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ggren-mainz · 2 months

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Umineko - question arcs playthrough -> ep 1 - 8

last part - All parts and episodes - next part

My gf started reading these, and she has no experience with umineko so like even if she doesn't read them all i decided i will start making them more explicit, as in summarising the scenes i don't screenshot. It's probably better for everyone since even if you did read the game, chances are you don't remember every detail/the exact order. Anyways.

So I have a feeling that Maria will be able to tell that this is the witch's epitaph in action. She knows better than these guys.

THAT"S WHAT I SAID! I LOVE YOU MARIAAAAAA.

After this she says what i assume is that they were sacrifices chosen by the key, which is what i said too, and then before clearing up, Natsuhi and Eva come down and announce that Kinzo is missing. Now i know for sure that old bastard isn't dead, but i wonder where he is. Also another thing i thought of, but how did Rudolf predict his death? If only he and his wife died then i could've said that it was the wrath of some sibling or something he said/did, but it was not, he was chosen as a sacrifice. So how did he know?

Battler king of not reading the room.

Gosh this is getting me tear up. Geez.... god....

Also new theory, but i do now think the time loop might apply here too. Maybe not necessarily the time loop but i think we'll relive these days again, at least that's what I'm assuming now. So this will be an eyeroll from my gf followed by a "Ryukishi really has only one trick now does he?" but i do not care. I love reading the exact same thing but different, genuinely one of my favorite parts of higurashi.

DEATH TO ALL THE NON BELIVERS! OUR WITCH BEATRICE WILL RISE AND YOU WILL ALL COWER IN FEAR AT HER BRILLIANCE!!

Also is Eva suggesting Kanon killed them? like ignoring the shutter part, I don't think he's physically strong enough to overpower all of these adults.

Ig but again, this would mean Genji and Kanon. I'd argue that's still not enough. These were at least 4 people that were all in one place, And I'd argue Krauss alone looks sturdy enough. I doubt they'd be able to kill all of them. And we're not taking kumasawa as a possible participant because she's definitely not strong enough to help.

Also i checked the tips and

all of the messages are interesting but this one strikes me as the most interesting because it implies the writer would be lonely without Rosa, and they also believe they will all be reincarnated, as also mentioned by Shannon's note. So is it wrong to assume that this might be Maria? She would be the only one who would feel lonely at Rosa's disappearance, or at least that's what i assume. Anyways someone related to Maria and Rosa for sure.

Yeah and as she's saying, having a mastermind is the only logical answer, because the servants would not benefit from the killings. I get what she's implying, she's saying that Natsuhi is the mastermind, and she killed all of these people so she could be the one to take the role of the leader of the family, as her husband is now dead. But again, would it really make that much sense to kill both Rudolf and Kirye, as opposed to Rudolf and Eva? I mean, killing all of the siblings would greatly destabilize the family, and there would no longer by any question over who takes over, as there would no longer be any blood related person. Perhaps George but it would make more sense for jessica to take over when she reaches adulthood. So yeah i don't believe Natsuhi is the culprit, if it wasn't obvious, and i also don't believe there's enough proof and that the crime is organized well enough to point towards her.

*points finger* I know that reference! Also exactly what I was thinking about too lmao.

This sounds very suspicious, it doesn't seem like Eva at all to just leave in the middle of such a discussion. I bet there's more going on here, but yeah i still don't know if suspect her. Really with our knowledge of the epitath, Maria is the most suspicious one lmfao.

Me when i'm a fish in a bowl op op op op op. But yeah if this is her evil than thank god heeell yeaaaa, if she's just super into this occult stuff the that's amazing, she'll be very useful to me, and also very entertaining. I was scared she'd be like evil or something.

I will be honest, i jumped a bit. But wait what was the figure reflecting in her eyes before, i gotta youtube this one.

I really can't tell, it looks like a woman with a hat, probably a character we haven't met yet, but I'll keep it here so i can come back to this later.

you guys do not understand how much i adore her, so cool.

It is quite interesting how many references Ryukishi makes towards the bible and Christianity as a whole, love me some religious symbolism. But also quite interesting also taking the fact that japan really isn't that religious especially not Christian. He sure is one interesting guy.

Anyways i love this Maria, love characters who know a shit ton about a more obscure subject, and who are also very eccentric.

Love her as well, yeah girl bring out the shotgun. But yeah i haven't thought about this before but the small wounds on their bodies sure would make sense when you think it was done with a gun. Yeah this changes the entire dynamic of the group, because now even Kumasawa could have committed the crime, albeit with a stronger will. So the power dynamic excuse no longer works. Everyone should be considered a culprit once again. Fun

Anyways finished the chapter, Youtube says i have 7 chapters left, but only 5 long ones, 2 are like under 10 mins. I hope i get to finish them before leaving on Sunday, because i only come back like 2 weeks later at worst and i don't wanna take such a long break :c.

next part

#umineko playthrough #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #umineko when they cry #when they cry #ryukishi07

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airplanned · 3 years

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All the Trashy Novels Part 30

This was fun, y’all. Thanks for humoring me!

Part 1...Part 29

***

She spent four days mostly standing in front of the Goddess statue, trying to glow without requiring something inappropriate to trigger it. She could now get it every single time with very minimal effort, but that effort was usually Link coming up behind her and placing a kiss where her neck met her shoulder, or trailing his fingers from the inside of her elbow to her wrist. And suddenly her skin was lit up like a camp fire, a fuzzy pleasure brushing over her like a thin blanket. It was embarrassing and frustrating, but at least she could trigger it without an orgasm and could hold her luminous state for long stretches once she got it going.

"That's true," Link agreed. He'd taken a seat on the ground with his arms resting on his bent knees. "You just need to work on not making that face."

Zelda huffed, her arms flopping to her sides and her glow spluttering out. "I'm trying!"

The problem was that now that she'd allowed herself to feel affection for Link, she always felt a little giddy and ridiculous when she did so. Apparently, this manifested not only in a divine luminescence, but also in a love-struck look on her face. Link referred to it as "bedroom eyes" when he was being polite, and "fuck me face" when he wasn't. He'd taken a bunch of pictures to show her, and he was (annoyingly) correct. She could not make that face in public.

"Maybe you'd look less sultry if you closed your eyes," he said.

"Then I wouldn't be able to see anything!"

"Can you use your Goddess powers to see things?"

"I can use my Goddess powers to glow! They don't do anything else!"

"Are they supposed to?"

"I don't know!"

"Try it."

She closed her eyes and tried it. She remembered the warm pressure in her chest and she remembered the heat of his breath on her skin and she thought about how he he'd made her a tiny little cake the night before and then blushed as she'd gushed over it. Those were things that she liked about him. Those were good things, and she felt a way about them.

The glow didn't light.

Why not? Those had made her feel things. She felt things. Things for Link. She took another breath and pushed into less appropriate territory, of the way he'd wrapped around her back the night before and let his hands wander until she was moaning with abandon and glowing, burning.

"You got it?" His hands came to rest on her hips, and her eyes popped open as she lit up.

Goddess, she hated that he could do that. She batted the thought away, and held tighter to her lust. Goddess, she liked his hands on her.

He looked taken aback, almost awed. Even though he was expecting it. Even though he'd seen it dozens of times now.

Part of why she needed to get her face under control was that it affected Link so.

He swallowed hard. "Close your eyes. Let's see if that...oh." His voice turned rough. "Oh, that's so much worse."

He pulled her in at the waist and kissed her desperately.

Link made himself scarce as she wrote up her field notes. She had very little to write. She'd made very little progress.

In frustration, she tossed her journal away. She would just have to have Link come touch her when he was done battling Ganon. Maybe he could magically poke her with his index finger as if she were the Sheikah slate. And they most likely would evacuate the area, so it wouldn't matter if she had on her come-hither face. Link would just have to deal with not making out with her for however long it took to seal the Calamity away. And who cared if she made a face? If making a face saved the world, no one would be allowed to say anything.

Except Zelda cared. She didn't want to look ridiculous, and she didn't want to rely on Link to access her own powers. She glared at her journal.

Where was Link anyway?

She stomped off to go glare at him. Or go have him be gentle and compassionate until she had too much trouble holding onto her irritation.

She found him before the Goddess statue, his head bowed, the sword drawn with its tip resting against the ground.

She frowned harder. "Are you praying?" she asked.

He startled and spun around. "Oh. Yeah. Um. You haven't been praying lately, so I've had to...pray by myself."

An old, familiar hurt settled over her. Of course he was on such good terms with the Goddess, when she was...she was...

She was working on her relationship with the Goddess. She understood that maybe it was all a big misunderstanding, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt, and it didn't mean she wasn't still upset that she couldn't fully access her powers without the help of someone the Goddess liked.

Link looked nervous, as if he knew she was about to shout at him again. Guilt lanced at her stomach. She lowered her eyes and stepped near him.

"What do you pray for?" she asked quietly.

"Um. Nothing?"

She snorted. "You pray for me."

He didn't say anything, which confirmed it.

"Show me," she said. She turned him back to face the Goddess, and slipped her way into his arms, her back to his chest. She placed her hands over his as they planted the sword to the ground.

He held himself stiff with discomfort, but then relaxed his arms under hers and lowered his head. "Close your eyes," he murmured.

Well, this was her idea. She closed her eyes and lowered her head.

"I pray for you to have some guidance," he said. "Because you desperately want to please her, and you want to do it right, but all you have to go on are rumors and what you're ordered to do by people who don't know what they're doing either. I pray for some sign that you're on the right path. Not because I want to know, because I know you'll get there. But for you. You need assurance or your self-doubt eats at you, and there's no way that self-doubt will save Hyrule.

"And I pray for you to be happy. Because you're beautiful when you're sad and you're beautiful when you're angry, but I would die to see you smile. To hear you laugh. The way you carry yourself when you're at ease, the excited way you talk when you catch onto something new. That light in you could light the whole world. It could burn away the Calamity."

"You're a charmer," she murmured.

"You're a peach."

She snorted. "You don't pray like I do."

"Yeah?"

"I wouldn't tell the Goddess all that."

"Why not?"

Why not? "Because she already knows?"

"But maybe she wants to hear you say it."

"She wants me to wax poetic about a girl?" she teased.

"Wax poetic about what you love."

"Love is a strong word."

"And you're asking for a powerful weapon."

Her eyebrows furrowed. In a small voice she asked, "What should I pray for?"

He thought for a moment. "Why do you want to save Hyrule?"

"Because it's my--"

Duty.

She startled. The answer had rolled off her tongue.

Anxiety she couldn't name clawed at her chest. She shifted uncomfortably. Maybe standing like this had been a bad idea.

"She'd like to hear you say it."

Her breath shook. "I want to save my people. My friends. Urbosa and Revali and Mipha and Daruk. They're so devoted and encouraging. If they fell, then their people would suffer. All the brilliance of our people would falter, all compassion and the triumphs. The wonderful art and music and literature--"

"Even the bad literature."

"Especially the bad literature! And the bad music! All the ridiculous rumors, and the guards who devour those rumors, and all the fake girlfriends out there. We would lose all of that! And as shameful as it is, I would fight for those things."

"What else would you fighting for?"

"The Sheikah technology. You don't know the victory you feel when two pieces snap together. The thrill when a guardian lights blue under my hands. The way Robbie nods along when I ramble and then picks up my thoughts and runs with them, taking them somewhere new, and the I can pick them up again and run farther. The way Purah grabs my arm the moment I walk into the lab. The way she drags me to a diagram and asks my opinion. As if I'm wanted! As if I'm needed!"

The sword flared under her hands, a ringing note at the base of her skull, and her eyes flew open at the call for attention.

She was glowing. A warm pressure burned in her chest, and she grabbed hold of it to maintain it.

"What--"

"Things you care for," Link murmured.

She turned her head to look at him in surprise and confusion.

The corner of his mouth quirked. "You're not making the face."

"How long have I been glowing?"

"Since you declared your love for trashy novels."

"Love is a strong word."

He shook his head and laughed under his breath.

"But,” she said, “I need a strong weapon.”

His eyes darkened. “You’re making the face again.”

When she kissed him, it was bright and sharp as the sun.

#Zelda #My Fic #All the Trashy Novels

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Talk to us some more about The Penguin plz

Gonna be hard to narrow down my thoughts on how to handle Penguin down to just five, but here goes five ideas I’d like to attach to rocket-powered penguin toys and fire them at whoever’s thinking about writing this character:

(Artwork by garvals)

1: The Penguin is a comic book SUPERVILLAIN first and foremost. The one thing you cannot, and should not, take away from Penguin is his personality.

Pretty much the number one most consistent complaint people who like The Penguin have had, in regards to his characterization since the early 2000s (that is, when he's even featured at all) is that, far too often, he doesn't get written as an iconic supervillain, but rather a funny-looking gangster that exists to get beaten up by Batman / assorted Bat-children / the current Ultimate Villain of the week as a detour to the story. He's fallen into the role occupied by characters like Rupert Thorne, Sal Maroni, The Squid, Falcone and so forth of "gangster that gets pushed aside to make way for the REALLY scary supervillain".

Now, I'm not fundamentally opposed to Penguin as a crimelord, but I think Penguin should take to crime the way a cuckoo takes to a deserted nest: It’s not really the home of this seemingly clumsy beast, but they are oh so good at knocking over the previous occupants and playing the structures to their long-term advantage and faking a state of helplessness to get everyone’s guard down, and hey, who used to live on this nest before? Nevermind that, it belongs to them now, just as all of Gotham does, even if it doesn’t know it yet. Hell, even if he’s going to stay a crimelord, shouldn’t Penguin, one of the greatest criminal minds in a city full of them, be up to much worse than just trying to become mayor for the 100th time or sitting in a nightclub waiting for Batman or the plot to come knocking?

Penguin’s the embodiment of that Dark Knight quote, “a better class of criminal”. In my view, he’s not Gotham’s Kingpin or Tony Soprano, he’s Gotham’s Ratigan, or Dr Robotnik, or Count Fosco (Fosco is absolutely a MUST character any Penguin fan should read up on, and not just because he’s the first Criminal Mastermind in detective fiction and therefore the origin of Penguin’s archetype), in the sense that he’s a grandiose supervillain who’s clearly an outcast, someone who doesn’t really belong naturally anywhere he goes in this world, not in high society or in organized crime or even among other supervillains, but whose unmatched brilliance and grand theatrics and overpowering resources and unexpected ruthlessness and sheer force-of-personality lets him cut and trick his way into becoming the undisputed king of his domain, the cuckoo who knocked everyone else out and now gets to feast, who proved he’s not like everyone else, not because he’s lesser as they assumed, but because he is better, and those dumb rubes didn’t figure it out until it was too late.

At least until the Bat or the next lucky contender comes along, but then, they never get to put him away for long.

2: For the love of God stop rehashing that Jason Aaron one-shot / Pain and Prejudice / the grosser aspects of Batman Returns because you think this is the only way to make Penguin “scary” or I am going to rip your spine through your nostril. Please come up with new ideas / better material.

Pretty self-explanatory. Already elaborated a bit on this specific trend here and, yeah, I think it’s not as prevalent now, at least not in the few Penguin stories I’ve read that came out recently, but it’s definitely annoying.

And to be upfront here: Batman Returns is my favorite Batman movie, by what’s not even a particularly close margin. I love it’s take on Penguin even now, it’s what got me to really start taking a closer look at Oswald in the first place, and that being said, I absolutely do NOT want the two to be mixed, and I don’t care much for stories that use Batman Returns references as a crutch, a shoddy get-around to what the writers still think is the problem at hand: That Penguin isn’t overtly scary, and he needs to be. Because I don’t want to repeat myself, here’s the very first description ever applied to Penguin, the text introducing him on the cover of Detective Comics #56, that already showed what was a key difference between him and the prior pulp villains and the likes of Joker and Clayface:

Crossing the path of the Batman, most feared of all crime-fighters, waddles the strange, almost ludicrous figure of The Penguin - the umbrella man!

The jovial face of The Penguin seems to radiate good will towards all men - but behind that smiling mask lurks an evil mind!

3: The Penguin is tied to Gotham City maybe more so than any other major Batman villain. He has a long history with the city, a lot of varied and interesting dynamics with it’s players on all sides, reasons to be involved in many other aspects of the city other than just fights with Batman, a lot of room for interesting stories within it, and he’s not going anywhere. He’s become like Catwoman in the sense that he’s part of the world now, he’s got reasons to stick around as something other than just a villain, and in the right hands, this can be a great thing. It gives you room to tell stories you could not with other characters.

Now, having said all that about how much I think Penguin should be written as a supervillain first and crimelord second, I do think the idea of The Iceberg Lounge and the status quo it’s brought for Penguin has had the benefit of ensuring that, for better or worse, Oswald would always hang around in some capacity. He’d always have a home in Gotham, always have at least one purpose to serve in the narrative. Oswald very well could have been killed and neglected and shoved aside even more so over the past decades if it wasn’t for the Lounge and the shift it brought to Penguin’s character.

It makes it so that, whatever stories you want to tell in Gotham City, there’s reasons for The Penguin to be involved, because he’s got fingers in every pie. What’s Oswald’s relationship with Batman? The Batkids? Alfred? Other heroes of Gotham? Is Oswald funding some of them, do they have specific doomed grudges against him, is Oswald less or more horrible when we see him outside of Batman’s perspective? What about the police? How does he get along with Gordon? Are there other law enforcements factions operating in Gotham that might have business with him? What about the villains?

