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hermit-pistol · 4 years

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Rohan Kishibe Fluff Alphabet:

The second full alphabet is finally finished, woohoo! This one goes out to all of my Rohan lovers- Make sure to like, reblog, and click under the cut! It means a lot!

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Rohan will want to show you the things that he’s passionate about, and that mainly includes his artwork and enjoying art together! When you want to get out of the house, you guys enjoy walks in the park. Fresh air does you well.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He really loves your attention to detail. If he parts his hair differently? You're going to notice. If he draws a manga panel with an extra that looks eerily similar to your likeness? Of course, you're going to notice.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

In theory, he figures that he'd be inconvenienced, but once it actually happens his tune changes real quick. He soon realizes that when in a relationship, selfishness isn't an option. His arms will be open, all he's waiting for you to do is to run into them.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Rohan's forte isn't long term thinking. Unlike the issues of his manga, life can't be planned out and anticipated. He does see himself with you in the foreseeable future, though. For the present, he treasures each day he spends with you.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

You would think that Rohan would be dominant in the relationship, given his fiery, sassy personality. Instead, he's quite passive when it comes to decision making. He's been with you long enough that he can let down his guard and be his authentic self around you.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Verbal altercations are prominent in this relationship. It can either be petty or a big blowout, and Rohan usually makes it a show by slamming doors and hiding in his office. He's extremely stubborn, but every fight you have eventually gets solved.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

He really appreciates the fact that you put up with him, honestly. He feels like he is such a burden and protects himself by being moody and lashing out at others. You know that he appreciates when you spend time with him and help him grow as a person.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Rohan doesn't really have a reason to hide anything, besides major spoilers for his upcoming chapters (He wants it to he a surprise when you read). BUT, that being said, he has such a fat mouth. Don't tell him anything you don't want all of Morioh to know about.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Echoing themes in B and C, he is inspired to be more giving around you (and less selfish). Also, if we're talking literal inspiration there's a chance that there might be a new character showing up in Pink Dark Boy that looks a lot like you...

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Rohan definitely faces issues with jealousy, to the point where he would become paranoid and make false accusations. It's one of his fatal flaws, and in order to make the relationship work, he needs to learn to trust.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Rohan is definitely an awkward kisser at first. Although he talks a big game, he is still quite unsure of himself and might need some guidance at first. You more than likely will have to initiate the act most times, but once he’s gotten used to the feeling he’ll want to take the lead.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He would sit with himself for quite a while to figure out what he wants out of the relationship. He most likely has never used the "L" word with anyone before, and that makes him extremely nervous. You would be eating dinner together when he tells you how he truly feels, and oh how overjoyed you are.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Rohan would marry you having several years of dating. He thought that he would end up alone since he was holed up in his house all day, but finding and having you was a godsend. You would move into his home, and Rohan wouldn’t feel so alone anymore.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Rohan doesn't get too colorful with nicknames, it's a pet peeve of his when he overhears people going overboard with their terms of affection. Really, who shows their love by calling your s/o love muffin?! He just can't understand. Your name works fine.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

At first, it's a sense of giddiness that he just can't pinpoint. Once he learns the reason for his feelings, he isn't really sure how to properly deal with them. Josuke gets on his nerves through his teasing though, since the way he's feeling is so transparent.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

As mentioned before, Rohan is very observant of how others are when in relationships. In his own, he wants to make sure that he doesn't fall into the same "traps". Only hand-holding in public, nothing more. (He'll totally brag in front of the Duwang gang though)

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

His memory. As an author, he has to remember so many things. Why would being in a relationship be any different? Every special moment he has with you will be cataloged, and when it comes around next year he'll never forget the (deadline) date.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He finds little ways to show his love to you. One way that he loves to spend time with you is by showing you how to draw. He’ll place his hand over yours as the pen dances across the paper. Although, you’ll never be as great as the mighty Rohan Kishibe. Creative for sure!

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Rohan may be rather grumpy and show the epitome of tough love, but whatever you choose to pursue he'll be backing you all the way. He teaches you to not be afraid of rejection and tries to make his experience as a mangaka applicable. You have his support for sure.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

He doesn't really feel the need to change the way things are. It's the casual outings that he values most, really. He'd rather get groceries with you or a book from the library than sky diving or something adventurous any day.

U nderstanding - How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

One of Rohan's downfalls and something that he needs to work on is realizing when his partner is feeling down and out. While it's good to be in touch with your own feelings, now that he's in a relationship, there's another person's feelings to take into account. It's something that he'll need to work on and improve. (Hang in there, Rohan!)

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Before he met you, he was completely content with living and being alone. He's just grown used to being by himself. When he met you; however, things changed a lot. If you left him, there would be a gaping void that he definitely never noticed there before. You're his world, basically.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Rohan adores when you make him a homecooked meal. Before you met him, he was basically living off of take-out and fast food (how did he not gain weight?). Anyway, there's not a single recipe you've made that he doesn't like. For a present, you were planning on making him a book of your best recipes and trying them out together.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Rohan may complain all the way, but he secretly loves to be cuddled. He actually prefers to be the little spoon and feeling your arms around him. Prepare to not get up for hours; he feels so secure in your embrace.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Since he works from home, you're most likely the one who's away most of the time. He says that he'll be fine, but that's not true at all. He relies on the power of technology while he waits for you to get home, but of course, he would rather be talking to you in person. He has a lot of photographs that he looks at too.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Besides his fashion sense (epic burn), Rohan isn't really a flashy individual. He wouldn't do anything too extravagant in the relationship, because he knows that you would think he was trying too hard. If anything, he keeps his public and private life separate, since he values his privacy.

#anotha day....anotha alphabet #apologies on the wait #enjoy sassy rohan #jojos bizarre adventure #jojos bizzare adventure x reader #jojo #jjba #jojo heacanons #jjba headcanons #Rohan Kishibe #still can't believe all of you voted for rohan #STILL #rohan kishibe x reader #fluff alphabet #600 Follower Special

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arvenconned · 4 years

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How do you think Koichi/Okuyasu/Josuke/Rohan would react to a somewhat shy fem reader who watches them from afar? And how would reader react to them trying to talk to her?

Shyness.... Is my forte. As a Tsundere, it's my job to write Tsundere readers!

•

Rohan

-would notice you almost immediately, and while he's fine to indulge you for a few weeks, eventually he gets too curious to simply let you be.

-so the next day when he goes out to the store, he lets you think he is unaware of you, standing behind a building as you peek at him, you're blushing and obviously shy, so he waits for someone to pass by where you are so you'll hide, only to come back out and not being able to find him

-he's right behind you, calling out his Stand, and you fall into his arms as he opens up your face to read your feelings; nothing too special, just a normal highschool senior with a crush on him, though... he can tell that at one point you were crushing on Josuke, and that you'd tried to asl him out, but never got an answer, so you moved on

-to him, apparently, you liked his green hair and his odd fashion sense, and the elegant way he carried himself despite the rude comments that would come from his mouth, you'd only started watching him because he was interesting, but developed feeling for him over time... Your story was cute, that's the only reason he finally confronted you, or that's what he's tell himself later

-recalling his Stand, he watched as you blinked in confusion, before realizing you were in his arms, immediately you started blushing and trying to come up with excuses, but he just smiled deviously, simply asking, "Would you like to be a model for me? I think you've got potential, plus I'll even pay you and everything."

-you stuttered the whole time while he held your hand and walked you back to his house, excuses ranging from 'isnt it too hot outside?' to 'aliens might abduct me before we get to your house so I might as well not go!', you were amusing to him, that's for sure, and he didn't care how you reacted, he was just glad he didn't need to use his Stand on you.

Josuke

-he's a bit clueless, so it takes him much longer to realize he has a shy admirer. Girls watching him? Normal, he's used to it. It's always been this way for him, but now that he's hanging with Okuyasu... Well, his friend is a bit more observant of girls than he is.

-"Oi, Josuke, do you like, have a stalker or something?" He sips on his drink idly, answering with a confused, "No?" His friend then points into Tonio's store, simply stating, "There's a girl watching you from in there." Sighing, Josuke stood up, ready to go and prove Okuyasu wrong.

-He walks into the store expecting maybe a misplaced mannequin or even a child who just didn't know when to stop looking, but instead he saw you, his classmate, eating a dish made fresh by Tonio. First you complained of pain, before sighing in relief as you placed a hand over your stomach, "Cramps are gone! Thank you Tonio!" He turned around, Okuyasu was wrong, nothing strange here—

-only to hear you call over Tonio, voice quiet, but still able to be made out when he was prying like he was, "Do you have anything for —" "Darling I can't fix a broken heart, despite how much I may want to, food can only do so much..." Josuke heard you exhale, before giggling, "I guess you're right, I just don't know why I thought... Josuke-kun would ever like me!" Hearing Tonio click his tongue, and then your voice become mumbled, he turned back around to see you hugging Tonio and crying into his apron.

-he should say something, he knows he should, but he leaves the restaurant and waits until school on Monday to confront you.

-he corners you in between your locker and a conveniently placed Okuyasu, and watches as your face flushes bright red, before you slide down to the floor in a blushing mess. This is unbelievable, why is Josuke trying to kabe-don you? Josuke just squats down so he can face you, putting his arm on your shoulder, it takes you a moment, but you notice he's blushing as well, "Do you wanna... go to Tonio's later, with me? And with Okuyasu as well! We can all hangout, and you don't have to watch us from afar anymore!"

-you end up nearly blowing up from the redness on your face, and agree, only for you and Josuke to both meet up at Tonio's, no Okuyasu in sight. He receives a message five minutes later that Oku can't come, and with how fancily you both dressed, the whole ordeal looks more like a date than anything, but you both have a good time, and Josuke kisses your cheek at the end, promising another 'date', so, no more 'stalking' for you.

Okuyasu

-as mentioned before, he's a lot more wary of girls, so he notices you pretty much the day after you start tailing him from afar. He doesn't go much places after all, so seeing the same girl at every single place he goes is weird, to say the least.

-he also is bad with social graces, so he confronts you about it almost immediately. He walks straight up to where you are hiding, and— gently explains that he isn't a celebrity, you're probably look for Rohan the mangaka or Josuke the suave Playboy right? He's nobody, you must be mistaken...

-even though you're shy, you grab onto his hands and exclaim that it's him you're looking at, you know exactly who is, and you decided you wanted to know more about him after seeing how sweet he is with the class pet, normally the small bird (named Koko) is very scared of everyone, so that's why you took care of her mostly, but when you were late to class and saw him holding her, petting her and hearing her chirp happily, and his caring smile while he did so, you knew you liked him!

-its all so embarassing to admit that you nearly collapse on the spot, but he holds every so gently onto your torso, keeping you from falling as he laughs, you join in as well, after all, this whole situation is pretty silly, but you're happy he's not mad at you.

-You and him end up going to a cafe to chat, and though you feel like you should be nervous, Okuyasu is so kind and fun, he makes all that stress just vanish. You find yourself enjoying every moment you spend with him, and you hang out more and more

-no one is surprised when you both announce that you're dating a couple months later.

Koichi

-quite frankly, he's thinks you're Yukako stalking him. Even though she had to move out of town the year before after kidnapping him and his mom pressing charges and all that, he's still lived every day with that bit of fear of her returning and trying to take him again. So, he calls Josuke and Okuyasu to come and protect him.

-he sits down on the curb and keeps and eye on you using Echoes, which you don't seem to notice at all, but he isn't close enough to risk being caught by you, if you are Yukako, he doesn't wanna risk it. Hes on edge the whole time, till Josuke and Okuyasu arrive, and he discreetly points out your hiding spot to both of the boys

-only for them to both yell at you to 'come the fuck out right now' or else they'd call the cops. Hearing their time of voice, you're scared beyond belief, but you step out from behind the tree and try to appear confident- only to break down crying a second later

-they all recongnize their mistake immediately, and Okuyasu and Josuke both crouch down to comfort you as Koichi calms his heart down before joining in on the comfort circle. They all apologise, explaining that they were just afraid for their friends safety, while you wipe away your tears and avoid looking at them all.

-Okuyasu pipes up, asking the most obviously question, "Is Josuke bothering you? You're blushing awfully hard, it's okay, I'm sure he'll understand if you make him leave." Only for both boys to then start playfully fighting, leaving Koichi to continue trying to comfort you. His hand is soft on your back, and you flush an ever darker shade of red.

-you should say something, you've been crushing on him for months now, watching his from afar when he hung out with his friends, now was the first time you ever had the courage to see how he was when he was by himself, and then his friends came to protect him- which was good, but your heart is beating so fast you're worried you might have a stroke

-"I'm... so sorry, Koichi-kun. I didn't realize you had such a bad experience with a different girl, I'm sure you're not even thinking about relationships now, maybe not ever..." He didn't get a chance to respond, as you quickly ran away, and he got the feeling you didn't need him running after you right now.

-You saw each other at school the next day, you running an errand for your teacher, and him cleaning an empty classroom after hours. Standing in the doorway, you bowed apologetically, explaining you must have gotten the room wrong, going to slide the door closed, but a hand grasped your wrist at the last moment.

-Looking back, his hand didn't wrap around your wrist till a few seconds after your gaze landed on him, but you didn't question it, not when he looked at you so intently.

-"Help me clean?" It was all he could think of in the moment, but it was all you really needed to hear. Nodding, you grabbed a spare broom and began to help him clean up his classroom wordlessly. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

-At graduation, you both laughed at how awkward the whole situation was, but holding hands as you were while you all posed for the group graduation photo, neither of you could ask for anything better.

Is this what you want? Huh? Shojo manga stuff? Because I love that shit, I'm crying, I love it.

#Josuke x reader #okuyasu x reader #Rohan x reader #rohan kishibe x reader #koichi x reader #jojos bizarre adventure #jjba x reader #sfw #fluff #nothing but fluff baby

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cesarinthefreezer · 4 years

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Through the Eyes of an Artist

Part 2

The next morning you wake up and get ready to go to the Morioh aquarium. You put on a comfortable outfit matched with a pair of pen tip earrings. Josuke mailed them to you for your birthday, he said he found them in a little shop in Morioh and thought you might like them since your an artist. After grabbing your bag with your sketch book and pencils you head to the aquarium.

You hadn’t been to the aquarium since you were in high school but now you figured it would be a great place to practice some drawing. As you wonder through the aquarium you make your way to you favorite exhibit. The sharks... you pull out your sketch book and start to sketch their forms out on the page as well as add some inner and outer anatomy with labels. As you’re sketching you can’t help but feel your being watched... a little too closely. When you look up you are met with a set of familiar green eyes.

It’s Rohan Kishibe. His lips part to speak

“I’m sorry to be staring at you but I was curious as to what you were drawing there Miss....uh?”

“Y/n” you say with a nervous smile. “I was just drawing the sharks and adding their anatomy, nothing special”

He gestures at your sketch book “May I?”

You hand him your sketch book and he looks over the page. As he observes your work you look him up and down. He has an interesting sense of style but you can’t help but admire it. You make your way to his face where something sparkly catches your eye, his earrings. They are the same as yours.

“Your name is Rohan Kishibe right?” You say as if you don’t already know.

He looks up at you “yes I am...your sketches are wonderful, what is it that you do y/n”

You smile “well I’m a biomedical illustrator, I’m like a medical student and an art student rolled into one” you laugh nervously

He gives you a small smile before noticing your earring just like you noticed his.

“Quite fashionable earrings you got there”

You push your hair behind you ear

“Thanks my friend got them for me from a little shop in town”

“Ah yes I believe it’s the little boutique on Main Street yes, it’s where I got mine”

You shrug

“I’d have to as Josuke if that’s the one but I assume so”

Rohan shutters internally at the thought of Josuke and how he annoys him so. In that moment Rohan hands your sketch book back to you.

