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acornminiatureslog · 2 years

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I wanna talk a bit more about my marines and the chaos marines I’m now working on after I got hit with a couple fun ideas while waiting on replacement printer parts.

For background, my space marine chapter, The Hounds of Terra, are something I came up with to spice up how Primaris marines work in the lore, and give me a chance to make badass ladies in space.

Intro

When Abaddon destroyed Cadia and the great rift split the galaxy in twain, one of the many hidden caches of Cawl’s primaris marines came under siege by the forces of chaos, and the attending techpriests were forced to activate the marines they had in stasis.

The siege went on for decades, with the attrition wearing on the loyalists. Specifically, the traitors quickly adopted tactics that made it more and more difficult for the apothecaries to recover the geneseed of fallen primaris marines. As the number of astartes shrunk, the tech priests took desperate action, pulling a batch of flawed geneseed from stasis. This geneseed was previously abandoned due to its mutations, but was preserved due to an interesting characteristic: it would only take hold and develop in female aspirants. In need of the aid, the tech priests began creating astartes with this geneseed and youths from civilian population. These new marines were effective, but looked upon with disdain by the other marines present, who referred to them as dogs, or hounds. They were given the most dangerous assignments and little support holding the line, but they found success, often out of spite, but more often because they new the fear the civilians they protected had to endure.

By the time relief finally arrived and broke the siege, the only marines left standing were these women. When the acting leader, Resia Avidon, went to meet with the envoys of the Indomitus Crusade with full intent of hiding her and her sisters’ oddities. The attending tech priests, eager to see how this project of theirs would develop, agreed to aid in the ruse.

The result was the Crusade designating the beleaguered marines as a full ultima founding chapter, gifting them a Battle Barge, Beneficia in Terra, and granting them time to gather their forces before joining in the war to beat back chaos in service of the Imperium. The chapter chose the name The Hounds of Terra, firmly declaring their loyalty and turning the insult hurled at them into a badge of honor.

Silver Cog

This was only a stopgap measure though, as despite their official induction as a chapter, they had no acceptable geneseed they could send to the vaults on Mars. This issue was solved when The Hounds of Terra had a chance encounter with a drifting strike cruiser. On board, they found the remnants of a chapter known as the Silver Cog, a firstborn chapter that had been reported missing two millennia ago. Their leader, Captain Valos Tetys, shared a tale in which their chapter had been lured into a trap, allies turning on them, only his strike cruiser escaping, their navigator sending them on a blind jump through the warp. Tetys feared that the hidden traitors within the imperium might still seek his chapter’s destruction, and wished to hide their true identity. Sensing he was a fair and reasonable man in a tough spot, Chapter Founder Avidon proposed an idea to Tetys: to integrate their chapters under the banner of The Hounds of Terra, the Silver Cog gaining the fresh start they desired, and The Hounds of Terra gaining a source of geneseed that would pass muster on Mars.

(Irl, this is my reason for lady primaris marines coexisting with my love of HH relic units. It is convoluted as fuck, but I kinda cobbled all of this together over time, and I like it. All the convolution gives me a couple different angles to work with when it comes to justifying matches against other Imperial armies.)

Potassiar

It was in the following decades when The Hounds of Terra established their working relationship with other imperial elements in the sector, and their reputation as steadfast hoarders. The chapter adopted a policy of gathering up any arms, armor, or relics they found, and if they were unable to reach the original owners, simply incorporating it into their own stores. In particular, this practice is how they have built up their terminator units, of which the chapter has four full squads. This practice also extends to spacecraft, with the ships of the Hounds of Terra often returning from naval engagements and long range patrols towing the hulls of lost and damaged naval ships. In return for the many hulks they have kept in circulation over the years, they have been gifted a handful of additional strike cruisers, and several escort vessels, which in turn, aid in the return of more lost hulls.

Of special note is the relationship The Hounds of Terra built with the minor forgeworld of Potassiar. This was the nearest base of the Adeptus Mechanicus to the cache-world The Hounds of Terra were birthed upon, and many of the surviving tech priests transferred to Potassiar after the chapter’s founding. The presence of respectable orbital facilities and these familiar faces within the priesthood led to Potassiar being a frequent resupply point for The Hounds of Terra as they warred against the great enemy. It was here that they dropped off many naval hulls and any arms and armor they recovered, yet could not return or fit into their own armory. The greatest collaboration came when a space hulk of respectable size materialized within the outer reaches of the Potassiar system. The tech priests immediately sent word, and captain Tetys himself led the full force of the chapter’s terminators to claer the hulk ahead of the mechanicus’ work prying loose ancient hulls. This aid was lent for the favor of the mechanicus in constructing a proper flagship for The Hounds of Terra, with a suitable hull being selected from the hulk by Captain Tetys.

At the hip’s completion, it was slightly larger than a standard battle barge, but only truly differing in the addition of expansive manufacturing and repair facilities, as well as a set of main engines salvaged from a battleship. Chapter Founder Avidon and her honor guard were brought to the dockyards for the final blessings, and named the ship Avidon’s Might. It was at this moment that the chapter was betrayed.

The skitari forces of the Potassiar tech priests ambushed the chapter founder, alongside a force of nurgle-blessed heretic astartes. Between a small force of loyal mechanicus elements, the chapter founder’s honor guard, and the terminator forces of the first company, The Hounds of Terra were able to hold off the traitors until the Beneficia in Terra was able to arrive and escort Avidon’s Might out of the system. Unfortunately, the traitors succeeded in assassinating the Chapter Founder, sending shock waves throughout the chapter.

Promotions

After the death of Resia Avidon, Captain of the third company, Olympia Vilaris, was elected by the gathered captains of the chapter to bear the mantle of chapter master. This led to Sergeant Vylane Zaporozia getting promoted to captain of the third company in recognition for her actions in the recovery of Avidon’s Might.

Aaaand that’s almost all the main skeleton of my Space Marine lore. There’s details from the various campaigns I’ve played them through, and still a bit more until where they’re currently sitting, but this is already getting way too long for one post. Feel free to send in asks if you’ve got questions on my giant space ladies!

#warhammer 40k #adeptus astartes #hounds of terra #hounds of terra fleet #lore #long post #This was kinda fun to type up!#Latest version of this lore and all #I refine it down a little bit each time I rewrite it #Lore is not yet this deep on any of my other armies #mostly because this is the only one of my armies to actually see a sizable amount of tabletop play #but I def need to talk about that time my master of ordinance managed to one-shot a custodes shield cap on jetbike turn one #after I get done writing up all the space marine stuff

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out-of-this-dimension · 3 years

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Hypothetically Rewriting Assault’s Story + Some General Assault Opinions

There’s a game my husband and I like to play when we watch a movie, play a game, or read a book that has a story that we don’t really enjoy or we enjoy certain parts of but not others. We look at things we’d keep and things we’d change and we build a story from there-- sort of like an AU but we don’t really go into the writing part, we just stick to theorizing and mapping a general story.

I decided to play that game with Star Fox. Not because I think Star Fox has a bad story but because sometimes I think the stories could have been handled better. Note: for the rewrite game, I only really look at story, even for video games, I don’t really look at gameplay mechanics, but I do understand those have a lot to do with story potential so I do take it in as a factor... I just don’t bother to “rewrite” the mechanics, if that makes any sense at all. Some of my list today will include boss encounters but I wouldn’t necessarily say those are mechanic-related... more like “event-related”.

I’ve mused a bit in the past about rewriting Adventures and Command and I do have plans to do a mock up of an Adventures remake eventually. However, today I was thinking about how I would go about handling an Assault re-write in particular. Much like Command and Adventures, I don’t have any beef with the core story but I do think there’s a few things that could’ve been better about Assault’s storyline-- like they had good ideas rolling but they didn’t quite refine them.

Under the cut because SUPER long.

My basic feelings on Assault are pretty positive. I think the game is generally just fun and I like that it feels like the natural progression from SF64. I liked getting to see planets we haven’t seen since the N64 era in better graphics and I liked seeing Star Wolf return. I also just thought the aparoids were neat enemies.

Generally speaking, though, when it comes to Assault, I think it suffers from the thing it tries to push the most-- the story. I think a lot of people get caught up in thinking the story is better than it is because it’s the first game since SF64 that really follows the same Star Fox vibe without retelling the Lylat Wars. Don’t get me wrong, the overall plot is great but the execution and pacing are... wonky. Certain characterizations also take a hit in some regards but no one really talks about that when Command exists. That’s something we’ll talk about later on with this post.

That being said, Assault really does have a lot good going for it. An absolute banger of a soundtrack, some great dialogue, a neat story synopsis, the introduction of cool characters like Panther and Beltino (who existed but was always off-screen), and just good levels.

So, here’s what I would add, I suppose, if I were to somehow have the ability to rewrite Assault. Originally I had this in paragraph form, but I’ve made it into more of a list under topic segments with main points bolded for your viewing pleasure. Some of these points might be considered nitpicky and while I do understand that yes, this is a game about space animals, I do hold the developers in high enough regard to make a game with a continuity that makes sense.

The Story Changes

- Reduce Pigma’s storyline in Assault. This is the biggest one for me because a bulk of the plotline feels like a giant chase to just get at Pigma and it feels like it derails from the actual plot with the aparoids. We only go to Sargasso because of Pigma. We only go to Fichina and then back to Meteo again, because of Pigma. That’s 3 levels in a 10 level game devoted to just tracking down Pigma and chasing him. While it makes the build up to fighting Pigma kind of nice, I personally feel like the plot could be reduced to 2 levels. If Assault overall was a longer game, I could see them making it 3 levels. Overall, though, in its current state, I feel like the side plot overstays its welcome and the aparoids promptly get shoved to the side in favor of “Oh no, we gotta get to Pigma!” And I get the main motive here is to show how the aparoids affect people and because of the build up, it does a good job at showing how utterly terrifying the aparoids are. But it’s still too long given the length of Assault’s story. The only alternative to this is make Assault longer, which... honestly, it should be.

- Revise the scene with Tricky. I’m obviously not well-versed in dinosaur biology but I’m pretty sure dinos didn’t grow that fast from what studying I HAVE done. And why is he suddenly king now? Did his parents die? He seems not affected by this at all? Like it’s a funny scene with him, Fox, and Krystal, but it’s odd if you really look at it. Give us, as players, more context because I’m still not even sure what happened to make Tricky suddenly the leader and... big. As a note, you’re gonna hear me gripe a lot about the Sauria level in this post.

- The Star Wolf + Peppy sacrifice is a low effort way to raise tension/stakes and then cop out. Oldest trick in the book, imo, is to act like you’re going to kill off important characters only for them to be alive miraculously. And let’s face it, as an audience we all know they aren’t going to kill those characters because it’s Nintendo and those characters are too beloved. I would’ve forgiven them for only doing this with Peppy or Star Wolf, but when you tack them both together and throw in the fact they make it seem like you’re going to have to kill General Pepper too... yeah, it’s just a bit much of the same trope over and over again. I wanted to put a note in here about how I’m fine with the Great Fox being “sacrificed” but overall, it needed to return to the series because of it’s icon status, but I think that’s more of a gripe at Command instead of Assault.

- Keep Pigma alive. This will conflict with a point I have later on about the game consistently having characters cheat death for easy drama points but with Pigma, I would’ve kept him fully alive... but maybe with some physical damage from the aparoids. I understand he’s semi-alive in Command and tbh I don’t know where I stand on that. Why keep Pigma alive, you might ask? I feel like his character has a lot more potential than being “just the greedy guy”. Like he’s got good potential future villain material for future games and... if I’m honest? I just don’t see Nintendo wanting to keep Pigma dead so why even bother killing him off? They couldn’t even commit to him being dead in Command anyways so it seems very moot.

- Bring Bill and Katt back. Assault is acts a bit like a big reunion of all of our SF64 favorites but our two favorite side characters are suspiciously missing. Wouldn’t Bill be out on the front lines fighting against Andrew in the beginning? Or maybe back in Katina? And wouldn’t Katt inevitably show up in the midst of the invasion, maybe to pointedly check in on Falco?

- Bring Andrew back for the final fight. I think Andrew being defeated early into the game is fine overall but I think bringing him back in for a reunion final fight against the aparoids would serve to really solidify that it’s really everyone vs the invading aparoid force. It would show that not only is Star Wolf willing to put aside their differences but so is basically everyone in the Lylat System in the name of survival. Imagine the Venomians and Cornerians working together against an aparoid fleet, giving Star Fox and Star Wolf time to attack the queen? I just think it’d be neat and it’d open up the potential for some fun banter mid-mission. I do understand that quite a few people consider Andrew canonically dead after Assault but personally, I feel that his defeat left his fate questionable (I’m a staunch believer that unless there’s a body, they’re probably alive, especially for Nintendo games because, again, they never like to kill people off) so him returning in Command never really bothered me.

- In general, reconsider some of the character portrayals. Unfortunately, when a series has a different studio for each game, character portrayals will inevitably have inconsistencies. While I give Namco a lot of credit for putting in oodles and oodles of detail into the game (particularly the levels), I think they failed in their portrayal of Fox, at the least, and Wolf is a considerable offender as well. While it’s obvious that Fox in Adventures was effectively modeled off of Sabre even in terms of personality, Rareware was at least able to justify Fox’s newfound jaded attitude with the passing of many years and a distinct lack of steady income, resulting in the team being in disarray. Assault’s Fox is a stark contrast to his cynical interpretation with seemingly no explanation other than maybe “Oh, I have more money and a gf, maybe I should behave myself”. As if the sudden change in personality wasn’t random, Fox also just seems very blah, like a blank slate stereotypical shooter game protagonist dude with little to no emotion. Wolf is less obvious but gets slated into a mentor-like role midway through the game and ends up in a respectful rivalry with Fox... which there’s nothing inherently wrong with that except for it happening abruptly (and, I mean, Peppy is right there). But I take less issue with this and more of an issue with the fact that there’s an entire level establishing that Wolf now runs a crime den with effectively what seems to be an army and no one bats an eye at this. He doesn’t even call on them to help with the aparoids. Did they all die when the aparoids attacked Meteo? Are they safe somewhere else? Where do they go? How was Sargasso able to operate without the CDF being on their doorstep with warrants for arrests?

- Don’t kill all the dinosaurs. A bit of a dramatic statement but the ending screen that showed all the damage to Sauria really bothered me. While I understand that the dinosaurs had less of a chance against the aparoids than a more technology-focused society like Corneria, I was a bit disappointed that the decision was made to just state that a lot of tribes had been wiped out. I know this could easily be retconned in a future game and I feel like it should be. “But why, Amalia? Why are you disappointed by that?” 1) It’s a little too grimdark for my tastes. 2) The fact it all happened off-screen felt very hand-wavy. And 3) It brings into question the entire point of Adventures. Why did we bother to save this planet if it was going to be reduced to rubble and ash 1 year later? Where were the Krazoa in all of this? Why did they not make an appearance at all to try to stop the invasion with their alleged powers? It just raises too many weird questions and I feel like Namco didn’t think it through too much. Which I mean, sure. Family, kiddo game. I’m not asking for bigbrain plot and lore but I’m squinting at this bit because it does feel very contrary to the lore from the previous game.

- Make the aparoids more relevant. As nice as it is to have a random bad guy from another galaxy, I feel like there was more that could be done with the aparoids in terms of their origins. Tiny things, mind you, not huge revelations. Off the top of my head, they could have been tied into Krystal’s backstory to help alleviate some of the complaints that she was too random to be added to the series’ main cast. Alternatively, they could have been a product of Andross or even a weapon prototype from Corneria that fled the lab (I actually thought the game was leaning in that direction for a bit then just Nothing Happened). I get that the vagueness of their origins leaves room for people to speculate and speculation is nice but... when you leave too many things unknown, it starts to feel less like giving fans room to interpret and more like just doing random things for the sake of it. I think a lore tidbit here or there would work wonders for the aparoids instead of leaving them as just borg/zerg clones.

