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basilknell · 5 months

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Vasily's Ethnic Background

Howdy! I tend to ramble about history books I read adjacent to Vasily on my private accounts, so I figured I’d accumulate some of the information I read regarding headcanoning Vasily’s ethnic background. This’ll be a big ‘ole post, so I’ll stash it under a read-more for anyone interested.

This isn’t meant to be taken as a concrete ‘Vasily is canonically ethnically x’ post, and as you’ll read none of the options I cover are necessarily concrete as there’s overlap and conjecture to be found in every choice. Nonetheless, this post's biggest purpose is reference for myself, as I rotate what I headcanon him to be often; I’m hoping some others might take an interest in alternate backgrounds for him from this, as I only ever see him portrayed as ethnically Russian.

I’d be happy to provide further reading/direction for certain information covered if wanted, and a special thank you to Rdstrpv for some of the information unavailable in English for me to find! I will also occasionally update this post over time as I read more documents and come across more evidence/contradictions.

Please be aware that much of this can be a sensitive subject, and I have condensed much of this information to be understandable to the average reader which means nuance is lost. This is especially true in regards to the intersection of ethnicity and nationality of Cossacks when relating to Russian and Ukrainian history. I especially suggest further research beyond my simple blog if you have any interest in headcanoning Vasily as a Cossack. I stress it, even. I try my best to tread the history and terms, but a short blog can only touch upon so much.

Russian

To address first and foremost, comes the ethnic background the vast majority of fans (and likely Noda as well) ascribe to Vasily – an ethnic Russian. There’s not much information I need to corroborate regarding why exactly one might find Vasily to be ethnically Russian, and it is the easiest background for him to tread if you wish to play it safe regarding headcanons if you don’t know much about Russian history.

Vasily, given his first name and appearance, has no contradictory elements to him being Russian. s. His first name, Vasily, is one typically only ethnic Russians use, but we'll discuss this further in a bit. He speaks Russian in the show (though non-Russian ethnicities do sometimes speak Russian), he has an appearance typical of an ethnic Russian, and is found to be in an Russian Imperial Army (RIA) uniform – though I’d like to add there was mandatory conscription for most all males in Russia starting in 1874. Regardless of ethnicity, typically most men who resided within the empire could be conscripted into the army. The one time we see Vasily without his shinel (greatcoat), he’s wearing a kosovorotka, a shirt that specifically was worn by ethnic Russians at the time.

(Pictured Vasily’s kosovorotka.)

An argument could be made that another ethnicity would’ve worn a kosovorotka given it being one of the few clothing options when stationed further East, but the more likely assumption is he is simply Russian. After all, Vasily’s birthplace, Yeleninka, was, and still is, in Russia; he never bothers to correct other characters that call him Russian either. Though, this could also be in part that he either could no longer speak at all after being shot, or he didn’t find worth in arguing about it.

But, regarding Vasily’s clothing, there are some major inconsistencies beginning with the fact Noda clearly had little idea about the Russian uniform or military organization in 1907.

To begin with: an ethnic Russian being a border guard was unusual. Not impossible, by any means, but not exactly the norm. Border guards at the time were found to be one of two categories: Cossacks (I will be discussing them later) or a specialized military unit called the Special Border Guard Corps (SBGC). While Cossacks were typical to find as border guards, and oftentimes had their own separate units from ordinary military units, you often could find ethnic Russians in the SBGC, though border protection more often than not belonged to Cossacks in the Far East. You might also find the occasional ethnic Russians serving as a Cossack out East, but again, this will be further discussed below as to what that meant.

Neither Cossacks nor the SBGC wore the uniform Vasily and the other members of his unit are found in. In fact, technically the RIA did not either, as the uniforms of Vasily and his comrades are WWI uniform designs. It's important to note here, however, Sakhalin was not monitored by the SBGC in 1907 as there was a lack of funds, and as such Cossacks almost exclusively guarded that border. An argument can be made, however, that normal RIA members also helped in guarding the border since it had not been long since the Russo-Japanese War had ended. I mention the SBGC and their uniforms as reference for those that might wish to find justification for Vasily being in the corps and on the border somehow.

(Pictured 1909 uniforms of the SBGC.)

While this is a graphic of 1909 SBGC uniforms, they remained largely similar to the years before, and are notable for their green coloration to mark their identification. It’s far harder to pinpoint Vasily’s outfit had he been a Cossack, namely because he could have been in several different uniforms depending on which voisko (AKA a Host – think of these as state/territory distinctions between Cossacks residences) he originated from. To be a Cossack on the Sakhalin border, he could’ve been from a number of different voisko that created the East Siberian District that covered Sakhalin. Simply though, no Cossack uniform matched the uniform Vasily canonically wears either. Nor does in match the uniforms of the RIA at the time.

So what uniform is Vasily found to be wearing, then? His outfit is a generic foot soldier uniform of low-ranking members of the RIA, lacking any tags to denote which unit Vasily prevails from entirely. However, the bulk of the uniform Vasily is found in was introduced in the year 1907 by order of complete uniform overhaul by Tsar Nicholas II, but other elements come from post-1910 reforms seen most typically in use during WWI. Given Vasily being in the Far East, it would be rather unusual for Vasily to wear a newly-issued uniform such as the one he’s found in. How would a soldier presumably on a remote border have such a newly printed uniform (albeit, anachronistic in some aspects such as his Papakha being from a 1910 reform), structured for a separate occupation he does not have? He is on the border as a sniper when he first appears after all, not merely a foot soldier.

All of this culminates into a couple of pieces of important information regarding Noda. (1) He was entirely unaware that the regular military did not cover borders, and instead it was the job of specialized units, Cossacks, and less commonly the SBGC. (2) He intentionally avoided pertinent information on Vasily’s uniform and gave him a generic one from the very year Russian uniforms were massively changed lasting until the Revolution. In fact, Noda had made edits to Vasily’s uniform between the original release of his appearance, and the volume releases, meaning he wasn’t thorough in depicting the Russian soldiers. (3) To culminate most of this, Noda had simply cobbled together information that created Vasily to be versatile for several different headcanons, not just as an ethnic Russian. If Noda had failed so spectacularly regarding Vasily’s uniform, could he also not have made a mistake in Vasily’s kosovorotka? After all, gimnasterka were typically worn under shinel, and while Vasily’s shirt looks more like a kosovorotka than a gimnasterka, Noda simply could’ve drawn the gimnasterka wrong and accidentally created a kosovorotka.

There is a reason why most fans label Vasily as ethnically Russian, aside from general lack of knowledge on the subject, but in that same vein much of the evidence that he is ethnically Russian can be refuted in the same breath. Regardless, it's a simple headcanon to choose above the others if one wished.

Ukrainian

While Vasily’s silence and clothes tell one story about his background, his name itself tells another. Specifically, his surname! ‘Vasily’ is found typically upon Russians and those who want to Russify themselves while 'Vasyl' is the Ukrainian equivalent, but his surname, Pavlichenko, is distinctly Ukrainian and not Russian. His father’s family, at the very least, had to have been of Ukrainian origin, regardless of his birthplace in Yeleninka (which is not located very close to any areas of modern-day Ukraine). It would be up to interpretation if his mother was also Ukrainian, but it does not conflict history to state his family could have moved from the regions of Ukraine (perhaps after serfdom was abolished in 1861) to different areas in search of land. Being leased onto Cossack land to farm in the Orenburg voisko, where Yeleninka was located, was common for laborers and poorer non-Cossack locals. An ethnic Ukrainian being found in Yeleninka is not as outlandish as one might think and is entirely plausible, as a portion of Yeleninka was indeed ethnically Ukrainian (whether this was through forced displacement or general immigration, I am unsure). And, as discussed in the previous section, when assuming how an ethnic Russian was a border guard, the same logic can apply to a Ukrainian simply being in the RIA.

It’s difficult to explain away Vasily’s last name without him being, in part, Ukrainian. But again, part of this information likely comes from Noda’s lack of research into Russian history. Vasily’s last name is taken from a famous sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, just as Vasily’s first name and birthplace are taken from another sniper, Vasily Zaitsev. Despite being ethnically Ukrainian, Lyudmila is often regarded as just a ‘Soviet’ sniper, and thus it's likely Noda assumed she was simply Russian and gave her name to Vasily because of that, unaware that there was a difference between Ukrainian and Russian last names.

Vasily's first name not being the Ukrainian variation of 'Vasyl' could be explained by that stated mixed heritage. However, it was also incredibly common for Ukrainians in the past to go by a Russified name. For example, the famous writer Nikolai Gogol's true name is actually Mykola Hohol. Vasily could very well have chosen to start going by a Russian first name while in the army, or had it changed for him, as it was not uncommon for well-known Ukrainians to have these double names.

If you’re a stickler to the specifics despite Noda’s intention, Vasily’s Ukrainian surname cannot be argued against as easily as many of the ethnic Russian factors for him. Whether that means you’d find Vasily to be exclusively Ukrainian, or a mix, that is up to one’s own headcanon interpretation.

Orenburg Cossack

Cossacks are a very long and convoluted subject in Eastern European history, but I will do my best to explain this as clearly as I can without dredging into too much history. First, and most important to remember, is ‘Cossack’ was not necessarily always a distinct ethnic identity from other ethnicities within the Empire. But it was an ethnic identity to some.

The Cossacks emerged from various ethnic backgrounds. They culminated into one as different groups fled from whatever situation they found themselves in and drew into banditry together. Russians and Ukrainians fleeing serfdom, Poles fleeing the hetmans, those of Turk background, etc., all became a hodgepodge group called ‘Cossacks’ in modern-day Ukraine and parts of Southwestern modern-day Russia. Over time, this group obtained special privileges from Imperial Russia in return for their extensive military service. Cossacks began to develop into an ethnic identity separate from Russians, Ukrainians, and Turks. Their own culture was Slavic mixed with Turkish culture – distinctly blended so they did not identify as one or the other. This was not always the case, and often the further back in history you go, the more often you would find Cossacks who identified with an ethnic identity outside of Cossackhood. You might often hear the term 'Ukrainian Cossack' in reference to Zaporozhian Cossacks because of this, as many of these Cossacks would have identified as being kin to what we now call modern-day Ukrainians rather than having a distinct ethnic Cossack identity. But, later in the empire, certain Cossack groups did distinguish themselves as ethnically different from the Russians, Ukrainians, and other Slavic groups in the area.