“ well you seem to know quite a bit about the anatomy of these creatures why don’t you accompany me though the aquarium?”

He offers his arm to you, you take it nervously

“Umm sure I’d love you”

He smiles at you as you two begin your tour through the aquarium. Rohan soaks up every word that passes through your lips and admires how passionate you are about what you do. He thinks about how he’s finally met someone as passionate as you in the town.

You on the other can’t help but stare at those green eyes and his delicate lips that smile when you speak. He’s quite an attractive person ,you can’t help but start to fall for him a little. You love the way he takes interest in your work and can stomach the things you’ve said you’ve seen in your science classes. You know that your friends Josuke, Okuyasu and Koichi aren’t fond of Rohan, but you have become very very fond of him.

When you’ve finished exploring the aquarium for what seemed like hours Rohan walks with you outside. “Would you like to come over to my house for tea and some more chatting? my house is only a short walk from here”

Holy shit you think did he really just invite you over on the day you’ve meet for the first time

“Umm I’d love too sounds like fun”

Rohan smiles in delight at your response as he starts to lead the way. The walk is quiet, you try to keep your gaze at the ground but you can’t help to look up and Rohan with his green locks shining in the sun. His hair looks soft and all you want to do is run your fingers through it. With that thought you feel a blush form on your face and try extra hard to hide your gaze from him.

Meanwhile Rohan was doing the exact same thing, in the sunlight you looked stunning. He thought about all the things he’d like to do with you. He wanted to touch your soft skin and feel your warmth as he held you. He knows he just met you but he feels like he’s known you forever.

As the two of you reach his home he leads you inside and then grabs your hand.

“I’d like to show you something come with me”

He takes you upstairs into what you can only assume to be his studio.

“Feel free to look around or have a seat on the couch there, I’m going to go make some tea”

You nod as he turns to leave, you meander around the studio looking at the colored manga pages on the walls and all the books on his shelves before you decide to take a seat. Rohan returns with two cups of tea one of which he hands to you before taking a seat beside you.

“You’re quite an amazing woman y/n most people in this town are so boring and blind to the beautiful world around them. You see the world inside and out... quite literally. I know we’ve only just met but I feel like I’ve known you for years, ever since I saw you in the cafe yesterday I couldn’t get you out of my head”

You freeze having bears these word of praise from Rohan.

“I don’t know what to say Rohan.... thank you, but you are such an amazing person you’re self, you take interest in my work as well as having phenomenal talent yourself. Not to mention your unique sense of fashion and handsome features, you’d make an interesting subject for a drawing”

With these words hitting his ears Rohan begins to blush, no one has ever spoken to him in this manor before and he doesn’t know what to do. He stares into your eyes and begins to get lost in them leaning closer and closer to your face. You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into but you sure as hell don’t want out.

Before you know it the two of you have locked lips in a breathless dance. He pulls away and takes your tea cup and his and sets them on the side table before resuming what he started. Before you know it your find yourself straddling his lap, arms locked around his neck. Rohan moves to lay you down on the couch so he is on top of you as he plants kisses on your jawline and neck before pulling on the hem of your shirt with his teeth. You run your fingers through his hair, it was soft just like you predicted. He pauses and looks up at you

“If I am moving too fast please tell me”

You shake your head “please don’t stop”

And Just like that you are topless and powerless on a couch in Rohan Kishibes studio. He takes his time admiring the gentle curves of your body and the softness of your skin. He pulls away from you to admire your form, before standing up and heading to his desk leaving you breathless on the couch.

“I simply must draw you like this before the image is lost to me”

He makes quick work sketching out your delicate body that is draped on the couch. You look to the window and realize it is now dark out side and it has started to rain. Between the sounds of Rohan’s pencil scratching the paper you hear thunder and sit up quickly. Raising his eyes form the paper Rohan looks at you and then to the window.

“You’re welcome to stay here tonight if you wish”

You nod your head yes “may I use your phone to call my dad?”

He gestures towards the door “the phone is downstairs in the kitchen “

Slipping your shirt back on not bothering to put your bra back on you head down to the kitchen. After a few rings your dad picks up and you inform him you will be staying at a friends house tonight.

Your dad hangs up the phone and heads to the living room to where Josuke, Okuyasu and Koichi are standing

“Sorry guys she staying at a friends house tonight but I’m sure she’ll be home early tomorrow”

All three boys look at each other with confusion, it wasn’t like you to miss movie night and if you weren’t with them which friend were you staying with

When you step back into Rohan’s studio he is sitting on the couch waiting for you.

“So what would you like to do tonight” he says to you with a wink

You sit on his lap

“I could give you an anatomy lesson?”

#jojos bizarre adventure #jojo part 4 #rohan kishibe #rohan x reader #diamondisunbreakable #josuke #okuyasu #koichi hirose #jjba #fanfic #jjba/reader

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 years

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for the quiet night in ask: how did Grima make his way into your heart? And why do you ship him with Eomer? I've been meaning to inquire about this for long hehe (also I love your theme! think this is the first time I see it)

I am so sorry, you’re getting an ESSAY.

I’ve been wanting to talk about my Grima feels FOR SO LONG.

HE SNAKED HIS WAY INTO MY HEART.

Um, tl;dr I have a soft spot for the bad guys who clearly have a complicated history with those they are opposing and I think Eomer/Grima have a fun opposites-attract dynamic and I love a good redemption story.

I don’t touch on literacy and Grima in this because that’s strictly the films and it’s worthy of it’s own post entirely.

I’m trying to think best how to break this all out, because it gets a bit long and rambly. I’m using both book and films for this, as a note. Since I tend to mash up different aspects of those Grima’s in my head, give the guy some eyebrows, and call it a day.

So, first off, his history. Now, we don’t really have anything to go on in canon here. All we know, in both book and film, is that Grima “was once a man of Rohan” (ROTK). In the book, Gandalf says: “This here, is a snake. To slay it [Grima] would be just. But it was not always as it is now. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion.”

Grima evidently has served Rohan for some years at this point. We know that Theoden’s enchantment/possession began three years prior to TTT. In the books there is no possession. Theoden’s enchantment relies on the powers of words and their suggestions. Something Tolkien was well aware of carrying great weight and import in Anglo-Saxon culture. You tell a man he is old and infirm, he will become old and infirm.

I understand why Jackson went the possession route - explaining Anglo-Saxon engagement with galdorcraeft/witchcraft and the power of words etc. and how that influenced the development of Rohan in the span of like 7 minutes of screen time wasn’t happening. Possession works for the same purpose, but in a language the modern audience is familiar with - especially in visual mediums. Grima is circa 40 when TTT happens, same age as Boromir for reference. So, let’s say he’s been an advisor for 10/12 years at this point. He has therefore been a good servant of the king longer than he’s been a traitor.

Hence, the outreach. And, in Brad Dourif’s wonderful acting, Grima’s clear desire to go home to his king. In the book it’s more subtle. Grima chucks the palantir out the window at Orthanc and it’s stated that he wasn’t sure who he was aiming for, Saruman or Gandalf, because he couldn’t decide who he hated more.

Honestly? Legit. I would also hate the guy who reduced me to “it” pronouns. But maybe that’s my gender identity stuff playing up ;)

(Granted, in the full quote Gandalf reverts back to “he”, for context. And I’ve said this before, in another post, that it makes sense for Gandalf and as a writer, I agree with Tolkien’s decisions for that scene.)

Now, for some speculation. Not that I haven’t spilled a tonne already. MORE SPECULATION. This time bringing you long term effects of bullying and never having loving relationships modelled for you! Because LOTR, at the end of the day, is all about trauma and how maybe not to deal with it.

So - motives.

We know Saruman’s motives. Indeed, he tells them to us in FOTRK: “[to] have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see” and to achieve “the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends.”

Great. Super straight forward. And from the man’s own mouth.

Grima’s though, always come to us second hand. In the books it’s Gandalf telling us (Gandalf can mind read, so yes, maybe he is accurate). In the films, it’s Eomer guestimating.

But Grima never actually tells us, himself, what his motives are.

(a quick aside: if some dude is shoving me up against a pole and threatening me, and I hear someone walking by, of course I’m going to look over at them and it by no means indicates my desire to shag that person. Now, of course, we know from other scenes this is the case. I’m just saying. It’s natural to look over at the person walking by while you’re being jumped by the Third Marshal of the Mark who is twice your size. anyway.)

So what are his driving forces for treason? What made him go to this point of no return then keep going even when people offered him a way back.

It is important to note that his treason required him to forswear his oath to his liege lord. I don’t know how to convey what a big deal that would have been, in modern terms. But it would have been huge. Forswearing/reneging on oaths was a massive cultural taboo in Anglo-saxon [AS] England (and general, early medieval Europe).

And, as Rohan is based on AS England (I forget if Tolkien was cagey about this. He was sometimes a dumb shit and coy about things so was like “noooo it’s not STRICTLY AS England….but it’s clearly AS England with more horses and a light dusting of vikings and the Danelaw”), we can assume it carried as much weight for them as it did for the historical people.

(Indeed, it’s implied, if not directly stated, in the text what a big deal oath breaking is. Don’t say “oath breaking” too loud or the Silmarillion fandom will come out of the woodwork)

The big takeaway: BIG DEAL TO FORSWEAR YOUR OATH.

And he did it! Which is why I don’t buy the “it was because of Eowyn and like some nice jewels.” You don’t betray your country, you don’t forswear your oath to your king, simply because you’re hot on the king’s niece and Saruman might give you a raise.

And, as a liege man to Theoden, he was part of Theoden’s household so would have eaten, worked with, lived with everyone else in the household (Eomer, until he becomes Third Marshal; Eowyn; Hama; Theoden’s guards etc.)

So, you live with these people, eat with them, drink with them, spend all your time with them, for circa 10 years then you do a bunk and betray them? Something happened. I suspect it was years and years of things happening.

Overall, I think it to be a combination of things. As is usually the case for these sorts of crimes. In this case, a nice mix of fear, desperation, greed, resentment, anger and desire.

Fear/Desperation: So, to Grima’s mind the world is ending. Why wouldn’t he think this? Hell, even the Wisest and the Fairest (i.e. wizards & elves) think it’s ending. Why wouldn’t this poor bloke from some small country nearby to Mordor not think it an existential threat to an unimaginable degree?

Grima is sat here in Rohan looking at Mordor going "oh fuck" then who are the leaders left? Denethor (slightly bonkers) and Theoden (past his prime and lacklustre, like his father and grandfather).

This is not a man with a strong moral fiber. Or...any moral fiber, let’s be real. He does not have the fortitude to stick it out through hopeless situations. And it would have been hopeless to his eyes. And those around him (see: Eomer’s do not trust to hope… Sure Saruman was a problem, but he wasn’t just talking about the white wizard).

Gandalf’s plan, which none of these people were ever wholly aware of, was a goddamn Hail Mary pass and it worked. Barely, but it did. NO ONE had reason to believe it would, though. And those are people in the know. Not someone like Grima who has no fucking clue what Gandalf et al is up to. He sees Gandalf then like … Nazgul torture him on the planes of Rohan (Unfinished Tales). He sees Gandalf then bad things happen.

Lathspell indeed.

Greed & Desire: I don’t think I need to go into these ones too much. They’re pretty self explanatory. Grima and Black Phillip hung out and the goat asked Grima if he wanted to live deliciously and Grima, like any normal person, said: um, yes please? Also, Eowyn was around being badass, beautiful and untouchable.

Resentment/Anger: Alright, more probing in the dark. I suspect, for one reason or another (and these reasons would vary depending if you’re looking at books or movies), he was someone who was always treated as other/differently, teased, picked on, isolated, overlooked, doesn’t measure up to Rohan’s military ideal of masculinity. All of which creates an underlying resentment issue.

And nothing festers quite like resentment.

On top of that, I also suspect he was always told he was a snake/untrustworthy/not worthy etc. and if you're told something enough, and you don't have anything or anyone else telling you the opposite, there is a strong chance you become that thing.

It's a chicken and egg: the face you wear to the world tells the world how to treat you; the world tells you what you are and that is how you shape your face.

THEN you add in Saruman. Who is clearly, in the text, abusive. Which, if there were any inferiority/bullied etc. issues that are informing Grima’s actions, Saruman is just going to amplify it.

“You are a traitor because you’re a snake, and you’re a snake because you’re spineless, weak, nothing more than a creature that crawls on its stomach on the ground. Snakes are bad, evil things. Which is all you’ve ever been. Barely deserving of the good treatment I give you etc.” <-- all of which is basically a summary of what Saruman has been saying to him for a few years at this point (in the book, it’s only tangentially implied in the movies).

So Grima sort of morphed himself into what he believed himself to be, fuelled by that perversity resentment causes: Oh you think I’m a snake? I’ll be the best goddamn most poisonous snake you ever did see. Just watch me.

He is trapped in this situation. A hutch to trammel some wild thing in.

Which leads me to an interesting point that I think gets lost sometimes: Narratively, he and Eowyn are similar in what they are experiencing. Isolation, being overlooked, misunderstood/misrepresented, don't fit into societal roles and expectations etc. They just go in very different directions in how they respond to it.

I think that's why, in the film, it was smart to have her give pause and listen to him because what he's saying resonates. He is, in some ways, speaking as much for himself as her. But then, of course, he's also just trying to shit disturb and make mischief so of course, at the end of the day, any sympathy he is attempting to convey is laced with poison.

I do wonder, too, if he's the first person to see her fear and her frustrations and acknowledges them out loud. Which is powerful. To have someone see you. Damn shame it's Grima. Still, Eowyn (in the film) paused and listened for a reason.

A brief aside on my idle, ill founded thoughts on gender and Rohan:

One of the reasons I think Eowyn and Grima go in diverging directions, is that Eowyn is performing masculinity, in her society's accepted interpretation of it. Masculinity, in Middle Earth, is clearly the norm. And in Rohan, it’s a very particular iteration of military-focused masculinity that is idealized (you can bet, men who killed like 10 orcs were awarded places in court above Grima who served as advisor for like ten years but hasn’t killed an orc ever).

Eowyn’s desire to live/perform this more masculine ideal caters to the subconscious thing of “Masculinity is Natural Neutral Ideal” so of course you would want to be more like A Man. Whereas Grima is the opposite, not performing masculinity according to Rohan's accepted view of it.

And gods, in Anglo-Saxon culture (therefore, Rohan’s, most likely. I see no evidence to the contrary) is that a difficult position to find yourself in. Back in AS England, being called argr, unmanly, or to be accused of ergri, unmanliness, was one of the worst insults you could throw at a man (indeed, some laws said you could kill a man in retaliation for calling you such things). I would bet my shirt that people used such insults about Grima in this world. Which is all kinds of messed up.

Now, my interest in him is my general love for a good redemption arc for the most hopeless of characters. It’s why I struggle to call Boromir’s arc, when he’s written as living, a redemption arc. Because I don’t know he has much to redeem himself for. In his own mind, sure, yes, but externally? Not in my view, at least. He has things he’s done wrong and needs to make amends for. But that’s different from redemption.

Grima, on the other hand, is one whose walk-back from evil would be a full on redemption arc. And I like it because he’s not nice, he’s not pleasant. He will never be nice or pleasant or cheerful. But learning how to love and be a good person doesn’t require niceness.

Saruman could be plenty nice. Sauron could be plenty nice. Look what they turned out to be.

And in my writing, I do hope I’m treading that line between creating an understanding of who Grima is without Kylo-Ren-ing him. Or, woobiefying him, as the old parlance was. That’s the line I’m really aiming for. I want people to not hate him. I want them to understand him. Oh, still condemn him, still judge him, disagree with him, acknowledge and know he did bad things and isn’t a nice person. But the end game is to add some understanding and nuance.

Shades of grey.