Level-Based Changes

- Add either Aparoid RedEye or Aparoid General Scales as a boss to Sauria. Given that this level mysteriously lacks a boss, which is just weird compared to the other levels, I think that they had the opportunity to add something cool to go along with the cinematic feel they were going for with Assault. Assault’s cutscenes do play in a movie-like fashion and it’s clear they’re trying to make the game as epic as possible. It’s a shame they had so much fodder for a great boss here but they failed to go through with it. Alternatively: Add a Krazoa-Aparoid fusion. Why? Because Star Fox is about cool epic sci-fi and that would be cool epic sci-fi incarnate.

- Add a boss to the Aparoid Homeworld Level, aka the penultimate level. Another one I felt was personally weird that there was no “final defense system” to challenge the team. Would be cool to do an aerial battle over the aparoid planet with some giant flying aparoid.

- Be kinder to Sauria. The level had some good homages but overall was incredibly small and incredibly short. It felt like a bone tossed to Adventures fans but was not entirely true to the setting built by Rareware. I’m... not even sure where the Sauria level is supposed to take place? I presume it’s Walled City but it doesn’t really have the same color scheme or aesthetic? Also where is my revised Adventures music? Why do all the other levels get it but Sauria doesn’t?

- Put some of those funky items from the multiplayer into the main campaign. I don’t know why some of these things, items especially, were omitted unless it was purely due to time constraints. I remember having missile launchers and jetpacks in the multiplayer and was a bit sad that they were not in the main campaign. Retuning the levels and adding those in would be a nice breath of fresh air for the more tedious on-foot missions.

- More levels. Self-explanatory. Still sad we didn’t get the Zoness or Titania levels in the single-player mode.

I think all of the above changes would improve the game, though I recognize all of this is being said 16 years later after lots of time to contemplate Assault’s weaker points. I’m not entirely certain how long Star Fox Assault took to develop but given that there’s obviously quite a bit scrapped from the game (an entire arcade mode was scrapped as well), I’m going to assume that the studio felt pressured to shove the game out the door and into the hands of customers. It’s a shame, really, because I think a little bit longer in the oven would have done a lot of good. Still, the product we got was good in its own right and a game that many people look back on fondly. I haven’t gotten to replay it in years but I hope to quite soon.

You might wonder why I bothered typing this all out and I guess my point was this-- Assault was great but it wasn’t perfect, and while a lot of other games fall under a crushing amount of scrutiny, Assault seems to dodge it. And don’t get me wrong-- I adore Assault. But given that not many takes exist out there about rewriting it, I decided to give it a shot. For variety’s sake.

I do want to a mock up of a revised Assault story, which I think I will get to work on after completing this while all my ideas are still fresh in mind. So stay tuned for that sometime in the near future. I will also be doing my Adventures mock up at some point but probably not for a little bit as I do wanna focus some of my free time on actual fic-writing.

Anyways, if you stuck around this long, thank you for reading! Have any changes you’d like to see to Assault if you could time machine your way back to the early 2000s? Feel free to post in the comments, I’d love to read your ideas!

#star fox assault #starfox assault #super long #queue'd

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myhoneststudyblr · 4 years

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i received an ask from @sunset-study asking me how to annotate texts so i thought i would do a post giving some of my tips! as an English literature student, i spend a lot of my time doing annotations on loads of different types of texts so i think i have some good advice that i can give. i hope that you will find this helpful and if you have any other questions, please feel free to send me an ask!

disclaimer: these are my personal tips and experiences and i’m sure that there are many more that are relevant. i have tried to do a little bit of research to get some other ideas which hopefully will make this a useful post but as always i appreciate others adding their opinions and advice in the comments!

[Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes]

What is covered:

General Tips

Things to look for

Specific Tips for Annotating Novels

Specific Tips for Annotating Plays

Specific Tips for Annotating Poetry

Other resources

General Tips

don't just highlight. this is very passive and often you will not really be taking in what is important.

pencils are great for annotating. if you are anything like me, when you are annotating, you often are doing it as the thoughts come into your mind so a pencil allows you some leeway to erase and refine ideas. also when you are writing in a book, i personally do not have enough confidence to write in pen.

don’t annotate extensively the first time you read. often on a first read, you don't see the recurring imagery or features because you don't have the whole context so don't annotate deeply the first time you read something. that said, it can often be good to jot some questions in the margins that you have because these can be useful to remind you of your thoughts when you reread.

think of some symbols to indicate important or interesting parts. for example, if it is a dramatic section, i will box it off and put a big exclamation mark. or if something is confusing or unclear, use a question mark. i tend to put a star for a section that is important. you could think of symbols for humour, foreshadowing, particular themes or characters etc.

actually respond to the text. this seems like an obvious one but a lot of the time, because we are taught in schools all these fancy techniques, when we see one of them in a text we just highlight them and note that its a metaphor or simile or foreshadowing. what you should try to do is explain - briefly - why that is important and its effect. also if you have any personal reaction to it, note that down as well because this can be really helpful when writing essays because it shows that you’ve actually engaged with the text.

practice, practice, practice. annotation is a skill and honestly it can be quite difficult because you need to often read between the lines and summarise, while also analysing. so take some time to focus on this skill and create your own method and shorthand.

Things to look for:

structure. are the paragraphs long? is sentence varied or does it remain quite consistent? are there any repeated words or phrases? what is the overall shape of the text? where does the narrative start? does the focus shift anywhere?

language. what are the literary devices used in the text? if so, what is their effect? has the author used a particular semantic field? are there any usual words? are there repeated words? are there any individual words that stand out to you? what are the connotations of these words? are there any words that you don’t know? if so, what do they mean? is there any unusual syntax?

characterisation and voice. who is speaking in the text? if it is third person, how ‘close’ or ‘distant’ are we to the character? can we trust the character? are they an unreliable narrator? what are their key features? do any of these features link to key themes? if so, where is that shown in the text? is the author using a particular voice in order to get a specific reaction?

themes. what themes is the author exploring? where does the author explore these themes? are particular opinions (either by a character or perhaps the implied opinion of the author) expressed on the themes? are there any words or phrases that link closely to this theme?

Specific Tips for Annotating Novels

SUMMARISE REGULARLY

a novel is often long and there is a lot of stuff to cover throughout it so it is really important to keep making sure that you understand what is going on. summarising will also help you when revising.

for example, after each chapter quickly summarise the key points in a few sentences - which characters were important, did the plot move forward in any important ways, what themes were explored.

you could either do this on a post it note or if you have space on the last page of the chapter. make sure that it is not too long. a few sentences is absolutely fine.

KEEP A LIST OF CHARACTERS

characters are obviously very important in a novel so make sure you know who’s who and where they come into the book. you could write the list of characters or a little character map on the inside cover of the book, which you can refer to if necessary.

COLOUR CODE

i personally don't colour code that often when annotating. i usually only do it in important scenes and moments where there is a lot going on and things can get very confusing. that said, colour coding can be particularly useful to keep track of themes in the novel.

there are many different ways that you can do this. for example you could have a particular highlighter colour for each theme. you could also put coloured sticky tabs on the page so you can quickly find the themes throughout the novel.

Specific Tips for Annotating Plays

This is mostly the same for novels so take all of the tips above and apply them to the play you are studying with two main - VERY IMPORTANT - additions:

NOTE THE DRAMATIC FUNCTION

a play is written to be performed and this has a huge impact on the text, because it can affect how we interpret a particular character, theme or scene.

so it is SO SO important that you remember that it is being performed and think about the different ways that it could be acted and how the audience could respond to it.

on that note, remember that every performance, actor and audience is different so try to think of ALL the ways it could be played and how our interpretation could differ

PAY ATTENTION TO STAGE DIRECTIONS

this is a related point to the one above. my GCSE English teacher used to go on about this all. the. time. because it is so easy to overlook them and not consider them a real part of the text. BUT they are such a key part because they can give hints to performance as well as the atmosphere which might otherwise be difficult to discern just by reading the dialogue. they can also be good ways to demonstrate character traits

Specific Tips for Annotating Poetry

NOTE GENERAL FEATURES (STRUCTURE, RHYMING, METER, CONTEXT, THEMES, ETC.) SOMEWHERE SEPARATE

poems are obviously much shorter than plays and novels so they are often packed full of interesting language points to annotate. therefore if you try to add in all of this other stuff in your annotations using arrows, it is likely that it is going to get very full and confusing.

therefore, i would suggest only directly annotating language features for the poem and writing your notes on the more general features of the poem elsewhere - for example on a post-it note, or if there is a bunch of white-space under the poem. then it is easy to find and refer to but won't mix with your annotations and make it confusing so that you feel that you need to rewrite more notes on the whole poem

if there is a particular word or phrase that is important for the above features (for example, links significantly with the context or has unusual - and therefore probably significant - meter) you can notes this on the text using arrows but keep it specific and short. you can expand on it in more depth in your general notes

IDENTIFY THE TONE AND MOOD OF THE POEM

this is good to identify because it can help you focus on the language that is important and helps you to interpret the meaning.

THINK ABOUT THE SOUND OF THE POEM

poems are usually meant to be lyrical and rhythmic in some way and read aloud. so think about how these words sound when you read it (are they harsh or soft) and consider the rhythm that the poet creates through punctuation. it could be helpful to consider a poem like the lyrics of a song and imagine what it would sound like if it were set to music

rhyming is an important part of this and you could note - just for your own reference - the rhyme scheme (if there is one) using letters at the end of the line. but again, referring back to tip one of this section, talk about the rhyme scheme in greater depth elsewhere so as not to clutter your notes

Other Resources

there are so many resources that you can find on the internet about annotation but here are just a couple that i thought were useful:

Annotation Guide Produced for AP Language Students

BBC Bitesize GCSE Revision Page on Annotating Texts

General How to Annotate Guide (Note: this is not just for literature but also for textbooks but has some great tips)

Annotating Poetry Guide

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perriewinklenerdie · 4 years

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Let it snow (Ethan x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

A/N: Hi guys! PB keeps serving us and we sure are eating good, huh? After reading the chapter for the first time (some of you know that I've read it four times now {watch me replay it again before the next one}), I wasn't sure what to write. If you ask me, they skimmed over that scene, kinda rushed it when we all know they have the ability to do better (imma be watching you, PB, step your game up, man).

{@terrm9 I told you it be sooner than you think ;) hope you don’t mind the tag)

Anyway, at first I wanted to do a rewrite to do this scene justice. But after asking my gang (you know who you are, my ride or die bitches) if I should do a rewrite or a round two, they were kinda in agreement that round two sounds fun. And now we're here :D

We have some light fluff, Claire pointing out a thing or two to Ethan and smut. Let the sinning begin

This work is NSFW, you have been warned, proceed with caution.

Summary: Chapter 14 rewrite. Staying away from each other is going to be challenging, but while the storm is still raging on outside the window, they don’t have to worry about it just yet. (Or: round two because they can’t keep their hands off each other)

Enjoy! <3

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Ethan ran the back of his fingers over the rise and fall of Claire’s back, wordlessly basking in the afterglow of their rise of passion. He’s not sure how much time has passed, the only indication being the growing layer of snow that slowly covered the view out the window. His eyes followed the trajectory of the snowflakes, watching how they danced on the wind before disappearing.

Claire stirred in his arms a bit, falling deeper into his embrace. Their naked bodies were still pressed against one another, barely covered by the soft blanket that helped them to maintain at least a little bit of the heat. Her hand was resting comfortably right over his heart that was still pounding, its pace mirroring how fast his chest was rising and falling. Their breathing felt much louder than they actually were, silence providing a stark contrast.

“That was…” she searched for the right word to express her thoughts. To encapsulate all the emotions that roared in her mind and made her heart swell. “Different. I know it happened before, but… there was something else here.”

He nodded, deeply considering what she said. It’s like she read his mind. “I agree. Different, but in a good way. In a way that I wanted it to be for a long time now.”

Moving slightly to grant himself more freedom of movement, he leaned onto his elbow. His thumb traced her cheekbone, watching from under lowered eyelids how fire cast shadows over her face, making the usually soft lines more refined, casting a spell on him.

“Is this what you want, Claire?” he asked, vulnerability in his voice so clear and evident. Finally, after what felt like years in confinement, he freed himself from the cold grasp of his rules and fell into the warmth of her embrace. Now, he never wanted to leave, and he waited for her answer with a bated breath.

“I want more nights like tonight. Just you, and me, and nothing in between us to keep me away from you.” she confessed, muttering each and every word as she stared into his eyes, lively glimmer in her emerald irises. Delicately, she brushed back a lock that fell onto his forehead, running her fingers through his hair soothingly. “Whatever is going on between us… I don’t want it to stop.”

“I feel the same way.” Trailing away from her face, Ethan ran his hand up and down her arm, smiling softly at the effect he had on her. He held her closer, staring at the ceiling. “We’ll have to be careful, especially around June and Baz.”

“You mean no making eyes at each other across the gurney? No sneaky hand-holding beneath the diagnostics room table?” Claire grinned at him teasingly, her words causing him to look at her again in surprise.

“In what world would that be happening anyway?”

“Oh, so that part isn’t subject to make-believe?”

“My personality? Not really.” He replied, unable to fight the smile that pulled on the corners of his lips. Claire shook her head, turning in his arms and nuzzling her nose against the column of his neck, kissing him everywhere she could reach.

“Then I’ll just have to enjoy the moments when no one else is there to see us.”

“I’d like that.”

“Even if June and Baz already suspect something.” She added, waiting to see his reaction. His movements halted, breath getting caught in his throat. She didn’t have to look at him to know that he was waiting for her next words with panic in his eyes. “You’re not as smooth as you think you are.”

Noticing humor in her words, he relaxed almost entirely. “Excuse me, I like to think I’m very good at ‘being smooth’” he laughed, offended by her insinuations. Her giggle made her whole body shake.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” sneakily, she moved her hand slowly, then pinched his ribs, causing him to jerk away with a shriek. He stared at her with mock betrayal, attacking her right back, tickling her mercilessly until tears ran down her face from laughing so much. “Okay, okay, stop!”

They took a moment to let their breaths get back to normal again, all the while keeping their eyes locked on each other. The atmosphere in the room gradually changed, morphing into a more serious one when he sighed heavily, contentment mixing with something more muted.

“I meant what I said at the start of the year.” He began, leaning away so their eyes could meet. “I won’t jeopardize your professional development. Or your reputation.”

All traces of humor were gone, seriousness palpable in the way he spoke, in the way he looked at her, in the strong comfort and conviction in his hold on her. Holding his face in her hands, she stroked his cheeks as she spoke.

“I don’t want you to suffer, either.” All the unsaid words and unexpressed emotions were flowing between them, through them and around them. No words had to be spoken; they both felt it. “So when we’re at work, we’re nothing but colleagues. And when we’re alone, we’re…” she trailed off, smirking suggestively.

“Whatever we want to be.” He finished, choosing this exact word combination. It wasn’t a confession, at least not exactly, but they had time; they’d get there. He’d get there.

Claire pecked his lips a few times, playful and carefree. His fingers caressed her chin as the kiss deepened, slowly but surely stealing her breath. His body pressed against hers hard and with clear purpose, the kiss breaking when a shuddered moan escaped her.

“You don’t seem tired.”

“That’s because I’m not” Ethan grinned, grabbing her hips and helping her roll on top of him, their bodies brushing against each other once more. Laughter that was there when he moved her has now vanished, focus occupying her features. Steadying herself with her hands on his shoulders, she looked down at him fervently.

“Then we should do something about it. God forbid you losing sleep at night.”

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.” He panted, letting his hands run up her sides, cupping her breasts. His thumbs brushed against her nipples, eliciting a soft sigh from her, the sensation making her whole body come alive. He pinched the sensitive skin just to get a reaction out of her, her mind kicking into a higher gear when his hips rose up to meet hers, nothing between them to quell the feeling.