Penguin’s dynamic with Riddler isn’t the same as his dynamic with Catwoman, or his dynamic with Joker, or his dynamic with Bane, or Scarecrow, or Mr Freeze. How do the leftovers of the old crime gangs react to him? Is Penguin funding the creation of new supervillains to keep the bats busy while he’s got bigger things planned? Or is Penguin trying to keep a lid on them, as part of the arrangement he’s got that allows Batman to somewhat tolerate him (honestly, that premise’s always been flimsy as shit to begin with, but if it’s gonna stay, might as well find ways to make it better). What about other aspects of the city? What about the bird sanctuaries he’s funded, or the employers of the Iceberg Lounge? What about players outside of the city?

Part of what makes for some of the best or most popular Penguin stories is just the premise of letting Penguin run rampant in scenarios outside of tussles with Batman, because as a spiteful, theatrical outcast with a proclivity for takeovers, able to elicit sympathy and disgust in equal measure, Oswald is prime for this kind of story. “Things were going fine, until The Penguin waddled in / What’s Penguin up to this time? Is it gonna be another robbery or futile attempt to be accepted somewhere he doesn’t belong, or does he have another reason to be here?”. Oswald gives you a lot to work with.

I’ve seen plenty of Penguin fans rightfully bemoan the Lounge’s existence, but as much as I don’t want The Penguin to be tied to it, I don’t want the Lounge gone. I want it to serve more interesting ideas. I mean, it’s a big, tacky, themed lounge where all kinds of people, from regular joes to the wackiest supervillains, all get to hang out, and it’s owner is known for being a cartoonishly rich supervillain, who regularly exploits the fact that everyone underestimates him to pull the wool over their eyes, and who owns weird gadgetry by the acre to pick fights with the only guy in town who’s just as much of a rich and weird manchild as he is.

Doesn’t that immediately indicate something that should be incredibly interesting? That alone reads like the premise of an entire comic or series right there.

4: The Penguin is tragic, self-defeating, and even sympathetic in ways that have consistently resonated more with readers and fans than him just being an outright monster.

Oswald’s nature as a fat, ugly, abused, bullied outcast taking revenge against the society that rejects him at every turn, carving out a life of power and respectability for himself, trying to go up against a square-jawed icon of power and privilege and failing, is inevitably going to elicit sympathy, and going too far in the other direction runs the risk of alienating fans of the character as well as running close to pretty shitty undercurrents in media in regards to how people with the traits listed above tend to be villanized and dehumanized.

This doesn’t mean he has to be a good guy, not in the slightest, but just think to have some tact with the character's presentation, remember to balance things, remember that there’s a potency to The Penguin as a sympathetic villain that may not matter to you, but can matter to others.

A rare example of a fat villain who’s intelligent, sharp-witted, powerful, tragic, driven, and even sympathetic and noble at points, who cannot be reduced to a gross and perverted slob or a cowardly joke or a sleazy punching bag, should not be reduced to those things.

and as an addendum, “Don’t turn Penguin into a strawman of rich assholes / incels / whatever it is you hate, don’t try to break other people’s toys just because you don’t like them”.

This is more of a “your mileage may vary” situation because there’s some people that would argue more in favor of Penguin really being an irredeemable bastard, and it’s not like this is the thing that decides a good or bad take on Penguin, but there’s a delicate balance that the character carries that I think should be at least considered. Penguin should be neither too much of a defanged crook that he becomes a joke, nor too much of a heartless monster that he ultimately cements himself in the narrative as just that, and nothing more, and he IS more.

Now, I have some very mixed feelings on Gotham’s Penguin, chief among them being, it’s hard not to be at least a little bitter about the fact that the most popular take on Penguin from the last decade redesigned him into a skinny and attractive anti-hero and it was praised all over the place as this ground-breaking revamp of a previously bad character, but here’s the thing: Gotham ostensibly proved that, yes, Penguin's characterization CAN resonate with people, and modern Batman fans, if given a chance to do so, because aesthetics aside, Gotham’s Penguin was remarkably faithful to the comic characterization (well, as faithful as anything in Gotham could ever be). Robin Lord Taylor’s Penguin carried that show as the protagonist most people tuned in to follow, the story of a dark, odd, crippled and neglected anti-hero climbing through the ranks of power with cutthroat ingenuity. If that show succeeded in anything at all in it’s run, it was in making Penguin the audience’s favorite in a way he hadn’t been since Burgess Meredith.

Now, I’m not advocating for takes on Penguin to follow closely what Gotham was doing, and I’m DEFINITELY not saying Penguin should be made a marketable anti-hero, Gotham’s got enough of those as is. I’m not even really saying Penguin needs to be sympathetic, I like me some fowl-hearted bumbershooting banditry every now and then.

But what I’m arguing here is that, if it poses such a problem figuring out ways to make Penguin work, maybe one idea would be to take a look at what HAS worked for the character. What is it that people liked so much (or at least liked enough to adapt and reference) about Burgess Meredith or Robin Lord Taylor’s takes in the tv shows, or Danny DeVito’s version in the movie (hint: It’s Danny DeVito and what he brought to the table. Danny is 75% of the reason why movie Penguin worked). What particular comics have stuck, if only a little, in discussions of the character.

5: The number one thing Penguin needs to do, is to play expectations. That’s what he’s been designed to do from Day One, that’s what he does in his best and/or most popular storylines, that’s the secret of his longevity and success as a character. That’s why he’s named after a funny animal, why he looks silly, why his iconic tool consists of weapons concealed in umbrellas.

If he’s “just a fat guy”, too silly to hold up against the mass-murdering Jokers and city-cracking Banes and multiverse-menacing Evil Batmen Of The Week, if he can barely pose much of a challenge to Batman nowadays, why keep him? Why has he endured then in the wake of so many bigger, scarier, even more popular villains?

Because Penguin’s never needed to be those things to stick around. The character was great right from the start thanks to not only a unique design and personality, but a unique hook. Something that wasn’t bird-themed puns or trick umbrellas, the underlying core of what Penguin does and always has done: Play the expectations. Lie, to everyone, to himself even, and get away with it.

At his first story, Penguin was already unique because he was, 1: A different type of villain by Batman standards, a Dickensian parody of an upper class criminal butting into Batman’s Dick Tracy gangster world and taking it over, while also pinning the blame of his crimes on Batman, in one fell swoop, and 2: The first villain to get away from Batman and escape cleanly, completely averting the usual “swearing revenge behind bars” ending of most Batman villains at the time.

Penguin would go on to remain Batman’s Number Two villain as the character’s absurd nature would perfectly complement the madcap swashbuckling antics of the following years of Batman comics, as contrary to The Joker’s proudly egomaniacal crime sprees, Penguin was all about playing expectations, he played slower, more carefully orchestrated games. Penguin would go on to have plots and schemes ranging from extremely comical, like putting on stage shows with what’s seemingly a talking penguin or asking Batman for help in hiding his life of crime from his aunt, to genuinely cruel ones like staging elaborate heists to disguise his gradual poisoning of Batman (via bird flu, what else), to bigger ones like faking the attacks of several mythical birds on Gotham with giant robotic contraptions. He would get Batman to plan his crimes for him, he would go through entire stories not killing anyone not because he had morals about it, but because he didn’t have to, why, it was ungentlemanly (unless it was time to try and stab Batman).

Penguin became one of the all-time definitive Batman villains in the 66 show partially because he was unsurpassed in cunning. He didn’t fight Batman, he tricked or forced Batman into dancing to his tune until Batman turned the tables. He would get Batman to plan his crimes for him, he would pull off pretending to be legit (before that became the number one Penguin storyline most commonly overdone), he would be arrested on purpose, he would seemingly do everything within the bounds of the law, and yes, he would run for mayor and stand a chance of winning with a campaign strategy that, probably seemed a lot funnier and more absurd back then.

Penguin is, fundamentally, a “Gentleman Villain”. Any take on Penguin worth it’s weight needs to do a balancing act of both even if it’s to weigh much more in one direction than the other. The extent to which he’s a true gentleman, a good sport with good in him, and the extent to which he’s a villain, a cutthroat criminal with no regard for anything other than his own needs, can vary, but if you neglect one or the other, you end up with an incomplete character. It’s like stripping The Joker of humor or making Two-Face fully evil. Penguin needs this kind of contrast, because Penguin needs to play expectations. Even if, and maybe especially if, they are at odds with how you’d expect the Batman story to go.

What better panacea could there be, to those burned out on grim and gritty and aggressively self-important Batman storylines, than the ever-uninvited intrusion of the waddling swashbuckler, taking some time away from ruling Gotham’s underworld and diving through swimming pools of money gained from encrypted sales of Batman merchandise, to outrace the Batmobile on a giant mechanical ostrich and pelt it with rotten eggs? Robbing it of it’s entire majesty and bringing the mighty Bat-God down to Earth, where all his grand epic struggles seem to amount to little more than games between costumed freaks.

No, Batman, no matter how godlike and epic and serious you get, no matter how scary and evil and murderous your villains get, no matter how many Oscars and Eisners up the wazoo you pick up, no matter how great you are at selling yourself as the biggest and bestest and most important fictional character to ever fight crime in tights, you will never be too good, too respectable, too not-absurd, to stop fighting a guy who runs around calling himself The Penguin.

You wanna sell yourself as the man who rebuilt himself from trauma into a legend through hard work, money, brains and willpower? Okay, but someone else is gonna do it too, and he’s gonna make a farce of everything you stand for. You may not like it, your fans sure as hell may not like it, but he’s playing by the same rules as you are, and he’s not going anywhere.

#replies tag #batman #dc comics #the penguin #oswald cobblepot #batman comics #batman returns #the 5 ideas tag

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kanasmusings · 3 years

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TsukiPro AGF 2021 - ZANSHIN - SolidS & QUELL Cast Intro

☆TsukiPro Joint Air Stage 2021 - ZANSHIN☆

To kill.

A heart left behind.

# Zanshin

[SolidS]

☆ Zanshin 1 ☆

“Rest now. Dawn has come.”

Takamura Shiki CLASS: Corporal [Kiei - Spirited]

※ He was demoted for violation of orders. ※ Before his demotion, his class was General. - Unique Name: Kakuen (Unfounded Brilliance)

# Zanshin

More under the cut, enjoy~!

☆ Zanshin 2 ☆

“I don’t care what happened… Don’t you dare shoulder all your burdens alone!!”

Okui Tsubasa CLASS: Major [Shura - Fighting/Combat]

# Zanshin

☆ Zanshin 3 ☆

“Give me a chance to shine, too, will you?”

Sera Rikka CLASS: Colonel [Kessen - Decisive Battle]

# Zanshin

☆ Zanshin 4 ☆

“I wanted to protect what I wanted to, so I did. It’s not that deep.”

Murase Dai CLASS: Captain [Senryaku - Tactics]

# Zanshin

[QUELL]

☆ Zanshin 5 ☆

“Sleep. Yes, right here in my arms. ”

Izumi Shu CLASS: General [Meiyaku - Oath] ※ Unique Name

# Zanshin

☆ Zanshin 6 ☆

“Let’s go…! Hope and miracles wait for those who never give up!!”

Horimiya Eichi CLASS: Lieutenant [Eiketsu - Heroes]

# Zanshin

☆ Zanshin 7 ☆

“It’s alright. I will ease your pain now.”

Kuga Issei CLASS: Officer [Kongou - Thunderbolt/Vajra]

# Zanshin

☆ Zanshin 8 ☆

“Yo! Stop looking so gloomy, damn it!”

Kuga Ichiru CLASS: Officer [Kongou - Thunderbolt/Vajra]

# Zanshin

☆ 2021 TsuPro Joint Stage - ZANSHIN - Additional Info ☆

SHIKI: Just to be clear, the calamari won’t be making an appearance.**

TSUBASA: We all know that.

SHU: A soldier’s strength, rank within the force, and his influence are all judged by their Class. However, we are all just soldiers standing on the front line. We are not commanders. The only ones who are given authority to command are Hajime and Shun.

# Zanshin

T/N: ** After the SQ Twitter account got restricted, Shiki “invaded” the TsukiPro general account. He tweeted about some merch and made puns with “Zanshin.” One such merch is a keychain of a calamari LMAO

→

EICHI: I see, I see. Ah, maybe the mask is--

SHIKI: Yes. In Zanshin’s world, it is necessary for the higher-ranking commanders to wear a mask. It helps them hide their “individual” self from the rest of the soldiers.

TSUBASA: Whoa, that sounds pretty ominous.

SHU: Hajime and Shun are exceptions, of course. They are commanders, but they also fight in the front lines.

# Zanshin

→

SHIKI: They are exceptions, but I mean… They still are “ominous” in their own way, you know? I challenged their authority as much as I could, so I ended up getting demoted. Whoo~

EICHI: You look so refreshed, Shiki-san. (laughs)

TSUBASA: The plot thickens! In any case, we all look very cool! Please look forward to it~!

# Zanshin

→

SHU: That is all for today’s distribution. Thank you for accompanying us so late into the night.

SHIKI: (志 ˘ω˘) < Whoo~!!

# Good night # SQ # Zanshin

SOME GENERAL INFO:

[CLASS:]

I’m not sure yet if the titles in the parentheses will be retained in JP for the pamphlet (or if there will be official English titles). For now, I put the romaji and a tentative ENG translation for the Classes ^^;

General - Those with a separate special title.

Colonel - [Kessen] (Decisive Battle)

Major - [Shura] (Fighting/Combat)

Captain - [Senryaku] (Tactics)

Lieutenant - [Eiketsu] (Heroes)

Officer - [Kongou] (Thunderbolt/Vajra)

Sergeant - [Rekka] (Conflagration)

Corporal - [Kiei] (Spirited)

Private - [Tesshin] (Iron-heart)

※　They are ranked based on an individual’s combat power and ability. Others often refer to it as an “inscription.”

※　General combatants are ranked under “Private” and they make up 70% of the force.

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rpmemesbyarat · 3 years

Text

RP Meme from “What’s Your Favorite Movie Quote?” thread on Reddit, Part Five

“You underestimate my new powers.” “Shirt ripper!” “I see now that the circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.” “Fish are friends, not food.” “He’s a disco dancin’, Oscar Wild readin’, Streisand ticket holdin’ friend of Dorothy, you know what I’m sayin’?” "I never look back, darling, it distracts from the now." “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.” "What's in the fuckin' box?!" “Is it meaningless to apologize?” “Here's a quarter. Go downtown and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face.” “May we get what we want but never what we deserve.” "And now you're going to die wearing that stupid little hat!" “I knew it! I'm surrounded by assholes!“ "If you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all" "Do you identify as human?" “You couldn't hear a dump truck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.” "We accept the love we think we deserve." "It's a hell of a thing killing a man. You take away all he's got, and all he's ever gonna have.” "There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die." "I aim to misbehave" “I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief because there will be so much to look forward to” “He said I was a 3. He asked me what I thought I was on a scale of 1-10. He called me a 3. Who says that to somebody?” “The last time I saw a mouth like that it had a hook in it!“ “You uncultured swine!“ “The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” “This is either madness, or brilliance.” “Bitches, leave!” "Look at your suntan, it's leather, it's like leather man, your skin. We could make a fucking suitcase out of you. Like a crocodile, fat crocodile, fat bastard." ‘The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout save us! And I'll whisper no.“ "I only came here to do two things, kick some ass and drink some beer. Looks like we're almost out of beer." “Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.” "There go the goddamn brownies." “Never take life too seriously, you’ll never get out alive” "For future reference, I am not able to pass through solid objects." “You can’t buy the necessities of life with cookies” “I like that boulder, that's a nice boulder“ “Life passes most people by while they’re still making grand plans for it.” “Nobody's really listening. They are just waiting for their turn to talk.” "There's fuckery afoot." "Don't dream it, be it. " “I know now why you cry, but it is something I can never do.“ “Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue” "Never underestimate the power of the pussy.” “You either stand for something or fall for everything.” “I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!” “You see, I’m not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.” “Love is the strongest thing in the world.” "If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?" “Do you remember that time the crowd was calling my name and I used my strength to rip my blouse?” “Today, we are canceling the apocalypse!“ “Pain demands to be felt” “Happiness is only real when shared“ "It is the quality of one's convictions that determines success, not the number of followers.“ "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" "Look, I'm a reasonable guy. I've just experienced some very unreasonable things." "Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but doesn't get you anywhere." “Why are you kissing my ear?” “Why are you holding my hand?” “Where’s your other hand?” “I’d rather have thirty minutes of wonderful, than a lifetime of nothing special.” "It's not about the money, it's about sending a message." "With great power comes great responsibility."

#rp memes #rp meme #rp starters #roleplay starters #roleplay meme #roleplay memes #movie quotes

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cupcakemolotov · 4 years

Text

Wild Hunt

I think I promised @goldcaught a Klaroline Fae fic years ago. This one has been in the works for a while, let's not talk dates, but 2020 definitely slowed production down. I promise, the second half will not sit languishing in my WIP for too long! The biggest, most heartfelt thank you to Kiry, who has been both a cheerleader and a kick in the pants as needed to get this thing on track to being finished. Kiry doesn't sleep, but I can't complain too much, since they have kindly listened to me complain until the wee hours of the morning. (And also my girl @klarolinedrabbles who saw a super early version of this and was kind enough to be encouraging.)

