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cappymightwrite · 3 years

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Jon Snow, Manfred & The Byronic Hero: Part 2

Previous Posts: PART 1

Hopefully Part 1 served as a good introduction on the topic and characteristics of the Byronic Hero, as well as how Jon Snow in particular is likely an iteration of this figure. But now we come to the real meat of this meta series — a closer look at Byron's dramatic poem Manfred (1816–1817), and more importantly, its titular character in comparison to Jon Snow. I was originally going to do an analysis and comparison of two key episodes in Manfred and A Storm of Swords, Jon VI, but have since decided to give that its own post... that's right kids, there will be a part 3!

(Detail from Lord Byron, Thomas Phillips, 1813)

So... why Manfred? Why not Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, or The Corsair, or Don Juan, or any other work by Lord Byron? Well, I'll tell you why, my sweet summer children. It's because of THIS:

Manfred/Manfryds and Byrons in ASOIAF, by order of first appearance and publication:

Ser Manfred Swann (ASOS, Jaime VIII)

Ser Manfred Dondarrion (The Hedge Knight)

Manfred Lothston (The Sworn Sword)

Manfryd o' the Black Hood (AFFC, Brienne I)

Manfryd Yew (AFFC, Jaime V)

Ser Byron the Beautiful (AFFC, Alayne II, TWOW, Alayne I)

Ser Byron Swann (ADWD, Tyrion III)

Manfryd Merlyn of Kite (ADWD, Victarion I)

Manfryd Mooton, Lord of Maidenpool (The Princess and the Queen, TWOIAF)

Manfred Hightower, Lord of the Hightower (TWOIAF)

Manfred Hightower, Lord of the Hightower (Fire and Blood)

Like... what the hell, George?

I find this very interesting, very interesting indeed! *cough* intentional, very intentional *cough* And I have to thank @agentrouka-blog for reminding me of the existence of these Manfreds/Manfryds, and thus pointing me in this particular direction. This evidence is, for me, my smoking gun, it's why I feel justified in exploring this specific work. In my opinion, it really strongly confirms that GRRM is aware of Manfred, he is aware of its author — as a literary name, it is pretty much exclusively connected to Byron, it's like Hamlet to Shakespeare, or Heathcliff to Emily Brontë. In fact, GRRM likes it enough to use this name several times in fact, its frequency of use aided by a slight variation on its spelling.

So, as we can see, there are a striking number of Manfred/Manfryds (9!!) featured in the ASOIAF universe, whereas Byron (2) is used a bit more sparingly — perhaps because the latter, if more liberally used, would become far more recognisable as an overt literary reference? Interestingly, though, we can see a direct link between the two names as both bear the surname Swann: Ser Manfred Swann and Ser Byron Swann (note the exact spelling of Manfred here, as opposed to Manfryd). Ser Byron was alive during the Dance of Dragons and died trying to kill the dragon Syrax, whereas Ser Manfred was alive during Aegon V's reign and had a young Ser Barristan as his squire. So, in terms of ancestry, Byron came before Manfred, which makes sense since Lord Byron created the character of Manfred; he is his authorial/literary progenitor, if you will.

But why Swann, though? Is there any significance to that surname? Well, I did a little bit of digging and turned up something very interesting, at least in my opinion. In Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Lines written among the Euganean Hills (1818), in its sixth stanza, the poet addresses the city of Venice... the “tempest-cleaving Swan” in the eighth line is clearly meant to be his friend and contemporary, Lord Byron, that city’s most famous expatriate:

That a tempest-cleaving Swan Of the songs of Albion, Driven from his ancestral streams By the might of evil dreams, Found a nest in thee;

(st. 6, l. 8-12)

Ah ha! But let's not forget that the Swanns are also a house from the stormlands — stormlander Swanns vs. "tempest-cleaving Swan." It seems a nice little homage, doesn't it? You could also argue that the battling swans of House Swann's sigil are a possible reference to Byron's fondness for boxing (he apparently received "pugilistic tuition" at a club in Bond Street, London). But to make the references to Byron too overt would ruin the subtly, so it isn't necessary, in my opinion, for the Swanns to be completely steeped in Byronisms.

