-fuzz on your head. “The second condition was that he must prove himself capable of leading the duchy. The Leonidas duchy is the largest in the country, and indeed on the continent. Elyngar has to prove to us that we would leave the duchy in capable hands when we decided to step down. Up to now, he’s proven himself more than competent.”

“What’s the third condition?” 

“Well, it’s the most important. He must earn your consent.”

“My consent?” 

“Oh, yes. Despite our arranging this engagement, your father and I would never force you to marry anyone against your will, not in a million years. Elyngar must prove himself worthy of you, not just in our eyes, but in yours as well.” 

“How will he do that?” 

She laughed. “I haven’t the foggiest, my love. That’ll be completely up to him.” She stroked your cheek softly. “I’m sorry that we didn’t mention it before, but we were worried about overwhelming you on your first day. We’d always planned to sit down with you as a family and explain it properly, so we had told Elyngar not to mention it until your return. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I hope you’re not too upset.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s alright, I understand. I feel better now that I know it’s a decision I can make and not one that’ll be made for me.”

“Of course, darling, of course” She assured you, pulling you into a gentle hug. “All we’ve ever wanted is your happiness.”

You returned the hug hesitantly, still not familiar with physical contact, but you enjoyed the feeling of the warmth of her arms around your shoulders. So much so that you relaxed to the point of stifling a yawn.

“Oh, darling, you must be terribly exhausted,” Elythuin said, releasing you slowly. “It’s been quite a day. Lie down and get some rest.”

She tucked you back in and bent to kiss your forehead. The gesture felt… strangely familiar. It didn’t bring back any sort of memory, just the shadow of a feeling that came to your mind of something from a long time ago, some vague sensation that slipped through your fingers no matter how hard you tried to hold on to it. It was a comforting feeling, and you felt safe and at ease. All of the day’s anxiety washed out of you, and your eyes closed on their own. 

“Sleep well, my beautiful baby girl. I love you so much.” 

Immediately after you heard those words, you were asleep.

The next morning, Clara helped you dress in a pale pink gown with a pretty peony pattern and a satin veil to match that had peony lace along the edge. Apparently, Elyngar had ordered matching veils to fit all of the dresses he had bought for you on the day you returned, and you were grateful. You’d had a shaved head since before you could remember and it hadn’t been something you thought too much about, since you’d been more concerned about survival. However, now that you were home with your parents, who were the loveliest two people you’d ever seen in your life, and Elyngar, who was handsome in a far more rugged way, it made you extremely self-conscious of your own appearance.

You met your parents and Elyngar at the family dining table for breakfast. According to Clara, it was the first time the family had sat down to breakfast together since you first went missing. Both your mother and father usually began their work day quite early and took their breakfasts in their respective offices, and Elyngar spent most of his mornings training with the family’s knights and often skipped breakfast altogether. 

Now that you knew that Elyngar was your fiance and the heir to the duchy, you felt a little awkward around him. He had been unfailingly kind to you, but how much of that was genuine care for you and how much of it was his desire to inherit the duchy? Was any of the kindness he had shown you real? You wanted to believe it was, but you didn’t know anymore. 

Although, just as you shrunk in on yourself, he put a plate of almond cookies, the kind he had given you on the first day of your acquaintance, next to your plate of eggs and sausage, smiling gently at you. You returned his smile shyly. If his kindness was false, he was certainly a very good actor.

“So, my dear,” Your father began. “I hear you are unable to read and write, is that correct?” 

“Ah… y-yes. I apologize for not being up to standard.” 

“No, no, not at all! It’s no surprise that those bastards neglected your education, so I was merely going to suggest that you begin taking lessons soon, when you’re ready. What do you think, my child?”

“Oh,” You said, perking up. “Oh, yes, I would like that.”

“I know you might be quite overwhelmed at first, but you’ll take the first of your lessons with your mother and I, since I hesitate to leave you in the hands of strangers quite so soon. Your mother will teach you reading, mathematics, art, music, and sciences, and I will be instructing you in economics, business, and politics. Elyngar will also be helping you recover your strength and stamina as well as teaching you basic self-defense, when you’re more healthy. You’re far too frail to even attempt it now, my poor girl.”

“Dr. Reenav recommends at least a full month of rest and recuperation before you begin any sort of physically strenuous activity,” Your mother said, buttering a scone for you. “Trying to force yourself into it too fast could have the opposite effect and cause you further damage.”

“Quite right,” Said Larongar. “You can start all that when you feel ready and Dr. Reenav clears you for physical exercise, so just rest easy for a while. I’ll have you begin introductory magic lessons with the family’s magician, as well. Your other lessons will be taught by Lady Laudmoor, including dance and court etiquette.” 

You flinched unintentionally, but said nothing. You didn’t like the idea of being left alone with her. She gave you a bad feeling that you couldn’t explain. 

“Is something amiss, my Lady?” Elyngar asked, noticing your silence. “If you feel uncomfortable with the idea of studying alone with a stranger, I’d be happy to accompany you to those lessons.” 

You were sure he was remembering the question you posed to him the day before about Lady Laudmoor, judging from his expression. You thought you had done a good job of asking casually, but perhaps he was just very perceptive.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” You said. “You’re already a busy person.” 

“I’m not so busy that I can’t make time for you, my Lady,” He said, smiling. “Besides, I could always use a brush-up on etiquette. Mother is constantly admonishing me for being too brusque with the court ladies.” 

“Just because you are already engaged, there's no reason to ignore every other woman who so much as speaks to you,” Elythuin said, laughing fondly. 

“Mother…” Elyngar hissed, cutting his eyes to you quickly. “We haven’t—” 

“No, it’s alright,” She assured him. “She asked me last night about why you kept calling us Mother and Father, so I explained it to her. She understands.” 

Elygnar and Larongar shared a look of concern between them before returning their gaze to you. 

“You’re not upset, I hope,” Your father said fretfully. 

You shook your head. “No, I’m alright.”

“I apologize, my Lady,” Elyngar said, worried. “I didn’t keep it from you intentionally; I was instructed to keep quiet about everything until you returned and the four of us could discuss it together.” 

“I know, the duchess told me,” You said. “It’s alright, really. I understand.” 

“Well,” Your father said slowly, frowning. “It’s not something we’ll need to worry about for a while. A long while. And if you decide not to marry, that’s… also fine. Completely, absolutely fine.” 

“Darling, really,” Elythuin said with a sardonic smile.

“I’m just… saying…” Larongar said, avoiding her eye. “She doesn’t have to get married. Elyngar can be her… I don’t know… her personal escort knight when she inherits. He doesn’t have to be her husband, if she doesn’t want it. She doesn’t have to get married at all. Ever.”

Both Elythuin and Elyngar chuckled. Clara and Reice covered their mouths in an effort to hide their smiles.

“Anyhow,” Larongar said, clearing his throat. “I’d like to have you see our family mage today, dear, if you’re up for it. I would be interested to determine if it would be possible to restore your ears magically.” 

“Would that make you happy?” You asked him.

“Oh, my dear,” He said with a sad frown, patting your hand. “It’s… not that it would make me happy or unhappy, I just don’t want anyone doubting you or making things difficult for you because of them. Court life is already a minefield, even for nobles who haven’t been through the awful things you have. My only concern is making things a bit easier for you.” His eyes narrowed. “Although, if anyone does give you a hard time, you be sure to let your father know and he’ll fix it for you, alright, my dear?” 

You smiled a little. “Yes, I’ll do that.” 

“I hope to see you restored before we begin the trial for Marcus, at any rate,” Your father said. “I want the satisfaction of watching him see you at your strongest.”

You dropped your fork in shock. “Is… is Marcus here?” 

“Oh,” Your father said, blanching. “Yes… he’s in our dungeon.” 

“Here on the estate?” 

“Yes.”

You felt your blood run cold and you were unable to breathe, your head spinning. You heard all of them stand up and flock to you, but you couldn’t understand what they were saying because of the rushing in your ears. You could feel yourself shaking and crying, but you couldn’t speak or control your body. You felt as if you were falling into a deep, deep well, pitch black and all-consuming. 

You felt someone press their fingers to your forehead, and you felt a sudden rush of warmth in your body, calming your reeling brain and allowing your body to ease out of its intense rigidity. 

“Breathe, My Lady,” You heard Elyngar say. “Just breathe. It’s alright. You’re safe.”

You struggled to slow your breathing and your heart rate. While Elyngar worked to calm you, your mother wiped the tears from your cheeks, and your father had removed your veil and was softly stroking your head. They both had stricken, anxious looks on their pale faces. Clara and Reice were absent, strangely. They’d been there only a moment before.

“I’m sorry,” You wept, trying and failing to gather yourself and sit up straight. You had shrunk in on yourself and slumped down in your chair, unable to keep your composure. “Forgive me… I ruined breakfast, I’m sorry…” 

“Don’t apologize, my precious girl,” Your father said, kneeling next to you. “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have mentioned that bastard. But, I assure you, he’s locked up tight and guarded by at least four men at all times. It’s only until an imperial trial can begin, as it’s a formality that must be observed when crimes are committed against royalty by a noble.” 

“Marcus is a noble?” You asked, shocked out of your fetal position.

Your father nodded. “He was. He used to belong to the only Orc noble family in the country, the Smeltbourne Marquesate. He was disowned by his family after he committed a number of crimes against fellow nobles, such as theft, lewd conduct, assault, and the like. He seemed to be under the impression that nobles are above the law and should do whatever they like without worrying about the consequences, which is sadly a notion shared by many nobles, but his family had been imperial knights for generations and couldn’t tolerate that type of dishonor. We believe that’s why he began hating nobles and started this campaign to destabilize and demolish as many households as possible. He’s succeeded a number of times, in fact. Your abduction wasn’t the first, but it was certainly the most ambitious.”

“Why does he need to be prosecuted if he was expelled?”

“Because despite being disinherited, he still has noble blood, which means the rules are different for him than they would be for a simple commoner. That fact alone means he can’t be summarily executed without due process, as much as I would delight in the idea. But once that’s over, you’ll never see or hear of him ever again, I swear. Alright, my love?” 

You nodded. 

Clara and Reice returned, both towing someone behind them by their sleeves. One was Dr. Reenav, looking worried, and the second was a person who you hadn’t met before, since they hadn’t been present when you were introduced to the household staff. They appeared bored and disinterested, clearly being dragged against their will, and wore dark, hooded robes with inscriptions in various languages embroidered into them rather than normal clothing, though your family’s crest was emblazoned on the breast of them. Even someone as sheltered as you knew this person was a magician of some kind, likely the family mage your father had mentioned. 

“What’s happened?” Dr. Reenav asked. “Some sort of fit, Clara mentioned?”

“I just… panicked for a moment,” You assured him. “I’m alright, really.” 

“What brought this on?” He asked, using his fingers to widen your eyes a little, looking at your pupils. 

“The fault lies with me, I mentioned that bastard’s name in my daughter’s presence,” Larongar said. “I should have minded my tongue.” 

“Ah, I see,” Dr. Reenav said. “It’s no surprise. Trauma has a lasting effect on the mind of its victim. I will give Clara a tea for anxiety.” 

“If I’m not needed, may I leave?” The mage said in a bored voice. 

“A moment, and remove your hood so that she may see your face,” Larongar said to the mage before turning back to you. “My darling, this is our family’s mage, Kirin.”

Kirin removed their hood, and you saw a person whose gender was difficult to determine at a glance, but their long ears and glittering eyes told you they weren’t mortal. They seemed to have the long-lived grace of an elf, but their general disinterest in their surroundings spoke of someone who existed outside of the same reality as the people around them. 

Fae.

They were the first fae creature you’d ever met, but they couldn’t have been anything else. Their skin was a pale pearlescent blue, their eyes black and deep and seemed like they weren’t there at all if not for the strange glittering. Their limbs were just slightly too long to look natural. Their unkempt hair, longer in the front than it was in the back, was an empty, inky blackness that didn’t reflect the sunlight or move in time with their body.

“Pleasure,” They said flatly. “Can I go now?” 

Larongar sighed. “I suppose.” 

They snapped their fingers and disappeared in a flurry of feathers that dissolved when they touched the ground.

“Don’t mind them, my dear,” Your father said. “They’re always like that. The nature of their kind, I assume.”

“Well,” Elythuin said. “Come now, let’s finish our meal. Afterward, I’ll show you our library. Perhaps we can have a small lesson on letters, if you feel up to it. Would you like that, darling?”

You nodded and sat up straight in your chair, trying to finish your food and put Marcus far out of your mind. It was difficult.

