#I also feel like these parallels(?) are maybe harsh towards some of them

[cripplepunkbarbarian]

I am so glad that the kid spectrals have such normal and caring spirits who will definitely not physically endanger and/or cruelly betray them in the midst of their lives already being destroyed by cults, monsters, and interpersonal drama. It’s so cool and nice 👍

[dandeleon]

BONUS POST ABT MY ADIPOCERE & URAPOCERE AMVS BC I FEEL LIKE YAPPING 😋 HASHTAG AUTISM

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hiiii first of all tysm for all the nice tags & comments on both of these it genuinely means the world 2 me ^_^🩷🩷🩷🩷yay

(theres some specific tags i talk abt & look at further at the bottom of this post ^_^)

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ok first if u read the tags on my adipocere animation u remember i said ive had the idea 4 them since august Which is true

so heres some stuff ive made b4 i realized i could make my own amvs

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this picture uve probably seen i drew it back in like october?? I think?????

i dont like this as much anymore i wanna redraw it someday maybe

BUT

did u know i made another one with urapocere ford 2 parallel that one

it was gonna be in the same post as the other one but i didn't like how it turned out sooo it got scrapped

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theres also this i made in early december

i think i planned on posting this but i forgor lol

feel free 2 read it all bc it still stands & is like the basis for my animations lol

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theres also this

which i made in ms like a day or 2 before starting my animation & ended up re-using it 2 make this part:

also heres some early parts of the adipocere one:

^ this one i was planning on using which is why its coloured and animated but then i realized it looked like ass so i redid it👍

^ early ver of the beginning (threres an extra frame in the walk cycle here i think? i dont think i kept the 7th one in lol)

^early ver of uras beginning

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heres some specific frames i like too ^_^

i think the expressions in these turned out rlly good :) esp the ford one.. my only goal for that one was to make him look like he was having the absolute worst time of his life & i think i did pretty good on that front lol

i have more but i hit the image limit LOL

anyways to finish my yap sesh off heres the last part of both animations side by side bc they parallel eachother & i think its neat :)

(hi its leon from the future, i lied here ur only halfway through this post sorry)

actually im gonna come back to this on my laptop & add more stuff maybe

if the post ends here its either bc i forgot to remove this text or tumblr decided to post this for me while trying save as draft

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heyyy im on my laptop now ^_^ and also wondering why i didnt do it on here on the first place bc this is where all my images for this are anyways lmao

anyways!

heres more frames n stuff that i like

(most of these r from the urapocere one because that one ended up being a lot more polished)

^ frame by frame of that one part towards the end

my favs of these 4 are first & last one esp the last one i really like how that one came out ough.. the hand ended up looking rlly good imo (im a sucker for nicely drawn hands)

some particular frames from the final part i like :]

some i like bc i think they came out nice some i like cause they look goofy w/o context

an adi one!!!!

this is just that one part w/o the bg & harsh lighting

OTHER ONES!!!!!!

1: bord from the begining clip i like (theres another one i like from the same clip ill see if i can find it in my sea of folders l8r)

2: from the part near the end. i think it ended up looking cute (which was unintentional but i still like it)

3: blizzard ford (blizzardless edition)

4: fidds! i like this one :) im also running out of things to say

ALMOST FORGOR 2 PUT THIS ONE from adi

this ones probably my fav part from the whole adi amv tbh i think it turned out nice

moar fiddleford

heres that other bord one i mentioned ^_^ idky i just like how this one ended up looking lol

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EXTRA SECTION BC THIS TAG MADE ME POG SO HARD

I DIDNT EVEN THINK OF THAT BUT IT FITS SO WELL AUGHHHHH

thank u person who added this tag ur going unamed bc i dont wanna put u on blast but ur tags on both posts made me smiles so big like. u get it🤝 u get what i was going for 🤝🤝🙏🙏🙏

i have more tags from these posts i wanted 2 add but apparently i hit the image limit :( sad

so im just gonna like vaguely mention them since i cant add images

another thing ppl tagged in the ura one was the yellow text changing the meaning to bill & i NEED u to know that was semi-unintentional. i literally just made the text yellow at the end so people didnt misinterpret that as ford saying it being like "thank GOD fiddlefart died i couldnt stand his ass lmao😂🙏" but thank you for making it look like i had a cool meaning behind it LOL. i think the concept of like it being something ford DID say about fiddleford when he quit the project & bill is repeating it back to him after finding fiddleford dead to torment him is a really cool idea actually waow.....

hold on im gonna be really normal abt that bc i think thats such a interesting way to interpret the lyrics.... like fiddleford left & ford was like "WHATEVER im finally free now without HIM around. hes gonna be looking at me enviously when IM the one with MY name and MY name ALONE on the nobel prize!!!!" & bill repeating those statements back when fiddleford is dead like "this is what u wanted!!! u wanted this!! ur free now!!!!" UGHH THATS SO COOL AND OR FUCKED UP ACTUALLY thank u to the ppl who tagged that im taking this interpretation & running with it i genuinely think its so cool omgggg

like i said in the tags of the urapocere post the lyrics were originally meant to fit fords warped view of fiddleford right after he quit the project but the mv leaves it kinda up to interpretation of whos saying what to who. my personal interpretation while making it was its kind of a mix of ford to fiddleford, ford to bill & bill to fiddleford and/or ford & literally any combination of those work i think tbh. choose ur own adventure who was the biggest hater there

also some tags on the adi one were interpreting where fidds was dragging ford to & i wanna say my personal vision of it was fiddleford kinda just finds fords body lying in the snow in the woods maybe (dont ask why fiddleford would be there.. idk cult things maybe..) and fiddlefords feels obligated to bring him back to the lab so he doesnt freeze to death (he wouldve just erased him & fords memory of it anyways) which is a bit ironic cuz fiddleford is the one who froze to death LMAO (and maybe ford did too idk... you decide)

another thing this goes back to that image towards the top of this post where i yapped abt the songs n how well they fit with fiddauthor & i wanna specifically talk abt the line talking abt icarus because??? oh my god????? literally i think that line alone is like half the reason i associate this song w/ fiddauthor so heavily bc its literally them??? fiddleford literally compares ford 2 icarus in j3 like... its too perfect..

that line alone is also the reason i added english captions to both of them i just wanted ppl to see the icarus line LMAO

another line i also mentioned in that pic was the one telling the other person to forget it all even their face & i think its pretty obvious why that one fits LOL

(feel free to add more thoughts abt them w/ these songs if u have any ^_^)

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anyways. adipocere is my fav song ever & for the past few months ive been doing that thing where u imagine an amv in ur head to a song u like & im very happy i can like. actually look at them now. making these were alot of fun :]

i do have a LOT of personal nitpicks with these (ESP the first one) but that also might just be cause im the guy who had to make it frame by frame LOL

(one minor one is fords skintone in urapocere ended up a bit more grey than i wanted but also he is like. in the middle of being possessed & tortured by a whole ass demon soo. it works i suppose LOL [makes him look zombie-ish])

also i thought making these amvs would make me less insane abt associating these songs w/ fiddauthor but tbh i think i just strengthened it LMAO

Sorry if literally nothing in this post makes any sense im just typing shit 😭🙏

i was gonna add more in tags but it wont let me add anymore so i think that might be a sign to stfu now LMAO

[leportraitducadavre]

Sakura & Naruto I

After much consideration, I've decided to write a post about Sakura and Naruto's dynamic, since I've received some asks regarding them (as friends and/or a romantic couple); in that sense, this will be an analysis of their interactions and how their relationship developed from the first time they met until the very end of Sasuke's Retrieval Arc in Part 1.

Everything will be under the cut, as I wish to add or edit my posts as I please even after the original publication.

Sakura is introduced during chapter three of the manga (Enter Sasuke!), being described by Naruto himself as "a total babe":

There's no telling how Naruto actually upset Sakura prior to this hostile interaction, and since there's no mention of it (rather, Sakura reflects the usual manner in which Naruto is treated by others), we can infer that Sakura dislikes him, often treating him and calling him annoying.

Furthermore, after Naruto accidentally kisses Sasuke, Sakura threatens him with physical violence (something that she ends up doing) and specifically tells him that "he makes her sick".

He ruins everything... he enjoys tormenting me! (...) I can't stand to have him anywhere near me!

Again, their interactions during their infancy are never shown, so we have yet to learn how Naruto and Sakura interacted prior to their graduation. It's true that Sakura could be lashing out about Naruto in an attempt to paint him as a non-threat to Sasuke's romantic status, but she appears to be sincere in her statements.

It's because he was badly brought up!! (...) He doesn't have to answer to anyone, ever, and it's made him completely selfish!!! If I did the kind of things he gets away with, my parents would ground me for life!

Her lack of sympathy for Naruto and his situation as an orphan is what gets her in trouble with Sasuke for the first time after he escapes Naruto's trap. Sakura, likely used to Naruto's own reaction when she badmouthed him (they were about to kiss after she specifically said she couldn't stand him), continued within the same line of speech about their teammate, not knowing Sasuke wasn't the one she shared her prior opinion nor the intimate moment.

Sakura was unaware of Sasuke's own condition as an orphan, which is why Sasuke is so harsh against her and why he uses her previous line about Naruto:

In response to Sasuke’s outburst, we get Sakura to reconsider her attitude towards Naruto.

I make him sick...? I wonder if Naruto feels that way, too... maybe, from now on, I could try being a little... nicer...?

It’s important to mention that she does not reconsider her words (which means, proclaiming that being an orphan is good), but the use of the phrase "you make me sick", which she earlier used against him.

Since she had used similar wording when trying to push Naruto away from her and Sasuke, and Sasuke did the same to her, she wonders if this is what it feels like to be dismissed in such a manner.

These two instances happen in the exact same chapter, making the parallel all the more obvious.

It's clear by the way she internally reacts to Naruto's pranks that she's far more similar to him than what she lets on, as inner Sakura is likely the consequence of her suppressing her "non-feminine" traits or true thoughts/emotions.

Sakura's presentation consists mostly of her feelings toward both her teammates, one (Sasuke) is presented in a positive manner while the other (Naruto) negatively. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto actually mentioned her during their introductions.

You Sakura, ignored Naruto, who was right in front of you while you focused your attention on Sasuke, though you didn't know where he was (...) Naruto tried to do single-handedly what should have been the work of all three!

It's interesting to note how on point Kakashi is about their characterizations but also, how Sasuke and Naruto acted in the exact same manner albeit with different reasoning. Naruto wanted to win against Kakashi alone in order to prove himself while Sasuke wanted to fight Kakashi alone because both Sakura and Naruto were nuances to him. In that sense, Naruto and Sasuke are extremely similar with the difference that Naruto believes his reasoning has a more positive value and therefore, is more understandable and achievable; while Sasuke's reasoning gives him a negative acknowledgment, as he's seen as inferior to Sasuke, who he admires.

Sakura decides to share her bento box with Naruto after Sasuke shares his own, she specifically does so after Sasuke says "You're no good to me if you're just going to be a liability," something that's quite significant as Kakashi priorly established how Sasuke saw them both as people who "got in his way", here Sakura is likely feeding Naruto to help Sasuke and not become a "liability" for his goals.

It's interesting how Sakura can't admit (or won't admit) her own emotions and/or appreciation of Naruto at least until they're not pointed out by somebody else, either because she doesn't feel confident enough to make what she believes could be a "valid" assessment or because she refuses to give him the relevance he has to her or the acknowledgment he seeks.

Source

This is even quickly mentioned during her entry in the Databooks, although it's specifically stated her great love is Sasuke (who doesn't love her in return).

Sakura is aware of Naruto's praises for her, as she mentions it during the tree-climbing training:

It's true that she frames this admission negatively as she was actually looking for Sasuke's compliment, yet this knowledge is what later pushes her to seek his appraisal once Sasuke leaves.

Naruto is shown constantly refuting Sakura's prior assessment of him, which is their particular narrative subplot within Wave's Arc. In this specific portion of the manga, we get to see the improvement of dynamics like Naruto-Sasuke and Sakura-Naruto specifically, as these are the relationships mostly shown and explored. This can be easily proven through various interactions:

Naruto disappears every day and goes to train on his tree-climbing, as apparently Sasuke does as well, when Naruto falls later in this scene, is Sasuke who saves him -having mastered the technique.

This specific interaction is so interesting that I don't know why I skipped over it during my re-read. Sakura encourages both Naruto and Sasuke (who are fighting Haku) to win or rather "not lose to a person like him [Zabuza]", and is immediately chastised by Kakashi, who tells her that her teammates aren't up for the task of defeating "that boy", as they haven't "developed the psychological strength to turn their hearts to ice and take a human life" (x).

This interaction implies that Sakura is somewhat more prepared than both her teammates (although I genuinely think she is as vulnerable as them to perform the exact same task at this point in time, when Sasuke attacks in order to kill during the Chünin Exams, her reaction isn't from someone willing to perform the same thing), Kakashi specifically leaves her out of the equation when her addition involves neither more time nor more analysis, and all three share the same kind of military experience outside of Konoha.

We can clearly see that Sakura, despite the improvement of her initial relationship with Naruto, still focuses her entire attention on Sasuke (x, x), despite knowing Naruto is inside Haku's glass dome.

I’d like to say that this page, which is located after Sakura asks Naruto where is Sasuke after their fight against Haku is incredibly pretty and emotional, Sakura is a child here, a child that desires nothing but to run towards the boy she likes once she hears he’s “wounded”, yet she doesn’t want to disobey her leader, which is why Tazuna offers to run with her. Sakura grabbing Tazuna’s hand and saying “uh-huhn” is meant to show her as the small child she is.

Wave Arc comes to an end and Sakura asks Sasuke out on a date, to which he declines "uh, no. Thanks", to that, Naruto offers himself to go out with her to which she replies "Naruto! No! Knock it off!", rejecting him quite harshly still (perhaps to, once again, build him as a non-threat on Sasuke's eyes, who is present).

[The SasuSaku dynamic present in the Chünin Exams, which is an important aspect of Sakura's character, has been analyzed in their own post, here]

We start the Chünin Exams Arc by seeing how Sakura reacts to Konohamaru calling her "Naruto's girlfriend", while Naruto doesn't dispute it (here). She reacts violently as she might feel disrespected as Naruto is talking about the nature of their relationship while she's present, but she is also likely reacting in such an out-of-proportion manner as she's venting her frustration and disappointment with herself (as she failed to impress Sasuke in any manner, earning a rejection in the process).

[On another note, Konohamaru and his friends' play of "being ninja" is an educational method on techniques and possible strategies that is surely driven and nurtured by the system for children of Konohamaru's age. Sakura reacts negatively because she considers her own profession unworthy of being seen as a "game", without realizing that it is a propagandistic method of the shinobi system.]

During the Chünin exams, Sakura appears to be worried about Naruto’s well-being, she seems to think that he’s shaking out of fear for what is to come, so she approaches him to comfort him (this would be not necessary later on, but it shows an interesting development in their relationship and how Sakura starts to care for his well-being).

This is an important moment in Sakura and Naruto’s dynamic since it shows Sakura acknowledging Naruto’s dream, she's willing to sacrifice her reputation (accepting the blame for the failure of all Team 7, and likely Sasuke's grudge) to prevent Naruto from staying forever as a gënin (Ibiki had threatened them with, should they fail to reply correctly the tenth question of the exam, they’ll stay as gënin forever).

Sakura is probably considering the previous nine questions as a model of what the tenth question will be, which is why I believe she thought Naruto wasn’t smart enough to answer.

In chapter 46, after Sakura is tricked by a henge and Sasuke saves both of them from an attack, we get this moment, in which Sakura is tricked again by a henge and has to be saved once more by Sasuke. The relevance of this particular moment, for this post at least, is the fact that Sakura's knowledge of Naruto seems to be superficial enough not to realize Naruto would never remember the Ninki. It's not surprising nor contradicts Sakura's previous knowledge of Naruto's dream, as the MC's main goal is something he's extremely vocal about, unlike this particular behavior.

We jump to Chapter 48, where both Sasuke and Sakura are struggling against Orochimaru and Naruto arrives to find Sasuke forfeating. After some words get said (in which Naruto calls Sasuke a coward and gets knocked out by Orochimaru). 

Sakura saves Naruto (CH 49) when Orochimaru tosses him, showing an improvement on her reflexs and commitement to the Team (previously displayed in the first stage of the exams):

And later on uses Naruto’s words to encourage Sasuke to move:

She’s not exactly nice -but she still gives Naruto a credit that she wouldn’t have given him before, particularly if it meant critiquing Sasuke in the process.

She calls Naruto for help when Sasuke starts agonizing due to the Cursed Mark Orochimaru implanted on him and, after seeing him unconscious, starts to cry at seeing herself alone. It’s here that she understands some more what being a ninja actually entails.

I've got to protect them both

It's particular to the relationship between Sakura and Naruto how similar they are in terms of personalities, but also with regard to their lack of contemplation about the possible consequences of their actions. Sakura knows that they are forbidden to look inside the scrolls, however, as Naruto himself, who is aware of the threat, they are stopped from looking inside the scroll by Kabuto (who helped them in order to ensure Sasuke reaches the preliminary rounds). In this sense, Sasuke acts as both their opposites.

Multiple times Naruto's vast amount of chakra is mentioned, by various characters, and in no moment of these is Sakura the one noticing Kurama's energy (x), she seems to be not sensitive enough to notice even the tremendous amount of Naruto's stamina.

During her match with Ino (and I made an entire post regarding this relationship), Naruto encourages Sakura to fight back against the Shintenshin, telling her she's come too far to lose against that "crazy Sasuke chaser" (x). Sakura even thanks him for helping her during the match.

