#It’s obviously very different when considering Alicent’s situation but

[writerswhy]

On Alicent and religion

So, I came across this Midnight Mass gifset and these two quotes:

He doesn't understand yet that guilt comes to you not from the things you've done, but from the things that others have done to you. -Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

I would like to be found. I would like to see. Or to be seen. I wonder if, in the eye of God, it amounts to the same thing. As it says in the Bible, For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. If it is face to face, there must be two looking. -Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace

And since then, I’ve been mulling over Alicent’s relationship with religion for the past few days because if there’s one thing that irks my soul, is when (western) writers write religious women as tradcath bitchy hypocrites (as opposed to religious men who use their religion as some sort of selfless sacrifice), especially when said woman is a victim of abuse. 

Instead of exploring Alicent’s religiousness as a way to cope with the abuse she endures, as part of her socialization and the community and culture she comes from, as a way to validate her innate kindness in a world where she’s surrounded by Machiavellians and careless people who can get away with things she cannot, the show manages to victim blame her by the way they frame her religiousness. That it’s another chain in this patriarchy without ever engaging with the actual patriarchs who actively abuse her on-screen. 

Something else that I want to highlight is that these systems that Alicent faces are faceless and abstract which makes the grief and anger and helplessness nearly impossible to work through. As a result, she ends up internalizing these roles - daughter, wife, mother - and when they contradict each other, or when external forces push and pull her, she ends up blaming and sacrificing herself. (As opposed to a man in Westeros like Aegon - her mirror - who can whore and drink and fight with little consequence, he may even be praised.) 

One day I’m gonna sit down and actually take my time to write these thoughts down, but here are some quick notes that I’m trying to sort through. (Note that it’s difficult for me to reconcile some of these with the Alicent(s) we see onscreen. Cooke is one of the best actors on the show but the writing for her has not been my favorite. I feel like Carey’s Alicent was more cohesive and consistent, so some these points apply more to ep 1-5 Alicent than later on.):

1. The first instance we see of her religiousness comes from a place of love. She visits the sept to feel closer to her mother and shares this with Rhaenyra to help her grieve. She uses her religion to comfort herself and connect with loved ones - living and dead. (Aegon does the same when he hides in the sept under the mother. Did he learn this from her? Did he learn this while studying the Faith of the Seven?)

2. If this greater being meant to comfort her and guide her tells her through its teachings that the very behavior she’s punished for is actually holy and human (that’s it’s right), does it help Alicent feel less alone? And if she has someone to share this belief with, like Criston? 

3. Does she channel the gods when she needs to compromise with who she is and who she needs to be? For example, Alicent was compassionate and loyal to Rhaneyra when defending her claim early on. After Rhaenyra’s betrayal, fearing for her children and honestly, it’s okay if she was offended and felt played by Rhaenyra, when she shows up to the wedding dressed in green, as a Hightower (no longer a dutiful wife), did she draw strength from the mother and father to seek justice for her and her children and to protect her family? 

This third point is so interesting to me because that’s what many real people do in real life everyday. We have to find ways to cope with life and learn how to understand ourselves, our wants, and how we can make them fit in this world. Obviously you don’t need religion to do this, but many do and in my community, religion is what keeps us grounded yet hopeful. Some of us live lives where if it were not for their religion, they’d feel less human under the systems that dehumanize them.

[queenvhagar]

“Sansa and Alicent both standing strong and alone against a King to defend their family in a room full of people, all of whom watch them hurt and do nothing to help them.”

Why does Team Green compare Sansa (a 13 year old hostage viewed as a traitor’s daughter) being beaten and SA’d in front of the entire court to Alicent (a grown woman who is the Queen) demanding a six year old be maimed and then charging at said six year old with a knife when she doesn’t get her way?

The situations are completely different! Alicent would be one of those people in the room watching Sansa get beaten up and SA’d whilst doing nothing, and Sansa would hate Alicent!

Sansa lived under the very system Alicent sought to uphold, even at her own detriment. Sansa was repeatedly victimised by the system Alicent ensured stayed in place, unquestioned, unchallenged.

One cannot compare a child living in a hostile environment where they’re trying to survive to a woman who purposefully created a hostile environment, because she was petty and bitter

Sansa IS a CHILD alicent WAS A child, but in that situation alicent was a grown ASS WOMAN her FATHER was behind her, her children was there too she wasn't completely alone, never compare them.

And how is Alicent even defending her child by demanding another child (younger than her own) have his eye torn out? and how is that the same as teenage Sansa being beat and SA'd Infront of the court?

🚨 Alicent misunderstander 🚨

🫵

Alicent didn't create a hostile environment. She was placed into an environment that became hostile due to the choices of others around her (ahem Viserys and Rhaenyra). Through no fault of her own did this obvious succession crisis come up where it became clear her sons would have to die for Rhaenyra to rule without dissent.

And y'all forget that Alicent WAS that child then. Alicent WAS that isolated kid forced to do her duty and appease the ruling family. Until she realized that this ruling family would willingly throw her family under the bus to help themselves, and so she was the one who had to find allies for her family and try to prepare for a future where her children might be able to survive. Then when she stopped bending over backwards for people who could not care less about her, suddenly her not kissing Rhaenyra's feet after being lied to and rejected and hurt by her is "bitter and petty" behavior 🤔 as IF her sole motivator for anything and everything she does is somehow focused on making Rhaenyra's life worse out of some kind of jealousy and not her just trying to protect her children from an obvious threat 🤦🏻‍♀️

At Driftmark SURE she had her father and children right there and she was physically not alone obviously, but consider the context man. After knowing her sons are endangered by Rhaenyra and that they will have to die for her to rule, Aemond is jumped by four kids, two of Rhaenyra's sons and two of Daemon's daughters, one armed with a knife, and Aemond's eye is cut out, Rhaenyra immediately jumps to wanting him tortured for information to save her own ass and cover her deception, and the king threatens Alicent and her family with mutilation if they talk about what just happened or speak the truth of the situation. And nobody even tries to talk with Rhaenyra's sons about how they shouldn't have jumped a kid with a knife and cut out their eye - in fact the takeaway for them was that this was all totally justified because Aemond called them a bad name. Meanwhile Alicent and her family realize how isolated they are and how they aren't really viewed as a part of the royal family and how they're powerless to do anything when it comes to the king and his named heir. Alicent is the only one who even expresses concern for Aemond's suffering. His own father rages at him and threatens him despite his eye just having been sliced out. She begs that he's also Viserys' blood, but he ignores her and their children as he always does. Alicent wants ANY justice. ANY consequences. But there are never any.

I didn't even write that original post, but the idea of it all is that both Sansa and Alicent were placed into dangerous and hostile environments where they were forced to accept mistreatment from the families they were married into and try to navigate their way to survival. I don't necessarily think the details of those two specific scenes of them quite match up, but the general link between these two characters is there. Both used their soft power to try to survive in the impossible situation they were in. Both defended their family to the king while having few allies themselves. The characters are more similar than they are different, I would say.

[squgs]

"Alicent resents Rhaenyra having the freedom that she never did." This is a pretty common hotd take which is complicated by the fact that Rhaenyra doesn't actually really have that much more freedom (she also has to marry and have children, and also ends up in an abusive marriage). So I'm wondering what if Alicent knows that? What if her resentment isn't that Rhaenyra never has to pay the price for her transgressions/freedoms, but that Alicent and her family are the ones who pay for Rhaenyra's freedom. When Rhaenyra goes out with Daemon, putting her reputation and marriage prospects in jeopardy, it's Otto who loses his job (after he saves her from likely having to marry Daemon). When Rhaenyra has obvious bastards that will create multiple succession crisis's, it's Aemond who loses an eye and is threatened with torture, and Vaemond who gets murdered. Alicent spends most of the series under the assumption that if Rhaenyra has to choose between giving up being queen and murdering her half brothers she'll choose the latter, gaining her freedom by harming Alicent. In this context her resentment makes a lot of sense and is more than just spite and jealousy (though I'm not saying those aren't present).

This also has me thinking what if Alicent is the more self aware one of the two of them? I think she knows how shit her situation is in a way that Rhaenyra might not until episode 10 when Daemon chokes her. Alicent at least by episode 9 recognizes her father for what he is and in her own small way able to fight for what she wants (Rhaenyra's survival and peace). She at least knows she's in a prison and is able to build a window in it, as Rhaenys condescendingly described. Rhaenyra on the other hand might truly believe that she's the exception to all the sexism in Westeros. That her name, her dragon and her father mean that she isn't like all the other girls. And for a while that's true. She gets to do things that no other woman in Westeros could get away with. She either doesn't see the cost to Alicent and Criston and Otto and Aemond and Vaemond, or she see their fates as their own faults. That all collapses in episode ten when she sees how completely alone she is. The men who are supposed to be obeying her seem more inclined to listen to Daemon and Daemon will not place her needs above his own or at least won't without first assaulting her.

This then allows for an interesting thesis of the show if it was intentional. We're given two women who have very different responses to patriarchy, but neither approach can save them. Obedience won't save them, promiscuity won't save them, a dragon won't save them, the right husband won't save them, the right father won't save them. The only thing that could have maybe saved them is solidarity, something that we see Alicent give up on in episode 5 (whether Rhaenyra has ever considered using her position or privilege to help another woman is an open question).

Obviously there's no definitive proof of this idea, but I find it interesting and that it adds depth to the tension and bitterness between Rhaenyra and Alicent.