In the afternoon, Elyngar took the time to show you the in and outs of the training hall and knights quarters, telling you to come here if you ever found yourself in trouble, as every single person in the barracks had sworn an oath to protect you. The knights were all eager to meet you, since many of them had heard about your disappearance even before joining the knighthood. You found their interest a little overwhelming, and Elyngar was careful to keep them all at arms length, but they all strangely reminded you of over-eager puppies, so you didn’t mind their attention as long as they kept their distance.

“My Lady, those men have been members of the duchy’s knights for nearly thirty years.” He gestured to three older men standing at attention, almost expectantly, at the mouth of the outdoor hallway leading back toward the main building. One was human, one was a tiefling, and one was a lynx-faced tabaxi. “They’re the oldest serving members of the knights corps at present. I brought you here partially because they submitted a formal request to meet with you.”

“Me?” You asked in surprise. “Why?” 

“Why not ask them, my Lady?” He said. “Would that be alright?” 

You nodded. 

As you approached, all three of them bowed deeply at the waist, nearly folding themselves in half, and shouted: “Please forgive us, Young Miss!” 

You made a squeak of surprise and stopped in your tracks, anxious. 

“That’s enough, stand up straight. You’ve startled her,” Elyngar said. 

They stood straight again, their heads bowed and they’re hands behind their back, as if they were prisoners. You dared to venture from behind Elyngar and address them. 

“Why do you want me to forgive you?” 

“We failed to protect you, Young Miss,” The tabaxi said. “For that, we sincerely apologize. We have never forgiven ourselves for letting you or your parents down.”

You thought about that for a moment. So many people had apologized for the exact same thing since you arrived, and it made you think… if someone had come in and abducted you with all these people looking after you, then they must have been close to the family. It wasn’t just you they had betrayed: it was everyone. They didn’t need to apologize, you thought, since they were victims, too.

“May I ask something?” 

“Of course, Young Miss, ask us anything you please,” The tiefling said.

“Was it my fault that I was abducted?” 

Their jaws dropped in unison, looking distressed at the very idea that you might think so.

“Of course not, Young Miss!” The tabaxi insisted.

“Why?” 

“You were just a child! How could it be your fault?” 

“Well, who’s fault was it?” 

The human man grimaced. “That wench who tricked us.” 

“So, it’s her fault and not mine, then?” 

“Of course!” 

“Then that means it’s not your fault, either. You said so, you were tricked. Nobody, not even my parents, knew what kind of person she really was, so you couldn’t have known, either. Besides, you’ve apologized, so you should forgive yourselves now. I already have.” 

They looked conflicted and emotional, but they nodded. 

“You’re too kind, Young Miss,” The human man said. “I’m Derek. My colleagues are Break of Dawn,” He pointed at the tabaxi. “And Reilly.” He gestured at the tiefling. “Please come to us if you need anything, My Lady,” Derek said. “We have rooms in the knight’s bunkhouse and we’re almost always somewhere on the estate.” 

You smiled as best you could through your nerves. “It’s nice to see you again.” 

They gave you watery smiles and bowed again. You smiled shyly in return. Elyngar dismissed them and led you back to the main building. 

“My Lady,” Elygar said diffidently. “You must have been quite surprised to learn you were engaged.”

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a shock,” You replied. “But Her Grace explained it to me. I understand.” 

“Did she tell you about the conditions?” 

“Yes. You have to find me alive and prove you can lead the duchy in my stead.”

“And the last one?” 

You couldn’t help but flush. “You have to earn my consent.” 

“Exactly. And I don’t want you to agree just because I asked or because we’re already engaged or because you feel like you owe me anything. I want you to choose me because it’s what you want.”

“Shouldn’t it also be what you want?” You asked him.

“It is what I want,” He said simply. 

“Why?” You asked him in confusion. “Is it because you feel like you owe my parents? You’ve only met me a few weeks ago, and we haven’t spoken enough or spent enough time with each other for you to feel anything more for me than pity or protectiveness. I don’t mean to sound mean or ungrateful, I just don’t understand why you decided that it’s alright to spend your entire life with a woman before you’d even met her, other than because it’s what my parents decided. That’s not fair to you.” 

Elyngar was quiet for a moment, and you looked up to see him watching you with an indecipherable expression. 

“My lady,” Elyngar said slowly, holding out his hand. “There’s something I’d like to show you. It’s something that means a lot to me, and I want to share it with you. It’s… my most precious treasure.” 

“Alright,” You said, taking his hand. He led you to a set of double doors at the end of the second floor and opened them. 

“Where are we?” You asked.

“My chambers,” He said. 

You hesitated, unsure. 

He laughed softly. “I understand this is an improper request. I can call Clara to be here as a chaperone, if that would reassure you.”

You frowned, but shook your head. “It’s alright. I trust you.” 

His smile widened greatly when he heard those words.

“Come,” He said, holding out his hand, and you retook it. He led you to a case in his sitting parlor that displayed different pieces of masculine jewelry, cape brooches and cravat pins, but instead of opening it, he reached underneath it and fiddled with something you couldn’t see. You heard a click, and the entire top of the case lifted away, revealing that the cushion holding the ornate jewelry was simply a facade. Elyngar removed the top of the case, peering down into it. 

Inside lay a jagged piece of rusted metal, the tip of a sword, about four to five inches long. It lay there as if it were a precious jewel or some holy artifact that needed to be locked away from the eyes of others. As if it were priceless.

“Do you recognize this?” He asked you. 

For a moment, you were unsure what he was asking, but after a second closer look, all at once you realized and gasped, your hands against your mouth. Ynghadin! You had given this piece of metal to him on the final day when he was meant to be killed! It’s what cost Marcus his eye!

“Did he live?” You asked him, turning and bouncing on your heel in excitement. You grabbed the front of his shirt anxiously with both hands, momentarily forgetting both noble propriety and your timid nature. Whatever residual anxiety you felt with Elyngar dissolved in an instant. “Ynghadin? Do you know where he is? Is he alright? Can I see him?” 

Elyngar laughed and shook his head, a little disbelieving, and took your face in his hands. 

“I told you I’d come back for you, didn’t I? I promised,” He said softly, whispering reverently, pressing his forehead against your own.

Your jaw dropped in shock, and tears filled your eyes. “It’s you?” 

He nodded and covered your hands, which still clutched his shirt, with his. “It’s me.” 

You fell into his arms, sobbing with joy. Of course. How hadn’t you realized? It was so obvious . The hints were all there: him being a child of a family friend, losing his family ten years ago, knowing who you were and what you were like the day he pulled you out of the chest. He never ate anything made of wheat. He knew your nature and that you’d been trained not to speak. He knew you so intimately, despite only having known you for just a few weeks. You always believed that he’d forgotten you after running away, but he hadn’t. He’d remembered everything. And he never stopped looking.

“Come and sit, My Lady. Let me pour you a cup of tea.”

You nodded through your tears and he put his arm around you, leading you to the parlor area of his quarters and setting you on a couch. He called his attendant to bring a tea set and some light snacks.

“Your coloring is different from before. That’s why I didn’t realize,” You told him.

“I figured as much. My kind of minotaur is born pale in color, which then darkens as we reach adulthood. My full color didn’t come in until I was fifteen, long after we had last seen each other. I was wondering if you’d realize on your own… I guess I got impatient.”  

“Why do you go by Elyngar and not Ynghadin?” 

“I took the name when I was officially brought into the house. Elves have strict naming conventions, especially noble houses, so I decided on a combination of your mother and father’s names. It was important to jump through the appropriate hoops if I wanted to be of use to you.”

“Why did you want to be of use to me?”

“When I was young,” He began, sitting next to you on the couch. “My father would tell me tales of his childhood best friend, your father, and often spoke of a little girl he was desperate to find. Seeing how distraught your father was after losing you made my father a man obsessed with finding you, if only to relieve his friend’s suffering. After my mother died, he devoted nearly all of his time to searching for you, and I often assisted him in various ways. In a sense, I had been looking for you before I even knew who you were. 

“When we met in the guildhouse, I didn’t know you were the little girl my father had been so desperate to find. If I had known, I’d have never left you there. I already felt bad leaving you in the first place, but once I realized who you actually were, I felt like I had disappointed you, your parents, and my own father.”

“How did you figure out how I was?”

“It was after I came here to the capitol to meet with the duke, which is what my father told me to do if anything ever happened to him. The moment I saw your parents, I realized the mistake I had made. I led them back to the guildhouse, but it had been burned to the ground and abandoned, and you were gone. Ever since, I have done as my father did and devoted my entire life to your rescue, hoping beyond hope that you’d still be alive.” 

He took your hands in his and kissed them. 

“You saved my life that day, ten years ago. If not for you, I’d be lying dead in that hole they made you dig until your fingers bled, and no one would have been looking for me. I owe all that I am to you. Your parents adopted me partly because they were friends with my father and felt an obligation to help me considering how my father died, but they also realized that I wasn’t in it for their status. They chose me because I was almost as desperate to find you as they were, if for no other reason than to thank you. The duchy, the title, the money; none of it means anything to me. It was all a means to an end, to find you. You’re my savior. Nothing means more to me than you.”

You felt yourself blush at this bold declaration. 

“Do you understand now?” He asked. 

You nodded shyly. “Yes.” 

“Good,” He caressed your cheek and urged you to look at him. "Take your time, My Lady. I will wait for you forever, if need be. We have all the time in the world.”

You smiled shakily at him and nodded.

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience! To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi, becoming a Patron, or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

#Exophilia #Minotaur #Elf #Manwha Tropes #Interspecies Romance

[colourstreakgryffin]

Yandere! Romantic! KNY Kocho Shinobu Headcanons

(Aaaaah! This one is gonna be scary! Hope all of my little glass angels like this one too!)

Shinobu as a romantic Yandere has the Yandere traits of; Manipulative, Possessive, Delusional, Overprotective, Deceptive, Violent/Murderous, Insensitive and Psychotic

- Shinobu will never admit it but she’s fallen hard. Off her pretty purple and aquamarine wings, she has fallen for you. The newest addition and the completion of the incomplete nine, the Ice Hashira. Shinobu never thought she’d have anybody to love, she thought she’d either die to a demon or live the rest of her life alone

- She developed a cute harmless crush on you at first, she clung to you and did all kinds of little but nice nicknacks. Made your bento for you, tied up your hair, held your hand to show you around. You thought Shinobu was just being friendly as you didn’t notice the way she looked at you. Completely lovestruck

- She doesn’t want to be alone anymore, once she knows her truth. She wants you, and she will do whatever is needed to have you as her own

- Shinobu could be considered one of the hardest Hashira to turn Yandere as she is actually quite closed-off then as she seems in public but personally, I believe that once she is deeply in love and then sees her love interest with other people, her overwhelming jealous anger would begin shaping her Yandere self. One jigsaw piece at a time

- Why do you like him/her? What does he/she have that Shinobu doesn’t?! Height? Strength? You nor Shinobu need those! Shinobu has brains! And that should be enough. She is loyal and will remember everything you tell her, devotion is more attractive, isn’t that obvious?!