Edit; And I failed to tag @kirythestitchwitch directly, but you know, today was a trip.

A couple of notes to avoid confusion:

Fae: A word used in this fic to generally reference a type of European mythological beings. Sean O'Connell: Cami O'Connell's Twin.

Synopsis: Killing Tyler Lockwood starts a chain of events that put Caroline exactly where she's always dreaded and longed to be: in the arms of Klaus Mikaelson.

Warnings: Alternate Universe; Alternate Universe - FaeAlternate; Universe - Soulmates; Fae!Caroline; hybrid!Klaus; Minor Character Death; Blood and Gore; Mild Gore; Implied/Referenced; Torture; Psychological Torture; Canon-Typical Violence; Compulsion; Blood and Injury; Blood Drinking

Hand pressed tightly against her side, Caroline took several careful breaths, her lungs burning and her pulse a steady thump in her ears. Her senses were hyper alert, magic straining to catch the faintest hint of a disturbance. All around her, humans slept soft and cozy in their beds, and the night had gone quite. As the silence continued to hold, she allowed herself to relax, letting the cold of the concrete at her spine cool her flushed and fever warm skin. For the moment, she was safe.

Reaching up, she rubbed her breastbone, lips curling into a small, pleased smile at the burn. Her father was angry. If she survived the night, that alone would make the pain of her injury worth it. Thankfully, the knife wound felt like it had finally stopped seeping, and her glamour would hide the blood. It was the iron poison that was going to cause her complications. The black spider web crawling up the line of her ribcage hadn’t made it close to her heart, she was her mother’s daughter too, but it weakened her all the same.

It left her in a magical disadvantage.

Grimacing as her phone buzzed silently in her pocket, she pressed a little further into the concrete behind her and looked around. There was nothing to suggest her cousins had been able to track her, though that was just a matter of time. Thankfully, even suffering from iron, she had enough control of her magic to hide the glow from her phone, though she didn’t quite dare to risk more.

Not yet.

Pulling it free from her pocket, she winced at the number of missed calls and quickly scanned the texts that had accumulated.

Bonnie (12:45 AM): Hello???

Bonnie (12:46 AM): You’re not dead.

Bonnie (12:46): Are you ignoring me?

Bonnie (1:10 AM): I swear, I’ll put Enzo on a plane. With the time differences, he’ll be there before dawn.

Bonnie (1:10 AM): Then you’ll have to listen to him complain about airplane food while he tries to kill people.

Bonnie (1:11 AM): I might do it anyway. I could use the alone time.

Wincing, because Bonnie Bennett did not bluff, she hurriedly tapped out a response.

Caroline (1:11 AM): I’m alive.

Bonnie (1:11 AM): What happened?

Caroline (1:11 AM): It was a trap.

Bonnie (1:11 AM): How bad?

Caroline: (1:12 AM): I’ve mostly stopped bleeding and Tyler is dead.

Very dead. She’d made sure of it. There was a lot someone like her father would do with a dead body, so she’d made a point to separate his head from his body so he couldn’t be resurrected. Baba Yaga spells were rare and costly, but if anyone could get their hands on one, it would be her father. It was why she’d then dumped her stash of holy water on the body and then carefully dusted him in iron shavings, rendering his body and his blood unusable.

The little dots below her conversation on her messenger app popped up and died several times, and Caroline closed her eyes, letting her head fall back as she waited for Bonnie’s response. She’d know that coming to Chicago was a risk, for a number of reasons, but even at her most pessimistic she wasn’t sure she could have guessed just what she’d find here.

What could possibly have led Tyler to be so desperate that he would trust her father? Tyler, who was one of the few people who knew the truth of her origin, who had hugged her when she’d said goodbye and told her he would always care about her. Tyler, whose blood she now wore beneath her nails, who had stabbed her with an iron knife and who had died with hate in eyes.

Her phone buzzed and she glanced down.

Bonnie (1:13 AM): Klaus is in Chicago.

Caroline stared at her phone, surprise and a shot of adrenaline leaving her momentarily breathless. Klaus. Here. In Chicago. The city where Bill had set up his most recent plots, where Tyler had attempted to betray everything that had once made him a good man. Sliding her teeth along her lip, she very carefully typed her reply, her fingers shaking.

Caroline (1:14 AM): You said he was in London for the next month. What changed?

Bonnie (1:15AM): I don’t know.

Bonnie (1:16 AM): Do you need an exit?

Bonnie (1:16 AM): He owes me.

Caroline was shaking her head even before she started typing. Being anywhere near Klaus was a terrible idea, and Bonnie knew that. That her friend would never make the offer unless she thought it necessary left dread sitting low in her stomach.

Caroline (1:16 AM): What’s got you spooked?

Bonnie (1:17 AM): Someone is blocking my scrying spells.

Caroline (1:17 AM): Bill?

Bonnie (1:17 AM): If we’re lucky. We both know what it means if we’re not.

Caroline’s fingers tightened on her phone case, her pulse loud in her ears. Bonnie was right. Very, very few things blocked her from seeing what she wanted to see. Bill could do it thanks to the blood bind but it wasn’t easy, and he never managed it for long periods of time. Grams probably could have done it. But the list of powerful witches who remained alive in the United States after the purging of New Orleans was short.

There was only one reason Bill would use the blood connection between them to block out any outside magic from interfering tonight. She hadn’t just pissed her father off, she’d actively disrupted his plans, and thanks to Bonnie’s magical brilliance, he couldn’t track her easily. But there was another way to drag her to a Fairy Court, and she would have to move very quickly to avoid it.

Baring her teeth in a mimicry of a smile, she gave herself a moment to feel a sharp burst of satisfaction. She had a list on her phone of her father’s potential means of retaliation, and Wild Hunt was right there at the top as the worst possible outcome, but it also meant Tyler must have been far more integral to his plans than she’d guessed. Even knowing that her chances of survival had just taken a serious dip, it did little to dim her pleasure. If she was very, very lucky her father’s precious Queen would feel the need to take out his failure on him directly.

A girl could hope.If she survived the night, she was going to find a fancy bottle of wine and pick up a cupcake. Maybe two cupcakes. She deserved the mini-celebration.

Caroline (1:20AM): I spotted half a dozen of my cousins tonight. I don’t know who holds their allegiance but it probably won’t matter. If Bill is super pissed, he’ll call them all.

Bonnie (1:21 AM): Fuck.

Bonnie (1:21 AM): If it goes bad, don’t be an idiot. Use Klaus.

Caroline (1:21 AM): No.

Caroline (1:22 AM): Favor or not, I killed his hybrid. He doesn’t strike me as forgiving.

Bonnie (1:22 AM): He’s not.

Bonnie (1:23 AM): You don’t have to tell him.

Caroline (1:23 AM): Uh huh. I’ll call you when I’m safe. 🤦😘❤️🏃

Shoving her phone back into her pocket, Caroline exhaled slowly at the bite that was her warning that her magic was nearly tapped dry. Giving herself another half-a-dozen heart beats to celebrate her first major victory, she turned her mind to her problem at hand.

Bonnie had good reason to be worried. It had been almost thirty years since the Queens had summoned a wild hunt to drag one of the half-Fae home for punishment. Bill had made a point to tell her in great details the torture that had awaited her cousin, the way the Queen had plucked his body and his mind apart for his treachery.

Caroline doubted she had become enough of a problem that the Queens would send the hunt, which meant that Bill would be expending a great deal of power to collect her. Her lips twisted, finger tapping silently against the side of her phone. Fae magic was powerful, and so was her father, but it could be circumvented. She needed to concentrate on that, put together her plan.

Pissing her father off twice in one night would normally be her highest priority, but instead what she wanted to think about was the message Bonnie had given her.

Klaus Mikaelson was in Chicago.

Anticipation was a tantalizing thrill in her veins. She’d hoped the truth of New Orleans would have helped her grow out of her strange obsession. Instead, it left her wanting to know more. It was a struggle, when all she had to do was text Bonnie and ask for a location. She could then finally indulge in the bone deep curiosity that had been part of her life for as long as she could remember. Maybe figure out the cause of her obsession with a monster she’d never met.

She might’ve, if only doing so tonight wouldn’t put everyone she cared about in danger.

Caroline slid her lip between her teeth, letting the small hurt ground her. If she thought her father hated her enough to call down a Wild Hunt now, exposing the Fae’s secrets to Klaus would make his rage burn even more bitterly. She’d honestly have done it years ago out of spite if such a move would only put her in the crosshairs of the courts, but it wouldn’t.

Bonnie and Enzo would also be marked.

The High Courts currently considered her rebellion to be a family matter, though one Bill was unable to control adequately. She could not risk a Queen deciding she was her enemy in truth, not yet. Not when she was so close to figuring out how to banish her father permanently to the otherside of the Veil.

She’d be thrilled to just killing him, but she long since accepted that might not be possible. Tyler had been right, when he’d called her a monster. When he’d called all of them monsters. He just hadn’t understood that for all of the terrible things in this world that there were worse fate’s hidden behind the veil in between the worlds, horrors lovingly encouraged in Underhill that could break a human mind merely with their existence.

Earth had pushed the Fae back with their iron and religion all those years ago, had sealed the veil with witch magic, and humanity considered themselves victorious. But the truth was all they had done was defer the fight for the territory the Fae claimed as theirs to own to a different day.

The Fae hadn’t forgotten humanity nor had they forgiven them for their defeat. Banished behind magic, the Fae watched and watched and hungered. They had waited for the time that they had truly passed into myth, until the world forgot how to defeat them with a dangerous patience. But the nature of the Fae was as capricious as it was violent, and not all agreed on waiting.

Some had altered their plans and plotted a different course of action.

The Great Experiment.

Caroline supposed she should be grateful for that impatience, it was the reason for her existence, but all she could muster just then was a familiar anger. For six hundred years, members of the High Courts had mingled their blood among humans, hoping to breed children with resistance to both iron and the religion, the tools that had locked them away from the world that had once been theirs. And their plan had produced some success, though not always how they had hoped.

She was one such success.

Elizabeth Forbes had never been comfortable with her half-Fae child, but she’d also refused to abandon her to a world filled with monsters. Instead, she’d taught her daughter the good and the bad of humanity, had shown her the world as it was and what it could be. Her father saw her as a tool, a means to an end. Her mother’s love had been gruff and uneasy, but she’d tried.

She would never, ever forget that.

Or forgive Bill for her death.

Caroline had defied her father and his magic, had pitted herself against his will as she vowed vengeance for killing the one thing she’d ever claimed as her own. Her mother.

Hunting Bill required care and a meticulous eye for detail, and a particular stubbornness she had in spades. His magic was more powerful than hers, but he had always underestimated his only child by Liz, brushed her off as not powerful or clever enough for his schemes. It’s been a deliberate decision of hers to hide what she was capable of, hoping that such a ploy would save her mother. Now, she used her magic against him with the same ruthlessness he had taught her as a child.

But she was just one half-breed among hundreds, and so she’d learned to be careful. She wasn’t even the most powerful of those born on this side of the veil and underhanded ambush tactics had always served her better than brute force. A disruption there, a few dozen murder’s here. Just enough to skew her father’s chessboard while she worked to uncover the truth of his plotting. The fewer of her cousins who were able to carry out the will of her father and his fellow full blooded Fae’s plots, the safer humanity was from a terrible strike.

But she couldn’t kill them all, though she’d certainly tried. Her family did not die easily, and magic lingered in places of terrible violence like fingerprints. Each kill was a risk that could lead to her death. Over the years, it’s become clear that if she wanted to destroy her fathers plots, she couldn’t do it alone. The tie that connected them, the thread that burned so clearly now in her chest with her father’s rage, meant that she’d never be truly safe from him. Blood ties were not easily broken.

But Caroline knew witches, so she’d returned home, to the place where the only people she trusted still lived. Tyler had already been gone by then, lost in his need for vengeance, but Bonnie had been there, lingering in the ashes of conquest almost as if she’d been waiting.

It was then that Caroline had learned that humanity's greatest monster had become its potential savior. That the true potential of Ester’s terrible offspring had finally been unlocked. Klaus Mikaelson had broken his curse.

Her fingers curled into her palms, the strange, bone-deep curiosity that ground her joints together every time she thought of his name a familiar sensation. Klaus had broken his strange Sun and Moon curse in the forest she knew so well, had cut a bloody path through everyone who tried to oppose him, and laid the foundations for the army of hybrids he was determined to build. His perfect army that feared neither sun nor death and were unnaturally loyal.

Hybrids that Bonnie had helped create.

Her best friend rarely spoke of the events that led to the creation of the hybrids, refusing to give Caroline even the smallest detail of how a hybrid was made. Even tucked away in her home in Maine twenty years later, hidden by both Fae and witch magic. Caroline might not have the hows involved, but she knew the whys.

It all circled back to Bill.

Liz hadn’t been the only causality of her father’s hunger for power, just the first in their small town. Murdering Sheila Bennett had been a mistake in that it had set Bonnie against Bill, but it fit the pattern Caroline was starting to see in her father’s plans. Liz had been human, but one whose family had been deeply entrenched in the supernatural for generations. Sheila Bennett had been powerful, but she’d been born of the witch line that had created the Otherside. Gram’s had made sure her death had cost Bill, but it hadn’t been enough to stop his plans as Tyler’s presence tonight had proven.

Sometimes, Caroline wondered why Bonnie didn’t hate her. Bill was a scourge that returned time and time again, because her blood allowed it. Maybe if she’d been stronger they’d have been able to protect their families. But what she couldn’t protect, she could avenge.

Bonnie had agreed to help. Had been working on her own plans for years. The first real foothold into Bill’s master plan had been with the Augustine Society. Bonnie had been watching them for months before Caroline’s return, humans who had relentlessly experimented on vampires. They’d staged a rescue for the vampire that had been imprisoned, and it had been Enzo who had known of Tyler.

Tyler who had been the first of Klaus’ successful hybrids, whose loyalty was a shaky thing despite whatever magic bound him to his maker. Her childhood sweetheart who yearned for freedom from the yolk he had chosen. It’d taken months to go through the society’s notes they’d managed to save, to dig into the texts they had been experimenting with.

They’d known so much but understood so little.

But one thing had become crystal clear.

Bill was trying to bring down the Veil. Not unexpected, as most of the Fae worked to destroy it. But Bill also worked to understand what had led to the banishment of the Fae, so he could break it better.

It had been humans, werewolves and witches who had originally created the veil, blocking the Fae Lords from returning in great numbers after their banishment, forcing them to squeeze through cracks when the veil between worlds was thin or use now defunct gates. When iron had slowly lost its grip on the world, they might have managed more but for Qetsiyah.

Bonnie’s ancestor had been clever. When she’d bound the otherside, trapping Amara in stone and Silas forever out of her reach, she’d sunk the power of those souls into the Veil between humanity and the Fae, creating a second anchor. An additional failsafe to guarantee that no Supernatural would be so foolish as to undo her work.

Witch. Vampire. Werewolf. Hybrid. When they died, they were shuffled into Qetsiyah’s chosen afterlife, and their souls protected humanity. Humans were spared that fate, but their very existence acted a detriment to the Fae, as it was humanity who embraced iron.

The fastest way to destroy the Veil would be to free Silas. For a while, she and Bonnie had worried that he would succeed. But no one knew where Qetsiyah had hidden Silas’ body, and for all of her father’s attempts to restart Silas’ little cult, he’d always failed. The last real surge in members had ended when they’d been slaughtered, setting her father back decades.

The only other way to destroy what Qetsiyah had put into place would be to destroy the Veil at the root. And while no one understood the magic that had cast out the Fae so many years ago, her father didn’t need to understand the magic of the Veil to break it. He just needed dominion over it. But that was no easy task. Humans and witches could be bribed or fooled. Werewolves hovered at the brink of extinction. But the children of Esther, the hybrids that now walked the earth, defied every master but one. And so her father gathered his pieces and worked to subjugate Klaus’ creations in secret.

Caroline had tried to save Tyler.

She’d tried to talk him out of the part that Bill needed him to play. He’d refused. And the betrayal had burned like acid in her gut.

It had been Tyler, who had helped her dig Elizabeth Forbes’ grave. Her friend who had given her his gloves when her palms started to bleed, had said nothing when her tears had made her clumsy. It had been Tyler who sat with her and Bonnie, listening as Grams told them of the dangers in the world after Caroline had announced she was leaving. But her friend had died long before Caroline had killed him.

She shivered in the wind.

She knew Klaus played his part in that. It was impossible not to. It had been because of Tyler that she’d ended up in New Orleans, after all. The whispers of the destruction of the city, of how entire witch lines had been lost to madness and death had not adequately captured the horror of it. She’d seen what Klaus had left behind: werewolf packs left in ruin, the survivors turned and bound to his will. Broken witches and terror ridden vampires.

But rarely death. Klaus was not so kind to let his true enemies escape him in such a way. Instead, his wake left behind living ghosts. At least in this, she had done her best by her old friend. Whatever had driven him, whatever horror he had witnessed that had turned him so fully against her, she hoped he could find peace from it now.