[bbygirl-aemond]

i was reading a meta about Rhaenyra's relationship with Harwin Strong and about Criston Cole and HAAAAAAA

In history, who is blamed for the dance, at least in the popular imagination, is Criston Cole the Kingmaker, who didn't like Rhaenyra and convinced brother against sister to fight and consequently ending the Targaryen dynasty

I'm pissed and I don't even like crispin cole that much 😭😭😭

The way that history blames him is so unfair like

oh god don't get me on my little criston soapbox ahaha but long story short i fully agree with you. criston is very bitter and has major anger issues, but it frustrates me how much people take his relationship with rhaenyra at face value rather than acknowleding how problematic it really was. i think it should spark some conversations about the double standards we hold men versus women to when it comes to experiencing sexual assault, because if criston and rhaenyra's genders were reversed i think fans' takes would be very different.

i've made a post here about why criston's ability to consent to rhaenyra was compromised. criston is canonically dornish (= poc, subjected to racism by other characters in the show including harwin), lowborn, and poor, while rhaenyra is valyrian (= white), as highborn as it gets, and super fucking powerful and wealthy. and she coerces him into sex in a situation where she literally holds the power to have him killed (if she accuses him of coming onto her) while he has no power at all. and he only takes this risk reluctantly, and under the false assumption that the sex means something. rhaenyra doesn't do this intentionally, but being oblivious to your power doesn't make it okay when you use it to pressure others into sex under false pretenses. like she just did not consider the implications of the power difference and of how much more criston risked than she did. of fucking course he's bitter, and of fucking course he hates her.

and i've made a post here about how and why criston ended up with the greens. alicent gave him a very real purpose and sense of healing after what happened with rhaenyra. she was one of the only characters to treat him like he wasn't lowborn, dornish, and poor. she entrusted him with herself, and with her children, and literally brought him back from the brink of suicide. of course he loves her, and of course he'll do anything to protect her and her children. he raised those children when viserys would not (think of how many times he rightfully gives viserys the stink eye in the show, there's very much stepdad-esque resentment there). and the political threat to them is very much real (maybe i should make a separate post about this, but there's one here that i think does a good job). honestly, the fact that he was defending them against rhaenyra was probably only a small bonus. obviously he hurts other people, including innocent people, in the name of protecting his loved ones- but like so does literally every other character involved in the dance lmao.

long story short: criston's actions were very much based out of a love and desire to defend the family he'd built, not so much around his hatred of rhaenyra, though that was probably the cherry on top of the cake. i'm not surprised history remembers him so poorly though, given how bigoted westeros is towards dornish, lowborn men like him. because how dare someone actually fight for their position rather than being born into it, am i right?

[atopvisenyashill]

that post about how cregan/jace shippers are sexist and that “they think two men together isn’t cheating on baela….which is something alright” is just unfiltered homophobic reasoning for disliking a ship being reblogged thru this fandom uncritically lmao.

“two men together isn’t cheating on baela” as in, there is no possible way for cregan and jace to get married or for jace to properly end his engagement to baela to marry a man, because men cannot marry men and a crown prince certainly cannot publically take up with another man in lieu of having heirs. cregan/jace takes a situation that is straight up “jace cheats on baela” to “jace finds out he likes men and it complicates his whole life” and people specifically define it as “not cheating” because it’s this feeling of “if they make you cheat, it’s not cheating.”

gay couples have been forced to “cheat” for literally thousands of years, and have been labeled as untrustworthy, incapable of love and only lust specifically because every queer relationship until recent history was often “cheating” and ignoring that just so you can dunk on a ship you dislike is homophobic. like, you simply cannot conflate jace having an affair with a woman to jace falling in love with a man, those are different situations socially, culturally, and legally, that is the baseline of how homophobia works. the fact that jace/cregan is fundamentally a different dynamic bc it’s two men cannot be denied just bc you dislike the ship. obviously having an affair is cheating no matter what the context, but the same way that like, naerys having emotional affairs bc she’s being abused isn’t the same “cheating” bc she has no social power, jace falling in love with a man is treated as “not cheating” bc jace and cregan do not have the social, cultural, or legal ability to be together the way a man and a woman can. it’s also wildly homophobic to get mad about an incredibly obscure ship online that a bunch of gays glomped onto in a series that is wildly heterosexual. like,,,, what does my preferring the idea that jace is bisexual and falls in love with a man have on you, sara snow, the show, or the books? honestly???

YOU HAVE CANON. that is the thing, no matter how i feel about it as a queer person, heterosexuals always get canon, they always get the win in the end, they always get the pretty romantic shots and the aesthetics and the power and the storylines and they get to be the heroes and the hidden princes and what do i get?? i get loras tyrell, who in the books may or may not be dead after watching his lover get kinslayed by a shadow, and who gets religiously tortured for his sexuality until he blows up in the show. i get oberyn and ellaria, one of whom gets their head smashed in and the other of whom gets to retire to be a widow for the rest of her life. in fire & blood i get rhaena, who spends her life miserable and then dies alone. you get sara and baela and jaehaerys and alysanne and every aegon and rhaenyra and alicent and sansa and arya and jon and dany - except when she’s using her handmaiden as a living vibrator and dreaming about men of course - and tyrion and cersei and jaime and brienne and and and and

IF I WANT JACE IF I WANT ONE CHARACTER WHO DOES IT HURT? seriously, but fuck you if you think that little “it’s still cheating if it’s jace-cregan ya know, you misogynists” is some sort of progressive, non homophobic stance. it is legal to discriminate against me in the united states and my very existence is considered a threat to children, i will take jace, a character i relate to, and i will rub my gay little hands all over him in fandom because THAT IS ALL I WILL EVER HAVE and you can fucking sit there and drink your juice box about it.

[regheart]

Considering Frank and Alice were aurors in extremely trying times, probably under Barty Crouch Senior’s leadership, I wonder if they shared some of his “whatever it takes” attitude to fight death eaters. When Lupin confronts Harry about using exclusively expelliarmus against DE, Harry’s answer reminds him of James. I wonder if James and the Longbottoms ever went head to head about strategies to fight Voldemort and his followers.

that's an interesting question, anon!

one thing about crouch, he doubles the strength of his attacks once they fail. the state apparatus hasn't been enough, we should use illegal weapons. there are too many death eaters, we should arrest every suspect without trial. and so on. that's obviously ineffective in a way the text implies, but also because it's dealing with the aftermath without dealing with the cause of the problem. and realizing that is what i think it's the biggest difference in approach between the ministry and the order (and the order and any other more left-wing leaning individuals)

i believe that frank and alice, being aurors, had the means to fight against voldemort in the name of the ministry, and if they decided to go and join the order, they must have had strong disagreements with the way the ministry was doing it. and i think crouch's politics, even beyond the decision of allowing law officials to use unforgivables, must have been a part of that

it would also seem plausible that even within the order people would have different views on how to fight the war. it's a bit tense already that they're all under dumbledore's command, not everyone could be always happy with that, and i'm sure some people didn't became part of the order because they disliked dumbledore, and some others did despite of it

with the longbottoms it's safe to assume they were aligned with dumbledore, and being some of the most light leaning characters, i don't see any textual implications that they might have enjoyed or preferred crouch's methods of handling things. they are brought up close to his name only as victims, never as perpetrators

but it's a bit naive to think that they've fought a war without being changed by it, right? moody doesn't kill unless he has to, remus and kingsley go "murder is okay" once the situation gets worse, the longbottoms might have fallen in between

so, did they kill? yes. i think they would've been bad at their jobs if they didn't. i also think that they must have avoided it as much as they could, because of plausible deniability (no killing on the spot just because someone is in a suspicious position) and because they, and the order in general, valued information above making critical hits and getting lower ranked death eaters to rattle on each other and maybe on the ones closer to voldemort is a better deal than just killing them

this actually matters a lot less during the second war, everyone knows who the death eaters are because they're the ones in power and killing before you get killed might be the best strategy. for remus, at least, i wonder if his pragmatism on the matter relates to a regret of not killing in the past, maybe because he was torn between what seemed like the safest option and what james thought was right

and i always have a lot of trouble trying to figure what james did during the war (that's a whole other post), but seeing frank and alice, who were probably people he admired immensely, being very rational about killing might have put his beliefs in check and i don't think he liked being aware of how cruel he truly was

[matchmadeinsevenhells]

different anon, but I love ComW, so definitely ready to plague you with questions:

- was Maegor’s unwilling hunt Rhaena, and did it involve her trying to kill him like in canon?

- was it a spur of the moment decision for Aemond when Luke walked in or is this something he’d been planning for a while? It definitely seemed like Luke could have easily been killed when Vhagar killed Arrax, so not sure how much thought went into it.

- Would Aemond actually realise the potential fallout or did he just not care?

- Is there any significance to the legitimacy of the ceremony (Valyrian-tradition wise - obviously there’s a lot else that might be queried about it from a Westeros point of view) to the fact that Luke didn’t say the words? Or is Aemond right when he says that his win is all that matters?

- Who hunted who out of Corlys and Rhaenys?

- You’ve already answered about Luke’s mother, stepdad and brother, but how would his Velaryon relatives react?

- Exactly how much stress is Alicent under rn?

(Again talking about my my dead dove Lucemond marriage hunt fic, cut off my wings (and lock me up) )

Adhsjdhshsjsjsj I’m so excited to get even more love for my fic!! ComW is really close to my heart (will you believe it’s my first mostly-explicit dead dove/nc,,,) so 🥺🥹😭 thank you!!

You’re dead right about Maegor and Rhaena 😬 she eventually had Dreamfyre surrender when the “escape by being faster” plan failed, because her dragon wasn’t a match against Balerion. Then she immediately tried to shank Maegor. (I think he also did hunts with his other Black Brides, but if only one party has a dragon it’s mostly. Uh. A very terrifying experience for the person on foot and like, a chill fun afternoon activity for the dragonrider…)

Aemond has definitely been obsessed with SOME sort of revenge on Luke for a looooong time (which lol is canon). At first those thoughts included mostly maiming and murder, but then he stumbled across an old Valyrian tome/read a lot about Maegor—and well, he got some Ideas (tm) that grew over the years. I’d say he wasn’t truly decided yet/picky, as long as he got his revenge in the end, but the Storm’s End situation—no one of their families there—was too perfect to NOT do it the marriage hunt way. (And as he said, Luke being alive but utterly miserable and humiliated is better revenge in his mind than “just” killing him.) and yes, killing another dragon without killing the rider is rather difficult, but what helped in this situation was that they were already pretty close to the ground, Luke having directed Arrax lower earlier, and also that Vhagar was so much bigger than Arrax. Though yeah Aemond was having the Time Of His Life and probably would’ve been fine with it if that had killed Luke, too.