- I’m sorry to all Shinobu fans but Shinobu is definitely a very abusive Yandere to her love interest. She doesn’t like hurting you, she wants to love you more than anything but you always constantly misbehave and stir up trouble, she must punish you and those punishments usually leave you torn-up emotionally, starved, freezing and bandaged with a broken limb or two chained to the futon besides her futon as she puts you to sleep by force with a sleep-inducing poison from her katana

- For real, all of her smiles are genuine around you. Her happiness is genuine too, you make her feel less alone and that she can be her real self with you. She is attached to you because you’ve changed her, gave her a reason to smile that she actually agrees with for once

- And she won’t lose you to somebody like Kyojuro or Mitsuri. Starting now, Shinobu’s obsession and plan comes into clear view. You’ll be her lovely little girlfriend, Shinobu knows of it and is excited for her fantasy to come to life

- Shinobu’s a stalker, like Kyojuro. She follows you everywhere you go in secret; to the fleek market, to your estate, to your unwell mother’s household. She knows every single detail of your travel schedule and waits eagerly behind trees or buildings to catch you. She watches from the sideline with her bug-like eyes forming into love hearts at the sight of you in such a gorgeous kimono

- She can’t stop thinking about you but she loves it. In battle or whilst taking care of the Kamaboko Squad, you litter her mind that she sometimes randomly blurbs out your name. You plague her thoughts, her fantasies so much that Zenitsu swears he can hear Shinobu’s thoughts in detail fall out of her ears

- Shinobu, also just like Kyojuro, is a very split-faced Yandere, and swaps between her Yandere self and her ordinary self. She, as mentioned in the Kyojuro post, is very good at hiding her Yandere behaviours as she regularly hides all of her emotions so it’s like second nature and uses it as a means to manipulate. Manipulate your emotions

- “That’s… quite harsh, Myōji. Don’t you think? Why would I kill somebody? That’s a heavy accusation. It… almost seems like you don’t like me as a friend… that hurts. Oh, you’re sorry? Apologise to my grave because clearly, you want me dead”

- Shinobu wholeheartedly views herself as your destined true love, and that you’re being brainwashed by everybody around you into dismissing that you’re just as in love with her. Delusion at its finest, she doesn’t even notice how afraid of her you really are, how her fantasies aren’t true in a single bit

- Oh! And she’ll make you your own Butterfly Hairpin and force you to wear it 24/7 as a symbol of her ownership of you. All will back off if her mark is dug deep into your figure, that single cute butterfly-styled hairpin of your favourite colours

- Every injured Hashira goes to the Butterfly Estate for treatment, right? But it’s different for you. Whenever you’re injured, you’re end up staying there longer as Shinobu mixes your medicine with sickness-inducing poison to keep you unwell for longer. As cruel as it is, Shinobu has no ill intentions. She merely wants your love and by making you sick, she has a better chance to refine her relationship with you

- “Oh my, Myōji-chan. Your temperature is quite high and you’ve been coughing so much, you’re losing your voice. Hmm, it seems that the symptoms point to a case of the cold. Sadly, a strong one too. But, please, do not worry. I will take wonderful care of you! We do need our Ice Hashira as soon as possible, and I’ll make sure you are in perfect health”

- Shinobu lies to you all the time, especially when you start to pick up on that she may be harming you on purpose to keep you against your will at the Butterfly Estate. What? Don’t be ridiculous! She’s a doctor, why would she make a problem, she solves them!

- Her tactics of making you sick is her form of kidnapping. She won’t actually kidnap you at all since her Estate is way too occupied that it’s quite possible her girls will find you. So, she’ll just keep making you unwell so she can treat you and just HOPE you get injured again so she can repeat the process

- Shinobu is VERY-EXTREMELY likely to kill potential love interests, sharing this Yandere trait with Sanemi and Obanai, but does not care at all if you know. She is very clever in her methods that keeps her hands clean of blood and everybody else except you in firm belief that she had nothing to do with the ‘accident’; she befriends the person, poisons their food/drink, brings them to her estate to “treat them” then kill them in the most brutal fashions before disposing every inch of the body with her impeccable range of poisons

- Shinobu is the most manipulative Yandere Hashira out of the whole nine. She manipulated everybody around her all the time from the beginning of Kanae’s death and it just became a habit to trick the human mind with her silver tongue and a fake but convincing smile. You can’t blame her for the deaths of your potential love interests, she’ll twist your words and viewpoint till you’re apologising for “misaccusing” her

- Tag-teaming with her Manipulation, Shinobu is deceptive! She misleads everybody, including you into believing she couldn’t hurt a fly. Sure, she kills demons but she doesn’t like it! Don’t you believe her? She is so harmless, she just wants to love the world!

- Such talk makes Shinobu feel sick. Her? Like demons? Please, she wishes the most horrible deaths on every single demon in this world, including that Nezuko. And no human is safe either, anybody that wants your love is a demon and must be executed

- Shinobu is violent. Horrifyingly violent towards everybody else but slightly violent towards you. She’ll break a bone or maybe another on you in which she sees as inevitable whilst she’ll badly mulitate her enemies, no matter if they may be human or demon. You know of this as she brings evidence of her work to gloat and there is no way you’ll ever see Shinobu again without intense fear

- Her forced but sugary sweet smile clashing with her lifeless purple eyes makes your spine buckle in pure terror as she tilts your chin up with the sharp tip of her stinger katana. What does she do with you? At the end, she’ll hurt you then she’ll heal and love you

- Yandere Shinobu is also insensitive and psychotic, this being when you get more insight of her Yandere side. She is insensitive to your problems with her behaviour. What’s the matter? Who cares if a few people you liked died, you’re mother is dying, it happens to everybody. She is, as well, psychotic. Her head is cracking and chipping like glass, she is losing her sanity over you and her eyes are playing tricks on her too

- Wait a second, since when did you get in the bathtub with her? Whoa, you’re getting in her lap?! N-no way, you’re about to kiss her! BAM. Shinobu snaps back to reality and sighs in pain. She doesn’t care that she is suffering hallucinations, she cares that what she saw didn’t actually happen. She would have gladly killed the Master for a fun time in the bathtub with you

- Now, who do you belong to? Yes, Shinobu! And she will drill that into your head. Meaning, you’re not seeing anybody else ever again, family or friends. You’re hers, her little Rosy Maple. Why do you need other people when all the love, all the luxury and all the attention one could want in over twenty lifetimes exists in the Butterfly Estate, the home of the Insect Hashira. The one and only, who is willing to destroy, kill and die for you

- Hashira and lower-ranks alike may call Shinobu the Butterfly but you’re the real Butterfly in this situation’s deadly pinchers. You’re the helpless prey to Shinobu’s powerful predator. She has you trapped in her cocoon and she’ll paint it red with blood as much as she needs to keep you trapped

- “Here, my precious Rosy Maple. Try this kimono on! Why, yes. It matches mine, I got it specially ordered for you so go on, be quick and don’t be annoying by messing around. Just put it on and show it to me. Very easy, I know you can manage that”

#kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #anime and manga #kocho shinobu #shinobu kocho #yandere #yandere romance #Yandere shinobu kocho #kny hashira #insect hashira #yandere imagines #kny imagines #headcanons

[mister-eames]

1/? If you wrote a thesis on Arthur and Eames I would literally carry it around in my pocket & read it daily, so I’m begging you!! Please don’t spare your 5k essay on why you think Arthur thinks he doesn’t have a chance with Eames!! I Wanna know your thoughts on this!! Because I think it’s a combination of elements. Firstly I think initially Arthur truly believes Eames doesn’t like him. They’re too different. Arthur is everything Eames isn’t & vice versa. & even tho the saying goes “opposites

2/? attract”.. sometimes you just clash & that’s that.. I think at first he also mistakes Eames playfulness, his snark, quips & attempts at riling Arthur up as genuine condescension & disdain. I also read once in a fic where Arthur made a comment about how nobody likes the pointman cos at the end of the day it’s his job to pick apart everybody else’s work & point out the weaknesses. So the idea that a guy like Eames, who as a forger has one of the most creative/artistic roles in dreamshare. --- 3/3 would be interested in a guy whose role often involves probably telling people to tone it down... yeah. Not gonna happen. & then I think there’s that fear of mixing business with pleasure. The idea of ruining such a great working partnership by bringing something as messy as FEELINGS into it? I think that’s something that would make Arthur not even entertain the idea of ever having anything more with Eames because how could he ever risk losing Eames as a work partner?

---

Aha, are you ready? Obvs these are all just my headcanons, and that the beauty of inception is that the characters can be who we want them to be, all interpretations are valid, etc etc...

So, with Arthur and why I think he thinks doesn't have a chance with Eames. You're right that it's a combination of elements:

I think, at his core, Arthur like, all of us, carries some kind of emotional bruising when it comes to loving and being loved. And like, all of us, Arthur does not think he's perfect. He has self-perceived flaws. Every single one of us, as human beings, has insecurities - even Arthur. I think he uses all of the surface, logical, 'rational' arguments like not wanting to mix business and pleasure to justify not actually addressing these hurts and insecurities.

You know my personal headcanon for Arthur, generally speaking canonically, is that he did not come from money. He grew up poor with a parent that wasn't, say, well enough to be there for him the way a child would need. That he was the caretaker in the household most of the time.

And, bear with me here, on Arthur caring about his looks - Arthur is buttoned up to all hell not because of vanity, but because of how he will be perceived--- he wears his suits less like armour and more like a weapon. Arthur, to me, is scrappy, not defensive.

But despite how he presents himself, deep down Arthur still is that fourteen year old version of himself, the one that lashed out everyone Eventually, he learned to control that anger, the one that showed everyone else where he was wounded -- but he never addressed the ways he was hurt, or the parts of him that has always been deeply lonely. As an adult he isn't keen on loving anyone else because it's always been a one-way transaction. He does not know how to interpret loving someone and being loved in return. For him, what does that even look like? Arthur doesn't want to love anyone because he's never received the same output of love he gives out. And maybe he thinks something is wrong with him, for feeling affection the way he does and never truly getting it back in kind - platonic, familial or romantic.

So he wears his weaponry to keep people from getting too close to touch, figuratively speaking. And maybe Eames takes him on face value for a beat too long.

While I don't really consider Arthur and Eames to be opposites, I do think they are flip sides of the same coin. They share a basic foundation, beliefs, ethics - but can also clash where they combine. It's like when you just... get someone on a basic level, like you share a frequency without needing years of getting to know them. Like when you meet someone and you just know you must have known each other in a past life. Arthur thinks that this weird, antagonistic thing he has with Eames is something different, isn't it? Except, it isn't. It's just love, baby.

Arthur feels it, with Eames. That 'something'. Over time it develops into a feeling that is both thrum and quiet. Like his whole body is vibrating but also completely still just by being near him, thinking about him.

But, at least initially, Arthur is just too... wary to place his money on it, that feeling. It's never provided dividends before.

Which isn't to say that Eames is the one to show Arthur he is 'worth loving', or anything like that. I believe that Arthur comes to that realisation all by himself - realistically, they're both still young and young enough to be insecure at the time of the film. Late 20's, 30s? Babies, in the grand scheme of adulthood. They are only just consolidating out who they are, really. But Arthur, at some point, realizes its okay to put his sword down and be loved in a different way from those who'd said they'd loved him before. To have someone take care of him, to run point for him. He gets better at reading love languages.

And I think, to address Arthurs own insecurities -- we all also have that kind of rose-tinted view of the ones we love while thinking we are plain and unremarkable - we look at them and go fuck, you are amazing, you are incredible, you can do anything and you don't even know it, how do you not know how powerful you are?? --- that's part of it too. Maybe he looks at Eames, Cobb and Mal and thinks just that. Maybe he wonders in what world would Eames ever look at him the same way? Maybe he does underestimate his own power and he takes it all too seriously and to heart when he's not perfect. Maybe he can't look past his own fuck ups in life and in work that it truly clouds his perception of himself and his compatibility with others.

That, I think, are the basic fears Arthur has. It's like inception, right, these 'simplest version of ideas' manifest in more convoluted ones. Those fears get translated and articulated into very simple 'reasonable' arguments he hoodwinks himself with so he never has to face his own vulnerability: it would never work out. I don't like the way he does x, y, z. He is so annoying. He doesn't even like me like that. It'd be bad for business. It's not worth the risk. We're here to work.

So I think Arthur leaves his attraction to Eames like a mailbox slowly accumulating with more and more junk mail. He'll clean it out some day, pushed aside in his own mind, left unattended by him for a long time without realizing the pile is growing. On this, some of my fave fics are the ones where Arthur has this sort of... comically misbehaving subconscious because of his ignored affection for Eames. The ones where there are errant projections who fawn over Eames, or the ones where his subconscious is literally incapable of hurting him. I think Arthur is not.. repressed... as an individual, but the feelings he has for Eames are so large and encompassing and that he's tried to fit it into too small of a box, and that box is spilling out at the sides. What he feels cannot be contained or disposed of. He would be that kind of hot mess.

But, Arthur, you darling fool. The feeling is mutual.

#10000% pure self indulgence #like actually #but i don't even care #thank you so much nonnie for letting me indulge so much on Arthur and maybe go overboard on him idk cant stop wont stop it makes me happy #there's something just so remarkably human in these two #these blink-and-you'll-miss moments of vulnerability in the film #my brain can't stop latching onto reasons why arthur is a fucking disaster sweetheart of a human bean #anyway #love these two idiots forever! #arthur x eames #dreamhusbands #inception

[jewwyfeesh]

Vampire Siblings

Writer: 日日日 (Akira)

Character(s): Isara Mao, Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Ritsu, Anzu

Translated by: jewwyfeesh

Disclaimer: I translated this story from the CN version of the game, which means that it has been double translated (JP > CN > EN).

Rei: Oooh!! Ritsu!! GOOD~ MORNING~ ☆

Season: Autumn Location: Track and Field

Mao: Mmm~ The feeling of fulfillment after a good prac! It’s really amazing~ ☆

Oh, thankies. Is this isotonic drink for me, Anzu? You’re becoming more and more ‘Producer’-like with every passing day~

Seems like you’ve been running after lots of other units besides us Trickstar lately.

