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lunaekalenda · 2 years

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Own Character's Post: no one asked about edition! today with: Mei and Jian

warning: under the line you'll meet the most crackhead couple but still the cutest one i have ever wrote, also, a feminist plot, ancient china inspired lore in which i spent more time doing research that in my own uni works, my protected babies, me basically screaming about them and a couple extra scenes i have made specifically in the case i ever publish this and anyone asks for romantic extras to fill the void of the dramas i'm gonna write (this is a joke. the first part, i mean. angst is confirmed). sorry in advance. also, let me know if you would like to meet my other characters (such as Yvonne, Martiño, Ares, Ryu, Micah or Shi hehe) also, plot is still in development so patience pls jfhafjka. i hope you love them as much as i do <3

Mei Yun

Mei Yun is the third kid from a family of seven children. She's honest, smart and quite a daydreamer most of the time. Even when girls couldn't study on her times (and less a girl from the lowest class like her.), his big brother's drinking buddy turned out to be a royal scribe, one of the highest public charges, for the Prince Li at the Blue Palace ( in Olquivilla, the capital of the south district of the island), and, illegally and by secret, he accepts to give classes to her as a favor to his brother, for all the times he has helped him. What the scribe didn't expect to find was a writer. With all the letters. A girl with an imagination beyond humans, someone whose words tangled so beautifully ones with others, with so many stories to tell. As an author himself, he's amazed by her capability of tangle the plots, to give characters real emotions and her ability of avoiding plot holes. But, still, she has a big problem: being literate for a girl her age, without any type of relation with high class people, and, specially, without a husband, something she doesn't need and something she doesn't want, is forbidden and punished. She's almost 22, and it will be fast when the royal palace assigns her some type of horrible candidate to marry, the one she will accept, or else she'll be accused of practicing the old demoniac magic and burned alive, to say the least. But, so unexpectedly, the same man that saved her stories, is willing to save her life by asking for her hand in marriage. Maybe he has other reasons to stay near her.

Jian Gao

On the other hand, Jian Gao is the youngest of two. Raised up by his granny and feeling as the needed and unwanted male heir that the Gao needed, he writes romantic stories to try to find the real meaning of love, to try to get an idea of that idilic, romantic relationships he has dreaming of since he studied abroad, reading tons and tons of novels, for his translator condition. Even when he's the Prince's right hand, Jian likes to be, as much as the Prince himself does, mixed with the people on the city. Talk with them, help them, learn from them. And his very favorite liquor is from the little tavern in front of the Yun's house, where he meets Tai Yun, Mei's older brother, who helps him at nights he feels the most stressed and becomes a friend with who Jian loves to share a cup. In exchange, Tai asks Jian a complicated question: to help his sister to learn how to write more complex, a forbidden action that could cost his work, her life, and all of her family's money. But when he meets her, asking why she wants to learn, he listens to her ideas, to her plots. And he thinks everyone should be able to read those words, and to feel, even through a book, the intense feeling she's willing to share. And, somehow, he feels an strange attraction to her stories.

so here they are! <3 the plot is still under construction, after all, jian wasn't going to be anything more than a scribe in one chapter and mei a side character and crush of the prince, but i felt like i needed to give them the leadership they deserve! i wanted to write something light hearted (not like stalker bc i swear i can't handle this bunch of little devils), but something to just make people smile and fall in love slowly with the way the two of them see love as. omg i'm so nervous i'm sorry dhjfkhal i feel like i'm presenting my children. and now i'm leaving here a couple of extras i wrote for them <3 i hope you enjoy and pls lemme know any opinion or criticism aaa

Extra 1

(...) "Tai is at the inn. Grandma is here" Kumiko says. I bend down to kiss her hair before leaving.

"Tell her I've gone to take something to Tai, that I'll be back before dinner" I leave the living room and the house quickly. I see Tai's large silhouette sitting at one of the tables outside, his hand holding a small glass. He's talking to someone.

"Hey, Mei!" Tai shouts when he sees me. I sigh when I hear him, walking towards his table. Tai is too loud when he drinks, and I'm sure he's not even drunk yet. "Sit with us, sis."

When I reach my brother's table, the bodies that kept me from seeing his companion dissipate. It's another man. Tall, perhaps a little more mature than the last time I saw him. This time, he wears his hair down, a couple of front locks pulled back, leaving his profile in full view. I know he's smiling when he speaks, even though his glass covers his mouth.

"Long time no see, Yun Mei." Jian's voice is still as calm as ever when he speaks to me. His movements, even though he's had a little to drink, are just as fluid and elegant, slow but graceful. Her cheeks are slightly flushed, so I sense that the scribe must have more alcohol on him than he appears to have. Tai pats a seat next to him, but I don't trust him. I don't want to tell my brother about this here, he might shout it out loud and expose all three of us. Me, for writing. Him, for lying to the Prince. Jian, for disobeying the law. I decide to keep quiet for the moment. My old tutor is still watching me. Although the last time he taught me I had already turned nineteen, it is true that I had changed. However, he is still the same as ever. "How have you been?"

My cheeks begin to redden as I notice Jian's golden gaze above me, his fingers playing with the small glass near his mouth, which glistens from the traces of alcohol he just licked. "Good…. Thank you," he smiles at me before getting up and paying. "Do you have to go now?" I ask. Jian sighs, the smile returning to his lips as he turns to me.

"I'm… Maybe I'm not quite sober…" his hand moves up to my cheek. "And you look beautiful, as always…" With one last smile, Jian leaves the little square, walking calmly back to his house. Tai puts an arm around my shoulders.

"Let's go, Tai."

Jian's caress still tingles on my skin as I walk back to my brother. I remember feeling that the first time we kissed. Going home with my finger on my lips as I felt them tingle. Hui Ying had compared it to the brush of a butterfly's wings on the skin. I looked back, but Jian's slender silhouette had already disappeared.

I liked Jian. I liked him a lot, ever since the day he came through my front door claiming he was coming to give me lessons, when I was days away from being twenty and he had just turned twenty-four. It had started to rain and the bottom of his hanfu was wet, and his hair was dripping incessantly on his face. I prepared hot tea for both of us and offered him Tai's dry clothes, which he declined. We started the class and there I realized how attractive I found him, how intelligent he is and how gently he smiled at me when I was wrong. My heart was beating especially fast when his huge hand rested on top of mine, helping me to trace the drawing accurately. It was common for him to do that, but my body never got used to the touch. I would look up at him in awe, my cheeks flushed and my eyes sparkling. With each passing class, his closeness began to become more comfortable, how he would lift my chin with two fingers to look at him when I became frustrated after a very difficult word; how he would reach over my shoulder to read during our classes, the innocent brushes of our hands when we exchanged papers. The attraction turned out to be mutual after a year of teaching, when the brushes were no longer casual but sought after. Jian would go for walks with me in the huge garden of his house when he attended class there, always with his hair down and without any adornment to show his superior position to mine. We would walk while he explained to me what scribe's work in the palace was like, while we laughed at any nonsense and he gently brushed my hair away from my face to look me in the eyes.

Jian, at any rate, never did anything I didn't want him to. He stood by until I allowed him to kiss me, the hand touches were purely casual until he took my hand. I still remember the hint of tea and alcohol from the last kiss we shared, just before he gave me the most painful letter I had ever received.

It was an envelope with a leaf from the peach tree we liked to sit on, and a piece of paper written in handwriting that didn't look like his, blurry and shaky.

"We can't see each other anymore." (...)

Extra 2 ok no more angst i swear this one is even painful from the corniness

(...) "It's a good idea, after all, he is an erudite" my father talks to himself as if trying to convince himself that Tai's idea is not terrible. Kumiko keeps watching me, studying my reactions despite being so young. My mother has a huge smile and my grandmother has my hand locked in hers. Opposite on the table, Hai holds a half-asleep Zihao in her arms, listening intently. "Still, aren't the parents who search for the daughter-in-law? Why a poor young woman? I mean, my daughter, you are beautiful and intelligent, a good match…. but shouldn't he marry a noblewoman?" Tai asks for silence as he picks up the letter. He rereads it quickly. "Apparently, Jian Gao spoke so highly of Mei to his parents that they allowed Jian to marry her. You can tell he loves her very much." Everyone's gaze falls on me. It's true, Jian loves me, as much as I love him. But marriage is a big thing. Especially for a girl like me, used to eating just enough dinner to keep from fainting from hunger, reusing and sewing the same hanfu over and over again, and pretending to be illiterate on a daily basis while i study next to him. To marry a man like him. An erudite, a royal scribe, taught in all the arts and excelled in letters, with a job in the royal chamber of scribes. Known as an author, with addictive literature. And very attractive. Tall, amber-eyed and pale-skinned, with rosy lips and an easy smile. Women whisper when they see him pass by, offering to carry his books or fix his manbun. Always so attentive and affectionate, so close….

"….which is why I think they should get married." Tai finishes.

(...)

"Are you unhappy with the proposal," Jian asks later, walking beside me near the watercourse in his garden. The hanfu he gave me fits me well, as if it was sewn for me. I clear my throat and force myself to smile, though I don't look directly at him.

"No, no. It just caught me by surprise, that's all. I'm not unhappy." Though Jian gives me a worried look, which means he doesn't quite trust what I say, he sighs and continues walking silently. As is common, he does not wear any ornaments in his hair or hanfu to show his superior position, despite being on his property. When I arrived at his house, perhaps a little before the appointed time, Jian was just finishing taking a bath. His servant ushered me into the sitting room to wait for him, and I saw him appear shortly after with his damp hair tied up in a high bun. He looked so ethereal and unreal. I could tell he looked like an appetizing future, but it terrified me. To be the mistress of a house like that, to walk beside him as his wife. To be seen as property.

I know Jian doesn't intend that. His eyes are sincere when he speaks, but I can't help but think so. It's what people will say, deep down. Jian stops walking, his hand gripping my waist, making me stop. He watches me closely, amber eyes roaming my face, so close, I could even count the dark flecks glinting in his irises.

"I don't know what you're thinking," he murmurs, softly. "But really, Mei. Don't do something you don't want to do. I don't want to force you into anything, let alone pressure you. I want you to have the final say. Not me, not your father, not mine. You." Jian's fingers are even faster than my tears when he wipes them away.

"It's not for me…" I whisper. Jian watches me, listening carefully. "I don't want people talking about you. That I'm younger than you, that I'm poor, that I'm not one of those pretty candidates the matchmaker is looking for. That you let yourself be lured by a girl with a lust for money."

Jian smiles subtly, before pressing his lips gently against my forehead.

"Mei…" he pulls away from me slowly, fixing his eyes on mine again. "I don't care what people say about me. The important thing is that I'll have you by my side. And I know what I feel, just like you know what you feel. As long as we are sure, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." (..)

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coop-of-coffee · 2 years

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The Great s2 spoilers (?)

Okay, I just wanna share my thoughts on something, and that something being: ace Orlo.

So, throughout s1 there was the ongoing joke (if you can call it that ig) of Orlo being "a virgin" and some teasing about him not being into women, etc. Since then, I was very 🕵🏻 about all that, making me think that he was either asexual, gay or both.

On the first episodes of s2, Orlo's uninterest in sex was made clearer. And that's when we get to ep 3: Orlo lets Velementov know he got laid the previous night, clarifies it was with a woman and it was his third time having sex.

Later, we see him passionately making out with a guy, which ends up in them having sex, and we know it was his first time with a man bc he was "experimenting", as he put it. Then is where something particularly interesting comes up: he says it felt more or less the same way than when he had sex with a woman, which, to summarize in a word, basically says it was "meh". Plus, he added he'd rather be reading a book.

Having sex with that man didn't make him have the feelings he was supposed to have regarding sex, it didn't get him there and it's obvious he was trying to (hence the "experiment", which, given his other times with women, he was also experimenting, hoping to feel what was expected of him to feel). That scene, at least for me, was the confirmation that he is asexual.

In episodes 4 and 5, we see Orlo clumsily flirt with Katya, the teacher. And in the following ones, it is clear they started a relationship, which is, to an extent, also sexual. I was kinda expecting the writers to do something like that, because hoping that they would truly look into Orlo's asexuality was, sadly and all things considered, unrealistic.

(not that being ace = not having sex, but in a "he found someone, so he'll now have sex and that's how far exploring this will go" way)

However, I must admit the sex scene Orlo and Katya share in ep 6 kinda reinforces that he's asexual/in the ace spectrum. While he does seem to be enjoying it, it doesn't necessarily mean that he was sexually attracted to Katya (or maybe he was? I feel like that was unclear and it made me doubt a little, but only as to say "maybe he's demisexual"), and it was more of a combination of having her read a book to him, listening to the author's words and an obvious sexual stimuation.

Now, before his relationship with Katya began, I considered him either gayace or aroace, giving s1 and early s2 stuff. When he was kissing that guy in 2x03, he seemed to be way more at ease than in pretty much any other scene where a woman looked suggestively at him, where he'd look away or was visibly uncomfortable. I now think he is biace solely because he did seem to like Katya, but I'd be happy to be proven otherwise, bc I feel there's much more material to back up gayace or aroace Orlo, despite being biace myself.

In ep 9, where he calls things off between them after Catherine finds out about the money, their goodbye isn't sexual. Granted, it wouldn't have to be, but given the rest of the characters and the show itself, you might guess why I point this out lmao.

In conclusion: Orlo is definitely aspec. There's canon material, which includes dialogues, as evidence. While I'm not angry or upset about how things were handled regarding this part of Orlo, I am disappointed because, imo, it had so much potential. I would have loved to see this explored, to have some scene with Katya luring him into her room and him being hesitant or not thrilled about where that was heading. I would have loved to see a scene like the one he had with the man, but with Katya, where he'd actually talk afterwards about how he feels about sex (i.e. neutral/uninterested/nothing). It had potential to be played with, and come up with something funny like, idk, Velementov walks into them and hears them giggle and they're under the sheets or smth but they're just reading and Velementov is confused and leaves but Orlo covers himself either way even tho they were fully clothed. The show already has a lot of sex, so I do feel that not going deeper into Orlo's asexuality was a wasted opportunity.

#this ended up longer than i thought #oops i guess #but if anyone actually read this ily #i made a thread on twt as i watched this season and shared my thoughts on this very topic #but i have bigger chances of someone stumbling with this here than there #if anyone wants to talk about this PLEASE send me a message bc I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on it #the great hulu #the great #asexual orlo #orlo #count orlo #my ramblings #yes he is my favorite character. what gave it away?#never post stuff like this but i had to get this out of my system and my friend hasn't watched s2 #the great s2 #the great season 2 #asexual #the great spoilers #words words words

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hp-imagines-07 · 4 years

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Sirius Black x Fem!Gryffindor!Reader

Universe: Harry Potter; The Marauders era

Type: PURE FLUFF, ok a bit angsty but really, nothing much

Summary: [y/n] had been overwhelming herself with plenty of stuff and Sirius just wants to help her because he loves her.

Request: yes|NO - pls send more requestssss

Prompt: xxx

Warnings: just cursing really

Song: xxx

Word Count: 1.3K (kinda of a blurb)

Posted: 15th of October 2020 - !PART OF 500 FOLLOWERS' CELEBRATION!

A/N: ok, i wanted to write a pure fluff one for Sirius and here it is!! it's not really big but i hope you like it bc it's just cringing fluff

My Others Accounts: @imagines-07 (Principal Account) | @obx-imagines-07 (Outer Banks) | @stit-imagines-07 (Stranger Things & IT) | @cm-imagines-07 (Criminal Minds) | @mcu-imagines-07 (Marvel Comics Universe)

MY MASTERLIST

!!hp-imagines-07's 500 FOLLOWERS CELEBRATION!!

As [y/n] felt her eyes heavy and starting to close as an instinct, she dropped her quill at the table and rubbed her eyes on the hardest way possible (without hurting herself, obviously) to take all the sleepiness far away from the bloody busy girl she has been being the last couple of weeks.

After a long breath, [y/n] grabbed the quill again and came back to the essay Slughorn had asked for everyone - except for his dearest students fucking dipshit - to the next class. Well, he had asked for this essay more than a week ago, but just as [y/n] started to read the book about the topic asked, the full moon got before she had time to think anything related to classes.

The Marauders never let her help them outside, so [y/n] would always wait for them at the common room, but this one was by far the worst of the year. Remus had transformed before they got to the safe place in the forest and where he couldn't come back to Hogwarts and attack people there, so they (basically James and Sirius, because Peter couldn't help much on his animagus form) had to contain him the farthest away from the castle, what caused a lot more bruises than the expected.

[y/n] first helped an almost-passing-out Remus, who couldn't remember what happened outside but was feeling so bad with himself that not even all of them made him feel a little bit better. Then, after Moony and Wormtail went to sleep, [y/n] helped James and Sirius with their worst bruises and cuts until the very late night.

Besides the fact that [y/n] was tutoring a third-year in Charms almost every day (because, oh, the little boy needed help with the new spells...), McGonnagal had been overwhelming her with Prefect duties. It wasn’t on purpose, Minerva just never thought that it was too much for her because [y/n] never said anything and always accepted any challenge.

But the girl was so overwhelmed…

The first one to notice was Marlene. She saw how [y/n] was barely getting any hours of sleep by being awake in the middle of the night plenty of times with the girl cursing under her breath while getting something wrong on the paper. Then Marlene talked to Lily, who is a heavy sleeper and didn't notice the missing hours of sleep from their best-friend.

After Marlene talked to Lily about [y/n], the red-headed started to notice the big bags under [y/n]'s eyes, the tiredness on her voice, how she dressed the first clothes that appeared in front of her, the way she was always looking so stressed over something that no one could point to…

Lily then, warned Sirius about how his girlfriend needed his help more than ever and she also told him to not ask her if she wanted his help to anything, because the fucking stubborn woman would never accept help from anyone else.

And when Sirius saw [y/n] almost crying with angriness over her essay at the other side of the common room, he knew that was the moment he should act as the perfect boyfriend he was and help his love. Ignoring all the questioning looks the other three Marauders sent on his way by suddenly getting up and forgetting all about the prank they were planing on a few Slytherins, Sirius got up from the chair he was sitting at and walked in the direction of [y/n].

As the girl started to write again with her quill and the harder part being to keep her eyes open, Sirius sat on the chair beside her making [y/n] jump in surprise. "My God..." She muttered with her hand above her heart and trying to calm it down.

"Sorry for the little scare, love," Sirius said and grabbed [y/n]'s quill from her hand and closed her book before she could even protest. "but now, I'm taking you to bed..." Sirius started putting all [y/n]'s belongings on her bag while she tried to hold a few things back and protest with him, but Sirius wouldn't just give up.

Just when he had finished, Sirius began listening to her. "What the fuck, Sirius?!" The girl said furiously at her boyfriend, that gulped with her angry expression. "I need to finish this essay today! What do you think you're doing?" Sirius didn't give himself the work to answer all the questions she was throwing at him, but just threw her over his shoulder instead. "Sirius Orion Black put me down right now! I swear I'm gonna kill you, you bastard!" [y/n] screamed at him, while struggling to make him put her back down.

"[y/n] [y/l/n], shut up and let me take care of you." He simply said and she just groaned out in frustration, [y/n/n] knew that whatever she did to make him put her down wouldn't work, and just let him take her to wherever Sirius wanted for her to be.