Also I’m a sucker for challenging redemptions.

Why Eomer/Grima?

Because I am an agent of chaos.

More seriously, I was never overly taken with the Grima/Eowyn approach, personally, which is obviously popular (um...within the Grima world), and closer to canon. There are some beautifully written fics and art out there for the two of them, so if you’re into that. The creators in that nook of fandom are top notch.

I always liked the drastic opposite of Grima and Eomer. As I noted above, Grima and Eowyn are two sides of the same coin. Both bitter and resentful and trapped. And that’s a lot of fun to play with, and i get it. But for me, I love a good strong contrast of personalities in my pairings. (If that uh … isn’t readily apparent.)

I think both Eomer and Grima would have a lot to teach each other and in some really interesting ways that neither would expect. I can see both getting under each other’s skin in that way where you’re sort of always thinking about them.

Grima is also someone who has had very little love in his life (I suspect he wants it, he just doesn’t know how to give or receive it). Eomer is someone who has lost a lot of people (parents, quasi-uncle for a few years there. I think it’s why he’s so controlling over Eowyn. Didn’t want to lose her). And I think there’s something in there where they could help each other grow. But I’m a sucker for some beauty to be there, in the end. Some hope.

Mostly, though, I think it boils down to their dynamic and the angst potential. Eomer is this brash, forthright, fiery third marshal of the mark who may or may not think things through. Big of heart, dumb of ass. Then there’s Grima who is quiet and reserved, cynical, critical, always has a plan or five, gets by via his wits etc. Lots of fun potential there.

#LOTR #lord of the rings #the lord of the rings #grima wormtongue #rohan #eorlingas #LOTR meta #ask #reply #eomer

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birdwonder · 4 years

Note

Sorry, I’m impulsive. Just saw the head cannons for the reader who likes to paint for Josuke and they introduce them to Rohan. Could I please get a scenario for that. I just thought it’d be hilarious, and hopefully Josuke and/or the reader don’t die.

|| oho ! i love it when my previous posts spur more requests, especially when i love requests to no end ! also ur impulse is fantastic !

request/fic based off

https://birdwonder.tumblr.com/post/189601011865/headcanon-the-joestars-on-how-they-would-react-to

JOSUKE HIGASHIKATA | ARTIST

“C’mon, c’mon, babe! You gotta meet him,” your boyfriend, Josuke, urged on, ushering you towards a large and expensive looking house, putting your own home and all your possessions combined to shame in terms of price.

Cringing slightly, you weren’t exactly prepared to meet anyone new, especially under these circumstances. See, Josuke was a supportive boyfriend, and even best friend if you had to gloat, so when he discovered your talent in art, he instantly knew that he wanted to encourage you and show off your skills to world.

Much to your disgruntlement, this meant that he wanted you to meet a ‘friend’ of his, one that he had never mentioned before, which was bizarre seeing as Josuke was an open book and spoke a lot about his times with Okuyasu, Koichi and even Jotaro. You had to wonder why this friend of his was never mentioned before... Perhaps a conversation just never led up to it?

“Josuke, I love you but I don’t think this is necessary,” you calmly told him, soft eyes glancing at him as he momentarily stuttered over your small declaration and reminder of love. For the sake of his ego and ‘cool guy’ persona, he played it off by coughing and ran a hand over his pompadour, chuckling.

“Love you too baby, but you gotta trust me. This would make me super happy.” Josuke then wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close to his side as he gave you a cute and desperate look, faking a pout alongside it, “don’t you want to see me happy?”

You frowned at that. Of course you did! It was just that you had never met this person before, and here you were with your sketchbook involuntarily in Josuke’s free hand, about to show off your art that you were so self conscious about despite receiving many compliments for it.

The taller male rested his cheek on the top of your head momentarily. “Plus, if you do this for me, I’ll buy you your favourite snack from the store!” Ah, that drove the bargain in.

You gave a nod that meant ‘deal’ and Josuke gave one back, removing both his arm and cheek from being in contact from you so that he could approach the door of the grand house and knock on it three times.

Gulping, you hadn’t expected the door to open so soon to reveal a fairly tall and slim figure, one that had a curious headband on and noticeable green hair brushed to the side. His gaze on you was hard and emotionless, probably because you were a total stranger, yet once he caught glimpse of Josuke, he started to look annoyed.

“What do you want?” The man questioned, opening his door from being somewhat ajar to widening it completely so that he was fully revealed. What an odd fashion sense...

Josuke, with a much brighter grin than you usually saw him wear, waved a hand before placing it on your shoulder, greeting the stranger with so much fever you could have been fooled the two of them were closer than brothers, if not for the man’s strangely angry aura, “Rohan sensei! We were just in the neighbourhood and I was thinking that it was about time you met my girlfriend, [F/N]!”

Rohan, at least you assume that was his name, suddenly raised his brows in surprise and sharply turned to look down at you, giving you a once over examine before smiling in peculiar, mischievous way. “I see, well a pleasure to meet you, Miss [F/N], what a shame it took us so long to be introduced.”

“Oh, hello to you too Mr Rohan! It’s nice to meet you too,” you responded in a structured manner, not knowing what to say outside of basic niceties.

Luckily, Josuke saved you in the most painful way by flipping open your sketchbook, a smug look on his face. “She’s an artist like you, y’know? But her art is ten times better, I mean can you do this?” He boasted on your behalf, causing you to gasp with embarrassment.

“Josuke, you can’t just say that-!”

The older artist raised a brow at your work. Bending down, he analysed the page with a hand on his chin and even lifted it the inspect another one or too. You could only cover your face to hide yourself from the shame as he did so, afraid of any insults that may come your way.

“See, aren’t they the best? Like a real pro-” Josuke was then cut off by Rohan straightening himself again and talking over the teen, looking down at you with a much softer smile than he had ever seen.

“Yes, they are fantastic indeed!” The praise had you peeking from in-between your fingers and up at the green haired male, who took both of your hands into his own, catching you off guard. “If I wasn’t an independent artist, I would have you work for me as an editor or something of the sort. We could spend hours together over our passions!”

This made Josuke splutter and reel back, the sketch book he once gripped with care now almost slipping out of his grasp. Just what the hell was happening? Was Rohan Kishibe actually being nice, to his girlfriend of all people?

What made things worse was that your naïvity made it so you didn’t notice the advancements that your boyfriend saw as flirting, so you only giggled and smiled politely with gratefulness within you.

“You’re so sweet Rohan, sir! I would love to see your art at some point,” you beamed, “if that’s alright with you.”

In reply, Rohan continued to give you a warm smile and brought your hands closer to his chest, making you take a step forward towards him; Josuke almost choking at the sight, a wonder that he wasn’t only seeing red. “Of course, cher. Why don’t you come by one day and we can show each other our works properly, one on one?”

The usually out going and laidback stand user was going crazy. You might not have been able to see it, but Rohan every now and then would side glance towards him with such a malevolent glint in his eyes and a cocky upturn of the mouth that he wanted to use Crazy Diamond to send him the damn moon. Or the hospital.

The man was even using some weird french words! Since when was such an anti-social guy so smooth? Josuke was even starting to think that his usual terms of endearment for you were paling in comparison. Did you even like being called ‘baby’ or ‘his girl?’ It was probably way too cheesy and not at all sophisticated for a great gal like you...

‘Damn it, you know that isn’t true! She loves those names, or else she wouldn’t get so worked up over them!’ Josuke yelled at himself mentally, shaking his head side to side furiously before slapping his cheeks with the palm of his hands, trying to clear his mind. Luckily, though also sadly, his silent motivation went unnoticed by the chattering artists.

“This was lovely, Rohan sensei, but I think it’d be best if Josuke and I left now, we’ve already taken so much of your time.” Your statement made your boyfriend quickly shake his head in agreement, so fast that a few strands of hair probably came loose from his excessively combed pompadour.

The manga artist continued to glance over at his mortal enemy, as he proclaimed dramatically in his head, with a horribly amused look and spoke to you with a sickening sweet tone, “oh it’s no matter, it led me to meet such a lovely young lady. Please, visit again some time, dear.”

Your hands were still gently held in his and they were slowly being raised to his lips, Rohan’s head bobbing down to plant a kiss upon your knuckles. You were none the wiser to the gesture you were about to receive, however time seemed to move in a painfully slow way for Josuke. Oh heeeell no.

Before Rohan’s lips could even brush your hands, the said man was shoved to the side harshly by Josuke nudging him away in a seemingly casual manner, your sketchbook suddenly handed to you so that you could be picked dup bridal style.

“[F/N] is right, we’ve overstayed our welcome! Thanks Rohan sensei, you were a real one,” Josuke loudly proclaimed, sending a glare to the fallen man who was rubbing his back and returning the salty expression back, “if you don’t mind, we’re going to go on a date now, so hope you don’t feel too lonely over here.”

While you were covering your face with your sketchbook, due to the embarrassment of being held like a newly wed wife in public, the two men continued to give each other menacing looks that had clear messages such as, ‘don’t mess with me’ or ‘she’s mine, back off.’

“Don’t mention it...” Rohan sourly mumbled, Josuke now walking away from the porch and the house.

Josuke, still brimming with some anger, bit the inside of his cheek to help calm himself down, which was a challenge not even a stand could help him. The hell was Rohan’s problem? He knew that guy was too sketchy for his own good, pun not intended.

“Sweetie,” you piped up from his arms, sketchbook now hugged to your chest and doe-like eyes looking up, “if you were jealous, you know that nothing like me and Rohan would ever happen, right?”

Your assurance was surprising. Had you noticed your senior’s ploy to infuriate Josuke all along? You clever thing. With your words and gentle gaze, the anger he felt was quickly sweeping away with the sigh he blew out.

“I love you Josuke, and only you!”

Aaah, you were too cute! The sudden declaration made his eyes widen slightly, seeing as you were both in public and affectionate things seemed to be too bold for you in front of others, granted though the streets were moderately empty.

“Heh, I love you too babe, sorry about all of that,” he apologised, dipping down slightly to place a peck on your head head. It seemed that was a little too much still, so you pushed his head away with a squeak, making him chuckle.

“Ok, ok! Now put me down, this is too much.” As per your request, you were set down carefully, thankful that you weren’t in such a helpless position anymore. That didn’t stop Josuke from wrapping his arm around your shoulders though.

With you pulled close to his side, Josuke was calm once more and he could easily tell Rohan to ‘suck it’ as he knew that no matter what, you’d be his girl and only his, and that he’d spoil and praise you to no end because that’s what you deserved.

The two of you exchanged a smile, laughing between yourselves at nothing. “You know, I think you mentioned a date back there. I know it was just a excuse but if you want maybe we could...” You trailed off, hoping that your boyfriend would take the obvious hint.

Of course, he did, and he had no hesitation in fulfilling your wish.

“Say no more, how does ice cream and cake sound?”

“Just perfect,” you confirmed, sketchbook in one hand and Josuke’s now in another.

#josuke higashikata #josuke x reader #rohan kishibe #jjba x reader #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #x reader #request

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leora-rambles · 5 years

Text

Always Have, And Always Will (Rohan Kishibe X Reader [Angst/Fluff])

accept my garbage. imma rewrite this one day because I’m not happy with it right now. I’m not very good at writing people fighting so 😔

————————————

“I don’t feel loved anymore, Rohan.”

Two years ago, you uttered those words to him.

Two years ago, Rohan wanted to scream at you. He wanted to tell you that he needed you, because in all honestly— he did.

Without you, how was he supposed to find the perfect reference for his art?

Without you, how was he supposed to fall asleep at night without your soft singing?

‘You’re my muse!’ He wanted to hold you tight in his arms, to hold you until you changed your mind. ‘You always were, and always will be!’ He wanted to tell you all these things, but his ego restrained him from doing so.

Rohan gritted his teeth.

The male could’ve called Heavens Door out on you (with ease), but he knew well enough back then that that damn brat Josuke would find out sooner or later. And this time, the pompadour wearing teen would not be merciful enough to heal Rohan at the end of his beatdown.

“Excuse me?” “I’ve had enough. I tried my best to be patient with you, I swear I did, but I’m past my limit. I’m leaving, Rohan.” He flinched at your words, but soon regained his defensive stance.

Rohan smiled in a snotty manner, “It’s funny how you think this matters to me.” He took in your hurt expression as fuel for his words. His insults were sharp, yet left a dull pain around where he jabbed.

“Don’t even think about crawling back to me after all this. You’ll realize soon enough how helpless you are without the great, Rohan Kishi—!” the door slamming interrupted his last syllable.

After several months of waiting for your return, he came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, you had meant what you had said. Rohan’s ego took a huge hit upon realizing that.

‘Shit.’ He cussed to himself, ‘Reimis pocky fortune telling was right.’

Rohan replayed this moment in his mind as he stared you down. He found it amusing, almost.

“You look...” He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. “...not terrible.” He looked away slyly as he noticed your eyes furrowed at his remark.

You kept a smile on your lips, “I’d say the same for you, Kishibe. Bold fashion sense, as always.” He didn’t know if your reply was supposed to be taken as a compliment or not.

Rohan looked you straight in the eyes, smirking as he spoke, “Anyways, why have you called me here? Is this how you’re apologizing?—”

He laid his chin on top of his crossed fingers, an action he often did when he thought he had won an argument.

“—Are you crawling back to me like I said you would?” He was clearly holding down a myriad of other assumptions he wanted to jab at you.

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat as the mangaka before you snickered.

Can he be blamed for being cocky about this situation, though?

Rohan could only think of the nights he was enveloped by misery, crying into the bed you two once shared.

He could only think of the days he stared blankly at the overly detailed portraits he secretly drew of you.

The only thing on his mind was how pitiful he was after you had practically ripped him to shreds.

His massive ego was nonexistent at that dark time.

He missed the way you made him feel every night you waltzed into his office with a drink in hand.

Surprisingly, he was as bitter as you were, if not, even more. To Rohan, he was doing his past self a favour by putting up a haughty facade against you.

He was simply protecting his pride.

“I’m not here for that.” You fiddled with your coffee cup in irritation. “My publicist told me that it would be beneficial if I were to collaborate with another Mangaka,” you explained, not noticing how Rohan’s face of smugness faltered for a moment.

“They didn’t approve of my suggestions since they thought the people I chose weren’t on the same level as me. They instead, recommended you.” You continued, looking to the side in annoyance.

The males smug smirk appeared on his face once again. Of course he was the only one that was up to your mangas standards. You both shared the throne for an impressive art style, as well as impeccable writing.

At least, you thought so.

In Rohan’s mind, he had surpassed your art and writing by a million. There is no being that could possibly be above The Great Rohan Kishibe.

He thought of you higher than anyone else (to the point of dating you), but for him to see you as an equal would mean you would have to be a god.

Rohan was elated, but irked at the fact he wasn’t one of your main recommendations.

He gets that you’re bitter, you both are, but did your emotions really cloud your sense of judgement?

He knew—no, Rohan made sure that you were aware of how much influence he had, so why wasn’t he first on your list of recommendations?

“Your publicist,” the mangaka started “Do they know about our past together?” Rohan questioned with a weariness around his words.

A sad smile appeared on your face.

“Of course not.” Your hands halted their fiddling with your coffee cup.

“You asked us not to go public about our relationship, did you not?” The sour tone in your expression would be unnoticeable if it weren’t for Rohan’s observant nature.

The male nodded. He remembered what he harshly told you years ago clearly. Rohan suspected that that was one of the reasons you had broken up with him.

You regained your composure.

“Aside from all that, this collaboration has a lot of benefits.” Changing the topic, you focused your mind back on persuading Kishibe into doing this collaboration with you.

Being in a relationship with him before had its perks, as it was easier for you to know what results he wanted for his manga.

You knew more than anyone else that he preferred ‘being read’ much more than money or fame.

