#manipulative charm

[aventurineswife]

Aventurine with a gamer reader who asks him to do gacha pulls for the new 5 star character (just imagine, you dont even have to go whale with such luck)

The House Always Wins

Summary: Aventurine is asked by you to perform a gacha pull for the coveted new five-star character. Confident in his legendary luck, he accepts the challenge. With a playful grin, he turns the moment into a wager: if he succeeds, you owe him a homemade dinner; if he fails, he’ll owe you a favor. To your amazement, he pulls the rare character on the first try.

Tags: Aventurine x Reader, Fluff, Light Humor, Gamer!Reader, Playful Banter, Lighthearted, Manipulative Charm.

The evening glow from the city outside filtered into Aventurine's sleek, penthouse suite. The dark glass walls reflected the opulence within—roulette motifs on his tailored blazer, the gold trim of his accessories glinting faintly in the low light. Aventurine lounged on the velvet couch, one leg crossed over the other, his eyes lazily following your pacing figure.

You, on the other hand, were anything but composed. Clutching your phone tightly, you let out an exasperated sigh.

"Please, please, Aventurine," you begged, holding out your phone as if it were an offering to a deity. "I’ve been saving up for this banner for months, but I’ve got a streak of bad luck that’s—frankly—embarrassing. I need your touch. Your magic. Your insane luck."

He tilted his head back, a smirk curling on his lips. "Oh, darling, flattery will get you everywhere." His voice dripped with amusement as he gestured lazily for you to sit beside him. "But are you sure you want me to take the reins? What if I squander all your hard-earned currency on nothing but trash?"

"Not possible." You plopped down next to him, clutching your phone like a lifeline. "You could do a ten-pull blindfolded and still get the banner character and their weapon. You’re basically a walking gacha cheat code."

Aventurine chuckled, clearly relishing your faith in his supposed supernatural luck. "Very well, but remember: the house always wins, darling. I make no promises."

With a flourish, he plucked the phone from your hands and studied the screen, his eyes darting over the details of the banner. His finger hovered over the ‘Summon’ button, but instead of pressing it, he turned to you, his enigmatic smile widening.

"Let’s make this interesting," he said, leaning closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "If I manage to pull your precious five-star on the first try, you owe me dinner—cooked by you, naturally. But if I fail…" He paused, his smile turning sharp. "I’ll owe you a favor. Anything you desire."

You hesitated, your heart skipping a beat—not just at the prospect of the pull, but at the idea of Aventurine owing you something. "Deal."

"Wonderful." He tapped the screen with a dramatic flair, as though sealing a pact with fate itself. The summoning animation began, glowing lights swirling on the screen.

The first few results were three-stars. A predictable disappointment. Aventurine clicked through them with mock boredom, his expression unreadable. But when the screen erupted in golden light, signaling a five-star pull, he raised a brow, his smirk deepening.

"And there it is," he drawled, turning the screen toward you. The banner character's splash art filled the display, the rarest gem of the event staring back at you in all their glory.

You blinked, stunned. "You—how? On the first pull?"

"Darling, I did warn you." He handed the phone back with a smug flourish, leaning back on the couch as if the whole affair had been beneath his notice. "Luck follows me like a loyal hound. Or perhaps…" He trailed off, his gaze locking with yours. "Perhaps it’s just your influence."

Your face burned, but you refused to give him the satisfaction of flustering you completely. "You’re insufferable, you know that?"

"Ah, but you love it," Aventurine teased, his tone dripping with self-assured charm. "Now, about that dinner you owe me…"

You groaned, half in exasperation, half in disbelief. "I’m never living this down, am I?"

"Not a chance," he replied, his smile softening just a fraction. "But I’ll make it worth your while. After all, life’s a gamble, and tonight, you’ve made quite the winning bet."

[hinamie]

green

[mohntilyet]

still i think the one of the more fun differences drawn between illario and lucanis that was lost would be illario's ability to endear himself to others but serious lack of empathy, vs. lucanis' (self perceived) inability to be charming but how much he cares. it's interesting that the game has gone with the "lucanis' ability vs illario's lack thereof" because i think illario being the dellamorte 'best in show dog' vs. lucanis' attack dog would have made me so unwell.

lucanis is... awkward. he's not unlikable, because he is usually very polite, but he doesn't speak much and only seems to care about the other dellamortes. he once sent viago de riva a knife with no note (who knows what he could have meant by this). he does what caterina asks of him, and by his own admission, cannot say no to her. he is a dramatic and prolific killer, and that makes how untouchable he is even worse.