There there, you’ve worked really hard ♪

But yeah… even though I’m one to talk, I still think you should take care of your body and your schedule. I’d feel really guilty if you pushed yourself too hard and something happened to you.

Never mind. Let’s go home, Anzu. Today’s my turn to ‘send you home’, so I’ll make sure that you get home safe and sound.

Though… lately, it seems like I’m always the one sending you home…? To the point where I’ve even gotten to know your family fairly well.

Sometimes I’d even stay for dinner…

But I’m not complaining. My family’s the kind to do whatever they want. As such, we don’t really spend a lot of time together. So… It’s nice being with your family.

I wonder if it’s because I can do things like household chores all by myself?

Everyone tends to think, “Oh it’s fine if we leave Isara Mao alone, nothing will happen to him”, but my younger sister has always been coddled and spoiled by our parents…

Hmph, would it be better if I tried to act a little more spoiled? But the second I come back to my senses, I’m back to taking care of others again. I feel old.

You’re also someone like this, so please be careful. You can also lean on me sometimes, you know~?

Eh… I’m meddling in other people’s business again…

It’s about to become a bad habit of mine, forget it, forget it… It’s pretty good to be relied on by others, but I’ve been ‘like this’ since I was young.

It’s because of Ritchan, my childhood friend~ If I leave him to his devices, that guy literally won’t lift a finger to do anything. When it got to a point where I couldn’t stand it anymore, I could only go and help… I’d help and help and help till I became ‘a meddler and a half’ ♪

You know Ritchan, right? Knights’…

Ahh, so you’ve also taken care of him before. He’s always so lazy, you literally can’t ignore him~

…Eh? You’re saying Ritchan’s over there?

Ah, call for the cat and he shall appear… where is he~?

Ah! Goodness! This guy, sleeping outside without a single shred of protection!

One day you’re gonna get pickpocketed, what are you gonna do then…? I reckon he fell asleep after lunch, and slept ‘all the way’ till now~

HEEEEY— Ritchan!! Don’t go sleeping in places like these, you’ll catch a cold ya know~?

Ritsu: ……Mmhhghhh? Huh… Maa~kun…? Wh… don’t wake me up…

Mao: Of course I need to wake you up. The school gates are gonna close soon, and if we don’t get moving we’ll be locked in. Our school has always been particularly ‘strict’ about these kinds of things.

Ritsu: Eh~ …Well, whatever. I could just continue sleeping here and save myself the trouble of having to come to school tomorrow. The more I think about it, the better of an idea it seems~

I’m really sleepy, so just leave me be. No matter how much I sleep, it’s never enough…

Mao: You… you haven’t changed one bit…

Hm? Eh? What are you hugging? It’s not a bolster… right? A tree stump? No, that seems to be a person…?

Ritsu: What?

Rei: Huu… snzz… ♪

Kekeke… Little baby~ Be good~ ♪ Go sleep~ ♪ Uuuu ♪

Mao: Ahh~ Taking a closer look… isn’t this Ritchan’s older brother? Why are the both of you snoozing together? Seems like you have a really good relationship~

When I got to know Ritchan, this person was always overseas, so I didn’t get to know him very well.

To be exact… I only found out he existed after I enrolled in Yumenosaki Academy. Ritchan doesn’t talk about his brother very often, so I got a little worried…

Who knew that the both of them were actually so close ♪

Ritsu: …Maa~kun, do you have anything sharp? I think staking him in the heart would definitely kill him.

Mao: N-no, you can’t just go around killing people. Eh? Do both of you have bad blood? In that case, why are you sleeping next to each other?

Ritsu: I don’t know what this thing was thinking, nor do I have any interest in finding out…

More than anything, I want to bury this thing six feet below and wipe my hands of it ‘as though nothing happened’. Now. Immediately. The faster the better.

Rei: E-eh? What happened, is it already time to say “good morning”? Ah? Where am I?

Ritsu: Yo. Why are you sleeping next to me, huh? You reek of mould, so stay further away from me. What happened, how are you still alive?

Rei: Mmmhh… My mind’s all fuzzy just after waking up… don’t ask so many questions at one go…

What’s there to rush, hm…? Re-rest a little… yawwwwn… ♪

Ritsu: No. No sleeping. I’ll kill you.

Rei: This tone… one that shows no mercy, even to one’s own blood brother…

Oooh!! Ritsu!! GOOD~ MORNING~ ☆

Ritsu: Don’t hug me! You’re so annoying!

Okay but spit it out. Why were you sleeping by my side? Depending on your answer, you could be demoted from “someone who seemed to have been a brother previously” to “stupid bug”.

Rei: Even if you don’t demote me, it’s a bit much, don’t you think?

Nothing much… It’s just that when I was leaving for home, I happened to see Ritsu sleeping. I was worried that you’d catch a cold, so I used my body warmth to warm you up. This is a big brother’s love ♪

Ritsu: Is that so? I understand, you don’t need to say anymore. Complete waste of Earth’s oxygen.

Maa~kun, could you help me get some cement from the warehouse? I want to solidify this thing in there and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Rei: We’ve just woken up, and yet Ritsu’s already trying to get rid of me!?

Mm~ Anywho! The elderly aren’t quite suited for outdoor camping… My whole body’s sore and stiff…

Ritsu~ could you help massage my shoulders please ♪

Ritsu: Didn’t I tell you to shut up? You stupid bug.

Mao: Okay okay… as brothers, you guys should try to get along well. Though, let’s leave the fighting and the shoulder massage aside, yeah? We’re really about to be locked in school.

Rei: Oooh, you’re from Trickstar… It’s already this late… Thank you for waking me up. Ritsu~ it’s been a long time since we brothers walked home together hm~?

Ritsu: Brother? I don’t have a brother, though?

Rei: Don’t deny your brother’s existence with such a deadpan expression… That’s a bit much, even for a younger brother, don’t you think? I’ll start crying…

Ahh, I can’t… My tear ducts are getting weaker as I age… Uuuuuu~

Mao: Ahaha, I think I kinda understand your relationship, Sakuma-senpai.

Ritchan, the more you talk, the more others are gonna think “oh he’s just in his rebellious phase”, so maybe it’s better to not talk altogether?

Ritsu: Damn it… That isn’t the case at all. I had only wanted to throw this annoying ass thing into the trash bin. Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore.

Maa~kun, you want to send them… send the Transfer Student home, right? Hurry up and go, don’t worry about us.

Rei: Mhm, please be careful on your way back. Who knows what kind of demons will be roaming at this hour – for example, vampires… and the like… ♪

Mao: Yep. I’ll be careful. The both of you too; no more fighting, okay? Hurry up and go home~

Rei:

Mm, I’ve always been praying that I’ll have a close relationship with Ritsu! We’re brothers after all ♪

…Ah, Ritsu? Where did you go? Hey— Ritsuuuu~

Ah, he dashed off at the speed of light. He really does hate me, huh? Hehehe ♪

Wait a minute, I am also more active at night! Well, when it comes to hide and seek, I’m not about to lose to a ‘novice’ ♪

Aaah… Running around like this under the night sky, it really reminds me of our childhood ♪

Ritsu: D-don’t chase after me!! Didn’t I already say you’re annoying!? Did it completely fly over your head, you infuriating Anija!?

Rei: Excellent, excellent… he’s finally willing to acknowledge me as his brother. Anyways, we take the same path back home, my super duper adorable little brother…

Translator's notes: [1] The original CN term here is 「菜鸡」, slang for "complete, total noob". I translated it to novice, a synonym. Personally don't think Rei would call Ritsu a "noob".

#enstars translation #! era sub/idol story #sakuma rei #sakuma ritsu #isara mao

[cryptidsnackpack]

okay this discussion is going to be SO LATE but i’m playing dream daddy (again) and i have ~thoughts~ about our friendly neighborhood youth pastor and his family.

so i’m going on dates with all the dad’s i haven’t in previous playthroughs. (i saw mat and damien and was like good day i do not need to peruse ANY other fathers today).

i’d never done joseph’s route before, bc he’s married duh and i have religious trauma. and he looks like every white man that is a problem. but this time around i wanted to watch the world burn and break that man. ANYWAY. he is- actually… delightful? and i love his dates?? i though that with (potential spoilers ahead i guess but this game is old af) his affair with Robert he would immediately start laying it on thick. but he just invites you to very fucking domestic events, and gets frazzled with basic intimacy.

so i GET that joseph cheated. i understand that a large part of mary’s drinking may be due to that. and i know the “good” ending is not really good at all, and pulls a weird moral gotcha on you. i am all for making players face the consequences of their actions in games but this one falls flat for a few reasons.

1. Joseph objectively isn’t a bad person. Yes he’s had an affair, yes he’s a youth pastor (okay only a little joking). BUT Joseph has his shit together for his 4 kids and i admire the FUCK out of him for it. As someone who was raised by alcoholic parents, seeing Mary’s attitude at her kids’ well being REALLY struck a chord with me. the game wants me to believe Joseph is the bad guy, but i’m watching his wife chug five bottles of wine while her toddler is missing AND SUPPOSED TO BE IN HER CARE. and then i see this dad who is trying, who is involved in community outreach, and keeps a stable home. also i see a lot of “well Joseph puts on an act to make Mary look bad in front of the neighbors”. I’m sorry??? he does not have to make Mary look bad, she does bad all on her own. the “wine mom” and “type a dad” schtick is so fucking heteronormative and played out, even for 2017 when the game was released. and hey maybe that was the point! but if it was, it wasn’t done well.

2. The worst parts of Mary’s character get glossed over in lieu of her being a “wine mom” stereotype. Maybe it’s because i’m an ex alcoholic myself, but i don’t have a lot of patience for the character and i know that. objectively i like Mary, i think she’s funny and tough. but she is a deadbeat fucking mom, and the game WHICH IS CENTERED LARGELY AROUND BEING A GOOD PARENT puts Mary on a pedestal that she doesn’t deserve to be on. would i get dinner with mary? hang out? go shopping?? fuck yeah. would i think, “this person who goes out every single night and flirts outrageously with everyone, ignoring their children and household responsibility for their husband” is a “good” person?? fucking hell no. i would not let that woman look after a hamster. let alone four children.

3. DIVORCE IS A VALID AND HEALTHY OPTION THAT SHOULD BE SHOWN MORE IN MEDIA. i cannot tell you how many nights i lay awake listening to my parents drunk and fighting and prayed (when i believed in prayer) that they would divorce. i WANTED my parents to divorce, because i, at the ripe age of 12 could see what apparently the adults could not. that these two people did not, and should not, be together. now that’s not saying that your “good” ending in joseph’s route should end in a typical romance. i don’t. what i mean is that two people should have come to the conclusion that they are doing irreparable damage to their family by staying together. and your character could have helped and supported in that decision. it is obvious that Mary is living a life she doesn’t want, and i do feel for her. BUT GET A DIVORCE THEN. I know the characters are married and staying together largely in part because of religion… but…. Joseph’s not “that” kind of christian? because i grew up in the church, i know the type. this guy ain’t it. So the “well divorce is a sin” for the character doesn’t work for me.

i love the game grumps and i LOVE this game, but this was an area where i feel like the characterization and “message” was a like clunky and more than hard to follow. i really felt like they missed the mark with this one, i mean hell just make the non-canon ending canon at this point. at least that would make more sense.

also this is not me saying that Mary should be responsible for all household duty bc she’s a woman or blah blah blah. but whether you wanted those kids or not, whether you want to be in that marriage or not, YOU made decisions. your kids didn’t choose to be born YOU did, so you need to step up and idk?? maybe not spend every night out at a bar with the local loner who boned your husband? also maybe your husband sought comfort in the arms of a relative stranger… for… a reason? not a morally sound or correct reason but we can maybe follow the dots.

#dream daddy #joseph christiansen

[wonieleles]

project: stay single — fifteen : the idiots’ dilemma

word count: 613 ! (screenshots below!)

something strange had been happening to jungwon recently.

he found himself staring at his lab partner more often, searching for her in the halls when he normally rushes to his next class, and he even focuses more on her in chemistry class than the lecture.

now the average person would’ve classified this as having feelings for someone, but jungwon was never quite average. he did entertain the idea for a little bit before declaring it absurd since he “never likes anyone that way.” so instead, jungwon told himself that this issue was simply him being burnt out from school. yes, that had to be right.

although now that he figured out the reason behind his recently odd behavior, he couldn’t quite figure out how to fix it, nor did he know exactly why he needed to. so for the first time in his life, yang jungwon was stuck. he was fighting a battle with himself; his head and heart were giving him two completely different explanations, and he wasn’t sure if the one he was trying to convince himself was right. especially, when his mind was filled with rushed, panicked thoughts over something happening to y/n after looking at her tweets. because who worries this much over a lab partner (or casual friend but even that was odd).

but still, here he was, standing right next to the girl’s locker first thing in the morning, waiting for her to stop by so he could put his mind at ease.

park y/n never imagined she’d have to face jungwon the moment she entered school, especially not after what happened last night. perhaps that’s why she decided to run away the second she saw him waiting for her. she did feel guilty about avoiding him when he seemed so desperate to talk to her, but the embarrassment of facing him after what happened outweighed any guilt (even though he probably didn’t even want to talk to her about that).