(I've mentioned how Ino actually won this match because hadn't Naruto interfered, Sakura would've succumbed, furthermore, Ino quite literally resigned fully to the match when inside Sakura, yet Hayate, for some reason, doesn't respect such a declaration),

It’s after (during the preliminary rounds), that she encourages Naruto not to lose against those from Sand.

It’s to be noted that her fight with Ino had already finished by then and that Sasuke was nowhere to be seen -furthermore, Gaara and Temari had insulted both Lee and Tenten, and we already know that Sakura cares for Lee. Their relationship has developed into, perhaps not a friendship, but a good camaraderie dynamic.

Sakura believes in Naruto.

Weirdly enough, Sakura was able to notice Hinata always watching Naruto (x). It's unclear if Sakura noticed this after they became a team and during the Chünin Exams or prior to that, yet she's perceptive enough to notice something Naruto himself ignores.

During the Third Stage of the Exams, Sakura's concern for Sasuke is understandable, as Sasuke ran from the hospital to an unknown location (he's training, but she doesn't know that as she wasn't informed), is Ino who cheers her up and tells her to cheer for Naruto, who's about to fight Neji (x).

She even admits to being somewhat jealous of Naruto (here) and wanting to train harder in order to catch him.

Sakura puts herself in between Sasuke, who has a hard time suppressing the Cursed Mark as he wasted almost all of his chakra, and Gaara (x), when Sasuke asks Naruto to protect her and run away (as he wants to protect both his friends), Naruto finally understands Haku's words about fighting to protect something dear to them (x, x, x).

After the fight, Sakura thanks Sasuke for saving her, who in turn tells her that it was Naruto the one who actually did it (x) to which she softly smiles.

After this, there's an entire Arc dedicated to Sasuke encountering Itachi and Naruto seeking Tsunade to both help Sasuke and to make her the new Hokage, so we need to jump to Chapter 172 to have something revolving around Naruto and Sakura.

I've said this before and I'll say this again, this first interaction between Sakura and Tsunade is the reason why Sakura chose to become a medic (x, x), Sakura considers Tsunade to be beautiful, and she was the only one who helped Sasuke when no one else could, we already saw Sakura being at Sasuke's side while he was in a coma, so it makes sense she'll choose a profession where she can help as she's aware she's incapable of fighting people like Gaara, for instance (who Sasuke was barely able to survive and who Naruto won against).

Naruto decides to leave the room once Sasuke awakes (x and x) as he considers that Sakura, who was next to Sasuke the whole time, deserves to have some privacy with him; he enters the room ready to talk to him ("Sasuke, you...") but once he sees Sakura's reaction to Sasuke waking, he leaves, allowing her to cry and hug Sasuke without his presence. She has been very clear about her feelings for Sasuke, so Naruto is starting to respect her emotions and decides not to interfere during their reunion.

After Sasuke and Naruto's fight, which Sakura tries to stop and is saved by Kakashi, who deflects both her teammates' attacks, Naruto approaches her and warns her not to get in his way.

This is incredibly significant because is the first time Naruto has shown such emotion or has spoken to Sakura in such a manner (he's usually submissive to her and her outbursts, and every time she badmouths him he usually endures), Sakura is shocked by this, as we see, and decides to tell Naruto about Sasuke's cursed mark; thinking this is the reason Sasuke's behaviour became so violent. Naruto reassures her that Sasuke will not be tempted by him, and they resume their usual dynamic.

After Sasuke leaves, Sakura approaches Shikamaru's team, and this happens:

People who hate Sakura for “crying and asking Naruto to bring back Sasuke instead of doing it herself” are not as valid as they think they are. She is aware that he rejected her romantically as he also refused her help just as much as she knows she isn’t even close power-wise to him in order to fight him to bring him back; something naruto was closer to being as Sasuke specifically told her naruto was able to save her from Gaara when he himself couldn’t, so she has that prior knowledge. Asking for help doesn’t mean she gave up on bringing Sasuke back but rather refusing to quit the idea of him returning to Konoha, as she was aware she could do nothing on her own.

Furthermore, this is the moment Naruto shatters all her previous pre-conceptions as Sakura finally understands that Naruto does seek her happiness: he left the hospital room when Sasuke woke up and gladly looked for Sasuke in order to bring him back to her. This, of course, isn't the whole reason why he does it, as Naruto and Sasuke's relationship is far more profound than what Sakura thinks it is (and will continue to think until Shippuden), but it's of utmost importance to Sakura and Naruto's relationship.

However, Sasuke leaves; yet Sakura refuses to accept Naruto's apology (x, x) and pretends she's okay for his sake, which is incredibly sweet.

Sakura is constantly shown to be mean-spirited, particularly towards Ino whom she's constantly trying to downgrade since she sees her as her rival (it's likely that since she tied her self-esteem to Ino's perception of her when she was a child she now inevitably compares herself to her in order to measure her self-worth, which is why she tries to diminish Ino's relevance, beauty or capacities, as in doing so, she elevates hers). Yet with Naruto, and with something as important as Sasuke's departure and during Naruto's recovery, she tries to help him and cheer him up, trying to uplift the burden of the promise he gave her.

Naruto's first half ends with Naruto promising her, again, that he'll bring back Sasuke (x, x) and Sakura assuring him she'll be right next to him (x), which is why she later seeks Tsunade's mentorship (here).

I really do enjoy their dynamic, actually; to go from a place of hostility towards a place of mutual care for each other is something quite nice and very well done by Kishimoto. Naruto starts to respect Sakura's feelings and tries to protect her happiness rather than seeking her romantical reciprocation, and Sakura starts to care deeply for Naruto, seeing him as someone inspiring as he earns her respect.

We'll see how their dynamic shifts (or continues to grow), during Shippuden.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello!

Do you think we'll find out who Bruce's maker? And do you have theories who it might be? There's 99% deliberate parallel with him and Armand's coven riding motorbikes and he mentioned that his maker is European. It'll be missed opportunity to not make him be made by someone from TdV. I just hope it's not Armand, it's important for Daniel to be his first fledgling.

Do you think Claudia will try to find out who's Bruce's maker? To make them punish Bruce or something, at least when she still believes TdV are accepting her.

Hey!

I also think it might be someone we will recognize, one way or the other. The parallel with the motorbikes seems too convenient for it to be a coincidence^^.

I'm quite sure it will not be Armand, for Armand it is an important step in his arc that Daniel is his only fledgling. Like, that is one of the character development points for him. So no, not Armand.

One vampire we do not know much of is Santiago though.

He is a powerful vampire, who can defy gravity (and I bet Ben Daniels will rule in the role!), so maybe... maybe it was him? It would add to the animosity with the coven if it were so (because I doubt the vampires at the coven would want to punish one of their own for this), and it would sour Claudia's feelings towards the coven further, totally apart from Louis'... errrr... rapid fall. (Which Claudia watches with more than skepticism in the book after all and I doubt that will be different here).

So, either way, I do think that Bruce's maker will be revealed, one way or another, at some point. And I'm sure it will be harsh, because I doubt the show will miss the social commentary of rape being often perceived as a lesser crime. On the contrary, I bet if they will reveal Bruce's maker they will put their fingers deep into that wound as well.

So yeah. Maybe Santiago. But that's just... a wild guess^^.

[elizakai]

More IDOL AU thoughts.

Oops :) I just um, ok.

I’m a spitballer, analyst, conceptualizer, visionary 😞✨whatever the heck. i get so many ideas and have to entertain SOME of those ideas. Legitimate ones and illegitimate ones��� this is just for fun don’t take me to seriously.🫠

⬇️ CHAOS BELOW ⬇️

Uh oh. You looked. What have you done.

Anyways.

There’s a level of intrigue when it comes to the twins (ik, Ik, again.)

BUT THINK about it. If we are assuming that this au tones down some of the more, erm. Mystical elements of these characters. (Like, being basically gods and such) (also it can’t be said yet how far this goes! Does error still have glitches? Is nightmare corrupted? Does ink have a soul? Do the twins sustain some sort of empathetic abilities? Is killers soul thing normal? Who knows!!!) they would have different origins!! The twins are probably the most in depth of a switch, considering their origins are the MOST bizarre💀

assuming they aren’t buddy buddy (which they could be, we won’t know till zuchiyeni spreads forth their hand into the abyss and reveals to us the flames of canon ✨) they may have had some sort of falling out…

so ahem

THOUGHTS!!

Is Nim their mother.

if an alternate version of Nim(their mother/creator in dreamtale) is, in fact, their mother, it can be assumed they have been adopted in some way :) maybe not depending on how you would view uh, monster coupling💀 but they aren’t visibly of split heritage, and she isn’t a skeleton. In Dreamtale, Nim never put the effort into KNOWING the twins. If that carried over, it could cause some really interesting dynamics. Is NIM associated with the music or entertainment industry? 👀 imagine a cold, uppity Nim. Maybe she isn’t horrible, maybe she is, but She’s got expectations, and is distant.

in this hypothetical, we could question what path the twins really wanted to live. Did they ORIGINALLY want fame? Or did they feel trapped. Did they have to learn to navigate their own way? Do both of them leave her? One? Neither? Does she die? (within this concept , again.)

if she isn’t at all associated, did the twins have dreams and aspirations of fame? Did they….at some point…have a career together??? How sad would that be.

(maybe she isn’t their mother, maybe she’s someone they contracted under. Also YES she easily might not exist in this world I’m just having fun with potential parallels 🫠👏)

NOW. MY BRAIN DEMANDS TO CONSIDER THE OTHER DREAMTALE DEITIES. I could see Quetzalcoatl and Lanny being big in the music industry, which would be INTERESTING if those two and Nim were all affiliated with that life. It would make sense for them to still have the affiliation and possibly competition?

IT ALSO OPENS AGNST OPPORTUNITY. (And you know we love angst in this fandom.)

again, in dreamtale, let’s mention Lanny. Dreamtale is unfinished so keep in mind we don’t have 100% solid characterization, but the creator HAS discussed character personality and bias, and has carried the information to the making of the story so far.

Lanny …is implied to have…had a thing for her fellow guardian, Nim. Lanny hated Nightmare for what he did, for how he ruined everything with the corruption and destroying what’s left of Nim.

but she…also resented and despised Dream. Blaming them both for what happened, and with nightmare having gone rouge, all of that pressure then falls on dream. Dream, who had lived 6 years of life out of the hundreds he was trapped in stone.

She is, not sure how yet, the reason Dream was able to break free of stone, and she went on to mentor him. Train him. But she’s portrayed as being unnecessarily harsh and disdainful towards Dream. (IF WE INCLUDE Neil, yk the cat/ father figure/friend of dream, that would be interesting cause he really cares about dream and seemingly didn’t appreciate lanny’s treatment.)

(also I realize how deranged this sounds without context, there’s WAY to much of dreamtale lore to actually explain here so if you need more context go check out dreamtale lore💀I promise I’m not bs’ing, just criminally simplifying.)

ANYWAYS this is so unorganized. Adhd brain uh—

LANNY. Imagine Dream and Nightmare split ways for whatever reason. Dream signs a contract with this Lanny person. Lanny already knows who he is ofc, and he probably is familiar with her, as she knows their mother and probably has been keeping an eye on them. It would be interesting for Lanny to be a past ( or even current idk) contractor or something to Dream. I don’t imagine he’d have a lot of freedom in that space. She would have a lot of expectation too, and is rather unsympathetic and overworking. Maybe he pulls a t-swift and manages to escape that with the stars 😌 maybe not. Probably manipulative. Gaslighting even.

She could give “caring“ aunt energy.

“wouldn’t want to disappoint them, do you? Disappoint me? LOVELY! I knew you’d understand!”

IF DREAM GOES TO LANNY. What If Nightmare goes to Quetzalcoatl?

this seems odd. But hear me out. Quetzalcoatl is implied to be the one who ends up getting Nim killed in dreamtale. It’s complicated. Anyways, if he has it out for her, and Nightmare grows to resent his mother and/ or her way of doing things, a young nightmare going to the guy who “understands him” is interesting. It would give creepy uncle energy💀 but like. It also makes sense on some level because, again, in dreamtale, the person who attacks Nim and gets her killed is a human. The human is implied to have been a creation OF Quetzalcoatl. (Guardian of the life tree) said person gets killed and perished on the roots of the feelings tree. His um….consciousness is like. Absorbed into the negative side of the tree. (I am SO sorry if you haven’t read about this.) anyways. That GUYYYYYY. Yk nightmares corruption??? YEAH, THAT’S HIM!!! The voice that manipulates nightmare isn’t ‘just negativity’, dreamtale often highlights that negativity also has positive outcomes,just as positivity has negative outcomes, and that balance is important.. it was the GUY being involved that changed things :,) . I don’t think nightmare knows this actually? ANYWAYS NOT THE POINTTTTT. what I mean is. Quetzalcoatl manipulating nightmare makes sense, as he indirectly did so in dreamtale.

he could give vibes of the “cool” creepy uncle.

“They just don’t understand people like us, do they? They never will.”

I can imagine nightmare getting older and more self sufficient and being like F that. Especially as he makes his own friend (mtt trio? 🌸) and realizes he isn’t codependent. But maybe it changed him in a lot of ways.

maybe the twins were in a normal sort of family, and dreamt of life in the spotlight. Maybe one did and one didn’t. Maybe their entire family has more drama than “just them” does, and that complicated things for them. Maybe they’ve been trapped and manipulated and naive in this world too. And they had to grow up and find their way. Maybe those situations have affected them and their worldview. And…their relationship. maybe they weren’t little kids when they fell out, but young, unknowing adults who don’t know who they are and made messy mistakes that affected more then just themselves.

maybe Nightmare can’t stand being misunderstood, and seeing people taken advantage of. Maybe Nightmare needs to be heard, and he’s learned to translate this to music and such. Maybe Nightmare has an easier time being aloof and angry towards his family because it means his own feelings are valid. He enjoys the ability to connect with a lot of people, an audience, while being distanced. He can’t be hurt. He can flip off the people who have hurt him and make his OWN way. The ability to overcome people opinions of him, to prove his own worth to himself. His voice will be heard.

Maybe he want’s to be seen.

maybe Dream desperately needs to have a mask on, he’s not allowed to express himself openly. Maybe he’s confused and can only take on blame for things that have gone wrong. Maybe he feels indebted to this industry , or people around him. Maybe he enjoys the audience as individuals but feels isolated among them, undeserving. Maybe he’s guilty of the fame. Maybe he wants close connection. But people can only see him for the perfect image he puts foreword. Get too real, and people leave.

Maybe he fears being seen.

….ANYWAYS THATS ENOUGH FOR NOW. *snips off the list of concepts here*

Idol! Au belongs to @zucchiyeni

*runs away*

[seventeenlovesthree]

I’ve been kind of in a downturn spiral about this pairing so I think I need another pair of eyes to see it for me.

It seems to me like the Takeru Iori DNA digivolving partner schemeta is basically the leftovers. I get the others. And basically Iori does detective work or lawyer research to learn about Takeru and his past.

And I get it. Takeru’s hatred for darkness and Iori wanting to understand. And then Takeru gives him the nod and it just kind of works.

Yet, I try to look for evidence beyond 02. Aside from positioning and partnering I am just trying to find aside from this how much better friends they are because of it.

Daisuke and Ken are close friends. Stay in touch a lot and grow feeding off Ken’s reasoning and Daisuke’s optimism. Hikari and Miyako also have grown closer. Miyako helps Hikari find her voice and become more sociable I would say and more honest with herself and Hikari does the same. They both balance each other when one of them gets too hurt. They need harsh friendly rebuke you could say.

And then, there is Takeru and Iori. Just what is there? Aside from their age gaps I see potential for what their could be, but since 02 even though it’s a small sample size and even from the bonus Kizuna meeting with all the 02 Digidestined I fail to see how the two of them have grown as friends.

Perhaps it’s not seeing things in black and white from a righteous or moral perspective. Or maybe Iori just loosening up? But you know I would not attribute that to Takeru. I would give that credit to Jou, Koushirou and even Ken.

I wonder what you think about this. It might be another of my Takari pairing excuses but I am open to understand how Takeru and Iori have strengthened each other and become better friends.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, this had taken a while, because I wasn't in the best headspace to add anything of quality to your points, since I feel like you have already summarized the majority of what their bond contains.

I had once tried to outline their relationship here - mostly platonically, but also with the potential romantic angle, since that was the essence of the game. The problem they have is: their initial set-up is incredibly solid, because they parallel and contrast each other perfectly. In theory. Because practically, you could tell the series didn't have enough time to elaborate on them the same way it did for Daisuke/Ken and Miyako/Hikari.

To summarize it once again: Takeru was the youngest member in his group and was afraid to be an immature burden - whereas Iori is very mature for his age, but still afraid to make mistakes while also being the youngest in the group. You can tell he looks up to Jyou, Koushirou AND Takeru for similar and different reasons. And him and Takeru in particular start off with a very black-and-white'ish thinking, which makes sense if you consider their familial backgrounds and trauma that may be linked with it. And yes, Iori craves to learn more about and understand Takeru's mood changes, his emotional outbursts. And like I pointed out in the post above, Takeru COULD have projected a lot more onto Iori, but mainly chose to uphold his brotherly mask towards him - so in a way, he WAS projecting, acting like how he thinks a big brother should behave without belittling him. To some degree, that is endearing, because Takeru may need someone he can spoil a bit. On the other hand it never really seems to go deeper than that, because he is not able to fully open up yet. Neither to Iori nor to anybody else. Which is a shame, because in return, after 02, it doesn't seem like Iori is taking note from Takeru either - as you said, that role goes to several other characters.

Looking at The Beginning once again, there isn't anything I could add to it, because the only notable scene between Takeru and Iori - is them just deciding that it's time to Jogress.