She wasn’t so sure she’d be so lucky. Klaus was a spector in her life that she didn’t know if she could escape. And tonight, she’d killed his first hybrid. She grimaced. Klaus would not take to that news kindly. Best if she was long gone when he learned of it.

She wondered if she could manage it. She already felt the pull in her chest, the need to see, to touch, burning through her. It has always been like this. When Grams had first mentioned his name all those years ago, she’d felt the smallest of pulls, a jolt of curiosity. A tug she couldn’t explain. And everytime she thought his name, every time she heard another whisper of the night terrors he created, the tug to search him out grew stronger.

She’d deliberately chosen to look for those horrors once, hoping the truth of his nature would terrify her into running away. Instead, the monster that she had cultivated since she was seventeen and covered in her mother’s blood had approved. The more she learned, the more she wanted to know.

It was why she’d helped Bonnie disappear. Whatever happened between her and Klaus, she was determined to protect her friends from the fall out of it. But she was not the only Fae who hunted for information about Klaus, and Bonnie Bennet had helped create his hybrids.

Her people would destroy Bonnie, if they learned that truth. That a witch from Qetsiyah’s line had once again worked great magic against them would light the fires of their impotent rage for a long, long time. As long as Klaus and his hybrids roamed the earth, it made their chances of winning a war that much harder.

Fae magic was powerful, but given forced limitations by the rules they had to follow. Klaus and his creations were bound by no such things. And they were swallowing the world.

It had been nearly five years since the first hint of a hybrid returning to the US since New Orleans had raced through the Supernatural community. Over the decades, the US communities had watched from a distance as Klaus had bent Europe to his will, his creations breaking across city after city like a wave, choking out any dissent in their paths.

London, Paris, Milan. They all fell at Klaus’ feet with little more than a whimper.

The first real sign of his return had been when he turned New Orleans into a witches' graveyard, and then his gaze had turned to Chicago. Her father was no fool, he had to have known that Klaus had made this city the seat of his power in the States. Bill was far too cunning to risk catching Klaus’ attention unless he had a plan, and not knowing the exact details of what that plan was worried her.

Though she could guess part of it.

A sharp whistle cut through the air, and Caroline’s gaze cut along the rigid angles and sharply jutting corners of the builders around her, but she maintained her hiding place. She had no intention of being flushed out of cover like a bird they intended to net but she needed to come up with a plan.

Glancing at her watch, she grimaced.

It was nearly two in the morning.

If her father had chosen to call a Wild Hunt, she had roughly sixty minutes until the witching hour of three A.M. struck, and the Hunt was let loose. The blood tie to her father might have eroded to the point that he could no longer use it to force her obedience, but they had never managed to break it entirely. Fae magic was tricky. Blood ties more so. Instead, Bonnie had done her best to cloud it, to thin the connection to a single, potent thread.

A Wild Hunt would cut through the witch magic hiding her and return her to her father. Caroline was certain the only reason Bill hadn’t tried to do such a thing before was because of the cost. Calling a Hunt took a great deal of personal power. She would only have one shot of slipping away, and the risk of being caught by her father’s soldiers was dangerously high.

Klaus was in Chicago.

Her fingers clenched, and Caroline put her phone away. She wouldn’t risk Bonnie or Enzo by going to Klaus, not yet. Not with Tyler’s blood fresh on her hands. But that didn’t mean she still couldn’t use his presence in the city to her advantage. In a game of half-breeds, it always came down to who was the better gambler.

Supernatural cities always had seedy vampire nightclubs and supernatural friendly bars littered throughout. When Klaus had taken over Chicago, he had commandeered several for his own use. But there was one club in particular that she’d pinned down as potentially being part of his stomping grounds; the number of bodies that were secretly removed from the club gave credence to her theory, though she supposed it could just be a place that attracted excess stupidity.

If she was going to have a chance tonight, she needed to go into that club and stay just long enough to let the scent of mingling supernaturals hide her trail so she could slip away undetected and find a place she could hide from the magic seeking her. If she was lucky, Klaus’ potential presence would act as a deterrent.

It was a risk.

Not only because she needed to keep her own blood-lust in check, but because she had never before let herself venture close enough to Klaus to risk catching a single glimpse of him. She was magically exhausted and wounded, the slow crawl of thirst thick in her throat, and her bones ached with the insistent need that made no logical sense.

She would have to be so very careful. Still, for now, her glamour was holding. Setting her teeth, Caroline turned and headed to the heartbeat of the city. Tonight, she’d find a way to live and tomorrow she’d call Bonnie and they’d work out a plan for her to escape. And she’d have to do it without indulging in a curiosity that had no name but was a pulse in her blood.

The rest is here: A03

(I’ll add the link to FFN once I get it posted.)

#my fic #klaroline #klaroline fanfic

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thecaffeinebookwarrior · 5 years

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The Dos and Don’ts of Writing Smart Characters

Since I started this blog, one of the most common questions I’ve received has to do with the portrayal of intelligent characters. This is also one of the most difficult to answer -- excluding questions about characters with specialized knowledge sets, which are fairly easy to answer with source compilations. Most of the questions have to do with: how do you portray a smart character believably? How do you make the audience relate to them? Can I still make them likable? How do I avoid the pitfalls of popular media?

Well, I’m finally here to answer, utilizing examples from some of my favorite (and occasionally, not-so-favorite) media. Let’s jump in to the dos and don’ts of smart characters!

1. Do let the audience follow the character’s thought process.

As demonstrated by: Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders

Albert Einstein allegedly once said, “If you can’t explain it to a five-year-old, you don’t truly understand it.” And the sentiment rings true: true genius doesn’t need to dazzle with big words and technobabble. Instead, it makes the complex appear simple.

The same rings true for brilliant characters. BBC’s Sherlock (more on that later) ceased to satisfy in its later seasons because it began to rely too heavily on visual glitz to avoid actually explaining its mysteries and how they were solved. Similarly, the biggest complaints with block buster franchises -- Star Wars, The Avengers, Game of Thrones -- is that they became obsessed with “subverting expectations” cleverly instead of leading the audiences to their most logical and satisfying conclusions.

Meanwhile, the smartest and most satisfying media dazzles not by staying over the audience’s head, but by illustrating how simplistic the solutions can be.

Let’s start with my boy Tommy Shelby, the charismatic, swaggering protagonist of the charismatic, swaggering crime drama Peaky Blinders. Using only his intelligence (and complete disregard for his own life/suicidal tendencies, but that’s not the point here), Tommy claws his way up from the near-bottom of the social ladder (an impoverished Romani in early 20th century Birmingham) to being a decorated war hero, to being the leader of a feared razor gang, to dominating the race track business, to becoming a business mogul, to becoming a member of parliament and trying to assassinate the leader of the fascist party. He’s also one of the paramount reasons why I’m bisexual.

So how can such a drastic social climb be conveyed believably? Because Tommy -- as the viewpoint character -- is placed in seemingly inescapable situations, and then proceeds to demonstrate that the solutions to those situations have been there the whole time. I recently watched a brilliant video on how this is done, which can be viewed here.

Early in season one, for example, he responds to aggressive new methods by the police by organizing a mass-burning of paintings of the king, and uses the press this garners to publicly shame the methods of the chief inspector who’s been antagonizing him. In the next season, he talks his way into a deal by bluffing that he planted a grenade in his rival’s distillery. My personal favorite is in season four, when he responds to being outgunned by a larger, American gang by contacting their rival -- none other than an Alphonse Capone.

All of Tommy’s victories are satisfying, because they don’t come out of nowhere -- we have access to the same information he does, each victory is carefully foreshadowed, and we are reminded at every turn that failure is a very real possibility (more on that later.) So when he wins, we’re cheering with him.

Other examples: Mark Watney from The Martian, who explains science in its most simplistic terms and with infectious enthusiasm. He would make every character on The Big Bang Theory cry.

Also, Miss Fisher from the AMAZING Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. The dazzling, 1920s, female Sherlock Holmes of your dreams. I cannot recommend it enough.

To apply this to your own writing: Remember you won’t dazzle anyone if you smack them in the face with a “brilliant” plot twist. They want to take a journey with your character, not be left in the dust.

Also, for everyone in my askbox concerned that they’re not smart enough to write intelligent characters, just remember how simple the problems confronting smart characters can be. Put them in a difficult situation, and provide them with a means of getting out. Then, just let them find it.

2. Don’t assume the audience is too stupid to keep up (or try to make them feel too stupid to keep up.)

As demonstrated by: Sherlock Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock.

Say what you will: there were reasons why everyone was so captivated by this show during its first two seasons. It felt fresh. People had yet to become frustrated with the inescapable thirst for Benedict Cumberbatch. The writing was sharp, and the editing clever. And it wove a tantalizing web of mysteries that demanded solution. The problem was, there weren’t any.

The most frustrating for many was how Sherlock faked his death at the end of season two, after which devoted fans spent two years creating intricate theories on how he might have pulled this off. The creators responded by mocking this dedication in the opening episode of season three, by showing a fan club spinning outlandish theories (one of which included Sherlock and Moriarty kissing.) This might have been laughed off -- at the time, many seemed to consider it quite funny -- if the creators had bothered to offer their own explanation of how Sherlock survived. They didn’t. And so began a seemingly endless loop of huge cliffhangers that promised -- and consistently failed to deliver -- satisfying answers.

The most egregious examples occur in season four, which provided answers to questions no one asked, and withheld answers for things everyone wanted to know. For example, did you know that the real reason Moriarty engaged Sherlock is because he was hypnotized by Sherlock’s secret evil sister? The same one who killed Sherlock’s best friend, whom Sherlock convinced himself was a dog? Yes, that was a real plot point, in the climax of the series. It’s an effort to befuddle the audience with brilliant and unexpected writing, but instead pulled them out of a story they were already invested in and made them far more critical of its pre-existing faults.

It’s pointed out in the brilliant (if bluntly named) Sherlock Is Garbage, And Here’s Why that Moffat can be a great writer, but is a consistently terrible show runner, because he’s more interested in dazzling the audience with cleverness than actually telling a satisfying story. The video also points out that the show often implied Sherlock’s brilliance, without ever letting the audience follow along with his actions or thought-process in a way that DEMONSTRATED his brilliance.

I highly recommend giving the aforementioned video a watch, because it is not only a great explanation of how Sherlock Holmes can be best utilized, but about how writing itself can be best utilized.

Other examples: The Big Bang Theory. As Wisecrack points out in their wonderful video on the subject, the punchline of every joke is “oh look, these characters are smart nerds!” which is repetitious at best and downright insulting at worst.

How to avoid this in your writing: Treat the audience as your equal. You’re not trying to bedazzle them, you’re trying to take them on a journey with you. Let them be delighted when you are. Don’t constantly try to mislead them or hold intelligence over their head, and they will love you for it. Also, cheap tricks do not yield a satisfying story: readers will know when you went into a narrative without a plan, and they won’t appreciate it.

3. Do remember that smart people can be kind and optimistic!

As demonstrated by: Shuri from Black Panther.

Yes, brilliant people can be unhappy and isolated by their intelligence, or rejected by society. But remember that intelligence isn’t synonymous with a cantankerous attitude, or an excuse to be a pugnacious ass to those around you!

Part of the reason why Shuri of 2018′s Black Panther was such a breath of fresh air was the fact that she subverted almost all preconceptions about how a genius looks, acts, and regards the world. And it’s not just the fact that she isn’t a sullen, middle-aged white man that makes her stand out: Shuri has an effervescent attitude, and genuinely loves contributing to her country and family. She referred to sound-proof boots as “sneakers” (and then explained the pun when her brother didn’t get it.) She’s fashionable. She teases her older brother, and cries when he is apparently killed. She’s up on meme culture. This makes her unlike pretty much every other genius portrayed in the MCU.

Except maybe the Hulk. He can dab now.

Shuri is also allowed to take pride in her genius, and can be a bit insufferable about it, which makes her more enjoyable and rounded. But she is an excellent example of how genius can be explored and portrayed in fiction, and I will forever be embittered that she was underutilized in Infinity War and Endgame.

Why, for example, are all geniuses portrayed as arrogant misanthropes? Albert Einstein battled depression, but he is also said to have enjoyed blowing bubbles and watching puppet shows. He was kind to those who knew him. Similarly, Alan Turing behaved little like his fictional counterpart, described as “shy but outgoing,” with a love of being outdoors. Nikola Tesla fell in love with a pigeon. Why do we have to portray these people so damn gravely?

Other examples: Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds. Also an excellent portrayal of an intelligent person on the autism spectrum, as he struggles to interface socially but cares profusely for his fellow human beings. He is brilliant, and completely precious.

Also, Sherlock Holmes -- the original version, and all faithful adaptations thereof. Anyone who thinks Sherlock is an austere, antisocial jerk isn’t familiar with the original canon. He blushed when Watson complimented his intelligence, for God’s sake.

Then there’s Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and Marge from Fargo. Brilliant, upbeat, optimistic geniuses.

To apply this to your own writing: If you have a smart character who hates everyone around them for no identifiable reason, ask yourself why this is necessary and what this adds to the plot. Are they angry about injustice, towards themselves or others? Are they frustrated with an inability to relate to people? Do they want to protect themselves or their family at all costs, including politeness? If not, question why your brilliant character can’t also be kind to those around them.

4. Don’t make your character perfect at everything they do.

As demonstrated by: Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Ah, Wesley. Some call him the original Mary Sue, and it’s one of the only times I’ve seen the term applied with some accuracy. He is somehow the most gifted and least qualified person on The Enterprise. He’s Hermione Granger without the charm, jumping in to answer questions before any of the trained officers in the room have the chance to, always in the right. His only obstacle? Why, the boorish adults he’s surrounded with simply don’t understand his brilliance!

As early as the series’ very second episode, Wesley -- inebriated by an alien illness -- forcibly takes over the ship from Captain Picard, only to later save it from a threat with a reverse tractor beam of his own design.

Wesley was obviously inserted as a means of attracting younger viewers, but failed egregiously, because he was too annoyingly perfect for kids to relate too, and not cool enough for them to be invested in. I binge-watched the various Star Trek series in my youth for Spock, Data, and my wife Seven of Nine, not to watch seasoned military and scientific officers get lectured by an adolescent. Even Wil Wheaton, who had the misfortune of portraying this character, expressed a dislike for him.

Precocious children are great, if you get them right. But get them wrong, and they can easily become your most annoying character, marring the face of otherwise great media. The most important thing you can do for a brilliant character is endow them with weaknesses and flaws -- even something as small as Shuri’s fondness for teasing her older brother made her enjoyable, as anyone with siblings could relate to their dynamic.

But, what if you want a supernaturally talented character who not only fails to be a ray of sunshine, but is something of an arrogant, antisocial jerk? Can they still work, especially if they also happen to be a child?

Yes, under one extremely important condition:

5. Do keep your characters out of their depth!

As demonstrated by: Number Five from Umbrella Academy.

Okay, he’s not exactly a child. He’s a fifty-eight-year-old trapped in a child’s body, who’s traveled back in time from a post-apocalyptic future to warn his siblings of an incoming Armageddon. In other news, Umbrella Academy is a weird show. Unlike the comics, however, the apes don’t engage in prostitution.

The effect, however, remains the same: a preternaturally talented child who talks down to everyone around him, including his (apparently) older siblings. So why does he work while Wesley fails so egregiously?

For one thing, it’s demonstrated early on that Five has the skills to back up his sanctimonious attitude, with the delightfully ultraviolent Istanbul (Not Constantinople) sequence. It also helps that he lacks Wesley’s squeaky-clean moral code, to the point at which he can get drunk in public or kill without remorse.

But: the element most vital to his success as a character is the fact that he’s kept completely, and consistently, out of his depth. He knows the world will end in eight days, but he doesn’t know how this will transpire or how to stop it. Ultimately, he fails again to stop the apocalypse, and must travel back in time with his siblings for another chance.

Most authors have the impulse to demonstrate a character’s brilliance by allowing them to succeed against insurmountable odds, but the Umbrella Academy writers show tremendous wisdom in allowing Five to fail. This allows the audience to empathize with him, and countermands the effects of his arrogant attitude.

This advice isn’t just true for pint-sized prodigies. Look back over this list, and take notes of how often the most successful characters are allowed to fail, to have flaws, and to ascend past their comfort zone.

Other examples: Virtually every successful example on this list.

Tommy Shelby, a character of limitless ambition, conducts a new, perilous climb outside of his social rank each season, which almost always puts him in positions of mortal danger. He faces threats both external (rival gangs, evil priests, and rising fascists) and internal (hello PTSD, suicidal tendencies, and crippling addiction) but either way, we understand that his fast-paced climb is not for the weak-willed or faint-hearted.

Mark Watney is a brilliant scientist who has been stranded in an utterly impossible situation for which absolutely no one could be adequately prepared (spoilers: it’s on Mars.) We are drawn in by his plight, and how he could possibly escape from it, and there we come to admire him for his courage, optimism, and humor.

Shuri, though not the main character of Black Panther, is allowed to show off both tremendous gifts and vulnerability, as she is powerless to stop the apparent death of her beloved older brother. She watches Wakanda’s takeover both as an innovator and a young woman, and a large reason for her success is that she is allowed to be both.