All in all, it would be very neat of GRRM if the reasoning behind Byron and Manfred Swann is because of this reference to Lord Byron by Shelley. How these names and the characters that bear them might further reference Byron and Manfred is a possible discussion for another day! It's all just very interesting, very noteworthy, and highlights how careful GRRM is at choosing the names of his characters, even very minor, seemingly insignificant ones.

(Illustration of Villa Diodati from Finden's Illustrations of the Life and Works of Lord Byron, Edward Finden, 1833)

Now onto the actual poem, and the ways in which Jon Snow could being referencing/paralleling Manfred. First things first, a bit of biographical context. Take my hand, and let's travel back in time, way back when, to 1816, the year in which Lord Byron left England forever, his reputation in tatters due to the collapse of his marriage and the rumours of an affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh (plus he was hugely in debt). No doubt, most of us are familiar with the story, but in 1816 Byron travelled to Switzerland, to a villa on Lake Geneva, where he met the Shelleys and suggested that they all pass the time by writing ghost stories.

The most famous story produced by them was, of course, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) — which may have served as the partial inspiration behind Qyburn and Robert Strong! Byron himself did begin a story but soon gave it up (yesss, we love an unproductive king); it was completed, however, by his personal physician, John William Polidori, and eventually published, under Byron's name, as The Vampyre (1819). But Byron didn't completely abandon the ghost story project, as later that summer, after a visit by the Gothic novelist M. G. Lewis, he wrote his "supernatural" tragedy, Manfred (1817).*

*I've seen it dated as 1816-17, but the crucial thing to rememeber, in terms of Byron's own biography, is that unlike The Bride of Abydos, he wrote it after his departure from England... this theme of exile will come up later.

Manfred is what is called a "closet drama", so is structured much like a play, with acts and scenes, though it wouldn't have actually been intended to be performed on stage. Indeed, Lord Byron first described Manfred to his publisher as "a kind of poem in dialogue... but of a very wild—metaphysical—and inexplicable kind": "Almost all the persons—but two or three—are Spirits... the hero [is] a kind of magician who is tormented by a species of remorse—the cause of which is left half unexplained—he wanders about invoking these spirits—which appear to him—& are of no use—he at last goes to the very abode of the Evil principle in propria persona [i.e. in person]—to evocate a ghost—which appears—& gives him an ambiguous & disagreeable answer..."*

*As in Part 1, more academic references will be listed in a bibliography at the end of this post.

To sum up the narrative for you, Manfred is a nobleman living in the Bernese Alps, "tormented by a species of remorse", which is never fully explained, but is clearly connected to the death of his beloved Astarte. Through his mastery of poetic language and spell-casting, he is able to summon seven "spirits", from whom he seeks the gift of forgetfulness, but this plea cannot be granted — he cannot escape from his past. He is also prevented from escaping his mysterious guilt by taking his own life, but in the end, Manfred does die, thus defying religious temptations of redemption from sin. He therefore stands outside of societal expectations, a Romantic rebel who succeeds in challenging all of the authoritative powers he faces, ultimately choosing death over submission to the powerful spirits.

According to Lara Assaad, the character of Manfred is the "Byronic hero par excellence", as he shares its typical characteristics found in Byron's other work (as discussed in Part 1), "yet pushed to the extreme." As noted above, there is a defiance to Manfred's character, which is arguable also found in Jon. Certainly though, in all of Byron's works, the Byronic Hero appears as "a negative Romantic protagonist" to a certain extent, a being who is "filled with guilt, despair, and cosmic and social alienation," observes James B. Twitchell. I'll come back to those characteristics presently.

As noted by Assaad, "Byron scholars seem to agree on this definition of the Byronic Hero, however they focus mainly, if not exclusively, on the dynamics of guilt and remorse." Indeed, it is only in more recent years that the incest motif, as well as the influence of Byron's own biography, have been more widely discussed. But perhaps the most compelling aspect of the Byronic Hero is his complex psychology. Although trauma theory only really started to flourish during the 1990s, thus providing deeper insight into the symptoms that follow a traumatic experience, it nevertheless seems, at least to Assaad, that "Byron was familiar with it well before it was first discussed by professionals and diagnosed." As we know, GRRM began writing his series, A Song of Ice and Fire, during the 1990s, and character trauma and its effects feature heavily in his work, most notably in the case of Theon Greyjoy, but also in the memory editing of Sansa Stark in terms of the infamous "Unkiss".*

*The editing, or supressing, of memories is not exclusive to Sansa, however. E.g @agentrouka-blog has theorised a possible memory edit with regards to Tyrion and his first wife Tysha.