However, because of these special privileges given to them by the Russian Empire, a legal definition of a Cossack had to be applied to persons. Due to this, as Cossack voiskos began forming further East into Siberia where the Russian government wanted Cossacks stationed, they would often bestow the title of ‘Cossack’ to people living in certain areas who ethnically had no connection to Cossacks whatsoever. This created situations where those who did not want to be involved in the military were now legally obligated to give military service, and it was now possible to find even ethnically Chinese Cossacks in Eastern voiskos. A Cossack had become both an ethnic identity and a legal title to be bestowed, though the vast majority of Cossacks still remained those of the ethnic background.

To summarize, Cossacks found in Western Imperial Russia often regarded themselves as distinctly different ethnically from other groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Khalmyks), such as with Don, Kuban, and Ural Cossacks. This is often exemplified in Russian Literature (although written by those who are romanticizing the Cossacks) where it is highlighted that Cossacks consider themselves a separate ethnicity from those around them. However in the more Eastern voisko, while it was possible to find Cossacks who believed themselves ethnically Cossack, sometimes being a Cossack was simply a legal title and held no other cultural or ethnic significance.

Now, in regards to Vasily, border guards were often Cossacks in Imperial Russia, as it was one of their duties when not in an active military turn. This immediately gives him claim to potentially being a Cossack, if you choose to headcanon him as a Cossack rather than just in the RIA. But, specifically, Sakhalin was only guarded officially by Cossacks until the succession of the Soviets. Now, as stated above, he was far more likely to consider himself ethnically Cossack (which would explain a Ukrainian last name, but not consider himself Ukrainian due the blended nature of Cossacks) if he was from a voisko further West. But, Sakhalin was one of the Eastern-most points in Russia, and lacked a specific voisko to cover it. Instead, a group called the East Siberian District chose to cover Sakhalin, which was a collection of different voisko. If one was to headcanon Vasily as being a Cossack from any of these Eastern voisko, it’d be much easier to state several things at once: (1) Vasily is legally a Cossack and (2) Vasily considers himself to be ethnically Cossack, Ukrainian, Russian, or whatever else one might choose to headcanon him as. The only background you cannot headcanon such things in conjunction are legally Cossack and ethnically + religiously Jewish for a number of reasons (if a Jew converted, they could indeed be dubbed a Cossack. Antin Krzyzhanovsky is a historical figure notable for doing this).

But, let us backtrack, as there is further evidence to Cossack Vasily beyond his occupation as a border guard. Yeleninka was located in the Orenburg voisko, and those who resided in Yeleninka were legally considered Cossacks. In fact, regardless of headcanon purposes, when following only factual history and no conjecture, Vasily should have been legally a Cossack if he had been born in Yeleninka itself (if born outside the town or if he moved there young, he could’ve been considered a non-Cossack living in the area. Certain ethnicities like Jews and Kalmyks were exempt from the legal title being applied however). I’ve never found specific statistics regarding Yeleninka’s official ethnic makeup, but as for the Orenburg voisko as a whole: when the Orenburg voisko was created, the government supplanted several ethnic Cossacks in the area, but also legally defined some ethnically Russian, Tatar, Mordvin, and Chuvash persons living in the area into Cossacks as well. Thus, one could easily consider Vasily ethnically Cossack, or instead consider him to be one of the other ethnicities listed above while only a Cossack in legal title.

To return back to the discussion about Sakhalin coverage, Yeleninka’s existence in the Orenburg voisko does, in fact, line up with history correctly, though I’m sure Noda was entirely unaware of this. Orenburg was a voisko part of the East Siberian District, and it is entirely plausible Vasily would have been stationed on the border because of that. Though it would have been more likely for a further East voisko to send soldiers to that specific border, but not impossible because Orenburg was part of the District.

Ussuri Cossack

Now, the Ussuri Cossack headcanon hinges upon everything I’ve just said above regarding Orenburg Cossacks. Whether or not Vasily is considered ethnically or legally Cossack matters little, only that he is simply titled an ‘Orenburg Cossack’ at the time of his birth, which he otherwise legally should’ve been if he was born in Yeleninka.

As mentioned, the Ussuri voisko was the voisko found furthest East – and because of that, it was the voisko that supplanted the most Cossacks to Sakhalin. However, there is indeed precedent for an Orenburg Cossack becoming an Ussuri Cossack. While it was notoriously difficult for Cossacks (and peasants in general) to transfer between voisko, starting in the 1890s (after a large famine hit the Orenburg voisko the hardest) the government began supporting Orenburg Cossacks in moving to the Ussuri voisko.

So, in essence, Vasily could have been born in Yeleninka, legally considered a Cossack, and then moved to be raised in the Ussuri voisko as an Ussuri Cossack, allowing for a more probable likeness for him to have been stationed at the Sakhalin border. Because of how devastating the famine was to the Orenburg voisko, movement to the Ussuri voisko was a fairly popular choice for some Cossacks.

Mordvin (Moksha & Erzya) + Chuvash

To get out of the way an important piece of information: I am going to use the term ‘Mordvin’ for ease. However, Mordvin is an umbrella term referring to two distinct, but related, ethnic groups known as the Moksha and Erzya. Think of it like the term ‘Slav’ in reference to Poles and Russians.

Aside from Vasily’s place of birth – Yeleninka – and its place in the Oreburg host, there’s not much other specific evidence towards Vasily being Mordvin. There was a decently large population of Mordvins in the Orenburg voisko, and quite a few of them were also legally deemed Cossacks as well. And, while that is the little info I have (mostly because there is very little information involving Mordvins published in English and even Russian), no other information would contradict him being Mordvin either aside from his Ukrainian last name. But, of course, his last name can always be easily explained away as mixed marriage in the past.

I am adding Chuvash as another ethnic group similar to the Mordvin’s in Fors and Againsts. They had a decent population size in the Orenburg, and some also served as Cossacks. However, unlike the Mordvins which are a Finno-Ugric peoples that had assimilated and intermarried with Russians quite a lot, Chuvash tend to have more of a Central Asian appearance which is a bit of a contrast to Vasily’s canon appearance (blond-brown hair, strong nose bridge, blue hooded eyes).

Turkish

I’ll quickly preface that Vasily being full-blooded Turkish is highly unlikely. But I wanted to at least mention that it wouldn’t be uncommon for him to be a quarter or half Turkish. The reason why is that during the Russo-Turkish War during the 1860s, Cossacks often brough Turkish brides back to Russia with them after the end of the war. Given that Cossacks already have some mix of Turkic culture, they were partial to bringing these women back with them (though I must stress this was not always done morally). Regardless, if one is running with the idea that Vasily is a Cossack, his parents being mixed Turkish or a grandmother of his being fully Turkish is completely plausible.

Jewish

I’m going to attempt this as respectfully as I can, as it would be remiss of me not to entertain the idea of Vasily being Jewish because Jews were a significant population of the Russian Empire. Nonetheless, the facts stack against this headcanon, but I want to lay them out for clarity’s sake as perhaps the info is useful to someone attempting to work with the headcanon. The history of Jews in Russia is quite extensively plotted in academia, and though I’ve read a couple papers and books about it, I could very well be missing important information. Please feel free to correct me.

First and most importantly: Vasily could not have been a Cossack and religiously Jewish. If, perchance, he was only ethnically Jewish but his family kept this information completely hidden or they openly converted to Orthodoxy, then he could’ve been legally defined as a Cossack. But otherwise, Jews were never given the legal title, and even ethnic Jews who had converted to Orthodoxy were still heavily discriminated against by other Cossacks. While I’ve never found a specific law mentioned against legally defining Jews as Cossacks, there are social issues to consider. Cossacks, particularly ethnic ones, were notorious in their violence against Jews. They instigated and typically were the ones who committed pogroms against Jews in the empire and had a long history of using them as scapegoats in political matters. If a Jew was to gain the legal title of ‘Cossack’, there would not have been a particularly peaceful outcome to such a situation. Thus, to be religiously Jewish Vasily must have only been in the Separate Border Guard Corps which did allow Jews.

Next, Vasily’s last name, Pavlichenko, can be explained. While the majority of Jews in Russia had Germanic last names (and ordinarily first names as well), they sometimes took Slavic names, especially if conversion or intermarriage occurred. Given that Pavlichenko is Ukrainian as well, it is actually more favorable than him having a Russian last name – Jews in Russia were majority confined to an area called the Pale. The Pale covered what is now modern day Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, and a bit of Latvia. If he was to have a non-Germanic surname, it was more likely to have originated from one of these areas, such as Ukraine, hence him more likely to have a Ukrainian last name than a Russian one.

Unfortunately, discussion of the Pale leads into a major problem concerning Vasily: Jews were constricted to this area. A handful of Jews could be found in major cities of European Russia if they were artisans or merchants, as they were allowed to legally reside in these cities when given permits*. For example, about 4000 Jews resided in Moscow around 1900. However, this only extended to major cities just outside the Pale. Upon my research into the Orenburg Oblast, a 1897 census survey finds a grand total 4 Jews living in the entirety of the Oblast (special thank you to Rdstrp for providing me the census). Though I will say, upon reading other papers, there is mention of a single Jewish Cheder in Orenburg that supported 20 students. This hints that perhaps there were more Jews living in Orenburg than the official census denotes, but not by much. Of course, as stated with the Cossack background, there are ways around this statistic. Vasily could be ethnically Jewish, but his family hid this fact and became baptized in order to live outside the Pale and major cities.