How to apply this to your writing: When portraying intelligent characters, take stock of how often they fail, their level of control over their surroundings, their vulnerability, and their flaws. We don’t want to read about flawless deities. We want to read about characters who embody and personify our humanity. So remember they need to fall down in order to pull themselves up.

Happy writing, everybody!

#long post for ts #writing tips #writing smart characters #peaky blinders #tommy shelby #mark watney #the martian #miss fisher's murder mysteries #shuri #black panther #spencer reid #criminal minds #legally blonde #fargo #number five #the umbrella academy #star trek #star trek: the next generation

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stardust-steel · 4 years

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Will you do it too? 👉🏻👈🏻

Thanks for asking me Buu 💕

1. If published and in DB fandom have 17 counting in Ao3 and ffnet (different pen name )

If unpublished or counting other fandoms, above 30 but I would rather not discuss them because they are not me now :3 *also hides her 67 page google docs of ffs )

2. Average length of fic to be honest I don’t find this a meaningful question as I write whatever I want to explore and whatever length that comes to is what it needs.:3 most of my stuff are long and/or multi chaptered though and definitely the upcoming ones are. Whoops

3. I wouldn’t say fav trope but I tend to gravitate to slow burn, angst, hurt comfort, fluff and subversive. I also love found family tropes and tend to attack POV of characters like this

5. Easiest part of writing is the actual writing itself, when the idea is still hot and it’s like I’m the messenger , the thing writes itself and i am only the channel

I hate the editing process but that’s probably the most important bit to turn raw brilliance into better polished refined elegance

I hate writing summaries

4. Fav part of writing is to be honest when some long time later I’ve forgotten what I wrote and I reread them

and it’s like discovering a fav author who wrote everything I wanted to see except the author is me. Don’t mean to be conceited, just lovely to see what I wanted to see

6. Pet peeve? I don’t really have one for writing, does the summary writing count ?

7. Writing habit - having multiple docs and copies open of the scene so I can try different versions. I used to write down specific scenes I wanted and connect them all later together , move things like a jigsaw. With the upcoming fics I’ve started outlining them though because they are plot heavy and I want to fix that down so I can focus on character

8. WIP line

... this is hard

“That hurt like a bitch”

“I’m sorry, would you prefer to be dead?”

Healer Vegeta AU

9. An idea for a fic I have? This was strangely phrased

-Hunger games Kakavege fic which will parallel all of dbz and possibly super

-The epic teen fic myself and @greydivide are working on :3

10. Fav line from a fic - is it my fic or someone else’s? If someone else, I’d have to pick @engineerdz Guiltless fic line when Vegeta says something like “where are your shoes?”in lieu of addressing more important things (context he’d just been kissed by Goku)

If it’s my fic, maybe sorry I have to pick 2... in Agent Oblivion when Goku screams at Agent V “Stop calling me that!”

And in Call It What You Want when Goten asks this:

Goten: uncle Vegeta how do saiyan tell they like eachother

V: they don’t, they just fight

Goten: but you and dad fight all the time, does that mean you like eachother

V: chokes

11. Fav scene ? If it’s from someone else’s fic, aaa so hard so many good ones!! Please don’t be offended if not chosen it’s 130am for me here lol. I’ll go with Caecus by @capsulecrisistime because it broke my heart when Vegeta gave up, or Once again @engineerdz Guiltless fic when they first kiss, first kiss!! or @vakaara Cold day fic when Vegeta was very cutely being not- jealous over Broly, @dulcineawrites Take Care gift fic when Goku bandages Vegeta’s palm.

If it’s my fic, probably the whole sequence in Agent Oblivion when Goku uncovers who Agent V is all the way to when Vegeta sacrifices himself again and Goku’s all NO I WONT ALLOW THIS and gets Merus to link their life force together

Or in “Call it what you want” when Goku’s laughing at Vegeta after 18 kisses him on the cheek as thanks for saving Marron (I’m still kind of 👉👈 proud of my characterisation of 18 here, I’ve been told it was spot on with the kakavegeness too)

12. Ah treasure fic is hard to choose. At this point I’m going to assume it’s referring to my fics.

Maybe Agent Oblivion because it literally is all my epics thrown together - identity mess, Goku and Vegeta slow burn, endless saving eachother, Vegeta fighting off Majin a second time and facing punishment for his crimes like the dignified royal prince he is and both him and Goku being all badass in THIS NEXT CHAPTER COMING 😆😆 and well it was written through as a way cope with a loss and tough point of my life. So yes. But I treasure all my fics to be honest because so much heart was involved

13. Think I accidentally answered this up there

14. Vegeta Goku, Goku Vegeta. I have a fondness for 18, Merus and relate to future trunks as a person for reasons

Since writing a 17 POV fic I have become more attached to him too

But favourite??? Without a doubt Vegeta and Goku

15. This is more chapter titles than story for me

Agent Oblivion (I feel that’s unique, you won’t find another like it)

The Defiant One

Scratching The Surface because it was from Scratch the cat’s POV about kakavege. I know I’m lame but it was a pun I couldn’t resist 🤣

16 does kakavege tag count? Otherwise slow burn

17. Teen and up, I always try to play safe and put M

18. All my fics have dry humour, and theme or something greater I am exploring through the characters, if you look for it. All of it

If you’re talking a smaller scale answer I insert an allusion to stardust in every fic because “we’re all made of star stuff” (Vegeta and Goku’s home planet has been reduced to stardust after all)

19. I think this so similar to many authors response - have fun

I stress out a lot over what I write and whether the jigsaw fits but It truly should be fun because it’s fic and what you love

20. This fic is not yet out (hunger games kakavege and healer vegeta!) so for now I’ll say “This space between us “ because it’s my realistic take on Goku and Vegetas relationship or Agent Oblivion which has been repeatedly told to me to be very unique not because of the identity mess but because every layer from the villain to the plot to the twists has been very different and good diff

This was told to me, I am not saying it of myself

But ask me again in a couple of months and I might say that Hunger games fic

Thanks for asking me @baby-buu-buu

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whyiask · 4 years

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MAJOR SPOILERS FOR AOS SEASON 7

Okay okay okay, so I have been watching Agents of Shield season 7 with my family, and we just finished the final episode!!! In the whole show!!! This is insane!! Then I went back and watched Season 1 episode 1 as a throwback. Here are some of my thoughts.

-The first few episodes were a little bit slow, to be completely honest. I loved them a lot, but the season definitely built up momentum after the first two episodes or so.

-Okay, first of all. Let’s talk about some of the characters, shall we? Deke. I am actually really happy with Deke this season. He’s finally standing up for what he believes in and I’m really satisfied with his growth. When he’s not being a dick, he’s actually super nice and a very good friend. Especially in The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and The D. He was actually a really thoughtful and caring friend. There were other instances too, him sticking up for Jemma when Sousa questioned her abilities, etc. I know he as a character gets a lot of hate, and I’ll admit he’s not exactly the epitome of a good person, but as he says, he never gives up on his friends. I feel like he really grew a lot, and he’s actually very smart. He’s skilled in tech and he can do a lot of repairs and engineering stuff? I feel like a lot of people gloss over the fact that he actually has brains and when he is using them, he’s a real asset. When he was first introduced, he was not very useful and, quite frankly, very annoying. Over his time with the team, however, he has actually grown to be one of my favorite characters.

-Daisy. Daisy, Daisy, Daisy. Where to start. She has grown so much over the course of the show. Her powers, abilities, and her as a person. Rewatching episode 1 really gave me a flash as to how she used to be. Impulsive, stubborn, independent. She’s so controlled and powerful now, she really knows herself and can be confident with who she is. She went all the way from just the girl living in a van to a super spy inhuman leader. I love her so much. Her final battle with Nathaniel- just gah. Perfection right there. The only way she was able to win was because she was willing to sacrifice everything for her family (found family, SQUEEEE). She was willing to die, and that gave her an edge over Nathaniel. It was really really heartfelt.

-Mack, the director of shield. He has had some good arcs and some good moments over the course of the show. I’ll have to say, however, I didn’t completely like his arc this season. That whole thing with his parents dying- it was just... I don’t know, a little bit bland next to some of the others.

-Elena had a good conflict- her whole thing with not being able to use her powers, that was some good stuff. Really cool, really neat. I thought the ‘childhood trauma’ part, with her uncle and stuff- I thought that was a little bit forced, especially since we haven’t heard of anything like that at all in all the time we’ve known her. She has grown a lot though. I didn’t really like her when she was first introduced, but she’s awesome now.

-May’s new powers were actually really interesting to explore this season. When we first learned she had emotion-sensing powers, I was worried that it would feel too forced- trying to give everyone powers and whatnot. But contrary to my initial doubts, it actually gave May a very impressive storyline and I was very invested in her. The story benefitted a lot from this new concept.

-Coulson just keeps coming back, doesn��t he. This man just doesn’t stay dead. It was a bit much to have him keep returning to the show, but he was actually a very valuable asset to the team this season. As an LMD, he had a lot of differences about him, but he was still the Coulson we know and love.

-Sousa was cool. He may not have been modern or known how modern tech works, but he has tactical brilliance and street smarts. He was a very good SHIELD agent before, and he is now. On the topic of him and Daisy, I spent the majority of the season not shipping them, actually. I didn’t want to ship them, because I was worried that if they got together, Sousa would die or turn evil or something to that degree.

-I wish we could’ve seen more of Fitz. He is absolutely one of my favorite characters, and I would’ve liked to see more of him in this season. That being said, they did an absolutely brilliant job of keeping Fitz on everyone’s minds and keeping him relevant and super important to the story, despite him not being on screen.

-I honestly loved Simmons in this season. It was so refreshing to see her like this. In control, but not. Strong, but weak. It had a nice blend, and I felt her emotions clear as day, and she just felt very very real. Human. Switching from one thing to the next in a heartbeat. I loved it.

-On the matter of fitzsimmons, they remain the most wholesome ship on that whole show. Mack and Elena are a power couple, but so are Fitz and Simmons. They have been through so much together, and they deserve each other. The universe keeps on trying to keep them apart, but they always find each other, through space and time, through danger after danger after danger. It honest-to-god broke my fragile little fitzsimmons heart when she couldn’t remember who he was, and even after she remembered, when she didn’t remember that she loved him. Actually, one of the most heartfelt, touching moments in the whole season was her remembering how much she loved him.

-Speaking of heartfelt moments, who else nearly cried when Daisy referred to Jemma as ‘her sister’? ✋

-Deke. (okay, we’re back to talking about deke.) When Deke stayed behind in the alternate timeline, he said some things. He basically said he was expendable, and that made me legit tear up. Even by the end of the show, nobody on the team was as close with Deke as they were with each other. I mean, that’s understandable, as he hadn’t been with them for a super long time, but I know if Jemma had been able to remember him at that point, she would’ve been a lot sadder. They all cared about Deke, they just didn’t really ever show it, because they didn’t care about him as much. I think Mack was the one most upset when they left Deke behind, and that’s because he got to witness first-hand how good of a friend Deke was. Deke must’ve been one of my favorite characters, and it broke my heart to see him make that sacrifice. He was kind of always the one that they all picked on, but I want to believe they all cared deeply about him- despite them not showing it.

-Another thing about Deke- (Joy, shut up about deke already)- is that he loved Daisy, didn’t he? I remember back when he was asking Coulson and Mack for advice on how to tell her he liked her. I guess it had kind of slipped my mind, and I totally forgot about it, until now. I though maybe he had gotten over his crush, but because of what he said to Daisy right before his sacrifice, it makes me think it was more than just a crush. In those final moments with her, she was with Sousa. They were looking at each other. Daisy then asked Deke if he was sure(or something to that degree) and Deke said something like, “as long as you’re happy.” EXCUSE ME, SIR. No one can ever convince me that look he gave her wasn’t a look of unrequited love. No one. But she never saw him that way, she always saw him as a friend, and maybe an annoying little brother. But still- that comment she made, when Jemma and Deke were stuck in space with Nathaniel, when she said, “let’s go rescue simmons.” Mack said, “and Deke” to which she responded, “sure.” That hits differently now. It feels like she never really cared about him the way he cared about her. I understand it was meant to be funny, and it was kind of funny, but it really just hit differently. Even if it was a joke, Daisy basically said that she thought of Simmons as her sister and Deke as an afterthought.

-It felt a little bit ridiculous for the final big conflict to end, essentially because of the Power of Friendship and Empathy. It felt a little bit cheap. I did, however, love how the end came together, with them looping back- and,,, ugh, it was very satisfying to watch everything fall exactly into place, what with them being the people in blue hazmat suits from the end of season six, and the chronicoms firing to try and hit them, not just aiming at the temple.

-The last line in the entire show was “cool”, but then again, it was Coulson saying it, so it checks out.

-THE ENDING OMG- the parallel was beautiful, BEAUTIFUL, between the end of season one episode one and the end of the finale of season 7. Coulson flying off in Lola. It was- it was perfect. The perfect last shot.

I’ll probably reblog later with more thoughts, these were just my initial thoughts that I wrote down right after the episode ended so that I wouldn’t forget them.

(Also, sorry for the rants about Deke. I could honestly rant on and on about this show for hours, I tried to keep it short. I do ramble quite a bit, but Deke is my latest character obsession, so I’ve been thinking about him a lot and doing a deep character analysis on him recently)

#agents of shield spoilers #agents of shield season 7 spoilers #aos season 7 spoilers #aos spoilers

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darkestwolfx · 4 years

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Undercover - Re-Review #25

Penultimate episode of series 1 everyone! I can’t believe we’ve had this series going for five weeks now! Thank you all for sticking around for it! Stick with me for this one - I’m going to jump between characters as opposed to direct chronological storyline in places as it’s a little easier. A lot went on in this one.

Here we have another nearly Parker-centric episode. What have we all done to deserve this show of brilliance? I don’t know, but let’s do more of it. FAB One looks pretty good in black as well.

Parker’s definitely a very good actor - or should I say, Mr Mendoza?

“Did you bring the merchandise?”

“I remember when I was a young child on the streets of Sao Paulo my poor Grandma would say to me ‘Paco! My darling boy, come closer! I want to tell you something.”

“Um, Gov, shouldn’t we take a butchers at the merchandise?”

“The merchandise!

Lady Penelope trying to be like Parker is absolutely hilarious as well.

Houseman Industries... Well there we have a reference to TOS’s ‘End of the Road’. Eddie Houseman was meant to be an old friend/love interest of Tin-Tin. This guy here:

Who I think they might have based Virgil’s choice of clothing on, I mean, look at how similar it is! Save for the fact Virgil’s jeans are blue and Eddie’s are clearly black.

“Parker!”

“M’Laaaaddddyyy.”

P.S. That was very hard to transcribe!

And careful, that’s his tea-pouring arm!

But this scene is like something out of Mary Poppins.

“Lady Penelope, GDF reinforcements are on the way.”

“I can’t wait. That’s my driver up there, Commander. And a good driver is frightfully hard to replace!”

You go Lady Penelope! Time to drive... And she didn’t actually do too bad... bit of skidding (shall we be nice and let her have that)?

“Tea break time! Gladys and I would just like to thank you for the new assignment, Colonel Casey. GDF refreshment technician, second class. It’s perfect! Quiet, safe and not an asteroid or sea trench in sight.”

I’d like to say third times the charm but...

Oh poor Ned... Really, he tries so hard bless him. He does have really good balance as well, it’s a shame that he just put the plate in the wrong place. Although I would just like to raise a qualm with the GDF... I mean, if their red (sorry green) button is that sensitive, then anyone could accidentally knock it.

Peckish... Love that word.

Please tell me the red (sorry green) buttons of the real world are not quite that... rubbish, that a batten-berg could mean the end of the world.

Ned putting Gladys over his face after it all goes wrong in this conversation though is priceless! I couldn’t locate the screenshot but I will post it at some point.

“Sorry Colonel, the target has escape with the repulsor. And the lidium. And our undercover operative.”

“Why aren’t you in pursuit?”

“Well um... Because he took our flyer too.”

“Anything I can do to help? Haha... haha...”

Scott going absolutely made at home is completely believable as well. He’s no the sort of guy who can just sit back and wait. He even paces look, he’s exactly the sort of guy who would pace.

“Thanks for lending us your London Agent, Scott.”

I’m sure Lady Penelope doesn’t let anyone arrange to lend her services, but herself, but there we go.

“I was quite surprised you agreed to it.”

“You and me both, Colonel. International Rescue isn’t usually in the bad guy business, but once Parker heard there was a role in it for him, I couldn’t stop him. Let’s just call this an.. experiment. And experiments always make me nervous.”

I can see why living in that household.

Oh! I called that! Just saying... I’d also like to think that that unfinished discussion with Kayo last episode made a difference here as this is exactly the sort of thing she was talking about and suddenly Scott’s going with it? Yeah, I think there was so much more to that decision that we actually heard.

I do love though how we go from this to the image.

“Kayo, wait, this is the GDF’s responsibility. Kayo! Ah, I should never have agreed to this!”

No Scott, maybe you shouldn’t have.

“Ah ok, that’s it, I’ve kept out as long as I can.”

“I thought International Rescue stayed away from these kind of situations?”

“When family’s involved, I make an exception.”

“Goodbye Mr Mendoza.”

“Who? hOh me.”

That was absolutely hilarious. Everyone’s allowed a slip up though!

“Parker where are you? It doesn’t look good to be driving ones own car.”