Watching the male close his eyes, you spoke, “It reaches out to a new audience, which means more people will read our mangas. It will make our titles more well known, and it gives us the opportunity to widen our creativity.” You finally gained enough confidence to ask the big question.

“Are you willing to collaborate?” You braced yourself for his decline, cringing on the inside.

Rohan held a nonchalant face, opening his eyes and finally speaking.

“I’ll let this collaboration come into fruition. If it expands the amount of people that read my manga, then I don’t have a reason to decline.”

When a berate of taunts and accusations of how you were trying to crawl back to him didn’t meet your ears, you could feel a cooling wave of relief wash over you.

“Plus, your manga could most likely use a boost from me...”

You ignored his unnecessary remark, still glad he didn’t reject your offer. Your lungs felt free again, and you finally let go of the breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

“Alright,” You started, “just call me if you have any ideas.” You waved a hand, turning around to take your leave.

He watched you get farther and farther away until you were finally out of his sight.

Rohan scoffed, examining his coffee cup before bringing it up to his lips.

‘Everything I told you was bullshit.’ He hid a grin behind his coffee cup, daintily taking a sip of the hot drink.

‘I just wanted an excuse to pester you.’

•

“No, no, but guys, listen. He told me ‘You look...not terrible’. What kind of greeting is that?!” You ranted to your group of friends, while a certain purple haired male was concentrated on a compact mirror you lent him.

It was a week after meeting with your ex. You had met up with Rohan daily to discuss the collaboration. Today was one of the breaks you got to have, so you called Josuke and the others up for a drink.

Josuke spoke with a light lisp due to the bobby pins he held between his teeth, “Why’d you even bother reaching out to his stuck up ass? Weren’t you scared that he was going to rub it in your face about how you were the first to start talking to him again?” He carefully pinned a loose hair down into his pompadour.

You shoved your face into your hands as you let a muffled cry escape your lips, “I don’t even know why my publicist did this. I declined working with him like crazy...” With a groan, you sunk your head into the table, arms covering your eyes.

“Maybe deep down, you still have feelings for him?” Koichi sipped his drink, looking up at you. Josuke choked on his bobby pins at the silver haired boy’s sentence, while Okuyasu started giggling at the thought.

You shuddered, raising your head. “God, I’ll start liking him again once the sky starts turning people into snails.” As you were about to drink your cappuccino, your phone vibrating stopped you.

“Speak of the devil...” you thought out loud as Rohan’s name appeared on the screen.

You answered the call, your friends eavesdropping in silence.

“Hello—?” “My house. 4:30 pm, sharp. Don’t be late.” “Wait Roha—“ the mangaka had already hung up before you could finish your sentence.

You checked the clock. 4:23 pm.

This piece of— “I’m sorry guys, I have to go back to the devils house.” You grabbed your purse and began collecting your belongings.

You pointed at the purple haired teen, “Oi, if I anything happens, I’ll text you.” Josuke nodded at your words, returning your compact mirror.

Bidding your friends goodbye, you sprinted over to the mangakas house.

You stood at his door, attempting to regain your breath. You knew that Rohan disliked it when people were even too early, so you arrived at his house perfectly on time.

The male opened the door before you could knock, staring you down with judgmental eyes.

“You look like you ran a marathon.” He snickered, placing a hand on his hip.

“I sprinted here.” A sneer escaped your lips as Rohan let out a poorly hidden laugh. Even with him seated on his high horse, you noticed a trickle of sweat drip down Rohan’s forehead before he turned around.

Rohan spoke, brushing you off as he sauntered away. “You can come inside. We’ll settle things in the living room.”

Hold up. Settle? What does he mean by settle?

He’d normally say ‘discuss’, or something along those lines, but ‘settle’?

Perhaps you were overthinking this?

“Rohan, I don’t want to merge our past together with this project.”

He stopped in his tracks. “I was talking about the ideas for our collaboration, unless you do want to talk about our messy breakup.” Rohan’s response made blood rush over to your face in embarrassment.

Shaking your head, you gave him a glare and puffed out your chest, “You made it seem like we were going to talk about it, and that’s the last thing I want.”

The eye contact you two made was uncomfortable, stillness clearly suffocating the atmosphere.

Rohan breathed before focusing his attention on the coffee table.

“Sit down.” He instructed, and you sat at the opposite side of the couch from him. Rohan crossed his legs before speaking,

“I assume you had fun talking trash about me to Josuke and the others?”

The colour on your face drained as you choked on air. “Were you fucking stalking me?!” “It’s not stalking, I only did it this one time. Stalking is—“ “I don’t give a shit! You were watching me anyways!” You compressed yourself against the armrest in an attempt to put some space between you and Rohan.

The green haired male scoffed at your actions. “All the trash he talked was rich coming from a dumbass who has a clump of hair gel in replace for a brain.” Rohan mocked as he recalled the conversation.

He noticed your eyebrows twitch downwards in frustration. “Don’t bring Josuke into this, Rohan.” You spoke in a slow, dangerous tone, a tone that Rohan ignored completely.

“Why are you defending him? Are you trying to get back at me?” You could sense the hurt in his voice despite him covering it up with layers of pettiness. “Or are you trying to embarrass me by hanging with someone who’s clearly a downgrade?”

He took your silence as a mocking ‘yes’.

He clenched his teeth. “Was leaving me not enough for you?!” While he was yelling, you were preparing yourself to stand up and leave. This fighting would clearly do nothing but fuel more malice towards each other.

Surely, your publicist would understand—

“You probably didn’t even give a shit about me or our relationship!”

You didn’t know why, but that very sentence set you off. What were you to Rohan? An emotionless robot?

“If you think I didn’t care about you, then you’re dumber than I thought!” You managed to cry out, your eyes welling up with each second. It was two years, but even two years wasn’t enough time for you to heal from such an eventful relationship with him.

The amount of disbelief you were feeling right now was too much to handle. “For you to even think that after everything that happened between us is just..!” You tried to calm your frantic breathing as you spoke.

Rohan chewed at the inside of his bottom lip as he watched your despaired expression. “You know damn well that I cared about you, Rohan.” A choked heave escaped your mouth, “It hurt to even wake up every morning because I knew I’d just watch you work yourself half to death!”

“I told you to take a break so many times, but heaven forbid your significant other ‘distract you from your work’!” Rohan’s heart swelled from listening to your confession. It felt like hands were just gripping at his lungs.

He saw the misery eating you alive in this moment, and it pained Rohan realizing that this was probably not the first time you had broken down because of him.

“Was I asking you for too much, Rohan?” The way your voice died at the end of your sentence broke Kishibe.

Your voice grew softer and quieter with each question that came past your lips.

“Did I wrong you in some way?”

“Was I too clingy?”

Rohan felt his heart grow heavy.

How did he not find this out much sooner?

How did he not see the relationships flame burn out?

“Was I not up to your sta—“ “Enough!”

Rohan’s booming voice echoed around his home.

He grasped your hands, guiding them away from your hair. You didn’t realize that you were pulling on it due to the overwhelming emotions consuming you.

Rohan’s voice was noticeably shaky, “I know you think of me badly, and damn it, you’re right for thinking so, but...” He wasn’t looking into your eyes, instead focusing them on his lap. “Even if I didn’t show my affection, I still loved you!”

The moment he looked up at you was the moment he finally let his own tears out, his own anguish and misery rivalling yours.

“I love you, damn it! I always have, and always will!” Rohan’s shoulders were trembling as he declared this.

“You hurt me when you left, alright?! You hurt me so damn much—!” His grip on your wrist was reminiscent of a fearful child afraid of being abandoned. “—I couldn’t sleep or eat, let alone draw for days, that was how much you broke me after leaving!” Rohan let out a strangled sob as he let go of your arms.

He wiped violently at his eyes in a failed attempt to stop the tears.

Silent, you let your hands comb through his hair, being careful not to move his headband.

He seemingly took comfort in your touch, leaning into it and remembering you often did this action whenever he showed that he was distressed.

Rohan’s breath still hitched, even as you did your best to console him.

The house was quiet.

Rohan spoke again after he regained his breath. “Once I finally got over the breakup,” he snivelled, “you came back, and so did the memories.”

The only positive memories you recalled came from the beginning. They were the days where he’d actually communicate with you.

“All I could remember was tucking you in to bed while you slept. It was almost always after we fought over something stupid.” Rohan let his heart speak, not caring about his haughty facade crumbling.

He continued reminiscing. “Whenever you became ill, I’d sit by you and you’d mumble the dumbest things to me.”

Your eyes widened at his confession. Having assumed that all those nights he cared for you were dreams, it was surprising to hear that that was not the case.

“You’d say things like ‘Rohan, that kid will make you explode don’t touch him’, or ‘The frogs have bones’. I assumed it was your medicine doing that.” A shadow of a smile hinted itself on Rohan’s expression.

You stayed quiet, coaxing Rohan to speak more. “When you returned, I felt like all the progress I made went to nothing. I thought I was over you, but when I saw you at the cafe,” He rambled on, “I felt myself wanting you in my arms again.”

Rohan guided your hands to his face, planting your palms on his jawline and cheek. “So please...”

“Come back to me.” The way he murmured this to you made your heart flip.

He looked down, awaiting your answer. Rohan feared for the worst. He feared that you’d mock him using his vulnerability.

Your voice caught the mangakas attention. “This doesn’t mean we’re fully healed yet, but,” you could sense the hope burning in Rohan’s chest as you spoke in a slightly hoarse tone,

“I’ll come back to you.”

He tackled you into the sofa, arms intertwined around you. Rohan enveloped you in his arms, burying his face into your neck, a wave of pure happiness washing over him. “I wanted you back for so long.” He admitted, relaxing in your scent.

You chuckled at his actions, returning his embrace and leaving a kiss on the crown of his head.

Rohan lifted himself off of you, bringing his face up to yours.

“I’ll be better for you, and that’s a lot coming from someone’s who’s already the best.” You rolled your eyes playfully, leaning in and closing the gap between your lips and his.

This was a good first step for the both of you.

#jojo no kimyou na bouken #jojos bizarre adventure #rohan kishibe imagine #rohan kishibe #rohan kishibe reader insert #diamond is unbreakable #rohan kishibe x reader #jjba #rohan #rohan x reader #my writing #jjba x reader

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jojotier · 6 years

Text

Slow Dance with Me

“JoJo… may I have a dance?”

Jotaro glanced at where Kakyoin was splayed out, long, curled hair lying in a halo on the arm of the couch. Creeping along the ground, slow and careful, were some of Hierophant’s many tentacles. The ribbon like, iridescent structures gingerly felt along the carpet, slowly winding their way towards a boombox.

“Can’t,” Jotaro reminded him, maybe amused, “Doc said my legs’re fucked.” Temporarily, of course, but they were fucked enough after the final battle against Pucci that he had to wear some clunky braces for all of six months. It at least gave him an excuse not to move much.

He watched as Kakyoin slowly rose from the couch, positioning his hands on the arm of it to give himself some stability. Kakyoin moved his head almost as if he could see, turning it in the direction of Jotaro and the bed he was laid out on, but there wasn’t any real sight to those clouded over eyes anymore. “Just light and dark,” Kakyoin had described to him once.

“Shouldn’t, perhaps, but since when did you care about appealing to authority?” Kakyoin teased, smile light and bright as it had been for twenty years. Twenty years and still going. “That’s not the JoJo I know- unless you’re trying to get out of this and leave little old me alone…”

“Give it a second.” Jotaro rumbled, slowly rising into a sitting position himself. “I need to decide if I want to.” Of course, he was probably going to do it anyway- his legs didn’t hurt, just ached slightly, and it wasn’t as if he could deny Kakyoin something. It was a weakness. Maybe the only one Jotaro had. And, fortunately, Kakyoin knew just how to exploit it.

Kakyoin knew how to exploit it, and he knew he was going to get his way, because Jotaro could already see Hierophant’s fingers digging through their modest cassette collection. They didn’t keep much, and much of what it was was rock- but his Mom had given them a cassette of some old fashioned slow songs.

Jotaro finally set his legs over the edge of the bed, slowly rising to his feet with some difficulty. His back still hurt like hell, and these damn plastic braces were heavy- but not too bad, all in all, when it came to mobility. Kakyoin beamed slightly to Jotaro’s left and Hierophant was guiding him forwards, toward the middle of the room. Star Platinum joined in as well, though he didn’t show himself fully- just moved a few pieces of shitty hotel furniture out the way and disappeared again.

The end of Hierophant’s tentacles found Jotaro’s arm, twining gingerly around it as Kakyoin slowly followed, in much the same boat as Jotaro mobility wise, albeit for far different reasons. The only reason he used just the one cane instead of crutches was due to Hierophant, holding his body weight. Jotaro wondered when the last time he’d seen Hierophant as a humanoid and not as a pile of ribbons was.

Kakyoin couldn’t bow too far forwards as he took Jotaro’s hand, smiling. “Here- now you can decide… may I have this dance?”

The track started, and Jotaro huffed out a fond breath. “I guess I have no choice, since we’re already here. In position.”

“Seeming like any stereotypical old couple, I bet,” Kakyoin’s smile turned into somewhat of a sardonic grin.

“The most stereotypical. The most stupidly sappy, too.” Jotaro could feel more of Hierophant twining around him, quietly taking some of the weight off. Kakyoin’s arm twined around his waist. “Look at what you’re forcing me to do.”

Kakyoin snorted, eyes crinkling at the corners. “If only our younger selves could see us now…”

“I’d punch myself in the face before anything could happen and you know it.”

“Oh, I do- it’s quite the endearing trait, love.”

Jotaro wrapped his arms around Kakyoin’s shoulders and Kakyoin tipped forward slightly, sinking his weight into him. He could still move his feet, but he only ever seemed to do it to get closer to Jotaro, resting his head on his shoulder.

They couldn’t exactly dance as they were. It was more akin to lightly swaying with the music, trying to move their feet along with it. Neither of them had been good dancers before the years wore on them, and now that the years had passed, they were all the worse.

Jotaro held Kakyoin to him, gingerly sweeping a hand over the small of his husband’s back. He wasn’t even paying attention to the music- it was vague white noise in the background. Unimportant.

There was new scar tissue, around Kakyoin’s upper back, from an especially nasty stab wound from some seinen protagonist that had come to life with Bohemian Rhapsody that had gotten infected. His left shoulder still had claw marks embedded into it from the winter of ‘96, which Kakyoin didn’t think to cover with the oversized t shirt that slipped off it. Not that he was able to spend special attention to every detail of his appearance, anymore- not since he slowly, surely, went blind last spring.

The only real reason why Jotaro took special notice was because now, since they’d survived and recovered from their latest world saving escapade, it was finally starting to show just how much Kakyoin had done to himself. In a vague sense, it made Jotaro guilty at times. Kakyoin was one of the few, very few, precious things in his life.

But he knew Kakyoin was a stubborn old bastard who wouldn’t have taken life laying down, so maybe it was better, in some vague, possibly fucked up way, that he hadn’t been able to talk Kakyoin out of it. Out of a lot- out of even more experimental cybernetics as the stand users kept getting more dangerous, out of research with volatile kids and their stands that helped everyone in the end, out of danger at every corner. Not out of Egypt. Not out of Morioh. Not out of Florida. It was all Kakyoin’s choice in the end. Who knows where he’d be if Kakyoin hadn’t decided all the things that he had.

Damn if it didn’t still hurt to feel how many times Jotaro had failed him, mapped out across his body.

“Darling, you feel tired.” Kakyoin whispered against him. Jotaro could feel his lips move against his skin.

“Mmm.” Jotaro hummed in vague agreement, resting his chin on Kakyoin’s hair. “Not in a bad way.”