Their bond doesn't seem particularly deep, there is no indication that they spend much time on their own together outside of the general group meetings. And while Takeru definitely has become more contemplative and less aggressive in the face of emergency... Iori hasn't changed notably. And once again, we may blame the lack of screentime for that, but aside from being reasonable, exasperated and/or sassy, there wasn't much you could even say about Iori in general, which is a shame. (I was planning to make a compilation post for him in The Beginning and I may not even hit the picture limit... I seriously missed his kind, compassionate side here, but just like with Koushirou, the work-a-holic trope they assign to them takes a lot of their softness away, which annoys me a lot.)

It's similar to what I tend to say about characters like Sora - they don't really know what to do with all their characters and how to depict their bonds and changes. The movie was focusing on other relationships - for example, Hikari and Miyako didn't interact much there, so they don't appear to be particularly close anymore either, since Miyako was completely focused on Ken (and Daisuke in extension). Long story short, I'd say that Takeru and Iori as a duo always got the shortest end of the stick.

[astradrifting]

This is kind of inspired by this recent ask I sent to @esther-dot about Jon’s characterisation and Jonsa shippers’ apparent disregard for it, because it made me think of another part of Jon’s characterisation that is really integral to who he is. Mainly, that Jon really loves his brothers. Especially Robb. His rival and best friend and constant companion. Jon envies him, competes with him, buried a formative traumatic memory where he was deeply hurt by him... but ultimately loves him. Complex relationships with his brothers, both the Starks and his Night’s Watch brothers, are a running theme in Jon’s chapters.

Speaking of Jon’s brothers...

Aegon VI and Robb have a lot of potential parallels, actually. The “Young” moniker, red-haired counselors who are also their parents, trained to be the heir to a great kingdom from a young age, the barely younger half-brother Jon borne of their father’s dishonour of their mother… one that they might both have a good relationship with despite that?

The show tried to play with Jon ‘accepting’ his Targaryen lineage through the jonerice romance, very unconvincingly because it was simultaneously undermining it at every opportunity, in what was maybe a half-assed attempt at Pol!Jon (”They’ll all come to see you for what you are” isn’t anything but a threat in all contexts).

Jon will ultimately choose the Starks over everything else, that’s not really a question. But if Jon were to genuinely connect with another Targaryen, it’d likely be easier for him to find kinship with a half-brother than with an aunt - he has a basis for positive relationships with trueborn half-brothers, while the only aunt figure he’s ever known about is a) long dead and b) actually his mother. I think it’d both make more sense and be more compelling for GRRM to leverage Jon’s existing complex relationships with brotherhood by having him interact with and build a relationship with Aegon, than a rushed and out-of-character romance with Dany. 

Jon also is already primed to believe that Aegon is the real deal, that he was saved as a baby, because he’s already done the exact same thing himself - he swapped out a baby of royal blood who was in danger for a common-born boy, and then sent him halfway across the world for safety (side note: if Septa Lemore is Ashara, and if the baby was actually Ashara’s son as theorised here by @agentrouka-blog, that would just strengthen the parallel, because it would be his body double’s mother caring for him, as Gilly has to do for Mance’s son).

They’re definitely going to come into conflict first - politically, Jon will likely be in a position of power in the North by the time they meet, maybe as the KitN through Robb’s will or regent for Rickon, and probably will fight for Northern independence, while Aegon is fighting to be king of the Seven Kingdoms, not 6. Personally, it will be hard to get past the fact that Jon is the direct result of Rhaegar dishonouring Elia, plus that the Kingsguard who should have been protecting her were all stationed in Dorne, guarding Jon’s mother (in whatever capacity). But these interactions, a conflict and eventual friendship/brotherhood between them, would all be a lot more layered than jonerice can really offer. If a relationship between Jon and Dany was truly all that GRRM has been building up to, then there would have been no need for R+L=J - it adds nothing to that storyline, it doesn’t even make it a forbidden romance, because aunt-nephew is hardly the worst incest the Targaryens have engaged in.

It’s almost inevitable that Da*nerys is going to kill Aegon VI/Young Griff in the books, likely by burning him with dragonfire, in the Second Dance of the Dragons. The weird Dragonpit meeting in the show was very contrived, but it does make sense for Dany to meet the ruler on the Iron Throne at least once in a semi-peaceful context. In the show, she used her dragons only to intimidate Cersei, but she didn’t have a personal grievance with her. Aegon is in much more danger during such a meeting. After all she will think he is a pretender, and she doesn’t much care for the rules of safe conduct, as she showed to the envoys from Yunkai.

Dany shrugged, and said, "Dracarys."

The dragons answered. Rhaegal hissed and smoked, Viserion snapped, and Drogon spat swirling red-black flame. It touched the drape of Grazdan's tokar, and the silk caught in half a heartbeat. 

[...]

"You swore I should have safe conduct!" the Yunkish envoy wailed.

"Do all the Yunkai'i whine so over a singed tokar? I shall buy you a new one... if you deliver up your slaves within three days. Elsewise, Drogon shall give you a warmer kiss." She wrinkled her nose. "You've soiled yourself. Take your gold and go, and see that the Wise Masters hear my message."

(ASOS, Dany IV)

"Ah, there is the thorn in the bower, my queen," said Hizdahr zo Loraq. "Sad to say, Yunkai has no faith in your promises. They keep plucking the same string on the harp, about some envoy that your dragons set on fire."

"Only his tokar was burned," said Dany scornfully.

(ADWD, Dany VI)

So Dany will burn the Blackfyre pretender, and everyone will be happy and cheer to see the rightful queen, the last Targaryen, Slayer of Lies, Breaker of Chains, Insert-The-Million-Other-Titles-Here. Right?

Except how would she prove that he’s an imposter? She can’t exactly roll up with an Alt Shift X video pointing out that Illyrio has said some weird things about Aegon. Is Varys going to have an attack of remorse and explain his whole plot, complete with Blackfyre family tree? Or maybe she’ll explain that she went on a vision quest in Qarth and Aegon totally matches up with the vague symbolism that a bunch of drugged up warlocks told her before she set them on fire?

I don’t think it’s going to matter if Aegon is fake or not, and we might never find out either way. The mystery of his identity isn’t his main narrative, and all of his significance to the story and to multiple other characters is removed if he’s proved to not be Aegon VI. Him being proved fake would just make this plotline a weird, unnecessary digression on Dany’s journey to being the righteous and true queen, his death just another #girlboss moment for her. That’s definitely going to be her perception of it, but once she reaches Westeros we won’t have to rely on only her POV of her actions. History is written by the winners, and no one’s going to miss that it’s a lot more convenient for Dany if the boy with a stronger claim than her turns out to have been fake all along. Arianne and the Dornish are definitely not going to take it lying down, and neither is Jon. He’s not going to fall in love with the woman who murdered his brother, especially by burning him alive. ADWD has plenty to say about how much he hates death by fire.

“Men say that freezing to death is almost peaceful. Fire, though … do you see the candle, Gilly?”

She looked at the flame. “Yes.”

“Touch it. Put your hand over the flame.”

Her big brown eyes grew bigger still. She did not move.

“Do it.” Kill the boy. “Now.”

Trembling, the girl reached out her hand, held it well above the flickering candle flame.

“Down. Let it kiss you.”

Gilly lowered her hand. An inch. Another. When the flame licked her flesh, she snatched her hand back and began to sob.

“Fire is a cruel way to die. Dalla died to give this child life, but you have nourished him, cherished him. You saved your own boy from the ice. Now save hers from the fire.”

(ADWD, Jon II)

Funnily enough, the same fire as a kiss imagery from Dany burning the envoy’s tokar appeared there too, also used as a threat. 

If he is not a kinslayer, he is the next best thing. [...] What sort of man can stand by idly and watch his own brother being burned alive?

(ADWD, Jon IX)

So Aegon’s death is not going to be a triumphant victory for Dany, after which everyone proclaims her the true queen. It’s likely to just solidify opposition to her, from every corner of Westeros. If it happens during a summit or negotiation, it’d be even more of a tragic parallel to Robb and the Red Wedding; the young king murdered off of the battlefield, at an event where he was promised safe conduct. Featuring Dany in the role of Roose Bolton and Tywin Lannister. Tywin’s already died a very undignified death, and Roose Bolton looks to be on his way too.

I think the tragedy of Aegon’s death would also hit harder if we see it through Jon, as a main POV, or at least the aftermath of it. Jon was integral at the Dragonpit meeting after all, and probably would be at a peace summit or negotiation between the leaders of Westeros and the invading force.

In ASOS, there’s a curious lack of Jon’s reaction to Robb’s death. We see his initial reaction to Bran and Rickon’s supposed deaths when he gets back to Castle Black, but he doesn’t even know about Robb’s death until Stannis arrives to defeat the wildlings, and we’re not shown the moment he’s told about it. He barely even thinks about it, not even a mention until he meets with Stannis on top of the Wall:

“Your brother was the rightful Lord of Winterfell. If he had stayed home and done his duty, instead of crowning himself and riding off to conquer the riverlands, he might be alive today. Be that as it may. You are not Robb, no more than I am Robert.”

The harsh words had blown away whatever sympathy Jon might have had for Stannis. “I loved my brother,” he said.

(ASOS, Jon XI)

And that’s literally all we get that is specifically about Robb’s death - the rest of Jon’s chapters, his guilt and grief is about the loss of all his siblings, and the idea of stealing Winterfell from them. It doesn’t really make sense for him to not think about it at all, considering how close they were. This reminds me of how he has a non-reaction to Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion as well, as talked about in this post by @agentrouka-blog. Part of this could be Jon’s tendency towards denial and suppression of all his feelings, but it also points to GRRM explicitly obscuring his reaction - perhaps because he’s going to explore it in the wake of another brother dying a very similar death? One that this time he’ll be there to witness?

[neptuneandwine]

hello c: what planets/aspects do you think could make someone extremely insecure?

Hi!

This is a very broad question, but I'll my best to summarize some of the possible combinations that could bring some kind of insecurity:

- Squares to the ascendant: this could sound very generic, but the thing with squares is that they bring tension. So you could associate them with some type of internal turmoil in regards to whatever topics the planets / points concern. With the ascendant being squared by any planet, there is some kind of dissonance between how the chart holder presents themselves, and the way they feel about a certain thing. For example: venus square the ascendant doesn't make the native any less beautiful, but they might not feel that way about themselves, therefore they could try to compensate in that area. With Neptune squaring the ascendant, it could go even deeper, as the person could have an ideal image they feel they must live up to.

- Saturn.  I must say that as a planet, Saturn isn't inherently bad. But he's a strict teacher, and all Saturn things, imho, take time to be mastered. Therefore wherever it's placed is also where the native feels pressure to perform and master. On the bright side, I think saturnian energy builds resilience and character, it's just that it takes time to learn all his lessons.

- The Asteroid Chiron is the wounded healer. Traditionally, this placement is associated with a prominent wound in someone's life, an area where one had to struggle. So any harsh aspects to it could be indicators of some kind of prominent insecurity. Again, Chiron's nature isn't bad. Wherever we have Chiron is where we have the most potential to help others once we overcome the obstacle it presents. So, for example, having Chiron in the third house could point to communication related struggles. Maybe a native with that placement felt unheard, or had to put in double the work to overcome some speech-impediment. But they could also make amazing teachers, incredibly wise and humane, since they had to push through it themselves. (Note: this is just an example and I am in no way implying that everyone with this placement struggle with this).

- Pluto springs to mind too. With the whole death-rebirth moment it's associated with, I think it could trigger some insecurities in the area its placed in. One the native has strong feelings towards. There is often a build-up with Pluto, one where the chart holder comes to realise they need to change something, die and be reborn, in order to feel okay with a certain thing.

- 8th house stuff. So, the 8th house is about the hidden things. It's like the basement - no one really wants to go there, but there's a lot of stuff in it. So anything in there, and an abundance of planets in this house, could point towards something we don't really want to fill others in on. And, by extension, it could also point to some insecurities. Keep in mind that it's also ruled by scorpio and Pluto is domicile there, so the parallel makes a lot of sense.

There's more, but these were the ones that came to mind.

Thanks for reaching out!

[adorethedistance]

City Slicker, Cowboyfriend - Owen Joyner x Reader

JATP masterlist

Warnings: Swearing, nerves, mentions of covid.

Words: 2163

Summary: You’re starting to have doubts about moving all the way to Norman until a shopping trip to Ikea turns into the meet-cute you’ve been waiting for.

A/n: This isn’t a request or one of my Valentines day fics, this is just something that I have had stuck in my head ever since Owen posted this on IG and bc I’m facing total writers block with my other pieces I cranked this one out in a few hours to get the ball rolling again. Hopefully. Enjoy this totally unproofed, fluffy madness!! (Because who doesn’t need more Owen content in their life?)

There are perks to moving and one of them is undoubtedly: shopping. For furniture, home decor, kitchen utensils, whatever! Granted, shopping alone can be tedious and, for some, like pulling teeth, thus, I’ve enlisted the help of my best friends Leila and Chelsea. I didn’t even have to bribe them to come because everyone loves getting lost in Ikea. It’s one of the best things about the human experience.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been in an Ikea,” Leila says to no one in particular as we walk through the onslaught of staged bedrooms.

“What?! Are you telling me you don’t get meatballs and lawn chairs on a weekly basis?” My exaggeration makes Leila laugh as she steps into one of the display kitchens. Looking between me and Chelsea she asks,

“What would you do if I turned the handle then a jet of water sprayed out?”

“Die, I guess.”

The three of us continue through the faux house displays and past the mattresses despite Leila’s urge to jump on every single one. As we walk through the section of different lighting features, I sigh with a frown as I think about college. I changed my bachelor’s to an associate’s so I could graduate in two years. Chelsea’s parents moved out here at the end of our senior year in high school, and she moved with them to study in Norman. Leila in turn went to Arizona for an athletic physical therapy gig, leaving me to face college alone in L.A.. In the two years the three of us were apart, we missed each other more and more, and after determining which of the three states we lived in was cheapest, we packed up and headed East. Covid kind of delayed our plans. But after a few months, I picked Leila up from Arizona and together we chased open job opportunities into Norman, Oklahoma. The three of us found an apartment space to live in together and thus, we ended up in Ikea on this fine Sunday afternoon.

Snapping back into reality I see Leila standing directly under a light that’s hanging very low from the ceiling. Once standing directly underneath it, she pulls down her mask and opens her mouth, rising to her toes to eat the fixture.

“Leila, don’t you dare fellate that light bulb! You’re gonna get us kicked out.”

I swear I’m practically their mom when it comes to behaving in public. Figuring they can’t hurt themselves in the college dorm section, I lead them quickly through it and into the giant furniture warehouse section. On the far wall, I see a large poster of a couple smiling brightly behind Chelsea, but I don’t bother to read the text. Leila and I spot the poster at the same time, and the imagery jogs her memory.

“Chelsea, how’s Hunter? Haven’t heard from him slash about him in like a week,” she asks about Chelsea’s boyfriend of a year.

“Oh, yeah, he tore a ligament in his wrist.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, I guess he moved it wrong or something and put too much stress on the area that it just tore. He was moving hay bales into the horse stables.”

“As opposed to the chicken stables,” Leila judges under her breath, which makes me snicker as a result.

“I still can’t believe you’re dating a literal cowboy,” I interject, “Like, I know we’re in Oklahoma, and he’s from Tennessee, but we saw Texas on the way out here and that’s cowboy country. Norman seems more...” I trail off in search of delicate phrasing.

“Just barely marry your cousin territory, but still downing chewing tobacco whilst driving a lifted truck?” Leila hits the nail squarely on the head.

“Yeah, that sounds about right-” Before I can continue giving my thoughts on Norman, I cut myself off at the sound of laughter behind me.

“Sorry. We weren’t trying to eavesdrop, that was just really funny.” When I turn around, I see a guy roughly our age dressed in all black with bleach-blonde hair, speaking through light, broken laughter.

“No worries,” I dismiss the apology as we pass by one another, and out from the dressers section. The three of us continue into the different sections, and come to a stop once I see we’re exactly where we need to be: dining room shit!

“Cowboy boyfriends aside- oh my gosh: cowboy boyfriends. Cowboyfriends,” I say getting lost in my new terminology. Both of my friends share a mix of laughter and gasps and my ingeniousness. “Anyway. Cowboyfriends aside, how is Avery?” I ask Leila who begins blushing madly.

“She’s really good. We were just making plans for our three year anniversary, which reminds me to tell y’all I’m flying back to Phoenix to surprise her.”

“Awwww,” I nearly tear up and the sweet image of Leila and her girlfriend reuniting, “Y’all are so cute. Both of you and your partners. You know, being the only single friend in this group has made life suck a lot. Y’all are so happy and in love and not dead inside. Honestly? Get fucked both of you.” Despite my harsh words, the three of us break into a lighthearted conglomerate of laughter.

“We’ll find you someone… eventually.” Leila pretends she also can’t hear the last part of her sentence despite being the one saying it.

“I know, but I don’t think it’s in the cards for me to find love in Norman. I don’t need a cowboyfriend, and we’re not gonna find a true city slicker here either.”

When I finish my statement, I see our blonde friend seems to have followed us. I observe he comes to a stop in front of another guy in a flannel with a shopping cart. The way they jump into conversation with one another parallels the animated body language Leila, Chelsey, and I share. I continue to watch their exchange as Chelsea speaks up.

“Maybe you need someone right down the middle.”

“Yeah, like a guy who drives a truck but uses it to transport Ikea furniture instead of a whole ass tree that he’ll carve into a chair.” A small laugh escapes my lips, at both Leila’s statement, and the scene ahead of Blondie pretending to strangle his friend over something. I’m snapped out of my nosy yet endeared stare as a third guy appears. He’s a sandy blonde with billowing locks tucked under a trucker hat. And he came from behind me and my two friends to place something in their cart which keeps his back toward me. When he turns back around, my mind goes blank. Any thoughts of shopping for dining room chairs has left my mind. He is wearing a face mask, but he has such nice eyes that he could have a giraffe snout under the mask for all I care. I see him look up from the shelves, directly into my eyes. We stay locked for a moment before he breaks away and turns to his friends. I slowly turn to my friends too who are both giving me the exact same look of excitement and conspiracy.