Finally, if Vasily had been Jewish, it would’ve been strange he didn’t bring this fact up to the Japanese cast. During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was heavily funded by wealthy American Jews who despised Russia for their strict, antisemitic laws and their recent pogroms. Because of this, Japan was especially favorable towards Jews and during the war would often separate Jewish POWs from the other Russian military POWs, giving them better treatment as if they were guests. To this point, Jews often wanted to stay in Japan because of how well they were treated by the Japanese. I’m unsure exactly how long this favorable view lasted, but it is not remiss to believe as close post-war as Golden Kamuy is, this favorable stance would still hold. Instead of viewing Vasily as an annoying Russian, he very well could’ve used his Jewish background to cement himself a more favorable disposition from the Japanese cast.

*There were some Jews living outside the Pale, but not significant numbers. The Georgian and Central Asian Jews of Iranian background were allowed to reside outside the Pale in their origin areas. There were also some Siberian Jewish communities created by Jews who had been exiled into Siberia, but none of these communities were particularly close to Yeleninka.

End Note

I’ll end this on a note that, with all this information laid out, I only wish to encourage people to choose what they personally feel drawn to for Vasily’s background. While some headcanons have more evidence than others, each has their own difficulties with history in ways, as Noda accidentally contradicted much of the information he applied to Vasily. I hope this encourages more people to do research into the history here – which I think is especially needed if you intend to headcanon Vasily as a Cossack, even if you are headcanoning him to be a ethnically non-Cossack, but legally defined under the title. But a mix of ethnic background is entirely possible for Vasily according to just the factual history, so restricting him to one ethnic identity isn’t needed if one does not wish.

Personally, I often write and draw Vasily as being half Ukrainian half Russian, though in my actual preference I find him to be an ethnic Cossack that was raised in the Ussuri voisko. However, I feel when I present him as a Cossack I want nuance following it, so I’ve never bothered to draw or write him as such beyond a couple sketches.

#golden kamuy #vasily pavlichenko #not art #sorry for the long post ive been waiting to yap about this forever

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cookstorys · 1 year

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hi I just found your blog and your the only one that I’ve seen that does outerbanks. If it’s not to much trouble could I request a rafe Cameron x sunshine male reader, were he wants to be a better person because the guy he’s crushing on never have up on him.

𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙼𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛

_____________

Character- Rafe Cameron

Show/Movie- Outer Bands

Warning- Rafe being crazy 😝☝🏾, haven’t watch outer banks in a while so I had to remember what I could 🕴🏾, sunshine reader showed a lil dark side at the end😰

Author Notes - Im genuinely so sorry for the long wait, you’ve been waiting so long and you’ve been so extremely patient, thank you! Part 2? 🤭

Females dni

_____________

The time was 2:45 am. Granted the [hair color] haired boy should’ve been in bed enjoying his weekend but when he got a worrying text from his friend he awoke immediately. On your way to his location, you could only imagine what he had gotten into. For all you knew he could’ve killed someone. God, you hoped he didn’t kill anyone.

You slowly pulled up to a boat dock. Putting your car in park your heart almost immediately fell to your stomach. You’re the mayor’s son, alone in the dark, with nothing to protect yourself but a rusty pocket knife. ‘He’s your friend, and you love him’ you mumbled to yourself. After a few more minutes in your car, you nervously got out. Your footsteps were the only thing that could be heard as you hurriedly walked toward the docks.

If there wasn’t a light pole near the end of the dock you wouldn’t have been able to identify Rafe at the end of the dock staring down at his reflection. Slowly walked towards him, not wanting to scare him. Once you’ve beside him you spoke. “It’s pretty nice out huh?” His head snapped to look at you, obviously startled at your presence. “You came?” You chuckled at the dumb question. You gently shoulder-bumped him with a smirk. “What else are friends for.”

His stomach fluttered with butterflies. Friends. He could never quite get used to that word. He huffed out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Do you… do you think I’m a bad person?” Your eyes pulled away from the stars to observe his face. His eyes twinkled with sorrow, and his lips stayed still, as his jawline clenched and tightened. You concentrated your eyes back on the shining moon. “Everyone’s a bad person in some way. Yes, some out-way others. However, no one’s completely a good person. Not to mention what makes someone a bad person?” You could feel his confusing eyes land on your calm persona. “I’m lost.” He replied.

“Think of it like this. Someone who steals is considered a bad person correct? But what if they’re stealing to pay for their mother’s medical bills? Some might say stealing is stealing, he belongs in jail. Others might say he’s stealing for genuine reasoning so it’s ok.” Rafe chuckled at your tiny morale rant. “So, does that mean I’m a bad person?” Rafe asked and for the first time that night, you looked at each other. “You tell me, Rafe, are you?” His eyes purposefully pulled away from yours, clearly trying to not say something.

“I don’t know,” he cried. “I’ve been trying to be a good person to make you happy, but I can’t keep this up.” He burst into tears. You pulled him into one of your amazing hugs, his head rested on your shoulder as he continued to cry. “I almost drowned Sarah [name], my fucking sister. What the fuck is wrong with me.” He sobbed. You tried to keep your calm composure but the newly learned information took you aback but you refused to show it.

You pulled him away from your touch, taking his head between your hands. “You listen to me Rafe Cameron, you are not a bad person. Just someone who’s made mistakes. Now answer me this…is she dead?” You asked shaken up. “No, Topper stopped me before I could do anything more.” He answered finally calming down. “Good, Rafe where is Topper exactly?” Rafe had to think for a second but finally answered. “He should be at his vacation house until his dad’s back from business.” You smiled at this newly learned information, pulling Rafe back into a hug.

“Ok, remember Rafe I’m always here for you.”

#cookstorys #male reader #rafe cameron #Rafe Cameron x male reader #outerbanks x male reader #outerbanks #gay

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thesimpsbasement · 2 years

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Hello! May I request Vil, Kalim, Malleus and Azul with a male! s/o who’s like Sherlock Holmes or William Moriarty? As in reader is very intelligent and stuff

Hello anon and sure! I sorta alternated between the 2 cuz didn't know how to incorporate both but I hope this is to your liking!

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Characters: Vil Schoenheit, Kalim Al Asim,Malleus Draconia,Azul Ashengrotto

Author:Mod Betty

Warnings/tags: slight spoilers for book 3,5 ( mainly spoilers on book 5) ,not proofreaded yet

Reader is male

Word count:1,300 words

_____________________________

-The first time he noticed your high intelligence was when you actually memorized every item for the skin routine he recommended you

-It took Epel forever to memorize them all and still forgets some

-During VDC he knew you'd be problem because he knew you'd probably see right through his plan and his concerns were correct as you were the one to inform Jamil way before he himself noticed Vil's odd behaviors

-Vil does care a lot about things being perfect, one minute mistake could end in a catastrophe

-You agree with Vil on that but sometimes you rather study than do a self care routine, maybe on your breaks you could add a couple products but not enough to meet Vil's standards

-Vil did admire your determined to adapt to this strange world by learning about it as much as possible, but what he doesn't admire is your lack of self care

-Sometimes he drags you out of your room to do a proper self care regiment

-Like the one you are currently doing

-" For someone who's such a genius you can be quite a forgetful potato" Vil says as he rubs some sort of cream on your face

"Apologies by I can't help but simply indulge of the common things in thought world taht would be deemed impossible in mine" you replied hoping to somewhat justifying your actions every though you knew it wouldn't

" I understand your excitement but you do need to take proper care of yourself,you may deem this unnecessary but I disagree completely and as your lover I'm even more complied to do this" he retorted continuing to apply product to your face

"Oh how lucky i am to have someone to spoil me like this, I'm moved" you tease,smile on your face

" The real lucky one is me to have a brilliant and sometimes forgetful boyfriend like yourself "

-When he found out about your intelligence he was in awe

-you were so cool and not mean like Riddle and you were easier to approach Unlike Malleus

-Jamil is wary of you for a good while knowing how easily Kalim is influenced but you weren't heartless to use someone's kindness

-Kalim is the type to brag about you like " Look how smart my boyfriend is so if you ever need help go ask him!"

-And he wasn't lying,ever since hanging out with(and dating) you he's been improving in his academics and would always would go to you if he needed assistance, saving Jamil from extra work( which he thanks you for)

-Being in a new world made everything surprise you but also defied the logic of your own world so when Kalim offered you a ride on a magic carpet you were skeptical

-I mean a carpet couldn't hold the weight of well anything so it being able to carry 2 people is already taboo and also how can you control it's direction and spee-

-Before you could finish your train of thoughts and how the pure concept contradicts basic physics Kalim pulled your arm and seated you on the carpet

-The first minute you were nervous as hell,who could blame you, you were literally flying on a carpet!

-After the initial shock the ride was actually relaxing and fun

-You never thought you'd ever find yourself flying around on a magic carpet flying around but you don't mind it

-Turning to Kalim who was looking at you the whole time to make sure you're enjoying yourself, you put a hand on his cheek before saying "thank you for showing me something I would never have thought of" and pulling him for a kiss

-Kalim was overjoyed knowing he actually managed to 1) surprised you and 2) make you feel happy

-Safe to say there's never a dull moment with Kalim

-He knew you were smart by simply observing how well you performed in class

-A magicless human from a completely different dimension did better than most of the NRC students

-What caught him by surprise was when you knew his true identity almost as soon as you saw him

-What confused him was that you were still referring to him as that silly nickname you came up with

-Even if you're smart and probably have some combat abilities you still couldn't stand a chance

-When confronting you about it all you did was smirk ad say " Don't worry I know a foe when I see one "

-Also good luck having to deal with Sebek since he's suspicious of you and your wits. Who knows maybe you were trying to fool the young master!!