“hey, my love,” wonyoung greeted her best friend, putting an arm around y/n’s shoulders. after getting no response from her usually noisy friend, she studied her to see what was wrong. “help, why are you so deep in thought? omg and why are you carrying all your textbooks?” wonyoung questioned the girl’s peculiar behavior.

“oh, hi wony,” y/n responded, finally noticing the girl.

“yeah, hi? are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“oh, nothing much. just saw yang jungwon waiting next to my locker this morning, and so i decided that exercising my arm muscles is perfect for today.”

“wait, why was he there?”

“no clue, but i was just scared it might be because of sunghoon’s tweet,” y/n shivered at the thought.

“okay, not that it isn’t a valid reason, but honestly, i don’t think he would’ve cared. i mean you didn’t even look bad in that pic, and he probably didn’t even see it. so maybe it’s about something else, like the chem homework or something,” wonyoung rationalized in an attempt to calm down her best friend.

“yeah because the smartest kid in our grade definitely needs my help in chemistry,” y/n deadpanned.

“okay, maybe that isn’t as likely. but he probably did want to ask you about something else, so don’t worry too much,” wonyoung tried again.

“you’re right, but you know what, that sounds like a future me problem,” y/n said with a grin, and wonyoung couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s antics. but y/n was right, it was indeed a future her problem; just one problem, the future came a lot sooner than she expected for she underestimated jungwon’s persistent personality.

synopsis: when being the youngest and only girl of the park household, strict parents and overprotective brother and cousins are a given. therefore, park y/n sworn off dating until she enters college (not that she had much of a choice). but when the awkward but terribly cute yang jungwon is placed in her lab group, she finds herself wanting to break the number one rule in her family—no dating till college. or maybe they could be just friends, right?

< previous | masterlist | next >

note: ok but like ynwon are kinda dumb 🤕🤕 and chenle figuring everything out like 😟 edit: in the third screenshot y/n is supposed to say “too” not “to”

taglist one (taglist two open): @brokeprimogems @hoonieswrld @hiqhkey @4yjwonnn @boowoowho @sim-kissed @w0nderr @dstarsz @vantxx95 @harperwasstaken1 @reinahwanggg @bubblytaetae @m1kotsu @annoyingbitch83 @tomorrowbymoa-together @hiyyihland @nyfwyeonjun @lhsng @ritsusakumasgf @titsout4gojo @nekyochis @yabukkura @nomurahayami @pr0dbeomgyu @sunsunu @4yjw @sophhloaff @mina-yoo334 @viagumi @queer-blue-fairy @rionah @injngg @4vonly @coffeewon @byeolwonnie @agisajinn @acciomylove @lil-iva @wooniy @i-yeseo @miridicallyyours @gyuulvr @kange3939 @duolingofanaccount @ihrtk1ve @mqndnolia @solxrssun @sbnchaos @faiirybread @enhasengene (italics: couldn’t be tagged)

#enhypen smau #enhypen x reader #jungwon smau #enhypen au #jungwon au #jungwon x reader #jungwon x y/n #enhypen imagines #jungwon imagines #enhypen fics #jungwon fics #enhypen fluff #jungwon fluff #enhypen ff #jungwon ff #enhypen social au #jungwon social media au #enhypen scenarios #jungwon scenarios #yang jungwon #park sunghoon #enhypen jay #enhypen jake #enhypen niki #kim sunoo #lee heeseung #park jisung #enhypen

[yuriko-mukami]

His Possession After Story

Beta reader: @ruki-mukami-dl

Yuriko pushed a teacup right under Yuuto’s nose while he was going through papers. She sat down next to him, glancing at the documents. The kitchen was even smaller than she had shared with their father after moving to Kaminashi City. But it was enough for one person who wasn’t too fond of cooking anyway, and it had all the necessities. For that, Yuriko had made sure when they had checked out the options… which have been very few.

“The apartment looks nice. It’s tiny but I think it works well… and it isn’t too far from the manor.” Yuriko took a sip from her tea. “And it’s nice that we found some furniture for you as well.”

Finally, Yuuto lifted his gaze and left the papers on the tiny kitchen table. Sighing, he only swung the spoon in his cup. “You sure you don’t wanna move in with me? We could check out bigger options…”

Hastily, Yuriko shook her head, making her white curls dance around her face and tickle her cheeks. “I want to live with Ruki, Yuuto.”

“You know, it’s not okay for an unmarried girl of your age to live with four males… And they’re freakin’ bloodsuckers too.” Yuuto frowned. He had done that so often recently that Yuriko feared he would get permanent wrinkles on his forehead soon. 

And Ruki wasn’t any better with the matter. He kept frowning and glaring at Yuuto in whatever chance he got. Neither of them was openly hostile toward the other but it was more than clear that they didn’t enjoy staying in the same space longer than necessary. Other than that, Ruki’s brothers were giving Yuriko a headache with their nasty comments… and Yuuto was even ruder than them at times. 

Putting her hand over Yuuto’s, Yuriko tried to smile. “I’m happy like this. They don’t do anything to me, I promise. Ruki treats me well.”

At least mostly. Yuriko had to admit that they had had the lowest of the low moments, but she wasn’t going to tell about those Yuuto who — luckily — couldn’t read her thoughts anymore now, that they were in their human forms in the Human World. So, finally, Yuriko’s secrets were truly safe as long as she wouldn’t visit Yuuto’s dream space again.

“Hmph, I doubt ‘bout that… I still remember how shitty you looked as a fox that one time…” Yuuto gave Yuriko a glare. “You know that your dream form reflects the reality.”

“We had our struggles…” Yuriko nibbled her bottom lip. “...every couple has those. And… and… besides… It’s my decision. Ruki has really shown me how it feels to be wanted and cared for… No one before him…”

“I always wanted my sister…”

Yuuto’s gaze almost broke Yuriko’s heart. She had hit him in a sore spot even though she hadn’t meant that. She patted his hand again. “And I want my big brother. But I also want this… this… love. Yuuto, I truly love Ruki. Please… don’t take this away from me. After losing so much I need this one thing I can’t ever lose. And I still need my brother, too. I need you both.”

“Haa… dammit… Fine. I’m gonna live here on my own then.” Yuuto tapped the paper with a floor plan of a single-room flat. Yuriko had helped him to search for it, and it hadn’t been such an easy task as she had imagined. It turned out that not many landlords were ready to rent out a place for a single male who was still trying to find his way to earn his living without a proper education and family contacts. “I guess I should be happy that you have a nice roof above your head.”

“Umh! Exactly!” Yuriko flashed a smile. “Be happy about that. And I’ll visit you often. We’ll get everything working for you. I know how to do household chores and such, so it’s not a problem at all.”

“You ain’t doin’ my chores for me, gotcha? You’re gonna teach me a little bit of cookin’ and how to wash clothes. All other thingies I can manage on my own.” Yuuto poked Yuriko on her forehead. “You gotta worry ‘bout your school, not me. I heard that you failed your third year. Dontcha do that again.”

Yuriko nodded. She took another sip from her tea which was already getting cold. Maybe life could be good now when things were finally settling down. They had been through chaos and there was still renovation going on in Yuma’s room since he had set it on fire for a reason Yuriko hadn’t quite understood. But what she did know, was that Eve had gone back to the Sakamaki family. That must mean Nalia had kept her promise, and Yuriko should thank the woman later for that.

“Your midterms didn’t go too well, right?” Yuuto continued, making Yuriko hang her head.

“I… I… because of… everything…” The wave of sadness washed over Yuriko again, squeezing her heart into a tiny black rock. She lifted her hand and wiped under her eyes, shaking her head slightly. Would she ever be completely happy again? Or would this lingering anxiety always travel with her wherever she would go? There was an empty spot in her as if something had been ripped off for good.

“Sis…”

Whatever Yuuto was about to say, Yuriko never heard it because footsteps from the entrance caught her interest. A wafting familiar scent sailed into the kitchen just a moment before Ruki walked in, giving Yuuto a glare once more. The invisible daggers threw in the air between the two males, but this time Yuriko didn’t even bother to try to soothe the situation.

“Yuriko, we have a visitor at the manor. You need to come with me.” Ruki took Yuriko’s hand and pulled her off the chair. “I am sure you have a lot to do here, Yuuto.”

Still staring at the Vampire, Yuuto nodded with a slow movement. “That’s right. But you better take good care of her, gotcha?”

“You do not need to worry about that. Yuriko’s safety and wellbeing is my first priority.”

Ruki’s words made Yuuto snort, but he didn’t try to deny them as Yuriko laid a pleading gaze at him and shook her head.

“I’ll visit you later again… and then we can cook something simple together. I put some meals in the fridge, so you can just warm them up before that.” Yuriko smiled.

Another nod, accompanied by a frown. “See you later, Sis.”

With that, Ruki wrapped his arm better around Yuriko. The air swooshed around them when he teleported them directly into the living room of the Mukami manor. There was a tall man waiting for them there, and Yuriko couldn’t quite hide her gasp. She had never seen so long and smooth white hair with a very slight pinkish tone hair on anyone. Other than that, the man had been dressed in something that she could only call extravagant. 

The man had a kind expression but still, a chill crept down Yuriko’s spine. She inhaled deeply, trying to figure out more. There was a strong scent of a Vampire around the man but something else too. Something ageless Yuriko hadn’t smelled ever before. She couldn’t describe the scent or compare it to anything, but it was captivating.

“So, Ruki, this is the young woman who you have taken an interest in?” As the man spoke, his voice was so soft it almost embraced Yuriko’s ears but also creeped her out. Yet, she didn’t have time to focus on the cold shivers running all over her, since the man took her hand, lifted it, and kissed it without really touching her skin with his lips. “Tsukino Yuriko, I assume?”

“Umh… yes… Yes, I am.” Yuriko hurried a bow which was difficult because the man was still holding her hand as his prisoner. 

“Yuriko, meet Karlheinz-sama.” Ruki put his hand back on Yuriko’s waist at the same moment, the Vampire king finally released her.

“Oh my…!” Yuriko bowed again, this time deeper. “I’m truly sorry. I didn’t realize who you were, Karlheinz-sama! It’s an honor to meet you.”

“Raise your head, my dear.” 

Yuriko peeked, straightening up slowly. She realized that Karlheinz had golden eyes like Shin, pretty close to the amber color both Yuuto and she had too. An interesting detail, for sure. Perhaps this man was something like the Founders, being the king and all.

“I wonder what is so special in you that Ruki’s focus has been wavering.” Karlheinz rubbed his chin with a smirk on his lips while gazing at Yuriko from head to toe and making her squirm. “He has good tastes, I do admit that, but I have never taken him for a man who would put value only on such superficial things as someone’s appearance. So, perhaps it is your mind that has imprisoned him. Either way, it has compromised his ability to concentrate on the tasks I have given him.”

“Oh… umh… I’m sorry…”

“I do apologize, Karlheinz-sama.” Ruki squeezed Yuriko’s waist slightly. “I know I failed to protect the manor and my brother while I was helping Yuriko. But I assure you that from now on, I will keep everything in check. There will not be such slips anymore.” Ruki lowered his head. “But I will accept my punishment for my failure.”

Yuriko covered her mouth with her hand to prevent a gasp from getting out. Would Karlheinz really punish Ruki just because he had been away when Yuma had burned his room? Was this because Eve had left them? Then it would be all Yuriko’s fault since she had put Nalia to spread the word.

“Be at ease, Ruki.” Karlheinz chuckled. “This time everything is going as it should be. I could not predict this little new factor though…” He leaned closer, grabbing Yuriko’s chin and lifting it. He turned her head from left to right and back again while heat coursed up her cheeks. “Time is a peculiar thing, Ruki. Playing it can sometimes cause discursions you did not expect. Yet I am willing to see where this little anomaly will lead us since she does not seem to endanger the plan for playing out.”