Kakyoin chuckled, a breath puffing out past Jotaro’s collar. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just feel like it’s time to sleep forever.” Jotaro said, melting partially into Kakyoin when he felt those spindly fingers slip partially under his shirt and brush against his skin. Not roaming- just resting, feeling Jotaro underneath.

“Yes.” Kakyoin said, and when Jotaro raised his head up enough to peek down, Kakyoin’s eyes were closed. “I feel that way too, nowadays… only sometimes, though. I can keep going.”

“I know you can.” And Jotaro means it. Kakyoin had kept himself going for all this time already- what was another twenty years? “But you should sleep with me anyway.”

“Should I now?” Kakyoin said laughingly, but his mouth looks different. “I do that already- quite often too, Dr. Kujo…”

“That’s not what I mean.” Jotaro said, and it came out more as a sigh than he wanted. There was a moment of quiet. “... What brought this on?”

“Brought what on?” The song slowly faded, and another played. Soft, barely there piano.

“This.”

Jotaro moved one hand only to gesture vaguely, knowing the tentacles wrapped around his wrist would catch the movement. Kakyoin went silent for a moment, face turned away. Then, it turned back towards Jotaro, and if Jotaro weren’t in his right mind, he might have mistaken Kakyoin for peering up at him from under his lashes.

“Rohan recently has begun to mentor Shizuka- the invisible child. He asked me to come on stand business, and it seems like an interesting case… so I was considering going.” Kakyoin said, sighing delicately. He rested his face against Jotaro’s shoulder, eyes slipping shut. “It’s not urgent, and he said it wouldn’t be for a few months, but… well, I just wanted to hold you baby.”

Jotaro kept quiet, looking down at Kakyoin. He knew there wasn’t anything that he could say, if Kakyoin really wanted to go- but he didn’t want to leave Kakyoin alone in that. Not when he could still keep going himself. He chose his next words carefully. “Are you sure?”

“About holding you?” Kakyoin smiled gently. “More sure than anything else in my life.”

“No… about this case.” Jotaro said, hand skirting across Kakyoin’s shoulder. Across the scar. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the scar down below, on his stomach- but Jotaro had long grown used to the scars Dio left. It was the new ones that worried him now. “Everything with Jolyne just happened.”

“Yes.” Kakyoin nodded. “That’s true. But everything with Asha and the case in Brazil happened very soon after Dio. And everything in Morioh happened after the heist ring in Canada. Everything is quite soon after everything- but that’s just how it is. No rest for the wicked, as they say.”

“Doesn’t have to be.” Jotaro muttered, eyes slipping shut. He was even more tired than before. “Just stay.”

Kakyoin paused and, surprisingly, didn’t say anything scathing. He just quietly said, “If I do that, I might go crazy.”

“There are other ways to be busy.” Ways that didn’t involve near death. Ways that didn’t mean more running around. Sometimes, Jotaro wondered if Kakyoin has ever slowed down. Other times, he knew Kakyoin hasn’t.

“... Hierophant will get bored.” Kakyoin was avoiding it.

“He doesn’t seem bored right now.” Jotaro said, feeling Hierophant’s tentacles form into a hand, hiding under his shirt. Jotaro didn’t mind the stand’s penchant for hiding in tight spaces.

“That’s because… you’re here-”

“And I’ll stay with you.” Jotaro said. The cassette skipped a few notes and continued onto the next song.

Kakyoin’s face softened. He gingerly held Jotaro close, squeezing . “... I know you will.”

They were quiet.

“So stay with me.”

It might have been a well known fact that Kakyoin Noriaki had Jotaro wrapped around his finger- it wasn’t exactly something Jotaro hid, and even then, Kakyoin was the only person on Earth who could move him to do anything. But a little known fact about Kakyoin was- for as amicable and accommodating as he was with others, and as stubborn and immovable- he couldn’t deny Jotaro anything either.

Jotaro knew this better than most, and fortunately, didn’t take advantage often. But Jotaro knew what he wanted.

“... Just for a bit,” Kakyoin ceded. “We’ll sleep on it.”

Jotaro said, “That’s all I need.”

#jotakakweek #jotakak #jotaro kujo #kakyoin noriaki #jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo no kimyou na bouken #my writing #fanfiction #fluff #slow dancing #angst #is it angst? is it hurt/comfort? i dont even know #the feeling i had writing this was indescribable #hjbjvkhbvf #day 2: dancing

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jjba-ocean-man · 6 years

Note

♬☿۞

♬ - Scene that made you the saddest?

((Honestly. I’d say Jonathan’s death. Mostly just about his development as a character we see through his beginning and then when we think he’s going to get an ending that he deserves - it’s so suddenly taken away from him, but he dies in such a fashion that’s so, him. The fact that his death marks the beginning of a legacy that spans through 6 parts and so many generations, an end to a beginning of a bizarre adventure.

While I’m still not through everything, so far I’ll leave it with that choice. But don’t get me wrong I cried over a lot of other things, and there’s still tears to come.))

☿ - Character you don’t understand the fuss over?

((Rohan. The thing is, I really like Rohan as a character, flaws and all you know? I’m not sure if it’s more of a joke or if people actually hate him, which is fine! That’s them. But it makes me feel a little awkward to say that I actually do like him as a character. He’s still a stinky rat manga man though. Even if he’s my favorite from Diamond is Unbreakable.))

۞ - Part you would beg Araki to change?

((I’d say Diamond is Unbreakable. There’s certain parts of other ones that I could go on about but overall the only reason why I’d choose that one is simply because it felt like there were too many unnecessary characters that just? Didn’t make sense? It felt oddly paced for me at least.

A lot of unanswered questions too for that arc, it feels like he just kinda wanted to make it light but also put it too much hidden details that just felt overwhelming? Also, since I haven’t gotten through part 5 and onward, so I’m probably biased, the atmosphere of that part felt so much different than the previous three. I don’t hate it though!))

#ask meme #ren speaks

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plagueofsquid · 6 years

Text

Day 1 - Fever - Jotahan

Hey guys! I’ll be doing seven fics for hurt/comfort week, so there’s that to look forward to. The usual situation, posted on Tumblr throughout the week and then on AO3 by Sunday.

It wasn’t like Rohan to leave his front door open.

Morioh was a pretty safe town, recent events notwithstanding, but this was simply irresponsible. Especially for a minor celebrity like Rohan, who wasn’t exactly welcoming towards guests, even when it came to the ones he had actually invited.

Jotaro sighed and entered the silent house, shutting the door as he went. Rohan was a powerful Stand user, possibly the most powerful Jotaro had ever encountered, but he couldn’t afford to take any chances. Not with Kira still on the run and new enemies popping up everywhere like particularly stubborn weeds.

The first floor was dark, the lights off and heavy curtains drawn across the windows. Rohan liked his privacy. Normally, Jotaro respected that fact. He was also a private person, and he understood the desire for quiet and solitude. But this time, Rohan was expecting him.

He’d called Jotaro with a promising lead, a collection of photographs he’d taken of Morioh and the surrounding area for reference purposes. With Star Platinum’s precision, any small details could be enlarged and examined. Thus, Rohan had offered a grudging invitation, his house around noon the next day, and in the interest of catching Kira, Jotaro had accepted.

It was only to catch Kira. Jotaro had no other reason to visit Rohan, of course he didn’t, the two barely knew each other. And he saw nothing in the reclusive mangaka, certainly not anything attractive about his haughty demeanor or his slender frame or his bold fashion sense.

Jotaro had spent the morning on the phone with his wife, or his ex-wife, or whatever she was now. The last thing he needed was another load of emotions on top of the ones he already had.

The doors to the kitchen and the porch were shut, and that left the second floor. Jotaro was starting to worry. Rohan could handle himself in a fight as long as he could use Heaven’s Door, but he wasn’t much physically. It would be easy for an enemy to overpower him before he had a chance to call out his Stand.

The stairs creaked under Jotaro’s feet, and he summoned Star Platinum just in case. If there was an enemy in the house, they would be alerted by the sound. And operating off his overpowering Rohan theory, they would be able to attack quickly.

Upon reaching the landing, he let out a sigh of relief. There was a light under the door to Rohan’s study. That meant the man had simply gotten caught up in working on his manga. Not a good reason to leave your front door open, but a very Rohan one.

Jotaro knocked on the door, and the only answer he got was silence. Again, not unusual for Rohan. He had a sort of obsessive fervor for his work that Jotaro couldn’t help but respect. But he had business, and so he entered.

The blinds were all closed, the only light from a collection of lamps, and Rohan sat hunched over a desk at the other end of the room, sketching furiously. Jotaro knocked on the doorframe, and when that didn’t work, offered a short, “Hey.”

Rohan didn’t even look at him. “Go away.”

Jotaro was back on guard instantly. This sort of thing was exactly what he’d learned to expect from an enemy Stand attack. Rohan should know they had business, and while he was devoted to his manga, he wanted to catch Kira as much as the rest of them. Maybe more, given his personal connection to a certain ghost girl.

“You wanted to show me some photos?” There was still a chance this was just Rohan being Rohan. It was hard to tell with him.

“I said go away!” The mangaka turned around, and for the second time that day, relief washed over Jotaro.

Rohan looked tired. His hair stuck up at odd angles and there were dark circles around his eyes. He didn’t seem like he was under attack. But he clearly wasn’t having a good day anyway.

“Good grief,” Jotaro sighed. “You’re the one who invited me.”

“I did?” Rohan ran a hand through his unkempt hair, looking genuinely confused. That ended quickly. “Whatever! I’ve got work to do!” He spun back around and his pen leapt into motion once again.

Jotaro frowned. He crossed the distance between them and, with no regard for personal space, touched Rohan’s forehead. It felt warm, considerably warmer than it should. “Rohan, you’re sick.”

“Nonsense!” Rohan attempted to push Jotaro’s hand away with little success. “Illness is nothing to the great Kishibe Rohan!”

“You have a fever.”

“And?” The lines on the page were jagged and uneven, not at all like Rohan. “I have a chapter to finish! Go away! You’re making my head hurt!”

Jotaro knew he should leave it at that. He could come back tomorrow, inspect the photos, be that much closer to catching Kira. Rohan, for all his pettiness and spite, was an adult. If he chose not to take care of himself, that was none of Jotaro’s business.

And yet his feet remained rooted to the spot.

The truth was, maybe Rohan had a certain charm. An unusual one, but Jotaro wasn’t exactly normal either. Maybe seeing him like this hurt, in a way Jotaro had thought he could no longer feel. A way he’d tried to forget existed. Maybe the sharp eyes and the nimble fingers and the delicate lips formed something Jotaro called possibility.

Maybe he was still stuck in the past, still dreaming of red hair and a green coat and a voice he’d never hear again.

Jotaro bent down and lifted Rohan out of his desk chair, one arm under his legs and the other around his back. He straightened up, and headed towards the door with Rohan held tight in his arms.

Unsurprisingly, Rohan wasn’t happy with this new development. A fist slammed into Jotaro’s chest with the force of a particularly angry child. “Hey! Let go!”

Jotaro shook his head.

“Put me down!” Rohan reminded him of a wet cat, trying to claw at Jotaro’s face. The best he managed was to knock his hat askew. “Where are you taking me?!”

“Bed.” Jotaro tried his best not to look at Rohan. It would makes things more complicated than they needed to be. “You’re sick.”

“I need to finish my chapter!” Rohan attempted to wriggle out of Jotaro’s hold, earning himself a tighter grip. They were at the study door, and then through to the landing.

“Good grief.” Jotaro wasn’t sure which door led to Rohan’s bedroom, but he got lucky on his first guess. The room was barely more than a cell, just a bed, a dresser, and a chair. Surely Rohan could afford better. “You’re in no state to work.”

It seemed Rohan had realized Jotaro wasn’t going to be talked out of it. He stopped struggling, and that made it all feel strange, the weight of another person in his arms. Why hadn’t he used Star Platinum? The Stand would have been able to restrain Rohan much easier than Jotaro himself.

But as strange as it was, he liked the feeling.

“Stay.” Jotaro set Rohan down gently on the bed, and used Star Platinum to bring over the chair so he could sit down. The blankets were in a heap at the bed’s foot, and he draped one over Rohan.

“Alright.” Rohan’s glare was pure spite. “I’m in bed. You can go now.”

Jotaro shook his head. “You’ll get up the minute I leave.”

“No I won’t.” Rohan said, like that was something Jotaro was supposed to believe.

“Get some rest.”

It wasn’t the way things had been so long ago. Rohan was different, none of the polite facade and the honor student look. He was ice all the way through. But Jotaro was different too. And maybe that was enough.

#jjbahurtcomfortweek #day 1 #jjba #jotahan #past jotakak #fanfic news

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unusuallykrispyfire · 7 years

Text

Character/Outfit Design Analysis (Rohan Kishibe) Part 2

Continuing from part 1, we have here the magnificent specimen known as Rohan Kishibe and more of his many outfits to discuss and analyze. Let's just dive right into it then!

The first outfit on the agenda is the outfit Rohan wears during the fight with Ken Oyanagi during the Janken Boy is Coming arc and is also the first image in this post. This seems to have become one his most iconic and most recognizable outfits in general as it’s the default costume he is wearing in both JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle and Eyes of Heaven.

It’s a simple outfit with a crop-top undershirt/jacket combo and slacks with shoes. The jackets and underwear both have his signature pen symbol on them, showing his dedication to his craft once more. This outfit is his signature for a reason. It’s not as flashy as some of the others, but it makes up for that by being a true testament to the kind of person he is and the fashion sense he enjoys (midriffs <3)

Next up we have the outfit he wears during his “fight” with the Stand, Cheap Trick. It’s not really much of a fight, but it’s stressful and suspenseful leaving you guessing the entire time you watch it. Whoops, got a bit side tracked, let’s proceed.

He wears a shirt similar to the one in I Am An Alien minus the midriff (which is what helped that outfit even WORK imo...I’m biased towards midriffs if you haven’t noticed) with some very nice pants and some tall boots. He’s also rocking a pen tip necklace in the style of Flava Flav. In the image here, we can see him regretting that mistake as the rest of the outfit is actually amazing without it.

The Highway Star arc brings another fantastic outfit our way, with this interesting one button jacket with a long shirt underneath that looks suspiciously like a dress with a collar. He wears rather slim fitting pants with some boots that give him the feel of a stylish biker (fitting since he has a bike in this arc...wait, if he has a bike...why the hell was he on the bus?)

The outfit he wears here also gives him an air of a detective in a crime novel. This, along with the general mood of the introduction with him going into the tunnel to investigate the door and window he sees there while on the bus, it feels like we’re watching some crazy insane Sherlock Holmes story.

And here we are, the final outfit and boy, what an outfit it is! During what is quite possibly one of the best story arcs in not only part 4 of JoJo’s, but in JoJo’s as a whole, the Bites The Dust arc where the group finally begins to put the pieces together to defeat the serial killer plaguing Morioh Town, Rohan drives into town to locate a lead on the whereabouts of the killer (srsly...wtf was Rohan doing on a bus? This man has a motorcycle AND A CAR!!!)

What can be considered one of his most popular outfits overall, this get-up sees Rohan with another of his not-jacket jackets that he loves wearing (they may as well just be called capes), a midriff(<3) shirt with two pen tip symbols and pants that seems like they’re connected to his tall zipper boots. A pair of rider gloves complete the ensemble and give off the impression of somebody who’s ready for business.

This outfit is a perfect one to end the series on, as it has all the makings of a super flashy last battle outfit. Sadly, Rohan doesn’t end up doing much in this arc due to the focus on Josuke finding and fighting the villain, but it still gives off the impression of a final battle everyone wants to watch.

That about wraps it up for this post. I’ll be doing a post at a much later point about Rohan’s outfits in the side stories but I need to actually ready all of them first!! Till next time, Ciao~!!