Yes, I can imagine that. Especially when you can’t drive it half as well as Parker can.

“Oh and Parker?”

“Yes, M’Lady?”

“Be careful.”

“Stay put Scott. Thunderbird Shadow’s got this.”

In fairness, she kinda did. I mean it’s not everyday you get military grade weapons fired at you like that. Or your true family origins used as blackmail.

“If it’s too risky let him go. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Parker! You survived! Well done!”

I think that line will always tickle me, as will this one;

“hI hallways say ‘ugs hare the hanswer to hall the world’s problems.”

I really do agree with that you know. But unfortunately, we’ll all have to wait until this crisis is over before we can reenact that philosophy.

But Parker came through in the end! He even got the repulsor. You know, I reckon Colonel Casey would give him a job if Lady Penelope was ever willing to let him go (which we all know will be never).

“Scott, as soon as everyone’s together, there’s something I need to tell you all. Something i should have said long ago.”

An awkward conversation is going to come next and we’re going to have to wait until Monday to try and have it out... But then we’ve actually waited since ‘Ring Of Fire’, and actually about four years before that, and actually- Ok, so we’ve kinda waited a lifetime (Kayo’s at least) for this conversation, but hey!

See you all then!

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damienthepious · 5 years

Text

HEY NOT ONLY IS IT LKT BUT IT IS ALSO ZINE DAY BABEY!!!! Please go check out the @seasonsofthecitadel zine! Orders opened today and all profits go to The Trevor Project!

As far as my typical weekly offerings go, I’m on a roll with this fic now, so...

Scattered On My Shore (Chapter 7)

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [ao3] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15] [Ch 16] [Ch 17] [Ch 18] [Ch 19]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla, Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Rilla, Lord Arum, Sir Damien

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Lizard Kissin’ Tuesday, Pre-Relationship, (for the three of them. it’s established r/d), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Injury, Injury Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, (this will also be), Enemies to Lovers, (for damien and arum eventually lol)

Fic Summary: Strange things wash up out of the lake near Rilla’s hut, on occasion. But this monster… this monster is certainly the strangest.

Chapter Summary: Damien is dutiful as ever, and Rilla- Rilla has the situation under control. She does.

Chapter Notes: Not much to warn for this time, I don't think? They're all still bad at self care, and Arum is still... being passively suicidal, but if you've read the rest so far, I feel like that's expected. Love you! Happy LKT!

Damien wakes after Arum has already eaten, when Rilla is retrieving his dishes, and he careens back into consciousness with a shuddering gasp. His hand clutches his bow like a lifeline, and he springs to his feet in half a heartbeat, kicking the blanket aside without even seeming to notice it, his eyes wild until they land on Rilla.

Rilla, who only raises her eyebrow at him.

"At least you got some sleep, even if it was on the floor," she says mildly as Damien pants, standing and flicking his eyes around the room, looking away quickly when he meets the monster's eyes. "You okay?"

Damien swallows, then tries to press his hand over his heart, but he realizes that his bow is in the way and blinks in momentary confusion. "R-Rilla, I-" he cuts himself off as he remembers the monster watching them, violet eyes drifting between them curiously. "We can- we should discuss- we should move to the kitchen, I think, if we- if we wish to discuss-"

Rilla tries not to make it obvious that she wants to laugh, at that. Damien… it's not unfair for Damien to feel at least a little bit concerned, for him to want to talk to her privately. It really isn't. Even if it feels silly to Rilla, especially with the blatantly amused look Arum shoots the both of them. She bites her lip and nods, instead, then shoots Arum a look in return, both knowing and warning.

"I'll be back to check on you in a bit, okay Arum?" she says, and Arum wrinkles his snout very slightly as he nods. "Just… shout if you need anything."

Damien stares at her through this exchange, that wounded, mournful expression back in force, but she only smiles lightly and takes his hand (the one not still stubbornly wrapped around his bow, of course), and starts leading him back towards the front room. Arum's eyes flick to their clasped hands, his expression going momentarily puzzled before he flattens it out to neutral again, and Rilla doesn't have time to wonder about that because when they exit the exam room, Damien's mouth is already twisting down into a scowl.

"He- that beast- it tricked me into- into-"

"Into sleeping?" Rilla releases Damien's hand so she can go dump the dishes from breakfast onto the counter, and then she turns and leans against it, watching Damien unhappily begin to pace. "You were exhausted, Damien. If you didn't want to fall asleep in a room with him, you should have just stayed in bed with me," she says, and she knows she hasn't quite kept the hurt out of her voice when Damien's eyes dart to her in surprise.

"Rilla," he murmurs, and his pacing falters so he can come close to her instead, lifting his hands to gently touch her shoulders, his thumbs brushing her skin, just gently. "I… I am sorry. It isn't that I did not want to rest with you, my love. I always do. If I had my way, I would never sleep anywhere but beside you. But- but I couldn't- with that creature still beneath your roof, I could not-"

"I know," Rilla sighs, leaning into his touch. "I know once you get a thought in your head, it's hard for you to… I know."

"He is…" Damien's expression twists, his eyebrows furrowing deeply and his lips turning in a frown so deep it approaches a pout.

"A lot," Rilla finishes with a half a smile. "He's a lot."

Damien purses his lips, and then after a moment he nods lightly. "I suppose that is one rather concise way to put it, yes. He…"

Rilla raises an eyebrow. "He… what?"

Damien doesn't seem to know how to continue for a long moment, and then he shakes his head and takes both of her hands in his instead. "Rilla, oh Rilla, I must speak my heart."

"Had you stopped at some point?" she says, but her teasing tone falls a little flat, and his expression goes hurt as well as pleading. "Sorry. What- what do you need to say, Damien?"

"You know that I love you," he says, almost tearfully, "and I trust you. I trust your brilliance and I trust your judgment, but I am terrified, my love. I trust you with the whole of my heart, but- but I could not possibly trust him."

Rilla clenches her teeth, exhaling sharply. "Well, good. You don't have to trust him. All you gotta do is trust me, and everything will be fine. I have the situation totally under control."

"But…" Damien trails off weakly. "But what do you plan to do with him, Rilla? Surely- surely with your skill he will be mended in no time at all, but what happens then, my flower? You cannot keep him here like some sort of- of broken-winged pigeon, like some sort of pet-"

"Damien, he's not an animal-"

"Exactly, Rilla. What will you do , when he is healed? Do you intend to mend him and then let him traipse out your front door, to send him on his merry way? Do you intend to escort him home, to keep other knights at bay? What will you do?"

"I-" Rilla laughs uncomfortably, pulling her hands away. "Look, he's in no state to be considering all that just yet, Damien. He still can't even get out of the cot, really. There's no reason to get ahead of ourselves-"

"Rilla."

"That's so far down the line, Damien, you can't expect-"

"You cannot continue to treat him without a plan, love. An injured monster-" he sighs. "This creature… he does not currently pose a threat. That, I will concede. But when he is well again, you cannot know what he will do. Even if he feels he owes you to the point where he shall not harm you, how can you know he will not harm others, Rilla? How can you be certain that your kindness will not visit misery and death upon others?"

"He hasn't tried to hurt you either, Damien."

"I am armed, Rilla. It would be foolishness itself to attempt to-"

"Wouldn't be that hard to kill a man while he's asleep," Rilla says.

"I-" Damien pauses, swallows, looks decidedly uncomfortable. "I… I will concede that point as well. Though, it may be for your sake alone that he did not harm me. Clearly the debt he owes you is enormous, perhaps even a monster would understand the weight of such a mercy. But you cannot know he will not harm others when he is- if you allow him to leave this place."

Rilla narrows her eyes, just slightly. "Alright. So far, you've basically said that I can't keep him here and I can't let him leave, either. Kinda get the feeling that you're trying to paint me into a corner here, Damien."

"Rilla… my dearest, my love, you know what I must do." He gives a shaky sigh when she scowls and looks away from him. "Rilla, he cannot be allowed to live. It is far too dangerous-"

"Oh, so you're back to calling Arum an it again, now that you wanna talk about killing him?"

"N-" Damien cuts off, winces, then wrings his hands for a moment before he continues in a muted voice, "n-no, I- I was referring to- to the situation, not to the b-beast himself." He pauses again, visibly uncomfortable. "His… Ar- that is his… his name, then?"

"Yeah," Rilla says, still frowning. "It is. Though sometimes he gets pouty if you don't put Lord in front of it."

"Lord?" Damien echoes in surprise. "You- he- a Lord?"

"I mean, I don't know exactly what it entails, but apparently he rules that big swamp up north."

Damien blanches. "The Swamp of Titan's- that swamp? A deadly, dangerous, dire place! Oh, all the more reason for caution, for fear! Oh Saint Damien above, oh grace us with your Tranquility and wisdom, protect us from the cruelty of a beast who could tame such a place-"

"Alright, that doesn't seem fair. The jungle around the Citadel is dangerous too, Damien, but that doesn't mean you'd call the Queen cruel."

Damien swallows, his wild expression calming slightly as he fixes his eyes on her again. "I- I suppose that is- but, but! Rilla, that swamp has been even more dangerous than in the past, as of late. There are rumors, there are some truly frightening tales coming from the north recently-"

Damien pauses, then, and Rilla's face has gone blank as well. They stare at each other for a moment, both thinking quite similar things, and then Rilla's eyes flick to Arum's door, which is-

Still cracked open, just barely. Rilla swallows, uncomfortable, and when she speaks again her voice is more muted.

"That seems well beside the point, Damien, and I think you know that."

"Very well," Damien says, equally uncomfortable. "But you have not offered any solutions either, my love. You may say that the time when the beast will be well again is distant, but such time will slip past long before you are ready for it if you do not have a plan."

"My plan, Damien, is definitely not gonna be you killing him, even if I don't have another answer for you right now." She crosses her arms over her chest, trying not to let her voice become a shout. "I've been a little busy, if you haven't noticed, just keeping him alive in the first place. I haven't exactly had any time to plan out something that won't be an issue for- for a while, yet."

"A while," Damien echoes. "Do you not have an idea of how long, then? Is his situation still so precarious that you cannot speculate yet upon that?"

"He- I mean, his progress is still slow. It might speed slightly after I treat- well, there's a chance he'll start improving faster soon, but I don't exactly have a lot of experience with patients like him. It's not like I have a great idea of how long lizard-dragon-bugs take to get back on their feet, you know?"

"Indeed," Damien says. "Is that not all the more reason to be prepared, in anticipation that he may heal faster than you expect?"

"I haven't talked to him about it," Rilla admits. "I just- I'm not sure he trusts me completely yet, and there's a decent chance that a question like that will make him suspicious."

Damien blinks. "He does not trust you?" He scoffs, then shakes his head. "Of all the absurd-"

"I'm engaged to a man who's practically begging me to let him slay the beast," Rilla drawls. "If I were a monster, I wouldn't be the most trusting of someone like me either."

"But you saved the creature," Damien says dismissively. "Surely that-"

"Yeah, and I'm still trying to save him, Damien."

Damien inhales as if preparing to counter that, but then his eyes flick to the window, to the morning light outside, and he sighs. "I- I cannot stay much longer. I am- I intended to mention, last night, but my mind-"

"What, Damien?"

"I will be leaving, for- for a few days, at the very least. The new Investigator General will be bringing a rather small team to- to resolve a situation a little ways north." He pauses. "Not- not quite so far north as our previous discussion," he adds. "But- I am needed. As much as the idea of leaving you alone with such a creature terrifies me-"

"I don't know how many times I gotta say that he's not gonna hurt me before you get it, Damien."

"I don't know how you can be so sure, my love," Damien says softly, achingly. "I trust enough that I- that I will leave, I will leave you with the creature under your roof and your care, and I will not… I will not harm him, this day. But when I return… when I return, we will need to… to resolve this discussion. A decision must be made, and I think we both know that there is only one possible outcome. There is only one way to return our lives to normalcy, to ensure safety for the people it is both of our duties, in our own way, to protect."

"Uh." Rilla scowls. "We definitely don't both know that," she says, tone going sour with mocking. "Saints, I should make you a recording of me saying all the shit you seem determined not to understand. Maybe on the twelfth repeat you'll get the picture. He's my patient, Damien, which means it's my job to keep him safe. And if you want to hurt him so badly, that means I'll have to keep him safe from you, too."

"Rilla, please don't- don't-" he pauses, furrows his brow, and then sighs deeply. "No."

"No?"

"I cannot stay but a few minutes more. I believe this conversation is larger than our current time will allow. I do not enjoy the thought of leaving words unsaid-"

Rilla snorts a laugh. She really can't help it. She winces when he gives her an injured look.

"Er- yes. Regardless. We will resume this… discussion upon my return. Please, love, just- please do not grow complacent with this creature. Please take care. I love you too dearly to think that you could be in any sort of danger, but especially not danger that could be easily avoided with just the barest breath of caution. Please, love."

Rilla stuffs down her frustration, and instead comes close to him again. She touches his shoulder, and then just damns the whole situation and slips her arms around him in a hug instead. "I love you too, Damien," she sighs. "And you damn well better be careful out there too, whatever it is you're gonna be doing. Promise me you won't let yourself be distracted by this when you should be worrying about what's out there," she says, and then she pulls back enough to meet his eyes. She wonders for a moment if she looks quite as worried as he does. "I don't want to be the reason you get hurt, Damien."

"I promise," he says gently. "I assure you that I will be entirely focused, entirely engrossed in my mission until it is complete."

Rilla doesn't really believe that. Damien isn't exactly the best at keeping his mind from running away with him, but- it's nice to hear him say it, anyway. She sighs.

"C'mon, then. I'll help you get your armor back on, and then I'll walk you to the bridge, at least. I could do with a bit of fresh air."

Arum curls his claws in the sheets when he hears the door click shut, when he hears two distinct sets of footsteps maunder off into the day. Ten minutes or so, Amaryllis had casually (or less than casually, if the light strain in her voice had been any indication) called out to him through the door before she ran off with the knight. Ten minutes. That is how long she will be gone.

Not enough time to do everything he needs, but-

He waits only until he can no longer hear them, and then he pushes the blankets off. With a care bordering on the absurd (he cannot risk falling, he refuses to be set back again), he swings his legs out, letting his claws click on the hardwood below. Behind him, he curls his tail down and retrieves the first of his stolen prizes from beneath the bed. A crutch: primitive, so far as such tools go, but just tall enough to be useful to him, and he positions it beneath his lower right arm and grits his teeth and he stands-

He stands and does not fall, this time.

(Kicking the crutch back beneath the bed when he had fallen two days ago had been an exercise in flailing panic. He has rarely been more mortified.)

Arum stands, balancing carefully with the help of the crutch and his tail, and he breathes unsteadily for a long moment before he does anything else.

He has his goals in mind. He knows precisely where this little creature keeps everything he will need, even if he is not entirely steady enough to enact his plan just yet.

He has a deadline, now. When the knight returns from his newest expedition, Arum does not think Amaryllis will be able to keep him from slaying Arum, and- and now that Arum's suspicions about the Keep are all but confirmed-

(Rumors. What rumors? When Arum overheard those words he wanted to tear the blankets apart, wanted to roar and rage and demand that the knight explain- what does he mean, that the swamp, Arum's swamp, is becoming more dangerous? That it is growing more frightening? What does he mean? What is the Keep doing? What is happening to Arum's home, in his absence?)

He has a deadline. Arum will not wait, not a moment longer than absolutely necessary.

Either he will die in his planned attempt, or he will return home. One way or the other, his Keep will have a familiar again.

He grits his teeth, focuses on his balance, and step by careful step he begins to cross the room.

Arum is still safely in his cot, giving Rilla a baleful glare as she returns, and she stubbornly pretends that she hadn't been worried about that. It wasn't like she expected him to disappear, or to hurt himself by accident, but- Rilla hasn't really left the hut since she found the lizard. It just feels weird, to leave him alone.

"Here," Rilla says brightly, pressing a vial into Arum's hand as he blinks up at her, startled. "Take that, please."

"Wh-why?" he barks suspiciously, holding it away from himself. "What is it?"

"The antidote. It should neutralize what's left of the poison from that basilisk," she says, and she grins sharply when Arum flinches in surprise. "Yeah. I told you I was gonna figure it out. Honestly, it's a good thing I did, because even without that talon still in there, the poison would have taken a while for your body to naturally work through. So yeah, I'm just gonna reiterate the whole, it's important to just tell me things, thing. Y'know. If you actually want to get better."

Arum wrinkles his snout, narrows his eyes at the vial, then uncorks it and takes it in one go. His expression goes even more dour at the taste (understandable, Rilla thinks), and then he presses the empty glass back into Rilla's hands. "I would say I apologize, but I would be lying," he hisses. "Perhaps I would be more likely to trust if I were not receiving such wildly different messages from my two ambassadors to humanity."

Rilla snorts. "Yeah, that's not entirely unfair," she says. "Damien's not gonna be back for a few days or so, though, so you don't have to worry about him hovering for a while."

Arum raises an eyebrow. "Hm."

Rilla tucks the empty vial into a pocket and starts the routine of checking the monster over. It's becoming almost too familiar, by now, she thinks. She talks through it again to keep him comfortable, and he frowns deeply when she tsks at him over his frill, which she is beginning to worry might permanently bear some nicks and tears if he can't stop flaring it so frequently.