-Would often come by Ramshackle and talk about each other's lives

-He was quite fascinated by your life back home,always solving mysteries and how capable you were in dire situations

-He doesn't necessarily need help in academics especially being the next heir of Briar Valley but would often ask you for help with other stuff ((*cough* technology ))

-For a mere child of man and from a foreign land you have a lot of knowledge to almost rival some fae

-Despite knowing you can handle yourself just fine you're still a fragile human with no magic so he will occasionally loom around the shadows,sometimes your sharp tongue could easily infuriate students from a certain dorm,After all Savanaclaw students don't settle arguments with words,but with their fists but when they pull their magic pens Malleus quickly steps in to stop the fight before you got hurt because of some buffoons

-After the students ran off, you turned to him a smile on your face " I could've handled them myself you know, even if they can use magic they're still brainless" Malleus chuckled " I suppose so however I don't think I'd forgive myself if you did end up hurt" he said sighing

-" How about we go to Ramshackle after class for a cup of tea? My treat" you suggested

-"Anything for you ,my brilliant child of man"

-The first thing he noticed about you was how calm you were when you signed that contract about bringing that painting from the museum, it was almost as if you had a plan already and were confident it'll succeed

-Seeing how brilliant you were and how you could easily make things go your way he actually suggested working in Mostro Lounge

-Would sometimes challenge you to see who's better,be it who'd give a better offer on contracts or who'd finish homework quicker

-During closing hours he'd offer you a cup of tea and discuss whatever topics you thought of

-When dating your counseling started coming into play

-After some time Azul started getting comfort with being vulnerable around you, often pouring his insecurities as he stared at his lap

-" Sometimes I feel like you deserve better" he muttered not making eye contact with you

"Why do you say that love?" You ask him ,serious look on your face

"I mean someone as brilliant as you shouldn't stick around a stupid,fat,clumsy octopus" he said slight irritation in his voice

You sighed as you placed your hands on his shoulders " Azul look at me" ,hesitantly he did as he was told,teary eyes looking right into your

"The fact I'm your boyfriend should be telling you enough that I'm not going anywhere, I don't stick with people that I don't want too, so if I didn't like you I wouldn't be sitting in this very room now would I?" You said trying to comfort your partner without any sort of sugared words but with pure logic

-"Yeah I guess you're right" Azul said wiping his tears

-Smiling you kiss his forehead has you bring him into a hug " so please cease these idiotic thoughts for both our sake ,you know it pains me to see you this upset"

#fanfiction #fanfic #twisted wonderland x reader #twisted wonderland #vil schoenheit x reader #kalim al asim x reader #malleus draconia x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #x male reader #moriarty the patriot

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blorbologist · 2 months

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Okay so - as a blorbologist, I would like your assistance. I thought I knew the difference between a blorbo and a babygirl but I am questioning my precious understanding.

I always thought blorbo was a morally grey loveable cranky character and babygirl is a cinnamon roll. Basically blorbo was the “could kill you” end of the “cinnamon roll to could kill you” spectrum.

Please enlighten me- am I correct? What is the different between babygirl and blorbo. Thanks.

(Imagine, if you will, a little toad in a labcoat)

Before I say anything, I need to make it clear that all tumblr-related classification is constantly evolving with trends and time, like some antibiotic-resistant bacteria. So a lot of the definitions tend to be malleable! For the sake of simplicity, I'm using Urban Dictionary as my definitions, informed by my own time in fandom, though it can lag behind fandom trends and lack nuance. So take the following with a grain of salt:

A blorbo is your favorite character; it is a definition free of any connotations in regards to their morality, attractiveness, or how pathetic they are. Blorbos are usually from fictional media, but I've rarely seen it apply to celebrities. Your blorbo could be literally any character ever, regardless of screentime or role in the story - or even the actors portraying them!

Meanwhile, babygirl is a far more restrictive term that generally is intended somewhat ironically; the babygirl is, in fact, not a baby nor a girl, but an adult man*. The babygirl is usually also attractive to the poster (but might not fit media standards of what's attractive). Babygirl is more universally given to both characters and real people (e.g. Pedro Pascale), and can apply to men* anywhere in terms of morality (though you will find some communities lean toward babygirl being as ironic as possible and applied to only morally grey or evil male characters, vs others that mean it a bit more genuinely).

(I say men* because, at least from my observation, more and more babygirls are breaking the gender binary and are not actually characters/people who ID as men. But it's 'historically' been a fandom term predominantly given to men.)

Now, you'll notice that neither blorbo nor babygirl matches up really well with the 'could kill you' <--> 'cinnamon roll that could kill you' scale you presented in your ask! I think the definitions you might be looking for are 'poor little meow meow' (awful/morally grey character/person who is absolutely not a poor little anything) and a 'cinnamon roll' (firmly good, often infantilized character/person).

This graph by @luulapants helps get the distinction across well (though I've seen people's blorbos be cinnamon rolls and poor little meow meow, so I would quibble with blorbo being implied to be the middle ground between the extremes).

TLDR; blorbos are favorite characters, babygirls are usually attractive adults, poor little meow meows could and likely would kill you, and cinnamon rolls are good (and would probably be sad if they killed you). Your blorbo can be a babygirl, or a poor little meow meow and a babygirl and a blorbo at once!

Hope it helped! 🐸

#fandom #fandom culture #ask #this was fun! back to my thesis #a blorbo is like a species. babygirl is probably a genetics-level family. poor little meow meow and cinnamon roll are ecological niches.

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yourtouchismidas · 1 year

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how do u think matty reacts when gigi gets into her first relationship? i think he'd be wary but still very polite (also definitely gives the partner the shovel talk)

this ask perfectly follows on from the one i just wrote so we'll start from where that left off.

when gigi gets home from her first proper date, with the first guy she really properly likes, george has already text him to tell him where she was having bumped into him on the street. she tries to come into the house quietly, hoping that the noise of her little sisters messing around will drown her out and she can hop up to her bedroom without being noticed.

instead, the house is silent. perfect. no screams or laughs from the girls. they all must be out. gigi relaxes. she kicks off her shoes and puts down her back. she goes out of the hallway and to climb the stairs and then she hears him. a voice.

"august healy,"

it's her dad. she goes into the kitchen, knowing it would be disrespectful to ignore him, and he is sitting in one of the dining chairs, nursing a coffee, and stroking one of the twin's stuffy like he's in the godfather.

"hi dad," gigi says sheepishly.

"i received a very interesting text earlier," he says, putting down his coffee mug. "care to take a guess on what that may have been?"

she folds her arms, "i think we all know."

"i think we do," matty says, suddenly throwing the stuffed toy rabbit on the floor, then quickly, realising how hard he has thrown it, picks it up and says, "sorry bunny," and gives it a quick kiss on the head before placing it on the table. gigi is trying not to laugh. he's such a nightmare.

"i've heard, from a certain uncle, that a certain daughter, has been out with, someone of the male variety. am i correct?"

"dad can you stop?" she whines, "i'm fifteen."

"you're twelve," he says.

"for gods sake. where's mum? she'll put an end to this nonsense."

"your mother has yet to be informed of the male child. she is currently out with the rest of my charges. but i'm sure she will feel the same as I."

"dad," gigi says, giggling, "stop it."

"stop what?" he says, waving his arms around like some cartoon character.

"stop messing around. so i went out with a boy. its fine."

"i'll stop messing around when you tell me about him. and assure me that this male child has no intentions to hurt my precious child."

"didn't george tell you he's already threatened him?"

"he did not," matty says, "but i will need to threaten him myself, obviously."

"dad," gigi sighs, turning around to leave the kitchen.

"wait baby, come back," matty says, returning to his regular voice. "you dont need to lie about who you're seeing okay? please dont lie to me love."

"but you act like this! you care so much!"

"i'm just being a knob," he says. holding his arms out to hug her. "and i just care because you're my baby girl. okay? i want the best for you."

she leans into him. he rubs his knuckles in her curls.

"george did tell me he's really good looking," matty says.

gigi looks at him grinning, "oh my god he is, he's so fit."

matty pulls a face like he's just eaten something terrible.

"oh god, yeah no, can't do that."

"what?"

"happy for you he's fit an all but cant stomach hearing about it."

"that's fair enough, will you leave me alone about it now?"

"fine," matty says, going back to his coffee and picking up bunny again, "but i want to meet him. get him round for dinner please."

"sure," gigi says, taking the opportunity to run out the room.

"love you!" matty calls after her up the stairs. she sighs hard, but yells back, "love you too."

when you come back with the girls, you find matty in his music room crafting a song called "stay away from my daughter you shit."

"matthew healy," you say, grinning. you know he doesnt mean it. but you also know he loves that kid more than anything in the entire world.

"he's coming round for dinner," matty shudders, "i have to be ready."

#ruins #ruins behind the scenes #matty healy x reader #matty healy x you #matty healy #matty healy x y/n #the 1975 fanfic #matty healy fanfiction #dad!matty

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tala-bez-i · 27 days

Text

At first sight II Chapter Five

(m!reader x Bonten!Haruchiyo Sanzu)

Fluff/slash/reader is male/cursing/BontenTimeline/drugs and alcohol mentioned/violence/blood/death

All characters that appeared in the Tokyo Revengers manga and anime belong to Ken Wakui.

Words: 3557

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I'm telling you, this is weird.” Okumura said as you were returning from the Red Light District.

“You mean, only two people were even aware that Jun Takenaka had fallen victim to someone?”

“What else? I know they had an informant that we might show up, but…” The man shook his head. “Who the hell is Ko-chan? Anyway, it doesn't matter. We need to focus on finding... Finding out Uncle Shou's identity. Were you also told that he was someone influential?”

“Yes.” You said, feeling tense. It seemed that your partner didn't suspect anything of your sister, or at least that was the impression he gave, and you didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. One thing was for sure, you had to be careful at every step from now on and warn Tomoko herself. Shinji Okumura liked entertainment and often talked about it, but he was no fool. “Influential enough to get Nagasawa's sentence shortened.”

“I hope it's not a prosecutor.” He grumbled, dissatisfied. “I'm not going to chase tails like a dog.”

“We're dogs.” You pursed your lips and the man gave you a long look, then let out a short laugh.

“L/n, oh, come on...”

“Y/n... Are you listening, honey?” You blinked a few times when you saw Emi's troubled face in front of you.

“I'm sorry...” You blushed, lifting the cup of coffee to your lips, only to find it empty. “Oh my god, I was lost in thought...”

“No problem. Can I make you some tea?”

“Yes, please.” She took the cup from your hands and you watched her go to the sink. “Where did we end our conversation?”

“We did end?” She gave you an amused look, although there was still concern in them.

“You mentioned that you and your friends had arranged to go to the hair salon, to the beautician for nails, and...” You scratched your head. “You have plans to celebrate your new friend Jenny's birthday at some club, right?”