“He’s really cute,” I sigh out with a laugh, swooning much louder than I’d have preferred.

“He has a face mask on,” Leila points out, her expression dropping from excited to cynical.

“Still! I can just tell.”

“Girl, what are you doing? Talk to him!” Chelsea whisper-shrieks.

“Shhh, I cannot take you anywhere!”

Glancing back at the handsome stranger, we connect eyes once more and I feel my face heat furiously as I realize he was already looking at me. I’m the first to break; I consult my friends for the best course of action and as I’m turned 180 to face them, Chelsea starts pretending to hyperventilate excitedly. Leila looks over my shoulder for me, discreetly surveying the other trio in the dining chairs aisle.

“Don’t look now, but he’s talking to his friends and looking between them and you.” I can hear in her voice she’s trying her best not to smile despite wearing a face mask.

“Should I give him my number?”

“Yes!”

“What are you waiting for?”

“I’m nervous! What if he’s gay?”

“Will you just get over there? I promise you a gay man would not be wearing what he’s wearing right now. Maybe a lesbian,” Leila adds for good measure.

“You guys are freaking me out, I need you to leave so I know you’re not judging my flirting.” I shoo my best friends out of the aisle as inconspicuous as possible. Kinda wish blondie would’ve done the same because when I turn back around, the other trio hasn’t moved and the only one looking at me is the one in all black. He quickly averts his eyes though and I take one last deep breath before walking over to the stranger. I tilt my chin up ever so slightly to fake a sense of confidence that I unmistakably don’t have right now.

“Hey.” Really, Y/n? Hey??

“Hey,” he greets back breathily. Why is he nervous? I’m the one who gets to be nervous! Man, he’s really cute. I can’t fuck this one up. I’m not doing so stellar right now. Perhaps you should say something else, dipshit?

“Uhm,” I should’ve scripted this. “I just wanted to say that-” You’ve got this. Don’t be a bummer. “I-uh, I think you’re really cute and I was wondering if I could give you my number?” My speech is slow, each word deliberate in spite of the fact that I feel like I’m having an out of body experience right now. I’m not the one in control of the words that are coming out of my mouth.

Upon realizing why I walked over, blondie’s friends take the question as a sign to leave and less than inconspicuously back away from the two of us. Trucker hat spares them one last glance over his left shoulder and judging by the look flannel gives him, they were definitely talking about me in their team huddle.

“Uh, yeah. I was gonna ask for your instagram- if you have one, that is.”

“I’m cool with both.” The two of us reach for our phones and unlock them with anxious hands. I move to hand him my phone with instagram open, and he trades me for his which has a new contact open. I type my name and put my favorite heart emoji next to it after triple checking the number is correct. Wow, you’re just so ballsy today, Y/n!!!!! I give him back the phone, scanning the instagram account he’s just opened and followed for me. I hear him exhale a little harder as a small laugh and can only imagine it’s from the stupid heart emoji.

“Owen,” I say in a hushed, endeared voice, fully not intending to say it out loud. “You have a million followers?! Oh, you’re an actor. OH… You’re an actor.” I really don’t need to be speaking my entire thought process right now in the middle of this Ikea. Exhaling a small laugh of my own, I see we already have a small bunch of mutuals, one of which is… Chelsea??? Looking up from my phone I turn around to see Chelsea and Leila watching the interaction from around the corner of one of the industrial shelves.

In the flurry of scattered likes, I see him find my account and follow me back. I accept the request, nervous of what he thinks of me without a face mask on. What do I think of him without a face mask on? Going back to his account, seeing his entire face is even better than just his eyes. I was right, Leila: he is cute.

“You’re really pretty,” I hear him almost sigh as he combs through the grid of my account. The comment makes my heart beat all the much faster and I finally look upward to get a glimpse of Owen in the flesh. Still as beautiful as the last time I checked!

Sparing a quick glance over my shoulder, he looks back down at me and laughs,

“I think your friends got tired of waiting.”

“I think yours did, too.” The other members of our trios come back into the aisle we had kicked them from more or less two minutes ago. We connect eyes once more and stare longingly, wordlessly at one another, so lost in each other’s beauty our friends have to break up the staring contest of infatuation.

“Y/n?” I hear Leila behind me.

“Uh, well, I have to get back to chair shopping, but- text me later?”

“For sure.”

“For sure,” I mimic his voice.

“Guess I’ll see you later. Y/n.”

“Yeah.” And with that, we’re pulled apart by our respective best friends, through the vast expanse of the Norman Ikea.

“What was that?” Chelsea asks, excitedly linking arms with me.

“I don’t know I- Wait, you have some explaining to do!”

*** 

Taglist: @caitsymichelle13 @kaitlyn2907 @itz-jas @crybabyddl @kcd15 @kinda-really-lost @calamitykaty @morganayennefertyrell @n0wornever @dream-a-little-bigger-x @mrstodorooki @vicesvsvirturesfanfic @curlybrownhairedboys @amazinggracy @kaitieskidmore1 @asdfghjkl-fanfics​ @ghostlygreenbean @juliefromaustralia @merceret​ @jemimah-b99 @ifilwtmfc @thesweetestsinner​ @imsydneywalker @lovesanimals @thebloodthirstyvampress @bumbleberry-pie @losers-club6 @tefilovesreading​ @dmcfarland1@joynerxmercer @kexrtiz @talk-on-the-street @phantompogues @konciousdreamer @sunsetcurvej @warmnesss0ul @lilyjoyner 

[deckerswheeler]

let’s break this down, shall we?

**disclaimer!! this is not meant to be an attack on this person! i am only going to be counterclaiming their points or explaining why they are incorrect. i do not mean any harm in this post**

1. “mike/el and mike/will do not parallel each other” this is incorrect. mileven and byler have been paralleled throughout the seasons. for example, when el is stuck in the void and the upside down, the camera zooms in on her and pans out as she screams for mike. the same thing happens when will is in the upside down on halloween after the bullies push him over. it has the same camera angles, same type of music, and the same idea. they both call for mike.

2. byler has groundwork. from season one episode one they have been seen as closer than the other boys. they spent almost the entirety of season two together. the crazy together scene, hand holding scene, and shed scene alone should set their relationship apart from their relationships with the other members of the party. neither mike nor will act that way with dustin, max, or lucas. mike literally said asking will to be his friend was the best thing he’s ever done. if their season two relationship doesn’t show you how much groundwork they have, i don’t know what else will.

3. how are byler shippers “blindly ignorant to how writing works”?? sorry, but last time i checked, stranger things isn’t just a base level “you get what you see” type of show. the duffers have clarified many times that they don’t write at the surface level. everything they do has a purpose. that means minute details that seem like meaningless, second-long clips, could be symbols or easter eggs. many mileven shippers, (not all but a lot), only tend to see what is put in front of them. when in reality, that’s not what stranger things is. if you aren’t reading between the lines or taking note of small details while watching, key aspects of the show could fly over your head.

4. this one is almost laughable. mileven has most definitely NOT been set up as romantic since episode one. first of all, mike and el didn’t even properly meet until episode two. and even then, mike was ready and willing to report her to social services! the only reason why he kept her for so long was because once he found out about her powers, he knew there was a chance of finding will again. he called her a weapon halfway through the first season, i don’t think that’s very romantic. yes, they became close friends early on, but there was not ANY romantic coding until the episode with their first kiss!! obviously mike developed a crush on el, she’s the first girl that ever gave him attention. not only that, but he was living through the trauma of maybe losing his closest friend forever! he was projecting those feelings onto el, while el literally thought they would be like siblings until mike kissed her-- she had no clue it was even romantic.

5. saying mike and will have zero romantic subtext is just plain bullshit. i stated a lot of it in point 2, but there is so much more. in season 3 for example, mike basically outs will during their fight. (some people like to claim that mike was referring to will’s immaturity, but there are so many other ways they could’ve phrased that. like i already stated, the duffers claim nothing they do is accidental, so why would they make that line so vague? it was referring to will being gay. along with all of will’s other gay coding throughout the series, i.e. lonnie calling him the f slur, troy and his friends calling him q***r and a fairy as well as making fun of him for being gay, hopper acting grossed out by will being gay and asking joyce “is he?”) then, mike tries to apologize and travels all around hawkins in the pouring rain!! just to find will. and don’t even get me started on the “not possible” scene... if y’all don’t see the CLEAR flirting in that scene,,,,,, i got news for you lol

6. saying that byler shippers just like “fetishizing handsome white boys” is absolutely disgusting and a gross generalization. i assure you that that is NOT the reason why we ship byler. it’s more or less because we are sick of seeing solely straight couples rushed into a relationship on little to no foundation or build-up and honestly makes no sense when you think about it (cough cough mileven), when there is a relationship with 10x more development right there that isn’t canon simply because it is not heterosexual. we also ship byler because it is a breath of fresh air to see young gay/bi characters and a healthy mlm relationship, if byler became canon it would make thousands of kids so happy who just want to see themselves on the screen! aside from that, we ship byler because of the countless hints, coding, potential, etc, the show has provided.

7. finally, telling us we need to “use a brain cell,” calling us delusional, saying we’re “bending the narrative,” is just mean. there was no reason to make personal attacks towards the people who ship byler. i see people shipping mileven every day and i am not calling them delusional or stupid because they choose to ship it. people are free to interpret the show however they like and ship whatever they want. if anything, you’re the one who is denying canon by acting like mike and will have no foundation or meaningful relationship. also, we’re not “pretending it’s inevitable”??? no one knows how the duffers are going to write the show. mileven could be canon now, and break up later. byler could happen in season 4-5, and it might not. no one knows, so the fact that you felt the need to bash byler shippers for their own opinion and interpretation of the show is pretty sad.

**again... i respect all ships, and i am not trying to attack this person. if i seem harsh it’s because they were SOOO disrespectful in their post towards byler shippers. i know not all mileven shippers are like this, but i wanted to clear up some of this one’s points and share my point of view. i also don’t agree with their behavior and how they addressed people with a different view than them, so i couldn’t let it go.**

[ectonurites]

I keep seeing people talking about how Dick was an absolute asshole to Jason when he first came to the manor and continued to be an asshole to up until he died.. so as a result he felt wayyy more guilty afterwards. Do you know how much of this is canon or just fan exaggeration to make things more angsty?

Okay yeah so that’s... definitely an exaggeration. 

First of all, when Jason came into the picture Dick had already left Gotham entirely and was not in communication with Bruce (in the original post-crisis version they didn’t talk for eighteen months after Dick was fired from being Robin, Nightwing Year One seems to condense the length of time though) so the idea of him being an asshole to Jason from when he ‘first’ came to the manor is inherently contradictory to canon. I feel it’s important to mention they never even lived at the manor at the same time. 

Now the truth in it is that they weren’t very close, and that is definitely something Dick felt guilt over. But Dick & Jason’s relationship wasn’t like... particularly hostile? Just distant more than anything else, maybe tense to some degree sure, but any real anger Dick had about the situation was directed at Bruce, not Jason. 

The main guilt Dick felt immediately after Jason died though, was that he gave Jason his Robin costume, he gave him his seal of approval, even though he knew Jason wasn’t as well trained/experienced as he had been. This is something he mentions a few times in the issue he finds out Jason died

(The New Teen Titans #55)

But when talking about Dick & Jason and how they interacted when they actually met, there’s kinda two different versions: the stuff actually published back in the 80s and then the retelling in Nightwing Year One (from 2005). Gonna briefly go over both under the cut

So right, Dick had been fired by Batman, and went off on his own, did stuff with the Titans, and kinda figured himself out and who he was going to become as Nightwing, but then he found out there was a new Robin and was not pleased:

(Batman #416)

In their very first meeting Dick was definitely a little harsh:

(Batman #416)

But by the end of the issue after Dick had actually gotten a chance to yell at Bruce and calm down a bit, he gave Jason his old Robin uniform and his phone number, very much so accepting him as the new Robin and being nice to him.

(Batman #416)

They then take down bad guys together and have like, some cute banter! 

(Batman #416)

In general there’s just not that many things they showed up in together back then, but saying that Dick was always just an ass to Jason is definitely an exaggeration. But it is fair to say that they didn’t have much of a close relationship, it’s not like they lived together or spent a lot of time together. And considering this was all in a time where Dick was on bad terms with Bruce, and hadn’t actually been adopted yet (that didn’t happen until Gotham Knights #17 in 2001), they didn’t particularly consider themselves/treat each other as brothers at the time. Right after Jason died when Dick goes to see Bruce and they fight some more, this even gets said:

(The New Teen Titans #55) 

I think it’s definitely possible even if not consciously that there was some level of resentment over the adoption thing that lead to tension on Dick’s end of he and Jason’s relationship. (And I also think all of that’s part of why Dick started calling Tim his little brother even in the late 90s, before either of them was adopted, because Dick realized that’s the kind of relationship he should have been trying to have with Jason regardless)

Then part of Nightwing Year One is a retelling of Jason & Dick first meeting and teaming up, different plot and everything but it’s honestly a pretty similar situation.

At first Dick is not happy there’s a new Robin, and is a little rough toward him, but the anger/annoyance is more strongly pointed at Bruce than Jason

(Nightwing (1996) #105)

but by the end of their first like day of knowing each other they’re having positive interactions with good banter (also this comic is where the ‘Little Wing’ nickname came from)

(Nightwing (1996) #106)

But yeah! So! They weren’t super close or anything, and they definitely kinda fell into a ‘we’re gonna give each other shit’ style of banter, but like, they had a friendly enough relationship that was just kinda distant.

Also mostly unrelated but after rereading both of these to make this post I think it’s interesting actually a kind of switch they did, in the original version while they’re out on the field together for the first time Dick name-drops Bruce letting Jason know he knows their identities, and at the end he gives Jason his old costume. But in the Nightwing Year One version, Jason name-drops Dick when they’re first out on the field (while also definitely calling him a Dick. multi-purpose) and the comic ends with him bringing Dick a new costume. I don’t know if that has significance i’m writing this at 3:30 am (i’ll. post it when it’s not 3:30 am. but that’s the time i am writing it) but I just think thats a neat little parallel. 

[ilikekidsshows]

So I have been binging through your posts and I am loving all of the analysis on ML. I read another blog that did analysis on Luka and Kagami as Love Rivals, how they held up and how the fandom treated them. I wanted to get your takes on how they hold up in a meta perspective (If that made sense)

I’m guessing you're asking for my storytelling analysis of Kagami's and Luka's respective roles as rivals. I have a bigger analysis on the Marinette & Kagami arc coming up (and I do mean BIG), but I wasn't planning on covering this angle in it, so I might as well.

Okay, so, first off we'll need to define what a rival should be. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, "rival" can mean "someone striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess", "striving for competitive advantage", "companion/associate" (this one is out of use) or "equal/peer". This is actually very close to what a rival in a narrative context also means. A narrative rival should be a threat to their counterpart in some skill or pursuit, they must want the same thing. A narrative rival should have some kind of association with their counterpart, they need to be connected and have a reason to become rivals. A narrative rival should be their counterpart's foil, meaning they must be equals in some ways.

Since the show introduces Kagami first, let's start with her. The interesting thing about Kagami is that she starts as Adrien's rival. She wants a spot on D'Argencourt's fencing team, something she can only obtain by defeating Adrien. She also wants to prove she's the best fencer by defeating Paris' best fencers, including Adrien. So, there's the goal that puts her directly in opposition with Adrien specifically. The association between Kagami and Adrien comes from wanting to have (and later having) the same fencing teacher.

They're foils because they have very similar family backgrounds, they're children of a workaholic single parent who restricts all of their activities. However, while Kagami's outward appearance is harsh and cold, Adrien's is soft and warm, Adrien has also already started breaking out of his father's control by the time he meets Kagami.

But Kagami's ultimate role on the show is to be Marinette's rival. Their rivalship launches in 'Frozer', where we get actual confirmation that Kagami is interested in Adrien romantically, just like Marinette is. This is the goal where only one can triumph. Their association is weaker, though, since Marinette and Kagami don't start having any type of shared social circle outside of Adrien. But, once Marinette and Kagami become friends, this friendship becomes their association.

Then comes the foiling. I talked in my episode wrap-up of 'Ikari Gozen' how the color schemes in Marinette and Kagami's designs create both parallels and similarities. However, they have other similarities and contrast points as well. Marinette and Kagami are both anxious in new social relationships and put a lot of effort and planning into impressing someone. We see this in all of Marinette's "win Adrien over" schemes and also in Kagami's approach to befriending Marinette in 'Ikari Gozen'. They're both very talented in their chosen fields and put their all into their pursuits, fashion and fencing respectively.

However, they also have stark differences in their outward emotional appearance, Marinette expresses her in-the-moment emotions with ease, while Kagami struggles with this, saying almost everything with the same severity.  However, they’re opposite in their in-depth emotions, since Marinette can’t make sense of hers (since she doesn’t self-reflect) while Kagami is bold even with those. Marinette has a large circle of friends, while Kagami only had Adrien and didn't even have his phone number for a large part of their acquaintanceship. Marinette has a warm, loving home, while Kagami's probably, like Adrien's, cold and lacking in expressions of love.

Even Ryuko's design is a clear nod to Marinette's with the dominant colors being red and black. While Marinette wasn't an instant expert in her powers, she's an incredibly competent superhero these days, and Kagami matched her in fighting ability as well as the ability to use their respective powers effectively. However, while Ladybug is a planner and approaches most situations with careful deliberation, Ryuko is hasty and reckless, blowing her secret identity immediately.