“I like losing sleep with you.” Claire whispered, the only thing she managed to do when he was stimulating her in so many ways. Ethan’s grin could light up the room alone.

“Yeah?”

“False humbleness isn’t a good look on you.”

She grabbed his shoulders more firmly, pulling him up so he’d sit. Their hips met with more force than either of them anticipated, groans that slipped past their lips mixing into a symphony. With new position came new possibilities. Ethan didn’t waste even a second of their time, licking around her right nipple, continuing ministrations on the other breast with his hand.

Claire’s head fell backwards, fingers twisting in his hair in an attempt to keep herself grounded. Grazing his teeth over her skin, he continuously sent sparks through her that reached the farthest ends of her body. His mouth latched onto her, working her without letting her catch a break. Pushing her further and further, their hips rolling and pressing against each other in a tantalizing manner.

“Ethan…” her high-pitched moan bounced off the walls, sending a shiver down his spine. Ethan hummed, vibrations enhancing the pleasure he was giving her.

“I love it when you say my name.” he leaned away enough to speak his mind, then immediately went back to his previous task, determined to make her come, again and again. He wrapped his unoccupied arm around her, pressing her down onto him, willing himself not to fall with her just yet. With so much time on their hands, they could have their fun all night.

Her hips were moving against his frantically, chasing the release that was so close that she could almost taste it. She pulled on his hair, her grip vicelike, making him groan, seemingly helplessly. Red-hot desire surged through her veins when she came, a broken string of loud sounds falling from her lips before she could stop herself. Ethan helped her ride it out, abandoning teasing her breast in favor of watching her face as she said his name, over and over again.

Eventually, she fell forward, her forehead resting against his, her breathing elevated yet again. His hands stroked the skin of her back, soothing the places in which he was holding her close to him. When her eyes opened, he saw cheeky spark in them.

“I’m not done with you yet.” Claire said smugly, twirling a strand of his hair around her finger. He nodded, enchanted with her words. In that moment, she could ask him to jump into the fire with her and he’d do it.

“I don’t intend on the night ending here either.”

Her hands slid down his body, grazing his skin with her nails as she went. Muscles contracted at the sensation, his breaths getting shallow, the anticipation of what was going to happen next driving him wild.

Claire lifted her hips a bit, making room for her hand to trace the lines of Ethan’s legs and hips. She massaged his thighs, her knuckles brushing against his length from time to time, slowly but surely making him lose his mind. He was about to protest, to beg her to touch him, when she palmed him delicately.

A choked grumble filled the room, his hips snapping up to press her closer. Claire shook her head, smirking at his impatience, then pressed downwards to keep him in place. Her intention didn’t matter though, because he achieved exactly what he wanted, reveling in the feeling of her fingers against him.

She grabbed his chin and turned his head so they were face to face, then slammed their lips together. At the exact same moment, she wrapped her fingers around him and squeezed him gently, his hiss of satisfaction getting drowned out in the kiss that only climbed in intensity, taking them both higher.

Slowly, she pumped her hand, up and down, establishing a punishingly intense rhythm. At first he tried to control his reactions, but his reason soon flew out the window, triggered by the way she twisted her wrist with each stroke.

Needing to do something to distract himself and prevent ending it all too quickly, he nudged her legs, prompting her to open them wider, and brushed his middle finger against her folds. Initially, she jerked away from his touch, still sensitive from her last high, but after a few of his touches, she began to match the movement of her hips and her hand on him with his ministrations, synchronizing them into a deliciously torturing sensation.

Up until this point, they both managed to remain relatively quiet. Then his thumb brushed over her clit, back and forth, in circles, and a moan slipped past her lips. Determined to hear that sound again, and again, he ran the tip of his finger along her entrance, then pushed it inside, teasing her just enough to make her want to combust. Pressing the rest of the way, he moved it a bit in a variety of directions, guided by the sounds she was making, stimulating her further with insistent touches applied to the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs.

His actions inspired her own, her strokes becoming hurried and intense, her thumb caressing the tip in just the way that made him groan in appreciation. They wouldn’t last long like that; of that he was sure. He felt her inner muscles contracting around his fingers, a clear indication of just how close to the release she was, but the look on her face spelled out resolve. Resolve to make this last, even if only for a moment longer.

She broke the kiss, then pulled him by the strands at the back of his head, making their eyes meet and lock in an intense gaze. Guiding him to her entrance, she muttered his name, waiting for confirmation, that that was what he wanted, to appear in his eyes. Mixed with desire, she saw longing and tenderness; that, accompanied by a firm nod he gave her, was the confirmation she needed.

Ethan moved his hands to her hips, stroking her hipbones as she sank down onto him. His lips parted slightly, panting heavily at the heavenly sensations she was subjecting him to. The sounds Claire was making were bordering on being mute, at least at first, as she still tried to keep her voice down. Ultimately, they both failed, as their last-ditch effort to remain quiet fell short after a few seconds.

Her first movement is anything but slow and cautious. With how worked up they both are, it’s a miracle that it hasn’t ended the moment he entered her. As soon as they’re both comfortable, she begins to rise and fall, assisted by his hands, rolling her slightly from side to side every time she goes down. The lock in which their gazes were up until his point is broken when she presses him closer to her, gripping his hair tightly and pulling on it with every thrust his hips make, meeting her halfway.

“Don’t stop.” He growled, attacking her neck with hot and lingering kisses, biting her skin and soothing it with his tongue. Claire grinned, moaning his name louder than before, rising and then slamming all the way down with full force. And again, repeatedly pushing them towards the sweet release that began to dance at the tips of their nerve endings.

Her free hand skimmed over the pronounced muscles of his ribcage, then slid onto his shoulder blade. The pleasure was beginning to overwhelm her, at the same time being not enough. His lips attached to her pulse point and sucked, gently at first, then more insistently, making her almost sure that there would be a mark. In return, partially caused by the way his hips thrusted at a new angle, her nails dug into his back, leaving red skid marks when she moved her hand lower.

Pain enhanced pleasure, pushing him even closer to her and to the tipping point. His fingers gripped her long hair and pulled on it as the strands wrapped around his wrist, allowing his kisses to return to her lips, a futile effort to keep their cries at bay. He should have known that with the amount of time that they were apart for, and with her by his side, there was no way either of them could keep quiet.

As her inner muscles contracted around his length, it became apparent to him that it was all going to be over in a matter of moments. Unable to hold himself back any more than he did up until this point, he broke the kiss so that he could look at her when it all fell down.

“Look at me.” he pleaded, holding his breath until she opened her eyes, irises so dark and enticing, making it impossible to look away. Nose to nose, they stared into each other’s eyes, racing towards their climax recklessly.

She squeezed him again, coming a second later, crying his name into the stillness of the night. His frantic movements expressed just how desperately he searched for release, while he helped her ride out the bursts of energy that sent her into overdrive. Claire never ceased to move, even after the initial sensation subsided, gripping his face with her hands and slamming their lips together.

“Come, Ethan.” She muttered against his mouth, letting him guide her in the direction he needed her in. Growling her name, his voice filled with need and adoration, he finally followed her, moaning frantically with each blinding spark of pleasure.

He fell into her arms, spent and out of breath, pressing sweet kisses to her collarbone lazily. Claire brushed his hair back, gazing wordlessly at the wall. The contrast between the atmosphere in the room now and only moments ago is astounding; she wouldn’t believe anything happened if it wasn’t for her racing heart, heavy breathing and the warm buzzing feeling in her whole body.

“Let’s hope Baz and June aren’t nearby. We weren’t exactly discreet.” She muttered, reminiscing how not-quiet they were, right after deciding that they had to be careful around the two doctors they worked with.

“Practice makes perfect.” He replied in an equally muted voice, somehow managing to put some humor into his it, despite words blending together from how tired he was.

Ethan retreated onto the bed, pulling out before gathering her in his arms, keeping her head at the same level as his so he could kiss her at any given moment. She stroked the side of his face, smiling softly at how comfortable they both were in their new reality.

“This is more than normal plus, you know?” she joked, making him laugh lightly. Gazing into her eyes, he could imagine thousands of nights, just like this one, that they had ahead of them. At the same time, he didn’t know how in the hell was he going to keep his wandering mind and impatient hands at bay when she was so near that he could touch her, but so far because of all the people around them that could see it.

“You’ll never get anything less than that.” He promised, pulling the covers over them and letting her warmth and the sound of hear breathing lull him to sleep.

#open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #choices

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sceptilemasterr · 3 years

Text

Defenders of the Flame (TE Rewrite) Act 3, Scene 2 - Back in Session

Title: Defenders of the Flame (A CIU Screenplay)

Main Pairings: Shreya x F!MC, Beckett x F!Atlas

Other Pairings: N/A

Genre: Full Rewrite (The Elementalists, Book 1)

Rating: PG-13 for violence, blood, swearing, alcohol, and sexuality

Summary: Classes resume for Fiora's second semester at Penderghast.

Previous Scene: Identity Crisis

Masterlist: Link

INT. PENDERGHAST CAMPUS - VARIOUS LOCATIONS

MONTAGE

In Tubigan Hall’s Auditorium 3, the students file in for their first class of the new semester; Fiora and Shreya are holding hands. A middle-aged man with long dark hair stands at the front of the room. This is DR. VARTOKIS, another Penderghast professor.

SHREYA (to Fiora): You know? I almost missed attending classes.

Fiora giggles.

FIORA: Emphasis on the “almost,” right?

ZEPH: I just realized... Fiora, you are gonna breeze through this class!

The group takes their seats, with Shreya and Fiora sitting together. Shreya smiles and wraps an arm around Fiora as they sit.

FIORA (quizzically): Why’s that?

ZEPH: ...Do you even know what class this is?

FIORA (embarrassed): Uh... no. I’ve been kinda distracted lately.

Zeph smiles and winks suggestively at Shreya, who laughs.

ZEPH: Oh, I bet! Anyway, this is--

Dr. Vartokis chooses that moment to address the class, his voice amplified. He speaks with a very cheerful, casual tone.

DR. VARTOKIS: Hello there, everyone! Welcome to your first class of this semester: Attuneless History, Society, and Culture! ...Or you can just call it “AHSC” for short if you want. I won’t judge ya!

A few students laugh as Fiora mouths a silent “oh” of understanding at Zeph. Zeph nods, and starts to say something, but Beckett shushes them.

DR. VARTOKIS: Okay, okay, I know many of you are probably wondering what the point of this class is. After all, if you’re gonna spend your career here in the Stoicheal Realm, why bother with my class? The truth is, whether your future leads you to a life among Tuneless or not, our two societies are inextricably linked.

BECKETT (muttering): Fascinating point. I had not considered this...

Beckett hurriedly writes something down in his notebook.

DR. VARTOKIS: Not to mention, there’s a lot we can learn from the Tuneless! We must never forget that we came from their realm, not the other way around. After all, it wasn’t so many centuries ago that our societies lived and worked side-by-side! In fact...

Dr. Vartokis continues talking as Shreya gives Fiora a knowing smile and leans her head on her shoulder. Zeph, meanwhile, is (for once) paying attention to the professor, nearly as attentively as Beckett.

DR. VARTOKIS: --as such. I’ll ask a few simple questions to get us started. First: who can tell me the name of Penderghast’s Archikeal reflection?

Several students--including Fiora and Shreya--raise their hands. Dr. Vartokis points to a student near the front of the hall, a Metal-Att named HECTOR RILENN.

HECTOR: It’s “Hart”-something, isn’t it? “Hartschild?” ...Maybe?

Dr. Vartokis shakes his head.

DR. VARTOKIS: Close, but not quite. You there!

He points to Shreya, who answers eagerly:

SHREYA: Hartfeld University!

DR. VARTOKIS: Correct! Now, who can tell me...

As he moves on to the next question, Shreya smiles at Fiora.

SHREYA (whispering): I’d never have known that one without you!

Shreya gives Fiora’s hand a quick squeeze. Fiora blushes and turns her attention back to the professor...

* * *

Fiora and her classmates file into one of the greenhouses for Natural Studies. Several of the other students are speaking to each other with confusion evident in their voices. Dracarys and Rys flutter above their owners’ heads with excitement, while Beckett’s (still) unnamed Grogue lets out a lazy croak from its position in his lap. Zeph laughs.

ZEPH: Looks like you’ve got some extra time, Beckett! Gonna name him yet?

BECKETT (irritated): Why on Earth do you think my answer would be any different than before?

Zeph leans in closer and smiles conspiratorially.

ZEPH (slyly): You know... Atlas told me what she’d name her Companion, if she ever got one. I asked her if she ever considered just not naming it at all, and she laughed in my face--

BECKETT (shocked): What?! You never mentioned this to me before!

ZEPH (shrugs): You never asked. So, what’s the verdict?

Beckett sighs, clearly considering Zeph’s words.

BECKETT (to himself): ...Hmm. It will have to be a name that is tasteful and refined...

Zeph gives Shreya and Fiora a side glance and a thumbs-up. Shreya giggles as Dr. Kontos enters the greenhouse.

DR. KONTOS: Greetings, and welcome back to Natural Studies! I am pleased to report that all of you passed the class, and did wonderfully on your finals!

A few cheers go up from the room, but most of the students just continue staring quizzically at Dr. Kontos.

DR. KONTOS: Yes, yes, let us address the dryxmar in the room first. According to standard Penderghast curriculum, my course ordinarily would be replaced with “Sourcism and Philosophy” for this semester. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Swan is otherwise occupied and unable to teach her usual class. Thus, Dean Goeffe has granted me permission to continue Natural Studies into your next semester!

As the students start muttering amongst themselves, Fiora leans in toward Shreya.

FIORA (whispering): Dr. Swan’s still gone? That... doesn’t seem good.

SHREYA (whispering): Perhaps Atlas is starting to rub off on you. We know why Dr. Swan is absent! She’s off on a mission for the Defenders, remember?

FIORA (whispering): Maybe, but still... it’s been weeks...

SHREYA (whispering): You just need to relax a little and focus on other things for a change. Like the Amorelia Day Gala! It may be a bit far off yet, but there’s no time like the present!

FIORA (whispering): “No time” for what?

SHREYA (whispering): Why, for asking whomever you intend to ask to the dance, of course! Surely you plan to ask, right?

FIORA (whispering): I dunno. I’ve got so much else going on right--

DR. KONTOS: Ahem. Miss Luxen, Miss Mistry, care to rejoin the class?

Fiora and Shreya blush heavily when they notice Dr. Kontos and the other students all staring at them. Fiora bows her head in apology and focuses on Dr. Kontos as Shreya looks at Fiora, frustration clearly evident on her face...

* * *

Inside the Defenders of the Flame meeting chamber, Lucia and Arvan lead Fiora, Shreya, and the third-year inductees in practicing their Stoicheal Gathers. Although Shreya manages to perform a Gather after only two tries, Fiora still struggles with her own. Lucia approaches her while the others are practicing.

LUCIA: Hey. Looks like you’re having some trouble.

Fiora stops and looks at Lucia, then nods.

FIORA: It’s the whole “foundation point” thing. I suck at it.

LUCIA: Having trouble figuring it out, then?

FIORA: Yeah.

LUCIA: There’s not a lot I can help you with on that front. The foundation is something that comes from within. Who is Fiora? What makes you... well, you?

FIORA: I don’t know. I’m not as talented or confident as Shreya...

Lucia follows her gaze to where Shreya is performing yet another perfect Stoicheal Gather, to the delight and cheers of the third-year inductees. Fiora sighs.

FIORA (to herself): I doubt I’ll ever be.

* * *

Fiora and Shreya walk hand-in-hand down a street in Pennelia, the bright sunlight reflecting off of the snow all around them. Shreya is regaling Fiora with a story.