“Oh my god, Y/n...” The woman turned to you, wiping your mug with a cloth. Her eyes were wide and she looked even more worried than before. “That was over an hour ago. After that, I told you about a lot of other things, including what's being discussed in the lab... Maybe I should cancel...”

“No, no. Everything's fine.” You protested quickly and smiled apologetically. “Everything's fine. I was just wondering about the latest case...”

“The young guy with the slit throat?” She asked as she put the water on to boil.

“Yes, Junko Yoshioka.”

“Hmm?”

“I meant Jun Takenaka.” You corrected yourself and Emi showed you two bags of loose tea so you could choose which one you wanted. You pointed to one and the woman made a portion for two cups. “Not everyone knew him from both sides…”

“I see. Mimiko also mentioned today that Shinji spent a few hours in front of the computer, working on the latest facts you’ve managed to find out.”

“We haven’t found much.” You crossed your arms over your chest, leaning back slightly. “Is she sure her beloved husband was working instead of spending time entertaining himself?”

“Y/n.”

You looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if we should visit them. You know, bring them something to eat and stuff like that…”

“Mimiko has her hands full, you know.”

“Yeah, but still... Just a little friendly get-together…”

“You’re cute, but I’ll pass.” The woman laughed shortly. “It’s a bit too crowded for me.”

You looked at her carefully. She had her back to you and you could see from her shoulders that she didn't seem tense. She didn't mind going to crowded nightclubs, but visiting her friends at their house, not even a small apartment, but a house with a pretty decent square footage, was too much. You knew where the problem was and your heart lurched again. Emi avoided going to places where there was more than one child, and Mimiko was pregnant with another.

"So, when are you meeting your friends?" You asked, completely ignoring her hypocrisy.

"We have Friday off, so..."

"Okay." You smiled at her when she turned around and winked at her. "In that case, I'll grab a case of beer, a pot of curry and visit them myself."

Emi stared at you for a moment, as if pondering something, but smiled brightly at you and nodded.

“Just don’t drink too much, because I also planned to spend the night with you.”

You pursed your lips slightly, knowing perfectly well what she meant, and cleared your throat once. You straightened up in your chair and smoothed down the legs of your pants.

“You can be sure I'll be back on time, my dear.” You replied, and as soon as the woman placed the ready tea in front of you, you gently took her hand in yours and brought it to your lips, placing a soft kiss on her skin. “You can be sure I'll even be more sober than drunk, unlike the previous meetings with Okumura after work.”

“Thank you and I'll hold you to your word.” The other laughed, stroking your face. “Because this time I have no intention of watching over you with a bowl.”

“Cruel, evil and mean. Zero empathy and compassion.” You grumbled and the woman kissed the top of your head.

“I love you too.” She said in a gentle tone and picked up her mug before heading to the living room where she was going to watch TV for a while before getting ready for bed. “Don’t work too long.”

“I’m not promising anything, but I’ll try.” You replied, staying in the kitchen to sit in peace for a while longer before you tried to get another headache from analyzing the facts and information you had, not only about Junko’s case, but also refreshing what you had on your computer about Yuji.

You were still holding back from looking through the new photos and recordings of Sanzu that Tomoko had given you. Sure, you looked at the files, but you didn’t delve into them as much as you had done so far.

A thought popped into your head. What if, among the short recordings, you came across at least snippets of a conversation about something that could at least slightly steer you in the right direction? But maybe Bonten knew something about those few strange murders that only looked like they were responsible?

Yes, you and Okumura had reviewed the files of the still open cases involving the murders of women who were involved in sex work and discovered that several of them looked similar to this latest one.

The bodies of the women showed no signs of violence, apart from bruises on the ankles and strangulation marks. Only two out of six cases, not counting Jun Takenaka, had their throats slit. The number of victims was not particularly alarming, as it indicated that if all the victims had been murdered by the same perpetrator, he must have been taking breaks.

There had only been seven victims in three years. Although it was not known whether more women had been killed in a similar manner in Tokyo and its prefectures. You all would have preferred it to be so, but on the other hand, maybe it would have been possible to rule out the syndicate members.

Why did you think Bonten had nothing to do with it? Sure, they could have done it and confiscated the goods that belonged to them, but despite the fact that you knew that their ranks were full of mentally unstable individuals and full of psychopaths, sociopaths, and other perverts, you had a feeling that this was a dead end. If it were otherwise, Tomoko wouldn't have been hiding such information.

Yes, she was working with them, but if the syndicate was actually responsible, she would have told you to stay out of it or destroy the evidence, which had happened more than once in the past.

Why did you listen to her? You wanted to be a good cop and keep order and catch those who broke the law, but that was before you joined the gang and found out that one of them had a boy who stole your heart in a matter of seconds. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for him and nothing could change that. Not even the fact that he personally threatened to kill you.

You tried to live far away from him, but you couldn't, and you had proof on your computer. You sincerely hoped that Emi would never find out about them... Although, it was close once.

“Are you changing your perfume?” She asked one day when she was coming back from your small office with a small watering can in her hands.

She had a thoughtful expression on her face, although her tone of voice was completely calm. Just a normal question announcing a short, casual chat between two people who were close to each other.

“Um... No. Not really.” You answered her, feeling your cheeks begin to warm up.

“Hmm... Quite floral. If not for you...”

“It was supposed to be for me. Just a sample.”

“Oh? Changed your mind?”

“Yes... As you noticed, quite floral. Maybe even a little too much for me.” You laughed shortly and Emi smiled at you widely.

“Thank goodness.” She sighed, stroking your cheek. “The scent is nice... But I prefer the one you're wearing now.”

“Uh-huh.” You nodded and kissed the woman on the cheek.

That was before you moved into your new apartment, and since then you've been much more careful with using the perfume that Haruchiyo Sanzu used to wear. That mysterious scent became even more private, even intimate, for you, and you only sprayed it in your office when you knew you'd have time to air out the room before your girlfriend got home.

Exactly...

You couldn't wait any longer. You got up from your chair and went to the aforementioned room, taking with you a cup of tea that your beloved had brewed for you. You sat down in front of your desk and turned on your computer, and after a moment you started browsing through the new contents of your secret folder.

The first few photos were taken in a nightclub that you suspected belonged to brothers, Ran and Rindou Haitani. The pink-haired gangster was sitting comfortably surrounde by a group of amused women who looked to be of different ages, and you could tell at first glance that they weren't exactly sober.

Next up was a short video recording where Sanzu focused his attention on one of the girls. She was quite attractive, you had to admit that. At one point, they exchanged a long look, the woman leaned forward as if to kiss him and then the man smiled gently. You could clearly see how, during a rather passionate kiss, the gangster passed the girl a small pill, which she swallowed immediately.

You clenched your teeth and swallowed as if a pill had appeared in your esophagus. Your heart was torn between joy at the sight of a contented Haruchiyo and a feeling of jealousy. You didn't like drugs, you preferred alcohol, but it should have been you, not that girl.

The corner of your mouth lifted slightly, seeing that the drug was starting to affect the girl, who fell onto the chest of the man interested in her and after a short moment, Sanzu carefully stood up from his seat, grabbed the half-conscious party girl tightly and led her somewhere, disappearing from the frame. The recording ended, but you knew perfectly well what happened next.

The pink-haired gangster took her to a private room and used her like you had already seen many times in the previous timeline. Heck, you yourself participated in several actions when instead of choosing the path of a law enforcement officer, you stayed by Sanzu's side.

In the next recording, from a completely different day, Sanzu was sitting right next to Manjiro Sano and talking to him. The Bonten leader had a dispassionate, completely indifferent expression, but in his coal-black... Like a bottomless pit eyes, some icy flame was smoldering. There was something to it, because even Kakucho and Kokonoi sitting next to him looked gloomy. You were curious what it was about, but the music in the background was too loud for you to hear anything... Although...

“...tomorrow...” The voice sounded like it belonged to Takeomi, but you weren't sure.

“That son of a bitch...” Kokonoi growled, his gaze shifting to whoever was next to the person who was secretly recording. “Isn't one enough of a problem for us?”

“What can you do?”

Mikey nodded and Sanzu moved away from him. The pink-haired man looked furious.

“Take care of it.” The leader said and No. 2 grinned.

It was one of those cruel smiles that sent a shiver down your spine over and over again and you knew that whoever he was hunting was going to get really bad. The police would probably never find the body.

As the recording ended, you saw the reflection in the bottles, caused by the colored lights, and it hit you that the person who had risked making this recording - like probably a few others you had received - was Tomoko herself.

You whistled quietly, feeling a little anxious, but you were aware of the fact that your sister knew perfectly well what she was doing. She wouldn't throw herself into the lion's mouth if it wasn't worth the risk. You would have to ask her what that conversation was about soon.

You looked at your watch, which showed 9:40 p.m. and directed your gaze towards the door, which you had open. In the hallway, you saw the lights flickering, indicating that Emi was still watching TV, or at least the device was still on.

You closed the folder you were browsing and got up from the chair to check how your chosen one was doing. When you looked into the living room, it turned out that the woman was sleeping soundly on the couch you had recently purchased. You approached her, turned off the TV and in the light of the street lamps, carefully lifted her from the comfortable piece of furniture and carried her to your bedroom, where the futons were already waiting.

As you tried to lay her down as carefully as you could, you immediately thought that buying a bed would be a must... But of course, Emi insisted on sticking with a more traditional form of lounging, and you didn't have the strength to argue with her about it too much.

“It's much healthier, Y/n. It's good for your spine...”

“I'd rather have a bed though... It's easier to put someone on.” You wrapped your arms around her waist and pulled her closer to you so that her back touched your chest. “I'm getting older...”

“You're not even thirty.” She snorted quietly.

“And you don't weigh 99Ibs anymore.” You bit your tongue before the words could leave your mouth. You sighed quietly and pressed your nose to the top of her head to inhale the scent of her shampoo. “Okay. We'll stick to the futons.”

You placed the sleeping woman on her futon and huffed through your nose in relief. You loved her and loved her deeply, but having a bed allowed for so many different sexual positions that...