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garden-ghoul · 7 years

Text

two blogs, part 8

“feeling pleased with myself because I own multiple vegetables AND a jam right now”

Just like me, the hobbits are thinking of their next meal:

OF HERBS AND STEWED RABBIT

I’m jazzed because I think my boy Faramir is gonna be in this one. The Shigeo to Boromir’s Ritsu. Anyway, there is supposed to be food and water for the scavenging in the place where our heroes are going! They have to go through Ithilien to get to Cirith Ungol, which we all must agree has a much more pleasant and scavenge-able sound than blasted hell-plains of ultra-despair. So they set off on their way! It says "a single red light burned high up in the Towers of the Teeth,” which is kind of ominous considering I don’t remember those being mentioned, ever. Maybe it’s because I was practically asleep last chapter.

Our heroes find their hearts much lightened to see trees again, and they realize that they’ve come so far south that it’s already spring here. Mm I want to figure out what the actual latitude difference is between the Shire and Cirith Ungol. Hold on a sec. It’s a north-south distance of about 800 miles (nice going guys!!), which is about the same as Boston to Charleston, SC, or from London to Madrid. In ANY case, it’s spring in Ithilien, and “Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.” What a great phrase! really good aesthetic. Tolkien goes in an amazing amount of detail about exactly which kinds of plants there are--one assumes this is Sam POV again, because Frodo probably knows the names of about 12 kinds of plants. Gollum breathes in the strong perfume of the flowers and chokes, which is another relateable Gollum feeling.

We also observe that even in this beautiful land there are signs of the Enemy; apparently orcs just go around carving random shit on trees, which is kinda endearing. The text describes it as “evil runes,” but come on it’s probably mostly “Yalbakh is a wanker.” “7th company rulez.”

Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched. Now that the despair of the impassable Gate was behind him, he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead.

My logistics son. He asks Gollum very politely to catch something hobbits can eat; while Gollum is out hunting, Sam just stares at Frodo’s Beautiful Chiselled Sleeping Face and mutters “I love him.” Gaaaaayyyy. Then he starts thinking of how to cook the rabbits Gollum has brought back. Hobbits learn to cook before they learn to read! This delights me greatly. I want to live in a culture that prioritizes having everyone able to cook! Gollum comes back with water and realizes Sam is going to cook the rabbits. Horror of horrors!! This is one of the cute... ish.... Sam and Smeagol interactions, because there’s barely any threats of maiming at all! Just good old fashioned cultural misunderstandings. Sam tries to get Smeagol to find him some herbs or root vegetables, by which Smeagol is Bewildered. What the fuck is taters, precious?? He huffs himself away into the forest somewhere, indignant.

Sam and his master sat just within the fern-brake and ate their stew from the pans, sharing the old fork and spoon. They allowed themselves half a piece of the Elvish waybread each. It seemed a feast.

::3

A little later Sam realizes his fire is smoking, and that someone in the forest is sloppily imitating bird calls. He hurries to Frodo’s side, and they hear some people who sound like they’re discussing Gollum. You’d think Gollum would be the stealthiest, the least likely to be spotted, but I’m guessing the Gondorians (Gondorrim?) have seen him before.

‘Nay! Not Elves,' said the fourth, the tallest, and as it appeared the chief among them. 'Elves do not walk in Ithilien in these days. And Elves are wondrous fair to look upon, or so 'tis said.'

'Meaning we're not, I take you,' said Sam. 'Thank you kindly. And when you've finished discussing us, perhaps you'll say who you are, and why you can't let two tired travellers rest.'

At least we still have Sam to be passive-aggressive to gently bewildered humans who may or may not be about to kill him. But Captain Faramir has no choice to believe that they’re from his brother’s company when they share his own prophetic dream with him. Faramir goes, I guess, somewhere, leaving two men to guard the hobbits. The guards turn out to know some kind of elven language! How exciting! Frodo realizes they must be Dunedain. Awww haha and one of them is named Mablung. Faramir’s men are here to harass a company of Haradrim who apparently serve Sauron. It’s a good thing Faramir is captain, Mablung intimates; he leads a charmed life! Nothing unlucky can possibly happen to him! ...well, depending on whether you count his brother dying unlucky. But I guess Frodo and Sam don’t actually know Boromir is dead. Faramir... might, actually? Just now, Faramir is coming back in pursuit of some guy, and--yep--he’s shot him dead full of arrows.

It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil of heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.

::( Same. Nobody wonders whether orcs are really evil at heart, though. Wonder, damn you! The battle ends and Sam goes to sleep immediately. Okay.

THE WINDOW ON THE WEST

When Sam wakes up, everyone is sitting in a circle for story time, I mean, watching Faramir interrogate Frodo. Faramir is like, trying to trick Frodo into... admitting he killed Boromir? Maybe? Frodo is just shocked to find out that Boromir is dead, but Sam is having none of this rudeness.

'See here, Captain! ' He planted himself squarely in front of Faramir his hands on his hips, and a look on his face as if he was addressing a young hobbit who had offered him what he called ‘sauce' when questioned about visits to the orchard.

SAUCE. FARAMIR, YOUNG HOBBIT. No I’ll bet Sam is actually a good bit older than Faramir. Also Faramir’s men are kind of delighted to see him being told off by this 3-foot-tall super indignant guy. But Faramir tells Sam off right back and then goes right on, though he’s marginally more polite to Frodo. He tells about finding Boromir’s body in the funeral boat. Frodo fears that this means everyone else is dead too ::( ::( “Will you not put aside your doubt of me and let me go?” says Frodo. “I am weary, and full of grief, and afraid. But I have a deed to do, or to attempt, before I too am slain.” TFW honestly. Our heroes walk with Faramir to a safehouse nearby (actually ten miles away, a long distance for short legs!) and he makes an incredibly good guess at why it sounds like Frodo and Boromir weren’t BFFs. He totally understands that Frodo can’t say any more:

'Alas! it is a crooked fate that seals your lips who saw him last, and holds from me that which I long to know: what was in his heart and thought in his latest hours.’

I love that thing where... there is something someone Absolutely Cannot Say, and everyone knows they’re talking in code and they’re in trouble over that thing. It’s not that common? Right now I can only remember it happening in Full Metal “hostage situations everywhere” Alchemist. Anyway it’s my jam. Faramir talks wistfully about how warlike Boromir always was, and how Faramir just wants to see the White Tree bloom and to see Minas Tirith at peace. I am just CONSTANTLY thinking to myself “Faramir is going to die!” and then I remember he actually survives and is happy and I’m just, utterly astonished. This happens like 3 times a minute. It’s incredibly stupid.

They get to the safehouse, which is Very Beautiful. Faramir’s men prepare some food. “Sam, not used to being waited on, looked with some surprise at the tall man who bowed, holding a basin of water before him.” [begins chanting] Wait on Sam! Wait on Sam! After eating Faramir comes to question Frodo some more, but, like, friendly. Frodo wants to please him so he talks about how Valiant Boromir was. For some reason this is kind of heartbreaking to me. That feel when you are trying hard to remind yourself that you are not safe and never will be again, that you cannot trust anyone... Also when Faramir is talking there’s this sense that Gondor is slowly dying. Maybe that’s why I absolutely can’t believe Faramir survives this trilogy. Rohan is still young and strong though, so that’s good! Gondor’s history is just too long. It’s tired. The civilization is too old and is overdue to crumble.

‘As the Rohirrim do, we now love war and valour as things good in themselves, both a sport and an end; and though we still hold that a warrior should have more skills and knowledge than only the craft of weapons and slaying, we esteem a warrior, nonetheless, above men of other crafts.’

Faramir does not love war, and he doesn’t want to be a warrior. He’s a good man and I like him. These harsh days make everyone wary and sharp. Sam accidentally gets going on the subject of Galadriel and reveals that Isildur’s Bane is the Ring, and Faramir gets a Weird Look on his face. “A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!” But don’t worry, my dears, he’s only quoting some nasty thing his father said to him, I think. He doesn’t want to even see the Ring. He’s a stronger man than his brother. Go to sleep, my good friends, and have no fear he’ll try to take it from you. Frodo suddenly blurts out exactly what their errand is... and then faints. Faramir carries him gently to bed.

#hey gogol I wrote approximately 16 entire lines in cantos 2-4 today #I'm Winning #the game of... attempt to do something #blog of the rings

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benjaminhunter · 7 years

Note

T, U, V

under the cut for length!! ty for asking !!!

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

fast and hard headcanons, huh.. you’ll notice how my vocaloid hcs are short because i have so much of them but i don’t want to list them all.

(voca)

all vocaloids know sign language

rin & len kagamine are both genderfluid and most vocaloids/utaus are pan, no one is straight (god forbid);

lui hibiki has aphonia and ring suzune is Deaf

v flower is agender and refers to themself with they pronouns and gendered terms like “Im fuckboy??” or “im just some country girl”

v3 & v4 flower are selective mute

fukase has a skin picking disorder

miku append solid has an eating disorder (just a heads up i don’t want to treat this as a cute headcanon like an accessory or a fashion statement, its literally headcanons because i project myself on characters i love the most ! ok !)

miki is an alien, can float, makes funny beeping noises when excited

ia is an alien, can float

piko has prosthetic legs

gakupo is a gay trans man

sachiko is a trans woman

all len units are big narcissists and want to date each other somehow

yuzuki yukari is a lesbian

yuzukari on is good at video games, yuzukari lin is not

anon and kanon both are flirty jerks and woo all the girls (especially rana)

OTOMACHI UNA LOVES DRAGONS

cocorobo eats dirt. she straight up sucks dirt

(dr)

komaru wears socks in bed (and during sex hfsdhskdfjsds);

touko smacked mitarai in the face once;

shsl impostor is nonbinary; AI nanami isn’t a different person from dr3 nanami but in fact nanami reincarnated;

when tenko held hands with a girl for the first time she had to lie down for twenty minutes and broke down crying in Gay Joy

(lok)

kuvira has a swarm of beauty spots on her stomach and hearing the name beifong associated with her makes her skin crawl;

kuvira fell in unrequited love with korra and probably will always be in love with her, always there for her if she needs a hand, mako-style

lin was married to another woman and is a widow now

bolin and opal’s kid is an airbender

when katara dies, bumi didn’t make it in time to see her one last time and he has to live with that guilt for a while and disappears in the spirit world for like. two years; and then asami and korra go look for him because Bumi Is Their Friend? and a sweetheart

rohan is gay

(aa)

phoenix is bi, maya is bi, edgeworth is gay, mia is bi, athena is pan, apollo is bi, trucy is gay, klavier is pan, ema doesn’t care, rayfa is Fucking Gay My Dudes, nahyuta transcends gender and is bi, simon is gay

kristoph isn’t all black. he’s terrible and murdered people but my hc is he didn’t physically / mentally abuse his brother like so many think he did

hc that manfred von karma is mentally ill (ocd ?) and while that doesnt excuse his actions, its one of the reasons he put his children through so much abuse

i ship cy/ke/squill in a weird way, in the way that they adore each other, they require physical touch (like athena needs to rub her head against simon’s shoulder) and could sometimes kiss yeah,and they sometimes speak in unison and if asked, they’d probably marry each other, but they aren’t in love?.. they don’t.. have romantic love? platonic love only. if that makes sense

rayfa is smitten with trucy and maya.

wow lana and angel are still dating after all these years

lana and simon are buddies. aura and lana… hooked up also

(plvsaa)

layton and phoenix flirted. it’s canon. it happened

darklaw’s scar on her right hand comes from when she dragged espella away from the belltower the night of the Great Fire;

rouge & foxy are dating, rouge & barnham are cousins, darklaw is related to aura & simon blackquill,

espella and maya dated in the past,

espella is a lesbian, rouge is bi, barnham is bi, eve is bi (leaning more towards girls)

darklaw has avpd and is psychotic

espella is Not Neurotypical (ptsd / psychotic) + suicidal (!she has all my Mental Illnesses because i said so) and this one headcanon i’ll fight for it in your local supermarket parking lot

(zero escape)

diana, phi and sigma all live in a big apartment after ztd; its strange because they’re technically all related to each other but they’re all the same age so sometimes they get really drunk and then diana is like “fuck im supposed to be the mom” and then passes out

diana and sigma don’t get together asap because theres a lot of dancing around and phi watches them with a quirked eyebrow over the breakfast table because they both are So Straight it’s annoying

eventually sigma builds Luna and the four of them live together and it’s actually a Lot Easier to live with such a positive presence who’s here to comfort them

SIGMA PINCHES DIANA’S CHEEKS EVERYDAY AND HE SQUISHES PHI’S CHEEKS WHEN SHE LOSES AT MARIO KART, DIANA PINCHES PHI’S CHEEKS AND LUNA WILL PINCH SIGMA’S CHEEKS. THERES A LOT OF CHEEK PINCHING

phi drags luna to a bar once and tries to get her drunk or just see if a GOLEM can dysfunction with alcohol but mostly its just phi downing shots of vodka while boys and girls come to flirt with luna

carlos explains to akane he’s dating someone, akane is overjoyed and want to meet them, and almost drops to the floor when she sees carlos is dating her brother aoi (junpei laughing in the distance)

sean jOINS A CIRCUS

mira actually kills eric. sorry eric. She then goes to follow sean around while he’s following the circus. they adopt gab

eric isn’t actually dead but he’s away from mira because them being married is an horrible idea. What The Fuck Was Kotaro Uchikoshi Thinking

tenmyouji is Cool Grandpa and quark is good at soccer (???)

alice and clover are dating

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

lin beifong, because she’s lin beifong, thats why. touko fukawa because shes so strong, you know. v flower because… i really love flower’s voice and design and to this day they help me figure my gender out

V - Which character do you relate to most?

kuvira. has ambition but crippled with visions of grandeur and recklessness, full of regrets and bitterness and knowing she betrayed someone, all the while burying deep abandonment issues inside of her. damn.

#shut up paru #Anonymous

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monosko · 4 years

Text

PRELIMINARY WORDS Calcutta acquires its distinctive flavour presumably from the fusion of characters grown in diverse cultural environs in distant lands. Being the first capital of modern India, the city attracted overseas traders, bread-earners, fortune hunters and travelers who spent varying length of their lives here amid the locals giving exposure of spectacular living styles and standards to them. Many of those were great names who had left for us textual and visual details, others left too little to trace back their lives in those maiden days of Town Calcutta still wrapped in haze. Much of the important constructs gone amiss in want of contexts culled from firsthand records, or from the secondary sources left by contemporaries. Reconstruction of the period can possibly be done only by collaging syntactically the fragments likewise promising many a surprise.

This portrait of Julius Soubise(1746-1798) a self-styled ‘African Prince’, is believed to be the long-forgotten work of Johan Jaffony referred to in the Reminiscences of Henry Angelo.(1830). See Notes

It is, indeed, surprising to know how many shades of skin the early visitors of Calcutta had and in how many different tongues they spoke. But more amazing was the loaded experience of the colourful past they had lived before landed in India. They looked different, thought different and did things differently for living. Those were the people who opened up new sources of learning to live in different ways beautifully in a plural society of modern time. The 18th century Calcutta with its formative society had welcomed the harbingers of change. Among them were two cavaliers of rare charms, both banished from their homelands apparently for guilt of chivalrous romancing. Julius Soubise the Caribbean boy groomed as a English dandy, and the French nobleman Antoine de l’Etang the personal bodyguard of Luis the XIV were contemporaries. Although l’Etang was 3 year senior by age, arrived later in 1796, while Soubise, nearly a decade before, in 1778.

JULIUS SOUBISE IN LONDON

Soubise may be said to have been born twice, the first time in London, next time in Calcutta. His two lives were opposite to each other but inseparable like day and night. This is why you must allow me to dwell upon his London life before narrating his life in Calcutta.