Sirius started to walk towards the girls’ dormitory but just as he stepped his foot, the stairs became a slider and he found himself being grateful that he wouldn't be able to take [y/n] to her dorm, where there were plenty of tired girls already sleeping. So he turned around and walked upstairs to his still empty dorm with [y/n] over his left shoulder and her bag over his right one.

The first thing he did after passing through his door was to put [y/n] down. "Thank God, I was becoming nauseated on that position..." She muttered under her breath when her feet touched the floor. "Why did you bring me here, Sirius?" [y/n] asked with a monotonous tone and sat at his bed, knowing that he wouldn't give [y/n]'s bag back to her.

"You need to rest my love..." He started while walking to his bed and standing in front of her but just as his girlfriend was going to protest with him, he continued. "Don't worry about your Potions essay, I'll finish that for you tomorrow while you take care of the tasks Minnie gave you… Just don't worry, ok?" Sirius asked with both of his hands on [y/n]'s cheeks, making her look at him right in the eyes and she softly nodded at him, already feeling her eyes heavy with his caring and loving touch.

In a matter of minutes [y/n] was wearing just one of Sirius' favourite muggle-band shirt and sleep shorts and Sirius was getting ready to bed with her.

Both of them laid on his bed, under the warm and comfy blankets and held each other as close as they could. "How long has it been that we didn't do this?" Sirius muttered with closed eyes and sleepy voice.

"I don't know… But I'm never letting you go again." [y/n] whispered back against his neck and softly sighed. "It feels like it's been years since I got relaxed like this for the last time..."

Sirius just hummed back at her, but too focused on her touch to care. [y/n]'s body was laying above his, with their legs tangled together, her head buried on the crook of his neck, his nose feeling her scent coming from her hair, her soft hands resting on his bare shoulders and his hands under her (his) shirt caressing her back.

"I love you." "I love you, my love."

[y/n] fell asleep in a question of seconds while Sirius was trying to memorize this feeling of their bodies pressed against each other.

It was in moments like this that Sirius knew that home wasn't a place where you lived and it was comfortable, home was a person who you can always ask for help when needed and it doesn't matter where you'll feel like you're home.

[y/n] is Sirius' home and he couldn't be more grateful to be hers.

☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾

Taglist:

@cheapglitter @Weasleysmuch @missmulti @writtenbypics @littlemaladaptivedaydreamer @dralf0yy @buff-bork @rd155 @seppys-return-to-madness @luciferedits @old-soul-young-mind @pxtrickhxckstettxr @sleep-i-ness @marauderswhisperer @liberty01 @gweaslvy @weasleytwins-41 @siriuslysirius07 @turtlepad @ilovewinter101 @monimillion @simonsbluee @smokey102 @aberette13 @yourbloodyqueen @loverboyreid @eeshea @susceptible-but-siriusexual @weareloserstogether

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mallowstep · 3 years

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What are your opinions on forbidden relationships in Warriors? I've seen people label it as a "trope" because of how common this is. Some find the forbidden romance aspect intriguing, though others find it extremely repetitive and old

I'd like to know your thoughts!

hm. well, it is a trope. i mean, there's an average of one major one a series, right? greysilver, leafcrow (and others, but that's the big one), heatherlion (and implied others), tigerdove, idk i don't remember anything from avos but violetshine luv her but there's probably something, bristleroot. dotc doesn't count bc well it's dotc.

anyway.

definitely a trope.

but that's not a bad thing.

what i think people don't give warriors enough credit for is that these are not all the same forbidden romance. most of them are handled in different ways and bring up different conflicts. i understand why people are tired of them, but let's not discredit one of the only good things in warriors romance: that they make forbidden relationships different.

like, with grey and silver, it's about loyalty and responsibility. leafcrow is just bad idea central, both heatherlion and tigerdove are about responsibilities and young cats, and they have two different answers, and bristleroot is challenging the whole idea from the start.

so like. give credit where credit is due: we're not doing the same (forbidden) relationships again and again. i don't see enough people talk about that.

okay so it turns out i have um. a lot of thoughts about this. idk i just kept writing and now it's over 2k words. so you know. under the cut: matthew does half-baked media analysis to talk about why the code and cats' relationships to it are misunderstood. while actually staying on topic.

anyway from here on i'm just going to say relationship/romance, and understand that i'm generally talking about the forbidden kind. also i'm talking exclusively within the realm of warriors romance, which is, on average, bad. so when i say "X is good," i don't mean "X is good in general," i mean "given what we have, X is good." just to be clear.

right! basically, this is a tool. it creates tension and drama, and that's fine. warriors is a soap opera, remember. soap operas use secrets and relationships and all sorts of plot devices over and over again. warriors is not Serious. it can be dark. it has serious moments. but it is not a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids. it is a soap opera for Future Theatre Kids. yeah?

from that perspective, i'm a-ok with forbidden romance. (also, as a mini-aside, it creates some much-needed genetic diversity when kits are involved.) and again: all of the major relationships are different, so i think that's better than a lot of people give it credit for.

yeah, heatherlion and greysilver and tigerdove are all about the same general idea (loyalty and responsibility), but they all have different circumstances and different resolutions.

so like? yeah. sure. why not?

plus, like, who's reading warriors for the romance? i separate the concept of "romance" from a "relationship" here: i like the relationships in warriors (ivy and dove tension my beloved), but i'm not here to read about tigerheart wooing dovewing. (yes, i do love the tigerdove scenes in oots. no, that's not because i think they're very good at being romantic.)

but i digress.

if warriors was a Serious Book Series for Serious Kids, i'd have a different take here. having been in an IRL forbidden relationship, i have the Personal Insight and Experience to say they're this weird mash of "very much how it feels" and "not at all how it feels."

tigerdove is probably my favourite bc it's the closest to my circumstances, and i think dovewing is a good pov. i like how she breaks up with him because it's a bad idea, but that's not the same thing as not feeling for him.

(heh. twelve-year-old me reading oots like "this will never apply to my life" what did you know)

but to the point, if warriors was serious, i'd point out that the consequences always seem to be internal. we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions. and so on.

but warriors is a soap opera.

and here's my actual thesis: we haven't seen characters be punished for their actions, because "forbidden relationships" are a normal and expected part of clan society.

like no, fandom-at-large, you're kind of missing the point. okay, you know how like. people complain about. idk. ivypool and fernsong being distantly related?

(third aside/very long ivyfern rant, i put a nice big "rant over" after it if you want to skip past it: they're third cousins. they share, max, 2.2% of their genetics. they are fine. do you know your third cousins? do you? yeah. and like. they live in a closed society. there is no one new.

i've never seen someone complain about forbidden romance and ivyfern at the same time, and i do generally agree we should have more mystery fathers, altho for a different reason, but like. idk. this bothers me.

their last shared relative was nutmeg. that's so far back. god. i get it, there was a prophecy saying they're related, but if you remember my rant about how dovewing shouldn't be a part of the prophecy because of how distantly related to firestar is, you know how i feel about that already.

complaining they're related and that's a problem is. deep breath here. it requires demonstrating that warriors has kept track of kinship all the way back to firestar's mother. and even if you wave that requirement, you still have to convince me they would care about that. this isn't a "they're cats, harold" situation, this is a "you would not know your third cousin even if you lived in the same town" situation.

i mean maybe you would. some people do. but my hometown has generations of people who married within its borders. you get as far as "cousin," maybe "second cousin" if you're feeling fancy. i'm not trying to make an always true statement, i just. every time i see someone complain about ivyfern being related, it strikes me as not understanding how extended families work?

i know third cousins isn't technically classified as a distant relative, but you have, on average, 190 third cousins. i feel so strongly about this i looked it up.

like i'm not. okay if you say, "I don't ship ivyfern because they are third cousins and that makes me uncomfortable" you are Valid. in general, you are all valid. i do not think you have to, on a personal level, be okay with ivyfern. you are free to do as you wish.

but. if you want to argue "ivyfern is a Bad Ship because they are third cousins" you have a hell of a burden of proof. simply saying "they share a great-great-grandmother" does not meet that, because like. yeah. we're all pretty damn related.)

(ivyfern rant over)

IVYFERN RANT OVER

right so. anyway. if you remove forbidden romance? you're forcing a lot more of those situations.

i've been messing around with modelling some small-scale fan clan-adjacent stuff to double-check the ratios for wbcd, and it's. it quickly becomes a necessity, is what i'm saying.

but i got distracted like. researching how related third cousins are. my point is not about that, that's like. a different topic. that i crammed into here because i have no self-control.

no, no, what i was trying to get to is: oakheart straight up tells us that cats have half-clan kits all the time, it's not a problem, no one talks about it. and that? that is exactly what we see modelled by warriors.

the only reason greystripe and silverstream have a problem is that silverstream dies and greystripe claims the kits. i feel very strongly that if she had lived, the kits would have been born and raised riverclan kits, that might, maybe, one day, guess who their father is.

we haven't had any half clan kits in a while, which yes! i think is a problem, but like. the fact that the three are medicine cat kits seems to be a bigger issue. which feels right.

and i'm not trying to argue what i think should be, i legitimately believe the text of warriors defends this, even in newer books which throw out a lot of the older world building in favour of more human-like conflict.

as readers, we are naturally following protagonists. we are following the interesting story. but imagine you're just a background riverclan cat. minnowtail, if you will. do you think, do you honestly think, anyone cares about minnowtail?

not in a bad way, just. if she's meeting up with mousewhisker at night, do you think anyone cares? of course not! no one cares. she's not a Protagonist. her kits aren't going to be prophesized about.

heck, finleap switches clans! and it's barely a big deal. it feels like one, but when's the last time anyone bothered dealing with it? that's what i thought.

(also i forgot like all of avos so that very last point might be a bad one if it is my argument stands i just literally do not remember anything in avos but violetshine. none. zero.)

but it's easy to get caught up with characters like hollyleaf and bristlefrost and forget that like. not everyone cares about the code. most of our protagonists do, because it's become mostly equivalent with being moral. and i have an essay draft titled "the code as religion vs the code as law" where i want to expand on this more, but i think like. that idea, that we as readers should use the code as a way of evaluating cats' behaviour, is flawed.

like, i'm not talking about being inconsistent with how that is applied. if you want to say, "the trial leafpool goes through for having half-clan kits is legitimate because of the code," i still think your approach is flawed.

because the cats themselves don't seem to think that way.

the code doesn't, to me, feel like the ten commandments. it does not feel like "you must do this to be a good cat."

rather, it feels like aesop's parables. "here are mistakes cats made and what we do instead of that."

i don't think the cats know the code the way we do. i do not think they memorize a list of rules as kits. i think they know what is and is not part of it, but i imagine they know the stories far more than the rules.

(i'm working on my lore stories to replace code of the clans.)

and even if that's my thoughts, i do think this is supported by the text. no one ever teaches the warrior code, cats just learn it in pieces. "don't waste food because we don't have enough to spare" is taught, not "there's a rule about food and starclan on the code."

that's why the whole arc of the broken code even works: the reason the imposter is able to manipulate things is because cats don't treat the code as a rigid set of rules and commandments, but guiding principles.

the parts of the code that we tend to focus on the most are relationships, apprentices, and battle. or that's my perception. i didn't do a poll to obtain that. there's also the leader's word, but readers don't usually think of that as a good rule, so i'm not including it.

but the parts the cats focus on most are food, territory, and the leader's word. which makes sense: those are basic needs: food, security, and...i don't want to say authority so much as some kind of social system. explaining it would be a whole thing. just trust with me, if you don't mind.

i don't think we have any real reason to believe cats care about half-clan relationships half as much as we do. yes, apprentices are chastized about it, but that's not really the same thing as being punished.

and it's hard to tell, because apprentices being punished has really fallen off, and that's kind of the problem with any argument i try to make about warriors, but.

wow.

i'm actually still on topic? i'm 2k words in and i'm still on topic? a day i never thought would come.

let's wrap this up. cats seem to care about half clan relationships in that: a) they lead to conflicted loyalties, b) they mess with borders and prey, and c) they are in the code as bad. in that order.

and again, if the code was some high and holy religious doctrine, we couldn't have the broken code as an arc. it does not work if the cats are already following it to a t, and know it word for word, because it's signfiicantly harder to manipulate people if they do.

not to the level the imposter does, at the speed he does.

and yes, you could argue that it's more bad writing, but. i think that discredits warriors. yeah, it sure has its fair share of bad writing, but i don't think that's in the way the imposter works. instead, he seizes on a big important doctrine that's nebulous, and uses that to control people.

and that? that feels much more interesting.

so with that in mind, i don't think the cats would care about your typical, non-protagonist forbidden relationship, and i don't think we should, either.

as far as a plot device, i think we're okay with what we have. don't get me wrong, i understand why people are tired of it, but i think we also should remember that warriors is not repeating itself. having multiple forbidden relationships is not repetitive. now, if medicine cats were having half-clan kits every series, i'd make a different argument.

but all of the major forbidden relationships have different outcomes, lessons, and circumstances, and for me, i think that's signficantly interesting.

i didn't really check sources and quotes for this, so like, if you spotted something wrong, feel free to correct me. my overall point stands, but there's a lot of warriors and i have a bad memory, so i could have missed somthing major.

#ask #anon #essay #mine #discourse #not really but you know

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thickenmyblood · 3 years

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It’s interesting because, like, Laurent being conventionally attractive is a pretty integral part of his character? Just because he’s got people fawning over him and being creepy all the time and it’s interesting to think about how it would affect his defensiveness and stuff if he was just, like… average? And tbh if he wasn’t blond and gorgeous I feel like Nik at least would like him a lot better just bc he wouldn’t be like… Damen’s making bad decisions bc he’s horny

Also in terms of Damen only respecting jocks I literally cannot get over the fact that he spends a good half of book one shitting on Ancel and the other pets for being pretty and useless and then straight up gets raped by him and then two scenes later sees him fire dancing and thinks “huh, this guy has a useful skill after all” and smiles on-screen for the first time because he’s genuinely happy the guy got the interest of the regent like seriously Damen I love you but wtf

I'm sorry. I have thoughts. Again.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about this and she told me, basically, that if Laurent wasn't pretty and/or didn't know how to fight, Capri wouldn't be Capri. It'd be a completely different story (although we all agree that it's not just Laurent's skill with a sword that draws Damen in. It's the fact that he starts to see Laurent as someone who's committed to his people, his men, etc.)

I think "being pretty but singed" is an actual trope, as in, many people enjoy writing/reading about someone who is beautiful on the outside but has dark secrets, an ugly past, whatever. Which is interesting to think about. It's also interesting how sometimes we will take a character who is explicitly described as undesirable and ugly and turn them into a hotter version of themselves. I do that with Govart, especially when I'm reading.

Sadly, I disagree a bit on the Nik part. I think Nik's character sometimes is read and interpreted as some sort of comedic relief, much like Nicaise (the fork scene in Book 1, for example). By this point, we all know there is a difference between canon and fanon, and so some characters become caricatures that can be quite the opposite of what they were meant to signify in the original text. I believe—once again, my opinion, just a way to interpret things, nothing else—that Nik's dislike for Laurent runs deeper than the fact that he thinks Damen is being a horny idiot.

Nikandros is a slave owner. He's the Kyros of Delpha, which we all know used to be Delfeur and belonged to Vere. He underestimates Laurent's abilities again and again, and when Laurent proves himself he has to do so in the Akielon way (so, fool Akielon guards, win the Okton—which I'm not even going to try and explain because I don't even get it myself. I really don't). Nikandros doesn't share Damen's journey as a slave, doesn't know what it's like to be at the mercy of another man simply by a twist of fate, doesn't know that slavery is not as fancy and nice as Damen described it in Book 1. Nikandros is Damen pre-journey, unchanged except for the grief of losing his friend. Not that I think Damen has turned into the Virgin Mary towards the end, but whatever.

My biggest issue with Nikandros as a character is that his whole development and "arch" happens in the third book, which is to me the worst book in the trilogy, full of things that make 0 sense, full of contradictions that not even fandom can "fix" without starting a headcanon war of epic proportions. All I can say is that I think Nikandros hates Veretians (dislikes them strongly? considers them militarily inferior? also, morally dubious?) and I refuse to believe after KR he was suddenly okay with slavery being abolished, became best pals with Laurent, and never had a shitty thing to say about Vere again.

Not only does Nikandros have all this prejudice against Veretians (which we can say he sort of overlooked that one time he was plotting with Laurent), but he's also the only person in the trilogy besides Jord that tells Damen things exactly how they are. I think Nikandros' concerns are very, very valid. You can't just build a cute palace on the border, get married without heirs, and unite two countries that have hated each other for many years. . . and not expect any sort of retaliation, uprising, mutiny, etc. It's simply stupid. But then, Pacat writes that that's exactly what happened. So. . . I don't even know where I was going with this.

Also, Nikandros probably doesn't give a fuck about helping Laurent get his kingdom back. Nikandros wants Kastor's head on a spike and for things to go back to how they were, so he can go back to Delpha and eat olives with bread while a hot slave fans him.

Damen only respecting jocks + the thoughts he has on pets and people, in general, are the two reasons why he's a good character when he's depicted as flawed. He has flaws. He judges people harshly and wrongly. He makes assumptions. He lies to himself. Giving him flaws isn't making him OOC. In canon, Damen is deeply flawed, just like Laurent is. I don't know when Lamen became the symbol for all that is good and pure, when really they're both. . . fucked up. Every couple in Captive Prince is fucked up. Jord and Aimeric? Jord is one creepy fuck. Aimeric is basically raping himself (at least in the very beginning, we can debate the rest). Anyone and Erasmus? Fucked. Up. Like, every version of Erasmus with someone ends horribly. Erasmus and Torveld are gross (objectively, because Erasmus is a SLAVE even though Pacat really tried to say 'Torveld is not like the rest of the slave owners, he's different'). Erasmus and Damen are gross because again, power imbalance, also Erasmus' feelings towards Prince Damianos are worthy of a good old therapy session. Erasmus and Kallias? I have thoughts but this is way too long. Erasmus and Govart? Rapey rape. I think the least fucked up couple is Berencel, BUT it can be argued that they're not part of the trilogy. We only meet Ancel in the short stories, so I don't know. Plenty of people haven't read Pet.

My final thoughts on this are that had Laurent been ugly as fuck, it would have taken Damen 400k words to fall in love with him. And if he was ugly AND not blonde. . . 650k.

#i shall................shut the fuck up already #anon #this is partially satire #partially true #i......................... wish i had enough braincells to host a capri event where we all have to like submit diverse prompts as in #diverse body types #diverse sexualities #trans characters #stuff like that #but i have been recently informed that that is homophobic LMISGJKBDSGJKBDJKNJKkjjdfjgjg sorry #will delete this later #nikandros

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ackerfics · 3 years

Text

all there's left to do is run — mikasa ackerman.

— mikasa ackerman x female reader (historical setting)

— warnings: none

— summary: love story but it’s gay, basically ;> (bc ever since i heard taylor’s re-recording of love story, i could not get this idea off my brain)

— word count: 4.2k

> we were both young when i first saw you

The night was sparkling with extravagance and for such a girl like you, the chandeliers all seemed like those stars you read from astronomy books late at night, all burning and showering brightly that you had to look away. Of course, you continued looking up at the lights until your head got dizzy from tilting your head too high. You can faintly hear your mother scold you for doing something so unbecoming for a lady yet you continued adoring the stars in the ceiling of the castle your family owned, decorated to celebrate your tenth birthday.