Karlheinz smiled, releasing Yuriko once again. “You, my dear, do not worry, for nothing you have done has caused problems. If anything, you have played the game like one of the pawns of my own.”

Yuriko blinked. She had no idea what the Vampire king was talking about. Everything that came out of his mouth sounded cryptic. “I… I… well, then… I’m simply grateful if I can share my life with Ruki.”

“Is that so?” Karlheinz’s gaze didn’t leave Yuriko for a moment. She was imprisoned in the golden cage of his eyes, while she could feel Ruki shifting next to her. “That is still to be decided. I would wish to have a conversation with you in private. Perhaps we can find common ground. Would you join me in Ruki’s study?”

Yuriko glanced at Ruki whose face was unreadable. Yet, she could smell something in the air… displease? Fear? Something else?

“I… I… I think you can say whatever it is in front of Ruki. I keep no secrets from him.” Yuriko swallowed, hoping she wasn’t breaking any vampiric royal rules.

“Very well then. I was wondering what your intentions toward Ruki are exactly. From what I have heard, my other son had been quite fond of you too.”

Yuriko blinked as the heat coursed up her cheeks. She lowered her head, taking a deep breath. “I… Well… With all due respect, I wish not to talk about Sakamaki Laito-san and I would not like to meet him anymore. I have devoted myself to Ruki and I want to stay living with him.”

“And you think you have the power to hold the heart of a Vampire?” Karlheinz’s voice was soft, radiating curiosity. 

Yuriko peeked at the man in front of her. “That is not for me to decide. But if Ruki is willing to have me, then I wish to stay.”

“I see. You are quite a determined one.” Karlheinz shifted, turning his gaze to Ruki. “Adam and Eve have found each other and formed the bond as I wished. The plan is on the move, but I will need all my sons to protect it. But as I said, this anomaly has not disturbed the flow of time, so I will see if things finally play out correctly now that she has joined my playboard. Yet, don’t waver anymore, for I do not wish to remove my pawns.”

“Thank you, Karlheinz-sama.” Ruki bowed to the man. “I will see that my brothers and I will serve you as well as we can. Though, if I may say it would be easier not to waver if I would not need to worry over Yuriko’s safety at the school.”

The silence spread through the living room, and for a moment, Yuriko thought that Ruki had overstepped. Then the glimmering amusement started to grow on Karlheinz’s face as if he had waited this all along. He chuckled as his eyes curled into crescents for a moment.

“I see. That is very bold of you, Ruki. Curious, how this young woman can make you surpass limits you have surrounded yourself with on your own.” Karlheinz nodded. “There will be no more disturbance from Laito. And for that, I expect your complete faithfulness.”

Ruki lowered his head again. “I would not give you anything less, Karlheinz-sama.”

Hastily, Yuriko bowed as well, hiding her smile. “I thank you, Karlheinz-sama. I will stay by Ruki’s side and help him whenever I can.”

The manor was silent. Yuriko lay in Ruki’s arms, on his chest in his bedroom. There was an emptiness in her that refused to go away. Yuuto was living in the Human World now; they would have years together once things had settled down… but… their father had left the city. Yuriko had no idea where he had gone and what kind of life he was about to lead from now.

That felt so final. Yuriko truly had lost her father… if she ever had one. And when it came to her mother, had Hisoka ever been there for her? Yes, they had had their moments. Yuriko would never forget how they had visited a huge Inari shrine together and Hisoka had bought her a fox plushie she still had. It was one of her fondest childhood memories. But the truth was that most of the time Hisoka had been trapped inside her own head, not minding if Yuriko had been properly clothed or fed.

And then… Hisoka had gone after Yuuto. Both of their parents have always wanted Yuuto but not Yuriko. Yet, she missed them. It was like… she had missed them for her whole life and now they both were gone, never giving her another chance.

“Penny for your thoughts, my angel?” Ruki brushed through Yuriko’s hair, pressing her head even closer.

Yuriko couldn’t hide the trembling that coursed somewhere deep within her. “Umh… I feel so alone… Kind of like my parents just abandoned me…”

Ruki’s sigh caressed Yuriko’s cheek. “I know how you feel.” He tensed while holding her as if he was suddenly experiencing something unpleasant. “When I was much younger than you… I woke up one morning and my mother had gone, leaving us for another man. Then my father… I found him, hanging from a tree. The servants did whatever they wanted, and soon, I was living in the streets, wanting to die, too. But I was taken to an orphanage where I met my brothers… and eventually, one thing led to another, allowing us to meet Karlheinz-sama who turned us into Vampires.”

Nuzzling Ruki’s shoulder, Yuriko listened to his words. She had had a hunch that there was more in his background than he had let out before. And somehow, it was more soothing to focus on his story than her own.

“Karlheinz-sama is a great man who saved me. I would not dare to call him father… but I guess it is safe to say that I do see him as a father figure.” Ruki brushed Yuriko’s cheek before taking her chin and lifting it. “I know he cannot be the same for you. Neither can I. But, Yuriko, you are not alone, for your master will always be here for you. Never forget that.”

“Yes… you’re right. I’m sorry for saying it, Ruki…” Yuriko sighed. The last thing she wanted was to hurt Ruki’s feelings.

“Haa… you do not need to apologize.” Ruki locked his gaze with Yuriko’s. “All I am saying is that you should trust yourself in my care. I know it will not take the sorrow away…” Ruki clenched his free fist. “...but knowing that you are not alone, that you have a new family… It can give you a purpose and a place in this world.”

Yuriko nodded, closing her eyes for a moment. Ruki was right. No matter what her parents had done or where they had gone, Yuriko had a family now. She had her big brother and the Mukamis. She wasn’t alone.

And perhaps, the family was not about the blood but about the love. True happiness came with the choices of the heart, not only with something that had been given at birth. 

“Ruki… I’m sorry what happened to you. It sounds terrible. But thank you for telling me. While I find that story sad, it soothes my heart that you can truly understand me…” Yuriko inched closer. “Being with you makes me happy… I simply need more time to… I don’t know… Find me again?”

“And I will be by your side every second of it.” Ruki pressed his palm against the back of Yuriko’s head. “Together, we can find you again.”

Ruki’s words made Yuriko sigh. She wanted to believe it was possible. To find peace and happiness. To be the whole her. Though she wasn’t sure if she had ever been that. Perhaps, her travels were only beginning, for so long she had tried to be the girl everyone else wished her to be.

But who was the real Yuriko? 

The answer was still hidden. One day, Yuriko could tell everyone but right now, she was as puzzled as the rest of the world. Yet, she knew one thing: she had come home. 

But… Right now, Yuriko wished nothing more than to forget everything and drown herself in the moment. She inched closer, locking her gaze with Ruki’s once again. He was the one who always managed to carry her to the stars, surely, he could help her again.

The CG edit is made by @cutelih. Thank you so much. Do not repost.

Grabbing the collar of Ruki’s blazer, Yuriko pressed her lips on his and kissed him like there was no tomorrow waiting for them. 

“So eager for your master…” Ruki laced his fingers with Yuriko’s hair. “Hmm… I cannot say I do not like that~”

“I… I need you!” Yuriko pulled Ruki’s bottom lip with her teeth without biting it. “Please… take me now. Take me to the stars.” She ran her hands over Ruki’s shoulders, pushing the blazer. Chuckling, Ruki allowed her to remove the piece of clothing, but Yuriko didn’t stop there. Taking the hem of his shirt, she yanked it upwards.

Holding Yuriko by the small of her back, Ruki sat up. He caught his own shirt, pulling it off and tossing it on the floor. By that moment, Yuriko was already tucking his belt open and unzipping his pants while he ripped down her skirt together with her panties. In the second, she had dropped both his pants and boxers off the bed, Ruki tore her top over her head and snapped her bra open.

Already panting, Yuriko crawled into a better position on Ruki’s lap again, his length pressing against her belly. The hardness jerked as she wrapped her fingers around it, moving her hand up and down while Ruki growled. “I should prepare you…”

“No! I need to feel you right now… I… I… I’m wet enough!” Yuriko lifted her hips, still holding Ruki’s manhood. She scooted closer while guiding it toward her damp depths. As she lowered her bottom, Ruki stretched her inch by inch until he reached her core, filling her as perfectly as ever.

Ruki’s fingers dug into Yuriko’s waist, the stormy eyes looking like a tornado was about to hit. Never before had Ruki allowed Yuriko to act like this, and it hit her that she might have stepped over the line. 

“You are squeezing me so well…” Ruki’s voice was nothing but a low murmur. “Come here…” He glided his hands along Yuriko’s back, hauling her against his chest until not even a piece of paper could have fitted in between them. Holding her by her upper back and by her bottom, he jerked his hips up. The rocking movement pushed a moan out of Yuriko’s mouth. She enveloped Ruki’s neck with her arms, swaying her hips up and down while their skins slid on each other, creating a new kind of friction that made her hope that they could truly become one like this.

“Yuriko…” Ruki breathed her name over and over again.

Yuriko clung to Ruki as he shifted his hands on her waist and started to drift her faster. “Ruki… oh… oh… oh my gosh!”

Capturing Ruki’s lips, Yuriko hauled him into another kiss. This time she invaded his mouth, not caring if she would be punished for the deed, but only met his tongue, tangling into a tango with it. 

Deeper. Deeper. Still. Faster. Moaning with moist slaps, the room filled with the fragrance of titillation. Sounds and scents mingled with the swings that swayed Yuriko to the stars and beyond. At this moment, she was nothing but the throbbing yearning for Ruki as he sent shooting stars of lusty pleasure coursing through her pulsing veins.

As Yuriko reached the end of the universe, she whimpered and sniveled against Ruki, her tears mixing with their drizzly smooch. Ruki groaned into her mouth, arriving home right after her and shooting his load deep within. Panting and heaving they could not stop smacking each other until Yuriko was completely out of breath. 

Feeling Ruki still switching within her, Yuriko pecked his lips one more time before resting her head on his shoulder. She wished to stay like this, Ruki in her, forever. Never separated again.

This was home. This moment. This Vampire.

Ruki.

#yuriko's story #yuriko tsukino #ruki mukami #karlheinz sakamaki #yuuto tsukino #other people's art #cutelih

[kinghaargrove]

[ just dropping in with this thought Maybe more of a personal headcanon because I believe the reverse of this is “more popular”, but —

Neil Hargrove isn’t a drunk. He isn’t three sheets to the wind when he comes home banging on Billy’s door and demanding to know where Max is. There’s a steely cold and startlingly clear look in his eyes when he’s standing in Billy’s room with that boy’s back against the wall. Neil Hargrove isn’t an abusive drunk, he’s abusive sober, he makes the decision to lay violent hands on his boy and on his ex wife with perfect clarity and I think that makes it all the more terrifying for those living in that household.

That’s not to say he doesn’t drink at all. No, he almost definitely had a cup or two when he was out with Susan. He probably goes out and drinks with his friends every now and then, too. He definitely strikes me as the type to come home after work and kick up his feet and crack open a can of beer, but it’s just light and casual at home, not enough that he’d even get a buzz. Billy gets that beer from somewhere, after all. He probably started him in at like- 14? That wasn’t uncommon in the 80’s. Even in present day. A boy isn’t a man until he’s got a beer in his hands kind of mentality.

I think one of the many saddest things about Billy's situation is that - as we see daily with Billy-anti's - people will almost always take Neil's side, or take pity on Neil for having Billy for a son, because Billy acts out the way he does and nobody understands why. Because Neil isn't a drunk, because he's a hard working, conventionally handsome man, who presumably goes to church on Sunday's, because he's ex military (ask me how I know), people think very highly of him because he's got it all put together, he talks the talk, he walks the walk. He's very charming up front, but, 'oh, that Billy, it's a damn shame he is the way he is, Neil's such a good man, it must be such a struggle to raise a wild boy like him.' And nobody sees, nobody knows, and nobody fucking cares that he just put a fresh hole in the drywall with his fist next to Billy's head that night because Billy's struggling to keep up with the rigid expectations to raise his sister when he's barely (or timeline dependent, not yet even) 18 himself. Nobody knows he calls his son a f*g, or that half of the bruises on his body are from Neil and not just another high school scrap. Nobody knows how much physical and emotional abuse Billy takes, and that there's not a single day that goes by that that boy ever knows peace.