So, how about Luka, then? Marinette and Luka's relationship is mostly characterized by Luka doing Marinette various favors, so there isn't any rivalry going on there, but there doesn't have to be, since he's meant to be Adrien's rival, so we'll focus on that instead.

Common pursuit? They both like Marinette but neither of them is actively pursuing her, though, I guess Luka kinda is since he did confess in ‘Silencer’ and has been composing her a song in the season three finale, but outside of a few startled looks in 'Frozer', Adrien doesn't seem to be feeling too challenged, most likely because Marinette isn't something he realizes he wants. In fact, Luka’s involvement seems to be making him less likely to realize any feelings he has for Marinette.

How about music? They play in the same band in completely different, highly vital roles. There's no competition there either, especially since Adrien is a member only part-time. Maybe as superheroes? Adrien wasn't the right guy for the Snake Miraculous in 'Desperada' while Luka was, but his importance as Cat Noir was also emphasized in that episode, so it was more about Marinette's misjudgement than any competing going on between the boys. So there's no actual threat from Luka to Adrien.

Associations? Well, they're both very close friends of Marinette who care about her romantically (either knowingly or not), they play in the same band (Adrien part-time) and they're also friends, considering how Luka was there right next to Nino silently supporting him when they were trying to cheer Adrien up in 'Félix'. I'd say they're pretty strongly associated at this point, even though the show understates it a bit because everything about Luka is presented in a pretty low-key way.

What about foiling? As I covered in my wrap-up of 'Frozer', Luka is basically "Adrien but more readily available to Marinette". They have very similar, outwardly mellow personalities, they're kind and selfless to a fault and they're both musical (though I'm not sure if Marinette had gotten to hear Adrien play before 'Love Hunter'). They’re also both reasonably astute emotionally, although with some weak points (Luka has a hard time holding up a conversation according to ‘Captain Hardrock’ while Adrien can’t read Marinette’s cues).

The contrast comes in how the story seems to be implying that, with Luka, what you see is what you get, while Adrien is actually internally much more of a chaotic goofball and not nearly as put together as it might first seem. Luka can also read Marinette's emotions with ease, since he's constantly turning them into music, while Adrien struggles with them so much he genuinely thought Marinette hated him in 'Puppeteer 2'. Luka and Adrien are also contrasted in their single parents; Gabriel is overly controlling while Anarka seemingly raises her kids in anarchy.

So, to sum up my conclusions:

Kagami's character is very much built around the rival archetype, both in her early relationship with Adrien and in her later relationship with Marinette. She ticks all three boxes for rivalship and is very much a love rival. In fact, she’s enough of a rival for both our main leads!

Luka, however, is missing the first, most primary aspect of being a rival; he doesn't challenge Adrien in any way. As it stands, Luka is Adrien's foil, but not his rival. So he can’t be a love rival. His role is not to challenge anything, but to be The Other Option. More an object of comparison than an actor in the romance drama.

Bonus: so what is Luka? Simply put, Luka exists for Marinette. This is obvious in the way almost everything he does on screen revolves around Marinette in some way. I've so far come up with two theories for what the purpose of Luka's function towards Marinette's character might be.

1) I've previously talked about how Luka is the "easy" alternative to Adrien in my episode wrap-up for 'Silencer'. While it's not Adrien's fault, from Marinette's perspective, he's kind of a hassle to try to get with. His father and busy schedule get in the way of many of Marinette's attempts to win him over, as does Marinette’s own nervousness. However, Luka is already in love with Marinette at first sight, with no effort required from Marinette to win him over, he's always ready to drop everything to do Marinette a favor. The point is that Luka being so similar to Adrien in their best traits while also lacking any of the circumstantial things that make Adrien a "hassle" means that if Marinette rejects Luka for Adrien, we'll know she truly loves Adrien for Adrien, since she could get the same surface-level stuff from Luka more easily but chooses not to.

2) My reverse love square hypothetical post also covered the option that temporarily dating Luka could be a way to break Marinette out of her anxiety when it comes to thinking of Adrien in a romantic way. She's too emotionally invested in Adrien, while not really that  invested in Luka. Luka is so mellow and giving, Marinette can easily date him and then break up with him without hurting him to get over her romance-based anxiety so that she can pursue Adrien anew.

[cgmayra]

Here's a fun AU idea. I was thinking instead of tarot card reading Amy has vivid visions of the future. However whenever she gets a good vision dizzy spell when she gets a bad vision terrible sometimes debilitating headaches and she doesn't control what she sees. This makes her a person of interest to Eggman, G.U.N., and other world governments so they constantly try to capture her and use her power for their own gain. If she tries to force a vision it hurts her. Sonic is very protective of Amy

*feels tired today, just re-reading prompts to get ideas -sometimes new- or get excited about who’s next in line*

Thinking in my head, ‘I’m just not feeling well today, but I do have some ideas.’ The very next thought to encourage me, ‘You write your best when you’re tired.’

Me, directly after that thought, ‘...Darn it, you’re right.’ *proceeds to write all and every emotion in vivid detail* (lololol)

I know myself too well.

PROMPTS ARE ON SHUTDOWN. No, you cannot beg nicely for me to take your prompt until they are open again, sorry love, them’s the rules. BI

Slightly gonna alter your request for the benefit of something I think may be a stronger storyline, I hope you still enjoy it, Precious Anon! \(:D)/

Prompt:

There was a rift in the chasm of space time, an unfathomable amount of power was being expelled and pulled, creating real and alternative timelines.

In order for Sonic and the gang to face these anomalies, Silver suggested that someone with the potential of mental abilities and the like should try and connect with the magnetizing force that keeps tugging and shoving on time, rewriting it and creating all these alternative realities continuously. Destroying and recreating decisions and parallel worlds would have a chaotic effect on the universe, but no one seemed to be able to connect to the unseen force, and Eggman didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight either.

Everyone was troubled... there was this silent fear that we’d be rewritten in seconds, that we’d cease to be who we really were in this very moment.

I stood by as my friends talked heatedly about their options, they each had tried but none had succeeded in connecting to that ‘force’.

I always felt I had magical properties to myself, if we could just connect to the dimension where this force started from, we may be able to help on our end.

I fidgeted, knowing Silver and Sonic were butting heads since Silver’s main priority was the future, while Sonic’s was the here and now.

Some found hope in this rewritten time, making Shadow and Eggman actually allies once again... Shadow hoping the past could be changed, and Eggman for his obvious reasons of defeating Sonic and taking over the world.

Both were absent and nowhere to be found.

As they continued to grow more and more harsh in how they spoke with one another, I felt the longing to end the conflict, and looked over to the Master Emerald.

It was the only thing that wasn’t being rewritten, some clue to connecting to the other dimensions...

Everyone had called out to it but nothing was working. I felt something swirl in me like an engine, seeing my beloved Sonic turning so angry and Silver ignoring him sent me into a rage myself, but I kept my lips in a fine line and held my fury back.

‘Friends shouldn’t talk to each other like this, or get in each other’s faces with such heavy glares...’ I knew in my heart that if I joined in, I wouldn’t part the two, but only get caught in their crossfire of differing ideals.

Both were stubborn, and both weren’t looking at the bigger picture.

Without a way to communicate with the alternative timelines, our decisions wouldn’t help us get any further to contacting the other dimension, and not just that... but we wouldn’t progress at all. We’d just be going around in circles...

“You can’t seriously think that sitting around waiting for some magical tether from the other dimensions is going to get us out of this time loop!” Sonic’s voice was full of presence and experience, he was a well-traveled hero, and knew the best options to weigh in moments like these... but Silver continued to fight back.

“If we advance unknowingly and without caution into the stream of time, we could easily be just as trapped in it’s nonsensical clutches as we were before! For some reason, the Master Emerald’s location is the only place in time where the effects of the rewritten world aren’t effected! If we give up this position, no one might be able to tell us what’s going on!” Silver swung an arm out, stepping up and going toe to toe with Sonic, refusing to back down from the argument. “I know you think charging into the time-stream might give us answers, but it’s a risk that holds so many unlimited possibilities that it’s fruitless to venture in! You’d just be trapped and the rest of us possibly waiting all eternity for you to choose the right path to even get out to another dimension!”

That part we knew was sound and right, that unless you pick the right choice every time, the time vortex would just pull you somewhere else. Without knowing the other dimension’s choices, we’d never be able to coordinate this... even Tails said something along the lines of a uniformed pathway that could get them all to the center of this strange force...

Otherwise, we’d be trapped... forever.

“You’re leaving us as sitting ducks to whatever’s happening! It’s going to put us all in danger!” Sonic was beyond listening to reason, however. My darling could never just sit by while we all feared for our lives and the world’s future.

The two stood so close, it looked as though their foreheads would touch, and I could tell Sonic was about to make a stand so great that Silver would be forced to let him go...

I couldn’t stand the thought of losing Sonic in a time-loop forever. In being stuck on Angel Island’s alter for the rest of eternity till someone figured out the correct choices...

I felt my whole being flood with tingles and expectations, with exactly what I was going to do and how my very soul wouldn’t allow me to watch as everyone would lose themselves diving into a puzzle that had no way of being solved without aid.

That was the last straw for me. Seeing Sonic pull himself away from Silver and walk over to the Master Emerald, “I’m done talking. Taking action is the only way we can succeed against this catastrophe.” He spoke so manner-of-factly... he was going to touch the Master Emerald and dive into the vortex... wasn’t he?

“No...” I held my hand out, seeing the Chaos Emeralds all glow as he was fusing with them to create the miracle known as Super Sonic... but I couldn’t- I couldn’t banish Sonic to an eternity of never-ending wandering through an unescapable maze!!!

“Soonniiccc!!!” I charged forward, making him flinch and pause a moment as he turned to look back at me, but by then, I had already reached forward and interfered with the Chaos Emeralds giving him power.

Instead of him turning Super, I felt my hand touch the Master Emerald, and all time seemed to freeze. I gripped the Master Emerald with my arms, widening the span of how far my arms could reach, and shook my head against it. “I can’t let everyone panic and waste away our precious friendships over this... this... whatever it is! Please, Master Emerald! Do I have the potential to set things right!?” I dipped my head down as the power overwhelmed me. Time slowly began again, as I was moving at normal speed, everyone around me started to move as though slowed considerably.

“Is this..?” I looked up to see Sonic’s hand slowly reaching for me, and his surprised expression at stopping him. “Chaos’s... power?”

I was shot back as my eye-sockets glowed a bright green, and through some vision or other, saw what looked like my younger self, also getting driven from the Master Emerald.

The original world... the first universe... Somehow, by the two of us acting and making a decision in unison, or maybe she had made it previously... I wasn’t sure, we were able to finally find a bond and connect in some magical way to where I could see that dimensions choices.

I felt my bare back slam against the graveled dirt of Angel Island and skid aggressively to a halt as it scratched my back and left me feeling weak.

Time returned to normal, I guess? As I heard my friends cry out my name and rush me.

I could numbly feel hands on me, shaking me as my eyes struggled to lift up, and were just waving open slightly.

My head hurt, I was dizzy and couldn’t see anything at first clearly. It was all a blur, before Silver’s and Sonic’s voices rang out the most.

“What happened!?” Sonic’s voice was full of authority, as though ready to take action if something need be done.

“She... I’m not sure, but the Master Emerald fused it’s time capabilities with her. You saw it, right? Her whole body was vibrating so quickly... like....” Silver was interrupted by Tails just then.

“Like she was merged into all the different dimensions... she was moving faster than the time strain!” Tails’s excitement meant only one thing...

“So... she had the potential then, out of all of us, to carry the connection.” Silver’s reserved tone must have meant that he felt validated in what he was so adamantly defending earlier. “Now that she can guide us through the time vortex, we might be able to reverse whatever’s happening, and return time and space to normal again.”

Sonic looked over at Silver, then down towards me as I still felt my breathing was low and drained, I couldn’t speak no matter how much my lips parted to try. It was like I was still adjusting to being in one dimension again, instead of flying through to see my other self’s choices.

“It didn’t need to come to this point...” Sonic spoke gravely, but it seemed to trigger and enrage Silver as he shot his head to look back at him, then stood up, defiantly.

“If you hadn’t acted the way you did, we may not have gotten this path. We have a real way to succeed and get through this now, Sonic! Why are you still so against me!?” He tightened his fists and thrust them forward, showing how much he was holding back his mixed emotions...

He was somewhat humble enough to admit that if Sonic didn’t rebel against him, that I wouldn’t have done what I did... but on the other hand, it still seemed like Sonic was opposed.

“I just meant that it didn’t need to be this way.” Sonic shook his head to Silver, remaining somewhat collected from his earlier clenched jaw demeanor. He put what felt like the warmest touch out of everyone’s onto my arm, and looked back to me, “It didn’t need to be so fueled...”

Somehow... I knew he was speaking to me.

He must have meant he wished it wasn’t so emotional to where I was put in a rough spot, choosing between losing the love of my life or sacrificing myself into the time vortex... I would have jumped, if Sonic jumped too... at least then, we could be trapped together. He wouldn’t have had to be alone in that endless maze...

Well, maybe he wouldn’t have thought those exact wordings of it, but... it did help to think he may have seen it as an act of true love.

I gained strength from his hand resting on my arm, and slowly began to wobble and lean myself up.

Everyone saw my arms gain strength again and push from under me, and immediately swarmed me again to help, perhaps unaware if I was conscious enough to have heard their discussion.

They called out to me, and I nodded, showing I was here and alert, but drained somewhat.

The pounding in my head subsided and I gripped it, “I... I saw her.” I stated, “I saw the original dimension this all happened in... I think I can do it again.”

Sadly, I couldn’t just ‘summon’ the answers. Something had to trigger it, which began another frustration as we all held one another’s hands and jumped into the void.

The first rewritten stories were perplexing. A shadowy figure that swarmed with dark matter looked strangely in the silhouette of Eggman, but instead of targeting Sonic like usual, he kept coming after me.

“U-wah!!” I leaped out of one of his dark matter missiles as everyone was getting scattered from me, as though this figure didn’t want me to receive any help.

“Amy!” Sonic called out, darting from the after-effects of the missiles, for when they landed and exploded, a space of black, glittering galaxy expanded out in a small radius and tried to suck us into another story to lose our progression.

He rolled and finally slid under the shadowy Eggman, confusing him as he pulled up on his Eggmobile and Sonic round-house kicked him away from me.

He reached to grab me, and as I went to reach for him as well, my eyes glowed again the color of the Master Emerald and I saw the other dimensional me.

She was young and looked like my younger years of first meeting Sonic. Sonic was younger too, and reached out in the same way Sonic was doing now. Was this... the corresponding choice?

Could I only see these moments when something unified happened? Were we making the same choices our other selves were or are making right this second?

I couldn’t tell, but I could see that after that Sonic and little me took the other’s hands, she summoned her hammer and spun to whack a younger looking Eggman away and send him flying, then everyone gathered and they took the right route... where it looked like the world was splitting apart and floating rapidly in a spinning and drifting away appearance.

When I came back, my head hurt and I looked to see that while unconscious, my friends were defending me from the shadowy figure of the Eggman lookalike.

“W-we have to take the right path!” I shouted out, my head pounding and debilitating me from summoning my hammer.

I had to though, if I didn’t, time would rewrite and we’d have to start with a new scenario and from scratch. Everyone was depending on me to guide them... I had to fight through the pain!

I struggled to lean up, feeling my body tense like cracking through uncooked spaghetti, but my arms finally cricked into position and I summoned my hammer.

“HAAA!!!” I grabbed Sonic’s hand which, when he noticed I was getting up, hurried to reach out to me again as I felt him pull me forward and swung my hammer into the momentum of his helpful pull.

The Shadowy Eggman went flying, and though Silver thought the left looked more safe from the twisting rapidly pieces of land in the galaxy on the right side, I urged him to trust me.

Sonic and I... we were so amped up in the moment... we didn’t realize that we never let go of one another’s hand...

G.U.N was in this memory or story, whichever it was, and they were after a shadowy figure of Shadow The Hedgehog.

However, Shadow seemed to be targeting me, as though wanting to destroy me.

This continued to baffle Tails and Silver, but Sonic was more protective than I’ve ever seen before, unselfishly throwing himself in the rippling blackness of Shadow’s silhouette, but was defenseless against how much more powerful this Shadow appeared to be.

It was reminding us all of when Shadow first awakened, and Knuckles tag-teamed with Sonic to give me enough time to try and trigger my memory.

I tried to do various things and put myself into situations to see if anything would trigger the correct course’s vision, but nothing was working and I was growing frustrated with myself.

Face it, there was a lot of pressure, and I felt that every minute I wasted was another second Sonic and Knuckles had to suffer under the fake G.U.N shadowy forms and the Shadow look-a-like.

Finally, I hit my head with a rock as a last resort but was quickly pulled away by Tails, “Amy!”

“Stop it, that isn’t helping!” Silver quickly intercepted too, yanking the rock out of my hands.

“I... I don’t know what else to do...” I admitted, feeling I was losing grip of my faith in myself... I may have been able to spare Sonic before, but now..?

Was this completely out of my control?

“Anytime now, fellas!” Knuckles called out as we both turned to see Sonic and Knuckles shoving themselves against Shadow’s dark, rippling body that almost looked like wavy flames under a watery scope. He was taking steps forward, which caused their feet to grind against the earth in an attempt to hold him back.

Then G.U.N appeared behind us, and we were surrounded... When the bullets began to fire, my eyes widened and the light of the Master Emerald grew from my eyes.

My other self was rescued once more by Sonic, but he was hit by those odd galaxy alternating bullets. He fell by her side and twitched, making her get up and cry over him as the bullets expanded holes in his form, and as he looked up at her, the holes overtook him and he turned into a rewritten, shadowy figure that reached for her.