and the crows like illario, sure, AND he's a good assassin! he's even a good crow! he's so good that he can make lucanis smile, and so he is the charming, sociable one. he's the one that stays in treviso and can be relied upon to care, illario's even the one people prefer over caterina and lucanis!

but illario is decoration. he's the prize poodle, and even if poodles were bred to be working dogs, nobody will ever pick him to protect the house over the german shepherd that regularly mauls intruders. anyways the analogy is getting away from me. the point i'm trying to make is that i want illario to have a different kind of jealousy/hatred that's not just over 'being bad at killing' but also an arrogant loathing for everyone around him that is getting harder to hide, because they've forgotten he can bite and is just itching to rip someone's jugular out. illario is very good at hiding his family resemblance to caterina, while lucanis suffers under his grandmother's, and his own, reputation.

[waitineedaname]

I made a flowchart for Binghe's average decision making process

[morganbritton132]

Tommy has three brothers.

You may think that this would have taught him how to share, but it didn’t. It taught him that if he wanted something to grab it quick and hold it tight.

Which is to say that he does not like Carol.

He is not thrilled when Steve asks their teacher if Carol can sit with them during snack time because Steve is his best friend. He found him first and he’s not letting go of him.

Especially not to some dumb girl that plays with dolls.

“Mr. Whiskers isn’t a doll. He’s a cat.”

“Mr. Whiskers is a dumb toy,” Tommy grouses, pulling on Steve’s backpack strap so he follows him. Steve says he likes toys and Tommy concedes because he likes toys too just - “Not dumb toys. I have cool toys. I can show you.”

And Tommy does. He drags Steve onto the bus with him. None of his brothers mention it when Steve gets off at their stop.

In fact, no one mentions it at all. Especially not to their mother so it’s something of a surprise when she turns around to find a boy in her kitchen. Not one of her boys but - “Hello?”

The little boy looks away from the pot boiling on the stove and asks, “How come you don’t have a microwave?”

“Mama says that I can’t use the stove ‘cause I’m not big enough,” He continues while Maria stares dumbfounded at him. “Tommy’s not big either and you don’t got a microwave. Does he just eat cereal?”

The boy blinks at her, “I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Steve,” She says slowly, connecting the name to Tommy’s friend from school. “Does anyone know you’re here?”

“I know I’m here.”

“Anyone else?”

“Tommy knows,” He says. “He’s in his room. We’re playing nascar.”

“That sounds fun,” She says, slipping into mom mode. She crouches down so they’re eye-level and smiles, “Why don’t I call your mom and let her know that you’re having fun?”

She can see the clogs turning in his head before Sleve slumps his shoulders. His bottom lip juts out and his eyes get shiny. She’s about to ask him what’s wrong when Tommy slides into the room on his socks and Steve tells him in a sad little voice, “Your mama wants me to go home now.”

Tommy promptly bursts into tears.

He doesn’t want Steve to leave. He’ll miss him and he hasn’t even showed him his GI Joe yet.

It takes a lot of soothing words, many reassurances that she’s not kicking Steve out, and the recruitment of her husband before the situation was calmed down. It’s only then that Steve - dry-eyed now - suggests, “I can call my mama.”

This is what Maria was trying to accomplish in the first place.

She takes Steve into the living room where their landline was. He dials his phone number carefully as her, her husband David, and Tommy watch. He gives her a reassuring smile, holding the phone to his ear.

“Hi, Mama! It’s Steve,” He says into the receiver. “I’m at Tommy’s. He’s my best friend and his mama said I can stay the night. Love you. Bye. Love you.”

He hangs up the phone before Maria could ask for it and informs her, “Mama is a super busy lady. She’s goin’ to the - to the store. She says she loves you.”

The boys run off to continue playing while Maria processes what the hell just happened. She’s still processing when David picks up the phone and presses the same buttons Steve had.

He holds the phone to his ear and gets the answering machine for, “The fucking Harringtons?”