And no, once he got into it Aemond didn’t stop to consider any potential fallout.

Technically, a hunt is supposed to conclude with the Valyrian/Targaryen ceremony that Rhaenyra and Daemon used in canon to wed each other, BUT since there were no witnesses to the actual hunt anyway and it is extremely obvious that Aemond did in fact win (and consummate), it’s still hard to question the legitimacy. The Blacks are going to do that anyway, of course, but yeah.

… I decided that Rhaenys hunted Corlys because she was the one with a dragon—but Corlys got to take a ship. He got a headstart too, and it was probably mostly hide and seek and/or they previously agreed on location that had to be reached within a certain timeframe? It was close, in the end, close enough to satisfy both their prides.

Speaking of, Rhaenys and Corlys are absolutely PISSED at Aemond, too. Having-to-keep-Rhaenys-from-getting-on-Meleys-to-challenge-Aemond-pissed. Corlys shares the sentiment but he’s trying to advocate for just wiping the floor with all the Green forces in the field.

Alicent has ALL The Stress rn. All of it. Her favourite son just did something that’s really difficult to reconcile with her own faith, also has a potentially devastating impact on the public opinion the Greens are kinda basing Aegon’s claim on, and probably made sure the Blacks are even less likely to consider terms as they would’ve been if Luke had simply been killed. They can’t even use Luke as a proper hostage because Aemond is now firmly in camp “only I may torment my pretty little wife”…. Alicent is working triple overtime to SOMEHOW try to keep a grip on public opinion. Meanwhile Aegon is throwing feasts at which everyone has to treat Luke as they would a “normal wife” to a Targaryen Prince. RIP.

[sofoulandfairaday]

Who do you think would win if Bellatrix and Snape fought?

Edit: I can't even remember when I got this ask, only that I had received it. I am so sorry that this post took me so long to write, anon, I hope I was thorough.

Uhhhhh this is such a good question! I was planning on doing a long post about them and this asks seems like a good opportunity.

I think most people in the fandom would answer Snape, but to me, Bellatrix is the more likely winner, although it could go either way. The scenarios vary. In general, they are both very talented, but Bellatrix's duelling skills are, in my opinion, unmatched; it has to be said, though, that duels are not always won by the most potent fighter, mental skills also play a huge role (the ultimate reason Bellatrix loses to Molly, alongside deus ex machina, ofc).

I'll analyse the two individually and then give you some scenarios (duels under different conditions), with the relative outcomes.

Bellatrix "She was a witch, as Harry knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience."

Bellatrix was mighty, there is no doubt about that. Her duelling skills were exceptional and second only to Dumbledore, Voldemort and Grindelwald.

Bellatrix was a mistress of the Dark Arts, she was trained by Voldemort himself (probably for many years). She was particularly skilled at the Cruciatus curse.

She was unrivalled in martial magic - curses, charms, both regular and dark - and non-verbal magic. It didn't matter how complicated the spell was, Bella could cast it without speaking a single word.

She was a very talented Occlumens (so much so that she taught Draco Occlumency and he managed to throw off Snape himself, who is considered one of the best ever) and we can presume she was also a Legilimens.

Personality-wise, her emotions seemed to ignite and fuel her power, so angering and taunting her probably only made her more dangerous.

Experience: Bellatrix was nine years older than Snape, she participated in many battles during both wars and was capable of injuring badly both Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt (powerful Aurors), capturing, overpowering and permanently incapacitating Frank and Alice Longbottom (also powerful Aurors) and blocking a spell from Albus Dumbledore himself (!!!). She easily beat four Snatchers who took her on at once and Ginny, Luna, and Hermione were having great difficulties in keeping up with her.

Snape "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at Hogwarts than half the kids in seventh year."

Snape was encyclopaedic in his knowledge: by his seventh year, he knew more about potions and spells than probably any other student in Hogwarts at the time.

He was a potions master, and not only was he flawless in brewing, but he also found ways to alter the formulas to better the result and make the process easier.

He knew the Dark Arts very well: he surely had a theoretical interest in them, but he was also said to be good at curses, so much so that he invented a powerful spell (Sectumsempra), which is something that only the likes of Voldemort and maybe Dumbledore could do.

He was also proficient in Healing magic and counter-curses, he invented the counter-curse of Sectumsempra, Vulnera Sanetur (which is impressive considering how advanced both these spells are), and he was able to contain the "very powerful curse" that was put on the Gaunt ring. He also told Dumbledore he might have been able to do more if he had come to see Snape sooner.

Occlumency and Legilimency - this doesn't require much explanation, I think. He rivalled Voldemort and Dumbledore in this.

Charms and Transfiguration - the same as above. We see his skill all throughout the books.

So. First things first. Situation A: They duel during the First Wizarding War (...for whatever reason). Bellatrix wins. Obviously. (Pun intended). While Snape was without a doubt a very skilled wizard from an early age, Bellatrix was nine years older than him, at the peak of her fighting prowess. If they had duelled when he was 18 and she was 27, and already one of Voldemort's top Death Eaters, trained by the Dark Lord himself, the fight is pretty much decided for, I think we can all agree on that.

Situation B: They duel during the Second Wizarding War (because they fucking hate each other). Err. Harder to say. They're much more equal now because Bellatrix has been in Azkaban for so long while Snape has had years to train and practice, master curses and spells of various kinds. Still, a mere six months after her escape, in the Department of Mysteries, Bellatrix takes down Nymphadora, an Auror trained by Moody himself, Kingsley and holds her own against Sirius, who is described as a good duellist, and whom she ultimately defeats (although one can argue that she only gets one good shot in, and before that the fight was well-balanced). She also blocks a spell directly from Dumbledore. Unfortunately, I happen to think that Snape would have won against all three of these people too (while he would have probably lost to Sirius in the first war) and maybe blocked the curse from Albus too. We don't know how many battles Severus has actually been in, but I don't think he would do badly at all.

I'll start by saying that they both fight dirty, so none of them has that advantage over the other. I do think that, out of the two, Bella is much more suicidal. Sev has an ounce of self-preservation more, he's probably calmer and more collected in battle, while Bella is just... scary. However, this is both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Assuming that they were both rested and ready (surprise attacks, sneaky potions in their water pre-duel, one of the two being tired after facing five opponents previously, etc. don't count).

Scenario A: Bellatrix wins. She does so because she is objectively good at magic. Snape is too, but he is no match for her. Her best chance is to go hard at him, hit him with her full might, give him no time to think things through, formulate clever responses to her attacks, to even open his mouth. Severus would no doubt be able to cleverly use Charms, Transfiguration, the environment, etc. to his advantage against her, and in the long run, as both of them grew tired, would be able to see an opening, and hit her. Hard. That is how she lost to Molly, after all.

Scenario B: Severus wins. The fight lasts longer than expected, and Severus manages to wear her out bit by bit- they're both tired, but she's more than that. She is frustrated. Because she's not winning, of course. Severus has one clear advantage over her: he's much better with words and mental stability. Call it natural disposition, or maybe it's the fact that he did not spend fourteen years locked up with soul-sucking beasts, but he can manipulate her. We can see this very clearly in HBP when Bella & Cissy go to Spinner's End. We don't know if Bella started trusting Severus more after that (I really don't think so, I think they hated each other's guts), but he pretty much sassed her out, manipulated her, and used her own personality and devotion against her. She was clearly not convinced but had no reply to offer. Not that her arguments weren't good, but Snape was better at deception. So he's able to rile her up (Bellatrix is easily riled, that's for sure- once again, she's very fiery, even though the fandom likes to call that crazy). Of course, she responds in kind, and that might really anger him, truly, but he's been called an up-jumped son of a muggle nobody, Snivellus, all his life, while she's the haughty Black heiress, to whom people bow in the streets. Snape's not an idiot, he probably sees how Bella loves the Dark Lord and basically uses that and... well, everything else he can, against her (be it Andromeda, Sirius, the Black fortune passing to Harry and not her, the years in Azkaban, her fall from grace, Voldemort humiliating her, or the fact that Rodolphus stole the last scone at breakfast yesterday, he's using it). She loses focus, and that's when he strikes. He wins.

I... I think that's it, actually. There are a number of little variants, and it might just come down to chance. Both were really powerful people though, any duel between them would have been grandiose.

[imagineitdearies-old]

I tried to leave a comment on your new Duty & Sacrifice chapter via ao3 but it wouldn’t go through so I’ll leave it here instead:

Such a good chapter as always.

“Inwardly, Aemond decided Dragonstone had to be much farther than the maps depicted—or else another world entirely.”

This was my favorite line this chapter! I love when writers write. Like crafting such a lovely sentence to show how differently Aemond & Lucerys think, as well as their polar opposite upbringing.

I’ve commented before that Alicent & Aemond’s mother-son bond is my favorite thing about this fic and was my main draw (and this is still true!) but I can’t help but feel that Alicent’s tears are wasted on Aemond. Helaena is the one Alicent should be crying for and on her knees begging forgiveness from for forcing her into an abusive marriage since she was only thirteen. I like how it’s clear in this fic that Helaena is uncomfortable with her mother for asking her about Aegon’s whereabouts after she forced her to marry him.

I couldn’t feel anything in the face of Alicent’s remorse because all I could think about was her other child who is suffering a much worse fate than Aemond, and who doesn’t even have half the doting and affection Alicent showers on Aemond. Alicent says herself that she tried her best to shield Aemond from suffering a fate like hers, but she never tried for Helaena before forcing her into marriage and motherhood when she was even younger than Alicent had been when she wed Viserys.