But if we return back to that original quote, in which GRRM makes the comparison between Jon and the Byronic Hero, his following statement is also very interesting:

The character I’m probably most like in real life is Samwell Tarly. Good old Sam. And the character I’d want to be? Well who wouldn’t want to be Jon Snow — the brooding, Byronic, romantic hero whom all the girls love. Theon [Greyjoy] is the one I’d fear becoming. Theon wants to be Jon Snow, but he can’t do it. He keeps making the wrong decisions. He keeps giving into his own selfish, worst impulses. [source]

As noted by @princess-in-a-tower, there is a close correspondence between Jon and Theon, with each acting as the other's foil in many respects. In fact, Theon does sort of tick off a few of the Byronic qualities I discussed last time, most notably standing apart from society, that "society" being the Starks in Winterfell, due to him essentially being a hostage. Later on, we see him develop a sense of deep misery as well due to his horrific treatment at the hands of Ramsey Snow. Like Theon, his narrative foil, Jon is also a character deeply informed by trauma (being raised a bastard), but the way they ultimately process and express that specific displacement trauma differs profoundly — Theon expresses it outwardly through his sacking of Winterfell, whereas Jon turns his trauma notably inwards.*

*Obviously, I'm not a medical professional — I'm more looking at this from a literary angle, but the articles I've read for this post do include reference to real medical definitions etc.

Previously, I observed how being "deeply jaded" and having "misery in his heart" were key characteristics of the Byronic Hero, as well as Jon Snow — this trauma theory is a continuation of that. Indeed, to bring it back to Manfred, Assaad goes as far as stating that the poem's titular hero "suffers from what is now widely recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)." I am purposely holding off on discussing what the origin of that trauma is, in relation to Manfred specifically, because, well... it needs a bit of forewarning before I get into it fully. Instead, let's look at the emotions it exacerabates or gives rise to, as detailed by Twitchell, and how they might be evident in Jon and his feelings regarding his bastard status.

(Jonny Lee Miller as Byron in the two part BBC series Byron, 2003)

Guilt

Does Jon suffer guilt due to him being a bastard and secretly wanting to "steal" his siblings' birthright? I'd say a strong yes:

When Jon had been Bran's age, he had dreamed of doing great deeds, as boys always did. The details of his feats changed with every dreaming, but quite often he imagined saving his father's life. Afterward Lord Eddard would declare that Jon had proved himself a true Stark, and place Ice in his hand. Even then he had known it was only a child's folly; no bastard could ever hope to wield a father's sword. Even the memory shamed him. What kind of man stole his own brother's birthright? I have no right to this, he thought, no more than to Ice. – AGOT, Jon VIII He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. – ASOS, Jon XII

But I think Jon's sense of guilt also extends to the high expectations he sets for himself, his "moral superiority" in the face of his bastard status, as discussed in Part 1. He feels guilt pulling him in two different directions, in regards to Ygritte: guilt for loving her, for breaking his vows, and potentially risking a bastard, but also guilt for leaving her, for abandoning her, and potentially leaving her unprotected:

His guilt came back afterward, but weaker than before. If this is so wrong, he wondered, why did the gods make it feel so good? – ASOS, Jon III Ygritte was much in his thoughts as well. He remembered the smell of her hair, the warmth of her body... and the look on her face as she slit the old man's throat. You were wrong to love her, a voice whispered. You were wrong to leave her, a different voice insisted. He wondered if his father had been torn the same way, when he'd left Jon's mother to return to Lady Catelyn. He was pledged to Lady Stark, and I am pledged to the Night's Watch. – ASOS, Jon VI "I broke my vows with her. I never meant to, but..." It was wrong. Wrong to love her, wrong to leave her..."I wasn't strong enough. The Halfhand commanded me, ride with them, watch, I must not balk, I..." His head felt as if it were packed with wet wool. – ASOS, Jon VI

This guilt surrounding leaving the women/girls he cares about unprotected also extends to Arya. Yet it was his need to prove himself as something more than just a bastard, by joining the Watch, which initially prevents him from acting, and which also makes him feel guilt for being a hyprocrite:

Jon felt as stiff as a man of sixty years. Dark dreams, he thought, and guilt. His thoughts kept returning to Arya. There is no way I can help her. I put all kin aside when I said my words. If one of my men told me his sister was in peril, I would tell him that was no concern of his. Once a man had said the words his blood was black. Black as a bastard's heart. – ADWD, Jon VI

I think there is a lack of reconciliation between Jon and his bastard status, between what being a bastard implies in their society: lustful, deceitful, treacherous, more "worldly" etc. Deep down, subconsciously, Jon really rebels against it. You can see that rebellion more clearly in his memories as a younger child, less inhibited:

Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. "I'm Prince Aemon the Dragonknight," Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, "Well, I'm Florian the Fool." Or Robb would say, "I'm the Young Dragon," and Jon would reply, "I'm Ser Ryam Redwyne." That morning he called it first. "I'm Lord of Winterfell!" he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, "You can't be Lord of Winterfell, you're bastard-born. My lady mother says you can't ever be the Lord of Winterfell." I thought I had forgotten that. Jon could taste blood in his mouth, from the blow he'd taken. – ASOS, Jon XII

But Jon knows this truth about himself, he knows that he has "always wanted it", and that causes him so much guilt because he can't allow himself to be selfish in that regard, because to do so would confirm for him his worst fears... that he truly is a bastard in nature as well as birth — treacherous, covetous, dishonourable.

Despair

As he grows up, learning to curb his emotional outbursts from AGOT, Jon appears more and more stoic upon the surface. But beneath that, buried in his subconscious in the form of dreams, you have this undyling feeling of despair, this trauma connected to his bastard status, his partially unknown heritage:

Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind. – AGOT, Jon III

These recurring dreams, sometimes explicitly involving his unknown mother, sometimes not, represent a clear gap, a gaping blank in Jon's personal history and his perception of his identity:

"Sometimes I dream about it," he said. "I'm walking down this long empty hall. My voice echoes all around, but no one answers, so I walk faster, opening doors, shouting names. I don't even know who I'm looking for. Most nights it's my father, but sometimes it's Robb instead, or my little sister Arya, or my uncle." [...]

"Do you ever find anyone in your dream?" Sam asked.

Jon shook his head. "No one. The castle is always empty." He had never told anyone of the dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it felt good to talk of it. "Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It's black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "That's when I always wake." His skin cold and clammy, shivering in the darkness of his cell. Ghost would leap up beside him, his warmth as comforting as daybreak. He would go back to sleep with his face pressed into the direwolf's shaggy white fur. – AGOT, Jon IV

"That always scares me", he says quite tellingly. From this key passage, in particular, we can see that Jon feels a deep rooted despair at essentially being unclaimed, unwanted... being without a solid (Stark) identity around which to draw strength and mould himself. He's afraid of being a lone wolf, because as we all know, "the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives," (AGOT, Arya II).

This dream points him in the direction of the crypts — "somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to" — which actually does have the answers he seeks because that is where Lyanna Stark is buried. Yet Jon is "afraid of what might be waiting for [him]", and wants to "scream" with dispair because of the darkness. So, this need for a confirmed identity is a double edged sword, which will no doubt be further complicated when his true parentage is revealed.

Elsewhere, Jon's dreams continue to have this despairing quality to them, often involving Winterfell, the Starks, and especially Ned, which is very interesting on a psychological level:

The grey walls of Winterfell might still haunt his dreams, but Castle Black was his life now, and his brothers were Sam and Grenn and Halder and Pyp and the other cast-outs who wore the black of the Night's Watch. – AGOT, Jon IV

Last night he had dreamt the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he'd heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves, Jon had woken in pitch-dark, his heart hammering. Even when Ghost leapt up on the bed to nuzzle at his face, he could not shake his deep sense of terror. He dared not go back to sleep. Instead he had climbed the Wall and walked, restless, until he saw the light of the dawn off to the east. It was only a dream. I am a brother of the Night's Watch now, not a frightened boy. – AGOT, Jon VII

But it is never "only a dream", is it?