Catherine Hyde Douglas (1701-1777), Duchess of Queensberry, Painted by Jervas. 1720

Charles Douglas. 3rd Duke of Queensberry

CIS:E.2185-1949

Dominico Angelo, Italian fencer

Angelo’s Fencing School, Haymarket

Little we know of the Caribbean child, later grown to a notorious young dandy, a self-stylized ‘Black Prince’ in London high society, except that he was born around c.1754 in St. Kitts to a white planter father and a mother of African descent. The boy was sent under the guardianship of Captain Stair Douglas of Royal Navy to England. Reaching London on April 2nd 1764 he was given to the care of the captain’s cousin sister Kitty or Catherine Hyde Douglas, the Duchess of Queensberry (1701-1777) – an eccentric beauty and a socialite, known for her fondness for aprons. [Here is a portrait of her painted by Charles Jervas in the 1720s]

The Duchess apparently freed the boy from slavery and named him Julius Soubise, after Charles de Rohan, Prince of Soubise. [Miller] An all round education appropriate for the British genteel society was set out for him. The celebrated Italian master Angelo Dominic taught Soubise in gentle arts in his School of Arms. Soubise began to make his mark by 1772 – a decade before the rising popularity of amateur and competitive fencing matches cemented the sport’s position in the leisure economy of the fashionable world. He also became proficient at the violin and composed a few merry pieces in the Italian style, and even sang in a comic operatic manner. Soubise was a great favourite of David Garrick’s, the elder Sheridan gave him lessons on elocution, and was loved by some of the brightest luminaries of his time.

His rising success in such a young age inspired Soubise in modeling himself as the ‘Black Prince’ – an epitome of aristocratic masculinity – opened for him a reckless life of a ruthless womanizer and squanderer. He became a source of worries for the upper-class Britons because of not having any real contenders to stop Soubise demeaning the values and the image of the British nobility. As we find from the stray records fetched by recent scholars, the Duchess, alone had the key role in upbringing Soubise in baronial fashion. She maintained a house in town for Soubise, as well a liveried carriage to take him around, and all amenities for leading his foppish life. She herself suffered often from his heedless drives, but made no attempt to check him firmly, probably due to her kindly feelings toward the black boy less than half of her age. The vanguards of the high society in London thought that circulation of a scandalous cartoon involving Soubise and the Duchess should be a sure measure to stall Soubise by embarrassing him as well as his patron the Duchess, and his mentor Dominico Angelo all at once.

A satirical picture depicting Soubise and the Duchess of Queensbury engaged in a fencing match, an engraving of Austin brought about on May 1,1773

“Macaroni” was a contemporary name for a fashionable young man; “Mungo” was a name of an officious slave from the 1769 comic opera The Padlock

On May 1, 1773, they brought about a satirical picture depicting Soubise and the Duchess of Queensbury engaged in a fencing match, an engraving of Austin based on illustrations of fencing compiled by the Angelo fencing dynasty. Duchess Catherine and Angelo are thus implicated in the most disgraceful public attack on Soubise. As researchers think, it would be a mistake to read the cartoon’s use of fencing as merely allegorical, or to assume that the duchess is the cartoon’s only target. In fact, the cartoon also implicates Dominico Angelo. Besides William Austin’s engraving, there have been most notably, A Mungo Macaroni (published September 10, 1772), part of a famous 1771-73 satirical series of engravings depicting fashionable young men, published by Matthew and Mary Darly.

In some sense, Cohen pointed out, “the ultimate target of the cartoon is neither Soubise nor the Duchess of Queensberry, nor even Angelo, but the market economy in which the trappings of rank could be indiscriminately bought and sold.” [Cohen. 2018] The satire was of poor taste and offensive in nature. It must have dampened the spirit of Soubise at least temporarily, and the Duchess felt obliged to bring him back to his good senses to the possible extent. As it appears, Soubise used to stay at Angelo’s, yet remained a favourite of the Duchess who continued to take care of his fads and follies and pay off his large debts quietly. Things suddenly went out of her hand when the Duchess got informed that ‘one of her maids had been raped by Soubise’. She tried to dissuade the woman in vain from going to court. [Sandhu] It was probably from the Duchess, Angelo came to know of the kind of fast life Soubise had been leading in his private apartments where he assumed the habits of an extravagant man of fashion in company of succession of visitors in rooms decorated with roses, geranium, and expensive green-house plants. It was Angelo on whose recommendation, Soubise was sent to India at the expense of the Duchess. [Miller] The Duchess had hardly any option but to arrange passage for Soubise to flee the country he was so madly in love. It was the tragic end of her cherished relationship with the little black boy she brought up as a social rebel decrying against racialist, xenophobic and moralist sentiments in her own fashion. She died of eating too much cherries on June 17th 1777 [Fryer]. Next month Soubise sailed for Calcutta on July 15th 1777 [Sandhu] to start another life very different from the one vanished with the passing of his noble patroness.

III

SOUBISE IN CALCUTTA

On July 15, Julius Soubise left the English shore boarding the Bessborough East Indiaman under the captaincy of Alexander Montgomerie. The ship reached Madras via Media and Cape on 9 February 1778 [Three Decks]. In those days river trips from a South India port to Calcutta would take about three weeks. It could not be any earlier than March 1778 Soubise arrived at Calcutta’s Chandpal Ghat where large vessels used to embark. Almost a nameless black boy of twenty-three, Soubise landed in the small township of Calcutta leaving back his gorgeous past of princely life assuredly protected by the Duchess of Queensberry till her last. Soubise wanted her most to be at his side while starting a new life of a labouring common man instead.

Nabakissen’s Evening Party attended by Calcutta British and European families

Begum Johnstone, the grandmother of the Earl of Liverpool

Calcutta was then ‘the grave of thousands, but a mine of inexhaustible wealth’. [Long] Already the capital of British India, Calcutta was still then a small township resurrected from the ashes of Lalbagh Battle centering around the Customs House amid the ruins of the old Fort William. Clive Street was then ‘the grand theatre of business’, and there stood the Council House, and every public mart in it. The day Soubise landed, there was no Mint, no Calcutta Gazette, no Asiatic Society of Bengal, but a Court House to render legal services as well as facilities of balls and theatrical acts besides running of the charity school for which the building was funded by the Lottery Committee and Omichand a Rothschild of India. Calcutta had ‘a noble play-house—but no church’, service was held in a room next to the Black Hole. The St John Church – the first Anglican Cathedral of Calcutta was founded by Lord Hastings on the land donated by the Hindu Nabokissen in 1874. [Long] All these institutions nevertheless came up one after another in the presence of Soubise. There were, however, no dearth of amusement and recreation with theatrical houses, hotels and coffee shops for the white population, largely Englishmen, Eurasians, few Americans. The presence of native society in Tank Square vicinity was imperceptible, excepting a few men of affairs like Omichand and Nabokissen. Those days the influence of the fabled socialite, Begum Johnstone, the grandmother of the Earl of Liverpool, prevailed over the lifestyle of Calcutta’s citizenry. Till ten at night, their houses were lit up in their best style, and thrown open for the reception of visitors. There were music and dancing for the young, and cards for the old. Common people live both splendidly and pleasantly, the forenoons being dedicated to business, and after dinner [= midday meal] to rest, and in the evening to recreate themselves in chaises or palanquins in the fields, or to gardens, or by water in their budgeroes. [Blockmann] The condition of Calcutta was not too kind to the young men fresh from school, lavishing large sums on horse-racing, dinner parties, contracting large loans with Banians, who clung to them for life like leeches, and quartered their relations on them throughout their Indian career.

It was perhaps the most critical phase in Calcutta history that Soubise witnessed during the last two decades of the 18th century. This was the time when Calcutta extended itself far beyond its boundary limits to the jungle, covering one-third of the Company’s territories, inhabited only by wild beasts, and in Chowringhee, between Dhurrumtollah and Brijitalao, where the new colony of the Europeans was being stretched out. The changing scenario of the Town Calcutta growing into the City of Palace can be envisioned by looking into the earliest Calcutta maps charted by Aaron Upjohn and Mark Wood, and going over the innumerous paintings of world-class artists, like Thomas and William Daniells, Thomas Hickey, Tilly Kettle, William Hodges, John Zoffany, and others. Within a year after the momentous duel fought between Lord Hastings and Sir Francis on 17 August 1777, Soubise entered the Calcutta scene prospecting as an accomplished lancer, a musician, and a horseman.

ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES Settlers of those days were hospitable. As we learn from an anonymous account of travels (1760—1768), “there was no part Hospitality of the world where people part with their money to assist each other so freely as the English in India.” [Anon. Edin. Mag.] We might have then some reasons to believe that Soubise had not been left all by himself totally incapacitated in his ventures, if not black-skinned.

Soubise took a couple of years to initiate the business plans he designed after his mentor Dominico Angelo’s model. It was from Angelo, Soubise equipped himself with the arts of aristocratic sportsmanship – horse-riding and fencing, and also some marketing skills as well. Before he formally inaugurated his Riding Academy on Thursday, November 7, 1780, Soubise had started teaching fencing. We understand from an insertion, most likely by Soubise himself published in Bengal Gazette of November 4, 1780, that next Thursday Mr. Soubise will open his Manège for the reception of the horses. His Fencing days will be shifted to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The next thing he did was staging Othello in the Theatre commemorating his first business venture in Calcutta. The Bengal Gazette declared sometime between 9th and 12th December that the Managers of the Theatre generously offered to give a benefit play to Mr. Soubise, toward the completion of his Manège. Mr. Soubise will appear on that night in the character of Othello. And afterward perform the part of Mungo in the entertainment ….. The part of Iago will be attempted by the Author of the Monitor, and Desdemona by Mr. H. a gentleman of doubtful Gender. [Bengal Gazette, Dec. 9th-12th 1780] Here, the reference to Mr. H. seems to be to Hickey himself, the editor of Bengal Gazette, who was known as an eccentric Irishman. Hickey’s acting or posing as a person of neutral sex may have been one of his eccentricities as Cohen maintains but it was perfectly in tune with the contemporary practices followed in the British stage in London as well as in Calcutta she pointed out. [Cohen. 2018].

Four years after, in 1784, Soubise set up his Fencing School advantageously housed behind Harmonic, the famous tavern of 18th century Calcutta, stood opposite the Lall Bazaar Police Court. As announced in the Calcutta Gazette on Thursday, June 24, 1784, Soubise proposes to teach the art of fencing against a nominal fees of two Gold Mohurs for the entry and two Gold Mohurs for tuition per month. His days are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Such Gentlemen as choose to take private lessons at their own house’s, will be attended on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; in which case his terms are three Gold Mohurs entrance, and three Gold Mohurs per mouth. [Seton-Karr]

Soubise was preparing for his new riding school since early 1788. Fort William reportedly granted him permission to run the school vide Calcutta Gazette April 24, 1788. The most enthralling publicity feat Soubise brought about for his new venture was an event report he made to appear in the Calcutta Chronicle of December 11, 1788. The report clearly reflects the way his businesses were packaged for a defined clientele belonging to Calcutta society as Domino used to do it in London. The report went as follows:

“Yesterday morning, early, the manly exercise of horsemanship was practiced at the Manège, by the scholars of Mr. Soubise, before a very numerous assembly. After the practice was over, near two hundred of the principal people of the settlement sat down to an elegant breakfast provided on the occasion. Breakfast being over, a ball was given, and the ladies and gentlemen were so highly delighted, that it was not without evident signs of regret, they relinquished such a pleasing and health-giving source of amusement …” [Calcutta Chronicle of December 11, 1788] Soubise in his manège taught “more than just horsemanship: it offered education in – as well as the opportunity to take part in a simulative performance of – English gentility”.[Cohen. 2020] Notwithstanding his best motive and organizational capability time and again he failed to take off.

“The newspapers that document these years are a chronicle of his financial instability. Soubise placed advertisements to publicize his new ventures – fencing lessons, horse riding lessons, sales of the mare. Those were followed at regular intervals by notices of insolvency. Yet, whether imprisoned for debt, hounded by creditors, or suffered the sale of his stables at auction, Soubise inevitably bounced back with new ventures”. [Cohen, 2020]

So far we have seen him in Calcutta, Soubise was a master performer and zealous teacher – a man of extraordinary talent in public entertainment with full of ideas for publicity and promotion, yet success eluded him in Calcutta. Soubise lost every business opportunity he created but never let go his indomitable spirit to start anew over and over again. His social and personal life too was rarely without unwelcome events. We come to know from Calcutta Gazette of 26 March 1789 that Soubise survived a brush with death when a French neighbour took a razor to his throat. He bore a ‘large Scar on the left side of the Throat’ from this encounter until his death.

Portrait of Nathaniel Middleton.by Tilly Kettle c.1784.

Lucknow After recovery, Soubise disappeared from Calcutta scene for three years while he stayed in Lucknow. One of his attractions was the famed stable of Nawab of Awadh . Soubise got acquainted with many distinguished people. It was told that a gentleman who held a high station in the east, known by the appellation of Memory Middleton, became a friend and patron of Soubise at Lucknow. [Angelo ] The gentleman could have been none other than Nathaniel Middleton a closed associate of Warren Hastings who sent him at the court of Nawab as the Resident. Middleton got involved in the lengthy dispute between Hastings and his Bengal Council, which eventually led to Hastings’ impeachment. However, since Middleton had resigned from the East India Company in 1784 and went back to England much before Soubise arrived at Lucknow, no meeting ever taken place between the two contrary to the general belief. [Stonopedia] Before Soubise left Lucknow at the end of 1791, he had developed some good connections with high officials of the Stables of the Awadhi court, some of the largest and best on the Indian subcontinent, which he exploited later. Calcutta meanwhile prepared to move south with completion of the Esplanade ground after getting the Dhurrumtollah Tank constructed. He took quite some time to resettle.

PRIVATE LIFE VS SOCIAL ISSUES This was the time when Soubise met Miss Catherine Pawson, a pretty and progressive young lady, popularly known as Kate. She was the only daughter of William Pawson, a good friend of Richard Blechynden (1759-1822), who became a soar critic and an reluctant business patron of Soubise.

Eduardo Territa, Active by James Gillrayi(Activen 1792

Richard Blechynden. Courtesy: Gerald Johnson Fox

Blechynden arrived in Calcutta in 1786 at the age of 22 years, and since then worked in various capacity – as a civil engineer, architect, or building contractor on his own, and sometimes worked under the Superintendent of Streets and Buildings – an Italian architect called Eduardo Tiretta of the Tiretta Bazaar fame. Blechynden also had a share in the Chronicle newspaper. Although he lived in rented houses in town, Blechynden spent his leisure time hunting in the manner of an English squire in “Belle Couchée” – a grand garden house with stables he owned at North-East Calcutta, off Dum Dum (later ‘Belgatchya’) road, about an hour’s walk from Tank Square. By 1806, after renovations, it turned into a very large, lower-roomed house with plenty of grounds and a tank of excellent water. It looks like, this had been the original premises of the legendary Belgachia Garden House and Blechynden its first owner before the property was sold to Lord Auckland and then passed on to Dwarkanath Tagore.