Also I like how you showed that there was a moment when Aemond wished his father loved him. By the time Duty & Sacrifice began, Aemond felt nothing for Viserys so it’s interesting to me that that was not always the case.

thank you so much for the kind words anon 😭 i enjoyed writing that sentence (and even more, editing it before posting so it sounded good, lol) so it's super cool it stuck out to you :)

in regards to alicent, i did want to clarify that i've aged people up in this timeline a lot, so helaena definitely wasn't 13 when she married aegon. probably 17ish--though yeah that doesn't change the fact she was married to *aegon* who for sure isn't a great guy in d&s either.

idk if this will ever get brought up in the fic (tho maybe in an alicent pov one day), so I'll just tell you, in my 'verse i imagine it had more to do with alicent being unwilling to let helaena get married off to some distant noble. knowing that aegon had zero interest in his sister, and given that alicent *does* have some control over her son still, she knew she could protect helaena better this way. this on top of strengthening the bloodline, which viserys was all for.

and indeed, in d&s aegon and helaena only have the twins, who were conceived on their wedding night 😂 besides then he's made a pass at her a couple of times when extremely drunk, but that's about it. so even though by our standards it's a sucky awful marriage, given how irresponsible and rude aegon can be, by alicent's standards this was the best choice for both of them. (funny, but i think helaena would agree with that, and it'd be aegon who would disagree)

now, why didn't alicent just marry aegon and aemond? because she guessed (correctly) aegon *would* have interest in his little omega brother, and that terrified her. aegon in general scares her. plus, aemond was already decently protected from getting married off by the time her kids were of age and alicent had to consider all this (aegon 19, helaena 17, aemond 16), because of his scar and general un-omeganess. obviously that didn't hold up forever, and she knew it wouldn't, but alicent views helaena as someone who could be broken very easily vs. aemond as someone who could weather dealing with any situation (regardless of how true that is)

all this to say, it was definitely a calculated thing alicent did, but in this 'verse it wasn't just for the sake of usurping rhaenyra like is implied in hotd canon. hopefully that makes sense! and thanks for the ask, it was fun to explain a piece of how the d&s verse played out inside my head :) aemond's head is very limited lol!

[likecassandra-ao3]

On the Aegon/Helaena/Alyssa marriage issue (and why I don't think it's as obvious as it seems)

The Alyssa vs Helaena question that we've touched on for "Drunken Gods of Slaughter" (both in the comments and in the most recent chapter) is so interesting to me on multiple levels, and I think, again, we need to remember that Alyssa and her siblings only are aware of a small portion of the entire issue, thus we will never be aware of everything that happens from Alyssa's narration alone. While a lot of readers have pointed out that from a political pro-Green perspective where you know the succession-issue is coming, the Alyssa/Aegon match makes more sense, I think it's not quite as simple as marrying Alyssa to Aegon so they bind Vhagar closer to them. It's obviously and aspect and the major consideration on Otto's part but it's not all that needs to be considered about the situation.

I also think it is worth noting that in the small conversation we see between Alicent and Otto on the matter in-text, they argue from two wholly different perspectives - Otto from that of a Hand, Alicent of a mother. Otto looks at only the political aspects and not the personal, Alicent the other way.

So, let's look at a few things:

Firstly, obviously Vhagar is an aspect. The main reason the Targaryens marry each other is a) Valyrian blood being thought to be the catalyst for controlling dragons and they want to keep that power and b) making sure that they're the only ones with actual dragons. It's essentially about owning both the dragons and the ability to claim them. All dragonriders ideally should marry within as close as the ruling branch of House Targaryen as possible (including so that challengers have lesser chance of succeeding to claim the throne). Vhagar and Dreamfyre, which we will touch on later, are both the two dragons of the Greens that should absolutely be part of the family. So, while it makes sense to make as much political matches with having two of the children marry into other powerful Houses, it would also mean giving up a certain amount of control one of the largest dragons in the world regardless of Helaena or Alyssa marrying outside the Green siblings. So, a match made between the four would make sense on that aspect.

For Alicent, it is a factor in this that she herself was only a girl when she married Viserys and her marriage is mostly miserable (within the show canon, which we're mostly following up until the start of the fic). Alyssa and Aegon are running the risk of being very, very similar to that. Alyssa wouldn't be older than Alicent herself when she gets married, and possibly even younger (if we look at Helaena's age during the wedding) and Aegon would already be a grown man by Westerosi standards by the earliest they marry. I think a big aspect of that is that Aegon/Helaena and Alyssa/Daeron are closest to each other in age and I think to Alicent that is something to strive for given her own background. I also think that, in her mind, it is safest to marry Helaena and Aegon as she will be "safe" in a way, as wife to the king's eldest son, while Daeron would likely be kind to Alyssa unlike others due to her appearance. Aegon isn't guaranteed to do that, but has already proven an entire disinterested in Helaena romantically, which might make him less likely to be cruel to Helaena, and also reduce her suffering in the aspect of physical intimacy as he simply does not care for her in that way (even in show we know that Aegon needs to be drunk to even touch Helaena, which in itself tells us a lot about their relationship as spouses).

In contrast to that, Alicent has seen firsthand what happened between Rhaenyra and Daemon and I think a case can be argued that she is afraid of a similar turns of events for Aegon and Alyssa. While the Targaryens are "exceptions" to the principles of the faith due to the whole "Doctrine of Exceptionalism" Jaehaerys forced through to make their incest legal, Alicent (like the rest of the kingdoms!) doesn't support this relationship as something moral for herself or her own family. Thus she might even prefer it if, should her children have to marry each other, it be a loveless marriage based on duty alone.

Further, Helaena is the elder sister. Theoretically it could be seen as "her right" to marry the older brother, and not the younger.

It also has to be considered what kind of message would be sent to Viserys, the realm and especially the Blacks in ending the publicly announced betrothal between Aegon and Helaena to Alyssa, who is seen as a bigger threat to the Blacks. This could absolutely have potential consequences. Further, we already know that Viserys is not opposed to marry Jacaerys and Helaena. If Helaena is free to marry, he might do that regardless of what Alicent wants. Thus, there would essentially be a hostage situation with Helaena on Dragonstone that would bind their hands against the further actions they're basically announcing with the Aegon/Alyssa match, which would basically tell the Blacks that they're planning something at least. This, I think, would also absolutely be something that Otto could get behind on. It is a main aspect of their tactic to go about it in a way where they don't tip Rhaenyra off to what they're doing lest she should prepare herself (though I personally believe Rhaenyra should not been nearly as shocked about this turn of events as she's shown to be in ep. 10). Ending the publicly known betrothal between Helaena and Aegon in favor of Alyssa and Aegon for no apparent reason at all would be akin to sending a raven straight to Dragonstone telling them they're making preparations to challenge Rhaenyra's claim.

Also, on the matter of Vhagar/Dreamfyre: for the dragons, it is established that "dragons grow until it kills them". Thus we could argue oldest dragon = strongest and largest (I have a personal vendetta against the Dragon sizes in the HOTD show so we will be disregarding those in any of my fics lmao). We need to remember that while, sure, Vhagar is the largest dragon, Dreamfyre is the second oldest living dragon. She, by principle, should be the second largest and second most powerful. Alyssa literally claimed the only dragon we know for a fact is stronger than Helaena's. The only dragons who could compare in size would be Vermithor and Silverwing. Though, again, if the in-world principle is that dragons never stop growing, the idea of Vermithor being larger than Dreamfyre, is also not an absolute guarantee in my opinion. Dreamfyre was first claimed by Rhaena Targaryen "as a hatchling" in 32 AC, and was old enough to be ridden by 35 AC. Vermithor was given to Jaehaerys as an egg in 34 AC. Vermithor might be larger than Dreamfyre, but even then, Dreamfyre is the third largest dragon by principle of age, followed closely by Silverwing. I think, overall we can say that these three (Dreamfyre/Vermithor/Silverwing) are about the same size overall. Thus, Dreamfyre being Helaena's dragon is already a huge success for the Greens, considering that Vermithor and Silverwing are unclaimed at this point. It's honestly criminally underappreciated by the fandom due to the fact that Aemond (here Alyssa) claiming Vhagar, in my opinion 🤣.

I think all these aspects of the issue are things that Alicent and Otto have to consider that will inevitably fly over the kids' heads, and thus it won't even be touched on until, perhaps, much later at best. Also, I think we need to remember that whether Alyssa or Helaena marries Aegon - there will be merits to each road, neither is without faul and both will inevitably have consequences that come into play later on.

[navree]

Do you ever think about what the gossip is like amongst the staff employed by nobles? I think it’s both fun and sobering to think about. Like, do they gossip about any extramarital affairs? Do people gossip about Alicent and Ser Criston maybe?

We obviously know they’re subject to abuses - from killing the servant to fake Laenor’s death to Aegon assaulting the maids - but imagine having to see the infighting, backstabbing and everything else that comes with royalty. That’s probably why I enjoy characters like Gendry from Game of Thrones or Criston, they bring a welcomed change of perspective.

One of the things I mentioned when asked why I like Criston from a different anon is that his lower class background and how he worked his way up provided a new perspective for how we view the story and the characters, especially when so many others are highborn and have never known anything different.

I definitely think they gossip. There's a lot that goes on at court, and despite the whole "the smallfolk don't matter" thing, even poor people have feelings and opinions. Whenever juicy stuff happens, they're going to have thoughts about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if they shared those thoughts with others, especially when so much juicy stuff tends to happen at court. People were definitely whispering about things like Rhaenyra's kids, what happened at the wedding, Laenor's sexuality, and any intrigues and dramas that happen and petty fights between the kids when they were all living together at court, which would have been peak gossip time. I imagine some people were gossipy at Alicent and Criston, cuz people love chivalry and gosisp in general, but considering that Alicent has spent the majority of her queenship in her Catholic Monarchs era, I imagine that one got boring because how're you gonna gossip about the queen and her shield when the queen goes to the sept once a day even tho the shield glares at anyone who even looks at her the wrong.