[stars-n-kites]

really funny 2 see fics where taako is portrayed as like. a skilled liar / manipulator bc in canon hes just an absolute mess at it. like.... dont get me wrong, he can bullshit his way around people who dont know better than to take him at his word, but the moment someone is even remotely suspicious of him he panics and starts making up insane shit, contradicts himself, and then makes up even more insane shit to uncontradict himself. he can absolutely bend the truth just fine, but his straight up lies are moreso word association improv exercises than real scenarios a person would believe if told them. if anything his lies are most effective as like. verbal octopus ink. like yeah im clearly hiding Something but you dont know what and now youre too confused by the fifteen other things i just said to process what the fuck im even talking about. now whats up asshole

[guardianbee]

rewatching s1 meljay scenes just to feel something and while I want to do an analysis of their relationship to argue against every bonehead that touts "mel manipulated jayce" I got to the end where jayce tells the council to go fuck themselves BUT THEN POINTEDLY TURNS TO MEL AND SOFTLY SAYS "Except you. You were right. You were always right." And I CRY OKAY. Her eyes widen and it sinks in that there's someone who supports the same vision of peace she has, who VALIDATES her views. And one of the LAST scenes is them smiling at one another when the council agrees to Zaun's independence. They made peace without going to war. Without using hextech and corrupting jayce and viktor's dream. Without compromising mel's values.

And then s2 fucked that all up.

[on-a-lucky-tide]

The medical staff have to keep Price mildly sedated to stop him leaving before he's ready to be discharged. He's stubborn, restless, defiant and downright cantankerous otherwise. Sleepy, occasionally grumpy but otherwise mellow, is a huge improvement.

Despite the initial concern over injuries, Nik kind of enjoys those hospital stays. He holds John's hand while he sleeps, strokes his hair, traces circles and wiggly lines over his arms until John's skin is flushed with goosebumps. He'll sit and read, scroll his phone or watch daytime television, chatting and joking with John while he's awake; it's a peaceful, quiet time where John has no demand on his time other than to rest.

John is uniquely vulnerable in those moments, it's the only time Nik's ever seen him look frightened, and the way he grips Nik's hand when the doctor walks in to prod and poke at him some more makes Nik feel needed, trusted. The strongest person he knows turns to him for comfort, to feel safe again, and Nik can't help but puff up with pride every time.

[agirlking]

Remmick is actually charming and capable of manipulation (he is also a bit off putting)

I see a lot of takes about how Remmick can't be suave, charming, seductive, so on, here's why I don't think they're entirely right.

(Though I agree he's not traditionally seductive, at least not when we see him in the film, he doesn't seem to focus on sex. But he can be seductive and tempting in another sense.)

Remmick's true strength in terms of charm and manipulation is not getting it right instantly, it's in his ability to rapidly adjust.

I think the scene with Bert and Joan shows this right away.

He stops using the word Choctaw when Bert starts using slurs. His manipulation wasn't perfect right away, but he adjusted almost right away. He sees how resistant they are and starts crying. People are going to be uncomfortable with someone they don't know crying in front of them, (unfortunately) all the more when they're a man, he was getting them to think less.

(Also he sees the robes and assumes that they don't have enough compassion to help someone out of the goodness of their hearts, which is a very reasonable assumption, and then he switches to offering money. Once again he is able to adapt rapidly.)

To touch on his limited background info; We know that Remmick came to America in 1911, and we know he lost his "family" on the boat, he was the only survivor. I personally believe that he spent the next 21 years isolated. He wasn't turning people, nor do I think turning people en masse was typical behavior for him.

He was leaving Ireland, he turned everyone on the boat (assuming none of them were older vampires who'd been with him for awhile) to hold onto his community, it just backfired horribly for one reason or another.

But if Remmick turned people like that all the time? There's no way he made it to 1300 without someone taking him out. Actually you can also look at his accent as further proof. He came to America in a time when he would absolutely be discriminated against for being Irish, and I think it must've taken time to hide his accent. If he was also super weird and off putting all the time on top of being Irish, again, he'd have constantly attracted violence. The fact he even put both the thought and the effort into faking an accent (which he's doing quite well at other than here or there where his real accent slips in) shows he's capable of calculation and manipulation.

I fully believe Remmick only turned Bert and Joan out of desperation. He approached the Choctaw (the real life Irish Choctaw history probably played a part in his decision making) wanting to turn them, the first major attempt he'd made since the boat, but they figured him out. He finally turns Bert and Joan because they were the only ones who opened the door, so to speak.

Then he gets to the Juke Joint, 21 years of isolation have him rusty, and he hasn't been around this particular community in that time I would bet. He doesn't have enough info to realize how strange he's coming across, and after seeing Sammie's gift and his desperation to see his ancestors he rushes into things. If he'd approached a group of people that didn't have reasons to be automatically wary of him then they'd likely have thought he was a bit odd but completely harmless and let him in.