Rammohun Roy 1772-1833

Dwarkanath Tagore 1794-1847

In spite of his multiple income sources, Blechynden was not always financially steady, particularly in those days of French War, neither was his friend William Pawson. On coming to India, Pawson, son of a London wine merchant, joined the East India Company in 1765 and held the position of Paymaster General [Busteed]. He was dismissed in 1781 on the abolition of Provincial Councils. Depending on a small allowance he was permitted to draw, Pawson lead a humble life with his daughter. Although Blechynden, Pawson, and many like them, struggled with debts in 1790s, they nonetheless considered themselves genteel. Catharine Pawson, a member of the ‘polite society’ like her father, never cared much for social sanctions and taboos. “Upon making her acquaintance in 1793, Blechynden ‘thought she was very forward for a young lady’. A newspaper poem published by one of her admirers gives a similar impression, as does her penchant for acting, an activity considered out of bounds for gentlewomen.” Blechynden believed “her attitude undermined her class identity and social standing.” He might have felt something more than that – that it was not she alone but her family and friends too were at risk. The fear and anxiety of social rejection disturbed Blechynden’s peace of mind. His debts, his inability to pay salary to his staff, his gradual loss of hearing – were some of his moral and physical failings that made him apprehensive of social repercussion. The latest however was the shock he received from his friend’s freakish daughter and her scandalous affair with Soubise the ‘Coffree’ boy of a questionable character. Later, when Blechynden heard about their engagement, he could hardly conceal his indignation from the bride’s father, ‘I had heard, but scarcely knew how to believe it’. Pawson had no answer for him but openly speculated as much, that ‘he supposed the Coffree screwed her up tight — and that was the reason she preferred him’. [Cohen. 2020]

It was not interracial marriage as such that vexed Blenchynden’s mind. As Cohen pointed out, ”especially among men of Blechynden’s milieu, who tended to establish long-term relationships with Indian ‘bibis, albeit often outside the legal institution of marriage.’ In fact, between 1792 and 1809, Blechynden fathered two sons and six illegitimate children by four mothers – two Indian Muslim, one Indian or Eurasian, and one India-born Eurasian bibi.

Blechynden acted like a responsible father by providing the children with English education and did nothing exceptional against the norms of the then Calcutta society. Two noblemen of his time, Major General Claude Martin and the business tycoon William Palmer had their children by native mothers socially recognized as their wives unlike all others. [Puronokolkata] Of course, in the case of Soubise’s marriage the racialization of gender was contrary to the conventional model. White men marrying black women were not unheard of in Job Charnock’s settlement, as he himself took a deshi wife, and many followed him thereafter. But the interracial marriage in opposite direction, that is, white-women marrying black-men most probably did not take place in colonial India ever before, although hundreds of Indian Lascars of British ships espoused English wives in England for more than two centuries.

Major William Palmer with his second wife, the Mughal princess Bibi Faiz Bakhsh by Johann Zoffany, 1785.

It was hardly possible for Blechynden to judge Soubise by common social parameters as they belonged to different layers of the English society at two different cultural setups, one in London, the other in Calcutta. In London, Soubise ‘was taken up by fashionable society, became a fop among fops, used expensive scent, went around in a liveried carriage, a favourite of Garrick, brushed shoulders with some of the brightest luminaries of his time. He was Britain’s first Black Dandy, and a virtual socialite.[Fryer] Whereas, “the Calcutta social milieu Soubise entered after his marriage was a world away from such exalted circles.” [Cohen. 2020] What bothered Blechynden was the class identity and social standing rather than ethnicity issues. Catherine’s wedding, he feared, should undermine the very ground on which Catherine stood with her people socially connected. It was more so because the black man here was none but Julius Soubise, an African by birth, overly proud of his own black figure reminding an Othello. Blechynden, with his racist mind-set could not stand the air of self-importance and arrogance of Soubise. Blechynden hoped, Soubise being a chronic debtor and all-around rogue, could hardly promise to make an ideal husband. But he was all wrong and he came to realize that in later days and admitted it with a shade of repentance when Soubise was no more. It was Blechynden who investigated if Soubise did actually married Catharine and found that they did marry but in Portuguese Church by Padre Geovan showing their limited positioning in polite society.

Belying her father’s friend Blechynden’s forebodings, Catherine wedded Soubise and remained devotedly in love with him. She never ever left side of Soubise while passing through a series of challenges up to the end of his tormented life, physically decrepit and financially bankrupt. Soubise, even in his worst time never stopped admiring his wife’s beauty. We see him saying to his guests at dinner “I declare my wife grows handsomer every day”, and sportively to his wife, ‘I wish I had a couple of you!”.

It looks like Soubise with his family had been staying around Lall Bazar-Cossitollah area for more than a decade until he moved into Dhurrumtollah neighborhood. His new establishment, Calcutta Repository was ready by early 1795. The Calcutta Gazette published on February 19th, 1795 an elaborate description with a complete business profile of the Calcutta Repository, including its services, facilities, locale and t&c. Very likely, the news report was penned and sponsored by Soubise himself.

CALCUTTA REPOSITORY “Mr. Soubise having observed that the disagreeable and ill-contrived stables in which many gentlemen’s horses stand in Calcutta, and even in home that are more convenient, the smell, noise, and mosquitoes they occasion, has long had a wish to erect a set(?) of spacious, airy, and convenient stables, upon a plan of his own, for the accommodation of the Settlement; and having at length, by the patronage of some of his friends, been enabled to carry it into execution, he tenders his Calcutta Repository to his friends, his subscribers, and the public in general. As every convenience that could possibly be devised has been adopted to render them complete, he flatters himself they are, without exception, the best stables of any in India; and as Mr. Soubise’s professional knowledge and long residence in the country enable him to pay every requisite attention to that noble animal, the horse, he hopes to obtain a share of that liberal patronage which has so often distinguished this Settlement. The Repository, which in now open for the reception of horses, is situated to the north of, and nearly behind Sherburne’s Bazar [where Chandni Market now located], leading from the Cossitollah down Emambarry Lane, and from the Dhurumtollah by the lane to the west of Sherburnc’s Bazar.

With a view to the further convenience of the Settlement, Mr. Soubise has erected one [range?] of stables, nine feet wide, for the accommodation of breeding mares, or horse who have colts at their side. There are likewise carriage houses, with gates, locks and keys to each, which render them very complete. The terms of the Repository are made as reasonable as possible and are twenty-three Sicca Rupees per month, in which is included every expense (medicines excepted) for standing, syce, grass-cutter, feeding, and shoeing, and for standing at Livery only at five Rupees per stall. Further particulars may be known on application to Mr. Soubise at his dwelling house, near the Repository, or at the menage.”

The Repository was the last major effort Soubise made with Mr. Pawson as his partner. Pawson invested a good amount of money he borrowed from Blechynden but had no luck to pay him back. This project failed as every other one did. Returned from Lucknow, the idea of trading horses came naturally to a clever horseman like Soubise, who knew all about horses. The first horse race of India was held at Akra on January 16, 1794, where Soubise must have been present to enjoy the inspiring mounted sports and became alive to a potentially big market of horses in Calcutta. Besides, the growing demands of war horses after Plassey, and carriage horses with the road expansions there always a niche market for the horse as a luxury commodity. Being in India for nearly a decade Soubise had enough exposure to realize that the horse trade was a risky game, but for an over-confident man like Soubise the first concern was the money to fuel his business, and that too not so much a problem for him being a shrewd negotiator in credit manipulation – so long the project was profitable enough. But as we know, luck seldom favoured Soubise. Out of the amount of Rs. 5000/- Pawson borrowed from Blechynden, Soubise lost Rs 3500 on the horses of Awadh stables that Saadat Ali Khan sent him in August 1796. In the same month, Soubise was imprisoned ‘for shortchanging a customer on the sale of a horse in another complicated credit transaction.’ Pawson’s stables were later sold by lottery and the lotto winner made an offer to Blechynden but he was not ready with the money. Ultimately the stables went to De l’Etang who completed the deal by December 1797.

VII

FINAL YEARS

Blechynden noted in his diary that the final three years of Soubise’s life were a downward spiral. The stabling proved unprofitable and by 1795. Soubise was already looking out for new revenue streams. Blechynden noticed with dismay, Pawson was in a mood to seriously consider Soubise’ latest fad for setting up an Auction House at the ‘old Harmonic’ – the grand tavern equipped with spacious accommodation once used for holding large parties, and ball. Blechynden was perturbed: ‘how then could Soubise prosper without money—without interest—without friends — and without a particle of public confidence’? He sounded genuinely worried. But didn’t Soubise dare to take such a challenge many a time since he landed in Calcutta? A failure could not deter him ever to take another stake in another sphere of business. Besides running horse-riding and fencing schools, and livery stables, Soubise worked for the East India Company conducting breaking-in of military horses. As suggested in an unverified source, Soubise might have also tried out an unfamiliar field like keeping a bookshop in Calcutta – the only shop of its kind owned by a man of African origin.

Before launching his Auction House Soubise planned for establishing a ‘temporary’ Riding House. Why did he call it ‘temporary’ we are not sure. Perhaps that he wanted to generate a quick money to meet some pressing expenses or meant this experimental in scope.What we know for certain is that his plan was inspired by his recent rapport with Nilmoni Halder, a resourceful Bengali businessman of Bowbazar. He came forward from outside Soubise’s circle, to support him with money and encouragement. The Calcutta Gazette advertised Riding House on July 5, 1798 inviting public attention to its sessions. We had no idea, however, how it all went off, but his other plan, a promotional theatrical evening at Calcutta Theatre was performed successfully on March 7, 1798 where ‘Kate’ (nickname of Mrs. Catherine Soubise) was reportedly ‘played with great applause’ [Busteed ?] Next Monday, on the 12th, the Calcutta Theatre presented the Comedy of of the Chapter of Accidents by Miss Lee was staged for the benefit of Mrs Soubise.

There was no indication that Soubise himself took any part in that evening; perhaps he did not. Soubise, a stage-artist groomed by Garrick, an elocutionist tutored by the elder Sheridan, a gifted violinist and singer, was surely expected on stage playing a stunning show befitting to the occasion. The sole reason for his remaining behind the screen might have been his suffering from intense rheumatism he was suffering from last few years.

The Riding House, that started on July 5, made way to the sudden accidental fall of Soubise from a devilish Arabian stallion on August 24. Blechynden found him in the Gallery laying on a mat, perspiring profusely — his head was slightly cut behind — but his Skull did not feel fractured. Blechynden saw blood oozing out of his right ear, and immediately sensed the blow was not only very dangerous but most probably mortal. Pawson and Mrs. Soubise went to the Hospital and remained with him till he died the next day from hemorrhaging in his brain. The death of Julius Soubise was reported in the Calcutta Gazette on 25th August 1798, and entered in the Asiatic Annual Register, vol.1 1798-99.

Within a week, Calcutta Gazette on August 30, 1798 reported the ‘Sale of Horses by Public Auction’ to be held every Wednesday at 10 o‘Clock in the forenoon. It was the beautiful Arabian saddle ‘Noisy’ – a property of Joseph Thomas Brown – to be on auction sale for the benefit of Mrs Soubise. The auctioneer Mr. A. L’Etang was the nobleman who alongside Mr. Blechynden rushed to see Soubise at the site of the accident. We will find him again in closer perspective in the forthcoming episode of magnificent horsemen.

Soubise’s death turned Blechynden, his worst critic in Calcutta, into a compassionate ally, appreciative of his talents and aggrieved at his tragic end. Blechynden did not press his friend Pawson or Mrs Soubise to repay his loan but could not save them from financial distress. Mrs Soubise with her father and children moved in a barrack, possibly one of the Bow Barrack quarters. Mr. Pawson passed away in 1802 leaving his daughter Catherine alone with her children William and Mary. We know nothing for sure about Catherine and her daughter Mary (baptized on 20 June 1785). William Soubise, an assistant in the Sudder Dewanhy Adawlat, married Flora Ward in 1819, and Maria was born to them on April 25, 1821, and Henry in 1824 (died in his teens). In 1839, Maria was married to James Bernadotte Vallente. William Soubise died on July 9, 1841 at the age of 43 at Calcutta.

VIII

END NOTES

If high fashion and luxurious life of love with a fair lady is an offence for a black gentleman then Michael Madhusudan Dutta, the Bengal’s celebrity poet of the next century Calcutta, was no lesser offender. The British-African Soubise was driven out of country by the racists and got blackballed by their counterpart British-India society in Calcutta, otherwise laudable for their camaraderie and supportive spirit. Madhusudan flared, as he had a friend like Vidyasagar to help the pauper to live princely regardless of social decry and hostility that had strangled Soubise to death.

Michael Madhusudan Dutta, 1824-1873

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, 1820-1891

It is interesting to note that both of his contemporary authors believed that the accidental death of Soubise was particularly tragic because of two separate reasons. Angelo writes “departed from his former thoughtless habits, his talents and address had placed him in the way to fortune.”[Angelo] Blechynden seemingly believed that having had Nilmoni Halder as a dependable impartial partner “a career was at length opened to him of getting out of his difficulties, in short, we can better spare a better man.” [Blechynden] This was the first time Soubise had a chance to overcome the racist resistance since he was ousted from the British society and exiled to colonial India inflicted with politically influenced racial hatred. In an environment of mistrust, Soubise had little opportunity to secure business credit on fair terms. Often he had to take deceptive means and ended up in jail; or prayed and rejected, for an instance, Soubise requested Blechynden to be one of his securities to the Asiatic Society for Rs 5000. Blechynden lied and declined politely.

Soubise did not leave anything in writing for us, except a specimen of his stylish love letters. There have been luckily two important documents of his contemporary writers: Henry Angelo the memoirist, and Richard Blechynden the diarist, providing significant events of Soubise’s life, and some scholarly works of recent writers that critically reviewed and analyzed those facts to portray Soubise meaningfully in modern contexts. In my modest attempt to restate Soubise’s life in the ethnocentric settings of the last score of the 18th century Calcutta, I remain indebted to Ashley Cohen and Peter Robb in particular for using their in-depth studies extensively.

NOTES This portrait of Julius Soubise(1746-1798) an Afro-British self-styled ‘African Prince’, is believed to be the long-forgotten work of Johan Jaffony referred to in the Reminiscences of Henry Angelo (1830). Until now, the pastel painting has been identified and re-identified with some nameless black servant or an ‘African prince’ attributed to John Russell, or toOzius Humphry.

Joffany painted Soubise’s portrait either in London before 1777 when Soubise left for Calcutta or in Calcutta between 1773-1789 when Zoffany visited India to paint number of masterpieces like Mordaunt’s Cock Fight (1784–86) Last Supper (1787) and significant portraits of dignitaries like Warran Hastings, Asaf-ud-Daula. Courtesy: Tate gallery.

See more: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/humphry-baron-nagells-running-footman-t13796

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Angelo, Henry. 1830. Reminiscences of Henry Angelo; with Memoirs of His Late Father and Friends .. Oxford University. Vol. 1. London: Colburn and Bentley. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xsK6QCfrXPQC&hl=en.

Anonymous. 2004. “Middleton Nathaniel.” Sotonopedia. 2004. http://sotonopedia.wikidot.com/page-browse:middleton-nathaniel.

Blechynden, Richard. 2011. Sentiment and Self: Richard Blechynden’s Calcutta Diaries, 1791–1822. Edited by Peter Robb. New Delhi: Oxford U P. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=9PQtDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.

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Busteed, Henry Elmsley. 1908. Echoes from Old Calcutta; Being Chiefly Reminiscences of the Days of Warren Hastings, Francis and Impey. London: Thacker. https://archive.org/details/echoesfromoldcal00bustuoft.

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Sukhdev, Sandhu. 2003. London Calling: How Black and Asian Writers Imagined a City. London: Harper. https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780006532149/london-calling-how-black-and-asian-writers-imagined-a-city/.

JULIUS SOUBISE: A MAGNIFICENT HORSEMAN IN 18TH CENTURY CALCUTTA

I PRELIMINARY WORDS Calcutta acquires its distinctive flavour presumably from the fusion of characters grown in diverse cultural environs in distant lands.

JULIUS SOUBISE: A MAGNIFICENT HORSEMAN IN 18TH CENTURY CALCUTTA I PRELIMINARY WORDS Calcutta acquires its distinctive flavour presumably from the fusion of characters grown in diverse cultural environs in distant lands.

0 notes