One thing I've liked to see in historical dramas that I imagine would also happen in this universe is that certain members of staff, particularly things like room staff (not just ladies but ushers and nursemaids and whatnot) can get very attached to the people they serve, and also share their affections and their rivalries. I'd love to imagine staff members of Team Greens and Team Blacks getting snarky with each other two on their "masters" behalf, taking it personally whenever another servant gossips something about their employer that would be offensive, things like that. And they'd be the ones to be the most clearheaded about each situation, given that there aren't necessarily any personal stakes.

[is-it-my-turn-to-die-squidward]

Anzu Kinashi Character Analysis

This will contain whole game spoilers, including 3-1B spoilers!

I want to start out by saying, there won't be too much to this. Anzu is a lovely character, but she didn't talk very much or get any character development, which is disappointing, but we'll have to work with what we were given.

Let's start with the first time you might be able to see her, which is the victim video you can buy during chapter two with tokens.

She's obviously crying and panicking, stating that she doesn't understand what's happening. That's expected of her, considering she's a teenager and we later find out this makes sense given her personality. She begs for her mom and dad, or just someone to help her. But as we know, she fails the trials. Her last word before dying was 'mom', so we can assume she was close with her mom.

Next is when we actually meet her.

She is much different, probably because she's not in immediate danger. She's bubbly and friendly, although bit insecure and easily intimidated (when she thinks that Sara is judging her outfit).

It makes sense that she's friendly, because if she works as a clown, she must work with little kids a lot. Of course her onstage and offstage persona's will be different, but we can gather that much information from her job.

She's also very forgetful. Forgetting the important information she got when she was first made into a doll.

So basically she's a slightly aloof, but overall friendly teenager.

Now we only have her interactions, basically the only one's that have some importance are in 3-1B, and there's only really two I want to talk about.

First is her reconciling with Maple. It's actually Naomichi's idea to have her be the one to deal the final blow. As we've seen her often react, she's horrified by that, but agrees as long as everyone else builds up friendship first.

This is actually very important in her character. Remember earlier during the Keiji vs. Midori fight, where the dolls didn't want to help otherwise it would kill them.

Anzu wanted to be helpful and have everyone get along, but she was scared for her life.

But now that everyone is actually working together, and despite being scared, Anzu is ready to do the most important role during the fight.

Now about the reconcile itself. Anzu is the one who takes Maple by the hands and apologizes, and makes her understand that they needed the ID card. Once it works, Anzu smiles and says something along the lines of "Now we're friends again!".

The way Anzu acted, I believe was helped by her job. Because being a clown means being friendly, but if you're around younger kids, you're going to have to be slightly firm. Maple was almost acting like an out of control child, needing people to do certain things to help make her feel better.

So plus the courage she's gotten from her allies (the very small character development she gets) and the experience from her job, Anzu was able to calm down Maple and get the card.

Sadly, that's about the extent that her character gets in development. Because next we have to talk about her death, and so far, her final one.

When Midori chose coffin two, it was very similar to Anzu's real death. Anzu, seeing no way out of the situation, started screaming and begging for help. Then she died.

This death was a little different then her original one. In the first one, she was more confused on what to do to escape, and in the second one, she understood that she couldn't escape, and hoped to rely on her allies, as she had learned was okay to do. But in the end it was useless.

Now there's one final thing to talk about.

Anzu's percentage. This is actually very interesting, as she got an 8.0 percent.

That's actually pretty high, just bellow Sara, Naomichi, Keiji, Q-taro and Shunsuke.

At first glance, it's not too strange. People who have been proven to be very strong are all above her. But if we follow that pattern, shouldn't Alice, Reko, Mishima and (possibly) Megumi be above her?

That means she not that high because of physical strength, but because of her way with people.

Alice, Reko, and Megumi have all proven to have issues with their fellow participants, while Mishima is a bit too trusting of them.

Then we have Anzu. She's very friendly and trustworthy, despite being skittish at first. But as she gets to know everyone, she's much more outgoing.

But also, don't forget Anzu during Maple's fight. Easily able to convince her to come over to their side.

Who's to say Anzu couldn't convince other people of other things? Like keeping her alive.

I'm not saying Anzu's manipulative, I'm saying she's convincing and willing to work with her allies to survive (which some of the people bellow her have trouble working with others), which can keep her alive.

Because Anzu can work with other people easily, and fight with good arguments, it explains why she has a higher chance of surviving then others.

Sorry there's not much here. Anzu got very little screen time, and I had to work with what information I could get. Any recommendations on who I should do next?

[everythingsinred]

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 20)

PART TWENTY! I've written thousands and thousands of words about this particular character's love. That's really crazy. And you guys read thousands and thousands of words! And we're not even done yet!

We will talk about the second half of this "gap arc", including one of my favorite chapters, and then the school will turn upside down, as we will see in the next part.

Chapter Ninety-Three

Mikan was so exhausted saving Narumi from Persona’s alice that she ended up hospitalized. Nobody else seems to know much of what really happened except Natsume, who spends so much time in the hospital these days that it would have been more surprising if he didn’t know she was there too.

Besides, Natsume knows so much about Mikan. He knows about her mom and that the ESP is interested in Mikan possibly possessing the stealing alice. He knows that she’s in danger. He’s vigilant, as I’ve said, and this vigilance means absorbing all possible information. He overhears Narumi warning Mikan to keep her new alice a secret, and Natsume gets confirmation that Mikan does indeed have the stealing alice, that Narumi knows and wants to protect Mikan too, and that this information could possibly get to the ESP if they’re not careful.

Dead man walking. Or rather... dead boy walking.

He walks away from her room, unseen, coughing. He walks down a hall of doctors and patients and nurses and he doesn’t stand out at all. Natsume’s presence in the hospital is so normal that nobody bats an eye anymore. Kaname is hospitalized for long stretches of time, as we shall continue to see, but Natsume merely goes to the hospital for limited periods of bed rest and for getting huge bags of medicine to take before bed so he doesn’t accidentally pass away in his sleep. Natsume might be in just as much need as Kaname for long periods of hospitalization, but he can’t for two reasons.

One, the school absolutely does not want that. They want their favorite child soldier to be always at the ready. He can’t be at their beck and call at all times if he’s cooped up in a hospital bed. He needs to be where they can grab him easily, and pumping him full of medicine and pretending that’s enough for him is the most they will do.

Two, Natsume absolutely does not want that. Mikan is in more danger than ever, and being sequestered in a hospital without seeing anyone leaves her alone and unprotected. How is he supposed to spy on the ESP and Persona for information on Mikan if he’s hospitalized? He needs to be free as a bird, just like they want him to be, so that he can be at Mikan’s beck and call. At the slightest threat, he will be there for her.

Later, when Bear follows Mikan around while Kaname is sicker than ever, Koko can discern that Bear wants Mikan to steal Kaname’s alice from inside of him. Many people are onlooking, and Natsume has a shocked expression, not because he didn’t know that Mikan has the stealing alice, but because he’s concerned for what consequences may come if more people find out. If the ESP comes to hear any of this, serious issues will arise. Things are already dangerous enough, but if the ESP finds out, then turmoil will come sooner than later.

This is an "Oh, shit" moment! How terrible.

Things get worse when the rumors about Mikan’s alice spread through the upper divisions. Mikan gets chased by upperclassmen who want her to steal their alices because they think their star rank will go up if they can catch her in the act. The ESP seems to have purposefully spread such a rumor in order to speed things along. He wants to push Mikan into a corner, perhaps force her into using her alice and exposing herself, so that he has an excuse to swoop in and take her into his custody.

We see a panel of Natsume hearing the news of the middle schoolers’ pursuit of Mikan and he’s just as shocked as before. Her life is endlessly hectic in the worst way. She is always under attack from rumors and speculation and being honest about her alice will only end poorly for her. This is the last glimpse we get of him this chapter, but his reactions, despite the fact that he says nothing this whole time, is enough to give hints to where his mind is right now. His priorities and concerns are all made clear, building up to when he will eventually be quite needed.

Chapter Ninety-Four

Class B is getting ready for swimming lessons in P.E. Most of the class, especially Mikan, are excited for this.

There’s not much Natsume in this chapter either, but we can see him on the poolside, obviously not well enough to swim. Swimming is one of the most physically taxing exercises because of how much it requires you to use your full body. Natsume can’t waste what little energy he has on P.E. when he has missions to do. Those are much more important.

Mikan may get occasionally down or sad about her alice and the uncomfortable state of things, but Ruka is there to cheer her up and play water polo with her. Natsume simply looks on.

Tsubasa spots him, and instantly looks troubled. He and Natsume are not just both in the DA class now, they’re also going on many of the same missions. He’s also the only one who knows the truth about Natsume’s alice shape, and how much the taxing missions affect his body. Seeing Natsume sit on the side and not join in with the others is not a good sign. He’s not doing well.

Fun and games are over! It was never gonna last long anyway!

The panel of everyone having fun while Natsume coughs by himself, isolated from everyone, brings to mind the page from Chapter Nine, so long ago. The last page of that chapter has Natsume being sent on a mission, in stark contrast to the final panel of the rest of the class having fun and bonding over dodgeball.

He could never join in for long was the message we got then, and it’s not any less true now. Natsume let himself get attached to Class B and to Mikan in particular but his fun happy times of joining in on the fun were never meant to last. He can’t play the sax anymore. He can’t run around with the rest of them. Luna was a warning to him as much as she was to Mikan. His time is running out and his life will always be too different from the rest of theirs. He will always be shrouded in darkness and an imminent death. They can take occasional breaks from the stress and worry of their lives, but he can’t. Not anymore. Not in any real way. Not without it taking a serious toll on his body.

The last page features two groups of best friends: Natsume and Ruka looking out the window at Hotaru and Mikan as they walk through the rain.

Bad things are going to happen. And that right soon.

There’s a feeling of foreboding in this arc. The last page carries some threat with it while also trying to stay on the side of hope. One should not take things for granted is the main take-away, a harsh lesson for these kids to learn, especially in this way.