Your parents deemed it necessary to force you to wrap yourself in the most voluptuous gown you had ever seen in your life. As the daughter of the only Marquess in your kingdom, you were always expected to be tamed your whole life — dancing lessons that sprained your foot because of a couple of twirls in your ballroom, etiquette that became the reason for adults to scream at you to be better, tea parties that suffocated you with varying reasons, and all those dreaming in your head every time all of these happened. Being the daughter of the third most powerful person in your kingdom meant that these lessons will decide if you will be a good wife. And now that you are another year closer to being a lady of marriage age (being twelve since it was your birthday), it meant these lessons will double the load and will most likely take away your time.

A fact that you always disdained.

You were meant to be so much more. You always envisioned a life in the countryside, if the Fates were kind enough when they were trying to place you in society. You wanted extravagance but never this.

So you sneaked out of the party thrown for you, giggles flittering in the moonlit night and feet bringing you to the rose garden your mother liked to tend to. The flowers in the garden were one of the rarest to be seen in your kingdom, most of them on the verge of extinction, and the more you admired them, the more they shone before you. Dewdrops were forming in almost every petal inside the garden, the rain a few hours ago the culprit in making this part of the estate calmer than it already was. Swaying to the beat that can still be heard from the double doors, you took a single kadupul flower and placed it behind your ear. You were finally free to twirl however you want and you did just that, laughs searing the night as the moment turned into a memory that could never be forgotten. The grass felt cool under you as you draped yourself on the slightly wet terrain, staring into the dome of constellations you wholeheartedly admired.

The stars seem brighter than they usually are tonight.

“Hello, are you alright over there?”

Just like that, your peaceful night was ruined by a tentative voice coming from one of the bushes. You were told to never stray from your parents and ladies-in-waiting whenever you go to the stores, above all — to never talk to strangers no matter how young they are. Children you don’t know are much peskier to shoo away than those meddlers we encounter on our shopping trips, was what your mother grumbled one time. The voice meekly asking for your condition belonged to a girl around your age. Sure enough, a girl came from the shadows, hands clinging on the red scarf wrapped around her neck.

The girl in front of you looked star-struck. She was staring at you as if you held the universe in your small, dainty hands. The young mistress of the Palace of Flowers was a familiar face in all of the servants, seeing as you were a very adventurous child growing up, always dashing through the halls and paying the servants a much-needed visit. During these visits was the first time the dark-haired girl saw you. Though you were dressed in a more casual dress than the spell-binding gown you wore for the night, the girl thought you were the most beautiful person she ever saw. Her breath hitched when she realized you were waiting for her to speak up. Instead, she nearly hid her face in her scarf and dipped her form in a less graceful bow.

“Y-Young Mistress.”

“You can sit with me if you like,” you whispered to her as if there was someone in the vicinity eavesdropping. Your hands were cupped around your mouth so that the girl could hear what you were saying. “I’m whispering because the night is too peaceful to be interrupted.”

“Oh.” The dark-haired girl became flustered in a second and immediately plopped herself beside you, hands on her lap as she looked at anywhere but you. The children serving the family of the Marquess were told to never address the noble family informally. After a few minutes of silence, she cleared her throat to catch your attention, uttering the words that you heard throughout the night. “H-Happy b-birthday, young mistress.”

“Thank you.” The smile you gave her was brighter than the flower you carried in your hair.

The girl was wringing her fingers to calm down the beating of her heart. “I briefly saw you dancing in the ballroom while I was serving the deserts.” She looked at you straight in the eye with a glint of shyness. “You dance so well.”

You giggled, facing the girl with an eager expression. “What’s your name?”

“Mi-Mikasa,” the dark-haired girl answered with wide eyes.

Leaning back, you took out the flower you placed tucking your stray hairs, and tucked it behind Mikasa’s ear. You stood up with a huff, offering a hand to the gray-eyed girl. You slightly bowed as if you were the boy you were dancing with earlier. Mikasa was watching you with eyes full of wonder, her face flushed at seeing the young mistress of the palace bowing in front of her.

“Can I be your dance partner for the night, Lady Mikasa?”

It seemed like the entire garden was meant to be the ballroom for you two when Mikasa finally placed her hand on yours.

“It would be an honor, young mistress.”

> we keep quiet, 'cause we're dead if they knew

“Did you sneak out from your lessons again?”

Three years since your first meeting with Mikasa and she was still the same — tolerating your behavior of throwing away your responsibilities of being the young mistress to enjoy her company. For three years, nobody knew where you disappear off from except for the dark-haired girl’s friends in the village down the hill who work under the head maid of the estate. Your rendezvous with the dark-haired girl always included random things that you came up with but mostly, it was you bringing books and activities you wanted to share with her and Mikasa letting you taste her cooking. At this point, the garden wasn’t enough for the two of you. This made Mikasa open up to you about her safe space, a small meadow down by the lake of your family’s estate. It was closer to where the dark-haired girl was residing and she wasn’t wrong when she said you would love it.

You sat down beside her on the picnic blanket with a huff. “Tell me about it. It was another round of etiquette that I had to master. It sounds like another skill I had to unlock.” The tantalizing smell of buttered bread wafted from the basket laid in front of you two perking you up from your sulking. “You baked bread?”

Mikasa nodded with a small smile, eyes soft as she watched you squeal in happiness. Every day, you grew more beautiful than the first day she saw you five years ago in the kitchens trying to help Missus Springer bake the afternoon treats.

“I tried learning your favorite bread earlier,” Mikasa told you, reaching out a hand to gently brush away the sugar from the corner of your lips. “I hope this was to your liking.”

“Have I ever told you that your cooking is the absolute best, Mikasa?” you gushed with eyes filled with stars dedicated to the girl sitting beside you, leaning forward until inches separated you from the girl’s shocked visage.

The dark-haired girl turned red in the face at the proximity. “About a thousand times now probably.”

You smiled brightly at the information. “And I’ll still repeat it to you until you get tired of it.”

“I will never get tired of it. I will never get tired of you.”

Now, both of you donned an endearing shade of cerise on your cheeks the moment Mikasa finished saying those words. It was a first for the gray-eyed beauty to say such things, you were always the one initiating the physical contact and compliments. However, there was something underlying in Mikasa’s words that reminded you of that night you asked her to dance. You prayed to any deity that she wouldn’t hear how loud your heart was beating. You weren’t children anymore and you were starting to see the tranquil girl basked in another light — the words she uttered were just the catalyst in doing so. Your mother will be out for blood for this. It completely flew out of your head that the distance between you two gradually diminishes as Mikasa also started to lean forward, head tilted and eyes cast to your parted lips.

“Hey,” she uttered your name so softly that it was making your face warmer than it already is, “have I ever told you that you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen?”

Always so blunt that it took your breath away.

“If not, I’ll be saying those words until you get tired of it.”

“Mikasa,” you whispered against the softness of her lips.

You faintly registered the hand that nestled on the back of your neck, bringing you closer to her while burrowing her fingers in the unbound locks of your hair. The scent of first love became apparent as the wind breezed through you the moment Mikasa’s lips found their way against yours in a tryst of forbidden storylines fit for a melodrama. A hopeful melancholy was the words to describe the scenario as you placed your hands gently on Mikasa’s cheeks, reciprocating the kiss she shyly yet determinedly gave you, the colors of a first kiss painting the meadow into a memory that will make you two immortal in each other’s minds.

There were no overbearing mothers, no nosy friends, no responsibilities — it was just you and Mikasa embracing, with the flowers as the witnesses of the start of your story.

> take me somewhere we can be alone

You shook your head in disbelief, lips curled in disgust and hands clenching on the skirts of your dress. “You can’t be serious?”

“You must understand that you are of age now. A husband is everything in a woman’s life, how can you say something so outrageous like not accepting Duke Montague’s proposal for marriage?” Your mother all but screamed her frustrations. Every single lesson of proper etiquette and manners, honing you into a lady worth your status, all came down to this moment. Both you and your mother were seeing red for different reasons after the horrid letter was presented by your estate’s messenger, Connie. Your mother growled your name, “Have you lost your mind?! What possessed you if you were planning on denying this opportunity? Not only does this benefit the family but you as well. You’re going to be a duchess, for heaven’s sake, that position begets luxury!”

“Your mother is right,” your father, the Marquess, tried to soothe the growing tension inside the parlor, though his words sent a blow to your cowering resolve. “You are the heiress of the House and we will do everything in our power to make sure you stay afloat the societal hierarchy. By doing that, we will make sure you’re going to marry the Duke.”

“But—“

“We won’t take no for an answer.” Your father looked at you straight in the eye, hands gripping the armrest of the chair, before saying, “You need to bear a son for our bloodline to continue.”

You abruptly stood up, your mind too fogged to conjure a proper response. Instead of taking out your anger on your parents (which will most likely lead to them taking away your only chance of seeing Mikasa), you made your way out of the parlor. Your mother’s calls resonating through the large palace as your heels clicked on the polished hallways. Upon passing by a large mirror on your way to the gardens, the sight of you in one of your day gowns sent bile rushing through your throat. You looked anything like those trophy wives the men adored to parade. Gritting your teeth, you shook your head and continued to your destination.

It was your regular rendezvous with Mikasa. The kiss that happened that day only drew you two closer rather than creating a wedge between your budding relationship. Oh, how you wish you can turn back time and let it loop only at that memory. A dull ache started to form in your chest at the intensity of the news you were about to tell your secret lover. With shaking hands, the meadow that calmed you the years past became foreboding as each step now led you beside a sitting Mikasa.

“I heard.”

Mikasa’s words made you stop. She turned to you, giving you a view of her conflicted face. Three years have passed since you shared your first kiss with each other. Three years of hiding in the tall flowers of the meadow and behind curtains. Three years and Mikasa looked even more beautiful than ever.

“Mikasa,” you weakly pleaded.

“You were always destined for something great,” the dark-haired girl started, her emotions now seeping through the carefully-crafted mask she created while growing up. She fumbled with her words as she threw her hands in the air, visibly frustrated at everything (at herself, at the Marquess and Marchioness, at every noble existing in your kingdom — but never at you). “You’re this heiress people were expecting tremendous things from and I’m just me. You’re so beautiful that it pains me to see you being fawned at during balls. You’re so talented that I’m afraid it will be put to waste by being with me. You’re so amazing to me.”

You pleaded for her to stop, sitting down beside her with your skirts fanning out around you, but Mikasa only continued, “Yet here I am — someone who doesn’t even have a family, who was only adopted by one of the maids in the castle, who recently found out I had an uncle that doesn’t want anything to do with me.” The way she uttered your name was nothing like the caresses you were so fond of. Mikasa placed both of her hands over your cheeks, now wet with tears that you didn’t even notice. “I’m nobody compared to you and that’s the truth.”

She tenderly placed her forehead against yours as your breath hitched from quietly sobbing.

“I’ll find a way,” you pleaded again.

Mikasa shook her head desperately, trying to anchor you to reality. “No. You have to accept this proposal from the Duke.”

“But it’s you who I fell deeply for, not him!”

“You will grow to love him, flower, your heart is so big and kind that it would be impossible—“

“That’s preposterous!” You threw your arms around her neck, her hands finding their way around your corseted waist. “I’ll find a way to get out of this mess. We’ll go far away and live a comfortable life in a cabin or a cottage. I want it beside a lake, Mikasa. I want to run away with you and make this dream a reality because I can’t imagine a life without you in it!”

Mikasa could only tighten her hold around your shaking form, whispering sweet nothings in your ear. Under the afternoon sun, you once again sealed your lips with hers, promises burning along with the feelings you have for each other.

> and my daddy said, "stay away,” but you were everything to me

Mikasa was called to the study of the Marquess. Various scenarios passed through the dark-haired girl, her hand poised on twisting the doorknob. She took a deep breath, never noticing how the maid beside her (most likely the chambermaid of the Marchioness) appeared to have a sinister smile on her face. The churning in Mikasa’s stomach intensified as she opened the double doors and let herself in the grand room. The chamber was the size of their entire house and it took Mikasa a full second to reign herself and not linger her eyes on your huge portrait (you looked regal — a competitor against the Queen’s beauty). Straightening her posture, Mikasa schooled her features into that mask she perfected and faced your father with a stony countenance.

The Marquess didn’t pay attention to the presence of one of his staff. The tea preoccupied with his thoughts, perfectly brewed to his liking and figuring that he would thank one of the kitchen staff for preparing the beverage on such a dreaded day. The older man wiped his mouth with a handkerchief before regarding Mikasa.

“Miss Ackerman.”

“Marquess, sir.”

Your father hummed contemplatively. “Have you heard of the proposal of Duke Montague, Miss Ackerman?”

Mikasa’s eyebrows furrowed at your father’s words. It was phrased like a casual question but the way that he spoke reminded her that she was only a servant living within his estate. It reminded her of the rift between you two and her breath shuddered. Surely, the Marquess had never ventured to the meadows and discovered their secret, right? That would mean you were also in grave trouble and it was all Mikasa’s fault. Still, the dark-haired girl nodded at your father’s question.

“Very well.”

He leaned back on his chair, satisfied at the pliable nature of the girl standing in front of him. He heard many stories of the girl’s family — slaughtered by bandits at the dead of the night when the child was only nine years old (her parents were also working under him), wherein she was then adopted by one of the maids’ family, and now decided to work as one of the kitchen staff at a young age. It was something he didn’t want to happen to his daughter. He also didn’t want his daughter mingling with the help, much less sharing kisses in the meadow just a short walk from the main palace’s gardens. The maid who led Mikasa to his study was the one who witnessed such atrocity. It was the day when they told you that you were bound to be married. It looked like you sought comfort from someone, and the Marquess didn’t expect that someone to be a female help.

“You understand that I would have to tell you to stop meeting with my daughter by the meadows.”

The maid at the door was now smiling like Wonderland’s Cheshire Cat.

Mikasa felt a cold wave rush through every part of her body, her gaze now caught in a daze on the floor.

“If you’re not going to do that, you might as well say goodbye to living in my land, Miss Ackerman. My daughter has an entire future waiting for her and I can’t afford to let it jeopardize right in front of my eyes by some measly servant girl.” The Marquess had the nerve to look sympathetic yet his eyes told a different story by being cruel. “I heard that you found out about a long-lost relative in the countryside so,” the older man paused, “which will it be, Miss Ackerman?”

Mikasa was left with no choice.

> they're tryna tell me how to feel, this love is difficult, but it's real

The slap resounded through the four walls of your chamber.

At the exact time Mikasa was confronted with your father, you were reprimanded by your mother after the maid made use of the scene she witnessed in the meadows after following you out. It was a good thing that the said maid wasn’t inside your room at the moment. You would have thrown the vase on your bedside table at her instead of your mother right now, everything was mentally envisioned of course. You didn’t have the strength to retaliate with your mother, much less lift your gaze to level your eyes with the older woman’s.

“You are an abomination! What were you thinking?! You have been keeping this for how many years? You are a disgrace to the family! You are a lady, for heaven’s sake, and you go brandishing your skirt to another woman. This is a scandal fit for the century! Oh, my, my stress levels.” Your mother then draped herself on the couch at the foot of your bed, leaving you to stand in front of her with your head down. “Stop what you’re feeling for that girl this instant. I don’t want this to travel around the kingdom, unleashing gossip in its wake. A girl! What blasphemy. If only you can show that to Duke Montague as well when you two marry. Maybe I have raised you wrong, your lessons might be lacking in some sense.”

“Mother.” Similar-colored eyes stared at each other, making the room feel smaller. “I will do no such thing. I will never marry a man I know I won’t come to love. I won’t listen to you prattle about hierarchies and social standing. I won’t stop loving Mikasa if that is the last thing I’ll do. I’m so sick of you labeling me as a disgrace if I so ever made a little mistake in those idiotic lessons you forced me to do. I’m so tired of hearing you continuously proclaiming to everyone that I am willing to open my legs to a higher-ranking noble to save my reputation. To hell with that! Call me an abomination for loving someone I truly care about, I don’t care. Mikasa means the world to me and she’s the only person I could ever be real with. Shun me if that’s the only solution but I won’t stop loving the only person who has ever made me feel loved and special in my entire life.”

The silence was deafening and your heaves of breath rang loud in your chambers. Your mother’s posture now straightened, her eyes cold as she dragged her stare over your form. “You’re not to go out of this room until Duke Montague comes to this palace for your hand in marriage. You have no say in this matter.”

That night, you were ready to throw everything you could hold inside your room but a constant tap on your windows made your breath stop. Glancing at the locked doors of your room, you made your way to the doors leading to the balcony. Again, they were locked so you took the vase and slammed it on the doorknob, the sound rattling through your room and into the hallways. You hastily opened the doors and went out to lean over the balcony.

Mikasa’s eyes brightened at the sight of you. She was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt tucked inside a pair of trousers and a dark cloak. Excitement bubbled inside your chest at the prospect of running away with her in the dead of the night.

“Jump,” Mikasa whispered. “I’ll catch you.”

Looking back at the doors of your chambers, you didn’t think twice about slinging your leg over the balcony. You took a deep breath and prayed that Mikasa will catch you safely in her arms. The cold gush of the night breeze sent you shivering as you jumped down the balcony, only to hear the grunt from your lover with her arms securing you to her body. Gray eyes glinted against the moonlight and your mind was muddled with thoughts about her that the only thing you could say was, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Mikasa softly replied before kissing you on the lips. “Come on, Eren already took a horse from the stables.”

“Where are we going?” you asked, letting yourself be carried by Mikasa as she tried not to make a loud noise while walking in the direction of the stables.

The dark-haired girl grinned. “To a place where we can love freely of course.”

> it's a love story, baby, just say, "yes" (we were both young when i first saw you)

“Mikasa, let me tell you a secret that you’re probably tired of.”

A chuckle came from your lover’s lips. “Tell me.”

“I always thought you were beautiful since the first time I saw you.”

“I’ll trade a real secret of mine for that.” She kissed you, basking underneath the sun’s rays. “I have always loved you since I saw you help Missus Springer with the afternoon treats when we were ten.”

“You were there?”

“Yes and I’m so happy I was there.”

“Mikasa, I’m so happy it’s you I fell in love with.”

“I love you more than the stars you always adored.”

#mikasa ackerman x reader #mikasa ackerman x you #mikasa ackerman #attack on titan x reader #attack on titan imagines #attack on titan #rory writes #historical au

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faebriel · 3 years

Note

ok ok I'm insane and couldn't pick one so have two (no need to answer both if you don't want to)

“You talk to him.” Not kindly, but he does.

“I’m used to him,” he shoots back. “I’m the only person who is.”

That makes Niki feel something, some uncomfortable tug in her chest. She mentally kicks herself. It’s not jealousy, she reminds herself, because despite the near-cliff jumping and the long nights without food and the nuclear fallout that has punctuated her last few months, being jealous of Tommy would be the least reasonable thing she’s allowed herself to be, maybe ever.

“You don’t believe me,” Tommy says flatly. “You never - eugh.” He cuts himself off with another ragged sigh, running a hand down his face. “Look, Niki, it’s - we were all together in Pogtopia, right? But I was there first. With him. And you didn’t see the start of it, it was horrible, and I’m glad no one else saw the beginning of it either but it was still just so shit and he kept saying all these terrible things about Tubbo and Fundy and you and,” he takes a shaky breath, “then, when I died, I saw him.”

Her breath catches in her throat.