What makes things even more sad is Billy still loves his dad for some of those same reasons that everyone else does, admires him, even, because abuse isn't black and white, especially with abusers like Neil. Neil isn’t an absent father. He’s shown up for ball games when he was a kid. He probably shows up to his basketball games, too, provided his work schedule allows. (He never has a good thing to say to Billy before or after the game, but his presence is noted as a good thing, by the other parents). Neil gave Billy his car. He taught him everything he knows about cars. There are good days and there are bad, there are horrific days, but sometimes those good days give him hope, you know? That maybe his dad loves him, that maybe, sometimes, he's enough. He doesn't know that he deserves better, that his dad shouldn't fucking hit him, ever, that no parent is justified in hitting their child, because the rest of the world has him believing he doesn't deserve that basic kindness either. ]

#ooc; kel speaks #♔ hc

[twilightmalachite]

Altered - Heaven and Hell 11

Author: Akira

Characters: Eichi, Hiyori

Translator: Mika Enstars

"I worry that some day, that “another you” will rise up, kill, and devour you."

Season: Autumn

Location: Yumenosaki Academy Student Council Room

⚠️ This is an import from a unproofed Twitter Livetweet!

Hiyori: You’re talented at justifying yourself, Eichi-kun.

But, I understand your motives now.

It’s unfortunate, but you and I are similar. Our upbringings are similar. We’re scions of millionaire households with enough wealth to play and live out as many lives as we’d like.

Eichi: Isn’t the Tomoe Foundation in decline, though?

Hiyori: Oh be quiet. The important part is that we’re on the privileged side of having.

You, as annoyingly clever as you are, understand that—

You’re aware of that, and perhaps you even have a conscience over it. Every day you eat three delicious meals and lay in a luxurious bed every night.

There are children in the world who are dying of hunger and thirst that cannot get ahold of a single meal in a day.

We are privileged.

You understand that, and can’t bear it.

Typically, you can’t be cognizant of another person if they are far away.

If there’s a story in the news about a famine or a disaster, people don’t feel for them because it’s irrelevant to themselves.

They may be read with interest as if they are fictional stories, but there’s a disconnect to the reality in which they live.

But, you’ve reflected on that. You’re someone who is sensible.

Even if never brought to the forefront of your mind, you’ve probably always been thinking about it subconsciously.

It’s this sense of guilt that is what drives you now. Perhaps from the struggles and anguish you felt when you were young, innocent, and good.

Now that you’ve grown and acquired strength, it’s bursting forth.

That’s the source of these revolutionary ideas and hollow idealism you speak of.

Or, did I interpret it wrong?

Eichi: …I wonder. Even I don’t know.

You and I are different. My soul is rotten. Whereas because you can love and be loved, your soul still shines healthy.

Eichi: Because of that, the interpretation you gave of myself is probably wrong.

I’m not that good of a person. What I said earlier was just a pretext, in reality I don’t really care how unhappy the incompetent and poor are.

It’s none of my business.

I hope you’re not interpreting me in good faith now, Hiyori-kun. That’s the cruelest thing you could do.

I trample on these sin-less geniuses out of my own selfish desires, inferiority, and hatred.

Do I need more of a reason? Rather, even if I had good motives, whatever they might be, they would not justify what I have done and will do.

Ever.

So do me a favor, Hiyori-kun, and please don’t show me any sympathy.

You and I are different. Unlike me, you aren’t a filthied.

Ever since we were kids, Hiyori-kun… I’ve envied you the love you had for your friends and family—and for having been loved back.

Hiyori: And so because of that, you hope for me to remain the ideal image you’ve always longed to be?

Aren’t you arrogant? Actually, if that’s the case, I wish you hadn’t involved me in all this in the first place.

You are contradicting yourself. Your words and actions don’t make sense. Something, someplace has divided and split away.

And I worry that some day, that “another you” will rise up, kill, and devour you.

You’re the first friend I ever had, y’know.

Eichi: Are we friends? What makes a friend, actually. …Tsumugi once brought up something similar.

Hiyori: You really don’t know anything, Eichi-kun. Perhaps even more than Nagisa-kun.

Hiyori: What makes a friend, huh? A friend is someone who you can laugh with every day, as you talk about useless things with, go karaoke and shopping with…

You already have so many great things, yet you always want something fluffy you’ll never be able to have.

I’ve said this a million times already, but you really are an idiot, Eichi-kun.

← prev | story directory | next →

#altered #event #translation #hiyori tomoe #eichi tenshouin

[yourlocalcryptidfriend]

All the Things I Couldn’t Say

CW: Vent. Troubled household. Academic trauma. Conditional love.

I saw a prompt titled, “Things I couldn’t say to my parents.” A small prompt, something to vent with. I decided to use it here, today.

It won’t be clean and proper as my writing usually is, but it will be emotionally-driven and raw.

Let’s begin shall we?:

Was I that hard a child to raise? Am I that hard a person to take care of? How hard is it to see that I’m struggling and begging for help, yet I’m scared to ask for it because I’ve seen your reactions.

It isn’t that hard to treat a child like a human being!

That’s all I want! I want to be a human being and not some DOLL for you to parade around with! Because I know damn well the moment that I cracked you LEFT ME.

All I wanted was to be loved and cherished! But your love is conditional! Of course it is! Because to you, it is impossible to love and care about someone unless they’ve deemed themself worthy of being loved!

Do you understand how terribly you have fucked me over.

I don’t think you do.

I don’t think you understand the countless nights I have spent curled up by my desk bawling my eyes out because I can hear your voice telling me I’m not good enough! It’s never my voice! It’s always been yours! Your voice has been haunting me since elementary school!

Every.

Single.

Mistake.

It doesn’t matter how big or little it is! Every mistake you somehow find a way to drag me to the depths of Hell and create a new ring for me to lay in, for me to crawl out of.

The fact that every time we have one-on-one time with each other my conscious actively leaves my body in an attempt to try and cope and stabilize says everything to me.

You don’t love me.

You never have.

You don’t love your son who is struggling.

You love your trophy daughter that had dreams of a 4.0GPA and Harvard or Yale.

You love your daughter that never back-talked.

You loved the daughter you could control.

That is what you love. You love to control.

That’s all you’ll ever be good at.

You may “love” me. But I hate you.

I fucking hate you.

You’re the reason “love” has a bitter taste in my mouth and I’m finally starting to feel it sweeten again.

I’ll never be able to say I love you again, because just like you, it isn’t you I love.

Maybe we’re the same that way.

You “love” me because I’m something to show off.

I “love” you because I can leech off you. I can work on myself and you will never know because I have mastered living a double-life that you have never seen.

I “love” you so that I can still survive in this world.

Just for a bit longer I’ll love you.

Then one day, one day I can tell you everything you’ve done.

Until then, it all stays in my head.

At least there I’m heard.

#vent #vent post #cw vent #academic trauma #transgender #trauma

[flotsam-gazette]

The Plight of the Eldest Daughter

NOVEMBER 14, 2023

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here.

Being an eldest daughter means frequently feeling

like you’re not doing enough,

like you’re struggling to maintain a veneer of control,

like the entire household relies on your diligence.

At least, that’s what a contingent of oldest sisters has been saying online.

Across social-media platforms, they’ve described

the stress of feeling accountable for their family’s happiness,

 the pressure to succeed, and

the impression that they aren’t being cared for in the way they care for others.

Some are still teens; others have grown up and left home but still feel over-involved and overextended. As one viral tweet put it, “are u happy or are u the oldest sibling and also a girl”? People have even coined a term for this: “eldest-daughter syndrome.”

That “syndrome” does speak to a real social phenomenon, Yang Hu, a professor of global sociology at Lancaster University, in England, told me. In many cultures, oldest siblings as well as daughters of all ages tend to face high expectations from family members—so people playing both parts are especially likely to take on a large share of household responsibilities, and might deal with more stress as a result.

But that caregiving tendency isn’t an inevitable quality of eldest daughters; rather, researchers told me, it tends to be imposed by family members who are part of a society that presumes eldest daughters should act a certain way. And the online outpour of grievances reveals how frustratingly inflexible assumptions about family roles can be... more at the link (with trial)

AND

Eldest daughters, project leaders extraordinaire, have kickstarted an important conversation about family roles, responsibilities, and assumptions. I reported on why they’re onto something:

Of course, there will always be exceptions (the youngest daughter caring for the family, the son responsible for keeping the house in order). But experts say “eldest daughter syndrome” describes a real social phenomenon. It’s worth noticing, unpacking & having the words to talk about.

Family roles shape identity, but they’re also based on assumptions related to gender and birth order. There can be a mismatch between what fits your personality and the responsibilities that are yours—and you can burn out from all that invisible labor.

[verdantmoontruther]

i think the entire point of billy’s character was to show the results of what it’s like to go without affectionate love. like, every other character - every single other character, apart from, like, vecna, which is sort of telling - has someone that loves them for more than what they can give them. the kids have each other, and they have at least one parent, and they have siblings, and they have steve, and steve has robin and nancy and jonathan. they have people whose love for them isn’t conditional on something, on time or good behaviour or something transactional.

apart from his memories as a really young child, billy doesn’t have anything like that. he is exposed to only two kind of love: abusive love, the kind that comes with curses and slaps and fear but is “for his own good” and done “because i love you”; and sexual love, lust. to me this means that he has trouble viewing himself as a real human person: outside of what he can give (or not give) to other people, he essentially ceases to exist. no-one is there to care or worry for him just because he is there to be cared and worried about. it’s why he’s so sensitive; not empathetic, maybe, not even sympathetic, but sensitive, touchy. anything happens that feels to raw and personal and he’s in tears because he’s literally got no strength built up for that kind of thing.

that’s what made el’s little “she was really pretty” moment so pivotal; when you are starved of that essential form of love, affection, being shown even the smallest fraction of it feels like salvation, like the quenching of thirst. euphoric. someone that didn’t want anything from him seeing things from his perspective just once was enough for him to lay down his life for her. it was a moment when love was about him, rather than anybody else.

it’s very important that, when we talk about abuse, we also talk about love, because they are two sides of the same warped coin. the way that jonathan and will, despite growing up in an abusive household, are still kind and gentle, because they knew they always had someone in their corner, someone that would stand up for them and never give up, someone that kicked their piece of shit dad out of the house and could recognise her son just by his heartbeat; the way that el still gets so so angry sometimes and lashes out and attacks when she feels cornered, doesn’t know right from wrong sometimes because she was hardly taught the difference, but then suddenly there was someone there to pick her up when she was at her worst, house her and clothe her and teach her and protect her, and people who thought about her when she wasn’t there and missed her and it made her better, more perceptive, more clear headed; and the way that henry and billy never really got any of that and its absence tortured them into self destruction.

it’s like whatever but, also. food for thought

#stranger things #billy hargrove #Max Mayfield #jane hopper #neil hargrove #jonathan byers #will byers #joyce byers #jim hopper #mike wheeler #henry creel #vecna #abuse isnt just the presence of violence #its also the absence of affection #i wish more people that recognise how entrenched the idea of love and friendship is in st would apply that thinking the other way as well #how not having those things is debilitating #and remember please for the love of god that they are all children #and sometimes children are irrational and sensitive #sometimes people in general are irrational and sensitive #stop demanding perfection from fictional characters when you know youd act like a pussy in their circumstances #sorry to my main audience that this isn't about naruto #abused children sing to each other even in complete silence

[mistydreamfractals333]

Deltarune Headcanons | MC favorite flowers

So, I’ve been working on this series of Deltarune fics, in which flowers are extremely important. Ralsei and another character have a conversation over tea at one point about flowers and the superstitions surrounding some of them. The other person asks him what his favorites are.

That got me thinking about what everyone’s might be. So, I did some research and found what I think would be Kris, Susie, Ralsei, Lancer, Noelle and Berdly’s favorites. I also included my OC Síofra for fun.

Tell me what you think. I’d love to hear other interpretations :)

Kris: Poinsettias

I know, I know. A lot of people are going to say that Kris probably likes buttercups because of how important those flowers are to Undertale and by extension Deltarune lore, but just hear me out here.

Poinsettias typically come in red, with five, sharp petals that make them resemble little stars. They’re commonly used as a representation of Christmas. Their direct meaning is literally, “Be of good cheer.” In their childhood, Kris spent a lot of time over at the Holiday household. While we aren’t given an explicit reason beyond them going over to play the piano and occasionally prank Noelle, we can easily infer that they could be going over to get out of their house. One day, Noelle says that Kris just stopped coming over. While this is likely in relation to the Dess incident, it could very well also be when Asgore and Toriel finally split up.

Apart from their red color possibly being something Kris would like, given they are a symbol of Christmas, it’s not hard to imagine the Holidays having them decorating the house. Kris may have learned to associate poinsettias with safety, peace and an opportunity to play the piano.

Susie: Yellow dandelions

It’s a bit difficult to imagine Susie of all people liking flowers at all, but given the dandelions edibility, I would beg to differ.