SHREYA (speaking rapidly): --but it wasn’t as though I meant to Evaporate the entire hot tub! I was just getting so angry, and the water was plenty hot to begin with. It’s an honest mistake to make, you know. At any rate, I still ended up winning “Best Dressed” for the evening, so it wasn’t for nothing.

FIORA: Wow. That’s-- (laughs) Attuned parties really are something.

SHREYA: Oh, they really are! That’s one reason why I’m so looking forward to the Gala. Let me tell you, I’ve already got the perfect dress picked out! Now all that’s left is... well... you know, if someone were to ask me...

FIORA (curiously): Ask you what?

Shreya sighs in frustration and shakes her head.

SHREYA (annoyed): Seriously? It’s--ugh, never mind.

She immediately brightens and points to a shop in the distance.

SHREYA: Oh! Montraire Bakery! We simply must stop in for a bite!

She drags Fiora toward the bakery, but as she does so, Shreya’s face displays a brief flash of disappointment...

* * *

In her usual lecture hall, Dr. Religast is in the midst of a lecture on Stoicheal Awakenings. Beckett, as usual, is taking detailed notes on the professor’s every word, while Zeph is busying himself by attempting a Roped Current with his hands beneath his desk. All that he manages is a weak trickle of water, which Shreya neatly Evaporates before anyone can notice.

DR. RELIGAST: --of triggering an Awakening. The first, and by far the most common: children growing up in Attuned households will often Awaken on their own, simply by exposure to adult Attuned...

Fiora leans over Shreya’s shoulder to see that Shreya is flipping through a small pamphlet decorated with moving pictures of models showing off various dresses.

FIORA (whispering): What’s that?

SHREYA (whispering): Just the latest Mistry Inc. catalogue. It’s mostly dresses during this season, of course. For the many upcoming dances and, ahem... galas!

FIORA (whispering): Oh. Wow! Are you gonna buy anything?

SHREYA (whispering): No, no... I told you, I’ve already bought my dress. It’s just fun looking through these sorts of things!

FIORA (whispering): Right. Sounds like it!

SHREYA (whispering): Now all I need is a date.

FIORA (whispering): Yeah...

Fiora shrugs, turning back to focus on what Dr. Religast is saying.

DR. RELIGAST: --is exposed to a highly concentrated source of stoicheal energy to become Awakened on their own, without any Attuned being present. Although such occurrences are rare, they almost always cause significant upheavals in Tuneless culture when...

Dr. Religast’s voice fades into the background as Shreya lets out a growl of frustration.

* * *

Fiora sits on the couch in their room’s common area as Shreya fiddles with something near the entrance. Apparently satisfied, she steps back to admire her handiwork and does a brief twirl.

SHREYA: And... that should do it! One entryway, freely open for the next six hours!

Fiora laughs.

FIORA: Nice job, Shreya! I didn’t even know we could do that.

SHREYA (winks): Just a little something my sister taught me.

The door to Fiora’s room swings open, and Atlas enters.

FIORA: Speaking of sisters... hey, Atlas.

ATLAS: You’re sure opening the door’s a good idea? What if Raife decides to send something after us while we’re wide open?

SHREYA: He already managed that even with the door closed. I doubt it would make much difference.

Atlas huffs and crosses her arms, glaring at the newly-unlocked doorway.

ATLAS: Okay, but if the next thing to come through that door looks at all suspicious, I’m hitting it with--

She is interrupted by Griffin stepping through the doorway. Griffin quickly raises his arms in surrender as he enters.

GRIFFIN: Whoa, Atlas, it’s me! Please don’t hit me with anything.

Atlas relaxes a fraction.

SHREYA: Griffin! So glad you could make it! (to Fiora) Looks like the entry really is open, you see?

GRIFFIN: Wait, you didn’t check to make sure?

SHREYA (laughs): Relax! Clearly it all worked out, non?

Zeph steps through a moment later, with Beckett close behind.

ZEPH: Alright! The Pend Pals are all here. Let’s get this study session started!

They all gather around the center table, pulling out their various study materials and setting them out. Beckett raises an eyebrow at Zeph.

BECKETT: Not that I am complaining, mind you, but... it’s unusual to see you so enthused about studying.

ZEPH: What? I’m allowed to be excited about it if I want!

FIORA: So, uh... what should we start on first?

BECKETT: Shall we begin with Dr. Vartokis’s “Equivalencies” assignment? It seems by far the most difficult--

SHREYA: Oh, we finished that one ages ago. Fiora’s been making those types of comparisons to absolutely everything in the Stoicheal Realm for months now, so it was easy.

FIORA: I’ll help you guys if you want!

Zeph eagerly pushes his worksheet in Fiora’s direction, while Beckett looks from Zeph to Fiora to Shreya and back in shocked confusion.

BECKETT (muttering): ...Have I fallen into some strange alternate universe?

ATLAS: Wow. Looks like Fiora and Shreya are doing better than you in a class for once. Gotta say, your reactions are hilarious to watch.

BECKETT: Oh? Why don’t you attempt the assignment, then?

ATLAS: Why should I? I don’t even go to class. Besides, watching you struggle with schoolwork for a change is way more entertaining.

BECKETT (sighs): You are impossibly vexing...

* * *

Icicles hang from the trees overhead as Zeph stands in a forested part of the quad, clad only in shorts and a t-shirt. He holds a hand out in front of his face, palm outward and glowing with water stoichi, as he struggles to concentrate on something.

ZEPH: Urgh... come on!

A few small spurts of water emerge from his palm and fall to the ground. He grunts in frustration and takes a step backward before preparing to try again.

ATLAS (O.S.): Zeph? That you?

Zeph lets his arm fall to his side and turns to see Atlas, similarly underdressed for the weather in a short-sleeved shirt and thin pants, approaching through the snow. She frowns at him.

ATLAS: I know training when I see it. What are you working on?

ZEPH: Oh! Atlas! ...Actually, you might be able to help. I’m trying to do your Roped Current, but...

He attempts the technique once again, demonstrating a similar result to the first time. Atlas frowns.

ATLAS: You’re really worried about the Wave’s Crest, huh?

ZEPH: Yeah. With Fiora, Shreya, and Beckett all being inducted already, I’m worried I won’t get in at all. My family would kill me if I didn’t get in!

ATLAS (completely serious): Wait, really?! Sources, Zeph, you should get out of--

Zeph breaks down into laughter.

ZEPH: Atlas, I didn’t mean literally! You take things so seriously it’s hilarious. But still, they’d be pretty upset. I’d be the first Hernandez child in eight generations not to be inducted.

Atlas thinks for a moment, then nods.

ATLAS: Alright. I’ll help you out.

ZEPH: Wait, you will? Really?

ATLAS: Sure. For one thing, you’re never gonna accomplish much tryin’ to run before you can walk. Roped Current is damn near impossible to pull off without training up to Energy-Att level first. Or... (shrugs) ...being a natural-born Energy-Att like me, I guess.

ZEPH (dejectedly): Oh.

ATLAS: Don’t worry about it. If this Wave’s Crest thing is so important to you... why don’t we work to get in together? There’s plenty of other techniques I can teach you in the meantime. Stuff that only requires Water Attunement to pull off.

ZEPH: Wow, that’d be perfect! You’re awesome, Atlas, thanks!

In his excitement, he turns and moves to give Atlas a hug, but she goes for a handshake at the same time. They end up awkwardly pressing their palms together and shaking them up and down.

ZEPH (laughs): Alright, not sure what that was... but when do you wanna start training?

ATLAS: Now is fine.

ZEPH: Oh. Uh... wow. You really don’t mess around!

ATLAS: Are we gonna train or what?

As Atlas steps forward and gets into a combat stance, readying herself, Zeph catches her eye and smirks.

ZEPH: ...Alright, I think I get what Beckett sees in you now. You and him would be--blrgrlblubrlgrlgb!

Midway through his sentence, Atlas snaps her fingers, which are glowing with water stoichi. His voice abruptly shifts until it sounds like he’s trying to talk underwater.

ATLAS: Lesson 1. “Water Muffle.” Useful in many situations, and its effect... you can see for yourself.

ZEPH: Gluburgl blurrgrg ubulrgl...

Atlas waves her hand lazily, and the technique ends.

ATLAS: Any more talk about Beckett, and I use it again. Is that clear?

ZEPH: Uh... yeah.

ATLAS: Good. Now then. The first step to Water Muffle is...

_______________________

Notes: Dr. Vartokis was mentioned earlier, but here's his first actual appearance! Yes, he's yet another OC professor. The class he teaches seems to be one Zeph's particularly excited about! (His class is essentially the Penderghast equivalent of Muggle Studies, for the Harry Potter fans in my audience.)

Timeline: We're well into Endless Winter (ES book 2) by now!

_______________________

Next: "That Distance Between Us"

CIU Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @endlesshero1122 @bbaba-yagaa @acidsugar0 @shaylan211 @griselda1121 @acanthisorbis @marmolady @choicesbabie

DotF/Elementalists Tag List:

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vexillumalbum · 4 years

Note

Hello! Whenever you do open requests, could you do the Insecure MC headcanons with Lucien and Victor as well? They’re my favorites so I’d really appreciate it. Loved those headcanons with Kiro and Gavin!

Hello to you too Anon! I struggled a bit with writing these so they can be a bit off. I hope you’ll forgive me.

Victor’s HC I treated a little too personal (let’s say I’m in a similar situation as MC is here, because my partner is “wealthy” and I am not as much and when I tell you some rich people are ruthless... yeah they are) so I got a little carried away. I then tried to rewrite it but it just got worse so I decided to post it like that.

As to Lucien - I don’t know him very well. I only have a few of his karmas, and I played only two of his dates. I do not dislike him, he is just not my type in otome games.

With that being said I hope you’ll still be able to enjoy these HCs. Have a great day/night and please stay safe!

*slight spoilers*

“You are gorgeous* with Victor and Lucien:

Victor

“Are you okay in there?” A deep voice from behind the door pulled you out of your thoughts. You quickly wiped your face with a towel, which you then threw into a basket of dirty laundry and looked in the mirror, hoping that you would not see a tearful woman with red eyes and swollen cheeks.

There is a reason, however, that they say hope is the mother of fools.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Give me a minute!” Your voice almost cracked and it took everything in you not to start crying again. You grabbed another towel, soaked it in cold water and started to vigorously tap it on your face to make the puffiness disappear.

On the other side of the door was standing very worried Victor with his brows furrowed and lips pressed in a thin line. He wasn’t deaf, he heard your sobs coming out of the bathroom a while ago and immediately wanted to know what’s wrong but knew you would not tell him right away. So leaned on the wall next to the door and waited for you to enter your shared bedroom.

Paler than a few minutes earlier you finally walked out with a tight smile plastered on your face. You rubbed your still-a-little-shaky hands on your silk robe to occupy them with something and get rid of the feeling of overwhelming nervousness.

♪ Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know ♪ (I’m sorry, I got carried away)

“Who are you trying to fool?” He knew. Of course he knew.

“I’m tired, Victor. Can we please go to bed?”

“Not unless you tell me what’s bothering you.” He was giving you The Look™. This icy glare that he used at work that was basically saying „do as I say” and that every LFG employee was afraid of. You’ve seen The Look™ so many times now it didn’t bother you anymore but Victor didn’t even flinch when you tried to push past him in order to get to the bed. He was stubborn and you were sick and tired of your own thoughts so you gave in.

Being the girlfriend of one of the most influential people in the country (*cough* the whole world *cough*) brought many advantages. Fancy business meetings, cruises on private yachts, beautiful views from hotel windows when you were traveling together for business trips. Not to mention how much love Victor gave you and how much he did for you privately, behind closed doors, where he showed you his tender loving side.

But it also had many downsides. The people you two were mingling with were refined, elegant, sometimes you could even say stuck-up. And you felt like you didn’t belong there. Hell, you knew you didn’t.

Everything was a race between them. Who drove a better car, who had more investments, who knew more languages, who graduated from better university. Where was your place in this picture?

You weren’t stupid, you were the boss of your own company, you were extremely strong-willed and dutiful, you worked hard, but somehow you still didn’t see yourself worthy of being Victor’s partner.

In addition, there was the fact that Victor had little time for you - which of course you understood, he could not put his duties aside because of your whims - but somewhere inside you were still a bit upset.

Your boyfriend didn't know how to react. From the first day of your acquaintance, he saw you as someone confident, brave, not worried about failures, but only going forward. You managed to convince him HIM to give you and your company a chance. Never in a million years would he had guessed that under your tough exterior lay so many insecurities.

He held your shaking body in a tight embrace occasionally giving you a kiss on the crown of your head partially to calm you down and partially to calm himself down. He treated the fact that because of the self-doubt you brought yourself to the state where you cried when locked in a bathroom alone, as a private failure.

Now he had to make up for every time he weren’t there with you. For you.

You were used to lonely evenings spent in front of the TV with your favorite pudding (which compensated his absence a bit). So you were very surprised when a few days later he announced that from now on two evenings a week you would be obligated to spend together doing whatever you would like to.

Watching TV, playing piano, eating, having sex. You named it - he was down for it.

At banquets, when he saw your eyes begin to waver, he hugged you closer to his side or squeezed your hand a bit harder. He made you understand that he was next to you and did not intend to leave you. So you better not leave him

Oh, and if someone tried to offend you or your intelligence/appearance/mannerisms/whatever…

He would be with you in a minute and with the help of The Look™and his CEO voice he would let the poor thing know that the only person with whom something was wrong in the room was them.

Victor was not very good at comforting you with words, but his actions expressed more than a thousand of them.

When you felt the need for self-pity, he brought you a cup of your favorite tea, covered your body with a blanket and hugged to himself, leaning your head against his sturdy chest. This way he made sure that you weren't alone with your problems. Sometimes he was also combing your hair with his fingers humming a melody he knew you loved, because you were constantly playing it on the piano. Like a parent calming their child down.

“Victor, thank you.” You said one time, your voice tired.

“Sleep, dummy. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He once lost you. He wasn’t going to risk it happening again. You were definitely the love of his life, the only person he would ever wait for. So if he had to wait for you to love yourself properly, so be it.

Lucien

The spark of joy disappeared from your eyes some time ago.

Lucien was a researcher, an observer, he knew when changes to your behavior occurred. He noticed them right away.

How you were sabotaging yourself when something good happened to you. How you were dragging down all your accomplishments. How you became even harder on yourself to the point when you were falling asleep in different places because you were so fatigued.

You were physically and emotionally drained but you kept going anyway cause if you stop, insecurities would eat you alive.

“When are you going to tell me what’s been on your mind lately, butterfly?” A simple question asked during breakfast when he put a cup of chamomile tea in front of you made you almost choke on eggs you were currently chomping.

“Whatever you mean, Lucien…”

“I thought you were the one who said that a healthy relationship is based on honesty and openness. Weren’t you?”

This man. Seriously.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested in that matter.”

“On the contrary. I am interested in about everything regarding your person.”

At that point you were sure he was aware of a mess you had inside your head. He gave it away by the way he grabbed your hand and wrapped his long fingers around yours, to later bring them to his lips and kiss each knuckle. It was a tender gesture, one he often did to lift your spirits.

You didn't quite want to explain everything to him, uncover all of your insecurities, but when he looked at you as penetrating as if he wanted to expose your soul as gently as possible, you couldn't refuse him.

He held your hand all the time, didn’t let it go even when you rested your head on his shoulder while weeping.

To say that it broke Lucien's heart is an understatement. He knew everything he heard from you that morning. He had all this information, and yet to hear from you how much you did not believe in yourself, how much you loathed yourself, was a blow to him.

All he could do was gradually try to get you out of your bubble. He wanted to replace all that ugliness that you wore inside with something beautiful.

Step one: A healthy mind in a healthy body. Who was supposed to know it better than a doctor?

As you struggled with drooping eyelids trying to perfect another report, which was impossible, Lucien's strong arms gently pulled you away from the desk and led you towards the bed. After several times, you even stopped protesting.