Well, the voice in the back of her head whistles. If you were still wondering about all this afterlife bullshit, if you want to know where you’re going after your third life, here you go.

and

“You didn’t even - this isn’t about L’Manberg, Wilbur!” Niki shouts.

And then he stops, breathing hard, and he looks at Niki the same way he does whenever her voice is being drowned out in a crowd - the way he does when he wants to hear her, when he wants to know what she has to say.

“What else is there?” he asks.

Niki freezes. Stock still, unable to move, unable to breathe, ice threading its way through her gut, her chest, her shoulders, chilled down to the bone. With slow-dawning horror, she can feel hot tears welling up behind her eyes, sitting in her throat, threatening to spill over into a sob. She swallows - to keep her cool, to stay calm, to keep it together -

And then, something in her chest just snaps.

“You said you’d come back for me!” she cries, and her voice hitches on the lump of tears at the back of her throat and god, she sounds absolutely pathetic. Wilbur’s face softens immediately, which somehow just makes her feel even worse. “In Manberg. When Schlatt put me in prison, and you and Tommy were in Pogtopia, you said you’d break me out when it was safe. I waited for weeks , Wilbur. It was… it was horrible.”

“Niki…” a kaleidoscope of emotions flicker across his face, and he seems unsure which to settle on. “We got you out though, right? After the festival.”

“You looked for the button first,” she says quietly, and he stills.

Her sniffling sounds embarrassingly loud against the quiet background of night.

thank you sm!!! i’m gonna put these under the cut because they got a little long sorry (tw for discussion of suicidal ideation)

to preface: tommy is kind of the accidental but incredibly necessary invisible support beam for niki and wilbur’s making amends in bitter. niki cannot accept wilbur’s actions and apology without first acknowledging her own actions and making steps towards an apology, because otherwise it kind of falls flat? in that ending scene niki finally gets what wilbur is feeling and wilbur finally gets that someone else knows how he feels (it’s not perfect 100% yet, but…. that’ll get explored later)

onto the actual snippet! “tommy talks to wilbur - not kindly, but he does” was very important to me! tommy has stuck by wilbur ever since pogtopia, but the tragedy is that he is not equipped to deal with wilbur’s issues, and it shows. wilbur’s first stream after revival depicts this really clearly, where tommy tails wilbur around the whole time but insults him, is still stuck on calling him the villain, physically fights him at some point, etc. on one hand this isn’t healthy but on the other hand tommy is actually around, which is more than can be said for basically any other ally wilbur has had on the dsmp, maybe excluding his dad, who literally killed him lmfao.

this whole issue is exacerbated by the fact that tommy believes that he is the only person who properly understands wilbur, the only person who gets what happened to him, and feels like wilbur is generally his burden to bear. he failed to stop wilbur from both 1. hurting other people and 2. killing himself after the pogtopia-manberg war - and he doesn’t trust wilbur not to do either of those things again, so he’s stuck hovering around wilbur while wilbur is inadvertently setting off his own trauma and feeling responsible for any way he might fuck up and hating that but not wanting to leave. tommy’s memory isn’t perfect and he isn’t a perfect narrator, what he remembers from pogtopia the most were the scariest parts and that’s understandable but it means he’s holding wilbur to the worst expectations of behaviour (and he does so very vocally). the others showed up later, sure, but in tommy’s eyes he’s the only one who saw wilbur’s descent, and by the time they showed up wilbur had already changed irreversably. tommy tries to rationalise this by splitting the ‘different wilburs’ apart from each other in his head (he does this in canon too - there’s one quote from like late 2020 where he says he and tubbo need to keep on going for who wilbur used to be, not who he became, even though they’re,, the same person), and no one challenges that perspective, so he just keeps doing it even though it’s not healthy for him or wilbur.

and then limbo happened and, oh geez, THAT didn’t help jhfaskjjfsa

tommy is on a bit of a knife edge with niki in this fic. niki’s in this state of “ok, he’s annoying whatever, i’m moving on”, but all tommy knows is that she tried to kill him that one time, disappeared off the face of the map, joined a book club with two people who definitely do not like him, and now is just acting weirdly mellow and polite. she is not someone he wants near wilbur bc what the fuck is she gonna do? what is he gonna do? who knows. he’s frustrated that niki doesn’t seem to acknowledge how he’s feeling (especially bc once upon a time she would have been someone he trusted to acknowledge them - they were friends, they fought together) and he’s taking a big step by telling someone about his concerns here, especially bc tommy doesn’t really like talking about them at all. he wouldn’t be saying absolutely anything to niki if he didn’t truly believe she should stay away from wilbur, even if he’s wrong about him. (sometimes i think i write tommy as a little too emotionally mature here but it all goes out the window when wilbur’s brought up. idk if that balances it out)

ok onto niki: this is the first she has actually heard of limbo! she’s only just come around to the fact that resurrection is possible at all. death is kind of a touchy subject for niki both in general and re: wilbur in the fic - she’s coming off of a period in her life where suicidal ideation was, uh, a big thing (whether you want to read that into canon or not is subjective, that’s just the angle i went with in this fic). the sudden existence of a life after death, miserable as it is - and whether she really believes in such a place, when it only exists in tommy and wilbur’s words - that is a lot of information for her to absorb all at once. death is a weird connection point for tommy and niki here, coming right off of the fact that they’ve just acknowledged each other having those problems - tommy, out of, yknow, altruism, would very much like to keep niki out of that place, and niki is quietly reckoning with the fact that that is where she would have sent him. the concept of limbo from the perspective of a character with no experience of it, even secondhand, is so interesting to me like what kind of eldritch location would you feel like you’re living in asghjkl

(also - i gotta be honest the jealousy angle here but mostly when she’s talking later about dream not deserving wilbur’s companionship kinda came out after this post came across my dash while writing. whoops /j)

fun fact, this is the very first snippet of bitter that i ever wrote! all the way back in may!! this is like the moment of the fic - it's where the miscommunication that niki and wilbur have been having is shattered entirely - and so sticking the landing was uhhh kinda important to me lol.

wilbur's entire being in this fic is basically consumed by L'Manberg - he equates his self worth to it entirely. in his eyes, everyone (rightfully) hates him because of what he did to L'Manberg, because L'Manberg was corrupted and he himself with it, etc. niki tries to tell herself this, and while it definitely does form part of her issues with him, it was the betrayal that causes her this much pain - that he seemingly brushed her and their friendship off entirely when he supposedly left her for dead in manberg. because here is what we as the audience know: wilbur couldn’t leave niki in trouble when he heard her life was in danger, even when he was trying to find the button (pretty much the only thing he sees himself as having left at this point) and so he returned. here is what it looks like from niki’s perspective: wilbur told her to wait in manberg until it was safe to come to pogtopia, laid the place with TNT, went to blow up the place, and only returned when he couldn’t find the detonator (and then the first thing she saw him do in pogtopia was encourage the pit behaviour but that’s not what we’re talking about asdfgh). that is massive miscommunication and it’s been brewing between them for months - to make a quirky little reference to the title, niki has been carrying that anger with her so long it's gone bitter. it was never just about l’manberg with niki - not that anger, not her and wilbur’s friendship (hence the little flashback earlier in the fic, bc niki’s relationship to anarchism and statehood or statelessness juxtaposed with her friendships with wilbur and eret - she loves l’manberg bc she loves wilbur, but she loves eret too and those national ties don’t undermine that - is Real Interesting to me) - so when wilbur asks what else there could possibly be (because in his mind, what else could she have bothered staying around for?), she just fucking breaks.

“Niki freezes. Stock still, unable to move, unable to breathe, ice threading its way through her gut...with slow-dawning horror, she can feel hot tears welling up behind her eyes” - prose discussion time! heat and cold are two big throughlines in this fic - particularly for niki, cold is what she is. admittedly when i started with it i mostly wanted to subvert hot = angry and cold = dead but i kinda ended up enjoying this take on it for what it is instead of just as a subversion (also i like the idea of revived people running hot, their bodies r working hard to keep em going). she’s holding onto her feelings and refusing to deal with them, she’s frozen over. descriptions of cold are key to niki’s mental state throughout the fic - cold weight on her chest, feelings of frostbite when she and wilbur hug the first time, ice cold water during the dinner scene, waking up in the cold flat, etc. this was an attempt at describing a more visceral feeling of like, when you’re really mad and you can just feel the adrenaline running through your veins. always felt more cold than hot to me. when she starts to cry, the facade she’s been putting on is finally thawing out and cracking the ice she’s buried her feelings under. (also gives an excuse to write warm comforting hugs towards the end /hj). it’s a loss, it’s catharsis, it’s a whole mess.

and ofc this is all news to wilbur and he feels terrible, because as unintentional as it was, he really really hurt her - because the destruction of l’manberg fucking sucked but above all else wilbur hurt the people he loved because they loved him so much and not in spite of it, because they cared about him so deeply and his death was a massive blow to them. this hasn’t even dawned on him, because how could it? he respects deeply niki (lowkey respects her opinion more than his own at this point) so he has to listen, because it’s niki (“and he looks at Niki the same way he does whenever her voice is being drowned out in a crowd - the way he does when he wants to hear her, when he wants to know what she has to say” - because he does), and what she says fucking floors him. in his eyes, he failed her by putting her in danger and then by destroying her home - the idea that she valued him and their friendship so much flies entirely over his head until this moment, and he is forced to re-evaluate the mindset that has motivated him since… basically since pogtopia! the way i write wilbur is like… yes, he’s one of niki’s closest friends and he’s more aware of her insecurities and issues than most (which is why he does always take the time to listen to her, etc) but he does over-idealise her a bit. tbf, i think he does to some extent with everyone (calling tubbo strong on the anniversary stream, for example). also the fact that he really wasn’t around for niki’s lowest moments as a character! he still thinks of her the way she was in l’manberg - confident, steadfast, respected - and this moment shatters that for him as he realises exactly what effect he and his death had on her and everyone else, not just by his actions, but because they loved him and cared for him so deeply.

sorry that this got horrifically long!! and thank you so much for sending snippets in <3333

#ALSO SORRY THIS TOOK TWO WEEKS. LMFAO #asks #thespoonisvictory #dvd commentary #< i have successfully coerced a discord server into doing the dvd commentary on a regular basis and it is the BEST thing

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comfyswitcherblanketfort · 4 years

Text

Geralt and the Minotaur

Y’all can thank @bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher for encouraging me to do this, I defs would have just thought about it for a couple months then forgot 😂

Pairing: None for this part

Warning: talk of violence and murder, retelling of Theseus and The Minotaur myth, talk of human sacrifice, if theres more plz let me know!

Summary/Notes: Myth background in case you didn’t go past the PJO books with your mythology obsession like I did. In ancient Greek mythology they believed in ‘joint fatherhood’ so basically the kid would have attributes from both fathers (bc philosophy was the tits back then not necessarily biology) King Aegeus (Vessimir) couldn’t produce an heir with his wife so he went to the Oracle of Delphi and she told him to ‘open his wine sack’ (helpful right?) long story short he bangs a princess and then Athena (patron goddess of Athens) tells the princess to go down to the sea with an offering where she bangs Posiden (co-patron god of Athens) hence Theseus (Geralt) is not only a demigod but a bastard prince. I think this is all the background yall are gonna need if you don’t already know the myth

__________

Geralt knew the story well. For as long as he could remember, his mother would comb his stark white hair before bed and he would ask, “Tell me about my fathers?” She would smile fondly and begin to braid his hair in a pattern much like her own.

“My little hero, your fathers are powerful, fair, righteous men. You have not only the blessing and favor of Poseidon, but the right to the throne of Athens.”

When he was younger he would squirm and protest, “I know mumma, but who were they?”

Vissena would sigh and change the subject until he was older, at which point she began letting the crumbs fall from her words. Crumbs Geralt followed to the truth of his heritage, piecing together stories his grandfather had told him about a sword and sandals pinned beneath a stone.

When he was twelve, his mother told him the truth.

“You are destined to free the city of Athens from a terrible fate. When you can lift the stone and retrieve your father’s sword you may travel to his palace and claim your place as prince…” Her voice came to a strangled end before she coughed and continued “But you mustn't think about that now. You’ve rope to braid and cattle to feed.”

When he finally told her he was ready to try, her eyes welled with tears. She merely nodded, continuing to run the comb through her baby’s hair like she always had. He understood as he grew older why she was so reluctant to let him go. What mother can willingly send her child away in only destiny’s hands, regardless of his exceptional strength?

At 16, he succeeded in his first task, retrieving his father’s things, and set off to Athens. He went by land, wanting to rely on himself, not his grandfather’s wealth and power. He fought Perophes, disarming the practiced warrior with surprising little effort, to complete his second task. Fighting Coercion sent chills down his spine, with the man’s reputation for killing every opponent he faced he was certainly formidable, but he bested him nonetheless. His third task was complete. However, his name only became synonymous with ‘hero’ after slaying the wild boar.

His first kill was at 17, still on the road to Athens. He could have let Procrustes live, could have delivered him to the nearest king for imprisonment, but his gut had twisted at the thought of the consequences of his failure. He tied Procrustes to the same small table he tied all his victims before slicing clean through the giant man’s limbs that hung off the edge. Leaving him to bleed out like he’d done to the skeletons littering the floor. It only seemed fitting, though the memory still made him queasy on nights when he couldn't sleep.

Even upon arrival at his father’s home, there was danger staring back at him in those beautiful amethyst eyes. The prophetess Yennefer would stop at nothing to keep the life of luxury and power she’d gained. She whispered false prophecies in King Vessimir’s ear, convincing him this boy who claimed to be his son was nothing but an imposter. Geralt should have expected such a welcome.

As he lifted a cup of poisoned wine to his lips, Vessimir glimpsed the sword at his side, recognizing it in time to knock the ceramic out of his hand.

The vessel had yet to shatter on the floor before Vessimir had rounded on the violet eyed woman with fury in his eyes like none Geralt had ever seen.

The whole of the dining hall was holding their breath, waiting for the explosion to come.

King Vessimir whispered but one word, “Disappear.”

The woman glared daggers at Geralt as she waved her hand, stepping through a portal into nothing. He stared after her for a long time, having never witnessed manipulated magic up close and if he were honest with himself, he was a bit dazed.

As his father explained and apologized Geralt simply tilted his head in confusion, slowly putting the pieces together in his shock.

“Your sword, it was mine. You must forgive me, I believed a lie. I beg you.”

Geralt nodded, “You have a state to protect.”

Vessimir grasped him by his shoulders, “No, I have to protect you.”

Geralt smiled, endeared by the old king’s sudden saccharine sentiments, “I’m no boy anymore, you shouldn’t worry.”

As the rest of the guests at the banquet began to resume conversation Vessimir guided Geralt to a window overlooking the beautiful city that he would now be calling home, “So I’ve heard. I would have thought your mother would raise you to be more merciful.”

Geralt eyed the ground, “Mercy for one who has killed so many and would kill again isn’t really mercy.” His voice was smaller than he would like, but after all these years of imagining his father, well he hadn’t expected a criticism of his ethics.

“Good.” Vessimir nodded, leaning against the edge of the window, “We can work on your tone, but that’s a good start.”

A tentative smile took over Geralt’s face, “Work on my tone?”

“If you’re going to rule Athens and defeat Crete, you’ll need to be more assertive. But none of that now,” Vessimir waved a hand and a servant brought two more goblets of wine, “Now, I want to get to know my son.”

The following months were filled with lessons, from Vessimir’s top generals in battle strategy and formal combat, from a matronly maid in etiquette and the cultural customs of the port city, and from Vessimir himself in diplomacy. Geralt was thrilled at first, ready to prove himself worthy, but the routine slowly lost its shine. Eskel and Lambert were no doubt excellent fighters and leaders, but there were only so many ways to disarm someone with every weapon in the royal arsenal, and they were running out of challenges for the boy. If that’s what you could call him anymore. With regular meals, unlike during his travels, and the way his trainers pushed him he was starting to look more worthy of his Olympian heritage and place at the throne.

He stood by his father’s side and paid careful attention to all of his meetings, every last one. Even the ones at dawn after a night of drinking with Eskel and Lambert.

He sat on a stool, a step down from the platform where his father’s throne was carved out of stone as he observed the nobles bringing their worries, reports, and complaints to the king from the outskirts of the territory. The large amphitheater was teeming with men ready to share their opinion. Geralt found that rarely did anyone bring something that really needed fixing, just listening was usually enough to soothe their egos. It was all rather mundane now, Geralt could mouth the words his father would say before they filled the air, until the last representative.

"My king, the spring is approaching, will we allow Crete to take our children yet again?”

Geralt’s brows knit together, eyes darting between the man and his father as they spoke.

Vessimir wiped a hand over his face, looking ten years older in an instant, “We don't have a navy that could even begin to challenge Crete’s. We have no choice.”

The gathered crowd erupted in shouts of outrage, only silenced when Vessimir stood, “It is the life of fourteen, or the life of the nation. Which will you surrender?”

There was more yelling, this time between a select few delegates, but Geralt ignored it and leaned to his right, lowering his voice so only Eskel could hear him.

“What does he mean ‘the life of fourteen’?”

Eskel frowned, “He hasn’t told you?”

Geralt glared at him, waiting for an explanation.

“King Minos’ son was killed at the games a good twenty or so years back, so as penance he takes fourteen virgins from us every nine years. Seven men, seven women, and feeds them to his bastard Minotaur.” Eskel glanced over Geralt’s shoulder at the king, a look of worry clear on his face.

“I thought the Minotaur was just a story, a parable of Crete’s barbaric nature.”

Eskel raised an eyebrow, not impressed by Geralt's literary analysis, “It’s no tale. It's as real as the ground under your feet, and it plays with its food.”

Geralt whipped his head back around to his father in time to catch his words, “There is no voting on war because of the brashness of your grandfather Letus, tread lightly. Until we have a reasonable plan of action all we can do is submit!"

Before he knew what his legs were doing Geralt was standing and shouting, "I'll go! Send me father! I'll kill the beast and return!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd but Geralt only cared about his father's reaction and Vessimir was still as stone. For a moment Geralt worried for his heart, then Vessimir gripped his arm and leaned in with a panicked look on his face, "You are my only son, I will not send you to your death." He growled.

Geralt felt a fire rising in his chest, "Your people are forced to send their children unwillingly yet when yours volunteers you're exempt? Does that seem fair to you?"

Vessimir’s grip tightened, nails digging into Geralt's arm, "Doesn't matter. You are the only heir. I can't risk the stability of the government."

Geralt stepped closer, making sure to stand at his full height, "Then you do not believe in me? In the power and blessings of Posiden that courses through me?"

Vessimir snarled but said nothing. Surely not used to being challenged, especially not so publicly, about his devotion to the gods.

Geralt lowered his voice, "I will go. I will free Athens as is my destiny, and I will come back to you unharmed." Geralt gripped his father's arm, and nearly pleaded, "I cannot sit idly by, you know I can't."

Vessimir's eyes softened ever so slightly as he released his grip, "I should have known your mother would raise a stubborn man."

Geralt grinned, "She said I got that from you."

The amphitheater had gone quiet, all eyes on the king and this strange new prince.

"Geralt will go." Vessimir sighed, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. The crowd cheered in earnest this time and Geralt soaked it all in, their hope and elation. Vessimir raised a hand for silence and continued, "Now tell me, scholars and strategists, how will we bring him back alive?"

__________

part 2 here!