“No...” She mumbled in her sleep, gently grabbing your hand as you started to pull away from her.

“It's okay, baby. Sleep...” You tried to gently pull away from her grip, but it only tightened.

“Stay...” She mumbled wrapping her arms around you again. “Please...”

“Emi...” Hearing her mumble a few more words, you gave in and laid down next to her, letting the woman press her body against yours.

That was it for your work today. You listened to her calm breathing, feeling sleepiness starting to take over you.

Maybe it's better that you don't stay up late today? After all, he was supposed to show up first thing tomorrow morning... Damn, you didn't even know the nickname of the black-haired man who promised to appear for a voluntary interrogation in the Junko case.

You hoped he would actually show up...

You were standing in front of a dark passageway that led to an even darker room, from which a disgusting stench was coming to you, which was probably so ingrained in your memory that you would never be able to forget it or confuse it with anything else.

You wanted to scream, being completely aware of everything, when whispers appeared in your head, where your dream had taken you.

A torture room in the basement, which was located in the Uchiyama’s house.

Something you had left behind long ago and at the same time something that did not exist.

You turned your back to the passage and took a few steps towards the stairs leading up. You had no intention of giving in to this nightmare again. You had no intention of looking again at the mutilated body of the woman you had found back then and who had haunted you in your nightmares.

*rustle*

You stopped when you thought you heard a rustling sound, but when you strained your ears, there was silence everywhere. You felt an unpleasant shiver run down your spine, and for a split second you thought your body would lunge forward to escape that place, but it was just a dream, and you had no intention of letting the nightmares get to you.

*rustle, rustle*

You sighed heavily and closed your eyes again. “Get over it, Yukiko.” The rustling stopped, and you could feel someone's presence in the air. “I know I have to get Yuji, because he's responsible for what happened to you, but...”

“Y/n-chan?” You didn't expect that voice. It seemed to belong to a young woman, but...

You turned around quickly and saw the wrong person. A young man dressed in colorful women's clothes walked out of the dark passageway leading to the torture room. His wig, interwoven with colorful streaks, was slightly dirty, but the figure still looked good.

You looked into his face, which was covered in heavy, colorful makeup, and saw confusion and fear in his big blue eyes.

“Junko?” You gasped, completely unable to understand what was happening.

“Y/n-chan…” He made a sad face. “I can't find my purse. Haru-chan will be angry if something happens to the package.”

“Excuse me?”

“Why is it so dark in there?” She asked, looking over her shoulder into the abyss.

“Junko... You shouldn't be here.”

“I know, but I lost my purse.” She stretched out her small hand towards you, with artificial nails of different colors glued to them. “Can you help me, please?”

You took three steps forward and just as you were about to grab the colorful flea by the hand, the dirty and bloody hands of a woman emerged from the darkness and with one violent movement pulled Junko back into the darkness of the room before she could let out a cry.

You opened your eyes feeling a weight on your chest that wasn't there before. You held your breath and looked down, and as soon as you saw the figure of Emi, whose head was the source of the weight, gently illuminated by the street lamps, you let out a breath of relief.

You wrapped your arms around her, gently stroking her back with one hand. You tried to control your rapidly beating heart so as not to wake the woman and tried to recreate fragments of the dream in your memory.

It didn't scare you like the previous ones, and you didn't know what caused it. It was because you somehow managed to get used to the stench of a woman's decomposing body or because this time Junko Yoshioka appeared in it.

The muscles in your arms tensed as you realized that the young man had addressed you by name, but you pursed your lips and looked out the window, not fully covered by the blinds.

Of course, Junko called you by your name. After all, it was the work of your own subconscious, which had combined a figure from two different timelines. That was all, nothing special.

The woman sleeping in your arms stirred with a purr and you released her. She moved away from you, turned on her side so that her back was turned towards you and began to snore softly, leaving you with a feeling of strange emptiness.

You suddenly realized that even though Yoshioka was a total extrovert and her presence was almost overwhelming, you wanted to talk to her again. Maybe even let her feed you cookies like you did when you first met her.

Despite the fact that she was a drug dealer, she seemed harmless to you.

The corners of your mouth twitched as you recalled the image of the tiny man beating Mochizuki with his purse. The colorful flea was harmless unless someone stepped on its toes.

As quickly as you were amused, you grimaced even more and got up from your futon and headed to your small office, knowing that you wouldn't be able to sleep again that night.

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x y/n #male reader #tokyo revengers haruchiyo sanzu #haruchiyo sanzu #haruchiyo sanzu x reader

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ssa-atlas-alvez · 1 month

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So I've been struggling with gender identity and I was wondering if you could write a Male (demiboy?) Reader x Spencer or Derek (or both) coming out to the feds as Nonbinary? Like reader still wants to be seen as a guy, but at the same time also wants to be seen as gender nonconforming

(Maybe Reader feels euphoric when one of the police officers on their case who *dont* know about the coming out calls the reader "[name] is right, he- they are correct about this one thing" and it just makes Reader so so happy?)

Hiya! I hope you like this, it's been a hot minute since I've written a nonbinary character so I hope it's okay and I hope I articulated it well. Please reach out if I've said/written the wrong thing!

Warnings: talks of murder but like briefly

You had wanted to come out for a while, but weren’t exactly sure how. Obviously Spencer knew, you had kept him up to date with everything in regards to your identity. And he understood it, he was okay with it, he was as accepting as he physically possible. And when you told him you wanted to tell the team, he was extremely supportive, helping you brainstorm a variety of different ways to tell them.

You decided to tell them that morning. Just as quickly as possible to get it over with. And so, half an hour later, you all sat in the briefing room for the morning meeting.

“Is there anything anyone would like to add?” Hotch asked, looking around. It was an informal meeting, usually more of a chance to drink coffee and try to wake up before starting work.

“Er, yeah.” You said.

“Of course.”

“So it’s kind of not work related at all, but I’ve been wanting to tell you all for a while and figured no time like the present. But I’m Nonbinary. Like, I’m a guy but also I’m not?” You said. “So, like I don’t know how to explain other than I’m a guy but also not really.”

Hotch gives a small smile, “That’s alright. It’s difficult to put things into words,” He said, “But, we accept you and respect you no matter how you feel.”

You give him a smile. “Thank you sir.” You said, he gives a small nod.

“Oh, oh, pronouns!” Garcia exclaimed, “What are your pronouns? What are everyone’s pronouns?” She points her fluffy pen at everyone individually.

“I’m he/him,” Spencer said, starting the circle, knowing you were probably a little nervous.

You took a small breath, “Er, He/They.”

Everyone nodded.

“Sorry, just a quick question,” JJ said, “Do you have a preference for he or they? Or is it just either?”

“Either, there’s no preference for me, personally.” You give a small nod. Spencer reaches across, gently squeezing your knee.

JJ nodded, “Okay, thank you.” She gave a smile. “My pronouns are she/her.”

When everyone had gone around with their pronouns and reassured you that none of them minded or thought less of you, the meeting ended and you all headed back to your desks.

“I’m so proud of you.” Spencer whispered, kissing your cheek gently.

The team adjusted to your pronouns seamlessly, making sure to use both he and they pronouns. Everything goes without a hitch.

The next day you got a case, a local one. Multiple bodies with no distinct victimology. At least, that’s what you th

“I think the unsub’s a teenager.” You state, everything seemed to slot into place.

“I think (Y/N)’s right, I think he- they hit the nail on the head there,” The officer says, stumbling on your pronouns slightly, unsure as to which ones he should use (he figured using ‘they’ was a safe bet until he found out for sure - at least, that’s what his granddaughter had told him was the best option anyway). “It’s the most logical explanation.”

It takes all of your willpower not to beam.

#criminal minds #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #spencer reid #criminal minds fanfiction #emily prentiss #david rossi #bau x nonbinary reader #nonbinary reader #reader #x reader #x nonbinary reader #spencer reid x nonbinary reader

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queenserena-13 · 3 months

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I hate to be That Guy, but it's less "we got another trans character" and more "we got a correct translation". In the original game, Bonetail was only male in the American translation, but was only female in all other countries. It looks like, however, they changed it in the remake.

God I hope I'm not coming off as an asshole

First off, not coming off as an ass, you’re good

Second I’m aware it’s probably a little translation error, I’ve been informed, but it’s always fun to headcanon, plus a trans skeleton dragon is cool as fuck.

On a final note this is like the first ask I ever got so like thanks

#paper Mario #ttyd #bonetail #Tumblr Asks #trans pride #pride month

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peonycats · 1 year

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I had a question regarding your China post but was too shy to reply to it. I'm not Chinese and don't really know all of the cultural information/cultural differences and what all of the aspects of being masc vs femme entail. What parts of his character/how he's portrayed by Hima and/or by the fandom considered feminine? I just don't know what things would be considered femme by a Chinese POV. For example, long hair is considered femme in the West... But from what I understand it's more normalized and there's more historical precedent for men having long hair in China. I also HC that he cares a lot about his skin and uses a lot of natural skincare, would that be considered a femme trait? In America it certainly is, but some other cultures have different standards and view personal hygiene and taking care of your skin.

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or anything! I'm asking out of genuine curiosity, I hope I haven't phrased anything in an insensitive way. Thank you for reading!

Hi, I'm happy to answer! And I would say that you are correct when it comes to long hair, historically that was not considered a feminine trait in Chinese society.

What is the issue I see with Himaryu's portrayal is that Yao is demasculinized compared to the other Allies + Axis, even compared to N. Italy who was raised a girl. He's constantly put in female clothing against his will, his androgyny is the basis for many of the jokes, his childish demeanor and lovey-dovey attitude towards Japan in the earlier comics ("why did japan betray me omg 🥺🥺 it's not like we literally fought several wars before this"), as well as getting sexually harassed by Korea. He's essentially a male version of the Anime Chinese Girl Trope, which is rooted in the history of Japanese fetishism and exoticism of Chinese women- you can read more about it here:

Of course, Chinese people are free to reclaim Yao's femininity and androgyny- I know for me, Yao's androgyny is something that means a lot and is important to me. Many people have taken my prior post on the topic as me somehow condemning masculine portrayals of Yao as somehow pro-west and something I want to stop, which couldn't be further from the truth. For many reasons, some of which I have described above, I do understand why people may want to make Yao more overtly masculine.