Chamomile tea has always been provided to you in stressful situations. Lucien even instructed Anna to prepare this tea for you at the company where he had no possibility of being.

Your boyfriend attached great importance to what you ate because it was a well-known fact that people with a diet rich in vitamins and omega-3 had a better mood. Oh no, no more junk food

Step two: exhibitions, galleries, theater, cinema, stargazing, watching the skylights, amusement park.

Between research and teaching at the university, Lucien took you to all the places you could have thought of. He took the replacement of ugliness with beauty quite literally.

Your favorite place was a temporary butterfly exhibition at the Natural Museum, because there your boyfriend led you from a display case to a display case and was telling you passionately every interesting fact he knew about different species. How unguarded he became there was amusing but also very sweet.

“Did you know that this butterfly pups quite late and its wings are slightly smaller than the rest of the butterflies living in this area? This does not prevent him from being the most beautiful and useful of all of them.” He said pointing with one hand to one of the insects while the other was drawing small circles on the small of your back.

Did he just compared you to a butterfly?

Step three: a good ol’ love-making.

This man thought that if it doesn't reach you normally, it will hit you how wonderful you are through various positions in bed. Not only in bed

Good luck walking for the next few days

You gave Lucien’s life color, showed him that living with someone who cared about him and loved him was far better, happier. He was going to repay that favor now.

____________________________________________________

thank you so much for reading!

if you want to read more of my works they are here

#mlqc #mlqc lucien #mlqc victor #mlqc gavin #mlqc kiro #mr love queen's choice #mr. love queen's choice #mlqc fluff #requests

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estellaelysian · 4 years

Text

Questions

This is a bit of a rewrite of CH 1, OPH BK 2.

Just felt nostalgic.

(I changed the end a little bit) You’ll see.

Song to listen to: Touch it - Ariana Grande

**********

Two long months.

Two months, spent without those deep green eyes following him everywhere. Without the soft, sad smile and without the voice he had memorized a million times over.

All that time, spent in aching, hurting, in thinking about unyielding what-ifs, even though he was the one who had pushed her away.

But now, she was here.

He had successfully kept himself away from her for two months, but now what? He didn’t trust himself around her which is why time and again there was only one question hovering in the air around him.

Why do it?

And how? How are you going to keep pushing her away? Keep breaking her heart, over and over again?

No.

He had to.

He couldn’t not do it and then resent himself for ruining her professional development, when he knew what she was capable of doing.

His eyes were drawn, irresistibly, back to where she was sitting, and he felt a horrible disgust build in the pit of his stomach.

Why was he doing this to her and to himself, he didn’t know.

She sat in one of the high bar stools, away from her friends who were in the beer garden. He had seen the look in her eyes when he had entered Donahue’s, bringing together a chill cold blast of air and a no-go zone around him; the look of plain care and concern for him, masked by deep pain, everything hiding behind a smile. He had no idea of the reaction he would get when he made an appearance in front of her, but that look enough had been heart wrenching.

He had expected her to come talk to him then, right then, but instead, she didn’t. She just excused herself from her friends, not meeting his gaze at all after that.

‘Give me a few minutes, guys, I’ll be back.’

Now she sat, sipping a scotch neat, wavy dark hair swept over one shoulder and an iPod clutched in her hands.

That’s when she turned, and met his gaze.

***

His summer blue eyes turned away again, and she found her gaze averted as well, now staring at the amber liquid in her glass as music poured out of the iPod, much like her current situation.

She remembered those two months, no contact no anything, just spent away from each other, and she didn’t even knew why. It was crushing that he hadn’t even deemed it important to tell her once that he would be gone for two months. He just left.

And then there was living without his ever-demanding presence around her, where she just felt odd, empty and heartbroken.

But now what?

He was back now, and she didn’t know what to do.

Just like she didn’t know what to do in those two months he was away.

How do I make the phone ring?

Why do I even care?

How are you all around me,

When you’re not really there?

The song started over again, and she closed her tear filled eyes, losing herself in her surroundings.

How do I feel you want me,

When you’re not on my skin?

Why do you say you want me,

Then tell me I’m not coming in?

Baby just come on in

She startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to find Bryce standing behind her, wearing his megawatt smile. Smiling back, she pulled off the earphones.

‘Lish, are you okay?’

‘Yeah I’m fine,’ she lied. ‘Just needed a minute for myself.’

‘Yeah sure. Do you feel up for a game of darts?’

She turned once, risking a glance in Ethan’s direction, who refused to meet her gaze, and slid off the barstool. ‘Yeah. Let’s go.’

***

Ethan finished his drink in one long gulp and looked away from her disappearing figure before standing up and walking over to the bar. He took a seat in the barstool she had used, bowing his head and cursing himself for the millionth time over. Evidently spending two months apart, putting both of them through all that anguish and hurt had done nothing good for them. He wanted to be with her, he did. But it probably wasn’t in the cards for him.

Not being happy, and not making her happy.

God, he hated himself.

He raised the glass to his lips when he heard the commotion break out in the bar, and turned to the source causing it.

He wouldn’t have intervened, but something about the sight of that fight made him start toward it.

***

It didn’t take much long for the atmosphere to settle down after that. Soon, everyone went back to talking amiably and sipping their drinks, but before long, her friends had plans to continue the night.

She turned to look at him.

Talking to him would be difficult, she knew, and yet, one glance in his direction was enough to crumble all her defenses. She looked between him and her friends, but the words left her mouth even before she knew it.

‘You guys go ahead. I wanna go and check in about tomorrow with Dr. Ramsey.’

‘Don’t stay up too late,’ Sienna said, but at the point, she was barely listening, her senses already tuned to Ethan, even though she would end up being wrong about all she wanted to hear from him.

‘Cause every time I’m with you

I go into a zone

And I remember all the places you wanna go

Take me all the way

Ain’t nobody gonna touch it, touch it, touch it

Taking a seat in front of him, she put on a small smile as he looked up at her, his blue eyes running over her face, taking her in.

‘Cause every time I’m with you

I don’t wanna behave

I’m tired of being patient

So let’s pick up the pace

Take me all the way

Ain’t nobody gonna touch it, touch it, touch it

‘Rook—er Alishka. Sorry. Force of habit.’

She nodded toward his rugged jacket and spoke through the lump in her throat. ‘We’ve got ourselves a brand new Ethan Ramsey.’

‘The jacket’s been through a lot with me.’

‘It suits you,’ she said in an earnest, smiling a real smile for the first time that night.

‘Duly noted. And the beard?’

He didn’t know what he was doing, but he was way past caring.

‘It looks good on you.’

He scratched at it thoughtfully, wishing they weren’t chest deep in this time with this circumstance that kept them together, and yet pulled them apart. Pushing away the unease to a far corner in his chest, he said, ‘I’ve gotten used to it.’ A beat of silence. ‘Why don’t we move outside? It’ll be winter before we know it. Might as well enjoy the weather while we can. You want something to drink?’

He knew they were skirting the edge of things, but with his emotions in upheaval, it was taking all he had to not reach for her hand or kiss her.

‘Whatever you are having,’ she said quietly.

He reached over the bar and grabbed a half drunk bottle of scotch. ‘Hey Reggie, we are borrowing this.’

Reggie waved him on.

They headed out to the beer garden, which was silent and deserted by patrons, because it was way past the last call.

Ethan took a seat beside a small fire pit, and she scooted in beside him. They talked, but he noticed her hesitation and it broke his heart. He watched her intently as she stared into the fire, the flames casting soft shadows over her face, making her beauty more refined.

‘So this Dr. Throne guy … should I be worried about him?’ she asked.

Ethan’s words didn’t quiet reach her ears, she was far too distracted thinking about the best way to ask him the question she really wanted an answer to.

‘You did the right thing, standing up for that girl.’

‘We both know that’s not true.’

‘You are too young to be a cynic like me.’

‘I’m not being cynical. I just learned my lesson. You saw what happened last year. I almost lost my license for breaking the rules to help Mrs. Martinez.’

‘The lesson there is that you put your patients first, you’ll always be vindicated in the end. That’s the lesson. What you did just now was brave. You’ve always been brave in the face of disaster and death, and ofcourse… but it’s different when you are facing down a superior. To stand up to them for what’s right.’

‘It’s not as brave as venturing into the depths of Amazon to fight a pandemic, that’s for sure …’ she said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in her tone.

A somber look fell over Ethan’s face. He looked back at his drink, contemplating his response. In that moment, it was as if he was robbed of all words but a few, which would never explain his reasons and how stupid he felt they were.

I am sorry, Alishka. I had to.

‘…That wasn’t bravery.’

The world seemed quite still at that exact moment. Desperate, he thought again about all he wanted to tell her, but before he could speak the words, she raised her gaze to his.

‘Ethan, why didn’t you keep in touch? No word from you at all for two months? After all that happened between us?’

‘Everything that happened between us is exactly the reason I didn’t contact you. Alishka, if we are going to work together on the diagnostics team, we need a fresh start. Your professional development is too important to jeopardize it with whatever ... whatever it was we had’

Whatever. Whatever it was we had. Had. Past tense.

‘Had?’

‘Yes. And the past is where it has to remain.’

How do you know I’m breathing,

When I’m holding my breath?

His gaze swept over her face, seeing right through her as if she was made of glass. It was the way he always saw her.

Without thinking, she pressed her lips to his.

Why don’t we face the danger

Just for the night and forget?

Baby let’s just forget

He tensed noticeably. His defenses were going up, and it registered as an ache.

When she leaned back, staring into his eyes from just inches away, a storm of desire and pain played out on his face. With that look, she felt everything slipping away.

‘Dammit Alishka.’

‘If you don’t want to kiss me again, then just tell me—’

He fought to keep his voice steady.

‘It has nothing to do with want. I can’t. And if I give a damn about you, I won’t. How am I supposed to push you to be everything you can if I…’

He trailed off, looking away.

‘If you what?’ she prompted gently, not sure if she wanted to know.

He didn’t look at her, and that was it.

‘Okay. I get it,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Dr. Ramsey.’

He flinched at her formality, watching as she rose and turned to leave. Before he could stop himself, he caught her by her wrist, her skin warm on his fingers.

‘Alishka, please,’ he pleaded.

She turned to look at him, her eyes bright with tears.

‘Please what? I am listening to you, aren’t I? Even though you know it’s not easy. All I could think of the last two months was you and how much you meant to me. Even now, when I’m here with you, all I can think of is how right this feels. And I don’t want to leave you, but I am, because that’s what you asked me to do. What else do you expect from me?’

At her words, he felt as if he was slapped. In her face, the silent resignation was as pronounced as her pain. He drew her into his arms, pulling her close. She shook her head, trying and failing to keep the tears from falling. ‘Does this make you happy, doing all this?’ she asked, her voice thick as she began to cry.

‘It doesn’t, Alishka, and I despise myself for it,’ he said. ‘But what choice do I have?’

He held her as she spoke through her ragged sobs. ‘This isn’t fair…’

‘I know. And I am sorry, I am really sorry.’

For a long time, neither of them spoke, but then, she pulled away, her eyes rimmed with red.

‘Goodnight Dr. Ramsey.’

He watched her go, gritting his teeth, willing himself not to follow.

Remind we why we’re taking a break

It’s obviously insane

‘Cause we both know what we want

Then why don’t we fall in love?

‘Goodnight, Dr. Roy,’ he spoke into the silence.

Baby lets fall in love.

**********

@tenaciouslandvoidgiant @choicesaddict5 @schnitzelbutterfingers

#ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #ethanramsey #open heart #openheart #playchoices #fanfiction

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taxicabinmemphis · 4 years

Note

3. “Cheeky.” with romantic prinxiety that has mutual pining and a happy ending? (They tease each other a bunch?)

Sorry this one took a little while longer; my parents barged in on my writing and watched Merlin and I got sucked in. This is also a little longer than the others? And I’m sorry, I didn’t work the mutual pining in as much as I should have lol, if you want another I can write another, just send it in an ask!

(tw food)

"So. You dyed your hair."

Roman was staring at Virgil with a raised eyebrow. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the corners of his lips were twitching into a smirk.

Virgil rolled his eyes, running a hand through his newly purple hair. “It seems so.”

“Purple, the color of your soul, hmm?”

Virgil scoffed. “Shut up, Princey. The color of my soul is black. Though, you’d have no way to relate I suppose. Your soul is as white as your...whatever your outfit is called.”

“It is a prince outfit, thank you very much. It’s much more refined than your hoodie.”

“Yes, it is. My hoodie is casual, comfortable, informal, and practical. It’s something I can walk down the street with and not get weird stares,” Virgil agreed pointedly.

Roman huffed. “As if you would voluntarily walk down the street.”

“True,” Virgil said, walking into the kitchen.

Roman frowned, following him. “Just where are you going?”

Virgil snorted. “I’m just getting food, Roman, no need to send an army. Why are you so curious? Not done with teasing me?”

Roman huffed. “I wasn’t done talking to you.”

“You can do it just fine while I make ramen.”

“Ramen,” Roman tsked, shaking his head in disapproval, “so unhealthy. You’re not in college, Virge. Mix things up a little!”

“The only thing I’ll be mixing is the ramen when I put in in the boiling water.” Virgil took the ramen from the pantry.

“Is ramen the only thing you can cook?”

“So what if it is?” Virgil exclaimed indignantly, stealing water from a recently heated tea kettle to pour into a pot. He lit the flame, watching the water quickly start to boil.

Roman chuckled, walking into the kitchen but stopping just inside the doorway. “No one will judge you.”

“Except you.”

“Except me.”

“You say that like you can cook!”

Roman’s jaw dropped in offense. “How dare you insinuate such a thing of a prince, you...you...” Roman’s face was pink, he couldn’t think of a scarring nickname he could be sure wouldn’t hurt Virgil.

“You what? I’m not wrong; history doesn’t say princes can cook.”

“And it speaks lower of emos.”

Virgil poured the ramen into the boiling water. “Emos aren’t in history books, Sir Sing-A-Lot.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Not the point, Hot Topic.”

Virgil laughed at the nickname. “You still think I’m hot, don’t you?”

Roman’s cheeks flushed. Virgil took a fork from the silverware drawer and started to stir the ramen.

“Well? It wasn’t a fully rhetorical question, you know.”

“Pssh, of course I don’t. Besides, a prince doesn’t need the validity of others.”

Virgil’s heart dropped, his face contorting in disappointment. Luckily, he was facing away from Roman and to the ramen pot instead. He put the flavor packet into the pot.

“Your self esteem wouldn’t last a day without Patton and you know it.”

Roman sighed, deciding to ignore Virgil’s statement. “How’s your ramen coming along?”

“That eager for my undivided attention?”

“No, I was thinking I could have your leftovers.”

“You say that like I won’t eat the whole pot, and like you didn’t call ramen unhealthy earlier,” Virgil said with a laugh. “Besides, even if I had leftovers, you wouldn’t get them. You’ve been teasing me ever since I dyed my hair.”

Roman furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Even so, how would you eat the whole pot? That’s a lot of food.”

“I haven’t eaten today.”

“It’s seven o’clock!”

Virgil shrugged. “Time is a construct; an illusion meant to keep the human race in line.”

“Oh, stop it, you pessimistic conspiracist.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. He got two bowls out of a cabinet. “If you still want ramen, you better stop teasing me.”

Roman hummed, taking a step closer to Virgil. “Something tells me you’d give me some anyway.”

Virgil finished pouring the ramen into the two bowls, giving Roman the significantly smaller portion.

“Where’s my fork?”

“Get your own, I’m not your maid.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. The silverware drawer is right in front of you.”

Virgil took a fork from the silverware drawer, walking over to Roman to give it to him. He held it out to the prince, a smirk on his face.

“Is this okay? Or do you have a special fork I should know about?”

Roman snatched the fork from Virgil’s fingers, approaching the emo slowly. He backed Virgil against the counter. “Cheeky.”