Dandelions, as some might know, are edible flowers. They can be turned into salads, as all parts (the flower, the stem, the bulb and the root) are edible and actually decently healthy. Given the likelihood of Susie either having an unsafe home, or no home at all, it’d make sense for her to be in the outdoors often, and based off of the green area and forests around Hometown, it’s not hard to imagine a surplus of dandelions.

Yes, I am suggesting that Susie eats dandelions. It’s not much of a stretch if you ask me. She’s eaten weirder things literally on screen. Not to mention, they’re yellow, one of the core colors in her Dark World design.

But that’s not all. Dandelions have a beautiful and very fitting meaning when we think about rough and tumble Susie. They represent life after a harsh winter, rebirth and an incredible, inspiring strength. If that isn’t Susie, I’m not sure what is.

Ralsei: White roses

Maybe there aren’t flowers in the Dark World, though I do include them in the series. Either way, it’s not hard to picture Ralsei reading up on flowers from one of the thousands of books he no doubt has inside his castle.

White roses are very delicate and easy to mistakenly break. I can see Ralsei treating any flower with care, and he may have just the perfect gentle touch to keep a single white rose alive for a very long time. Perhaps he’ll press it into the pages of a journal when it begins to wilt. That way, it’ll last much longer.

White roses also are a symbol of innocence and love between friends. While he has seen a lot, Ralsei certainly shows a sort of naivety in Chapter One, especially in the battle with the Spade King. He is also clearly very affectionate toward both Kris and Susie, and his care and love for them both is spelled out rather obviously.

However, these aren’t entirely pure blooms. They also symbolize silence and secrecy. I love Ralsei dearly, but his behavior through Chapter Two has been rather suspect. Not only did he stay silent about The Roaring until the very last second, but he’s clearly keeping things from us the player, shown by his, “That’s why, Kris,” when we return from watching the Susie cutscenes. I adore him, but he certainly has secrets.

Lancer: Squash blossoms

You may know the reasoning of this one already, especially if we have the same taste—no pun intended—in books.

Squash blossoms are here less for their symbology and more for, like dandelions, the fact they’re edible. While it isn’t dived into as much as it could be, Lancer is clearly not treated well by Spade King. Unlike Susie, he clearly can afford food, as he’s the son of a literal king. Like her, however, he expresses that he didn’t get anything to eat for breakfast apart from the treat he and Susie share at the bake sale, and later the piece of Dark Candy they pick together.

Squash blossoms don’t require any preparation and can be eaten straight from the garden. They’re also apparently very good when fried. Surely I can’t be the only person picturing Lancer enjoying fried food, right?

An interesting end note though. While I chose these not for symbolism, they apparently were a symbol of status in some indigenous tribes, which I find endlessly interesting.

Noelle: Hellebore

This one relates partly back to poinsettias, but more so because hellebore is also called by another very particular name, a Christmas rose.

Not only do these lovely flowers bloom in wintertime, but they sum up Noelle rather well if you ask me. A symbol of peace and tranquility, but also anxiety and fear.

The latter two are easier to explain. While it’s not specified in game, it’s likely Noelle suffers from some form of an anxiety disorder. She’s constantly nervous, stammering over her words, worrying she said or did the wrong thing, apologizing and letting others talk over her. Hellebore clearly displays this, but that isn’t why I chose it for her.

Hellebore, as stated above, symbolizes peace and tranquility. For Noelle, Dess was a sanctuary. A place of peace, serenity and tranquility, where she didn’t have to be afraid that she was going to do everything wrong. Picturing Dess and a young Noelle together in the snow. Dess tucks a hellebore flower into Noelle’s hair and then one into her own so they can match. Noelle smiles, touching the petals, then finds the courage in her to get to her feet and go to join the nearby Kris, who’s trying to build a snowman.

Berdly: Elderflowers

I think I have a thing about picturing characters eating flowers. I didn’t mean to, I swear-

Elderflowers are what come before the far more well known elderberries, which are commonly eaten by bluebirds, which Berdly openly describes himself (and Kris) as. While I don’t imagine Berdly eating the flowers, I can picture him enjoying the berries. He’d probably memorize the scientifics behind them just to rub your nose in it.

All jokes aside, these flowers also have a beautiful meaning when in relation to him as a dynamic character. Rebirth and renewal. Redemption, if you will. Berdly really won the fans over in Chapter Two with his character arc. These flowers can show that easily, and they’ll make a nice snack later on too.

Síofra: Primroses

I promise that this has more than just the fact the fae like them-

Primroses bloom at night, and it’s truly a magical experience to see (or in my case feel) one open up under the stars. Síofra, while not explained in their backstory post from before, treat the night sky, primarily the stars, as their religion. I can say with confidence that they may believe that primroses are blessed by the night in some way.

These flowers also can be placed on one’s doorstep to gain the approval of the fae. Síofra would certainly appreciate that, and they might end up stealing it too, but that’s beside the point.

These flowers also can relate back to The Song of the Lightwalker, which is spelled out in their backstory post. They literally say, “I can’t live without you.” Meanwhile, the Lightwalker’s song says how, “She shall die for whom she loves most,” which is easily pulled in with the flower’s symbology.

#Deltarune #Delta Rune #Headcanon #Headcanons #Flowers #Favorite flowers #Flower symbolism #Flower symbology #Kris #Kris Dreemurr #Susie #Ralsei #Lancer #Noelle #Noelle Holiday #Berdly #OC #Deltarune OC #Deltarune headcanon #Deltarune headcanons

[shooting-stars-only]

September’s @radblrthemeweeks prompt is marriage and relationships, which is great since I’ve been musing on something related lately.

When my best friend and I were kids, we made a pact: if both of us were single by age 30, we would get “fake married.” After all, if we reached that ancient age without finding a good man to settle down with, there probably weren’t **any good men left.

To us, both ten years old in a small conservative town, marriage wasn’t about sex or romance (which at that time we only knew about in a heterosexual context), but partnership. A married couple would live together. They would buy a house together and have joint finances. Each person would contribute equally, which for us meant we would both work, do chores, and take care of the kids — who were inevitable, in our sheltered worldview.

And we would also do taxes together. We were fuzzy on that part, but taxes seemed very adult, and something married couples had to do all the time.

Most of all, we thought, a married couple prioritized each other. They’d have each other’s backs, through sickness and in health. What were wedding rings but grown-up versions of our handwoven friendship bracelets, anyway?

Then we “grew up.” We put away the thought of platonic partnership when we hit our teens. Romance became our priority. Society had been hammering that into our heads since earliest childhood, and once puberty introduced us to feelings of romantic love and sexual desire, we put away our so-called childish dreams and focused on more adult things.

But the pact remained. We still joked about it, especially when comforting each other post-breakup. In fact, if tragedy hadn’t struck (in the form of her deep connection to cats and my deep allergy to them), we would probably be living together now. Sometimes I mourn what could have been; we would have been happy and fulfilled with each other.

I think about our pact a lot these days. Two women, platonic but very much loving, centering each other as life partners regardless of any romantic relationship that may appear in our lives — I think my childhood BFF and I were inadvertently inventing female separatism.

We weren’t the only ones, either. The more I look around, the more I see women who don’t consider themselves radical feminists, who might not think about feminism much at all, choosing to exclusively build relationships with women. I find them online, in places like women-only forums and subreddits. I find them in my social circles, where single moms have chosen to throw in together and support each other; there’s a household of three women and five kids who live in both sides of a duplex, a community unto themselves. I find them among my parents’ friend group, made up of retirees who credit their happiness to lifelong singleness, or to their divorces.

“Stick with your sisters,” one advised me once. “A man will only drag you down.”

Women are starting to question the established wisdom of the nuclear family. What value does a man bring into our lives? they ask each other, as they compare experiences. We can support ourselves financially. We have each other for companionship. We have the confidence and ability to find sexual flings if we want, and access to any sex toy we can think of if we don’t. Men never do their fair share in relationships; we are worn-down and sick of it. What if we turn to each other?

And, miraculously, some do.

Am I saying that straight women are becoming separatists en masse? No, definitely not. The patriarchy demands the prioritization of heterosexual relationships from women, and we are a long way from dismantling that. It’s baked into society and driven into us from birth: prioritize men, turn your back on your sisters and female lovers. Arguably, the act of centering women alone isn’t even separatism, depending on who you’re asking.

But does it give me hope, to see women break that conditioning? Does it give me hope to know that women are meeting each other’s eyes and saying, “I’m going to choose you, my friend, my sister”? Oh, yes.

Like wildflowers growing on a featureless lawn, we are blooming. And I have hope that in the future, we will run to riot and fill that lawn with color and vivacity. I think we can do it. We are women, and our bonds are powerful.

#radblrthemeweek3 #radfem safe #essay.txt

[starry-night-rose]

Rosé Darcy

Name: Rosé Darcy

Alias: Rosie, Human, Miss Darcy

Species: Human

Gender: Female

Birthday: October 7th

Zodiac: Libra

Status: Alive

Appearance:

(drawn by me!)

Personality!

Rosé is a very spunky, feisty individual who would would much rather spend the day at a fine arts gallery than interact with others! Rosé thinks it’s highly important for a person to always say what they truly feel on the inside regardless of what others think! Though stubborn, Rosé truly is a sweet girl at heart and cares deeply for her friends no matter what! Willing to fight the heavens and God themself if their friend happens to shed a single tear.

Though Rosé is easily frustrated, Rosé means well despite her sometimes spirited remarks and attitude at times. Rosé does have her moments of naivety due to jumping into a situation impulsively and most importantly, love. At these times, you see Rosé get rather flustered and more brash in her speech and movements. Rosé has a bad habit of being quick to be the one apologizing in situations that she isn’t even required to apologize for. She had this habit since childhood and has tried hard to break it since.

Due to her background, Rosé is always wary of the divine and infernal beings. She knows when to watch her words around them to not get involved with them. Rosé tends to get slightly more sharp with her words around them and tries to end the conversation as soon as it starts. Over time, Rosé starts to become less and less wary of supernatural beings but still knows when to put her guard up.

At the end of the day, Rosé is a self confident lady who always has a sardonic comment about something but in reality, just cares too much for others.

LIKES

Sorbet, Painting, Sketching, Alone time, Earrings, Raspberries, Art Galleries, Fashion, Indie Music, Horror Movies, Animation, Mythology, Reading, Dyeing her hair

DISLIKES

Extreme Heat/Cold, Self righteous people, cashews, bullies, Solomon’s cooking, loosing, failure, county music

BACKGROUND

Rosé comes from a very religious household who engraved in her head from an early age to never fall into the hands of demons. Rosé was much more of a crybaby as a kid and would regularly cry at just the smallest thing. Along with her odd personality, Rosé was bullied as a child at school, being called names, insulted for her odd shaped heart shaped birthmark, and being the butt of every joke by them. Rosé drowned herself in her artwork and work, only having one or two friends of herself. She thought that if she just ignored them with her art, they would go away forever

Many years after this, Rosé had grown up and resembled little to nothing of what her child counterpart was. Rosé started to focus more on her social skills during high school and managed to make even more friends than before! Everything was going well for Rosé, she had graduated top of her class, won art competitions, and was now applying to colleges. Nothing could go wrong! Until she was randomly swept up and to the Devildom. Distraught and angry at the thought of being forced to go to high school once more and living with seven boys (who just so happen to all be demons) Rosé was unhappy at her predicament but decided to go through with it anyways.

TRIVIA

Rosé’s favorite colors are pink, red, and purple

Though grew up religious, Rosé is now extremely lax in her beliefs

Rosé has a big sister-little sister relationship with Seraphina Aikyo (by @writing-heiress )

Rosé likes to spend her time alone painting in her new room in the Devildom

Rosé was extremely confused in the Devildom at first with the idea of magic as Rosé grew up thinking it was all fake

Rosé adores sorbet so much that you can regularly see her after class getting some!

Rosé and Asmo are shopping buddies together!

Rosé is typically seen hanging around with Mammon, Seraphina, Ophelia (belongs to @/adrianasunderworld)

Rosé has a habit of sketching the brothers whenever they’re not looking

Rosé’s sexuality is bisexual!

Rosé has shockingly never been in a relationship ever before, this doesn’t mean she hasn’t had a few crushes

Rosé’s best subjects at RAD are seductive speechcraft and art while her worst is mathematics

Lilith (also by @writing-heiress ) sees Rosé as a younger sibling and as her unofficial protégé

#rosé darcy #rosé🥀 #obey me #obey me oc #obey me mc #obey me rosé #obey me oc profile #obey me shall we date