I only ask that you consider why you are either choosing to make Yao more masculine or feminine, especially if you are not Chinese yourself, and what standards are you making him more masculine or feminine? Who is this more masculinized and feminized yao being contrasted against? Does any of the above fall into Orientalist tropes that dehumanize and stereotype Chinese people?

#ask #anonymous #hws china #// disk horse #thank you to @ pearlescentplums for helping me write this <333 #also that person who sent the jojo ask: i see you and i agree JKSKJFKJDS

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dreamcast641 · 1 year

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SCP OC: DMITRY VASILIJ MAKAROV

My boy is having a bio too finally! He is even older than claire when it comes to when I created him (2016) and he went through a lot as well. This bio will not be completely done either but otherwise I hope you like him as well. Please reminder that Dmitry is NOT a good character and It'll explain why while you read ----------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL INFORMATIONS:

Full Name: Dmitry Vasilij Makarov Aliases/nicknames: None Age: 26-30 years old Gender: Male Pronouns: He/him Sexual orientation: Aromantic and Asexual (AroAce) Date of birth: november 2nd Place of birth: Unknown but it's somewhere in the USA Current residence: site 5c Nationality: American with slavic origins Spoken Languages: American English (main), Russian ( ONLY with his dad) , American sign language (ASL) and braille Affiliations/organizations: SCP foundation Occupation: Medical department operating as psychiatrist and researcher, specialized in oneirology. Works sometimes along with the omicron rho (the dream team) and ISD (internal security department) agent. -------------------------------------------------------------

APPEARANCE

BUILD: Skinny/slender

— Dmitry is a man of impressive height, he reaches almost two meters but unfortunately he is really thin and manages to hide it well thanks to the clothes he wears.

— Dmitry doesn't take much care of his image and his being very busy often distracts him from having a correct diet. He doesn't eat often and if he does he doesn't get enough protein. it is Claire who reminds him to eat, often making time to prepare his meals.

-----

SCARS: acid burn scar all over his right side of the face

— Dmitry has a large, visible burn scar on his face and the contrast with his naturally pale skin makes it stand out even more.

— it's been years since the incident, yet he still can't fully talk about it. too many bad memories are linked to his scar and he usually avoids mirrors so as not to see his reflection in them.

------

VOICE: Cold and low

— Dmitry speaks slow, his voice seems monotonous

— His voice seems to have no soul. It is cold and emotionless. -------

EYES: Purple/pinkish and blinded

— His left eye looks purple, closer to a purplish while the right one completely destroyed by the acid.

— If before he had difficulty seeing, now he can be considered almost blind and his eyes are the reason he is learning braille. His right eye is completely destroyed by the acid, the iris is opaque and the sclera is red. The remaining eye of him is not the best, the iris transparent and the pinkish color is due to the blood vessels visible in the eye.

-------

FASHION: casual

— casual, doesn't really care for fashion.

— He just grabs the first thing he could find. He is in his office the whole day so no one really sees him. ----------------- More about his aspect: -Dmitry is 193 cm tall or 6'3ft -He suffers from albinism that make his skin completely pale and his hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes, white due to absence of melanin

FAVORITES -Color: Purple -Food: very salty fries -Drink: Black coffee -Song: Man on the moon (zella day) -Flower: Poppy and black Rhododendron -Hairstyle: Ponytail or messy bun ------------------ PHOBIAS : Atychiphobia is an intense fear of failure. It may cause you to put off or avoid any activity or scenario that has the potential for an unsuccessful outcome. Someone with this condition may be scared to try new things, take risks or embrace growth for fear of failure. Cynophobia is the overwhelming fear of dogs. ------------------------------------------------

PERSONALITY: -Moral alignment: Lawful evil -Myers-Briggs: INTJ POSITIVE TRAITS: -Smartass. To be a researcher of the foundation, one must also be intelligent and Dmitry certainly is and this is to his advantage in many areas, even when it comes to escaping from unpleasant situations. -Dedicated only to his job. So dedicated and passionate about his work that he almost forgets to eat. He loves his position as a psychiatrist, it's an area he's always had a fascination with. The human mind is so full of mysteries to him. -Great team with Claire when it's possible. The smart one and the one who gets her hands dirty. Overall the two make a good team together and are able to overcome to almost all challenges NEGATIVE TRAITS: -Empathy? What is that? Despite his work as a psychiatrist, Dmitry often finds himself not empathizing with the patient in front of him or with anyone else. -Aggressive and often cold. His personality and lack of trust in others has made him an empty shell. Most of the time he comes across as distant and very confrontational with everyone, even with who should be the people closest to him. -Manipulator...and gaslighter. Especially with his sister, Dmitry is very manipulative. He often invents scenarios that never happened just to make her feel bad about it for days. To say Claire feels bad about this is an understatement. -Silent treatment. If he's angry he doesn't say why and when he does he can be silent for days. It is a torture for the others. -Ambitious. Ambition is good but not when it comes to his own where he would do anything to achieve his goals. -Smarter and above everyone. His thinking that he could decieve everyone and everything would be his own demise at the end.

TRIVIA -He has a ball albino python named diablo. He feeds him frozen rats or the ones that the janitor gave him for the snake. -He still has morals and can't stand people doing harm towards children or animals. -NPD (narcissist personality disorder) -His office it's almost always dark as he can't stand the light. -He hates when people touch his hair. He loves them way too much to even cut them and, in fact, they are long af. -Dmitry is anomalous. -He is a psychic than can walk through other people's dreams. -He can replace memories thanks to that. -The SHRP would be the ones that kill him at the end. He stepped way too forward with his experiments and pissed the wrong people off. -Victor penz would be the one to kill him with a gunshot

SUMMARY OF HIS STORY (STILL NOT SO DONE)

Dmitry was the first of the two to be born within two minutes of his twin sister Claire. It is not known where they were born, only that their mother gave birth to them somewhere in the United States. Raised in the hostile environment of the foundation but with the loving care of their mother Mandy Ross, a former nurse in the US Navy. Their father? Locked in the same site where they were born, metal walls separating this potentially dangerous man due to the toxic, potentially lethal nature of his body. In the early years of their lives, the twins immediately reveal themselves as curious troublemakers, always looking for other children like them to socialize with and will end up bonding closely with one of them in particular: Ira Watts, whom they will consider for life as a brother. Mandy, for reasons still unknown to them, decides to leave them and the foundation to join the GOC, leaving the twins and the adoptive brother to look after themselves with claire being the main caretaker for them with the help of Maria, who Dmitry would get extremely affectionate to as she is the one to guide and assist him during his studies. As the three separates just when they reach their adolescency, Dmitry was sent for a few years to study medicine and later psychiatry at a different facility than the site where he was born. Unfortunately here, the foundation will learn of his anomaly and some experiments will begin that will cost him whole days. Unbeknownst to him, they'll make him sleep a lot to see what he can do in other people's dreams. Eventually, at the end of his studies, he will reunite with his sister and soon after the accident with his father will take place which will leave him permanently injured not only physically but also mentally. The gases that he will inhale thanks to the acid will cause him to go into a coma that will go on for a few days, where he will hear everything and especially what the doctors will say, realizing that he means nothing to the foundation. The experience will leave him completely changed, developing questionable behaviors to say the least, especially towards his sister and without any specific motivation other than that he considers her a good-for-nothing who hasn't lifted a finger to save him. Their relationship will be so ruined that it will no longer be repairable. later on the two were approached by a man from the Internal Security Department (ISD) who was determined to recruit them as they were loyal members of the foundation. The two naively accepted and it was that meeting and that assignment that led them to site 5c where they still reside nowdays.

SITE 5C STORY LINE

(coming soon)

#original character #original characters #scp ocs #scp mtf #scp oc art #scp foundation #scp #scp original character #scifi #oc biography

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apocalypticavolition · 11 months

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Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Chapter 16: In the Mirror of Darkness

On the off-chance you just started following Tumblr's WoT stuff today: this blog is going to have spoilers for everything. Everything. If you don't want spoilers for the whole series, don't keep reading!

This chapter has the Dragon's Fang icon, a reflection of Rand's increasing challenges with being a male channeler. Also the whole "choosing greatness vs. having it forced upon you" discussion and of course the way that being the Dragon Reborn has brought Lanfear into orbit around him.

“You should not have done it, Lord Rand,” Hurin said when Rand woke the others just at daybreak.

Last chapter ended with Rand refusing to acknowledge his pain, the first step down a particularly toxic path that will haunt him until the closing books. This chapter begins with Rand refusing to acknowledge his physical needs, the first step down a particularly toxic path that will haunt him until the closing books. These two habits feed into each other beautifully, and by beautifully I of course mean horrifically.

“No need to be so touchy,” Loial muttered.

Rand continues to be dickish to his companions. At this point he's still aware he's doing it, but pay attention! As he descends into his worst state, he becomes more and more able to justify his shortness.

“According to Ingtar,” Loial said, “that is still three or four days ahead of us. If it is here at all. I don’t know why it should be. I don’t think there are any people here at all.”

I really do wonder: do all Mirror worlds shrink? Or is it just the ones that are particularly unlikely, or those that are particularly deviated from the necessary Pattern? Will this world eventually shrink into nothingness? Does the Wheel still think that there is some way it could correct itself - some pregnant Seanchan fighter pilot who had a crash landing at Dragonmount a couple decades back - and thus keeps it on-hand just in case this world's Rand ends up being the one to descend into Shayol Ghul and reseal the Dark One? Or is its spatial distortion the proof that this world isn't ever getting back on track?

Perhaps it disappears as soon as Rand is gone. If there are Shadowspawn left somewhere, maybe it only disappears when the Dark One is resealed and the ontology of this timeline no longer makes independent sense. Maybe it just keeps going until some arbitrary point in the mid-fifth Age when it finally slots back in to the main timeline and no longer needs independence.