“How would I know? You likely have a special spoon too, and a knife, and you probably argue with Logan over writing utensils.”

Roman placed his hands on the counter on either side of Virgil, leaning closer to him. Virgil’s cheeks flushed. “I don’t have a special object, but a person...”

“Stop it, Princey,” Virgil said quietly, voice lacking anything relating to confidence or conviction.

Roman raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want me to? You don’t sound like it.”

Virgil opened his mouth to reply, then closed it.

“I didn’t think so.”

Virgil bit his lip and looked down.

“Too socially awkward for a kiss, emo nightmare?” Roman teased.

Virgil glanced up at him with a glare, bottom lip still between his teeth.

Roman leaned in closer. “Keep biting that lip and I’ll have to bite it for you.”

“Oh, shut up, already,” Virgil murmured.

He brought Roman in by the the collar of his outfit for a searing kiss.

Hope this was good! If it wasn’t, feel free to send me an ask for a rewrite!

#sanders sides #ask #somehow-i-got-an-account #romantic prinxiety #prinxiety #haha sorry this is so late #kill writes

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when-are-you-coming-back-steve · 4 years

Text

Duality: God AU Fic

I’m most likely gonna rewrite this but I need a distraction so here it is.

Bonus points if you listen to Dear Theodosia while reading.

@unlawful-lawyers-chaos @countdown-til-sanders-take-over

Manipulation: The act of influencing, controlling or tampering something.

Humans were always interesting to Mochi, being the deity of manipulation wasn’t the only reason they interfered with humans so much. Their interference had caused the creation of many things but never something as wonderful as this.

A pair of twins. Two wonderful bundles of joy born of both mortal and immortal blood. Blai had named the children; Sal and Flore. While they slept in cribs, gifted from Blai’s parents, you wouldn’t guess they would blow the world away.

The twins were children now. Missing teeth, childish delight, energy for days were the light of Mochi’s life. Mochi knocked on the door and their lovely Blai opened the door, revealing her in an apron adorned with flour. Blai gaped at the visitor before jumping into their arms laughing. Mochi twirled her around before pecking her on flour-dusted nose.

Blai giggled, “It's been a week now, I was getting a little worried.”

“Yes, well what do you do when Cenn decides to put a stop to all work for a week.”

“I’m not even surprised-”

“Mama! Flore ruined the pancakes!” And there were the children.

“I didn’t ruin them. Some people like blueberries you know.”

The parents rolled their eyes before Blai called out, “Come to the door, someone’s here for you.”

Footsteps pounded fast against the floor. When the children saw who was at the door, cheers and yells of, “Renny!”. Mochi was quickly pulled into the kitchen., with laughter and questions surrounding them. Mochi watched them smile and fell apart.

The demigods were quick to learn the art of manipulation, skills being refined with each visit. Mochi was sure to be careful. The power at their fingertips came slowly as they aged. They couldn’t help but be proud as they watched.

Watching more and more people grow fond of the twins.

Watching Sal run up, “Ren! Today was so fun. We all came up with our favorite movies and had to do a big speech to tell others why we should watch it. I choose Up and I won! So we all watched Up during school and it was amazing! Are you proud of me?”

“Yeah, I’m really proud of you kiddo.” They ruffled xer hair.

Watching Flore happily lick icecream, “Look! Look, this man gave me free ice cream! He said it's because I was ‘too cute’, I was just using those eyes you taught me. But now I can buy Mama a gift since I didn’t spend it on icecream!”

“I’m proud of you kid. That's a really good idea! Let's go get one right now.”

Watching Sal come and sit down next to them, exhausted. Mochi knew that kind of exhausted, the kind where you had manipulated out of a life or death type of situation. They had dreaded this day when their kid would have that weight on their shoulders. Sal had started to cry, “Thank you, Ren.” Mochi knew xey were thanking them for arming xem with the ability to do xe needed to do.

They pulled their child into a side hug,“I’m proud of you. You did a good job.”

Watching Flore end a call and starting to cry. “Ren. Ren, I did it. I got the job!” She had started rambling, “I mean, I knew it was going to happen since I worked on the connections and pretty sure I made people cry and re-think their life choices but I didn’t actually think-”

“Hey. You did it.” Flore threw herself into a hug. Mochi hugged them and smiled, “You did it, I’m so proud of you.”

The world whirled by and every moment Mochi spent with their children was the best time of the thousands of years they lived. When Flore started appearing less and less, dread began to set in. They tried not to worry, Flore was grown and so very smart. More worry set in though when Flore was around even less after the exile of Richard. All Mochi knew they could do was hold Flore a little tighter when they did see her.

Mochi does not know how but a small country had begun a civil war and they were not aware of it till there was a bloodbath. It was a small country barely a village but it was one of the oldest villages, it had a place in every gods’ heart . The fact the news was there so late was worrying. They got there quickly, looking for the most influential part when they felt an aura. Bloody hell, what was Richard doing. Richard was in a building, the only place that wasn’t a war zone but it might as well have been, for Richard wasn’t to be underestimated. He had already done terrible things, he couldn’t be allowed to do anymore.

Mochi saw explosives and a button before they saw the occupants of the room. Two people back facing Mochi. There was Richard right next to the button and another person encouraging them to just press the button. Except that person was familiar. That person was Flore.

Mochi’s stomach dropped, how could their baby be helping Richard. Was this how Green and Takeover felt when they realized how terrible a person Richard was.

“Richard, what are you doing?”

The pair sharply turned around.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” He raised his eyebrow.

“Richard, you know you don’t have to do this. Flore, please.”

Flore glanced to Richard before staring Mochi down, “Ren..You told me I could do whatever I wanted, and I love the power at my fingertips right now.”

“But you don’t have to hurt people, neither of you do.”

“I do need to do this. You exiled me and there are consequences to your actions!”

“After everything you did, you expect us to just let you go on-?”

A new voice had joined the conversation, “What the hell is going on!”

No, no no. Mochi didn’t need Sal in danger here.

“Sal. Go back to your mother please.”

“Forgive me for not leaving you guys in the middle of a warzone, Ren. We need to go, it's dangerous here.”

Flore cut in, “Oh, Sal. Always been a bit of a coward, I don’t understand why. Anyone would do anything for you if you asked for it, you could be even more powerful than Ren.”

“Flore, what?”

“Just let Richard blow this old place up, Sal. After you can come with me, your dear sister, and we could do so much.”

“I use my power to help people not to hurt them! We don’t do stuff like this.”

Ignoring the argument of the twins, Richard was closing in on the button, “Hate to interrupt but there isn’t an after here. My only goal here is to blow this place up. I know how you work, Mochi. You use what people care about against them, but I don’t care about anything but hurting you.”

In five seconds the world flipped on its axis. Richard went to press the button, the explosives rigged starting right there next to him and Flore. Sal jumped to stop him, Sal jumped towards the explosives. Mochi ran to try and protect their children as Richard hit the button.

“No!” With the click of a button the world fell around them. It was the end. A heavy blanket hung on the people, knowing an end was near. Mochi could barely breathe as they caught the two demigods in their arms. How could it have all led to this, Mochi’s children dying in their arms. They pleaded for it to not be true, but who could answer your pleads if yourself is a god. Sal choked on blood, “Are you proud of us Ren?”

“Yeah Ren, still proud of us?”

Mochi watched them smile and fell apart.

#god au #chaos family #sal #Flore #New Ocs bitches #death tw #explosives tw #*screams in writing*#war tw #blood tw

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bluerosesburnblue · 4 years

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Nothing upsets me more than a legitimately good story being ruined by “extra” content. I’ve already complained at length about Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon’s story changes over the original games so now it’s The World Ends With You: Final Remix’s “A New Day’s” turn because CHRIST

I’m writing this as I come across points while watching a playthrough, so:

God, Coco is the single most insufferable being. “totez hilar” just dated this content so baaaad, and I’d even say it was dated language when Final Remix came out. No other character abuses modern slang as their entire character. Like, slang is used but not as a substitute for personality. Beat speaks in a very casual, urban style but it never ends up being detrimental to his character as a bit of a punk with a “perfect little sister” that he wasn’t as naturally smart as, so he just gave up on trying and ended up being a bit of an aggressive slacker. Heck, he tones it down a bit for emotional moments, too. Coco, though, comes across like her ultra-modern “cutesy” text message slang is supposed to be her personality, and even when it’s revealed that she’s the villain of the episode you just can’t take her seriously through the “like, ohmigosh, I can’t believe you’re ruining my plaaaaaans” bullshit. What does she have going for her if you rewrite all of her lines without that speaking style? She’s just a generic manipulative brat

Frankly I also just disagree with the entire premise of A New Day and the plot threads it sets up for a potential sequel, i.e. “having Neku and Beat run through a game again as a trap to get Neku into yet another game in a possible sequel.” TWEWY is a complete experience and had been for at least a decade. Literally every character had a complete arc. The worldbuilding was rich enough that they had more than enough to come up with a sequel set in the same world, but in an entirely different town with an entirely new cast and, heck, even entirely new rules for the Game that would’ve expanded upon the world of the games without taking away from the characters whose time in the Underground was already done

But, noooooooo, we’ve gotta bring Neku back. Can’t have a game without Neku they literally SAY THAT (”The Game, like, literally can’t go on without Neku.”). And let’s bring Minamimoto back, too, as a good guy! The fans loved him! This doesn’t come across as pandering at all!

Just... you have the girl with the red headphones designed! Make the sequel set in Shinjuku with her as the main character! (Hell, I don’t think I would have even minded Minamimoto coming back for that because there was enough leeway in the base TWEWY for him to have survived his encounter with Josh, just leave Neku out of it). This is the most infuriating part because it actually takes away from Neku’s story. The entire GAME was a test of character to see if even the worst, most closed off person could learn empathy and respect and Neku DID. And in return, that sparked a change in Josh. His story is done. Coco using Neku, though, has nothing to do with him as a character and everything to do with him being the face of the game and it shows

And why the hell is Neku so trusting of Coco anyway? I get that he opened up over the course of TWEWY, that was kind of the point. But you come back to life, everything’s fine, and then suddenly you’re in a death game again and so is one of your best friends, like, he should be WAY more concerned and suspicious. But one little Reaper gives him the sad eyes and he just caves instantly like “fine, come along.” Even when Neku grew to like some of the Reapers, like Uzuki and Kariya, it was still far more of a rival-like respect. He knew damn well that it was their job to see him gone and while he accepted their help when they gave it and helped them when their lives were in danger (possibly, up to player choice), they weren’t buddy-buddy with each other, knowing that as soon as the immediate danger to them had passed they’d be on opposite sides again. And these are the Reapers he’s closest to, even at the end of the game. And then all of a sudden Coco goes “but I’m a wittle wost baby weaper” and Neku’s response is, “well, shit, welcome to the team.” WHAT

I hate using the term “Mary Sue” but Coco is absolutely a Mary Sue in its original meaning. The plot bends over backwards to accommodate her at the expense of the main characters’ personalities or reason, all while giving her a clothing style incongruous with everyone else’s meant to stand out and make her look special and not having her face any repercussions for her actions (so far which is, again, another issue with the very premise of A New Day since that’s exactly how things will end off if TWEWY doesn’t get a sequel, the possibility of which is not a guarantee AT ALL)

Shiki and Rhyme start saying blatantly false things about themselves and handwaving it away with “ohhh, that must have been our new Entry Fee! Just the exact same ones as the first time again!” and only BEAT is suspicious and NEITHER OF THEM are suspicious of Coco, the only non-generic Reaper they’ve met so far. Christ, I appreciate Beat being attentive with matters of his sister because that’s in-character but NEKU was always the more paranoid AND observant one yet all he thinks about is “gee, I’m sure having weird visions today, huh?”

And then Coco starts BLATANTLY gaslighting them about Kariya and Uzuki’s personalities and they’re STILL not suspicious of her like ughhhhhhhhhhh. Nekuuuuuuu you LIVED THROUGH JOSH WEEK 2, you have BEEN IN A SITUATION where the mastermind partnered up with you to divert your suspicion and keep an eye on you how are you less suspicious of this brat than Beat is???

And why are none of the characters bringing up the fact that you have to be DEAD to be in the Game??? You all spent three weeks of hell to claw your way back to life, how are you not more upset about what seems like you all dying again, basically immediately after you just got brought back? And I know the Shiki and Rhyme in A New Day are illusions, but Neku and Beat AREN’T. Nobody even comments on the implication that they’re dead again and what that means!

I can’t believe they made new expressions for the fake Josh’s changed personality but still refuse to make anything for Shiki’s true appearance

Hell, there’s enough lore with Josh that you could make an entire prequel about him becoming the Composer instead of this mess and, you know, EXPAND on someone’s character and what led to him being so disillusioned with Shibuya as the Composer instead of employing the Happy Ending Rewrite on Neku and then gutting his personality to make Coco the focus. I’d LOVE a Josh prequel with competent writing. Kingdom Hearts made the Xehanort prequel and hooked me in a single chapter with expanded worldbuilding and interesting ties with Xehanort’s character to friends that humanize him, do the same for Yoshiya “Joshua” Kiryu!

Pfffffff hire me and let me make the dream TWEWY trilogy: Joshua prequel > TWEWY sans A New Day > sequel set in Shinjuku starring Red Headphones Girl with Occasional Josh and Hanekoma Interaction

It is so unnecessarily cruel to make Beat relive Rhyme’s erasure and subject Neku to believing that Shiki was erased as well, and yet they do NOTHING with it except have it be cheap tension for five minutes. The characters basically say “wow, I’m so sad!” and then IMMEDIATELY move on to “OMG is Neku seeing the fuuuuuture?” Your LITTLE SISTER and FIRST REAL FRIEND IN YEARS just seemingly died permanently! When Rhyme was erased the first time it took Neku one and a half in-game days to even talk about it because he was so upset, and from then on he was focused on avenging her/bringing her back. Shiki was his entry fee in Week 2 and that made him hyper paranoid the whole time! WHY ARE WE JUST GLOSSING OVER THIS especially since they made SUCH a big deal about how they just finally started believing that the fakes were real (after a whole TWO conversations)

And then at the end they say that they’re inside Coco’s Noise that is SO BIG that it has an ALTERNATE DIMENSION INSIDE IT and Hanekoma’s like “I’ve never met a Reaper POWERFUL enough to make a Noise like this. Wow, Coco, you’re so POWERFUL that even I, an Angel, am impressed!” This. Coming from the guy who specifically chose Minamimoto as his failsafe to kill the Composer should the Game go wrong because a Taboo Minamimoto, heavily refined using forbidden methods, would be strong enough to defeat THE COMPOSER. And he’s now going on about how Coco’s the strongest Reaper ever, basically admitting that she’s probably stronger than the Composer of Shibuya. SURE. BECAUSE COCO WASN’T BAD ENOUGH ALREADY SHE HAS TO BE THE STRONGEST REAPER EVER, TOO

And then it just ends with Josh and Hanekoma exposition dumping about how Shinjuku got erased as Noise entered the RG (WHAT?), Neku’s visions were probably caused by the red headphones girl who’s super special (who???), and Coco’s just so special powerful (why...), but it’s not their problem so fuck it. Oh, and also Josh doesn’t care about Neku anymore, despite that being the whole point of TWEWY. Yeah, the guy who flew off all upset when Hanekoma asked him if he wanted to hang out with his friends at the end of the game. Uh huh. Even if he’s lying, why even put that THERE instead of saving it for the sequel?