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #the witcher greek mythology AU #i deadass forgot about Henners doing Imortals until i was like halfway thru and already attached to this story so oh well #greek mythology AU #geralt as theseus #geralt of rivia fanfic #geralt of rivia fic #the witcher fanfic #the witcher fic #geralt of rivia greeky mythology AU #vessimir #vissena

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parrishh · 3 years

Text

i'm like, 90% sure all of the anons in my inbox right now are actually the same person so, if that's you, i'm just going to answer all of your mister impossible questions in this post since there are a lot of them and this is going to be really very extremely long

"Wait what why is Jordan awake?"/"Is the sweetmetal of declans picture helping jordan stay awake?"

i don't know why she's awake but i don't think it's the painting, because at the end of the book she's outside declan's apartment, not her own. i guess it's possible that she succeeded in making the painting a sweetmetal powerful enough to sustain her even there, but i feel like there's probably a different explanation. i've seen theories that she's inadvertently made herself into a sweetmetal by finally seeing herself as her own person rather than just a copy of hennessy, which is interesting

"And the things about the ley line Idgi? Hennessy wants to stop the power but for what"

i think hennessy thinks shutting down the ley line is the best (or even only) way to get rid of the lace. she hates herself for the lace to the extent that she doesn't even want to live anymore, so of course that's her primary motivation. she feels hopeless so long as the lace has power. she's desperate

"Why did he think adam was in on declans plan? I think the "oh" was more like oh you want to come with bryde of course...."

the "oh" is in response to ronan saying "i'm calling now. i need to see you", before there's even any mention of bryde. adam says "you're here? oh", not "you're here? why are you here?" the fact that he didn't ask why ronan was in town, the fact that he said an "oh" of realization instead, implied that he already knew why ronan was in town. and he could have only known by speaking to declan. i think it was a reasonable conclusion on ronan's part

"Ronan are you being serious????? Why should Adam/Declan drop everything and come fight with you - they didnt even know where you are, they don't know the plan. Then you accuse them of that Moderators plan without questioning them. And I mean, yes, Ronan is easily manipulated and he thinks everyone is against them and Bryde is the only one who cares but come on!!!!!!! Seriously, doesn't he get that he might be in the wrong????"

i mean, i think you hit the nail on the head when you said "he thinks everyone is against them." for a long time, he's been struggling with feeling alone, like he's a burden, like the people he loves don't really understand him. he's never had a healthy relationship with another dreamer, so it makes sense that he feels so isolated from literally everyone he cares about. and now he just found out two of the most important people in his life went behind his back to conspire against him (even if he doesn't have confirmation about adam, declan does admit to it over the phone) which is just...salt on a wound he's had since he was a kid. i'm not saying he's in the right, but i do understand why his immediate reaction was what it was. when you've been hurt like that, it takes some time before you can like, calm down and reconsider your own role in the situation

"Ronan basically dreamt Bryde in his worst dream right? Why does he still trust him"

i mean, i don't know how much we can believe what bryde says, but when he reveals himself as being ronan's dream he basically says that everything that he (bryde) wants, ronan already subconsciously wanted before he even dreamt him. that bryde wants it because ronan wanted it. to admit that bryde is in the wrong, ronan would have to admit he, himself, is in the wrong, too, and that's not easy. especially because a lot of his motivation is saving matthew and not wanting to live with the weight of matthew's life on his conscious anymore. especially because he's felt alone for so long, and now he just found out the first dreamer to truly make him feel less alone is his own creation. he's hurting. a lot. he will admit to being wrong in the third book, i think, but like i mentioned above, that kind of growth takes some time

"I think Ronan actually doubts Brydes plan too bc he thinks stuff like people built the dam, there are living things here, it cost a fortune..... and i personally never see a purpose in what they're doing bc bryde never tells them and ronan obviously doesn't know or he thinks he doesnt. I think he doesnt and he just trudts bryde blindly for now and his insecurities aka bryde take over and rule over ronan. Thoughts?"

i mean, i think ronan sees the purpose. here are his thoughts, directly quoted from chapter 17 when bryde is talking about restoring the ley lines:

"A world where Matthew could just live. A world where Ronan could just dream. A world where every dream was clear and crisp and easy to navigate, so there were never accidents or nightmares. He wanted it."

he wants, as i mentioned above, for matthew's life to not be reliant on his own (which i understand. that's a really heavy knowledge to live with.) he also just wants to be able to exist wherever he wants and with whomever he wants (thinking, for example, about how he wasn't able to get an apartment in boston in cdth), without constantly worrying that the nightwash is going to kill him. poor guy just wants a normal life

"Also did we ever actually see bryde get something out of a dream? Most work did Ronan"

this is interesting. now that you mention it, i don't think we do. supposedly he dreams the orbs, but i can't recall ever seeing that happen? i could be wrong, though

"And why is the nightwash mostly ronans problem? I mean hennessy and rhionna (?) had it very little and who knows if the other dreamers have it"

i think ronan is a much, much more powerful dreamer than any of the others. there's something...More about him. something special about being the greywaren. i don't know what it is, specifically, but i anticipate that's something we'll find out in the final book, and i expect it'll explain why the nightwash affects him more than it does the others

"Who the hell dreamt the mods"

i don't know! i think the most popular theory right now is that it was nathan farooq-lane. i'm not sure how that works, though, since they killed nathan and bryde took the sweetmetal off of lock pretty early in the book (unless nathan isn't actually dead, somehow) (or bryde is nathan, which is another popular theory). another theory is that it was ronan. like, he was feeling so alone and misunderstood that he accidentally dreamt his own persecutors? or it's possible that they were all just dreamt by random dreamers and that's why they felt strongly enough about the "cause" to become moderators, but that's kind of boring

"And why are R B and H so dangerous? Bc of what they're doing?"

yeah, and, i mean, according to liliana's visions, they have the power to end the world

"Can I point out that Idk what everyone is talking about, I dont get pynch possible breakup vibes at all from this book"/"Am I trippin or did I read another book? Because some fellas say there's no pynch"

i think when people say there's no pynch, they just mean that there's very minimal pynch interaction, specifically. because, yeah, even though they're both constantly thinking about each other, it is true that we only get one moment of them actually interacting (the phone call), and it's obviously not a positive interaction

i don't think anyone actually thinks they'll break up. at least, i haven't seen anyone say that and i've been feverishly reading everything under the mister impossible tag, so

"What struck me as really odd was that Adam bought this stupid 14$ waffle which he would have never done a few months back and I dont think he would do it now? 14$ is a lot of money esp for a waffle so why spend it on something as useless as this? And why do the others need Adams money? Are they all on scholarships? Was it just bc he had cash and the others didnt? And why is he treating them like his followers and they treat him as their guardian or whatever like he clearly needs to be honest with them"

okay, first off, i will say, as someone who grew up poor and, like adam, absolutely busted my ass in high school to get a good scholarship so i could go to college, the relief of actually getting that scholarship is...powerful. my financial anxiety definitely didn't disappear once that happened, but there was, at least in my experience, this feeling of "i made it, it's going to be okay now" that made it a little easier to spend money. i don't think it's that unrealistic that he, now having the security of a harvard education, would spend fourteen dollars on something he doesn't need every once in a while. it would be completely out of character for henrietta adam, yes, but it's a bit different now. plus, it wouldn't suit his faux Harvard Adam persona to refuse the waffle because of how much it costs

i think his friends are all a lot more well-off than he is. it was just that they didn't have any cash on them and the waffle truck didn't take card (also realistic, i never have cash on me so i always have to ask someone to spot me when a place turns out to be cash-only)

i think (a) they all look up to him because he has this really calm, cool and collected persona. more importantly, we can assume that they were all struggling with something when he met each of them, since they were all crying. now in swoops this guy who saw them upset and came to comfort and befriend them. of course they see him as something like a hero. and (b) i think he likes that. in high school, he was the one being rescued, not the one rescuing. i think he enjoys being the kind of person he used to wish he could be (ie. gansey. he's being gansey)

"I thought it a bit funny in a weird way that Declan talked about marrying Jordan…I can't imagine he was being too serious about it?"

no, i mean, i don't think he was literally proposing, not yet. he's just really happy for the first time in a long time (maybe ever) and, after a lifetime of pain and trauma and more responsibility than he ever signed up for, i don't blame him for wanting that feeling to last forever, even if he's not really thinking clearly

"Also I think it's amazing they make each other so happy but the ending makes me a bit sad or surprised bc shouldn't Matthew be his nr1 priority now?"

we only have jordan's perspective at the end, so when she thinks that it was clear declan had come out of his apartment looking for her, i don't think that necessarily means he wasn't also looking for matthew. i don't think it's fair to say that, in that moment, he should prioritize either matthew or jordan. he loves two dreams, so he can and should be concerned for both of them equally. i don't think one love is inherently more important than the other just because it's lasted longer or because it's family

#WHEW THIS TOOK FOREVER #thanks for the questions! sorry i don't know what i'm talking about half the time!#mister impossible #mister impossible spoilers #mi spoilers #w's mi asks #answered #anon

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paintedphoenix · 3 years

Text

Noticed MC’s back was breaking from the weight of carrying the diagnostics team, so I decided to count exactly how much of the team’s solves so far are down to them. up to 3.2

Total cases: 12

Solves by MC alone: 6

MC with help (mostly Ethan but lowkey Baz once since he did Leland’s biopsy): 5

June: 1 although mc was literally a patient

Honestly this hurts to type since I literally worship June but wtaf is up with June and Baz they literally solved none of these cases

The sheer absurdity of a second/third year resident solving all (yes I’m saying all bc they only didn’t solve one since they were slightly busy with dying) of this world famous diagnostics team’s cases shocks me. Unless I guess MC is the reincarnation of Einstein and has an IQ of 200. The entire concept of this team is literally nonsensical anyway so idk what I was expecting really

ALSO please lmk if I have my facts wrong or missed anything! Specifically contributions from June and or Baz because I really want to be wrong there lmao

Specifics of each case:

Chapter 2.1-2.2

Patient: Eric

Diagnosis: kikuchi disease + cholecystis

Solve credit: MC

Extra: MC notices he complained about stomach pain specifically after eating

Chapter 2.3

Patient: Lamar

Diagnosis: tertiary syphilis

Solve credit: MC

Extra: Just had a lightbulb moment when he was hallucinating

Chapter 2.4

Patient: Evelyn

Diagnosis: a scotoma

Solve credit: MC and Ethan (I’m guessing Ethan only if no diamond scene)

Extra: noticed it other art show when the landscapes she was painting had missing parts compared to the reference. Put them together chronologically and realised she had a growing blind spot

Chapter 2.5

Patient: Gwyneth

Diagnosis: tapeworm

Solve credit: MC and Ethan (mc only if no diamond scene)

Extra: they were going through her channel and saw she made steak tartare and came to the conclusion.

Chapter 2.6

Patient: Leland Bloom

Diagnosis: aggressive Berger’s disease

Solve credit: MC, Ethan, and lowkey Baz

Extra: they run tests and MC and Ethan decide to do a kidney ultrasound. They do it then say he needs to go to the hospital, Baz does a biopsy then they get the answer. Any of them would have figured this out, it’s just who was around.

Chapter 2.10

Patient: Ed Farrugia

Diagnosis: lead poisoning

Solve credit: MC (bonus points for figuring out that it was Travis later)

Extra: MC notices Ed’s memory issues and connects the timing to when he bought his house then puts it together I guess. Then after the paint from the house comes back with a negative test for lead they figure out that Travis poisoned Ed via google search.

Chapter 2.11

Patients: Danny, MC and Rafael

Diagnosis: exposure to maitotoxin

Solve credit: June

Extra: MC reports Rafael’s hot cold reversal symptom and it reminds her of a journal she read. She figures out what it is. I’m going to cut mc slack here for not getting the diagnosis for once bc they were literally dying

Chapter 2.13

Patient: Farley

Diagnosis: Lyme disease

Solve credit: Doesn’t really say. Ethan talks about waiting to see if any bacteria shows up in his cultures. MC goes into Farleys room with test results so I guess the bacteria one was positive. I guess I’ll give credit to Ethan and MC. Again, this wasn’t a hard to solve one since it probably just came up on their basic tests and any of them could have got it.

Chapter 2.14

Patient: Paula

Diagnosis: altitude sickness caused by drug interaction between ibuprofen and lithium in bipolar medication, and rash caused by poison sumac

Solve credit: MC for altitude sickness and Ethan for poison sumac

Extra: MC and Ethan notice the lithium in Paulas blood and realised that her son was dosing her with bipolar medication. Ethan suggests that she is bipolar first. Also that portrayal of bipolar was offensive bordering on actionable anyways

Im giving MC extra points bc mc first suggested altitude sickness and everyone told them to stfu but they were right. So it was mostly MC imo

Chapter 2.16

Patient: Marisa

Diagnosis (cause of her sepsis): intestinal cryptosporidiosis

Solve credit: MC

Extra: mc must have solved this off camera because they literally don’t show it since ch16 is the Ethan’s mom show. Anyways Ethan says that mc’s hypothesis was correct so I’m just gonna them all the credit as per usual

Mc also gets extra points for getting the guy to give a lobe of his liver. I mean they did pressure him into it and it was a bit uncomfortable but whatever they saved the patient extra points for mc

Chapter 2.19-2.20

Patient: Caroline

Diagnosis: selective IgA deficiency and an IgA allergy

Solve credit: MC?

Extra: again mc apparently did some magic off camera since baz says ‘we’ve’ discovered her deficiency, and Ethan says ‘we’ suspect that the recent attacks were caused by an external bacteria, but later Ethan says ‘tests confirm your theory, MC. Let’s tell Caroline the good news.’ and they don’t all her anything new other than they identified a number of bacterial strains that they can prescribe treatment for. And Baz literally says that?? Idk what’s going on really

However it was mc that figured out her allergy to immunoglobulin A and that her exposure to it was coming from Leland so all props to them absolute unit

Chapter 3.1

Patient: Martha

Diagnosis: hypothyroidism

Solve credit: MC

Extra: MC figures it out because Sienna shows them deceiving cake videos lol and says ‘good decoration can mask almost anything…’. They have a book 1 esque brain baby moment and rush back to the hospital knowing wtf is up

Chapter 3.2

Patient: Andrew

Diagnosis: i forgot lol

Solve credit: MC. minus points for ethan and harper sorry

Extra: mc figured it out after talking to aurora and elijah about camping and woods and bugs. another brain baby

#tbh the solving gets weird towards the end #especially caroline’s case wtf was goin on there #AND IM SORRY ITS SO LONG #THIS IS FOR ME #I JUST HAD TO FIGURE THIS OUT #anyways mc needs unlimited massages from that new room #does this whole thing read as petty? i think that’s how i feel #open heart #oph #playchoices

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sparklingichigo · 3 years

Text

OVA I - Date gone wrong

Somewhere in Asmo's room, Asmo is trying to find the right outfit for his date. He ends up calling up Ichigo and Haruka to his room.

Asmo: BESTIES I NEED HEEELPP!!!

Ichigo: Sis, what's wrong? What happened??

Haruka: Whoa, I did not expect that-

Why did she say that? Because Asmo's bed is full of clothes and ironically this fashionista can't find a good outfit of the day.

Haruka: What's happening? Why are your clothes all over the place?

Asmo: That is the problem! I have no idea what to wear!!

Haruka: To wear to...?

Asmo: Solomon asked me out on a date... it's been a while since I go out with him and I panicked so here we are!

Ichigo: O-oh! Fashion emergency! Right, right. We'll help you.

Haruka: Yeah, we'll help you!

And they did. First off is just normal things he wears every day, the second one is the cute strawberry dress but he wore that already so here we are on the third option.

Ichigo: This is the one...

Haruka: I think so too!

Asmo: Ah finally, I have a good outfit for the date! Thanks a lot, you two! I owe you one!

Ichigo: It's okay, it's the least we could do... ^^

Asmo: Oh well, it's time for me to do my hair and my make-up. Now out!

Haruka: You're kicking us out?

Asmo: Yes.

Ichigo: I-

Before Ichigo can even talk, she hears the brothers creating chaos again, so they have no choice but to get out and deal with that. Especially since they hear Lucifer's shout of one name,

Lucifer: M A M M O N!!!!!!!!

Ichigo: Okay...guess we do have a reason to get out.

Haruka: Yeah... let's go^^

Once they're out, they see Solomon and Mammon arguing in the hallways with Lucifer facepalming.

Ichigo: What happened?!

Lucifer: As you can see... [sigh]

Mammon: I'm just being a good brother and-

Solomon: How is preventing me from dating your brother is being a good brother?!

Mammon: First off, you are sus! Second of all, my little brother Asmo is too precious for you!

Solomon: .... He's the one who confessed to me first though... :(

Mammon: Still! If you dare hurt my little brother.... [transforms into his demon form] YOU'RE D E A D!

Lucifer: .... [sigh in where should I hang him again]

Solomon: Lucifer, you agree to me dating Asmo right?!

Lucifer: Not quite, but as long as Asmo is happy.

Ichigo: [sigh] Here we go again... Mammon, calm down. They've been dating for years.

Mammon: tsk. He's still sus nonetheless

Lucifer: Mammooooonnn!!

Mammon: Eek! See you, humans! Bye! [runs off]

As Mammon runs off, Asmo appears with Mammon running towards him.

Asmo: Mammon wtf- OmG!! [falls off lol]

Human trio: Asmo!!

Asmo: Nooo! My haiiirr!! ;-;

Asmo: Mammon.... I'm gonna kill you!

Mammon: Got no time for that! [still running away]

Unironically, a certain tall demon is there. Of course, Mammon didn't see that and bumped on Beel yet again.

Beel: Mammon?

Mammon: Hehe... hi...

Beel: What happened? Hey, Asmo, are you okay?

Asmo: NO?! MY HAIR IS RUINED! IT'S NOW ALL DIRTY AND I SPEND MINUTES ON THIS!!

Beel: .... oh...

Lucifer: Beel! Hold him back!

Beel: I am... :D

Mammon: LET GO OF ME!!

Beel: Lucifer told me to hold you back though

Mammon: That doesn't mean you should listen to him!!

Satan: As much as I dislike him, you've crossed the line

Mammon: Tf! Where did you come from?!

Satan: Oh, I was behind Beel.

Mammon: [sad/scared noises]

Lucifer: Thank you, Beel^^ [dragging Mammon away]

Beel: No problem! Enjoy your punishment Mammon!!

Mammon: f*ck you!

Lucifer: ^^Language

Mammon: ugh...

Okay back to Asmo and Solomon and the others.

Ichigo: Do you want me to help you with that hair?

Asmo: .... Uhm... I don't know...

Ichigo: I can always help styling it^^

Asmo: I'm gonna be late though :(

Solomon: It's okay, my love^^ You look just fine. We'll just need to brush them.

Ichigo: That's right! Here let me help you! [brushes Asmo's hair and basically fixing it]

Asmo: Ichigo you saint!! Thank you so much!

Ichigo: You're wel- [sees Solomon and Haruka arguing]

Haruka: Oh ho ho ho since when have you been dating him?

Solomon: ....years?

Haruka: How many years?

Solomon: .... since forever after? HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!

Asmo: 30 years to be exact^^ [glares at Solomon] you didn't remember our anniversary?!

Solomon: I do... I just don't know how many years have we been dating...

Satan: and that's how he got 50 on our math test^^

Solomon:...