She gasped and was pulled away by another, younger Knuckles with a cowboy hat on, who said something I couldn’t hear as my visions didn’t have sound, and threw her to a smaller Tails, who caught her and flew with her into another portal as the two left the other Knuckles behind with the shadowy images of Sonic, G.U.N, and Shadow...

“NOOO!!!” I came out of the vision and turned to where Sonic was coming at me, already having jumped and about to reach me.

I knew if I didn’t let these events happen, we’d be trapped, but every part of me wanted to jump into Sonic’s arms and push him back, let myself be the one that was swallowed up in the rewritten darkness.

But by then, I knew it wasn’t--and shouldn’t--be called a rewritten reality.

It was erasing reality! There seemed to be a hive-mind I picked up on, the force was controlling my friends and Eggman, G.U.N even! 

Not just that, but I didn’t know if we’d be able to save Sonic. I thought nothing could overcome Sonic... I was so torn, but as I focused on his eyes... so determined to get me out of harm’s way... I couldn’t find it in my heart to move.

He was shot and rolled along the ground with me as he I held him, tears spraying from my eyes in an army of resistance. I clung to him, crying out his name as he flinched and tried to fight against the erasing darkness that would soon overwhelm his being and turn him into a mindless drone to whatever force was trying to take over time and our known reality.

“Noo!!!” I screamed out as Sonic told Knuckles to take me from him, and as he turned to fight Shadow, was fully overcome and went limp. “SOOONNICCC!!!”

Knuckles had ripped me from him and threw me to Tails, instructing him that he’d stay behind to look after Sonic while Tails and Silver got through to the next part or stage of this timeline.

Silver had to grip my head and take my line of sight off of Sonic’s shadowy form as it turned almost like a zombie towards me, tilting it’s head as the drones somehow knew I carried the Master Emerald’s power to connect to the other dimension.

“Amy! Listen to me!” Silver began, but I felt I had died inside. My voice escaped my lungs and there was nothing left in me. I... had become motionless... I didn’t stop Sonic... I... I didn’t deserve him...

What kind of woman, who claimed to love her hero so full-heartedly, would have froze up when the time to save him drew near?

“I don’t deserve him...” My headache couldn’t match the absolute obliteration of my soul and heart from within me. Like those rapidly twirling away pieces of the world we had journeyed through moments before. “I... Sonic...!” I didn’t deserve to call myself Sonic’s destined love... if I couldn’t even protect him when I knew what was about to happen.

“He was too fast, Amy, there’s nothing you could have done.” Tails held me closer to him, seeing my shaking eyes and the pain in trying to speak when I felt my entire ribcage had collapsed and took the compartments of my lungs and lifeforce with it.

“Amy, please, remember, this can all be rewritten.” Silver had placed his two hands to the sides of my face, seeing how broken I was and failing to grasp this reality.

My head twitched up, but I was hollow inside.

“You have to tell us what to do. What did you see? Where do we go?!” He urged, trying to be kind, but... “We can’t save him now! He’ll be alright, you have to trust in your vision! Please, Amy! The more time you spend silent the more time Sonic has to suffer!”

What was the point..? Without Sonic... Without him, I-... I had no meaning to my life anymore. Sonic was everything to me... he was my whole world... a reality without Sonic... in a universe where I couldn’t see him smiling... couldn’t hear his laughter and teasing expression... A world without his warm touch...

My mind went back to when Sonic had placed his hand to my arm, his words... “It didn’t need to come to this point... It didn’t need to be so fueled...”

My eyes blazed with a new purpose. I wasn’t just going to save my dimension. I was going to save my Sonic!

I cried out and struggled to get Silver’s hands off my face, then pointed Tails to the portal that was opening behind us. “There! Go! Now!”

I saw and witnessed first hand the torment the other dimensional, more tender, younger and naïve me struggle to gain the strength to continue forward, till her and her friends found sanctuary at the end.

By this time, I had spent all of what I felt was in me, and fell to my knees as I had fought the dark entity known as World Keeper, who was polluted by the filth of negativity in all the worlds... that hive mind was just swallowing the world in despair, and without ever being hit by it, I felt it more than ever too.

Then it slashed it, and I felt the darkness swallowing me as my color turned black with the light glimmer of inky stars within it’s slick obsidian...

I fell back and couldn’t feel myself hit the ground, I couldn’t feel anything anymore but emptiness...

As it overtook me, I wondered with my last, conscious thoughts if the other dimensional me had saved Sonic... was this the end of our universe? Or just the entrapment of one dimension?

Then...

“Don’t give up!”

S...Sonic?

“You have what it takes, use the power of the Chaos Emeralds!”

S...Shadow?

“I didn’t blast this stupid filth out of the sky only to be controlled into an everlasting misery by it!!!”

Eggman..?

“I’m not staying stuck in this feeling forever! Come on, Amy! You can do this-grraaahh!!!”

Knuckles...

Drifting into the blackness of the void, I suddenly felt four strong hands trying to force me upwards towards the light.

It slowed my decent, until Silver and Tails were able to reach out and grab me, and my last vision surfaced with the dizzy spell.

Rosy... she was also drifting into despair before Robotnik and Sonic reached through their own controlled misery by the World Keeper and used the last of their hope to push her out...

I tried to strain as best as I could through the dizzy, blurry vision and move my hand up towards them.

Her vision and mine suddenly conjoined, and I saw younger Tails flash continuously between Silver and my dimension’s Tails too.

I spoke out to her... “We can still save everyone...” I encouraged, “We... can’t give in... to hopelessness!”

I felt our hearts merge into one, felt our power soar as though we were evolving into a new creature that had it’s life sparked into existence again.

Newly hatched into this feeling of easiness, peace, and strength beyond my understanding... I grabbed Tails and Silver’s hands and swung out, the darkness that was once overcoming me suddenly burst with light and the seven Chaos Emeralds floated around us.

“Ah! She didn’t fuse with them!” Silver blurted out, seeing them swarm both him and Tails too.

“She... was storing them!” Tails exclaimed.

I guess I had become somewhat of their server and carrier... there power was just kept safe in me... through the Master Emerald and my unique connection to the other me.

We fought and as we did, I touched the ground and brought my friends and all the dimensions who had succumb to the negativity out from the inky blanket of darkness and restored their light and hope through the power being expelled from me.

No longer was I a guide.

I was a redeeming light now.

Sonic, Shadow, and Silver all burst into Super form, and together--with all the other worlds we loved so dearly too--we put an end to World Keeper and with me and my other self touching his chest as he was about to fall back into the his own making of the void, he immediately returned to a smaller form of another being.

Sonic suddenly cried out, “Chip!” and darted into the void after him.

I waited... weeks and weeks did I wait for him...

I clung to my chest as though clinging to my heart, refusing to let it break, and keeping it all together again.

I didn’t have visions anymore, but I could feel something... Something like the despair of the void was created from that feeling of loss and loneliness when Chip’s essence left the core of the earth and became free roaming in space...

Tails said he had a theory, that Chip’s body was still with Dark Gaia, but his power had escaped in longing to reunite with Sonic, his friend, again.

Traveling through space and time without a body, it became depressed, and expelled it’s world-bending powers to try and find Sonic... ending up losing itself and taking all worlds and dimensions it was searching through down with it.

A comet of bright golden light shot down through the cosmos, and I eagerly dropped everything to race out my door and pursue it, I knew from the green, red, and white lights that covered the world that Chip’s soul and powers returned to their slumber... and brought back Sonic safely to us as well!

“Sonic..!” My heart could barely contain it’s joy as I raced over the hills to follow his light... before having it sink and my hands fling up to the sides of my face when I saw him hit the water off in the distance of the sea. “No, Sonic!!! You can’t swim!!”

The distance was too far, but I swam anyway, feeling my exhaustion from having traveled miles and miles already on land before seeing him fall into the ocean.

He was covered in a light I assumed was Chip’s planet power, and I held my breath and swam down to him, heard a voice in my mind calling to me...

“Sorry for all the trouble I caused, Amy... Take good care of Sonic from now on. I won’t be lonely without him anymore... I know I may never see him again, especially when I wake up many, many years from now... but even still, the moments I had with him in the void of space and time, and with our time facing Dark Gaia, will always be in my heart... Thank you for letting me see him, one last time...”

The floating ball of light around him slowly brought Sonic up to me, and when I entered it, I took a deep breath and fell limply over his body, floating with him up to the surface.

He opened his eyes and smiled at me, winking without a word but it still gave me so much comfort and peace.

It was as though he was saying everything would be alright now... and Chip’s remaining spatial power set us down on the shoreline... as the waves met us as we took a much deserved rest on the cool sands... the sun rose up and the sounds of helicopters and people were surrounding us, but we remained sleeping soundly next to one another...

Sonic’s warm hand... laying gently over my stomach...

Mine upon his heart.

G.U.N’s windy interruption causing us both to sneeze as Silver appeared and held out both his hands to stop them from investigating, explaining as we drifted off into our dreams~

[leviiattacks]

Two Faced | Chapter Four

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it's all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared. for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au, angst, fluff, slice of life etc word count :: 3k author note ::  you should also check out my ao3 and wattpad my username is LEVIATTACKS on both platforms. ao3 usually gets to see my updates first, feel free to leave any comments you have i appreciate all feedback ^___^ → next part is here!!

"Refer to me with that name once more and I'll see to it that your neck is snapped in two. Fucking Brat." His voice curls into a low hiss.

He rises from the bed making you jolt, if he's moving towards his dagger everything will be over in a matter of seconds. The tension between the two of you is foggy and uncertain.

Your line of vision is cloudy, bleary tears seize it. You should have tried harder whilst researching, found a way to make Lev stay, it hits you like a sack of bricks - you didn't try hard enough, was that the issue, was that the mistake you made this time? Mind full of harsh expletives you continue to curse yourself. Of course he left, of course he fucking did. Your life was one large cyclical narrative of earning the love of others and ultimately losing it along the way some how.

The world conditioned you to become independent, to not rely on others for affection, earn what you must on your own. Making your own way through life is all you know yet here you are. On the verge of tears because this damn fool won't remember you. Happiness is a privilege.

Staring into the distance you don't see the way your husband's glare thins out, neither do you notice how he leans forward invading your personal space.

"Care to explain how we got into this situation?" Breath fanning across your face exactly the same way it had months ago you gulp and realise he's staring at your lacy nightgown in sheer distaste. Oh no, He's got the wrong idea completely.

You jerk your head up to explain and only then is the close proximity between the two of you evident, you nearly knock your head against his as if you're inebriated. "No, no. We've never done that. I promise we haven't. I wouldn't take advantage of you." You're sputtering and are all over the place trying to hold some sort of ground in this conversation.

"I see that you saw no issue with taking advantage of me in other ways. You scheming money hungry roach."

You want to clear your name and tell him you really haven't touched any of his money. None of it at all to the point it's shameful to admit, especially considering the fact that everyone else sees you as Duchess Ackerman.

"I have not spent any of your money I swe-".

A deafening bang resounds through the room - in his fit of rage he kicks one of the solid oak drawers at the side of your bed to the floor.

A squeaky gasp falls out of your mouth and you flinch away as you cover your chest defensively. Your arms aren't the best armour but they work for now. If he's to stab you your worst fear is him piercing through your heart. What you fear most is him ripping the vital organ out of the confines of your chest. If he laughs hysterically and watches it bleed out you'll never forgive him. Your worries and doubts are internally eating away at you as you witness the darkness seeping into the corners of his vision.

It's quiet and dark and with him as well as a heavy silence looming over you, the pressure on your shoulders is quite literally immense.

He takes a hold of your chin and obnoxiously squishes your rosy cheeks together, dark tundra eyes never falter from yours, that is until they abruptly sink south and he catches drift of the way your night gown has ridden up. Thighs on full display you want to pull the edges of the material down but are too afraid to move under his deathly stare.

"Do you know how long I was stuck inside of my own body? Having to act like a fool on the daily."

"What?" You shakily reply through parted lips.

He was able to see everything he did under the spell? This changes the dynamic significantly. Cheeks flaring up in embarrassment you recall how you ate up all the sweet nothings he whispered into your ears, the scarlet blush creeps to the back of your ears when you think back to how you fervently kissed him goodbye whenever he was sent to venture outside the walls. The sanguine tint only intensifies when you think about the night where you accidentally let his bare hands venture a little too far.

"Naive little thing," he grunts. "You will never be my wife." He scowls sniffing at you in pure repulsion.

Whiskey, cigarette fumes and strong sweat infused cologne revoltingly is what you're reminded of when you hear those words leave his mouth. The stench isn't present but nevertheless you feel your throat constrict, never expecting to see any sort of parallel form between Levi and that man. The one time you stood your ground against Father it led to you being dragged away from the palace grounds, beat until you were unresponsive and left for dead. He left you there with the intention of extermination, his final words as he bid you goodbye that night had been - "You will never be my daughter."

You have no words left to offer, you're tongue tied. Expressionless whilst he gauges your reaction, the both of you don't register how Levi's grip on your cheeks loosens, that is until the look in his hooded eyes changes. They're inky now smoldering with resentment, he lets go of the hold he has on your face completely.

The separation between your face and his palm is stony.

All you want at that moment is for Lev to come back and wake you up from all of this. You've had enough of this sick and twisted nightmare where he doesn't look at you the way he normally does. The way he manhandles you irks you and lights a dangerous fire in your stomach.

Blinking your tears away you finally speak after your long silence "I know that My Lord." taking what may be one of your final breaths you announce the unthinkable "Feel free to finish what you were unable to last time."

"No begging?" he chastises you pulling you by the back of your ear.

"Would you spare me if I did?" The close ended question you respond with leaves him stiff.

Snatching your forearm you note that even when he's not under the constraint of the spell physical touch is consistently one of his ways of getting a point across. He jerks your tired form forward. "Who do you work for?"

Blood running cold you know he won't kill you now. He thinks you've come here with a purpose, a motive, a reason. Hell, all you did was ask to be loved, to experience something before the candle which was your life burnt out.

"No one. You said you were conscious in your mind whilst it all happened, correct?"

He nods albeit begrudgingly.

"Then you must have seen how I tried."

His right eyebrow cocks upwards ever so slightly. "Tried?"

Now it's your turn to be frustrated. "Tried to keep my distance, tried to ignore your advances, tried to refuse your gifts, tried to maintain a level of respect so the both of us would have some dignity remaining if you were to return some day. When I realised you would not stop with your persistence I accepted." You fumed - the fretful irritation you feel only increases by the second.

"Cut the crap." He snarls at you.

You want to snarl back with just as much impatience but you bite your tongue.

Maybe it's because it's late at night, maybe it's because you're fatigued or maybe it's because you already felt feverish and emotional - Honestly, any other reason apart from your husband turning his back on you and announcing you're a mongrel. Feeling light headed you clutch at your scalp harshly trying to control yourself, even Levi's firm hand which until recently held your left arm recoils away.

Falling to your knees you feel the way the floor grates against your bare legs. Your urge to pass out is nearly met but then you hear him.

"Honey???" The concern in his voice which had made you fall in love with him now repulses you.

Fists balling at your knees you silently sob, pitifully shaking your head.

This can't be your reality.

It can't be.

You won't let it be.

That night you find out nightmares can happen in real life.

Levi Ackerman being a prime example.

After the bitter encounter you leave the room and order Lev to not come after you, you need your own space and as much as you want him to return to his sweet, loving self it's pathetic to seek any comfort in him. That tyrant is bound to make another appearance soon enough and mock you for falling into his trap again, but really can you blame the man? Is this his fault or your own?

Whoever is at fault there will still come a time where the Levi you love won't come back and call you his Love. You'll have to get used to that bleak desolate reality. Assuming he doesn't kill you before you have to.

Day has now broken and the brisk morning air bites at you, scantily clad in your nightgown, It's abnormal, you think to yourself. The position you're in is one you imagined countless times but you never really thought you'd end up this way. You're about to drift off to sleep right there in the middle of the Estate's field of hydrangeas, too tired to actually care anymore when you hear a rustle from one of the surrounding bushes.

"Duchess?" Your head turns when you hear Mikasa's soft voice emerge from the hedges, she steps through them and you both stare at each other. Mouth open, gaping in shock she takes in your appearance. You can only imagine how you look right now. Dark eye bags, you aren't wearing your usual noble attire not to mention Levi has accidentally left a bruise on one of your arms. It's faint because it is accidental (you hope) it does not go unnoticed by Mikasa.

Her gaze hardens and she approaches your disheveled form kneeling in front of you.

"What happened?" She whispers, the panic is evident in her voice and you awkwardly chuckle in response.

"I had a horrible nightmare. That's all, honest."

"And it's Y/N need I remind you again?" Mikasa is big on respect and sure, it is cute but you want to remind her it really is okay to call you by your first name. After all you would consider her a friend, you hope she sees you the same way.

Giving you a look of disbelief she takes the hint that you don't want to talk about it but much to your delight she does take the advice regarding your name. She sounds hesitant but that's how she usually is, she'll get used to it in no time at all.

"Well...Y/N, Breakfast has been prepared." You can see the way she eyes your unkempt hair and shivering form. "Would you like to eat with me and Sasha?" this is her way of comforting you.

Your lips quirk up into a smile for the first time in a while.

"I would love that."

Twenty minutes and a change of clothes later you've all relocated to your tea room, Sasha doesn't ask questions about your hair or odd choice of clothing earlier this morning. The shadows Levi's fingers left on your arm are now carefully hidden by the sleeves of your baby blue dress. "Oh! Viscount Kirstein me and Y/N saw him yesterday. He's just like the rumours." Sasha exclaims as she stuffs her face with a croissant.

Mikasa takes a short sip from her tea cup. "And the rumours would be?"