And then Coco just... revives Minamimoto. Even though, oh, right, the Taboo Refinery stuff was so precise that the only reason Minamimoto came back the first time was because Hanekoma, THE PRODUCER AND AN ANGEL, set it up for him. But I guess Coco’s just soooooo super powerful and knows FORBIDDEN HIGHER PLANE KNOWLEDGE and can just do whateeeeeever she wants. Not like Hanekoma was so paranoid about someone finding out what he did for Minamimoto that he went into hiding, certain that he’d be reported to the higher Angels and destroyed

A New Day is so painfully shallow from a writing experience. It’s a poor continuation off of the solid, complete TWEWY story experience that just doesn’t have a handle on Neku’s character, turning him into this bland vision machine with no emotional connection to anyone. The way that it expands the worldbuilding with “Inversion” does one thing that I HATE, which is taking an emotion-and-character driven story and turning it into a generic “end of the world” scenario, “raising the stakes” in a way that divorces it from what made it memorable in the first place. If Kitaniji directly effecting the RG during the main Game’s plot was the point where he crossed the line in-universe, then that loses its special nature and impact if you then go “oh, btw, Noise can destroy the RG city if you let them”

And then there’s the absolute black hole of a character that is Coco Atarashi. She wasn’t designed to fit into the world of the game, she was designed to stand out. On its own that’s not a bad thing, especially given the themes of the game that revolve around owning your true self and baring it to the world, but then you combine it with no personality beyond being a manipulative brat obsessed with the events of TWEWY, extremely lazy text message slang dressing up her dialogue to make it stand out, the way that Neku and Beat’s personalities change to accommodate her presence just to shoehorn her in and then have a cheap “omg she was bad” twist, and then dumping powers on par with Josh and Hanekoma on her and there is NO saving her character

The only good part of A New Day is “Wake Up.” And even then, there’s better TWEWY songs, I just like the vaguely Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance vibes it has in parts

#the world ends with you #the world ends with you spoilers #liz's shenanigans #the playthrough i was watching to refresh myself on twewy's story hit a new day and my blood pressure spiked instantly #i have never lost interest in a sequel quite as fast as i did this #i just... how do you fuck up this bad???

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feyhawon · 4 years

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ok well i was working on getting proper pages finally set up and i accidentally lost an 85% complete biography page so i guess we’re still waiting to rewrite that but at least i have a formal profile page up now.

IN ADDITION i am also putting some plots up for grabs! check those out under the cut, and feel free to send me a message if anything catches your eye!

LONGTERM&RELATIONSHIP

BROTHER IN LAW TO BE (0/1); male, wongyeong witch, 22-28 years old

joowon, his older sister, has been promised to this witch since she was nineteen years old. details can be discussed, but i imagine that since she’s now in her mid-twenties the families want them to wed soon.

COUSINS (0/?); any gender, gwiin or jaeseung witch, any age

they grew up meeting at family gatherings, maybe they got along well or maybe they bickered at everything. details can be discussed and refined between muses, but some ideas include, but are not limited to:

BEST FRIENDS SINCE BIRTH: the two act as if they’re siblings and have been inseparable since the first time they met. maybe they went to the same high school, maybe they terrorized their classmates together with sharp tongues that aren’t afraid of anyone.

ARE YOU SURE WE’RE RELATED: despite shared blood, they just simply do not get along. they fight like cats and dogs, sometimes disagreeing just to disagree and fight some more. but at the end of the day, they’re still family, and if anyone messed with one, they’d have the other to answer to.

CLASSMATES, FORMER AND CURRENT (0/?); any age or genera, 18-22 years old

hawon is, unfortunately, a very lazy student, but he’s also a very social one. he wasn’t king of the class by any means, but he certainly was known around his high school campus. now in college, he’s built up a similar charismatic reputation for himself. some classmate ideas include but are not limited to:

FATE HATES: back in high school, you couldn’t stand hawon. he was too loud, too disruptive, and you were there to study and get your work done. maybe you even told him to his face that he’d never get into college with his behavior. but oh, what’s this? you’re both attending the same university now and you’ll have to deal with his antics for another couple years? fate must really have it out for you.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: preferably high school, but could go for college as well. the two were best friends and twin terrors to the school. outspoken, cracking jokes and talking out of turn, the two of them landed themselves in detention about a hundred times. that’s okay though, if terror #2 wasn’t already a witch themself, hawon revealed his witchy secret and would use a little magic to help them clean the classroom and get out quicker.

HOMEWORK HELP: hawon might be a lazy student, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t totally care about his grades. you’re his go-to study buddy, the person who can keep him on track even when his mind is wandering a thousand miles away. maybe it’s annoying to have to help the guy so often, or maybe you sorta enjoy his company.

UNOBTAINABLE OBJECT (0/1); any gender or genera, 18-22 years old

you’ve admired hawon for a while. he’s flirted with you a little bit too, but every time you think you’re getting somewhere with him, he suddenly backs off and doesn’t speak to you for a few days. rinse and repeat. honestly, hawon doesn’t have any interest in you and isn’t intentionally leading you on, but he can’t help the jokes he makes and the way he is. when is enough enough?

FRIENDS WITH MY EX (0/1); any gender or genera, 18-22 years old

they dated, maybe even just briefly in high school, but they quickly learned that they make much better friends than lovers. they stayed close to this day, maybe even still flirt playfully a bit, but otherwise they know that it’d never work out between them. they have a great time when they hang out anyways though.

BLOOD THIEF (0/?); any gender, vampires, any age

witches may not taste all that great to vampires, but undead blood is such largely unexplored potential when it comes to magical potions and spells. could a kind vampire let hawon borrow a little blood every now and then to experiment with? he promises it won’t hurt, he only needs a small vial or so...

DOWN, BOY (0/1); any gender, familiar, any age

a familiar is supposed to want to be bound to a witch, right? and a witch is supposed to want to have a familiar to help them out, aren’t they? well, it turns out that hawon has commitment issues, and no matter how well you think you get along with each other, he has no interest in taking on a familiar at this time.

CAT & MOUSE (0/1); any gender, hunter, any age

hawon might not have been the target, but his boisterous personality has certainly made him a target, if only because you want him to shut up. there’s really no reason to kill the young witch, but you threaten him often. he, in return, calls your bluff. it’s been a long game between the two, hawon somehow always wriggling his way out even when you really think you’re gonna pull the trigger this time.

SCENARIOS

open to any age, genera, or gender unless otherwise specified

hawon sold you a fake charm and you figured it out quickly. he’ll replace it if you start making demands of him, but wait, don’t attack his character. it wasn’t supposed to be a scam, he was just lazy and didn’t think you’d notice the difference.

you recognize that voice. that’s the same person that you/your family member/your friend was calling on the phone for a psychic reading! for some reason, you didn’t expect a telephone psychic to look so... normal. or young. but you might have to confront him about the fortune he told or the money you/your family/friend wasted on his call.

do you want to know your future? hawon can predict it for you, if properly motivated. but he’s such an easy liar that you’re not sure you can trust what he says anyways. maybe talking to this witch was a mistake.

someone point out to him the irony that the only animal protein he’ll eat is fish, but he burns the cleaned bones of other animals to predict the future. that’s gotta be breaking some sort of pescatarian rule, right?

(18-22 years old) hawon hits on you, jokingly. he doesn’t expect you to get so flustered, or get as red in the face, but now that he’s seen it he’s just gotta keep tormenting you with his flirty jokes.

plots to be added as i think of them!!

#.ooc #.plot

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feykyung · 4 years

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hi friends!! i’m jessie bringing u 450 yr old do kyunghwa who honestly needs to find better hobbies 😔 i wrote up a little human lifetime snippet here, but the rest of kyung’s 400+ yr history has yet to be filled with tons of Fun and Angsty stuff so that’s something to look forward to! :^) i’m weak for deep plots and i’m super excited to build sum intricate past/present connections with other vampires/species. granny doh has traveled far and wide carrying a book of all the stupid ways she can entertain herself... definitely in need of a few people to ground her. i managed to write a short PROFILE and PLOTS, but i also jotted down some more vague ideas and brief tl;dr below the cut! pls hmu if anything interests you!

TL;DR

born april 30, 1570 to a crippled scholar and two siblings. although the padre taught her to read and write, he was also silently struggling to support the household by just rewriting confucian texts and his own outdated books.

got engaged to a government official’s bastard and started something of an orphanage with him, but the children were massacred while trying to flee across the nam river from invading samurai. only kyunghwa and one of the little girls, sookja, barely survived after kyunghwa dragged them to another village with a doctor.

worked under him for a while but before they could leave to search for hubby samdeok, the japanese launched a second widespread attack. while the villagers & nobles were escaping, a nobleman got shoved off the side of the cliff by his own ox and pulled kyunghwa down with him 😳

just before she was about to give up and die on the forest floor, a passing (godsend) vampire offered a second chance at life and turned her into a fledgling. all she wanted to do was see sookja grow up and marry someone nice, partly to atone for her failure to protect all those children, and partly because she hadn’t yet sought retribution on their murderers. lived with her sire for some ~20 years

after bidding him farewell and helping out with sookja’s children, kyunghwa disguised herself as a man and served as a field surgeon of sorts during the first manchu invasion. after three months, went to work in the rice paddies to initiate her mission of Not going back to living in dirt

for the following couple decades, all she really focused on was making money and refining her supernatural abilities. the first time she got rich, she hadn’t heard of Financial Responsibility and nearly lost all her fortune until her sire had to relocate her and tell her to stop

fell in love with another human while travelling, but after remembering how lonely it is to watch your lover grow old and sick while you’ve haven’t aged for a hundred years, she stopped trying to have meaningful relationships with most mortals

was once much more cutthroat and feral toward humans and hunters, mostly because the worst ones would always use death as a means of escape. now, though, she doesn’t fuck w/ humans too much as a vampire, only when she’s disguised as one of them in society

has a painting/picture of every house she’s ever owned. before she turned 150, she used to also keep a written list of her closest human friends and lovers so she would always remember them, but kept forgetting to add to it so it’s somewhere collecting dust in the attic rn

regularly donates to orphanages and children’s programs, and established a couple mostly in the countryside

has developed an “it is what it is” mentality. she doesn’t actively seek death, but no longer exhausts herself just to avoid it. though when she’s killed, she’d prefer it to be when she no longer has any regrets

loves to admire her different masters degrees and like two or three doctorates, all acquired from frequently changing her profession on whim.

played sims when it first came out and *naturally* became an interior designer after, which is what she’s been for the past 6 years

highkey thinking about learning how to train elephants now (on a side note, she tried to tame a werewolf in wolf-form once but almost got killed by their entire pack)

uses telekinesis to get her cat out of the tree

MORE PLOT IDEAS!

vampires she’s known for centuries or ones just meeting each other for the first time

has sired two fledglings in her lifetime

currently not the biggest fan of killing humans to keep them silent, which is why she almost exclusively drinks from donors/donor bags. when you guys are out one night, one or both of you loses control. somehow you always bring out the worst (or feral) in her and a few weeks later, she still won’t get over how you “made” her kill that human after her 24 year clean streak

any genera friends!

classmates from grad school who wonder why this bitch looks the exact same as she did a few years ago

witches that she lends a bit of her blood to as long as she gets to see the final result of the spell. also might’ve been friends w/ ur great grandma

a witch she’s been pestering to invent the spell that makes blood taste like human food

cat-and-mouse dynamic with a hunter bc even tho kyunghwa’s unafraid of death, she still hasn’t built her greenhouse to grow banana plants yet

um that’s it so far if i think of any more i’ll probably plop them on my plot page but yeah!! if there’s anything particular you’d like to explore, i’d love to flesh things out/brainstorm through ims or discord ♡

#— ooc.#fey; plot call #turns out i was just kidding when i said brief #thank u for all the welcomes and messages!! will get to them in a bit <3

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eclecticstarlightconnoisseur · 5 years

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Edinburgh To Boston Chapter 8 - The Morning After.

Hello all, I am so sorry for the delay in posting this. It took a bit of time for all the corrections and rewrites that I had to do. I know some of you had read the preview but it has not changed too much.

I also want to thank everyone for their kind words and good wishes when I explained that things were delayed because my husband had taken ill. He is well and back to himself. I am adjusting to the new job and a little less crazy. A little I said.

I do need to thank two very special people @curlsgetdemgurls and @ladyviolethummingbird for being my betas on this chapter. I don’t know what I would have done without them. They are the best.

I am not promising when the next chapter will be out except to say that it is underway. I dislike promising something that I can’t keep.

So without further ado, I give you:

Edinburgh to Boston Chapter 8 The Morning After

Jamie Fraser laid in his hotel bed watching the dawn slowly break over the frozen sleeping city. The sky underwent a metamorphosis transitioning from the inky black of night to the vibrant colors of the day. Streaks of hot pink, vivid orange, and fiery golden yellow glowed in the heavens splattering across an underlying electric blue. It was breathtakingly beautiful, so beautiful as to cause him to weep. But nothing could surpass the goddess who slept beside him. Claire. His Sorcha, his light.

Claire lay on her side, back curled into his chest. Their bodies fit well together. Each one piece of a puzzle when combined made a whole, a complete picture.

He ran his hands along the planes of her body becoming familiar with each dip and luscious curve. Her body, while thin and lithe, spoke of a woman’s sensuality. A hand drifted to cup that sweet round arse of hers.

Aye, plump and juicy like a fat wee hen.

He felt himself rouse just from the mere thought of her. She consumed him. The need left him wanting, needing. He knew he could take her again and again and it would never be enough.

Smiling tenderly, Jamie brushed an errant curl away from Claire’s face. Her hair, that glorious mane, spread out across the pillow a tangled, tousled mess. She would awake and be annoyed with it. There would be fussing, muttered obscenities, and futile attempts to tame it into some semblance of order. Chuckling, Jamie admitted that one of the things he loved about her (and truth be told, he loved everything about her) was her hair, as it truly represents who she is. At times, she could be wild and free just like her curls. Most of the time she would confine her curly wig into a conservative bun. The reserved Dr. Beauchamp, her public persona. But, her hair would never stay in place. It always struggles to escape its confines and become free. He witnessed the wild and unrestrained side of his enchantress last night, giving and receiving pleasure without inhibition. She was simply magnificent. Jamie blushed at the thought of what they had done, hoping they could do that again soon.

Jamie yawned and stretched feeling each one of his vertebrae popping. He hadn’t slept much during the night. It was his duty to stand guard over his beloved as she slept. He was the Watcher of Her Sleep; The Guardian of her Dreams. Jamie snorted at himself.

“Becoming poetic are we, Fraser?”

He rolled his eyes at his own pretentiousness.

“Weel, if I’m becoming a poet, then she will be my poem.”

He grinned at the thought.

Eyes heavy and gritty from the lack of sleep, Jamie fought to stay awake. Wrapping his arms around Claire, he pulled her closer to his chest. Taking in a deep breath, he inhaled her sleepy scent. Her fragrance comforted him allowing him to relax. He settled himself spooning into her, back to chest, arse to groin, legs intertwined. The act while intimate soothed him. Jamie began to drift, feeling the pull of sleep and surrendered to it.

****************

The morning sunlight slowly crept along the floor clambering up the bed settling on Claire’s sleeping countenance rousing her from slumber. Eyes squinting, she blinked adjusting to the harsh glare suffusing throughout the room.

“I should have closed those bloody drapes last night.”

Peering through narrowed eyes at the clock, it cheerfully blinked 9:43 AM. Claire attempted to shift to her side, wanting very much to return to sleep. This proved impossible as she was held in the steel embrace of a very large, very warm...very naked Scot. One arm wrapped around her chest, while the other came around her waist, tightening every time she tried to move.

“Christ, this is what it must feel like being caught in a bear trap.”

Claire chuckled to herself imagining Jamie as a great giant red bear. Jamie pulled Claire closer making huffing and snuffling noises into her hair.

Falling into a deeper sleep, his arms became limp, the vise-like grip momentarily relaxed. Quickly, Claire changed position her head now resting on Jamie’s well-muscled torso. She centered her ear over his chest, listening.

Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub.

The sounds of the strong gentle beat of his heart hypnotic, serene. She felt content and safe surrounded by his arms, sharing a bed with him. Nestling closer, Claire became aware of a hardness pressing against her belly.