These few chapters between the Sports Fest and the next arc are almost similar to the gap chapters between the Hana Hime den chapters and the Sports Fest. They are a much needed respite from the heavy chapters before and after. The difference is that these gap chapters are heavier and there’s a threat looming over Mikan and the others in each one. The happiness and lightness of the Valentine’s day chapter are not present, even in this sweet chapter about swimming. Everyone is unsettled and disturbed, aware that something horrible is to come.

Chapter Ninety-Five

And nothing good ever lasts, as this chapter reveals. The tension that has been building for so long is starting to reach a boiling point.

A lot will happen here. Hotaru gets called to the headquarters. Yuka returns to the Alice Academy campus to find Mikan. Tsubasa goes missing.

God, could they stop sending children to get blown up for FIVE MINUTES?!

Natsume and Tsubasa are separated during a nondescript mission. A warehouse explodes and Natsume screams out for Tsubasa, not knowing where he’s disappeared to, or if he’s even still alive.

Tsubasa is missing, his location unknown. Natsume has returned to campus from the mission, but he hasn’t been seen by anybody yet either. He’s busy trying to locate Tsubasa, trying to find information.

Natsume goes on missions all the time. He goes with other DA types and is frequently in life or death situations with them. That being said, he hates most of his classmates, Youichi being one exception. But Tsubasa is different. They have an unspoken respect for each other, and might even be considered friends. They spent a lot of time in the DA class on missions that we haven’t seen in the manga and their work to find--or rather not find--Yuka and protect Mikan has probably brought them closer.

Natsume wants to find Tsubasa because he’s so important to Mikan, because she loves him like a big brother and losing him would break her. He wants to find Tsubasa because Tsubasa is his friend too. If something happened to him on a mission they went on together, then it’s his responsibility to bring him back, and he might even feel guilty for his disappearance as well. Knowing what we do about Natsume’s self-esteem, martyr complex, and tendency to blame himself for everything, he is probably not taking this very well.

It’s exciting and nerve-wracking to see so many people involved in this chapter, but seeing as everything’s coming to a head, many of the characters narratively have to be involved.

Nobara, who discovers that Narumi plans to run away with Mikan to keep her safe from what’s to come, is soon after made aware that she will be blessed with a friend in the DA class: Mikan. Nobara and Natsume do not get along, but so far she’s been diligent in communicating with him about information she discovers that he would not otherwise find out. There’s no way she wouldn’t try to reach out to him, which explains why he knows about it.

Natsume has been mainly absent from the chapter, and from school as well. Nobody has seen him, because he’s too busy trying to find Tsubasa. But it’s nighttime now and everyone is going to sleep. The rumors about Tsubasa’s disappearance are all around the school and he knows that Mikan knows by now. And she’s all alone.

So he takes a break from all the work he has to do to go and comfort her. He cannot leave her alone, even if he originally planned on it.

He appears in her window and she rushes to him. She asks him questions, about where he’s been and all those wounds on his body, but he didn’t come here to talk about what happened to him. He’s here for her. He confesses that he hadn’t wanted to see anyone until he’d found Tsubasa safe and sound, but he had to see her, fearing that she was crying on her own.

They're both sad. They're each other's comfort.

Natsume knows Mikan, that she frequently acts fine even if she’s suffering. Her resilience and determination are great traits, and it’s easy to get lost in the illusion that she should always be bubbly and optimistic and smiling, but even a girl like Mikan needs to let it out sometimes. Finding out that someone you love is missing is not easy, and smiling in the face of that is not something that even Mikan can do all the time. She needs comfort, and Natsume wants to be there for her.

He’s wanted this the whole time, deep down, to be someone she could rely on, someone who could comfort her, and now he’s the only one who can. All the things he’s wanted to do for her this whole time: to comfort her, to tell her it’ll be okay, to hug her. He does it all because after all they’ve been together, she knows now that he’s someone she can rely on.

She’s crying, and she admits that she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to, because she has to cry in Natsume’s place.

Natsume came to comfort her, yes, but he’s been through a lot too. He also cares about Tsubasa and has been suffering on his own for even longer. He also needs comfort, and because he won’t let himself cry, she’ll do it for him. Mikan can see that he can’t afford to not be perfectly composed all the time. She’s thinking of him, too, and it must be nice to be seen so clearly by somebody he loves.

She knows that he's close to Tsubasa too, even if he won't admit it. THEY'RE EACH OTHER'S COMFORT.

He tells her he will find Tsubasa, and “about her too”, which means he’s letting her know he’s taking care of her. He will keep an eye out and try to keep her safe. He’s hinting that he knows about her other alice, and that he’s on top of it. He has to go now, but his farewell--his promise--is his final way of comforting her for the night. She doesn’t need to worry too much about Tsubasa or what will happen with the school, because he will fix it all. He will protect her.

Conclusion

There's something looming over the kids at the academy. Something really bad is going to happen, and everyone seems somewhat aware at this point. Natsume is at the ready for the slightest threat to Mikan, and he will finally be able to spring into action in the next edition of this already-too-long essay.

So... This is the twentieth part. If I'm to guess, I'd say there's not going to be another ten parts to make it to thirty, but I might be wrong, depending on how long my analysis gets in the last parts of the manga. As I post this, I'm about fifty chapters ahead (which sounds impressive but actually isn't considering the Time Travel Arc has groups of entire chapters that I had to skip). Maybe it'll get to something like twenty-eight but I'm not sure about thirty. We'll see. Once upon a time I thought it'd be forty, even! No, not Natsume's. Mikan's, maybe, but not Natsume's.

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[llnewobsessionll]

New Territory (Aro Volturi x human!reader)

A/n: Thanks for the ask! I had lots of fun writing this, hope you enjoy it!

Description: Y/n goes with Alice and Bella to Volterra to save Edward, in Volterra y/n meets Aro, her mate, due to past trauma y/n has difficulty and ends up running away. Y/n ends up in trouble and Aro saves the day.

Warning: Descriptions of anxiety, ptsd, assault and violence. (Anxiety and ptsd are both mental disorders that affect different people differently, I wrote them as how I experience and handle it, however this does vary from person to person.)

Word count: 3379

The fact that I had left Forks without even an hour’s notice was finally starting to get to me and panic started to sink in, I knew I was allowed, to I am an adult after all, but a trip to Italy from Washington on such short notice would surely be jarring for anyone. But, it had to be done, after all, Bella’s boyfriend was trying to commit suicide. This is also the same boyfriend who happens to be a vampire, all these changes were certainly starting to take effect.

Bella had run ahead to try to stop Edward because apparently, she was the only person Edward wouldn’t see coming, whatever that meant. Alice and I were coming up to the giant clocktower that Edward was apparently in, although moving through the crowds of the St. Marcus Day festival was getting increasingly difficult.

Alice made it to the tower ahead of me and snapped the lock on the inside of the doors that held the doors together… vampires were certainly gonna take some getting used to. She ushered me inside and for a second I was blinded from coming from the bright afternoon light to the very dim interior of the clocktower, around me I could hear the distant conversation but I was too confused by the change in scenery to pay attention to what was happening. When my eyesight finally did return to normal I saw Bella, Edward, and Alice together standing across from two men, two vampires, one of which I think is the tallest person I have ever seen in my life. Behind them, my eyes were drawn to a young girl, or I guess vampire, coming up to us.

“Enough,” she said, her voice powerful, obviously the one holding the cards in the conversation, she drew back her hood and my eye took in her bright red eyes, that’s strange, none of the Cullens have red eyes but she does and so does her two companions that I think about it.

Edward ducked his head in greeting and supplied her name, “Jane” I couldn’t tell if it was a greeting or for the benefit of Bella and me, or just Bella because I doubt he cares about me that much.

“Aro sent me to see what was taking so long” was her only reply.

I don’t know why but the name Aro, or at least I assume the name, made a strange feeling run through me. The feeling confused me and yet intrigued me at the same time, it didn’t feel bad, it was most certainly pleasant. Edward started walking forward with Bella’s hand in his guiding her. Alice followed and grabbed my hand as the two men followed behind us we walked all the way to the elevator, the two men, whose names I have yet to find out followed behind me. I really did not like people walking behind me, especially if I did not know them and their presence behind me caused me to tense up more than I was before and I started to panic. Alice must have noticed my reaction and gently guided me in front of her so I was now behind Bella, this still wasn’t ideal, but it was a hella ov a lot better than just that two strange men behind me.  

We followed the petite blonde girl until we reached an elevator and the small glance at it from between Bella and Edward made me think that we would have to take two trips to get us all to where we were going. I was soon proved wrong when we all packed ourselves inside with zero personal space.

Being so close to so many people, most of which I did not know at all or very well with the exit closed off was not an exciting experience to me and if we had been in there much longer I would hate to think of how I would’ve reacted. The weird opera music only made me more nervous and put me more on edge.

Getting out I once again followed behind Bella and Edward, we walked past a human secretary who greeted us in Italian. Bella leaned closer to Edward to signify she wanted to have a private conversation, why she would try when we were surrounded by vampires of all things baffled me. However, I was so close behind them, even I, with my human hearing, could make out their conversation.

“Is she human?” Bella asked

“Yes” came Edward’s response

“Does she know?”

“Yes,” he once again replied, now I haven’t been around Edward too much but I can see he’s a man of very, very few words.

“Then why would…” Bella trailed off, “she wants to be.”

“And so she will be” came from behind, one of the guys had responded to Bella and Edward’s ‘private’ conversation.

“For dessert,” Jane finished off the sentence, her words made an uneasy feeling appear in my stomach. Not only was it nerve-wracking being around Vampires, but especially when they talked about killing people so casually.

Jane opened the doors that were in front of us and led us inside what looked like a chapel, it had similar architecture to worship temples, if a little grande, but I guess that was to be expected for Italy.