You pick a cinnamon roll from the center of the table."Undeniably handsome. I mean he's not my type though."

Sasha looks momentarily confused. "He was drop dead gorgeous what do you mean?"

You laugh a bit at the disbelief on her face, Mikasa chooses to not intervene - she's obviously yet to come to her own conclusions about him.

"Yeah but you said it yourself he fucks anything in a skirt." Sasha, is wide eyed at first and chokes on part of her buttered croissant, you have never been so vulgar before. You guess the argument has left you more likely to voice your reckless thoughts. Snorting you try to keep your laugh in, the ghost of a smile makes its way to Mikasa's face and eventually she too dissolves into a puddle of laughter. The three of you laughing together genuinely eases the recent burden on your soul.

Just as you're about to crack another joke the door to your tea room rumbles.

BANG!  You seem to always be cut off when you're here because Eren Jaeger has burst inside perhaps for the seventh time this month. It's the same routine as usual, he's panting and catching his breathe before he speaks. You're in no mood to hear what he has to say.

"If the Duke has sent you please leave."

Mikasa gives him a "You better not ask any questions and take the damn hint" kind of look but bless Eren for he is completely and utterly clueless.

"It's urgent."

"Still rejecting." You hotly reply.

Mikasa icily interjects "Eren, would you stop being so bothersome?"

He looks between you and Mikasa helplessly. "The Duke says he expects your refusal but I can't return empty handed, I'll be given a punishment and it'll be worse than being made to clean the stables." He gives you a pleading look and he's so much younger than you, it makes you feel like he's your responsibility. Eren has a charming way of making himself feel like everyone else's annoying younger brother. You accept that he can't suffer because of your selfish denial.

Sighing deeply you take a final bite of your roll, if you're going to die you may as well do so on a full stomach. Before you depart you awkwardly get to your feet dusting your dress to buy some time as you bid Mikasa and Sasha goodbye.

You're now following Eren through the halls of the estate. Deep down inside, you know you aren't fearful. He won't kill you, not yet at least, he thinks you're a useful source of information relating to his external enemies, he would be stupid to overlook that detail. You'll exploit it for now, your key is survival, it always has and always will be that way.

Bumping into Eren's back you apologize for being absent minded, you swear the walk to Levi's office has always been much longer. He spares you a worried glance and looks as if he's about to offer you words of support but he stops himself before he opens the heavy door to Duke Ackerman's office. Perhaps he doesn't find it appropriate. Good, you think to yourself. You don't wish to hear motivation from anyone right now, it's nothing personal, it's that nothing can possibly be of motivation right now.

The door opens ever so slowly, your brain races making everything move at a sedated pace. Then you find yourself jolting upright in surprise. You soon realise expecting Levi to be the only person there was naive on your part. Eyes tensely land on the blonde in one of the cushioned caramel chairs. It's the Commander of the Empire's entire battalion — Erwin Smith.

Levi has ratted you out for sure, you spare a glance towards him and see the way he's trying to hide his feelings of amusement. You want to lunge over his desk and wipe that smug smirk off his face. The playful lilt in his usual unreadable expression is driving you mad. Next to Erwin is respected and high ranking Squad Leader Hange Zoe, you're quite well accustomed with them you've exchanged your fair share of words together and Hange has never failed to bring a smile to your face. The amusing air around them lights up any room they're in... Apart from this one that is.

Eren closes the door behind you and you're silent not really knowing what to do.

"Take a seat my beloved." Levi drawls. This isn't Lev you know that much, he's always enthusiastically jumping to his feet when he greets you.

Awkwardly sitting in the chair next to your husband you shake Hange's hand first then move to shake Erwin's. His warm palms envelope yours and he places a hand on your left shoulder. It's not at all similar to the way Levi held you earlier in the morning, the feeling is genuine. He has no ill intentions, all he seems to want to do is open a conversation.

"Y/N, we may not have much time but." He stops, unsure if it's for dramatics but you still intently listen.

The sea that is his blue eyes draws you in, you've only ever seen him from afar. If honesty and gentleness were a person it would be him no doubt about it.

He pats your shoulder and you snap out of your day dream. "Y/N. Thank you for your sacrifice and commitment to this Empire." His warm yet serious smile which follows simply confuses you, in fact this entire situation is doing that.

Jaw slacking you're dazed and bewildered, your thoughts are diverting in all sorts of direction now.

Whatever does he mean by sacrifice?

[sweetchup]

Not A Chance!!

Type: Shalnark x reader

Prompt: O’Inari’s Wisdom — On any day during this week, people of the ages of 19-30 years old will go through a walk in the woods carrying a clear ornament (Traditionally it used to be a Jar). The ornament is usually filled with the person’s favorite scent or perfume, Name and Phone number on paper slip, and their dream type of lover on a rose petal. When walking through the woods, the person allows the God/Goddess of the woods O’inari’s Imps to trick them into meeting their soulmate. It is a must to switch ornaments with that first person they see for it is said the imps won’t allow them to leave the forest unless they do so.

Author Note: I decided to try a different writing style with the kiss scene this time. Tell me what you guys think.

(Prompts/Rules) (Masterlist)

“Hey (y/n), Bisky, What’s this?” Gon asks. His voice was hardly heard over the many chattering of the NPCS and other players in the city as you looked at him. Gon first shows Bisky, who was closer to him, a baby blue flier that you couldn’t quite read from where you were standing. “Is it some sort of Greed Island event?”

“Wait a minute. Gon do you not know what O’inari’s wisdom is?” Bisky questions, shocked. Walking over closer and looking from behind Bisky, you realize that the Winter Holiday of O’inari’s Wisdom was indeed taking place on Greed island. You were slightly surprised for a second but it soon started to make sense the more you thought about it. It had started snowing on the island recently and if the game was parallel to the times in the real world then it should also be December in the game. So it just made sense that Holidays were also coded into the game to match the changing seasons.

“Oh, so it’s a Holiday,” Gon says surprised once Bisky explains it to him, “We didn’t celebrate it on Whale Island. Maybe it’s because I was so young. But, at the very least, (y/n) will be able to celebrate it with us.”

“Huh?” You murmur confused. You never mentioned anything about doing it, “I’m not doing it. Actually, why would you think I would do it?”

“Well, you don’t have a boyfriend right? So you must have not done it yet. So you should do it! It will be fun!” Gon explains enthusiastically as Bisky nods in agreement. Of course, it was just straightforward thinking done by Gon, not thinking of other possible possibilities. Man, why exactly did Killua have to leave you to take the Hunter exam again?

“I actually have done the Holiday before,” You tell the two as you start to walk away, calling forth “book” as you do so. As you examine through your binder, you continued to explain what you meant to the younger boy, “I’ve actually done it many times. Sometimes doing a full week some years. Other times going to different locations from other cities or towns. But in all the years I’ve done, I never once heard nor bumped into anyone else in the forest. So I just gave up on th—”

Bisky suddenly cuts you off with a loud exaggerated gasp.

“Oh My~ Then that must mean you really do have a soulmate out there (y/n)! What powerful young love!!” Bisky states dreamily as sparkles and flowers seem to dance around her. All you can do is sigh at the older woman antics and continue on your way. Honestly, to you there was no way Soulmates could exist. Not a chance! There was just no science nor reason behind it. Nen could be explained. Monsters could be explained. But soulmates, not at all. It was just some made up myth with no hard facts.

As you make your way to the gate of Aiai, you feel Gon tug at your top to catch your attention.

“But, (y/n)?” You take your eyes away from your binder to look at Gon. “Do you think you could try? Perhaps one of the needed 99 slot cards is given at the event.”

“Oooo, good thinking Gon,” Bisky states looking at the flier and then looking at you. “With that possibility, I order you to do it then (y/n). Afterall, you are the only person who could do it out of us.”

You and Bisky stare at each other tensely for a little. Slightly challenging each other to step down until eventually you give up and finally look away. Even though you aren’t looking at her, you can hear Bisky doing a dance in success. “Fine then where do we go to take place in this event?”

“Apparently, you can get there by using an Accompany to Winterfell. We don’t even need to go there beforehand to use the accompany card.” As Bisky explains, you flip your binder and grab a spare accompany card. This is the last one from your binder so Gon and Bisky will have to start using their ones from now on. Well, Until you can get to Masadora to get some more.

“Okay then, let’s get this over with,” You state. Though for some reason you have an uneasy feeling in your stomach as you hold the card up. You wondered why, perhaps you felt nervous? But why would you? Greed Island was hardly crowded so this is the lowest chance of meeting someone during the Holiday. Maybe it was just the fact you haven’t done this tradition in a while. Yeah, that was probably just it, “Accompany on! To Winterfell!”

—.—.—.—.—

The crunching sound of snow is the only thing you hear as you walk through the forest. For what felt goes on for miles, all you have been seeing was snow covered pine trees. Not even birds or other sources of life have been spotted while you have been walking in this forest which was quite strange. How long have you been walking you wondered. It was hard to tell but you guessed maybe an hour or so?

Stopping next to a tree, you run your hand up it’s trunk somewhat tracing the engravement in it. You had already seen this before. It was like you have been going in circles, even though you have actually only been going straight. Was this some sort of test in the game? Maybe Gon was right about a specified slot card being here.

“Book!” In a poof, your binder opens up. Or, at least that's what you expect to happen. However, it doesn’t pop up. After calling the book a couple more times, you realize it was no use. It just doesn’t work. Was this some glitch in the game?

All of sudden, a rush of wind catches you off guard. It wasn’t just any breeze however, this gust of wind was similar to that of a giant icy blizzard. You cringe as the snow in the wind pricks and scratches at your skin. You needed to take cover from the harsh wind before you freeze to death.

Quickly, when you try to look around to find somewhere to take cover, something whips into your face, blinding you. As you struggle to pull it off of you, the wind suddenly comes to a complete stop. Weird, very weird. Finally getting it off of you and taking a good look at the item, you realize it was just an in-game scarf. Actually, you weren’t even sure it was an item from the game since it had a tag from the real world.

“Hey! That’s my sc—“ Turning around at the cheerful voice behind you, you see a familiar man a couple of feet away from you. You don’t understand why you recognize the man until he suddenly goes on guard and realization hits you. Wait a minute you remember that stance. He was a member of the Phantom Troupe wasn’t he? Shalnark, right? You quickly get on guard as well when he grabs an antenna from his pocket. An manipulator, huh? In a one on one fight like this, he has the clear advantage on you.

“Hey, I’m not here with the chain user,” You state, breaking the silence between you two. You weren’t usually someone to give up but avoiding a fight with him and going your separate ways is the best way to go in this situation. Afterall, the last thing you needed was to become his newest puppet. “I’m with the kids and all we are doing is playing the game by collecting cards.”

You wrap up Shalnark’s scarf and lightly toss it in front of his feet.

“I have no problems with you guys and I don’t want to fight you.” You continue as you start to walk backward, away from him. Hopefully, that woman, Pakunoda, told the other troupe members how you deteratarted Kurapika away from the option of placing a Nen dagger in her heart and helped spared their boss’ life.

It’s quiet and tense for a couple of minutes, not even the wind was blowing, before the blonde nods in agreement to your idea. You watch as he carefully picks up his scarf and then both of you two turn away from each other at the same time to walk away. Thankfully, counting on that woman seemed t—

All of sudden, after a couple of steps, the large gust of wind returns. You tried to fight against it and continue forward but it only seemed to grow stronger the more you tried. It grew so strong in fact that it lifted you right off your feet and threw you backward. You hoped to land on the soft snow but, of course with your luck, you hit something else very hard with a loud thump. Originally, you thought it was a tree that you hit but once you roll onto your side, you come to the realization that whatever you landed on doesn’t feel anything like tree bark.

“Ow! What was that…” Shooting up at the voice, You realize it was Shalnark that you had hit. You attempt to scurry away from him fast however, as soon as you get too far away, a gust of wind drags him back towards you. You pause as Shalnark lifts his head from being buried in the snow and looks at you confused.

“I-It’s some sort of error in the game. I swear. Maybe with the coding? Or—“ You blab out in a tangent trying to explain what was going on. Soon however, Shalnark sighs loudly, cutting you off.

“That’s a really stupid conclusion you cam up with. If you had once stop to look around you in this game, you would have realized this place, Greed Island, actually takes place in the real world. Specifically a straight shot east of York New.” Shalnark explains, somewhat sarcastically. All you do is roll your eyes. Of course you got stuck with the jackass of the troupe.

“Well then since this game isn’t actually a game, what do you think is going on, if you think you are oh so right?” You spat back at him. For some reason, you just couldn’t understand why he was being so rude in this situation, it was clearly neither of yours fault.

“Simple. This,” Shalnark states confidently as he takes the ornament from his pocket and lifts it up to you. You can’t help but laugh loudly at the idea, causing him to scowl at you.

“Y-You can’t be serious?! You and I? Soulmates!?”

“Of course! You do realize that in the myth it’s impossible for us to leave until we exchange our ornaments.” Shalnark explains, tossing his ornament at you. Clutching it in your hand, you quickly examine the ornament before scoffing.

“Yeah, not a chance,” You state as you toss his ornament back to him, causing Shalnark to sputter confused. “In no ways am I giving my personal information and phone number to the tech expert of the phantom troupe. That’s just plain stupid.”

You and Shalnark bicker on back and forth for a while until eventually he goes quiet and just glares at you. Honestly, in your opinion, it was better if he just chose to quit talking. He snaps his fingers catching you off guard, “Okay I have an idea! How about I try to convince you we are destine—”

“Soulmates?” You finish for him, slightly cringing.

“Yeah, that! And if I can convince you, then you can feel safe to give me your ornament so we can both leave.”

You ponder a little on the option he suggested. Honestly, you actually didn’t have much of any others option to begin with, “Fine. What do you got to convince me?”

“Well, first,” You watch closely as Shalnark grabs the Rose petal out from his ornament. Oh, you knew where this was going, that was actually a smart idea. Maybe this guy actually had some brain cells. “I’m going to read off my dream type of lover. I bet this will describes you.”

Reading off his petal to you, you listen carefully. As the more he goes on, you can’t deny that it did somewhat describe you, almost on the dime. As Shalnark shows the petal to you to prove he wasn’t making stuff up, You decide to grab your own petal. He seems to get excited that you finally understood what he was saying.

“See I tol—“ Shalnark is cut off when you let out a loud laugh.

“Yeah no way. Mine is ‘Someone who is like the sun; always cheerful as well as mentally bright.’” You read off, chucking it back into the ornament.

“Hey! I’m pretty cheerful! And bright!” Shalnark states, finally flashing you a smile for the first time you’ve been with him.

“Ha, I doubt that.” You say, though you can’t help but feel your heart skip a beat at how handsome he looked with a smile on his face. Your eyes go wide and you mentally slap yourself. What in the world were you thinking just now? You were flustered over him?!, “N-Next! What’s your other ideas?!”

“Aw come on!”

After a couple of more attempts from Shalnark to prove you two are soulmates, as well as many more confused borderline bipolar back and forth feelings on your end, Shalnark has run out of ideas and you two sit in silence as he tries to come up with more.

“Is that all the ideas you have?” You ask him shivering slightly as you pull your jacket closer for warmth. Looking up towards the sky above the thick pine branches, you see that it had just started to get darker out, effectively making it ten times colder as well. It now dawns on you that at this rate with your progress, you two could possibly freeze to death out here if you couldn’t get to a warm shelter before night.

“Shalnark. Here I—“ You suddenly pause what you were saying as you turn to face the man, “what the hell do you think you are doing…?”

You looked confused at Shalnark, who had moved closer to sit next to you. You didn’t know what he was up to but you definitely still didn’t trust him. As you try to lift yourself up to move away, Shalnark quickly grabs your wrist to keep you put where you were. Oh hell no. You struggle against his grip, attempting to pry his fingers off of your wrist but while you are distracted he uses his other hand to grab your arm. Effectively trapping you.

You struggle against him a little more but it only causes him to push you backwards down into the snow, him slightly leaning over you. Now nervous about what Shalnark was possibly doing, you shout out to him, “H-hey! I’ll give you the ornament okay? I don’t want—“

You feel the rest of your words die in your throat as Shalnark leans his forehead against yours, causing him to get very close to your face as well. Biting the inside of your mouth, you close your eyes tightly as a way to try calming your pounding heart. You couldn’t tell if your heart was racing out of fear or possibly something else. Though, again, it wasn’t like you could think straight at this point on time to figure which one. Cutting off your thoughts, Shalnark lets out a boyish giggle and tells you, “For someone who says they hate me and doesn’t believe in soulmates, your face sure is feeling quite hot. It’s almost as if you are flustered by me.”

Quickly, most likely in an attempt to save your dignity, you turn your face away to him so his face could no longer touch yours. As you do so, your heart leaps out of your chest when you hear him let out a small aww in disappointment.

“H-hey! I said I’ll give you my ornament so let go of me!” You sputter out, trying and likely failing at keeping yourself composed. You know it’s hard for you to think logically in a situation like this but you would’ve thought you had enough common sense in you to not get flustered by a mass murder.

“Hmmmm… Nope” Shalnark answers, popping the “p” at the end. Surprised and bewildered, You whirl your head around back to look at him. He seemed to get a kick out of your reaction because he can’t help but laugh. “You are correct by the fact that all I wanted originally was to take the ornament and leave. But the more we went on, talking and bickering, I realized I wanted something else.”

“H-huh? What? I don’t have much of anything else.” You questioned. Was he talking about cards in the game? Gon carried all of the number slot cards so you didn’t have anything that was useful to Shalnark.

“Silly girl~ It’s simple.” Shalnark flashes you a smile as he boops your nose with each next word, “I. Want. You~”

As you give a weird expression in response to Shalnark flirting attempt, he looks at you confused as to why you looked like that before full on laughing, when what looked like steam started to flow from out of your head. He couldn’t believe he fried your brain with a silly pick up line. It wasn’t even a good one either.