(Notably, Cornbread liked the singing and so did Stack, and Stack was about to let him in but Smoke vetoed it. Even after, Stack gives him a chance and had Mary not... distracted him, Remmick would've gotten in. So it seems his manipulation isn't going too badly. Though obviously the money situation prompts a lot of that.)

When Mary approaches the group Remmick's already changed how he's handling things. His song is much more gentle and welcoming than the very creepy one he chose initially. He singles out Mary's specific pain, (I think this is key, he's better at manipulating individuals than he is massive groups. I also think he has some kind of telepathy or empathy because he seems to be able to sense Mary is grieving.), and her longing for companionship in her grief.

The way he speaks to her initially is completely normal ("were you lookin' for some fresh air, or?"), the only particularly strange thing is how Bert and Joan are acting (which I have thoughts about due to @cannibalfogdreams and I discussing this privately, but this post is long enough). When Remmick truly starts acting strange it's not because he can't act human or normal (he's been doing just fine in this conversation) it's because he's in a rush and doesn't need to do that. Mary's far enough away from the Juke Joint she has no chance of getting back to it even if she ran. He's already won.

I imagine if Remmick wasn't so frantic and if his goal had only been to turn Mary he would've taken his time and kept manipulating her and breaking down her walls until she was more inclined to listen to what he was saying. (I'm not swearing she ever would've fully bought into what he was selling, just that he was clearly succeeding at swaying her to some extent before he stopped bothering.)

Also why is it Remmick backs off when Mary pulls a gun on him? It's obviously not going to kill him, and there's reason to think their ability to feel pain (minus coming from something like garlic) is muted. Stack tells Sammie in 1992 he wouldn't hurt anymore, and Cornbread seems to be doing fine even with a ton of his face missing, same for the gentleman who got sliced up by the guy using loaded dice. So I don't think it's because a gunshot would be that painful for him.

I think it's because someone could've heard her fire and that would've made them suspicious of her and even more suspicious of Remmick and co than they already were. That's calculating.

He not only backed off and wiped his face when she pulled the gun, he waited until she fully turned her back and was walking away to attack and turn her. He could've just grabbed and bitten her then, but she probably would've fired a shot and/or screamed.

Later on he still attempts to convince everyone, but when Stack and Mary show up he lets them basically take over, and I do believe that is their own words, they are in a hivemind but their own self is not gone, just influenced. (As mentioned in a previous post I think they're basically high.) And it almost works! Stack nearly gets Smoke out the door. He knew to step back and let the people that know those in the Juke Joint take over the attempts at convincing.

There's probably more I'm forgetting but this has been bugging me a lot. Just because Remmick acts very strange sometimes doesn't mean he can't be suave and charming, it just depends on the situation, how much he wants to be convincing, and how much information he has.

TLDR: "Remmick is weird" and "Remmick is a capable, charismatic, manipulator" are takes that can coexist.

[mellosdrawings]

Oh, my sweet little gang of assholes~

Ruggie and Jamil pairing during the Glorious Masquerade event is still seared in my mind, they're just so perfect together. Now I just need Jade added to the mix to have the perfect team !

[royalarchivist]

Pac: Why is she sad? My god, she's devastated! Guaxinim?

Guaxinim: I think she wanted...

Gris: I want 100 reais.

Pac: She wants 100– [Laughs] She's sad because she wants 100 reais?

Guaxinim: [Innocently] You don't have 100 reais, do you?

Pac: [Laughs] I have negative 100 reais, Guaxinim. Gris, I'm just like you! I'm sad too.

Guaxinim: [Whispering to Gris] Cancel the plan, cancel the plan, go back to normal.

Pac: What do you mean? Wait, wait, wait– [Laughs] No no no–

First rule of passa tudo: make sure your target has money before trying to scam them! 😅 (Thank you to sebbs12 and disfrutalakia for double-checking my translations and transcript! The help is really appreciated!)

[Full Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]

—

Pac: [Gasps in delight] Oi, Guaxinim!

Guaxinim: Oi!

Pac: How cool it is to see you here! Oi Gris!

Guaxinim: Look, how cute.

Pac: How cute you and Gris are here!

Gris: oi :( I'm so sad.

Pac: Why is she sad?

Guaxinim: I don't know, man.

Pac: My god, she's devastated! Guaxinim?

Guaxinim: I think she wanted...

Gris: I want 100 reais.

Pac: She wants 100– [Laughs] She's sad because she wants 100 reais?

Guaxinim: [Innocently] You don't have 100 reais, do you?

Pac: [Laughs] I have negative 100 reais, Guaxinim. Gris, I'm just like you! I'm sad too.