In front of us sat three thrones, and upon each of them sat a vampire, the one in the middle, he had black hair down to his shoulders, and the characteristically pale skin and red eyes, dressed in all black instantly had my attention. Something about him drew me in, I couldn’t place it but it was an instant attraction. Immediately both Edward and Alice were in front of me blocking my view of him and shielding me from his view.

Things were happening around us, conversation and movements, but I was still enraptured by the man, I was trying to look in between the gap that Alice and Edward had, but they kept making it harder and harder for me by moving and blocking my view.

I only came back to when Edward rushed forward, still at a human speed, towards where Jane stood. Jane muttered a word, I couldn’t make out what she said from where I was but Edward seemed to freeze in place and then dropped down to his knees. He looked to be in a great deal of pain and I swear I could see Edward’s vein nearly popping out of his skin from how tense he was.

Bella started to beg with Jane to stop and rushed forward as if to help Edward but a vampire that had been standing beside Jane flashed to her side and held her back. Whatever Jane was doing to Edward stopped when the attractive vampire called her name. She looked as if she woke up from a trance.

The attractive vampire turned to Jane, “go ahead my dear” I don’t know what he was talking about but Jane turned her attention to Bella. Bella seemed to tense and held her breath, waiting for something I would guess. However, nothing happened and tension between Jane and Bella rose. The tension was broken when the attractive male clapped his hands together and let out a maniac sounding laugh, “remarkable, she confounds us all. So what shall we do with you know?”

The man with the brown hair sitting behind the attractive guy piped up, “you already know what you’re going to do.” He sounded bored, but at least he finally provided a name for the attractive guy, Aro. For some reason, something as simple as his name had shivers of pleasure going down my back.

“She knows too much,” the blond one behind Aro added on, “she’s a liability.”

Now, I don’t know what exactly they were talking about, but I understood the situation enough that I knew that whatever the end result of it, it would most likely have Bella and me dead. The prospect of me having to witness Bella’s death sent me into a panic, and that may have caused slight irrationality, stepping out from behind Alice I finally spoke up, “there has to be something, what if they can promise that Bella will be turned? She’d no longer be considered a liability then.” As I spoke I looked directly at Aro, because from what I have seen so far, it was him that was making the decisions or at least the most active decision-maker.

Aro stepped forward, I had clearly intrigued him in some way, “oh and who are you, cara?”

It was at that moment, with everyone in the room looking at me, that my confidence escaped me and all I wanted to do was tuck tail and run to somewhere where I was alone. “Mm, my… name is y/n,” my voice didn’t come out as strong as I wanted it to and even I could hear the waver in my voice.

“Well cara, if Edward promised to turn Bella I do believe that that would solve the problem, although from what I have seen it seems as if he’s… hesitant” Aro seemed to slowly be inching closer to me, or that could have just been my paranoia talking.

“Bella will be one of us, I have seen, in one of my visions” Alice butted in, taking a step forward and slowly fingering her glove off, she took another step forward and placed her hand within Aro’s. The strangest of all is that Aro shut his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating, this confused me so I looked over to Bella and Edward in hopes that one of them would fill me in on my obvious obliviousness.

Seeing my confused face Bella thankfully informed me, “Aro can see every thought and memory you’ve ever had with one touch,” when she said this she did so quietly, almost like if she spoke too loud she would get scowled.

Well, I guess I’ll have to refrain from touching him then, eh?

Both Alice and Aro stepped back, turning to Bella he addressed her, “your gifts will make for an intriguing immortal, go now and make preparations,” he turned to me and reached out to grab my arm, I stepped out of his reach, trying to stop the contact.

“What about y/n, she has to come with us too!” Bella piped up after seeing both Edward and Alice trying to escort her out and leave me behind. Desperately I looked at her, hoping that she’ll take me with her. Even though I feel this strange attraction and connection to Aro I still felt safer with Bella, I was in unfamiliar territory with strangers, and the only thing grounding me was the sense of familiarity that I had with Bella.

“y/n? She’s staying here” Aro said with a sound of finality as he turned around and sat on his throne, completely laid back and absolutely unworried, which was the complete opposite from me as I was slowly starting to give in to my panic as I processed what was happening.

Thankfully it seemed as if Bella wasn’t gonna give up on me, who stood there uselessly by the way, “no! No, she’s coming back with us, you can't trap her here!”

Edward grabbed Bella’s arm and started half-heartedly tugging her out of the room, “Bella, come on, it’s no use.” I knew Edward didn’t like me all that much but to see him abandon me so fast definitely hurt.

Alice grabbed Bella’s other arm when she saw the younger girl still resisting, “Bella, calm down, we’ll explain it to you later, we can’t stop it.” At the very least Alice was doing a much better job at calming Bella down than Edward had, but to hear her be so definite about the outcome of the situation really didn’t help me at all.

Alice and Edward slowly started to escort Bella out of the room, I however still stood there looking at her desperately hoping that she’ll put up more of a fight for me. I knew if I tried to go with them one of the vampires would stop me before I finished taking a step, and there was no hope of fighting off a vampire or running off.

When the door finally shut behind Bella, Edward, and Alice I felt a sinking weight take place in my chest and could no longer stand. I sat down, desperately trying to hold back my panic. Almost immediately Aro was in front of me on one knee reaching for me, all I could manage to do was look up at him, no doubt teary eyed, “please don’t touch me, not yet,” he looked pained when I said that but nodded his head and lifted me into his arms bridal style, making sure that none of our skin make contact and that my pants and top were acting as a barrier between our skin.

It was less than ten seconds later than we stood in a different room, which looks to be a very expensive and immaculately kept bedroom. My face was still slightly buried in his shoulder from the run here.

He place me on the bed and stepped back, he look unsure of how to proceed next, almost nervous, I found it absolutely adorable and wholesome, and honestly a part of me wanted to ask him to stay, because no matter if I like it or not I felt some sense of comfort when I was close to him, but a bigger part of me needed the space in order to think and process all that happened and to calm down enough to think sensibly about the situation.

I couldn’t possibly look at him at the moment so I ended up looking at his shoes at the carpet that he was standing on, “I just need some… alone time, to y’know process everything” it came out as a quiet mumble, but I knew with his hearing he heard it anyway.

Nodding his head, he held his hands behind his back and rocked back on his heels, “certainly, I’ll come back later to check up on, if you need anything just call me and I’ll be right here,” he looked so delicate, long gone was the man from the throne room who was in charge and self-assured, no all that there was was a courteous, if slightly awkward gentleman.

He waited for my nod of confirmation before he left and suddenly I was alone in the room.

↼♔♔♔⇀

It was later that evening when the sun was almost completely down and several hours had passed and my confidence was back up that I decided to do something that could potentially be reckless. Did I acknowledge the fact that going out into a strange building that no doubt would be full of vampires would be a bad idea? Yes, yes I did. Did I have full knowledge that I had absolutely no clue where I was going and that the vampires drank human blood? Once again, affirmative. Did my grumbling stomach take priority over my safety? At the moment? Yes.

It was about five steps out the door that I truly came to terms with just how big that inside of the clocktower is and the fact that I would most definitely end up lost. But still I continued forward, hoping beyond hope that I could get myself so lost that I could find the kitchen, or anyone nice enough to direct me to the kitchen.

It couldn’t have been more than five minutes of me walking around taking turns and going in directions completely at random that I finally came across someone, someone who happened to be a vampire.

The Cullens were vampires and they all seemed to be really nice, even Rosalie as long as you didn’t mess with her, and Aro seemed to be nice enough so I thought that going up to the strange vampire and asking for directions to the kitchen couldn’t turn out too bad, especially considering that Aro, who seemed to be really important acted like he cared for me.

Going up to the vampire I had just opened my mouth to ask for directions when he suddenly turned around and stared at me. That star could only be described like a hunter looking down at its prey, ready to pounce and a shot of fear ran through me. I realized that asking a random person for directions didn’t sound like the best idea and just as I was about to take a step back and retreat he moved. In a split second he had me pinned up against the wall with his hand around my throat, the breath had been knocked from my lungs from the sheer force of his action so even if I tried to call out nothing more than a strangled gasp would make its way out.

“What’s a pretty thing like you doing walking around here, huh?” He hissed, his mouth slowly making its way closer and closer to  my neck, I suppose that’s where my jugular would be, one bite and I would be down.

I heaved in a strangled breath, which was a lot harder than you would think with his hand wrapped around my throat like a necklace. Finally getting enough air to call out I tried to be as loud as I could to draw attention to myself “Aro, Aro, Aro” however just from calling his name three times left me feeling winded and the only other thing I could manage was a meek sounding “please.”

In a blink of an eye, a lot faster than I could process, the weight of the vampire was off me and Aro was standing in front of me with the two male guards from earlier. I slid down the wall with one hand on my throat coughing and trying to get enough air back in my lungs. Between the four vampires, a fight broke out and they were talking but I could hear them over the blood drumming through my ears. The fight only lasted for a couple of seconds before the strange vampire ended up in a pile of limbs on the ground.

While I was still trying to get my breathing back to normal Aro came over to me and crouched down, he looked like he wanted to touch me and comfort me but was holding himself back. At the moment, all I wanted was the comfort that I found around him so I opened my arms up in invitation and as a sign that I wanted a hug.

Relief seemed to come over his face and he pulled me into an embrace. I made sure that I had my hand on the back of his neck so he could use his gift. For a couple seconds he looked distant and I buried my head into his neck so I didn’t have to watch his reaction, I already knew it wouldn’t be good, nobody had a good reaction to memories like mine.

He hugged me tighter and lifted me up, “let’s go back to your room, cara.”

This time he walked us back to the room at a human pace, I would have normally been glad for that but the extra time it was taking us to get to the room meant extra time to worry over his reaction.

“Why don’t we just calm down, yeah” he whispered reassuringly while sitting on the bed with me still in his arms, “I promise nothing like that will ever happen to you again.”

A bout of relief came over me, he wasn’t gonna make a big deal about it or pull away because it made him feel uncomfortable, he was going to stay with me and help me through it.