Asmo: pfft-

Ichigo: He did?

Haruka: What?

Satan: Ichigo, you're literally in the same class with him.

Ichigo: That's been weeks! How am I supposed to remember?!

Satan: Touche, ironically I'm in a different major yet I remember^^

Ichigo: Whatever. Aren't you guys going on your date?

Solomon: Oh yeah, we are! Let's go, my love^^

Asmo: Let's go!

And so, Asmo and Solomon went on their date, specifically to the human world and Solomon being Solomon uses a portal to get there. Mammon of course is hanged by Lucifer's chandelier, we have no idea how long he's gonna be there though.

Satan: Anyways, what do we do now?

Beel: Eat +w+

Satan: You just frickin eat my APPLE PIE twice!

Beel: You told me I can have it :((

Satan: Right....avatar of gluttony. Shouldn't be surprised.

Ichigo: How about we go to Madam screams, Hon ^^

Beel: Sure, let's go!

With that, this leaves Satan and Haruka alone in the House of Lamentation. The two have no idea what to do, sure Satan has a lot of ideas for this like going to the cat cafe, library, art museum, his least choice is the mall, he dislikes it a lot.

Satan: So, what do you want to do?

Haruka: Hmm... I don't know... maybe I'll just draw or do some karaoke or something. Maybe walk around or....play some games.... probably with Levi if he's around.

Satan: Oh.

Haruka: What?

Satan: So you prefer to hang out with Levi? [leaning closer to her]

Haruka: w-wait no! That's not what I meant- [moving backward bcs why the fck is he so close-]

Satan: Then what do you mean by that? [haha kabedon happens]

Haruka: uh.... [trying to escape] you're too close.... [sweat drops]

Satan: I'm waiting^^

Haruka: I mean.... [hugs him instead] I do like playing games with Levi but I don't mind hanging out with you^^

Satan: .... [blushes a bit bcs Haruka barely does skinship on him]

Haruka: Are you by chance....jealous? Because of me playing with Levi?

Satan: What if I am? You know I'm really possessive about you, right?

Haruka: True...then we'll do what you want! What do you want to do?

Satan: I have a couple of ideas in mind^^

Haruka: Hm? What are they?

Satan: Well we can go to cat cafe, the library, art museum, probably the mall but we'll probably end up in a book store instead.

Haruka: Hmm... how about walking around the garden?

Satan: Hm? Garden?

Haruka: The castle's garden^^

Satan: Can we actually go there?

Haruka: Of course! He'd accept us. Why? Scared?

Satan: Me? Scared? Quite bold of you to assume such things. [more kabedon]

Haruka: Satan! Stop tha- Oh! There's a cat!

Satan: Huh?! Where?! [looks around]

With that, Haruka escapes all the way to the castle leaving Satan confused in house of lamentation.

Satan: ...where did she go??

Meanwhile, in Madam's scream, Beel is enjoying his 2nd plate of waffles as Ichigo watches him as she sips on her drink.

Beel: Oh, you have something near your lips...

Ichigo: Hm? Which part?

Beel: Right here^^ [takes the cream off easily with his finger]

Ichigo: O-oh... [blushes]

Beel: It tastes really sweet by the way^^

Ichigo: Eeeh?!

Beel: It really is

Ichigo: You can just ask if you want some-

Beel: Well where's the fun in that^^

Ichigo: [huffs]

Beel: By the way, do you want some? [offers his waffle]

Ichigo: N-no thanks... I'm not hungry-

Beel: Not even one bite? It's the strawberry one~

Ichigo: F-fine... [accepts Beel's offer]

Internally, Ichigo is really confused. Since when is Beel such a romantic? Well, he always is but since when is he this smooth. He's usually clueless just pretty much viewed as innocent and slow. But here he is.

Beel: Well, I'm more comfortable with you now so I can show you the real me^^

Ichigo: The real you meaning gremlin Beel?

Beel: Not necessarily a gremlin but I can be that if you want me to-

Ichigo: I- no thank you;///;

Beel: Oh too bad, you're so cute to tease^^

Ichigo: Beel! ;////; please-

Beel: Hm? Oh my! You've turned into a cherry! Did I overstep?

Ichigo: ....n-not really but... I-I don't mind this side at all [blushing really hard]

Beel: Alright then^^ [pats her].

Ichigo: I- Uh, your waffle isn't finished yet...

Beel: Oh yeah. Where do you wanna go next by the way?

Ichigo: The mall?

Beel: Hmm... Sure^^ We can go to that mall. Right after I finish this

Ichigo: Aw okay then^^

Now back to Haruka, she's now in the castle meeting Barbatos who's very very confused.

Barbatos: Are you okay?

Haruka: Yeah- [pants some more] I'm okay-

Barbatos: Do you want some tea? Water?

Haruka: Tea... make it cold

Barbatos, internally: Such a crime...but okay

So Barbatos prepares ice tea despite him disliking it. He also provides sugar cubes instead she needs them.

Barbatos: Here you go^^ [put the glass to the table]

Haruka: Thank you, Barb!

Barbatos: You're most welcome. It is my duty to serve Lord Diavolo's guests^^

Haruka: Speaking of him, where is he?

Barbatos: In a meeting, he won't be home until.... 5 pm I believe. It seems to be a long event.

Haruka: Oh? You're not going with him?

Barbatos: Unfortunately not^^ He told me to stay put and keep the castle safe.

Haruka: Ah I- [sees Satan appearing at the castle] Oh sht-

Barbatos: What's wrong?

Haruka: Hide me.

Barbatos: Come again?

Haruka: Hide me from that! [points at Satan from a distance]

Barbatos: Oh my goodness! [teleports the two of them away before Satan can even reach them]

Satan: [pants as soon as he reaches the table] Where did they go??

Meanwhile, Haruka and Barbatos end up in the kitchen.

Barbatos: You will be safe here. What happened? Did you have a fight with him?

Haruka: Not necessarily a fight.... he's just acting weird again...

Barbatos: Weird? How weird?

Haruka: He's just acting weird! When I talked about gaming with Levi, he instantly corners me into a wall and leaning closer. It's just so weird!!

Barbatos: Ah I see... [holding back his laugh]

Haruka: It isn't funny, Barb! I'm scared and creeped out! What's happening to him?!

Barbatos: Maybe you're discovering a new side to him. Good luck getting used to it^^ I'll return you to him.

Haruka: What?! Barb- Nooo!! [got returned to Satan]

Back at the table, Satan is walking around until he hears a portal opening on top of him, and here comes Haruka falling down from that portal.

Haruka: AAAAA!!! SATAN!! WATCH OUT!!

Satan: Huh? [looks up] Oh my! [catches her in time] You could've fallen for me in another way^^

Haruka: Tha-that's not the point! [flicks his forehead]

Satan: At least you're not injured^^

Haruka: L-let me down! I can walk by myself!

Satan: Not a chance, you'll run off again. Especially when I want to hang out with you.

Haruka: There you go again! Acting weird again!

Satan: What? Is my calm demeanor shocking to you?

Haruka: Y-yeah... sort off. Get that handsome face away from me! [looking away]

Satan: Oh? So you think I am handsome?

Haruka: Uh- Shut up, you stupid raging ball of chaos!!

Satan: I don't remember being stupid considering I got first ranked in our class^^ [talking as he's walking out of the castle]

Yeah, anyways, the two end up going to the mall. Yes, I'm talking Beel and Ichigo. Satan and Haruka went to that same mall but we'll talk about that later. Now let's watch Mammon get punish.

Mammon: How long am I staying here again?

Lucifer: 30 more minutes.

Levi: Ha! That's what you get for being stupid!

Mammon: Say that to your math exam, you weeb!

Levi: At least I got 65! Unlike you on that English exam!

Mammon: English is difficult you piece of-

Lucifer: [glaring at them] Levi, do you want to be hanged as well? I told you to come here to watch him, not create more chaos!

Levi: No thank you. Right, so I'm here to watch him?

Lucifer: correct. I'm pretty late for my meeting with Lord Diavolo. I just skipped two periods of it so I'll be off^^ Make sure he doesn't create trouble. If anything happens just contact me or maybe the angels. I'm sure Simeon would love to drench him in holy water

Mammon: What?! Nooo!!

Levi: You can count on me! I'll make sure he doesn't escape.... can I do it though?

Lucifer: I believe in you, Leviathan^^ Please do your best

Levi: O-okay... I'll try my best [nods]

Now back to the mall. Beel and Ichigo end up in a clothing store. Beel has 0 idea what fashion was but he likes watching Ichigo try out some of the clothes.

Ichigo: So? What do you think?

Beel: It looks great! Probably looked better on the floor in our room-

Ichigo: Beelzebub Morningstar!

Beel: no no no I'm joking. It looks great! I prefer the last one you wore though. The floral top and the red skirt.

Ichigo: Oh... well what about the pink collection? What's your choice?

Beel: Hmm...

Ichigo: Don't you dare make a dirty joke!

Beel: Do you want me to?

Ichigo: Beelzebub! [yeets a shoe at him]

Beel: [luckily catches it] Now, now, there's no need to get worked up, sugar^^

Ichigo: ^^ I might throw another one if you keep on making that dirty joke

Beel: Is your shirt next- [got hit by another shoe]

Ichigo: You've hung out too much with Asmo! Or have you been watching those animes with Levi?!

Beel: What anime are you talking about? I did watch the one with desserts on it.

Ichigo: Specify which anime was it...

Beel: Well there's a lot actually...

Ichigo: Doesn't explain this sudden change [glares at him suspiciously]

Beel: I mostly just focus on the food so I guess... this is just me being comfortable with you^^

Ichigo: Right- So the pink collection! Which one?

Beel: isn't that white?

Ichigo: Yeah but most of them are pink so they somehow called it the "pink collection" which is odd I know.

Beel: The puffy pink one looks nice, the white dress too^^

Ichigo: So both?

Beel: Both^^

Ichigo: Since you like both... are you gonna pay for it?

Beel: I might if you need help paying for it.

Ichigo: The-then we'll get this too! [shows a floral dress]

Beel: Anything for you^^

Ichigo internally: HAVE LEVI BEEN SHOWING HIM MAID SAMA?! USUI IS THAT YOU?! WTF-

Beel: Ooh! So that's the anime that has all the food :o

Ichigo: Hm? What do you mean?

Beel: Never mind^^ Don't mind me! Let's go and pay for the clothes~

Ichigo: Okay, let's go^^

As they walk to the cashier, their hands keep on brushing on each other that Beel ends up holding her hand.

Ichigo: U-uh can you hold them properly like that?

Beel: I'll be fine^^

Ichigo: Do you not want me to help?

Beel: It's okay, you already have enough stuff in your bag, plus your hand seem heavy I have to hold it for you-

Ichigo: [blushes furiously] Shut up you gluttonous bear!

Now, let's go upstairs. Now Haruka and Satan are looking at a menu on some restaurant in that mall.

Haruka: So... what do you want to order?

Satan: Are you on the menu?

Haruka: [steps on Satan's foot] I'm not food!

Satan: Ouch! Geez, you're so violent today!

Haruka: Says you! Since when is your brain as dirty as mud?!

Satan: [chuckles slightly] Oh? How do you know?

Haruka: OMG! Shut up you furry!!

Satan: Oh well, I'll order this one^^ [to the cashier]

Haruka: I'll have the sizzling beef curry rice, the package one!

Cashier: I see, so one sizzling beef curry rice package, Beef, and Salmon pepper rice. Is that all? Anything else? No drinks? [to Satan]

Satan: Oh... hmm.... I'll have Lemon Tea^^ Thanks a lot, Miss

Cashier: N-no problem o///o

Haruka: Tsk. [looks away sulkily]

Cashier: Here's your alarm when the food is ready^^ Hope you enjoy [gives the alarm to Satan]

Satan: Thank you^^ Have a nice day, Miss.

Cashier: y-you too, sir o///o

Haruka: [glares at the cashier]

Cashier: O-O

Haruka: [gives the cashier a warning look]

Satan: Oh? A little jealous I see^^

Haruka: I'm not!

Satan: I'm just being polite, babe. There's no harm in that^^

Haruka: Whatever. Sit here! I'll go sit there!

Satan: Oh? Why so?

Haruka: Because I want to!

Satan: Alright then, let's go, we'll sit there^^

Haruka: N-no! I meant-

Satan: Come on, let's go~ [leads Haruka to that far away seat]

Haruka: You stupid raging ball of chaos!!

Satan: For the last time, I'm first ranked in our class, that insult doesn't affect me. ^^

Haruka: Whatever! Do what you want!

After a few minutes, the alarm starts to ring. Haruka of course is still sulking so Satan ends up getting the food for them. As he gets them, the female cashiers are gushing because of how handsome he is.

Satan: I know, but unfortunately I'm taken^^

Cashier 1: oh... :(

Cashier 2: Really?

Satan: Yes, I'm taken. So just give me my order. [went to cynical mode]

Cashier 1: He-here it is sir! [gives the foods and drinks to him]

Satan: Thank you. [flat face lol]

With that Satan returns to his table and finds Haruka texting on her DDD turns out she's talking to Ichigo.

Ichigo: Just got out from Majolish, you?

Haruka: Majolish? Are you in Devildom's city mall?

Ichigo: Yeah... why?

Haruka: Omg gurl! I'm at Paper Lunch!

Ichigo: ....3rd floor?

Haruka: Yeah?

Ichigo: Omg we should hang out!!

Haruka: Well Satan and I are gonna watch a movie after this, do you wanna come?

Ichigo: Depends on the movie. If it's gore then I'll back away.

Haruka: I dislike gore as well, don't worry. I prefer action though.

Ichigo: Oh yeah, action is good.

In real life, their boyfriends are curious so they peek through their phones.

Ichigo: Beel... you're a bit too close...

Beel: Oh, I'm just curious. Who are you texting?

Ichigo: Haruka. Who else?

Beel: Just in case it was another guy.

Ichigo: Solomon?

Beel: [nods]

Ichigo: [smacks Beel's shoulder] you idiot! That'd mean I'm interrupting his date with Asmo! Why would I disturb his date?!

Beel: You guys seemed really close so-

Ichigo: Since when are you bothered by this?? [confusion went brr] I thought you trusted me!

Beel: I do, what I don't trust is him^^

Ichigo: No worries, Solomon and I are just buddies^^

Beel: Okay^^ I'll trust you.

The same thing happened with Satan, Satan is secretly peeking at Haruka's phone. Haruka is of course oblivious until she heard Satan's voice.

Satan: The food's here^^

Haruka: [looks up] Gah! Why are you so close?!

Satan: Curiosity. Who are you texting?

Haruka: Ichigo...?

Satan: Ah...

Haruka: Who do you think I was texting?

Satan:...

Haruka: ....Solomon?

Satan: [nods] You guys seemed really close.

Haruka: [pushes his forehead away] We're just friends but I'm clearly texting Ichigo. Here, you can read the chatroom. [hands him her phone]

Satan: O-oh....okay [reading the chatroom as Haruka eats]

Haruka: Anyways, wanna watch a movie after? [accepting her phone back and putting it into her purse]

Satan: Hmmm we can do that. What movie are we watching though?

Haruka: We'll just see.

Satan: Sounds fair.

As they're eating, Ichigo and Beel appear beside them.

Ichigo: Hi^^

Beel: Whoa! That smells really good!

Satan: no no no no order one yourself!

Ichigo: Hon...^^ didn't we just ate?

Beel: Well...yeah. Let's just order drinks or snacks.

Ichigo: Pudding! Let's order that

Beel: Sure^^

So, Beel and Ichigo order their food. The cashier is intimidated by his height. He was about to flirt with Ichigo actually because Ichigo is pretty and friendly.

Beel: I'll order 3 chocolate puddings, what about you, sugar?^^

Ichigo: I'll have oreo cheese!

Cashier 3: So...three chocolate puddings and one oreo cheese pudding. Anything else, miss? Drinks?

Ichigo: Hm... I'll have blackcurrant, what about you, Beel?

Beel: .... I'll have the chocolate milkshake^^

Cashier 3: Alright then, that'd be [insert price here] and here's the alarm, miss^^ [gives it to Ichigo]

Ichigo: Thank you^^

Beel: [glares at the cashier]

Cashier 3: A-anyways, here's your changes! Have a nice day^^

Ichigo: You too!

Once they sit down, Satan notices Beel's mood is sinking down.

Satan: You okay?

Beel: I'm fine... all this overthinking is making me hungry :((

Ichigo: The food is gonna come anyway^^ don't worry.

Beel: Hm.

Ichigo: Beel? Beelzebub? Honeybear?

Beel: Oh? So now you call me Honeybear? [leans closer to her]

Ichigo: I-is that a bad thing? [moving back]

Beel: That cashier is clearly about to hit on you though.

Ichigo: Aw Honeybear, don't worry^^ I was just being polite. I only love you remember?

Beel: You should, I'm not sharing you with anyone

Before Ichigo can answer him, she feels a vibration in her pocket. She fishes out the alarm and turns out their food is done.

Ichigo: Wanna go get the pudding together?

Beel: Sure^^

And so, Beel and Ichigo go to get their pudding. This time it's Cashier 2 giving them the pudding. Luckily no chaos happened.

Beel: Thank you! Have a nice day!

Cashier 2: You too, sir^^ Enjoy your meal!

Ichigo: ...Is that guy okay?

Cashier 2: Cleary not, but don't mind him. Enjoy your meal, miss^^

Ichigo: Alright then^^

After their lunch, the four of them go to the theaters to see what movie are they gonna watch. The list is endless and they're now confused.

Beel: none of them seem delicious. So Nah, I'll let you guys choose.

Ichigo: You're not eating a movie...

Beel: I know, but I'm letting you guys choose^^

Satan: What about that one? [points to a scary-looking poster]

Ichigo: Venom II?

Haruka: Ooh! I like that! We can watch that since I've watched the first movie.

Satan: There's the first movie?

Haruka: Y-yeah.... ^^

Satan: Then it'd be spoilers.... what about this one?

Haruka: Jungle Cruise sounds fun^^ An Adventure comedy movie

Satan: What about the others? Wait where did Beel go?

Ichigo: ...going to see the food:")

Satan: [sigh] Well, what do you think? Shall we watch this?

Ichigo: Yeah, it sounds fun. ^^ I'll be right back though [goes to search for Beel]

Haruka: So, Jungle Cruise?

Satan: Yeah. Sir, we'll have four tickets for Jungle Cruise.

Theater Cashier: Oh, which seat sir?

Haruka: B! Let's go with B!

Theater Cashier: Oh, you're in luck! The B seat is empty for now^^

Satan: That's great! We'll have four tickets in that B seat.

Theater Cashier: ^^ Okay. The total would be [insert price]

This time Satan paid for the tickets despite Haruka's protest. He just simply told her to pay him back if she feels that bad. Meanwhile, Ichigo is confused because Beel actually ordered drinks instead of food.

Ichigo: Just drinks?

Beel: Yeah, I'm thirsty... in both ways.

Ichigo: [smacks Beel's shoulder] Beel!

Beel: Alright, alright, I bought drinks for you guys though^^

Ichigo: Eh? Really?

Beel: Yep! A sweet ice tea for Haruka, Lemon tea for Satan, Strawberry tea for you, and....water for me ^^

Ichigo: Water? Are you sure?

Beel: Yep! Since I've drunk a lot of sweets at least I have to clean my palate.