And when at last he did sleep, he dreamt, and that was even worse. In the dream, the corpse he fought had blue eyes, black hands, and his father's face, but he dared not tell Mormont that. – AGOT, Jon VIII

Even Jon's conscious daydreams in AGOT revolve around his dispairing search for a solid identity:

A lot of these early dreams occur in A Game of Thrones, probably in response to his removal from Winterfell... his self exile. But later on in the series Jon continues to have dreams that tie him to the Starks and to Winterfell, ominous and sometimes despairing too. There's honestly too many instances to list, but if you want to understand the root of Jon's existential despair... it's in his dreams.

Cosmic Alienation

Cosmic alienation, now that's an interesting one in regards to Jon, since he definitely hasn't reached this state... yet. Life and his belief in the divine (the old gods) still hold meaning for him, but then he gets murdered by his black brothers. In the show, the writers hint at some cosmic alienation through Jon stating that he saw "nothing" whilst dead, but then they take it no further and generally do a piss poor job of post-res Jon. This characteristic of Manfred coming to the fore in Jon depends on what happens in The Winds of Winter, but I don't think it is at all that far fetched to assume that Jon will return to his body with a darker, altered perception of things.

Social Alienation

In Part 1, I discussed how Jon, like Byron's heroes, could be read as a "a rebel who stands apart from society and societal expectations." On a more psychological level, we can see how this Otherness, stemming from his bastard status, deeply affects Jon and his perception of himself and the world:

Benjen Stark gave Jon a long look. "Don't you usually eat at table with your brothers?"

"Most times," Jon answered in a flat voice. "But tonight Lady Stark thought it might give insult to the royal family to seat a bastard among them." – AGOT, Jon I

In his very first chapter, we see him quite literally alienated from the rest of his siblings, made to sit apart from them, an apparent necessity he seems fairly resigned to. Also in Part 1, I gave examples of instances in which Jon is mockingly called "Lord Snow," as well as a "rebel", "turncloak", "half-wildling", all of which serve to alienate him from the rest of the brothers of the Night's Watch.

Stannis gave a curt nod. "Your father was a man of honor. He was no friend to me, but I saw his worth. Your brother was a rebel and a traitor who meant to steal half my kingdom, but no man can question his courage. What of you?" – ASOS, Jon XI

The above interaction may seem on the surface to be about one thing — whether or not Jon will be of help to Stannis, offer him loyalty etc. — but tagged onto the end we have quite a poignant question: "what of you?" What are you, essentially. Who are you? The truth of his parentage may, in part, solve these questions... but it may also serve to alienate Jon from his perception of himself further. Ultimately, who exactly he is — what he believes in, who and what he fights for, etc. — will be solely his decision to make going forward.

So, the Byronic Hero, certainly in Manfred's case, but also in later iterations, is arguably traumatised by his own past. But regardless as to whether his trauma is related to a mysterious past, a secret sin, an unnamed crime, or incest, aka "secret knowledge", what is clear in Assaad's interpretation, is that the Byronic Hero is "living with the traumatic consequences of his own past and so suffers from PTSD." But why is Manfred traumatised, what is the specific cause of this trauma, or how might it reveal something deeper about Jon's own trauma? Now, here we come to the unavoidable... I'm going to start talking about Byronic incest and the pre-canon crush/kiss theory, and how it potentially parallels certain aspects of Manfred.

I should preface this by stating that I don't think Jon is suppressing trauma because he committed intentional incest with Sansa, but I do think (or at least somewhat theorise that) Byronic incest does come into play regarding his intense feelings of guilt and existential despair.

But still, stop reading now if are opposed to discussions of the pre-canon crush/kiss theory and the literary incest motif as a whole!

(Detail from The Funeral of Shelley, Louis Édouard Fournier, 1889)

Hey there to the depraved! If you aren't already familiar with the theory, here are some previous discussions/metas on the subject:

Full Blown Meta:

A Hidden and Forbidden Love by @princess-in-a-tower

Ask Answers (Long):

Jonsa as a more positive mirror to Jaime and Cersei? by @princess-in-a-tower, with additional comment by @jonsameta

Discussing the theory by @jonsameta

Evidence for pre-canon Jonsa? by @agentrouka-blog

Kissing in the godswood? by @agentrouka-blog

Why don't we read about Jon's reaction to Sansa and Tyrion? by @agentrouka-blog

More on Jon's supposed non-reaction by @agentrouka-blog, with additional comment made by @sherlokiness

A Jonsa "Unkiss"? by @fedonciadale

A hidden memory? by @fedonciadale

Sansa's misremembering by @fedonciadale

Descriptive parallels between A Song for Lya and Jonsa by @butterflies-dragons

Ask Answers (Short) & Briefer Mentions:

Jealous Jon by @princess-in-a-tower

Your new boyfriend looks like a girl by @butterflies-dragons

Like in Part 1, I've tried to cite as much as I could find, but as always, if anyone feels like I've missed someone important or that they should be included in the above list, please just drop me a line!