Guaxinim: [Whispering to Gris] Cancel the plan, cancel the plan, go back to normal.

Pac: What do you mean? Wait, wait, wait– [Laughs] No no no–

Guaxinim: [Laughing]

Gris: kkkkkk

Pac: I can't believe what you're doing with poor Gris to get money!

Gris: bom dia tio Pac [Good morning Tio Pac]

Pac: Bom dia, bom dia. [Laughs] Seriously, how is a crazy plan like this going to work, huh? Insanity!

Guaxinim: [Dancing with Gris] Muahaha! Muahahaha! We're the most badass evil duo, got it?

Pac: How incredible, man. You guys are great, you're even in sync! Did you guys already get 100 reais?

[swordmaid]

jaime charming and manipulating her and he’s just dying from sepsis and malnutrition while looking like a wet rat in the bath

[baalzebufo]

so I very briefly mentioned this au I have in my last gideon doodle post and saw one tag saying to elaborate and thats all the excuse I needed. ok to be honest i didnt need an excuse i was going to talk about it anyway

i had a dream shortly after the stanchurian candidate aired where my brain made up a fake episode of GF to essentially finish gideons 'arc'. and it involved him making a deal with bill to gain demon powers. bill promised him All The Perks, and he was desperate to get outta jail, so he took it.

turns out 'all the perks' involves being trapped in the nightmare dimension without a physical form and, while being tremendously powerful, unable to truly utilize those powers without being summoned. so he sort of just gets condemned to existing as a demon and is desperate to get back into a physical body because, turns out, the human brain is not really.. designed to process that existence for too long. it freaks you out. especially if 'you' happens to be a ten year old who is still afraid of the dark and spends most of their time surrounded by nightmares.

it was weirdly grim and i woke up like 'holy shit. i need to make that an AU' and it developed from there. in the more thought-out version, bill and gideons deal involved him swapping into gideons body to further his plans for a while. he never promised he'd give it BACK, though. it, uh. ended how you'd expect bill possessing a body to end.

'what happened to his eye?' bill thought it'd be funny if it was part of his collectin on gideons 'debt'. hes got one eye, you should have only one of em, too.

honestly I make most of the details up as I go and its mostly an excuse to draw my favourite worst son in various levels of power-thirst and distress. sorry gids even you dont deserve this one

[lovekylarforever]

i really want a vampire tf to get released in dol i want it SO fucking badly. and there needs to be two types, the hot sexy version and then whatever the hell kylar's parents got going on.

like can you imagine how much despair kylar would go through if you also turned into the kinda vampire his parents turned into? sure he'd be able to keep you in the manor, but it wouldnt be the same. and he'd know it. also i wanna know how both pure and corrupt sydney react to a vampire turned pc because ohh my god things could get so fucked up there

oh and i wanna suck the blood from kylars dick

[the-nothing-maker]

Galien, the Black Dragon

(Galien is a vampire lord and NPC from @luposlipaphobya's D&D campaign, Une Cour de Chair et de Charme, with an original design by @d-cybele !)

[lgbtlunaverse]

While I think the moment in cql where Meng Yao– still bleeding from a stab wound in his chest btw– realizes Lan Xichen is in danger and decides to save the man who was so kind to him in cloud recesses is cute and all, nothing will ever beat the book for me. Little bookkeeper civilian Meng Yao, who has not had a serious chance to make his dreams of being a cultivator come true in fucking years, out of nowhere gets the fucking sect leader of Gusu Lan dropped right in his lap?

It's such a great example of Meng Yao's multilayered motivations to me. Because is civilian Meng Yao thinking of all the ways he can use this? Of the fact that having a great sect leader in his debt is the best thing that could happen to him? Duh. Obviously.

Is he very purposeful about appearing to Lan Xichen as a kind young man full of untapped potential, brave and willing to put his life on the line even though he really doesn't know so much about about cultivators, no sir, except a little he picked up here and there, because you see his father– 👉👈 Of course he is!

But the way through which he does that is... by actually saving Lan Xichen's life, at no doubt significant personal risk. The way he makes Lan Xichen believe he's kind and selfless is by... being kind and selfless. Just because he's doing it on purpose doesn't mean he's not doing it.

Is it lying if you want people to think you're nice and so you're nice to them? Isn't that just called being nice? Yes, he is very purposeful about how he appears to people, and very carefully crafts an image based on what he wants them to think of him, but most of the time he does that simply by... actually being the kind of person he wants to appear as. He still did the kind things he did, regardless of his motivations for doing them.