“Hmm, penile tumescence,” Claire, ever the clinician, mused “He must be in REM sleep.” She wondered what he could be dreaming about, hoping it was her.

******************

“Hello, Claire, I see you have taken a lover,” said a cultured English male voice. Tall and thin, he had the athletic grace of a tennis player. An attractive chap with an aristocratic face, he possessed dark wavy brown hair, and eyes of hazel flecked with honey. Attired in a three-piece brown suit, white button-down shirt, and striped tie, the figure jammed one hand into his pants pocket, cocked his head to one side, projecting a rakish air.

“Hello, Frank. Why don’t you go get stuffed? While you’re at it, get out of this bed,” Claire said her voice laced with anger.

Frank chose to ignore Claire’s request.

“He is rather large is he not?” Frank sneered. “Is that what appeals to you these days, Scottish barbarians? Are you having fantasies about being dominated that you need such a brute in your bed? I recall Joe Abernathy had you reading those dreadful novels. Ghastly, really. I can just imagine the title: ‘The Scottish Barbarian and the English Rose’,” he laughed contemptuously. “TSK, I always thought you to be a refined lady of gentle birth,” he said in a reproachful tone.

“Frank, you never took the time to know anything about me or what I needed or wanted. But Jamie does. Now get out of my head! Go away!”

“How sweet! Jamie, is it? Hmm, sounds rather boyish, doesn’t it,” The Englishman mocked.

“I’ll have you know he’s no boy,” Claire growled vehemently. “He’s more man than you’ll ever be. Jamie is kind, gentle, funny, supportive of me, and most of all he loves me. He is everything I could possibly want in a man — something you wouldn’t know anything about. I really don’t know why I am having this conversation with you.”

“You know perfectly well why Claire. You called me here to fuel your insecurities, your inadequacies. I am a figment of your imagination, your dreams. You only have yourself to blame.”

“You know you’re right. I did call you here. It’s to tell you I am no longer the frightened, insecure girl you knew. You can no longer intimidate me or make me feel inadequate. I have grown emotionally, and I found my self-confidence — no thanks to you. I am happy and in love. Yes, I am in love with Jamie. So, why don’t you just bugger off? Oh, and do us both a favor, don’t come back.”

“I’ll be back Claire when you call me again.” The fetch faded into the gray mist of her dream-world.

*************

It was late morning and the sky became a dazzling azure blue, vast and limitless. The sunlight reflected off the whiteness of the snow giving it an even greater brilliance. As the sun climbed higher, the reflection from the golden beams struck the sleeping lovers rousing them from the land of Nod.

Jamie woke first, finding Claire snuggled in his arms, head still pressed against his chest. He lowered his lips and kissed her lightly on the forehead. Her eyes blinked, as she slowly moved toward wakefulness.

“Good morning mo chridhe, did ye sleep well?”

“Yes, yes I did. And you? Did you sleep well?”

Claire hated lying to Jamie, but she was loath to start the day talking about her disturbing dream. She would tell him everything...later.

“Aye, I did. Better than I have in a long time.”

Jamie bent forward and kissed the tip of Claire’s nose, letting out a deep sigh of contentment.

“Are ye hungry a leannan?”

“Yes, famished. Aren’t you?” Claire looked up into his fathomless blue eyes.

“Aye, but what I’m hungry for is no’ on the menu.”

“I thought you would have had your fill of me last night.”

“Nah, never mo ghràdh.”

Jamie ran his fingers down the side of her cheek and along the sensitive skin of her neck. Claire shivered under his touch. In return, her hand went to the nape of his neck and at feeling the soft curls, brought his head down to her mouth. His lips were soft and warm. She melted into his kiss; her heart fluttering in her chest.

“I could get used to waking up like this every morning,” Jamie said his bright blue eyes twinkling.

“So could I,” Claire whispered as she stroked the rough plush of his morning stubble.

His large hands caressed her back up and down before settling on her arse giving it a good squeeze.

Claire squeaked.

“Ye ken, Beauchamp, it was torture watching ye walk away from me in yer scrubs. I’d see yer sweet fat arse swaying seductively as ye walked down the corridor. It took all my self-control not to throw ye over my shoulder, carry ye off, and have my way with ye on the spot,” he grinned.

Claire looked up at him offended,

“My arse is not fat, Fraser! I prefer to think of it as Rubenesque. More voluptuous, than fat.”

“Call it what ye will. ‘Tis fat. Just how I like it.”

With that, Jamie gave said arse a loving swat and got out of bed. He stood naked by the side of the bed stretching luxuriously. Claire did enjoy watching Jamie move. His movements graceful, belying the strength and power his body possessed. Bending down, he retrieved his robe and put it on.

“Why don’t ye take a bath while I order up some breakfast for us?”

“Alright, that sounds like a good idea.”

Claire slipped out of bed while Jamie held open her robe wrapping her snugly in it.

Claire walked to the bathroom, ran the water for the bath adding a bath oil and bubble bath called Romance to the water. The bubbles blossomed up like white fragrant clouds filling the air with the scent of roses, sage, orange, and rosemary as they dispersed. Claire entered the tub, slid down until she was covered in the sweetly scented foam to her shoulders.

“Ahh.”

Sighing, she closed her eyes, enjoying the absolute bliss of relaxing in the water. The door opened and Jamie stepped in carrying two champagne flutes, the champagne, and the strawberries.

“Mind if I join ye, lass?”

“No, not at all. There is plenty of room,” Claire looked up at him smiling.

Taking his phone from his robe pocket, Jamie put on some soft instrumental music, popped the cork on the champagne, poured the glasses, and placed a strawberry in each. Dimming the lights just a little, he removed the robe and joined Claire in the tub. Jamie moved with a natural elegance for such a large man, nimbly descending into the water without causing a wave or a ripple allowing them to face each other.

“Do ye no’ feel a wee bit decadent, mo chridhe? I’ve never done such a thing as this.”

He closed his eyes leaned back so only his head could be seen above the mass of bubbles and let out a contented sigh.

Claire giggled at the sight of him up to his neck in bubbles.

Jamie grinned and reached along the edge of the tub finding the champagne flutes and handed one to Claire.

“What should we toast to?” Jamie paused contemplating. “Ah, I have one. Here’s to a lady of grace, a woman of strength, a lass of astonishing beauty, and the woman that has captured my heart, Claire Beauchamp.”

Whether from the heat of the water, the nearness of Jamie, the effusive compliment, or all three, Claire’s face flushed.

Touching their flutes together, they sipped the champagne. When Jamie finished he retrieved the strawberry from his glass bit the bottom, causing the juice to flow freely. Jamie ran the berry seeping its sweet-tart fluid over Claire’s generous lips, painting them a ruby red. He pressed the fruit to her lips teasing them apart with Claire accepted his gift. She slowly chewed it all while her sultry amber eyes focused on him. A few drops of sweet liquid trickled out of Claire’s mouth settling onto her lips. Jamie leaned forward, eyes riveted on her mouth. His tongue swirled over her lips licking the nectar from them savoring the taste of the strawberry and her. Her lips stained red were plump, sweet, and begging him to claim them.

“I would very much like to kiss you, Claire,” his eyes never wavering from her.

“I would like that very much,” Claire replied breathlessly.

Their lips met. His were soft, warm, with a hint of champagne. Hers were supple and sweet with a lingering taste of berry. Jamie's tongue quested across her lips seeking entry which Claire gave gladly. Their tongues met in a sweet caress, touching, stroking sending sparks and shivers through each of them. They broke apart resting forehead to forehead absorbing each other in through their breath.

“Turn around, I’ll wash yer back.”

Claire did as Jamie requested settling between his legs. Knees bent, Claire, rested her forehead on her thighs providing ample access to her back.

Jamie reached for the bath sponge. Soft and silky, he filled it with water adding the sweet-scented soap to create a rich creamy froth. He slowly began to massage Claire’s back, moving in circles working the foam into her skin. He lifted each arm, stroking up and down from shoulders to fingertips. Claire’s head rolled back falling against Jaime’s chest.

“Hmm, that feels so nice, Jamie.”

“Ye like it, a nighean? Why dinna ye rest yer back against my chest too?”

Claire willingly complied. Once more, Jamie loaded the sponge letting the soapy water trickle over her chest, between her breasts, and over her nipples. Slowly, unhurriedly, he brought the sponge down tracing a path down toward her belly. Claire made small mewling sounds deep in her throat.

“Move yer legs apart, lass. ”

The silkiness of the sponge contrasted with the pressure Jamie applied to her apex. Claire began to shift and writhe in time to Jamie’s movements. Her mouth opened breath becoming shallow. She began to whimper. Claire placed her hand over Jamie’s adding to the already delicious sensation he was creating. Her lips moved not making a sound. A curse perhaps, or was it a prayer in supplication?

“Ye like this, lass?”

Jamie’s arousal grew, the need for her surging.

“Yes.”

Claire began to squirm, twisting her body. She needed his mouth, needing to feel it against hers. She leaned in, their lips meeting giving him a soul-searing kiss, igniting a blaze of passion that threatened to devour them both

Jamie rose up with the water streaming off his chiseled body. He looked like Poseidon rising from the depths of the ocean.

“Mo ghràdh, I must have ye or die!”

Claire raised her arms up to him.

“Then have me.”

Jamie lifted Claire from the bath. She would be his Venus, nascent from the sea. Her arms were wrapped securely around his neck; her face buried in his chest. His strength supported her, cradling her against him. In two strides, he moved from the tub to the vanity countertop. While one arm supported Claire, the other swept the counter top clearing it of bottles, tubes, jars, and soaps sending them flying across the room. He had no care for the shamble he was creating, no attention to spend on it. His breathing was rapid and eyes now dark with lust. He placed Claire on the cool marble countertop nudging her legs apart. Jamie came closer settling between them. He needed to touch her. He ran his hand down the valley between her breasts, across her belly, and resting on her hip.

Ah Dhia, her skin is so smooth, so soft. It shimmers like a pearl newly pulled from the sea.

His hand dropped between her thighs wanting, needing to touch her. The tender flesh of her thighs opening wider inviting his fingers to roam over the satiny skin.

“Kiss me, Jamie.”

Jamie licked his lips, leaned in claiming her mouth.

Surrendering to the driving force of his kiss left her breathless, and wanting. An aching tension grew between them igniting the flames of their lust.

Jamie spied the mirror behind Claire. Dripping with condensation, he swiped at it clearing the steam obstructing his view of them. He could watch; he could see what he was doing to her. He didn’t think he could get any harder but the thought of watching made his cock so hard he didn’t think he could feel it anymore.

Leaning back on her arms, Claire spread herself wide in invitation. Jamie took his cock in hand and began to rub it against her sensitive tissue, making her moan. He placed himself at her entrance and in one swift motion slid home.

Claire gasped at the sudden intrusion into her body.

“God! Jamie!”

“Lie back a nighean. I want to love ye thoroughly.”

Claire complied. Taking her legs he placed them upon his shoulders. His thumb moved to the center of her arousal, stroking building sensations of molten waves of pleasure through her. Joining to her in their heated flesh, he moved sliding in and out of her, watching himself.

“Look in the mirror as I take ye. See how I love ye.”

Claire craned her head, looking into the mirror she saw the ecstasy and agony of pleasure and passion across Jamie’s face. Struggling to find purchase, her nails grasped vainly at the slick marble countertop.

“Help me up, Jamie! I want to see us.”

A large strong hand supported her back allowing her to sit up; the other pushed her head down. Legs widely spread Claire could see him take her, watching him thrust into her, possess her. They became one.

It became more than she could endure. This was the most erotic thing she had ever done, becoming both participant and spectator. Moaning loudly, her hips began to gyrate wildly. She could hear the thrum of her blood as it coursed through her body. She could no longer focus her arousal was complete. There was only pure sensation, pure pleasure.

“Jamie! I can’t...I...I… Oh, God Jamie!”

Claire’s nails raked down Jamie’s chest leaving angry red marks in their wake. She felt herself flood around him. Her climax shattering. Her Scot was not far behind.

“Claire! Oh, God! Claire!,”

Jamie shuddered spilling himself into her. He leaned forward biting her at the juncture of neck and shoulder. He trembled in the aftermath of their love. They clung to each other as they descended from the throes of their passion.

Jamie looked at Claire somewhat abashed. Helping her down from the countertop, he dampened a face cloth and offered it to her.

“Claire, I never...that is, I didn’t mean... Oh, Christ!”

Face flaming, he grabbed his robe and left the room; leaving Claire puzzled.

Have I done something wrong?

Claire straightened up the room, picking up the bits and pieces that had been unceremoniously thrown onto the floor. Putting on her robe, she arranged herself into some semblance of order and walked out into the room.

Jamie was standing with his hands in his pockets staring out the large window onto the street below.

Boston was trying to dig itself out. Sanitation trucks with large plows attempted to make the streets passable again. Merchants with shovels and snowblowers cleared their walkways from the mounds of snow. People slipped and slid on the sidewalk while others endeavored to walk around the piles of drifting snow with varying degrees of success.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Jamie saw none of it.

How could I treat her like this? What is wrong with me to use her in such a way? She must think me a beast or an animal. I don’t deserve her.

Disgusted with himself, Jamie hung his head in shame and embarrassment, unable to face Claire. So deeply lost in his thoughts he didn’t hear her enter the room.

“Jamie are you alright? Please tell me what’s wrong. Was it me? Was it not good? I’m sorry.”

Claire bit her lip nervously. Frank had always made her feel inadequate in bed. She did not want to disappoint Jamie. She couldn’t bear it.

Jamie turned to look at her with eyes wide in disbelief. His voice soft, halting,

“Claire, what are ye talking about? Ye did nothing wrong, lass. It was me.”

His shoulders slumped and he had difficulty maintaining eye contact.

“I’m the one who should be apologizing to ye for my behavior. Or lack of it.”

He continued gazing at a place in the distance that only he could see.

“I dinna want ye to think, I mean I dinna want ye to feel that I only want ye for…”

Jamie waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the bed.

“Jamie, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You did nothing wrong. Why should you apologize to me?”

“Claire, my Da taught me that women were to be respected, revered especially ah, in sex. He said that when ye love a woman, ye should pay tribute to her body as it is her right. I dishonored ye, lass. What I did was selfish. I have no claim on ye. I am no’ yer husband. I did not consider ye. And for that I must beg yer pardon.

Jamie began to pace about the room, restless running his hands through his hair. He turned facing Claire, “Christ do ye no’ ken how much I love ye? Ye are the air that I breathe, the blood of my heart. Without ye, I am naught but an empty shell. Your face is my heart mo ghràdh and the love of you is my soul.

“Ye see I want this, want us to be more. I want something we can build on, grow with. No’ just some magnificent weekend and then we part. That’s not good enough, Claire. Not for me and certainly not for ye. Ye deserve better.”

Jamie was stiff and rigid, fighting to control his emotions. He did not want to lose Claire because of one foolish mistake.

Claire was touched by his concern for her and her feelings. She walked around to face him, cupping his face in to get him to meet her eye. Jamie resisted.

“Look at me, please. You did nothing wrong. I wanted you to.”

Claire spoke softly and tenderly.

“You make me feel beautiful, sexy, desirable, loved, wanted, safe. How can these things be wrong?”

Jamie turned looking at her, a single tear running down his face.

“Do ye mean it, Claire? That’s how I make ye feel?”

Claire thumbed away the tear. Standing on tiptoes she leaned in and sweetly kissed him on the lips.

“Yes, and so much more. I love you, Jamie Fraser.”

Jamie sniffed, a crooked smile on his face

“And I you.”

He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close.

“Well, now that is all out of the way let’s have some of this delicious breakfast that you ordered for us.”

“Oh, and Jamie,” Claire said mischievously, “the next time you want to do it in front of a mirror, just make sure I can see your sweet arse in action, aye?”

A devilish grin played across her face as she turned and walked away leaving Jamie standing with his mouth agape.

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