"It hardly matters," he mutters, looking away from her. "It's not as if it will kill me. It is only a frill."

"Yeah, but- well, I'm sure it still hurts, and whether or not you care about the aesthetic appearance, reopening the wounds over and over certainly isn't good for you. Just- try your best not to move it if you can, okay?"

Arum rolls his eyes. "Yes, doctor."

He tugs the blankets back up on his own (he's getting stronger, she notes with some satisfaction) and then he sighs, frowning and looking towards the window, despite the curtains in the way of his view.

There's something elegant about him, a sad sort of tension to his stillness, and Rilla has to bite back the urge to just ask-

What happens when you're healed?

She wishes Damien hadn't stuck the question in her head. It's just- a pain in the ass, really. She picks a different question instead.

("I think the creature is… I think he is restless," Damien says uncomfortably, when they are in sight of the bridge.

"Of course he's restless, Damien, he's barely better than bedridden."

Her voice bounces on the b's, and she smiles as she sees Damien tilt his head and file her words away for some later composition.

"Yes, needless to say," he says after a moment. "But what I mean is that he seems… understimulated? Or- bored, I suppose," he says with an awkward smile. "Perhaps it would be worthwhile to- to provide him with something to occupy his mind. To keep him out of trouble," the knight mumbles, his soft and calloused hand lightly squeezing her own.

Rilla wonders, brow furrowed, why she hadn't thought of that already.)

"Hey," she says, and he turns his face back toward her with a suspicious look. "Do monsters have their own written language?"

"No," he says, less suspicious now but certainly more concerned. "We have several. Many of them complex and individual and private and certainly not the business of some nosy human."

"Can you read our language?" she prods, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course," he grumbles. "It is only one language, it is easy enough to understand."

"Huh," she says. "Good to know."

He looks suspicious again at that, but he also looks tired, and she's familiar enough with that expression on his face to know that he'll probably be asleep again in ten minutes or so. That's fine. She's not sure exactly what kind of books a monster like him might enjoy reading, but Rilla can use his time napping to sift through her little library and find something that might just catch his interest.

Hell, if she's already going for treason, she might see if he'll have some insight into some of the books her dads left behind, while she's at it.

[->]

#<3<3<3 #elle's fanfic #the penumbra podcast #second citadel #rad bouquet #lizard kissin' tuesday #sir damien #lord arum #amaryllis of exile #Yell Heah Baybee #scattered on my shore

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x0401x · 5 years

Text

Flower Symbolism in Tsurune

The amount of plant representation in this franchise has considerably increased with the release of the DVDs and KyoAni’s latest spring campaign, so it seems more than appropriate to make this kind of post right now. This post has been bettered thanks to @bowcrazy. Most of the symbolisms refers to individual characters, so I’ve separated them by the official character line-up order.

I’m gonna start with the ones that represent everybody.

Yesterday-today-tomorrow: I’m guessing that this one is the flower that appears during the opening and ending. They seem to also be the ones appearing behind Minato in the DVD bonus artworks as well, so I’ll get to them below soon enough.

Iris: This one is mentioned twice in the novel, and in one of those mentions, they seem to refer to the Kazemai boys. It has many meanings, the most common ones being faith, hope, wisdom, courage, valor and admiration. In Japanese flower language, they’re associated with good news, glad tidings and loyalty. Gifting someone with irises normally means “your friendship signifies so much to me”, and they’re often used in Japan on Boys’ Day.

Now, the flowers below are the ones shown behind each of the characters in the artworks that come with the DVD/Blu-ray sets.

Sen & Man

Amaryllis: Stands for pride and self-confidence. Its message is “if you’ve got it, flaunt it”, and boy, are the twins arrogant. But here’s what’s truly interesting about this flower: it’s normally associated with one-sided feelings, lmao. The red ones, like most red flowers, are linked to passion and love, be it requited or not. I really wanna try to pretend that Senichi staring at Shuu in that artwork instead of ahead like his brother is doing has absolutely nothing to do with this, but damn, it’s hard. I won’t lie; this kind of depiction of the Kirisaki trio (literally every single thing about it) had been on my official art wishlist for a long time.

Shuu

Tulip: Its general significance is “perfect, enduring love”, but there’s also a variety of other meanings to it:

Undying passionate love, whether the passion is spurned or returned

Royalty and a regal nature

Forgotten or neglected love

Abundance, prosperity, and indulgence

Charity and supporting the less fortunate

There’s probably no better flower to describe Shuu’s character. The undying love surely refers to archery *cough* and Minato *cough*. He does have a regal, noble-like nature, and has been overflowing with talent from the very start. The neglected love might be a reference to his family, but it might also apply to Shuu hitting a wall at the end of volume 1. The part about charity and supporting the less fortunate is probably an allusion to Shuu growing softer and helping out the twins after Manji gets target panic. Moreover, the tulips behind Shuu in that artwork are white, which are used to claim worthiness.

Nanao

Osmanthus: The flowers that represent the Kazemai boys have very similar meanings and I’m pretty sure that’s on purpose. The osmanthus signifies happiness, good fortune and prosperity. This flower is known for being attention-grabbing due to its strong scent, and that may refer to Nanao’s popularity with girls. It’s also nicknamed “emperor’s flower” and “emperor’s jasmine” in some languages, which might be a reference to how Nanao is depicted as prince-like in the novel.

Kaito

Cornflower: This one also stands for good fortune and prosperity. However, it has a special focus on friendship as well, and considering that “friendship” is the keyword of Kaito’s character arc, it only makes sense. This flower comes in a variety of colors, but there are only blue and pink ones behind Kaito. The main people of Kaito’s character arc and development other than Kaito himself are Nanao and Seiya, so the colors surely represent the two of them respectively. The fact that the crushing majority of the flowers is blue is without doubt a purposeful detail.

Ryouhei

Peony: Yet another good fortune and prosperity flower. They also carry the meaning of bashfulness. The ones behind Ryouhei are red, which is considered a symbol of luck. The message of peonies is “striving to act honorably” and “sharing one’s love with others to improve their lives as well”.

Sunshine child exists to bless everyone. No news here.

Seiya

Daisy: This one has different meanings depending on its variations, but the generally accepted meanings are innocence, purity, new beginnings and true love. Giving daisies to someone also normally means that the sender might be keeping a secret.

Daisies are often used to represent motherhood as well. The ones behind Seiya are English daisies, which are often paired with primroses in order to symbolize motherly love.

Minato & Masaki

The symbolism resolving around these idiots comes in a set and it’s literally impossible to separate them since one either also applies to the other or is about one’s feelings regarding the other.

I’ll start with the flowers on the DVD/Blu-ray’s artworks.

Jersey lily: Lilies carry a variety of meanings, but red ones stand specifically for passion. Jersey lilies, on their own, normally represent:

Perseverance and resilience

Happy memories

Brilliance, radiance

The messages of jersey lilies are “you have a lovely smile” (Minato would tell you about it, lmao) and “I look forward to when we meet once again”. Now the last one was a punch to the gut.

Yesterday-today-tomorrow: This one is also known as kiss-me-quick, and the irony is ridiculous. It’s a flower normally associated with the stages and the passage of time, as the name denounces. In Japanese flower language, it carries the meaning of:

Good fortune, just as everyone else

Inconstant, fickle person

Passionate

That’s a very Minato-like flower, considering how much he wavers and how open he is to doing the unexpected. The passion part goes without saying.

Now on with the novel stuff.

Oak: The trees surrounding Yata Shrine. It stands for wisdom and strength.

Bamboo: Minato compares Masaki’s shots with bamboo sprouts at some point. They symbolise resilience and inspiration.

Cherry blossom: The story begins with the first day of school, which means spring, which means cherry blossoms everywhere. There also seem to be cherry flower petals raining all over the DVD/Blu-ray artworks, which makes me believe that this flower applies to all the main characters. Still, Kirisaki doesn’t show up until the cherry blossoms are already gone, and Minato meets Masaki for the second time when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, so I dare say the flower applies to both of them in a very particular way.

This flower is used to remind people that life is short yet beautiful, often represent gentleness and femininity, and symbolize the short-lived beauty of youth. They’re also an allurance to new beginnings and the start/renewal of a cycle, since they are a common symbol of the coming of spring. They’re usually an allegory for romance as well, but plot devices aside, I don’t think this one should be considered.

Azalea: Amongst other things, they mean “remembering your home with fondness or wishing to return to it”, “caring for yourself and your family”, “temperance and emotional evenness”, and “delicate/developing passion”. The part of remembering home with fondness and wanting to return to it definitely refers to archery, and I’m pretty sure that this is emphasized by the fact that the chapter of the novel in which azaleas are mentioned is titled “Home”. “Caring for yourself” surely refers to both Minato and Masaki, but “caring for your family” might refer to Masaki alone in this case, since he was shooting in order to send his grandfather’s soul to rest. Temperance and emotional evenness surely refers to Masaki alone, lmao. Delicate and developing passion, though, refers to the two of them without a doubt.

In Japanese flower language, the message of azaleas is “take care of yourself for me”. Now this is an extremely fascinating piece of information, because Minato and Masaki basically act like that with each other all the time, both conscious and subconsciously. Masaki is always giving Minato advice on how to improve not only his technique but also his life, and all Minato learns from him never fails to turn out useful for very personal matters, and normally serves as Minato’s trigger to solve each and every one of his problems. In contraposition, Minato never shies away from showing how important Masaki is to him, which always instigates optimistic changes on Masaki as a person and influences on big decisions in that have impact not only in his life but also on Minato’s (because literally everything one does affects the other at some point). In a way, one usually takes the initiative to care for himself after receiving positivity and affection from the other.

Spotted bellflower: Bellflowers are a symbol of gratitude and unwavering love. For some reason, the author specifies spotted bellflowers, which are known for their heart-shaped leaves.

Primrose: Minato seems to be holding a bouquet of primroses in the newest art for KyoAni’s spring campaign, and rather than representing him, they most likely represent his feelings. This one has the connotation of something special and of telling somebody you can’t live without them. Its main meanings are youth, love, new beginnings, rapture, new life, blindness, birth/rebirth and supertition, and if this shit doesn’t make y’all flashback at the speed of light to Minato and Masaki’s encounters at night in Yata Shrine, I don’t know what would.

But wait. It gets worse.

Primroses are a representation of the many stages of life, but they mostly stand for youth due to also representing the incapability to have a realistic image of the world when we are in love, as the initial moments of love have people in reverie and blind them a bit. Another meaning that it carries is the fact that there’s an end to each life on this planet. All of that seems to bring back not only the nights in Yata Shrine but also the truck accident and what happened afterwards.

These flowers also seem to apply to volume 2, since they symbolize our fallacies about love and other people, which both lead to disappointments and teach us important lessons. It also stands for protection and safety, and that might as well refer to the entirety of both volumes.

Victorians consider primroses as a symbol of bashfulness, inconsistency, young loves, and neglected merits. The message of primrose is “I cannot live without you”, and Minato literally can’t live without a certain somebody, so it seems legit enough.

#tsurune #tsurune kazemai koukou kyuudoubu #narumiya minato #takigawa masaki #takehaya seiya #fujiwara shuu #onogi kaito #kisaragi nanao #yamanouchi ryouhei #sugawara senichi #sugawara manji #kyoani #kyoto animation #morimoto chinatsu #ayano kotoko

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vvirgils · 4 years

Text

Chronicles of Straith #2-The Witch’s Dragon:Chapter 16

Chronicles of Straith #1-Fate’s Door///Chapter 15/Chapter 17//Masterpost

Finally, Virgil got to relax. She was in one of the palace’s guest rooms, settling into the unfamiliar covers. An eternal fire burned at the foot of her bed, and Roman was in the room over. It was the closest thing to calm she could get in this crazy situation.

The dragon was safely contained, and she’d started referring to it as Gray. It made the creature seem like less of a threat, and more of a misunderstood animal. Virgil had eaten a full dinner, and discussed with Jessie what would happen tomorrow. Laurus was curled into her side, snoring peacefully.

So why couldn’t she fall asleep? Maybe it was because the shadows the fire cast on her ceiling turned into dangers and dragons. Or it was the covers shifting to keep her perfectly warm no matter how she moved. There was the faint purple glow of Gray’s cage coming from next to her bed. Her pajamas didn’t fit her quite right.

Or maybe, she felt like the weight of countless lives was on her shoulders, and there was no one else to share the burden. Time was of the essence, how could she be sleeping? There were a thousand things that could go wrong, and she hadn’t prepared for any of them. Five days to get to Lyrwrithe and back to Chanidy City. A half day to get back to Archdale. That left a day and a half for any slip-ups, and she and Roman had already used up a day.

Virgil tried to stop doing the math in her head, imagining everything that could go wrong, and how they would be completely, utterly screwed in most of these what-ifs. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, she should talk to someone. Vent her feelings, release her emotions in order to drift off into calm, peaceful sleep.

As if there was anyone she could talk to. Who else would understand how she was feeling? Who else was dealing with this very specific, yet very important, problem? It’s not like people advertised when they went on quests to save people. She certainly hadn’t with Roman the first time, when they tried to stop the prophecy.

Right, Roman. The person who was in this with Virgil. The friend who was probably just as lost as she was. If there was anyone else awake at this hour wondering about tomorrow, it was Roman. She weighed the pros and cons of waking them up for a second before deciding that anything was better than lying in bed and staring at the ceiling.

Taking care not to disturb the snoring Laurus, Virgil eased her way out of bed and padded over to Roman’s room. The door was open, and she stood there awkwardly for a second, realizing that there was a very good chance Roman was asleep, and she was just being weird.

“Roman,” she said into the quiet room, “are you awake?” Virgil waited, hoping she was loud enough for them to hear.

“Yeah, Virgil?” Roman asked. She could see their fuzzy figure sit upright in the bed.

“I can’t sleep, do you mind if I come in and talk for a bit?” Not knowing what to do with herself. Virgil leaned against the doorframe.

Roman could only imagine how tired she must be. “Sure, come on in.” They patted the spot of bed next to them, inviting her to sit down.

Virgil sat down next to them, slumping into the headboard. “Why are we here again?”

“What do you mean?”

“On the road, stressed out, trying to stop something that is probably inevitable,” Virgil said, turning her head to rest on Roman’s shoulder.

“This time it’s just us, though. No Logan and Patton to worry about.” Roman rested their head against Virgil’s, sighing.

“I kind of miss them already.”

“Me too.”

They contemplated it together for a bit, then Virgil said, “Pretty sure Logan wouldn’t have let us stop at the market, though.”

“And Patton would have had a thousand questions for Jessie,” Roman said, a smile crossing their face at the thought, though Virgil couldn’t see it.

“Not that having two less people makes this whole thing any less stressful.”

“If anything, it’s more stressful. I mean, it’s just the two of us this time around. None of Logan’s brilliance, or Patton’s ability to make everyone get along.”

Roman let that thought sink in before asking, “Are you cold?”

“Not too much.”

“Here.” They lifted the bedsheet, and Virgil put her lower body under the covers, missing Roman’s warmth the second she took her head off their shoulder.

“My legs feel a lot warmer now,” Virgil said, feeling herself relaxing. “Do you mind talking to me? I can go back to my room, I don’t want to keep you up.”

“No, no. Stay. I couldn’t really fall asleep either, and this beats being alone with my thoughts,” Roman said, looking up and then back down at Virgil.

“Yeah, because everybody loves thinking about worst case scenarios for the morning when they know they should be sleeping,” Virgil said, yawning.

“Why do we never think about the best-case scenarios?” Roman asked, to themself and Virgil.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, why is it that at night, when you’re in bed thinking about tomorrow, your brain never thinks about all the ways it could go right? I mean, we could get put on the fastest ship in the kingdom, speed to Lyrwrithe, where we free the dragon into its perfect environment. Then, we stay for a few days learning about magic because we have the time, Laurus finds other dragons like him, maybe even a best friend—”

“Your best-case scenario included Laurus finding a best friend?” Virgil asked, somewhat judgemental. She waited a second, then laughed, shaking her head. “Keep going.”

“Okay, Laurus finds a best friend, we learn that Epos is wanted for murder or something in Canea, so he’s out of our hair,” Roman animated everything with their hands, growing excited about this make-believe future. “You learn everything there is to know about sorcery, and by the time we’re heading back on this really fast sailboat you know more than Rafaela. They throw a big feast for us here when we get back, because we can finally, you know, get rid of my dad. So we head back, finish what my mother started, and we live happily ever after.” Roman folded their hands in their lap, satisfied with the story.

Virgil thought it over for a second, and figured that thinking about that was better than the worst-case scenarios. “I mean that’s highly unrealistic, but…”

“But what? Would you rather think about dying and failing?”

“No, no. I don’t want to—” Virgil stopped talking, not wanting to entertain those ideas any more than she had to. Subject change. She needed to change the topic. “What do you mean, finish what your mother started?” Roman rarely brought up their mother, and she knew it was a sensitive subject.

“Oh. Yeah, that. I went through some of her old letters in Canea, and well, she didn’t really love my dad. She married him as part of a plot to help take him down and keep him from, you know, tyranny,” Roman said, feeling the emotions surrounding those letters brushing past them. They knew the chest with Madeline’s old things was somewhere in the palace.