“It is Hawkwing’s monument. It must be. There were people here, whether there are now or not. They just built it in another place here, and never tore it down. Think of it, Hurin. When we get back, you’ll be able to tell them what the monument really looked like. There will only be three of us in the whole world who have ever seen it.”

This is some beautiful irony of course, but it also plays off of what's discussed later in this chapter. This kind of glory is not easily obtained and none of our party were trying for it at all, but to have received it is wonderful and empowering all the same - exactly the opposite of Lanfear's thesis.

There was a hawk, too, carved near the bottom. With a wingspan of ten paces, it lay on its back, pierced by a lightning bolt, and ravens pecked at its eyes. The huge wings atop the spire seemed to block the sun.

Of course, a world like this is not a place of glory at all. Still, I feel a bit bad for Rand and Hurin to have their hopes dashed so quickly.

Also it seems deeply out of character for the Trollocs to have made such an immense monument, let alone one that lasted for a thousand years. Guess that's why they won in this world.

“I do not know, Rand. Perhaps, after they killed the people, they killed one another. Trollocs live to kill. That is all they do; that is all they are. I just don’t know.”

Note that this doesn't really mess with my theory because, as Loial says, he doesn't know. He just doesn't have enough information and can only guess as to what happened in the last thousand years.

Without thinking, Rand muttered, “Maybe this place is like the Ways.” He heard Hurin moan, and instantly regretted not keeping a rein on his tongue.

Belief and order give strength. When everything's completely disarrayed, belief by itself can lead to some horrible places. And yeah - this place being much more like the Ways would be absolutely terrible.

“Not unless she can fly,” Rand said. “She’s south of us.” He kicked Red to a dead run in two strides. “Be careful you said!” Loial shouted after him. “Light, Rand, remember! Be careful!”

Loial really has no idea how careless Rand is being, running after a Forsaken like this.

If a frog were as big as a bear, or if a bear had a frog’s gray-green hide, it might look like that. A big bear.

I am 90% certain that at some point in the Wheel's history, all the crazy Seanchan imports are going to take over the ecology and humanity's gonna be running around in a Hollywood Prehistory deal. I am 75% certain that grolm will be among the more dangerous predators.

“An eye,” the woman called. She sounded surprisingly calm, considering her screams. “You must hit an eye to kill it.”

"I'm not suspicious at all!" the woman called. "Don't think about how I'd know these things!"

She was all in white, her dress divided for riding and belted in silver, and her boots, peeking out from under her hems, were tooled in silver, too. Even her saddle was white, and silver-mounted. Her snowy mare, with its arched neck and dainty step, was almost as tall as Rand’s bay.

I feel like half the reason that the show abandoned Lanfear's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very themed wardrobe is because it just doesn't pop on TV in the same sort of way as it can in a book. Like even her horse? Nobody should be this monochromatic. It would hurt to look at!

“I have never thought of it before,” Loial said abruptly, sounding as if he were talking to himself; “but if there is such a thing as perfect human beauty, in face and form, then you—”

Gotta hand it to Lanfear to have a Mask of Mirrors so powerful that it gives members of a different species the hots for her. Or is Loial just a freak?

Suddenly he became conscious of her eyes on him. Her expression had not changed, but her dark eyes made him feel as if he were naked. Unbidden, the thought came of Selene with no clothes. His face went red again.

Rand, sweetie, I've seen Japanese harem protagonists who are more capable of interacting with women. Get it together.

For a moment she was silent, her face blank and smooth; Rand had no idea what she was thinking, except that she seemed to be studying him anew.

Lanfear is of course deeply furious that Rand isn't abandoning everything to be her devoted love slave for all time. She's just good at covering it (I expect that "blank and smooth" is how she sets her weave to make her appear whenever she's not focusing on it so that she can swear repeatedly without breaking character). The study is purely about figuring out how best to go along with his stupidity.

“There always are [more grolm around],” Selene said.

How does she even know this, anyway? They weren't around when she was alive? I am suddenly picturing Ishamael freeing her months before Eye of the World even started, but her finding out Rand hadn't been located yet meant she ditched him to focus on plotting how to win him when he was IDed, spending all this time researching in Seanchan for kicks. Only came back across the ocean to help Ish when he showed up with his face burned off all, "Yeah I found him."

“You will be a great man when you’ve found the Horn of Valere,” she told him. “A man for the legends. The man who sounds the Horn will make his own legends.”

She's... not exactly wrong. Mat resents being dragged around by fate so goes around to the various powers that be and gets upgrades that let him feel more in control of his destiny. It never entirely pays off, but it works out a lot better for him than he's willing to admit.

“Some men,” she said, not raising her eyes from his hand, “choose to seek greatness, while others are forced to it. It is always better to choose than to be forced. A man who’s forced is never completely his own master. He must dance on the strings of those who forced him.”

And here's where Lanfear's quite wrong. Nobody in the Wheel of Time setting is completely their own master; everyone who has the hubris to think that they are gets smacked down hard by reality at some point or another. Yes, people who are shoved into positions of power often have difficulty with their patrons, but Rand will ultimately outplay Moiraine and when Egwene becomes Amyrlin she outplays the Hall that raises her - the people who do get strings around them are the subordinates they chose and also the other major players of the setting (mostly their friends). Meanwhile, Lanfear chooses to seek greatness and spends the back third of the series as Moridin's slave.

“Offend me? I am not offended, but I’m no Aes Sedai.” Her lip curled in a sneer; even that was beautiful. “They cower in what they think is safety when they could do so much. They serve when they could rule, let men fight wars when they could bring order to the world. No, never call me Aes Sedai.”

Lanfear clearly has no respect for the current institution, but I think that this particular perspective compared to later Forsaken attitudes of "They're not even real Aes Sedai!" is born in part from her resentment of the AoL institutions. She's glad the old Aes Sedai are dead and gone.

Rand was relieved, but he missed her presence, too. She was only two spans away—he twisted in his saddle to stare at her, riding by Loial’s side; the Ogier was bent half double in his saddle so he could talk with her—but that was not the same as being right there beside him, close enough for him to smell her heady scent, close enough to touch.

I don't know what's sadder, Lanfear's idea of playing hard-to-get being "stay a dozen feet away from Rand" or the fact that it's working.

She says you were right about the Ways, Rand. The Aes Sedai, some of them, studied worlds like this, and that study was the basis of how they grew the Ways. She says there are worlds where it is time rather than distance that changes. Spend a day in one of those, and you might come back to find a year has passed in the real world, or twenty. Or it could be the other way round. Those worlds—this one, all the others—are reflections of the real world, she says. This one seems pale to us because it is a weak reflection, a world that had little chance of ever being. Others are almost as likely as ours. Those are as solid as our world, and have people.

Lanfear is clearly infodumping because Loial is a non-Aes Sedai with a brain and she's so happy to have someone, anyone to listen to her who can kind of follow what she specializes in. If she'd gone on much longer she probably would have ended up telling him how she found the Dark One's prison by realizing that the probability space that the mirror worlds existed in was still larger than the infinity that actually existed and that the "gap" where no such world seemed to exist was disconcertingly and bizarrely close to T'A'R and the prime reality.

The Ways are probably the sort of place where there's a bit of both space and time bending, or some such other non-natural Mirror World feature, to make room for them amid the extant realities. I would expect that if there is any time bending it's much more minor though: a single millisecond lost every hour or thereabouts so you'd never notice unless you spent way too long in the Ways.

Do the worlds that have the solidity of the prime reality have the same space, or is every Mirror World off in some dimension because it's not the prime? Do the inhabitants even notice?

“How does she know all that? You know about more things than anybody I ever met before, Loial, and all you knew about this world amounted to no more than a rumor.”

Lanfear overheard him say this and hurriedly turned up the hotness on her weave because despite all of her efforts he's still very close to realizing just how bullshit her story is.

She was studying his sword, he saw. He readied the words in his head. No, he was not a blademaster, but his father had given him the sword. Tam. Light, why couldn’t you really be my father? He squashed the thought ruthlessly. “That was a magnificent shot,” Selene said.

I can't decide if Lanfear just made a specific point of seeming interested in one weapon only to bring up another specifically to keep Rand off-balance or if she was contemplating how distasteful she found the whole sword thing last time around. Bringing up the archery could just be an attempt to nip Lews's worst characteristics in the bud.

“The Oneness,” she said, sounding satisfied. She saw his questioning look and added, “That is what it is called . . . in some places. The Oneness. To learn the full use of it, it is best to wrap it around you continuously, to dwell in it at all times, or so I’ve heard.”

Of course, behavior like this make me think maybe she's just unbalanced, since she's certainly no master spy.

“You can use the Stone, this Portal Stone, yourself,” he said angrily. Before the words were out of his mouth he wanted them back. Why does she have to keep talking about legends? Stubbornly, he forced himself to go on.

I wonder if fights like this were habitual to Lews before their relationship fully broke down. Perhaps his pride - anger and stubbornness combined in his case - meant that he pushed Mierin away more harshly than necessary. Maybe if things had been different, she wouldn't have snapped as badly as she did.

But maybe not. They both made their choices.

“Stay with me, Selene,” he said. “We’ll find the Horn, and Mat’s dagger, and we’ll find a way back. I promise you. Just stay with me.” “You always. . . .” Selene drew a deep breath as if to calm herself. “You always are so stubborn. Well, I can admire stubbornness in a man. There is little to a man who’s too easily biddable.”

Obviously the easy conclusion to Selene calming herself is that she was just going to phrase "stubborn" in a harsher way that didn't match her disguise but I wonder. Might she have been about to say, "You always promise"? There's really no way of knowing how much of this conversation is them playing out the same toxic patterns they danced once before; Rand doesn't remember them and Lanfear's not telling.

At first he could make out nothing as the landscape seemed to waver in his eyes, but then he saw them through the widespread stands of trees, just topping a hill. Five shapes, it seemed, only half a mile distant, a bare thousand paces at most, and coming in thirty-foot bounds.

That's not conveniently timed to force everyone to run the way Lanfear wants them to at all.

We'll see what happens next time though. See you then!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #rand al'thor #hurin #loial #lanfear

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