On his lap I turned so I was stranding him and laid my head on his shoulder. I intertwined our fingers and left our hands on my thigh.

That entire night Aro stayed by my side, only leaving to get me food after my stomach grumbling interrupted us. That night I fell asleep with Aro right by my side and got the best sleep of my life.

[arsenicpanda]

Hey! You seem to ship fairly similar Riverdale pairings to me, so do you have any fanfic ideas? Unfortunately, I have writers block and I don't have access to any maple mushrooms to get through this one.

So, I do have a few that don't fall under "I actually want to write this myself", you are correct, and I am a wordy bitch, so let's put this under a cut

-Jabitha + Jughead and Veronica friendship post-college au: so, we diverge from canon in 5x03. Betty still leaves Riverdale, but Veronica stays, and she and Jughead slowly bond over film, pretentious references, criminal fathers, and the whole getting cheated on thing. Maybe throw in Reggie and the other Serpents too if you want to. When Jughead becomes homeless (again), Veronica eventually notices and invites him to stay with her, and it's awkward at first, but then they get used to it. They develop a brother-sister bond. So, then when they go off to college, they keep in touch and stay friends. Their friendship keeps Jughead from being supes lonely at college, which means he stays and learns how to actually fucking write, so his book is actually good and not just successful, and also he doesn't take up drinking and drugs. And their friendship also keeps Veronica from dating assholes like Chad, so she never even gets close to that terrible marriage. But after they graduate, Jughead moves to NYC and they live together and she becomes the she-wolf of Wall Street and he becomes a successful author (genre undetermined) and maybe also journalist (look, I am just too fond of this headcanon, and most authors need second jobs anyway), and neither of them pine over their exes. Veronica can settle down with Reggie, Josie, Katy Keene, or someone else or no one else, but she is successful and happy. Also, Tabitha goes to school in NYC, settles down there, works a six-figure job for a while, and then opens a Pop's franchise. Now, it can go two ways from here:

Veronica and Tabitha become friends in college. Veronica keeps trying to set Jughead and Tabitha up with different people she knows to no success (she keeps trying to set both of them up with intimidating women (partial success and bi Tabitha 4 life) and himbos (zero success, they both prefer smart people, and also bi Jughead 4 life), until one day she's complaining about it to Katy Keene or Reggie or Josie or someone and the other person is like "V, why don't you just set them up with each other?" And she's like "ohhhhh" and she does, and they either hit it off pretty quickly or Tabitha is like "wait, are you the guy who mooched off my grandpa for years??" And he's like "pardon??" And she dislikes him until he proves himself/Veronica explains the situation (Jughead was neglected and poor and Pop helped him out). But then they get along and swap stories about Pop and fall into some weird investigation and fall in love, and Veronica is like "Victory is mine!"

Tabitha starts franchising Pop's in NYC, and when Jughead finds out he's like "sus, very sus" and goes there and eats and is like ".....this is actually pretty spot-on". And he becomes a regular (who actually orders food and pays because he can now), and Tabitha is supervising the diner for a time, and they start to chat on late nights when he's the only customer left but the diner isn't scheduled to close for another two hours, so Tabitha could use the company. Jughead doesn't realize she's Pop's granddaughter, and Tabitha doesn't realize he's her grandpa's favorite customer (and known moocher, in her opinion), and when they find out, they're both very shocked. They clear up the moocher thing and keep falling in love, and it's beautiful, and Veronica spends some her spare time prying into Jughead's newest late-night haunt and then teasing him about his crush on the owner and later "of course you fell for Pop's granddaughter, of course".

-Jabitha or bugabitha: Jughead cooks his tired (future?) girlfriend(s) dinner because yes, he does know how to cook because he loves food, so obviously he learned how to cook, and also he notices how much his girlfriend(s) work and wants to take care of them.

-Jabitha: Tabitha teaching Jughead how to cook some of Pop's recipes one late, slow night, and yes, they kiss at the end and/or when he makes her something on another late, slow night or slow afternoon or one morning when he opens and she shows up later

-Bugabitha: Tabitha needs help with a mystery/situation and goes to Betty and Jughead's PI agency to hire them (whether Betty and Jughead are together is up for grabs), and they are both charmed as fuck by her, and Tabitha tags along on the investigation for idk reasons, and they all fall in love and also solve a mystery

-Jabitha: smut/pwp of Jughead eating Tabitha out in Pop's while they're both still in uniform

-Jabith or Bugabith: like three students trip and fall into being way too invested in their teacher's/teachers' love life/lives and become convinced that something is going on between Jughead and Tabitha (and maybe also Betty) and start snooping while also documenting it on a popular "my English teacher is dating his other boss (and also my shop teacher)" or "my English teacher is two-timing his boss with my shop teacher" TikTok series that Jughead and Tabitha (and Betty) don't know about it until it goes viral after the kids finally get proof they're together / find out that it's not that Jughead's cheating with Betty and/or Tabitha's cheating with Betty but that the three of them are dating (see: that one fanart I commissioned of the Elite meme). Told from the kids' pov, very comedy-heavy (more comedy than ship fluff, tbh), includes replies to the TikToks and other social media stuff. Still considering writing this myself, but I don't know if I'm funny enough, tbh

-Bugabitha: how they do or do not celebrate holidays and birthdays, especially if the holidays involving shuffling between/avoiding their families and Betty recounts the disaster that was Jughead's birthday in 1x10, right down to (lovingly) roasting him for the "I'm weird, I'm a weirdo" speech (she will be kind by including how sweet he was in the diner, of course)

-Bugabitha: Alice finally finds out that Betty, Jughead, and Tabitha are all dating when Betty moves out of the Cooper house and into an apartment with Jughead and Tabitha. It includes something like the following exchange, Alice's last-ditch effort to convince Betty not to do this:

"Elizabeth, you cannot think that moving in with your ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend is wise."

"Mom, I'm not moving in with my ex and his girlfriend, I'm moving in with my boyfriend and my girlfriend, and you're making me late for lunch with them, bye." And then Betty leaves before Alice can respond

And then it's very important that Alice freaks out. If you want, you can also include FP and Gladys finding out (v chill) and Pop finding out (the most wholesome and supportive)

-Jabitha: Pop playing matchmaker with Jughead and Tabitha at any age, could be in an au where Tabitha comes to visit Pop every summer and Jughead kinda falls for her from afar as a teen, could be Jughead gets a job post-senior year at Pop’s during the summer when Tabitha is working there that summer, could be during the canon s5 or an au s5, could be any time, idk

- Jabitha, bughead, or bugabitha: Jughead's editor says that his novel needs a sex scene for whatever reason, idk, idc, but his POV character/narrator is a woman, and he's like "how do I write this without finding myself on one of those lists of 'men who can't write women?'" and bemoans this one day, and, idk, somehow his friend(s) Tabitha and/or Betty trip and fall into ~helping~ him by being very explicit and descriptive of how it feels while they bone

I think that’s it? Let’s say that’s it for now.

[fixing-bad-comic-art]

I’m wondering if you have any advice for coloring fabric so that it actually looks textured!! The velvet in your recent art post was beautiful and I’m wondering if you have tips for making fabric look textured. Thank you!!

so the two biggest things when it comes to trying to sus out the texture of anything is 1. learning the structure and 2. finding an active reference

1. using velvet as an example, we start by finding out what makes velvet velvet; what its made of, how its made, and why its used.

a. velvet can technically be made of any fiber type but silk, rayons, and synthetics are preferred do to how shiny they are. (and i know putting rayons and synthetics in seperate categories is controversial but shut up, ones plastic, ones not)

b. velvet is made by weaving 2 pieces of fabric at the same time and then cutting them apart along their faces. this produces a fine fabric with a very short pile, essentially very short treads sticking up 90° from the weave, think of it like a very short faux fur. velvet can come in different pile lengths with longer lengths showing off the texture a lot better than shorter ones

c. velvet is used because its just beautiful, velvet is a very fragile fabric that cant be pressed or washed easily, and that is looking for every excuse to shed itself and shed all of those pretty fuzes. its a rich person fabric thats meant to show off wealth because its Such a difficult and fussy and wasteful thing to make and work with, especially when you consider its historically a silk fabric that you cant piece, but Damn if it isnt pretty.

step one conclusions-

a. its an expensive fabric do to being made of silk so it makes more sense as a design fabric than a structure fabric

b. the pile is what give velvet its signature texture. when light bounces off the tips of the pile it reflects as those pretty light usually almost white light spots, but at every other point the light gets scattered in the pile and doesn't reflect back nearly as strongly, which is what causes the intense rich contrast. the pile can also be 'brushed' ie tamped down in some places by movement so light doesn't reflect uniformly across the surface, this is where the ruffled look comes in. the same piece of fabric can look wildly different depending on which angle the fabric is viewed at and how its being manipulated. like, when you fold velvet the areas along the fold or going to look shinier than they normally would because all those little hairs are more spread out.

c. because of its associated cost and delicacy to really sell the velvet look you need to place it carefully and make sure it makes sense for the situation its being used in. a farmer girl wouldn't have a velvet skirt for instance.

and now step 2, active reference,

find a video of the thing youre trying to render and watch how it reflects light from different angles. or find a piece of it in real life to keep on hand to reference back to. still images are obviously still very helpfull but for a complicated texture like velvet being able to manipulate it is very nice. i have a cheapy synth velvet dice bag that i referenced back to. but most of what i was looking at was the mad hatters costume from the australian ballet's alice in wonderland (which f to pay respects for that guy, velvet is Hell to wear because of how insanely hot it is, so tap dancing in a full suit of the stuff must be something awful) and Bernadette banners 18... 84? dress she just finished earlier this year, sorry i dont feel like tracking down resources rn anjasghshsh

but Yeah, that was probably more about velvet than you wanted but thats just sorta my process. and while the fact about velvet arnt universal you can take this method and apply it to any other texture