Ichigo: That's smart^^

So here they are in the B seat. Here are the seat orders; Haruka, Ichigo, Beel and Satan. Of course, the boys are sort of disappointed with the seating order.

Satan: But-

Haruka: Sit with your brother! I prefer to hang out with my best friend rather than you and your dirty jokes!

Satan: What even did I do?!

Haruka: [rolls her eyes and seats on her seat]

Beel: Sugar, are you sure?

Ichigo: I am^^ don't worry. I'm beside you anyways~

Beel: Oh yeah, yay!

Ichigo: no touchy-touchy though! >:o [cute angy noises]

Beel: I won't promise, especially when you look this cute^^

Ichigo: Tsk. Whatever you gluttonous bear! Uh.... do you want some by the way? [offers the strawberry tea]

Beel: Oh thank you^^ [drinks the strawberry tea without any second thoughts]

Ichigo: How does it taste? Is it good?

Beel: It is, just like you^^

Ichigo: [blushes deep red] h-hon... I don't think flirting here is a good idea [sees Haruka and Satan in a bad mood]

Beel: Oh right... :(

Satan: [getting annoyed every second]

Haruka: [plays with her phone because the advertisement is annoying]

Haruka: wait... is that Asmo?!

Ichigo: Oh my goodness! You're right!

Asmo, in the ad: Use Majolish lipstick to get beautiful pucker lips! Mwah! [blows the kiss towards the camera]

Satan: [sigh] why must he be here...

Haruka: Whoa! I never knew he's an ad model!

Ichigo: So am I! That's so cool!

Beel: ...the lipstick looks delicious-

Ichigo: Hon...you can't eat lipsticks^^

Beel: Oh they were lipsticks?

Ichigo: Yeah??

Beel: Do you want me to buy you one?

Ichigo: So sudden?

Beel: Just feel like treating you^^ [pulls Ichigo closer so she can lean on his shoulder]

Ichigo: You don't have to though :<

Satan: [is on his limit] Can't you two just get a room?!

Ichigo: Deal with your own business! Plus we're gonna watch a movie, shut it!

Satan: Tsk.

So the movie has started. Everyone is enjoying the movie, including the couple. Haruka is enjoying every second of this and Satan is surprisingly amused by this movie. Yep, romance has left the chatroom for Beel and Ichigo because this movie is so funny.

Overall their movie adventure went well and they went home. As they went home, they waited for Asmo and Solomon to get back. Seconds become minutes, minutes become hours. It's to the point that It's already 10 p.m and he hasn't returned. This causes Lucifer to worried!

Lucifer: Have you girls seen Asmo?

Ichigo: Not that I know off, why? We just got back from the mall and didn't meet him there.

Lucifer: I see... it's already 10 p.m and he hasn't returned yet.

Satan: Knowing Asmo he'd probably bang Solomon again [coming in casually]

Lucifer: [smacks Satan's head] You! Since when did you have such a dirty mind?!

Satan: I always do, just not exposed much, D A D.

Lucifer: [glares at Satan]

Beel: I'm sure he'll be okay^^ Asmo can defend himself and so can Solomon.

Lucifer: I'm not concerned about that sorcerer. He can die for all I care. What I'm worried about is what he'd do to Asmo!

Beel: ...Oh my...you're right-

Lucifer: Oh well, I'll just search for him myself. Rest up you four^^ I'm sure you guys are tired. I'll be off [transforms to demon form and flies away]

Ichigo: Are you sure he doesn't need any help?

Beel: Sugar, you're literally this close to sleep. Come, I'll get you to your room.

Ichigo: It's fine.... I'll go myself. Just help me with the shopping bags...

Beel: I'll still help you though^^

As Beel helps Ichigo to her room, Haruka clings to Satan causing confusion of the avatar of wrath.

Satan: What's wrong?

Haruka: Lift me up.... to my bedroom.... [clinging on him]

Satan: As you wish^^ [haha bridal style]

Haruka: w-wait that's not what I expected- o////o

Satan: it's more comfortable for us anyway. Let's go^^ [carries her to her bedroom]

Haruka: B-but piggy back-

Satan: Just hold on to me, you can lean on my shoulder that way^^

Haruka: O-okay >////<

The night, Lucifer is still looking for Asmo and he finally spots him on his way to the House of Lamentation.

Lucifer: Asmodeus!

Asmo: ...Lucifer?!

Solomon: WTF-

Lucifer: [flies down and lands right in front of them]

Asmo: I-I can explain...

Lucifer: It's okay, I'm sure you're really tired. What I need an explanation of is him. [eyes Solomon]

Solomon: M-me?

Lucifer: Yes. So, where did you take him?

Solomon: The human world....? and we went shopping [shows shopping bag]

Lucifer: Uh-huh...

Lucifer: Wait- you went to where?!

Solomon: Human world...?

Lucifer: That is clearly forbidden to demons without the approval of Lord Diavolo! What are you thinking?!

Solomon: You didn't ask where I want how am I supposed to know!

Lucifer: You are dating a demon! A high-level demon! Taking him to the human world is against the law!

Solomon:...

Asmo: I-it's okay... I got one from Diavolo.... here! [shows a letter already signed by Diavolo]

Lucifer: Really? [sees the letter] Ah, so you did ask for permission?

Asmo: Of course... I'm not a rogue demon, Lucifer. Besides, I won't look good in prison clothing.

Lucifer: Alright. I'll get you back. You, go back to Purgatory hall.

Solomon: What-

Lucifer: You heard me, go back to your dormitory.

Solomon: What about his shopping bag?

Lucifer: Put them in his room then go back to purgatory hall. You're forbidden to stay in the House of Lamentation for three days.

Asmo and Solomon: What?!

Lucifer: Just Solomon

Asmo: that doesn't make it any better?! Who is going to deal with me when I'm in heat?!

Lucifer: Then we'll call him when you actually need him.

And so that ends this episode. All the three couples have their fun even though Solomon ends up with a punishment of not meeting Asmo for three days but he'll survive... will he....?

Simeon: It's okay, Solomon... it's just three days...

Solomon: I CAN'T!!! I MISS HIM A LOT!!! [sobbing dramatically]

Luke: It's been two days...

Solomon: Yeah TWO DAYS! EXACTLY! I can't even be apart from him for a few hours now it's for two days!

Michael: It's just two days, Solomon. You can focus more on your training or teaching Luke for his classes.

Solomon: [eating his ice cream in sadness]

The same thing is happening to Asmo, he's eating ice cream with the girls as they watch some random chick flick on the TV.

Ichigo: you'll be okay, it's just for a few days.

Asmo: Still! Who's gonna help me when I need help in that way?!

Ichigo: We can always call him when you really need him.

Asmo: I don't wanna cheat on him anymore. We've been in so many affairs because we can't see each other a lot so I end up doing stuff to a succubus but now I wanna focus my lust only on him, the one I truly love.

Haruka: Awww, that's really sweet of you Asmo!

Asmo: Yeah.... but for now I should deal with my toys for those three days if I need help and such.

Ichigo: there-there [pats Asmo] by the way... what have you been telling Beel and Satan?

Asmo: Hm? What do you mean?

Haruka: Satan is unusually dirty-minded yesterday.

Asmo: Oh? He did read a lot of sensual books so that explains his behavior.

Ichigo: What about Beel?

Asmo: Beel? He always is perverted! You didn't notice? Probably because he's really quiet the entire time that's why it came out that day. He's a demon, after all, a gluttonous one in fact. You don't think he'd use that sin on something else?

Ichigo: You mean....?

Asmo: Mmhmm^^

Ichigo: ... Oh my Lord...

Haruka: What has Satan be reading...

Satan: Some sensual books, as he said.

Haruka: Gah! Where did you come from?!

Satan: by the door...?

Haruka: Ish you! [smacks him]

Satan: ouch! Why are you so violent these days?!

Haruka: That's because of your perverted mind, you stupid raging ball of chaos!

Satan: You love this raging ball of chaos though^^

Asmo: ew, get a room.

Satan: Alright-

Haruka: Wait what- [get lift up by Satan] wait! Asmo! Ichigo!! Help me!!

Asmo: Have fun, darling~ ^^ [waves in a girlish way]

Ichigo: pfft- Good luck dealing with him.

#obeymefanfic #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me solomon #my mcs #roleplaybased #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan

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texas-hates-taxes-too · 3 years

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I still want to make a descendants au but I cant decide who would be who so im gonna describe some of the characters and you guys give me suggestions

First some world building: there's two places, Auradon where all the good guys and their kids live and the Isle of the lost where all the villains and their kids live. The Isle of the lost has a barrier around it keeping everyone in. In the first film, a program is started where 4 villain kids will be brought to Auradon prep to have a chance at a good life and learn to be a better person

The rest is under the cut bc it got long on accident oops

Mal - Maleficent and Hades' daughter. Basically the main character. In the first film she initially puts a love spell on soon-to-be-King Ben with plans to open the barrier so her mother can get through and take over Auradon, in the end she falls in love with Ben and decides not to go through with it. But the barrier still gets opened bc of another girl (Jane) and Mal has to fight her Mom

Evie - the peace keeper, Mal's best friend with a love for fashion. She's the evil queen's daughter and always seemed most eager to go to Auradon. In the beginning she pretends to be dumb to try and get Chad (cinderella's son) to like her, but she ends up falling for Local Nerd™ Doug

Jay - Big beefy dude, respects women but also likes to charm the ladies. When Chad said mulans daughter couldnt join the sports team bc the rule book said it had to be 'a captain and eight men' Jay made her the captain.

Carlos - Cruella's son, an absolute sweetheart. Loves dogs and wants to be a vet. Has the personality of a labrador istg. In the second film he spends half the film trying to get the courage to ask out Jane and its adorable

Ben - the King, it was his idea to give the villains a second chance. He's very diplomatic and prefers to sort out issues through negotiation rather than a fight. Didn't care about Mal putting a love spell on him because he liked her anyway

Jane - the fairy godmothers daughter, she has big "teachers pet" vibes. The reason she opened the barrier is bc she wanted a magic make over and so grabbed her mothers wand. A while before this she had got a magic makeover from Mal but when Mal heard Jane insulting her she undid it. So Jane was trying to get her pretty makeover back

Uma - my favourite <3, Uma is Ursula's daughter and she's a pirate. In the second film she wants revenge on Mal and Ben because she's bitter that she got left behind on the Isle. In the third film she agrees to help Mal defeat Audrey (i'll explain audrey later) in return for the barrier being opened permanently. It becomes clear that she really just wants everyone on the Isle to have the same chance Mal and co had

Harry - Uma's second in command, son of captain Hook. Chaotic bisexual vibes, kinda dresses like the next member of Maneskin. Flirts with at least 3 girls in one film but redeems himself by simping for Uma every 5 minutes

Audrey - sleeping beauty's daughter. She was Ben's girlfriend before Mal appeared. She was under a lot of pressure from her family to be the next Queen. In the third film she becomes evil and tries to take over Auradon after Ben proposes to Mal

Chad - #1 Audrey simp. Has exactly the kind of personality you expect from someone named Chad. Immediately offered to be Audrey's lackey when she turned evil tho

Lonnie - Mulan's daughter, just really damn cool. She disarmed a guy while fighting him, gave him her sword, then disarmed him again and took her sword back

Dizzy - babyyy, she's a younger girl from the Isle that Evie is fond of. She loves hair styling and wants to go to Auradon and pursue her dreams. Very perky and upbeat personality. Drizella's daughter, evil step mothers granddaughter. Actually has a decent relationship with her grandmother

Hades - the best worst dad. Ignored his kid for 16 years but hey, he came through for her in the end and didn't try to take over the world. I genuinely love him. Wears eye liner.

Celia - Dr Faciliers daughter. One of the few villain kids with a good relationship with her parent. Very cool vibes. Apparently one of the particularly mischievous kids. She's part of the second set of VKs selected to go to Auradon Prep but she ends up returning to the Isle because she misses it too much

Doug - nerd (affectionate). Loves Evie. I dont actually remember much else about him but he's pretty sweet.

I cant think of anyone else particularly important, there's all the parents I've mentioned, plus Uma's pirate crew and various other students at Auradon but most of them don't really have proper character or anything. Oh wait actually I remembered someone.

Dude - Carlos's dog who can talk. Him and Carlos share a single braincell

#okay so maybe i just used this as an excuse to ramble about descendants characters but hey it was fun #that gif of uma and harry took forever to make

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gimme-a-hand-scaevola · 3 years

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A review of the book The Rook by Daniel O’Malley that nobody ever asked for...

Ok so @chemcat92 recommended me this book and I listened to it on audiobook and I just... have a lot of thoughts. I haven’t read the sequel and I’m torn if I will. Having watched some AMVs of the show, it’s a hard pass. My review is going to be in three parts:

1. The plot

2. Wasted Potential - In General

3. Wasted Potential - Gestalt the Most Wasted Character Potential I’ve Read since Drizzt Do’Urden

Obviously spoilers under the cut.

Part 1: The Plot - i.e. I think Daniel discovered books four days before he started writing

Ok so... The plot of this book. It starts off STRONG I will give it that. Myfanwy Thomas wakes up in a rainy part surrounded by bodies wearing latex gloves and no memories. She soon discovers her previous self lost her memories but because she was organized and knew it was coming, she has eased new Myfanwy’s transition. She gets to choose to stay in her life through letters and then we get an easy way to give flashbacks. Anyway this part RULES.

Honestly, the book starts strong as hell. Myfanwy discovers she has supernatural powers over people’s nervous systems and is a trained bureaucrat for a supernatural wing of the government. This all runs sort of like a combination of Heroes and Harry Potter in the best way possible. And here is where we find the strongest part of the book: the superpowers.

We don’t have to look that far to find Heroes type shows or books where everyone has a special ability, so if you’re going to go that route, you’ve gotta bring it. And honestly, Daniel brings it. They powers are cool as hell, they’re inventive, they’re well bounded. I felt like I understood what people’s powers and limitations were. We were in a land with magic, but it never felt cheap. This is going to dovetail into my absolute RANT about Gestalt but give me a sec to get there.

Ok. So honestly I don’t even have any complaints until the third act. Act one gives us the set up, act two introduced the big bad the Grafters and so far so good. We’ve got good but elitist supernatural guys vs. bad but more egalitarian supernatural guys. We also know that it was someone in the supernatural org (it has a name but the name is so stupid I can’t spell it) that betrayed our protag and stole her memories and they’re still around and teamed up with the evil Grafters. Intrigue?? Don’t know who to trust???? Love it.

For some reason everyone is either old, or hot, or so inhuman it’s viscerally horrifying. Love this touch. Eleanor from the Good Place taught us that it’s totally free to imagine everyone in a story as super hot. And it is. So they’re all super hot. Love it. Good commitment, Daniel.

But then we get to Act three. So, this was a big swing on ol Danny’s part because a lot of the effect of this had to do with carrying out mystery. We’d built a lot of tension on the suspense Who Betrayed Myfanwy. So obviously it’s really important for me to be surprised or at least satisfied with who this is. (As an aside, I would have been ok with guessing correctly, I definitely don’t subscribe to surprise trumping cohesive plot). Ok. With that on paper... like... holy shit. What a stupid “reveal.”

So in part 1, like the first scene we get of old Myfanwy’s letters giving us context, she says that her apartment at work was inherited from a dude Conrad something that got promoted. And then she says it’s super badly decorated, and later we see it and this shit is straight out of Austin Powers, mirror over a round bed, The Whole Shebang. But she also says that this guy who otherwise is supposed to be very smooth and charismatic like... asks her about the decor.... every time they interact. Every Time They Interact. The second this was mentioned (WHICH IS AFTER WE KNOW SHE WAS BETRAYED) I'm like “oh ok so this guy bugged her room he’s the villain” and I only wasn’t sure because it was WAY too obvious.

But no. He’s the villain. He has a big reveal where he’s like “AND I BUGGED YOUR ROOM” and I'm like... well... yeah. Of course you did. But here’s the thing tho... Myfanwy’s like... WHOLE ASS JOB is planning covert ops. So... is she good at her job??? IS SHE????

But we also don’t actually show how characters are based on their actions, we are just told how they are. But we will circle back to that in the Gestalt part. That’s honestly the sum of my rant about the plot. It was nothing. It put all its eggs in the basket of the worst most boring reveal of all time. Daniel, I think you might just be boring.

Part 2: Wasted Potential - Everything but Gestalt who gets a special part to themselves.

The big sin of this book might just be too many good ideas. There’s a lot of characters, they all do cool stuff, but we have like 200 pages, so there wasn’t enough time to do anything with all these guys. I got lost about who was who like 80 times because they’re basically all sneaky hot magic guys. One of them smokes and is a soldier and he seems chill.

There’s a vampire and he gets a scene and a long intro that reads more like a wiki page. Like it was interesting but you would have lost NOTHING cutting him as a character except that he was cool. You never ever believe that he was the bad guy because it’s super well established in the Certified Back Story that he could give two shits about the politics of the humans. He’s there bc he’s an adorably young vampire who is very curious so his dad set him up as a powerful government agent as though it was enrolling him in a prep school. Love it, but again, we don’t.... need him around.

There’s a lady who can walk through dreams and I thought she was going to be important based on the fanfare of her introduction but then we forget about her basically entirely.

There’s a whole American wing that we also only see anything interesting about in side story. Basically the world building is really good. Like pretty superb to be honest. But it’s bracketing a story that is nothing so it makes even good characters seems really random. And that bring us to:

Part 3: My Darling, Gestalt. My Type. My Weakness. What a Sad Little Thing You Are (Also misogyny)

Alright... if the rest of this review wasn’t salty enough for you... let the salt begin. Gestalt. So named because of the word meaning larger than the sum of its parts. And so they were destined to be. And so they were most definitely not. So Gestalt’s whole thing is that they are one consciousness with four bodies. They can either control one body at a time and sort of shut the others down or they can control them all at once but that becomes harder if one of them requires more attention than another, like if one is in a fight.

Two twins (men), one fraternal brother, and a sister. If anyone is thinking “uhoh, only one girl, hmm can Daniel handle that? Seems like maybe some Smurfette style misogyny-lite is coming,” you would be wrong. Super wrong. Because it is not misogyny-lite. It’s aggressive Fight-Me-In-A-Perkins-Parking-Lot misogyny. So go fuck yourself, Dan.

Alright, so to number Gestalt’s sins.

1. Scrape off some of that intro mustard.

They’re introduced in the LONGEST fucking passage I’ve ever read telling me that this dude is hard to talk to and weird. Like, I’m in an urban fantasy book already, I'm all set. Also... bitch SHOW ME they’re weird. Like can I see some interactions that give me second hand embarrassment??? No. It is actually never uncomfortable to talk to Gestalt. I only know that because people are super fucking rude about them. But it is never earned. So I don’t feel sympathy when people are like “Oh noooo you have to spend a car ride with Gestalt? Ewwwww sorry.” I’m just like, “What’s your fucking problem? They seem fine.”

2. They’re supposed to be Bad At Planning but when??

Alright so there ARE times they’re bad at planning and we will GET TO THAT. But it’s only post-reveal like... what we are told during a monologue that they were dumb as shit. And that wasn’t even like not being good w/ details like it’s implied they are, it’s literally like doing dumb ass stuff. And it felt more like my bud Dan didn’t have a good handle on why stuff was dumb as rain than Gestalt being silly.