“Adorable~” Shalnark whispers out so softly and quietly that you almost don’t hear it. You go to ask him to repeat what he said again, but stop when he leans down. He wasn’t—

You can only watch as he inches closer and closer to your face. You don’t get why you don’t stop him, you know you probably should. But you just couldn’t for some reason you didn’t quite understand.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Shalnark kisses you. Stealing your first kiss, a precious thing you could never be able to get back from him. Though you doubt you would even try if you were able to.

As his lips moved against yours, you had to admit they were surprisingly soft, not at all rough or chapped like what the very few romance books you’ve read over the years described. Though you had to admit those boorish books were right about one thing, kissing someone was a feeling you’ve never once experienced before in your life. Authors have described the experience in many different ways but as Shalnark pulls away from your lips only to dive it once. Twice. And so many more times that you’ve lost count, you realize yours wasn’t like the ones written down. It didn’t take your breath away, it wasn’t rough or deep, it wasn’t messy or desperate.

But, it was yours. A feverish kiss if you must find a word to describe it. A kiss that even while pushed down into the freezing cold snow, you felt you were burning up inside. So much so, that your brain seemed to melt and your muscles turned to jelly from an non existent heat.

Finally after a while, you two pull away from each other, still in a trance like state from what happened. It’s quiet, nothing is heard nor said between you two as you just stare at each other. You know it is now dark out. You know you should be trying to get back to Gon and Bisky before they worry. You know it would be in your best interests to try to get away as far as you can from the dangerous man before you. You know you shouldn’t be feeling such feelings for him, for it is too soon and he probably doesn’t even deserve to be able to experience a pleasant emotion like this one. You know all these things almost as if they are engraved in your heart.

But, even when knowing all these things, you can’t stop yourself from dragging Shalnark back in to give you another kiss.

[sneakydraws]

Well, here it is - a lengthy explanation of each card in my mdzs major arcana deck and what I meant to convey/what i would have changed in retrospect/what alternatives i considered! It’s a bit messy and my typing style is lazy but hopefully it will be an interesting read to some of you :)

And so you don’t say I didn’t warn you - jiang cheng’s section (11 justice) is absurdly long lmao

0 the fool  I elaborated on this in the post itself but yeah basically jin ling is kind of representative of all the damage and trauma caused by the past, and there’s a kind of danger there of him falling victim to the same vices as the older characters and repeating the same mistakes and perpetuating the cycle of war and misery (the cycle that we already see with how the jin sect became the new wen sect, and later with how jgy became the new wwx) and he has a lot of room to grow! He grows so much over the course of the novel, comes to realise the complexities of the past and gets a harsh life lesson in how nothing is as black and white as it seems. But ill save talking about his progress for the end, for now whats important is that he has room to grow and also a dog. I don’t really have a justification for the sun, i mostly just thought it looked sick? It made its way to the next card as well, where it makes a bit more sense, but then i realised it was a dumb motif to include 1 the magician I still very much like wwx for the role, and that illustration would have probably had him raising a corpse on his left and pointing threateningly to the sun on his right. I considered including the table as well, with some mdzs relevant items replacing the card suits. Anyway, like i said wwx got a few cards to himself already so i went with the alternative wq design, since i think she fits the card as well. Both she and wwx are highly skilled people, extremely driven once they set their mind to something. The card to me symbolises the creative mind as well as a general drive for action, which fits them both - wwx was famously a prolific inventor, and wq came up with a previously unheard of surgery, after all. This card strays pretty far from the rider-waite deck design, largely because i was still figuring out how i wanted to approach this series, but you can still see the influence. 2 the high priestess I was actually going to skip this card at first because I couldn’t think of a fitting character, but once i considered a qings character post death, it all fit pretty well. She was already a highly intuitive person in life, and in sharing her memories with wwx she is, in a way, relaying a kind of secret knowledge. Anyway she’s one of my fav characters so im glad i got a chance to include her. The coffins could be interpreted to be xxc and sl or xxc and xy 3 the empress Theres other mother figures in mdzs who got to be mothers for a longer time, but jyl definitely embodies the positive aspects of this card the best. She’s nurturing, kind, emotionally supportive, she already mothered wwx and jc quite a bit when she was young. Plus i liked that the rw card had both water and flowers, making an easy lotus connection. In retrospect the stars look kind of out of place and i should have replaced them with something more relevant... Also, i should have had her hold a lotus seed pod instead of a flower, haha 4 the emperor Like i said I considered jc for the role but hoching bullied me into admitting that nmj was better… they’re both more of an inverted emperor than an upright one but then again theres hardly any character in mdzs who would fit upright emperor so. Jgs was also considered but he’s even uglier than nmj so i couldn’t bear to draw him 5 the hierophant It was pointed out to me that lqr would have fit this card better and the truth if that statement haunts me to this day. Unfortunately I have no space in my brain for lqr so lxc got the role instead. My main reason was his role during the wen destruction of gusu lan, when he ran away with the contents of the library - this is why there’s bookshelves behind him. The keys, take, from the rider-waite deck, are meant to represent the gusu pendants that allow you to enter 6 the lovers Im sure many people would have chosen wangxian here but I uhh don’t really care abt wangxian personally? And also their love story is so convoluted that jyl and jzx seem idyllic by comparison lol. Also i didnt really have an idea for who to put in the angel’s place for wangxian… mme jin certainly did not get these two together in the end but undeniably she and mme yu did initially give them a chance to fall for each other so. Thats something i guess. Anyway the trees became their sects’ flowers and the mountain became the burial grounds - an omen of their tragic fate, basically 7 the chariot There might have been other characters who fit this card better but i couldn’t really think of another card for lwj and i thought it would be weird to not include him… anyway i don’t really care for current timeline lwj BUT i do like that he was clearly influenced by wwx to walk his own path in life based on his moral convictions rather than follow his sect’s rules blindly. The chariot is to me a card of self control, self determination and focused action, so it seemed fitting. The composition felt kind of empty without the actual chariot so i padded it out with the guqin, the cloud recess in the bg (it doesn’t look great but i tried to replicate the drama design….) and the bunnies which conveniently fit the colour scheme of the sphinxes in the rider-waite design 8 strength Like i said before, my interpretation of this card is more… morally ambiguous than the quote unquote official meaning, so i thought about manipulative or duplicitous characters more than kind characters whose strength is expressed through gentleness (though i did consider jyl briefly for the latter interpretation). As such, i considered both jgy and nhs, but ended up going with jgy largely because i couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put the nie sect’s beast as the lion. 9 the hermit My thoughts immediately went to bssr lol. It may be an overly literal interpretation but whatever, i like it just fine. And i like that i managed to echo the rider-waite silhouette in the mountain and the tree (and even in bssr herself) 10 wheel of fortune God i love the parallels between these 2… this card to me is about how you cant trust your current situation, good or bad, to last forever, and these 2 embody that perfectly imo. Wwx went from son of a well off servant and a powerful cultivator, to street rat orphan, to adopted son of sect leader jiang, to double orphan, to MIA, to terrifying but admired warrior, to terrifying and despised traitor, to dead, to, at the very end, suddenly respected and trusted again. The dishonesty and cheapness of whatever the public’s current opinion of him is is portrayed beautifully as far as im concerned. And jgy of course claws his way up to power only to instantaneously become public enemy number one, to the point that he’s probably blamed for stuff there’s no reason to believe he had a hand in. Wei wuxian’s silent astonishment at how quickly the cultivation world turns against jgy and towards him again is a delicious moment of thematic resonance.  11 justice I settled on this card for jc after he got booted from the emperor seat but i do think it fits, in a somewhat convoluted way. I turned both the sword and the scales into visual representations of the golden core transfer (can you tell im obsessed with it). According to biddy tarot, the justice card is partly about searching for the truth, and the scene where jc finds out about the transfer is of course a big deal. I was also very influenced by the reversed meaning again - which is about being reluctant or unwilling to face or accept the consequences of your actions. I feel on an intuitive level that this fits jc but I’m not sure how well i can explain it - it’s something about how he’s a little too comfortable scapegoating wwx for things that were also, if much less so, influenced by his actions, and also something about the way he keeps wwx at an arm’s length emotionally but still leans on him and accepts his support when he really needs it, and somewhat hypocritically expects wwx to put the needs of him and the jiang sect before the needs of others. And also something about the core exchange is the consequence and proof of wwx’s deep - terrifyingly deep, even - love and care for him, which is something jc doesn’t seem to let himself acknowledge. Maybe even something about how you could argue that the way all of the jiangs acted around wwx - jfm’s favouritism that left him with the feeling of a debt he needs to repay, mme yus insistence that he be a servant more than a brother to jc, prepared to give his life for jc, and jc’s own unwillingness - or inability, he was a child after all - to clearly acknowledge wwx as an equal to himself, enabling wwx’s self sacrificial and protective tendencies - that all of this was what caused wwx’s complete and unquestioning willingness to do whatever it took to protect jc, and therefore paved the way to the golden core transfer. And i don’t mean this to be scapegoating jc - especially considering how young he was when this all went down, it wouldn’t be fair to expect this level of emotional perceptiveness, awareness and maturity of him - but i think adult jc has to grapple with the fact that the chain of cause and effect was not as simple as wwx fucking everyone’s lives up to be a martyr, and that both jc and his parents had a role in that story as well. I don’t even necessarily think this is something that jc only realised in the current timeline - i think it’s something he felt on some level this whole time, and it probably led to a lot of feelings of guilt - but the suibian reveal definitely puts it in sharp focus, and i think he’s now better equipped to handle this introspection than he was as a recently orphaned, traumatised teenager, lol. ANYWAY the window with the fabric is both a nod to the rider-waite design and a reference to the destruction of lanling - i actually did some basic ass research for this, and it seems that in ancient china fabric would indeed be hanged in a window if the normally used paper was damaged. The design of the window, as well as the very idea to use it to imply the reconstruction of lanling, was taken from this great piece of jc angst by my pal moroll1! Oh yeah also the covered window kind of works as a denial of forgiveness for jc because it’s like a halo but covered up... Also I completely forgot to put a blindfold over his eyes which would be perfectttt because blind justice and the core exchange......... ok moving on 12 the hanged man I always have issues with this card because i cant find a satisfactory summary of what it’s really about. Best i can tell it symbolises a need to hit pause, surrender or let go of something… ive also seen it tied to sacrifice? So mo xuanyu doesn’t fit perfectly, but sacrifice is definitely there in a surface level reading kind of way, and the idea that you have to surrender or let go in order to achieve your goal does fit the whole deal of getting revenge but giving up your life in exchange and not being there to see it 13 death This is probably one of my favourite cards, definitely not because I have huge issues with change or anything…. I see this card as signalling the necessity of change or putting an end to something / leaving something in the past in order to start anew? At first i considered putting past wwx, mxy and current wwx here as a kind of transformation and one cycle flowing into the next... But firstly, I’d already used mxy in the very previous card, so putting him in again would feel like overkill, and secondly, the longer I thought about it the less convinced I was that this would even fit with the card’s meaning? Because coming back from the dead doesn’t like... trigger an internal transformation within wwx or anything? Anyway, fun fact: the design I ended up going with was actually originally intended for judgement! I thought I was being very clever with the whole “figure plays an instrument and the dead rise” parallel, but apparently I’d just completely forgotten that the judgement card had a completely different composition... Truly I was boo boo the fool... But yeah anyway at the end of the day I figured the design would kind of work for death as well, with Wen Ning and the theme of transformation, (since in his case coming back as a fierce corpse does actually mark a certain transformation in behaviour) and Wei Wuxian’s protection of the Wen people essentially signifying an attempt to break the cycle of oppression if that makes any sense? Like, wwx is trying to revolutionise the way the world works a bit, if you catch my drift 14 temperance  The centrist card! Again this is probably going off track from the “official” interpretation, but to me this card has a certain “don’t commit fully; do everything in moderation; don’t take either side” flavour to it that i personally find infuriating irl and that i very much assign to lxc. It’s entirely possible that I’m misinterpreting his character because i didn’t really pay him (and the 3zun in general) much mind while reading, but hell, I’m allowed to pick favourites and choose who i want to interpret deeply vs shallowly. Again, i wish id chosen lqr for hierophant because its so annoying for a character i don’t care about to get two cards…. But oh well 15 the devil My alternative idea for this was jgy as the devil and lxc plus nmj as the figures, but since all three had been featured already (multiple times, even!) i figured I’d go with xy instead, especially since he’s among my faves lol. I think the devil signifies something along the lines of unhealthy attachment, obsession or addiction, which isn’t 100% accurate in the case of xxc and a-qing, but if i stretch it a bit to cover toxic relationships in general, and especially manipulation or negative influence, i don’t think it’s half bad. My main struggle here was to choose who amongst the xxc/sl/aq trio to choose for the human figures. 16 the tower Arguably jin zixuans death and the following massacre of nightless city were the final and most direct reason for the siege of burial mounds, and the tiger seal is good shorthand for wwx’s loss of control over his powers, which led to the deaths of jzx and jyl. When reimagining major arcana i like to feature some kind of building in this card (spoilers for a possible future project but in my rose of versailles major arcana set the tower is bastille) and even if it’s not a tower, the image of wwx looming over the gathered crowd from atop a rooftop is so good i couldn’t resist 17 the star Struggled with this one - considered both jin ling and lsz for it, as symbolising a hope for the future, but that was kind of covered by the world so it wouldn’t make sense to include here as well... As usual when I struggle with interpreting a card (as opposed to understanding it but struggling with matching a character to it, like with death or moon) I went to biddy tarot and read all the details about its meaning. What i got was that this card signifies an incoming period of introspection and inner peace following a time of turmoil, as well as a general moving on into a new, better phase of one’s life or finding new meaning and purpose. The figure also suggests someone vulnerable, but possessing a keen sense of intuition as well as a good degree of practicality and common sense. Given all those, I settled for mianmian because IM LOVE HER..... I also kind of see her as a prelude to the “just one person is enough” theme present in tgcf!! And i think her decision to abandon her sect because she saw the toxicity and corruption in it is a very inspiring action - even if it didn’t make a large visible impact, i think the appearance of her and her idyllic family at the very end of the novel - paralleling and mirroring wangxian - implies that at the end of the day, it was a meaningful one 18 the moon Another card i ALWAYS fuxking struggle with - this time less because i can’t grasp its meaning and more because I can never find a character that fits it well. I usually get fixated on the “dreams and subconscious” part, but if i lean more on the “disguise, deceit, anxiety and fear” part, i eventually figured the whole yi city arc wouldn’t be a bad fit. I say the entire arc because it really does encompass all those themes if you include both the past and the present - xue yang’s disguise, his tricks with the villagers, a-qing’s lies and even xxc’s reluctance to talk about his past as well as xue yang pretending to be xxc all fit the disguise and deceit angle, and the general mystery and creepiness of the current timeline yi city work well with the anxiety and fear - the mist, the slow uncovering of the past, even a-qing being revealed to be an ally after scaring the shit out of the protags. I definitely struggled with including all the elements and characters, and even moreso with making them vaguely fit the rider-waite composition, but i think it ended up okay ish. OH and i completely forgot to draw mist swirling around them :( 19 the sun I was considering mianmian’s family for this one, but since I used her for star, I ended up with wwx and his parents instead. Once again I’m reinterpreting the card a bit - normally I think it symbolises incoming times of pure happiness and abundance, as well as a connection with the inner child, but I gave it more of a nostalgic or sentimental twist - wwx looking back at the brief glimpse of his happy childhood. 20 judgement another card that i struggle to interpret a bit... Here i actually used the tgcf tarot zine as a reference! In it judgement is summarised as “rebirth, following duty, absolution” SO i figured that nhs, mxy and wwx all together would fit pretty neatly... wwx achieving (public) absolution through clearing his own name after being reborn, and nhs sort of calling on wwx to expose jgy’s crimes... It’s a bit messy but not bad I think! 21 the world This ties very closely to my read on mdzs as a story - which is that it’s, at the end of the day, largely about cycles, and about how hard it is to break them, but how we gotta keep trying and have hope anyway. Or maybe more precisely, that the people directly involved with and influenced by the trauma of the past might not be able to get over said trauma and that the hope for healing from it will be shouldered by the new generation. Or something like that… Basically what i mean is that jc and wwx and lwj and lxc and nhs and jgy and all these people who were in the thick of the sunshot campaign and the siege are so profoundly affected by it that it genuinely feels by the end of the story like there is little hope for them to ever truly overcome that trauma and build a better future without repeating the same old mistakes - but there is a glimmer of hope in the new generation, specifically in jl and lsz. And it’s a bit paradoxical, because they have also been directly impacted by the past tragedies - lsz having his entire clan wiped out after wwx failed to protect them, jl losing both his parents to wwx’s mistakes - but despite that loss, and despite coming from arguably the two opposing sides of the past conflicts, they are both, in the end, capable of moving past that tragedy, of recognising the complicated nature of those conflicts (jl’s moment of clarity at the end is both heartbreaking and hopeful) and forging friendships between clans in the process. I honestly think that the extra where jl is struggling to assert his authority as sect leader, to treat his subjects well and to cooperate with other sects in a truly amicable way is the single hopeful ending note for the larger themes of the novel - it allows us to imagine that maybe these kids can learn from the mistakes of their elders rather than getting sucked in by resentment at those mistakes, and actually build a brighter future for the cultivation world. And sidenote, this is also why i have a soft spot for jin ling and lan sizhui as a ship... speaking of which their poses were directly referenced from the lovers card ehehe

Looking back, I’d like to add some symbol of jin ling’s trauma so that it mirrors baby wen yuan in the tree stump... maybe his father’s sword?