“That’s awful to find out, Roman, I’m sorry,” Virgil said, reaching her hand over to hold theirs. She wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for, but comforting Roman was the least she could do.

“I mean, it’s not a surprise. He’s awful. I always wondered how she could have married him. I try to hold onto what little of her that I have, because I don’t want to turn out like Epos, anything could be better. Reading the letters was refreshing, I guess. To know that she was a good person, and that well, she loved me. She wrote about me before I was born, and I still hold onto the scarf she made.” Roman fell silent, knowing that they could go on forever. And sleep was already settling on their eyes, telling them to let go of the thoughts inside their head and escape into dreams.

But Roman knew that with Virgil here, their closest confidant, there were very few limits to what they would tell her. There was something about how they trusted her—and, they hoped, how she trusted them—that made Roman feel safe, at home. Maybe it was that she was Roman’s first real, true best friend, maybe it was that she was letting Roman’s words sit in silence right now, lending them the meaning and value Roman gave them.

Maybe it was that her hand still rested on theirs. “I think we both need some sleep,” Virgil finally said, leaning her head on Roman’s shoulder.

The two of them kept talking after that, but their words were lost to the fog of memories made late at night.

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cygnetofthesea · 5 years

Text

Hiding in Plain Sight Part II: WA AU Drabble

A continuation of Part 1-this is where I leave it because I have no idea where I would take this story past this point.

Dedicated to @barryslightningrod , @instantsaladartisan and @theroseiris for inspiring me to write a continuation. Thank you guys for your support and enthusiasm!

Growing up, Iris had grown accustomed to her younger brother giving her mini heart attacks. From the moment he began to walk, Wally had a penchant for creeping up on her sister and frightening her until she was sure her soul had left her body.

It seemed like the tradition continued even into adulthood because as Iris stood there, staring at her very much alive brother, she could have sworn her soul had actually left her body and she had drifted into some other plane of existence.

"Wally?" she had gasped.

He grimaced and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Eyes," he said, referring to the nickname he had given to her as a baby when he couldn't say Iris.

Barry had stood, with just as wide eyes, flitting between Wally and then Iris. As far as he knew, Wally was dead. That was what had prompted Iris to even seek him out, to begin with.

They would later find out that Wally was onto Eobard Thawne and had taken protective measures. So when he found that Thawne wanted Wally's invention, he staged his own death, knowing it wouldn't be long before there was a hit on him.

He explained that he had to keep his only family safe, his sister, his forever protector.

"My ass!" Iris shouted at him with watery eyes.

In the last few days since Wally revealed himself to be alive, Iris was filled with a myriad of conflicting emotions. But her relief and elation were more prominent as she reunited with her brother and they caught up on missed time. But Barry was still able to see the underlying hurt and anger that simmered beneath the surface. He had wanted to bring it up but was afraid of sparking her ire.

But it seemed her brother was capable of doing just that all on his own. When he forbade her from going on a run for intel, she blew up. It didn't help that Wally had excluded just Iris, allowing Barry to come with.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through."

"I know," Wally said softly.

"NO! You don't! I have been crumbling on the inside, I've been trying to hold it together and--"she broke off as her voice cracked.

She turned away toward Barry. He wanted to reach over and pull her into his arms, to take away her pain. His own heart ached with the anguish on her face.

He had never once seen her cry. In the months since he had met her, he hadn't once seen her cry. Until now and it was a sight he hoped he wouldn't see again.

"Iris," he said softly.

She pressed her hand to her eyes and shook her head. "It's fine. There's no time to go over all of this again. I have to go make sure our tech is geared up."

Barry watched her walk away until she disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, I figured it would take her time to get over that."

Barry looked over at Wally who slumped down into a chair. He could see the wariness on the young man's face. He was only twenty years old, not even old enough to drink legally, and somehow he was subjected to life on the run because of his brilliance. He could see the weariness on his youthful face.

"For what it's worth, she happy you're alive," Barry cracked.

"Yeah, so she can kill me herself," Wally smirked back. He turned back to look at Barry. "Hey, I never really thanked you. For looking out for her."

Barry shook his head. "Your sister is one hell of a woman. She's really the one who looked out for me."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Plus, you there's not much meat to your bones."

"Hey! We're almost the exact build."

Wally scoffed before tilting his lips up. "Either way, I'm glad she found you. I can already see what you've become to her."

Barry's heart stuttered as he flushed. "What do you mean?"

Wally gave him a knowing look. "You know what I mean."

Barry could feel the heat travel to his neck as he awkwardly scratched the back of it. He was all too aware of his burning love and desire for Iris and it was uncomfortable as is to hide it from her (especially after that…that kiss), but he was not too fond of talking to her recently not-quite-dead brother.

"Um, yeah, um, uh…I'm just going to see if your sister needs some…help," he stammered. Before he left, he turned back and looked at the young man with Iris's eyes. "Hey, I didn't get to tell you either, but I'm really glad you're alive."

Wally smiled and tipped his head to Barry.

It didn't take Barry long to find Iris in their makeshift base in an abandoned warehouse. She was fidgeting with their equipment, disassembling them and reassembling them in record time. He would never not watch in awe as Iris maneuvered her way around machinery that was twice her size.

"Hey," he said softly, leaning against the work table.

"Hi," she said back quietly. "I know why you're here."

"Oh yeah?"

She nodded, still not looking at him. "I've come to know your cues very well over the months."

"Yeah, I'm not going to even argue that," he said.

Her lips quirked at that and he was happy that he was able to pull a smile from her. She turned to look at him. "You know that's something I love most about you."

He froze for a moment, looking at her with careful eyes. "W-what…what's that? That I don’t' argue with you?"

He didn't have a single clue how he was able to breathe, let alone expel words from his mouth.

"No. Your unwavering faith in me." She set down the equipment she was holding and moved closer to him. "No one has ever believed in me the way you have. I never had to prove myself to you."

"Of course you don't. I may get overprotective sometimes, but I always know you're strong enough. I'm just happy to be here for you whenever you need me."

Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked up at him. "I know that. I never had any doubt about that."

He swallowed thickly, his heart pattering in his chest. After she first kissed him, their lives had been a whirlwind as Iris discovered the technology her brother was secretly working on and running from men who wanted to "question" her about her brother. They barely had a moment to shower, let alone talk about the implications of that kiss and what she said afterward.

At that point, it had become routine for Barry and Iris to share a motel room and knock out on the same bed with their clothes on just to get some rest, but never anything more.

But standing there in that moment, he wondered if he'd finally get the chance. The words were screaming inside of him and he didn't know if he could keep it in anymore.

"Iris…"

Before he could speak another word, she leaned up and kissed him. He gasped into her mouth but this time didn't waste any time wrapping his arms around her.

I love you, I love you, I love you...

It was as though the words were echoed in every heartbeat as he angled his jaw to catch as much of her lips and flavor as possible. God, it was just weeks since that moment outside the carnival, but it was too damn long. How he'd miss her softness and taste. How did he manage to exist without her softness?

He took in a sharp inhale, not wanting to part from her lips. He could feel her lips retreating and she chased after them until he felt them on his cheekbone.

"I love you, Barry."

He let out a soft sound as he gave into her lips that traveled to his eyes, kissing each of them before pulling back to look at him.

His eyes fluttered open to look at her beautiful, chocolate eyes. "I love you, Iris. So much."

She placed her hands on his cheeks, stroking his skin gently. "I know. It's why I felt safe even when we weren't."

This time he leaned down to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the contours of her body against his hands, itching to feel her skin against his own. Even if it was to simply feel her warmth against his fingertips, feel the heat that proved she was very much alive and with him.

But then again, her hands raking through his hair certainly helped him believe she was very much alive and with him.

"Hey guys! I decoded half the encryption--oh my bad…"

Barry whirled around, pulling away like she was on fire.

"Er, I was just--Iris, was putting stuff together and I was…helping…"

"Oh yeah? Couldn't tell by the way you had your tongue down her throat."

"Wally!" Iris exclaimed.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Just came here to share some good news, but I can see it can wait," he said before walking out.

Barry rubbed his face. "Er, that reminds me, what I came here to talk to you about--"

"Yeah, yeah I know. I was a little hard on him earlier. I have to talk to him."

He peeked at her through his fingers before pulling his hand away. "You really do know me."

She shrugged. "Like the back of my hand. But now I'm mad at him for other reasons."

Barry took her hands in his and nodded. "Me too."

But as they made their way back to Wally, Barry thought how he wouldn't trade any of it. Not the fear for his life, not the chases or gunfire because it all lead back to her.

Iris.

#Westallen #Westallen Fanfic #Westallen AU #WA AU #WA Drabbles #cygnetofthesea writing #I realize why I don't like this part so much and it's for conflicting reasons #but oh wells #I'm not doing anything with this story beyond this

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toloveawarlord · 5 years

Note

can you tell us a bit about your ikevamp ocs?

*crackles knuckles* Alright, but hear me out. I have currently 15 ocs (13 of them being children but is anyone surprised?) I will certainly be creating suitor specific ocs, but those typically come knocking at my door whenever I am playing a route so it’ll be a few days before I get any of those.

This is gonna be long so strap yourselves in fam.

I’ll start off with the first OC that I wanted created and that is *drum roll*

1. Amelia Earhart!

I wanted to have at least one oc that is history based like the rest of the bitey boys, and through my research, I settled on her. Or rather, she flew her airplane right into my oc pile and said “pick me! pick me! I am amazing!” and thus she was the first oc for Ikevamp.

Amelia or “Melia” as she goes by at the bar she owns in town, was plucked from her time by the Count after her final flight when she disappeared from time itself. In this story, she crashed at her destination but was seriously injured. The Count turned her into a vampire and then took her back to the mansion

I won’t spoil too much or there won’t a reason to write the story, but she ends up moving out of the mansion some time later and opens her own bar, which Arthur frequents as she assists him in finding women who won’t cause a fuss if he drinks their blood. Why did she leave the mansion? Guess I’ll have to write that story soon.

2. Alara Bayar

I’m a sucker for kids ending up in the care of the suitors, so I have my little baby Alara. Originally hailing from Turkey, her mother was forced into a marriage with a French noble and Alara came with the two to France. Her step-father barely acknowledges her, and is very cruel to the two. She witnesses an argument that ends in her mother’s death. Attempting to escape her feral step-father, she runs away and finds herself at the mansion late at night. Long story short, they vampire boys take her in as their own child. She was 6 years old when they met her and she has just turned 16 at the present of the game.

And now to get into the kids. Unlike my Ikerev Kids, I’m not planning on doing an origin toddler story for this bunch. I don’t want to run it into the ground. So instead, I’m going to focus on them as teenagers and have some one-shots of them from their toddler days or maybe do some headcannons about them. It’s up in the air at the moment.

Vanessa “Nessa” Bonaparte

As a child: Generally a happy and good “sister” to the other kids. She typically followed the rules and doesn’t argue with her dad or “Grandpa Count” when asked to do something.

As a Teenager: Loves swordplay more than any other hobby, sparring and training with her dad is her favorite thing. Attends a public Academy for school and is considered a social butterfly. She has plenty of human friends and cares for them deeply, despite knowing that once high school ends, that she will have to cut them off.

Lyric Mozart (Twin)

As a child: Intimidated by his father’s brilliance and cold nature, he struggled to learn to play the piano. He played the best when doing duets with his twin sister. Began violin lessons at the age of 8. Timid and soft-spoken, he was often left out of play because of his indecisiveness.

As a teenager- Prince Charming, according to his classmates. He solely plays the violin now, accompanying his sister as she plays the piano. He won as President of the Student Council as a second year student at the Academy. He is kind and thoughtful of his fellow students, but keeps the humans at arms length, afraid of rejection because of him being a vampire.

Aria Mozart (Twin)

As a child- Innate talent with the piano, reading musical composition was easy for her, but she struggled to play with how small her hands were. Much more outgoing than her brother, dragging him along with her when playing with the other kids. Vies for her father’s approval more than her twin.

As a teenager- More introverted and focused on her craft. She has a strained relationship with her father, feeling inferior to his skill and pours her energy into catching up with him. Tends to be a loner at school, spending most of her time in the music room, practicing. She struggles with her own identity as a musician.

Emery Newton

As a child- Overly curious and sneaky in nature. She blamed any and all accidents that happened in the mansion on Vanessa, knowing that if she played the cute and innocent card that she would not get in trouble. This only fueled her behavior to play pranks and cause mischief in the home.

As a teenager- Currently suspended from the academy for blowing up the science laboratory. She did it to spite the teacher who she claims is ill-qualified to teach them. She is currently studying along side her father, preferring this to school as she finds school dull and boring. Skips class often whenever she does attend.

Owen Da Vinci

As a child- Ring leader of the kids. If they all played together, he made the rules and was the only one who could change them. Hated losing and would bend the rules so that he could win. Could be a bit of a bully if things weren’t going his way.

As a teenager- Exudes charm and is always surrounded by both girls and boys. He competes in horse races and is the captain of the school team. He drinks the blood of some of his classmates but uses a drug to put them into a fog so that they don’t remember.

Alaina Conan Doyle

As a child - Cried all the time for attention. Thick as thieves with Emery. The two were practically inseperable.The biggest troublemaker of the girls. Even as child, her blood lust was hard to control. She couldn’t enter a public school until high school. Her thirst was easy to quench as a child, since she couldn’t drink that much blood.

As a teenager- Attends the academy but has to take a bottle of blood with her to sip on throughout the day. she calls them her smoothies to help with a “health condition”. In her first year of school, she killed a classmate by accident and was nearly banned from returning. Loves to play around with humans, especially timid boys. She cuts them to drink the blood without biting.

Clarisse Van Gogh

As a child- Pure flower child. She loved being outdoors and in nature. She would often get lost in the forest chasing after a butterfly and would have to constantly be watched when outside. She likes to play with her dad’s paints and would rather spend time with him than playing games with the other kids.

As a teenager- Still a pure bean. Her classmates refer to her as an airhead and gullible. She makes good marks in class but is typically doodling or daydreaming during lessons. She is willing to help anyone out no matter how busy she is. Paints a lot of abstract things, simply adding color and strokes based on her feelings.

Malachi Van Gogh (Twin)

As a child- Big brother to his twin and his cousin. He often bumped heads with Owen if the other child ever tried to pick on the other two Van Goghs. He especially cared for Clarrise, because he could tell she could not fend for herself at all.

As a teenager- Wary of humans. He did not attend the academy until Clarisse did, joining a second year when she was in first. He has no interest in art, but has a deep love for baking. He makes the lunches for all the kids attending school.

Knox Van Gogh (Twin)

As a child - Constantly felt like he had to compete for his brothers attention. He could be intentionally mean to Clarisse but regretted instantly because of her soft nature and she never got upset with him. He cried easily.

As a teenager- Bad boy, loner. He is the only child not attending school. He tends to wander at night, getting close to humans. He finds them fascinating in how they don’t sense danger lurking around them as a vampire would. He sometimes steals Clarisse’s art and sells it for cash.

Katsuro Dazai

As a Child- Quiet and introverted. He prefers to read books and play alone. He questions everything in his path, trying to find the meaning behind it. His favorite things to play with was sand.

As a teenager- Still relatively quiet. He spends most of his time with Clarisse, either reading or writing while she paints. He follows her around at school, not conversing with other classmates. He finds her light to be so blinding that he can’t help but be near her.

Nina Shakespeare

As a child- Nina was locked away in her room until the age of 8, not allowed out or allowed visitors other than her father. Developed an imaginary friend that she kept even as she grew older. When she was finally allowed out into the mansion, she hated the other children out of jealousy and lashed out often.

As a teenager- Aloof at school and unapproachable. Many of classmates are afraid of her. She absolutely despises discussing her father’s works as she blames him for her horrible and lonesome childhood. She creates dark and tragic stories to reflect her own feelings towards the world. Nina cannot connect with her classmates because she fears them rejecting her and leaving her alone.

Nico Moreau (The Count’s Son with his mother's maiden name)

As a child - Curteous and inclusive, he always tried to keep the peace among the kids. Never a fussy child. He did whatever was asked of him and thoroughly respects his father.

As a teenager- Keeps up with all the happenings at the school, especially anything related to the other vampires. He is the one tasked with making sure that Alaina doesn’t kill any other students. He is suspected to be the next student council president after Lyric graudates as his classmates find him to be gentle and kind and very smart. He hides his own bloodlust well. He falls only 3rd behind Alaina and Owen in thirst level, but he has the most self control.

Lucien D’Arc

As a child- A follower of the other kids. He never stood out, and was called lazy most of the time. The only game he ever excelled at was hide and seek, and he loved to be the seeker, feeding off the others fear of being found. Had a tendency to harm small animals.

As a teenager- Learned sword play but finds it tedious and dull. Has a sadistic side. He loves human girls because of the smell of their blood when they are frightened. Rarely follows through with drinking their blood, finding satisfaction in bringing them to the brink of breaking from their fears.

The kids are all going to the academy under the family name Moreau so that no one questions their original surnames.

The kids are not set in stone fully, as they might get more siblings or they might slightly change.

And there you have it! All my current ocs for the game!

Let me know which ones you are most interested in! ^_^

-Ruka

#ikemen vampire #ikevamp #my ocs #ikemen vampire ocs #there will possibly be more kids #and definitely more ocs

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