Also.... this is a stupid use of this sort of character. They’re dumb and bad at planning??? THEY’RE A JOINT CONSCIOUSNESS why would you waste that making them “Good at kicking ass.” ugh. Fine.

3. They get sidelined IMMEDIATELY

So a guy named Pumice Stone or Kettle or Lil boy Bad At This or something outs that Gestalt is working with the Grafters because he like.... wasn’t paying attention. It was boring. But anyway so they capture two of the bodies and then stop addressing Gestalt until the end. They have one weird scene where the protagonist like.... freaks them out but ok. Fine. Why is Gestalt so Yelly. Why are so many villains in this book yelly. Ew.

4. The REVEAL MONOLOGUE.

I know this is a long ass review already. But my Feelings Must be Heard. So in the end when Conrad surprises no one but “smart” Myfanwy that he was the bad guy, we also get a reveal from the surviving Gestalt bodies that:

a. There’s an incest baby

b. They’re afraid of death

c. They’re so phenomenally stupid I have lost all interest in them

So... this is where the misogyny comes in. I’ll note here that the only time we interact w/ Eliza, the special girl body, is when she takes a carried to Hogwarts the super secret magic school with Myfanwy and she doesn’t do anything except we get the internal note that she’s like... gained weight. This is the misogyny-lite we expect. (And no, Dan, you don't get any points bc a female character is the only pleased she got pudgy bc YOU wrote the female character so we’re all set there.)

And then we discover that the weird blonde (lol oh yeah they’re all hot blondes) baby that Conrad “Evil Austin Powers” British-Last-Name has with his weird wife is actually a Gestalt body that Eliza had after she boned down with her other body who is genetically a brother and consciously herself.

K. Ok. I have. Ok. Alright. Daniel. Ok.

SUBPART A: My Feelings about Gestalt: Oh Eliza, my darling, my dear, would that I could bring you Justice

So after Eliza is shot dead one of the interchangeable boy bodies of Gestalt yells at Myfanwy about how terrible that is bc it was the only body who could bear children so now THE HORROR they’ll die.

For god’s fucking sake Daniel O’Malley. What the fuck is your goddamn problem. You LITERALLY wrote a Smurfette Syndrome character who is only important because she can have babies. She is literally just there to be a baby-box. What the fuck. Get fucking wrecked. Thank GOD Starz cut your program and fuck the Aurealis Awards for giving you an award for this fucking book. But they’re a sci-fi award so this is probably super progressive for them. I was pleasantly annoyed by the basic nature of this book until this part. Now I am just done with your content. This was more overtly sexist that Supernatural. So... real swing and a miss.

ANYWAY FORTUNATELY this opens a whole new can of worms that I get to ruthlessly mock certified Basic Bitch Daniel O’Malley for.

SubPart 2: Gestalt Raises Interesting Philosophical Questions Daniel Isn’t Smart Enough to Address

So, remember, I would have cut this dude more slack if he didn’t do that to Eliza. Gestalt, to be honest, this whole review is dedicated to what you Could Have Been.

Interesting Questions or Comments We Could Have Asked:

Does having a baby being one of five of your bodies affect your consciousness? That thing doesn’t have object permanence? Is there like an intellectual cost to having another baby body? No, we don’t care. I think we just had there be a baby bc “Weird sister-sex” was as interesting as Daniel could get. Side Note: The obvious question of “lol haha lol is it incest or mAsTurBation is not going to be addressed here bc it is literally too boring to consider)

Does having a body who textually is said to have post-partum depression affect your joint consciousness? If not, why bring it up?? Bc she has “weird lady disease” is that why???

Are they....afraid of death????? Why didn’t you ever bring this up? Why have they showed only excitement at the prospect of very dangerous fights up to this point? Why are all four bodies in the field.

WHY ARE ALL FOUR BODIES IN THE FIELD. Ok so here is one of those points that is definitely stupid but stupid in a dumb as dirt way. If you were afraid to lose your baby-box body, why would you send her into battle?

Why didn’t they freeze a bunch of her eggs? In fact, why did she bear it at all? Why put your one female body that you only want for babies through that sort of danger? Canonically they all get paid an absurd amount and Gestalt is paid for each body, they can afford a surrogate.

Why let a weird dude who is at best contemptuous of you raise your baby body? Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Doesn’t that give him a huge amount of leverage over you?

Is the quality fo Gestalt’s form destined to decline if genetically they can only make more bodies by full genetic sibling offspring? Does that scare them? Again... does their physical brain affect their consciousness?

If so... maybe that would be a good reason for them to want to join up with the Grafters who are way ahead in genetic research and engineering.

ANYWAY Gestalt is sexist as shit and boring as hell and had SO MUCH WEIRD POTENTIAL.

In summary: It was definitely fun but Fuck you, Daniel O’Malley

#the rook #Daniel O'Malley #Myfanwy Thomas #Gestalt #Book review #the rook starz

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janiedean · 4 years

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Hi! I'm the Plato anon for before. First of, thank you so much for your offer, but I think I managed on me own. Second, could you elaborate on the "analysing as YA" vs "analysing as an adult" approach? I assumed that "discourse people" on this website generally don't go beyond "antagonist is bad because they are against the hero!" out of ignorance/lack of interest except to score Internet Fame Points, not that it was due a specific mindest. I also don't really read YA (except Tiffany Aching)

TIFFANY ACHING!! T_T ANON LET ME HUG YOU it’s like the only YA I actually liked in my entire life apart from nick hornby’s one book but that wasn’t typical lmao

THAT SAID, well your discourse people point is pretty much part of it but since I’m here and I can rant have the entire thing I was too tired to hash yesterday ;) so, in order:

first thing, we need to establish that ya books and **adult** books generally have different target audiences which is fine and good because obviously if you want to write a thing you’ll do that for An Audience That You Have In Mind; this doesn’t mean that adults can’t read ya or that teenagers can’t read **adult books** because everyone can read what they want (and personally for one I never cared for ya in my entire life not even when I was the target audience), but it simply means that some books are meant to be liked by one category first and eventual others later and they need to be talked about in that specific context first and everything else later - then there might be books that are aimed for kids/young readers or sold like that or that can be read on more than one level which can be appreciated for different things later in time (for example I read huck finn at sixteen and I absolutely loved it but it was a book that here is seen as good reading material also for eight year olds, and at eight I wouldn’t have liked it for the reasons I did at sixteen, and if I read it now I would still like it, while a bunch of the books for kids I read when I was seven is stuff I enjoyed then but forgot now and probably was good for that age but didn’t stick with me);

second thing, that means that when I discuss a young adult book aimed at teenagers I will never hold it to the standards I would hold a book aimed at a general adult audience, especially if it’s the kind of ya like dunno as stated the vampire diaries aimed at teenage girls which is obviously the kind where you have the fantasy world with the hot dark guy who swoons the high schooler protagonist off her feet etc because that stuff is basic teenage girl fantasy 101 and like... I’ll expect a bunch of romance tropes, the usual push and pull, the guy eventually being into her, the protagonist being someone a fourteen year-old can see herself in, probably a few sexual elements thrown here and there and so on, because that’s the shit marketed at fourteen year-olds who want to read that and like... it’s really not that deep. I can’t ask the vampire diaries to be moby dick because it’s not meant to be. or, if I read percy j/ackson - which is another thing I have zero interest in but I know about because I see tweets from the author - I expect to have a bunch of teens coming into their own coming from different backgrounds because the author wants to represent properly a lot of categories so most of his readers can have someone they can see themselves in and like if a thirteen year-old who suspects being lgbt or whatever sees themselves in the gay kid from per/cy jackson guess what that’s what that book is for, so I won’t judge it on like... being a faithful representation of greek myths or how good the style is or whatever, because even if to me it’s not top notch writing or has a plot idc about it has to be for teenagers and pre-teens, not for me, a thirty year old who again didn’t even like pre-teen aimed literature when she was a pre-teen;

third, I can extra clarify it using the damned hp discourse, as in: when I say I’m tired of people not reading anything else or reading everything like hp, it means that they read it when they were growing up/were teens and it was aimed at them which is fine, but then twenty fucking years later when the people in question are way beyond their twenties (guys I’m almost 32 and I remember when the first one came out come on) when talking about any single piece of media in existence (movies, comics, other books) use hp characters/situations as the terms of paragon - like guys I had to read sn/ape comparisons with theon and ky/lo ren on the basis that THEY’RE GREY CHARACTERS as if sn/ape is the only grey character that ever existed, people keep on talking about vold/emort as the only bad guy that ever existed and so on, and like... you can’t talk about, idk, asoiaf or any book aimed at an adult audience like you’d talk about hp, because at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if I read comparisons between sn/ape and ivan karamazov and I think I don’t need to specify how completely nonsensical that would be;

now, with all of this explained, what I mean is: ya in general - which is not a fault per se of the genre since it’s aimed at teens and pre-teens - tends to have... very fixed narrative schemes depending on which teens it’s addressing - like, stuff like tvd or twilight is obviously the romance teenage girl fantasy where you have the girl fighting to be with the dark beautiful supernatural creature in question, per/cy jackson is more like I’ll give you a bunch of relatable characters having cool adventures against bad guys with the occasional redemption so we can see that people are redeemable but you still have right vs wrong, hp is sort of like that in the sense you get relatable-ish protagonist with relatable friends growing up throughout the entire thing and fighting on the good side vs the evil side including the usual death of the mentor plus people who seemed bad actually not being bad™ except that PJ has more povs and better rep from what I gather but that’s not the point so it’s basically the growing up journey for the young protagonist(s) the kid sees themselves in, then there’s stuff like hunger games where you actually have the dystopian worldbuilding just written to be enjoyable by younger people who don’t want to get too depressed (and ngl I haven’t read the books but I’ve seen the first two movies and guys the way everyone ignores the classist commentary in thg to discuss the love triangle is... a staple of the problem tbh) but still try to introduce deeper themes and have more nuanced characters and at the same time are still written to be enjoyed maybe by the more adult side of the target, and at the same time I can’t say that thg is the same as 1984 when it comes to target audience because 1984 doesn’t make the ugly dystopian themes more accessible using the love story/teenage protagonist etc;

at this point the problem is: if you only ever read ya and nothing else in your life (which is what a lot of people here do - guys again when I got here in 2011 if people didn’t discuss hp they discussed john gr/een, the only *adult*-aimed book I see discussed on tumblr is asoiaf... because of got X°DDD) then you end up seeing every other piece of literature expecting what you do out of a young adult and then you expect adult literature out of young adults/ya to approach certain implications the way an adult novel would, which is... frankly ridiculous;

specific examples: I see blogs which are principally about like ya fantasy books ie acotar or shadow/hunters or whatever shitting on grrm because AAAAH HE’S PROBLEMATIC/MISOGYNIST/HE HAS VIOLENCE AND RAPE IN THE BOOKS BLAH BLAH and like... spoilers: if I wrote a fantasy series aimed at fourteen year-olds who want their fantasy romance with the hot dark guy who is maybe a tiny bit problematic but turns their leaf for them I would hold back on blood and violence, if I wrote a fantasy for adults where I want to be realistic about misogyny I will not, and the fact that grrm gets judged on what happens and not how he writes it (and again, saying that a guy who has 1/3rd of his pov characters female except that it’s actually 50/50 because there are no throwaway povs except for mel while guys have a lot more of them and all the female povs have narrative weight [and mel has it before she gets one] and all of them have a different personality and he also has the same trope [brienne and arya] in two people with wildly different personalities and needs which is basically a goddamned miracle is a misogynist because there’s misogyny in his fantasy world is ridiculous imvho) which is.... exactly expecting of asoiaf what you’d expect out of acotar, when grrm and acotar’s writer write for wildly different audiences. now, if I had read acotar at 15 and asoiaf at 15 I’d have had no doubt re asoiaf being more my thing because again the subgenre acotar goes for is not my thing because I never related to that fantasy while brienne is my rep, but in general a 14yo girl who likes the acotar-like stuff will not care for grrm.... which is normal because grrm writes for adults of both genders, not teenage girls (I mean teenage boys also have their own subgenres for which the same rules are valid), and someone who likes percy jackson (aimed at both genders but like... pre-teens early teens) who doesn’t gaf for grrm won’t because it’s not aimed at them unless they like grrm for other reasons ie idk they realize that they relate to jon snow idk but you see my point, so like tldr that’s what I mean with if you only read ya you’ll expect adult writers to handle their themes like ya writers would and like... sorry but if I write stuff for adults I won’t feel the need to specify that the bad guy is B A D with neon lights because an adult should grasp that from the narrative, I don’t need to make sure it’s obvious bc it’s aimed at kids;

reverse: when I see people saying ‘the vampire diaries is problematic because it’s about people who are a hundred years old preying on teenage girls so we need to stop teenage girls from reading that kind of thing because it makes them think it’s okay to go with someone that much older than them’, we’re at the opposite problem in the sense that you’re asking a young adult novel what you would ask of AN ADULT NOVEL when there’s no point in it. like, a teenage girl knows perfectly that damon salvatore doesn’t exist and vampires don’t exist and werewolves don’t exist - the entire point of tvd is that she gets to fawn over the hot supernatural dude who changes for the better thanks to the female protagonist she most likely sees herself in and she gets to have a few nice fantasies about that which is like... normal for people who are developing their sexualities, most people wouldn’t actually want damon salvatore the way he’s exactly in canon irl because they know it’s a fantasy and so it should stay. like, sorry but as someone who watched the show because ian somerhalder is hot in her twenties and tried the first book and gave it up at page 30 because I couldn’t do it, I can 100% assure anyone that the biggest issues with tvd books are that the writing is really fucking bad (for my standards at least), with the tvd show that from S4 the writing spiraled downwards and no one wanted the magical vampire pregnancy witch twins ridiculousness, but none of the content actually was shit that anyone would take seriously like that and I wouldn’t expect tvd to approach that subject realistically. if I read a vampire book aimed at adults who actually wants to write such a relationship as creepy WELL YES OF COURSE I’D EXPECT IT TO BE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT BEING CREEPY, but if it’s aimed at freaking teenagers... it’s a fantasy and not really that deep, take it for what it is and let teenage girls enjoy thinking about smooching damon salvatore (or stefan or whoever) without assuming they need to be protected from Horrible Vampire Fiction™, same as no one goes bitching about unrealistic sex scenes in serialized romance books because people read them because they’re unrealistic and escapism, not because they expect nobel prize worthy exploration of themes from them;

now, ^^^^^^ would not happen if people actually read variedly and studied some decent lit analysis in school - but like, after I had to read I think at some point that of mice and men is ableist... THAT’S the damned point - with ya you can take a lot of the plot at face value, with adult lit you can’t and you have to see motivation beyond the action of the characters and you can’t do that if you only read books aimed at pre-teens/teenagers where obviously that’s... more spelled out than it would be in a book aimed at an adult audience;

that by the way also means wildly missing actual adult themes discussion in ya, because again, I haven’t read thg but from the two movies I’ve seen it’s fucking obvious that the whole thing is an anti us-classism commentary from how the districts are built to how the games are rigged to pretty much everything in the worldbuilding, but all the discourse I see on tumblr is about either the love triangle or katniss being miscast or president snow being a jerk and whatever else, but I never once saw anyone saying ‘heeeeey the people in katniss’ district are an in your face metaphor of poor people in the us of a belonging to certain categories while the first few districts are absolutely the 1% and the entire point of it is that she wants to tell you A CLASSIST SOCIETY IS BAD AND WILL LEAD TO REVOLUTIONS’, which to me was... like, glaring, it was literally what 90% of the entire thing was about and no one ever discusses it in a fandom-wide sense (I mean... I saw a bunch of hg posts back when the movies came out, I never saw this brought out), which... is a problem because it means that the moment people are put in front of a ya product that actually tackles that kind of issue.... they go and worry about the love triangle (which seemed to me the excuse to draw the people in the story) not about the social commentary, and like, maybe a twelve year-old won’t catch on the social commentary, a twenty-year old especially from the us should, and I don’t see that happening;

and sorry but that is because if you only engage with content aimed at a younger audience than your target first you assume that every piece of literature should be consumable/readable/enjoyable by a younger audience (and sorry but no, some of us don’t want to write stuff making sure teenagers like it) and then ask of actual ya media to cater to their *adult* needs and not to the needs of the target audience because wow obviously if you’re 25 you won’t want out of literature what you wanted at fourteen;

and this also is valid for children’s media because again, I’m cutting it short, but adults watching st/even universe and sending people death threats because they don’t agree with their opinion of a cartoon aimed at an audience that’s at moooostttt eight years old is a thing that shouldn’t even fucking exist, and if you think steven/universe is that important at an adult age you need to re-assess your priorities;

tldr: adults should not expect media aimed at kids/teens to cater to their interests and shouldn’t analyze it the way they’d analyze a piece of media aimed at an adult audience and should not presume that every piece of media should have the scope/schemes of medias aimed at kids/teens because some of us don’t want to read that.

now, I’ll leave you with a nice short anecdote which hopefully will further clarify what I mean and add to another point which would be, kids and teens don’t give a fuck about what you, an adult, do: when everyone was in a frenzy about my little pony back in 2013 or so I had to see a ton of posts like ‘AAAAAH MEN/BOYS WHO ARE INTO MLP ARE STEALING THE SHOW FROM YOUNG GIRLS HOW DARE THEY ENJOY IT WE NEED TO KICK THEM OUT’ with added people saying that a ten year old male kid who tried to kill himself bc his friends bullied him bc he liked mlp deserved it and the likes, my only thought was that... when I was 8-10 in elementary school and was actually the target for cartoons and stuff, sailor moon was the rage between all girls my age me included, we’d spend recess playing pretend (and I’d get stuck playing sailor mars bc no one wanted her, sad) and our hugest first world problem in existence was that we needed technically a mamoru and of course no self-respecting boy in elementary school would have admitted under death threats to watching sailor moon because it was a girls’ thing (aaaaah gender roles in the early-mid 90s, how fun) so everyone despaired because ofc no one wanted to play mamoru... and the few times any guy actually showed up like HEEEEY I WANNA DO IT BUT PLEASE DON’T TELL MY FRIENDS I LIKE SAILOR MOON we’d all be like OMG YOU’RE OUR NEW FAVORITE PERSON PLEASE YOUR SECRET IS SAFE because we couldn’t believe we found the magical boy™ who wanted to do it, and if anyone had told us that the kid in question was stealing sailor moon from us we’d have laughed in their face.

like.

kids don’t ask of media what you, an adult do, and it’s unfair of you, an adult, to ask children’s/ya media to cater to your damned interests, which are amply catered to by the tons of adult literature around which also forces you to push on your views and read more challenging things and to not read/watch stuff at face value, which is why I would really appreciate it if the amount of 20yo people on here who I consider adults engaged with more adult media and let themselves be challenged instead of just going back to ya/kids’ things, which are good for teens and kids and can be enjoyed by everyone but should not be the only goddamned genre you measure all other literature against because then you get people saying that lolita is pro-pedo when it’s exactly the goddamned contrary, but if you think that pov character = protagonist = good guy (which is... staple kids/ya stuff for obvious reasons) then you decide that humbert humbert is someone you’re supposed to root for. too bad that you’re not and the author was an actual csa victim so it’s a completely ridiculous reading that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t read lolita the way you read hp.

... okay, I’m done, sorry for how long this was, I hope it cleared things for good xD

#literature for ts #janie rants #idek #Anonymous #ask post #suicide attempt cw

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