Now, it's a controversial theory, and not everyone's cup of tea — I think that's worth acknowledging! I myself am not wholly married to it, I'd be fine if it wasn't the case, but that being said, I can't in good faith ignore it when considering Lord Byron and the Byronic Hero. The incest is, unfortunately, very hard to ignore, both in his work and in his personal life. It's pretty hard to ignore in Manfred, for that matter, which is why I've held off talking about it... until now!

All aboard the Manfred incest train *choo choo* !!

First stop, Act II, scene one. Oh, wait, an annoucement from your conductor... apologies everyone, I purposely neglected to mention quite a key detail. Remember "Astarte! [Manfred's] beloved!", (II, iv, 136)? Yeah... it's heavily implied that Astarte is in fact Manfred's half-sister. *shoots finger guns* Classic Byron! *facepalms*

Oh, and that's not all! Let's consider the context surrounding the writing of this work for a moment, shall we? Unlike The Bride of Abydos (1813),* Manfred was written notably after the fallout of his incestuous affair with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, composed whilst in a self-imposed exile. *spits out drink* Woah, woah there cowboy... what in tarnation?! EXILE?!

*As referenced in Part 1, @rose-of-red-lake has written an excellent meta on the influence of Lord Byron's work (and personal life) on Jonsa, paying special attention to the half-siblings turned cousins in The Bride of Abydos.

Although, as noted by rose-of-red-lake, The Bride of Abydos bears strong parallels to the potential romance of Jon and Sansa, as well as Byron’s own angst regarding his relationship with Augusta Leigh, the context surrounding Manfred seems... dare I say it, even more autobiographical. Because like Byron himself, Manfred wanders around the Bernese Alps, solitary and guilt ridden, in a state of exile heavily evocative of Byron's own — as I mentioned earlier, the beginnings of Manfred occured whilst Byron was staying at a villa on Lake Geneva, in Switzerland... the Bernese Alps are located in western Switzerland. In light of this, I think it's very understandable that some critics consider Manfred to be autobiographical, or even confessional. The unnamed but forbidden nature of Manfred's relationship to Astarte is believed to represent Byron's relationship with his half-sister Augusta. But what has that got to do with Jon?

Look, I don't know how else to put this:

Byron self-exiles in 1816, first to Switzerland, to Lake Geneva, where it is unseasonably cold and stormy — his departure from England is due to the collaspe of his marriage to Annabella Milbanke, unquestionably as a result of the rumours surrounding his incestuous affair with his half-sister.

Displaced nobleman Manfred wanders the Bernese Alps, in a kind of moral exile, where "the wind / Was faint and gusty, and the mountain snows / Began to glitter with the climbing moon" (III, iii, 46-48), traversing "on snows, where never human foot / Of common mortal trod" (II, iii, 4-5), surrounded by a "glassy ocean of the mountain ice" (II, iii, 7). He feels extreme, but unexplained guilt surrounding the death of his "beloved" Astarte, who is heavily implied to also be his half-sister.

In A Game of Thrones, Jon Snow chooses to join the Night's Watch, with the reminder that "once you have taken the black, there is no turning back" (AGOT, Jon VI). By taking the black, Jon arguably exiles himself from the rest of the Starks, from Winterfell, to a place that "looked like nothing more than a handful of toy blocks scattered on the snow, beneath the vast wall of ice" (AGOT, Jon III). But we aren't given any indication that he does this due to incestuous feelings regarding a "radiant" half-sister, akin to Byron/Manfred, are we? And it's not like we have several Manfreds/Manfryds AND Byrons namedropped within the text, is it? Oh wait... we do. *grabs GRRM in a chokehold*

What the hell, George?!

(Lord Byron on His Deathbed, Joseph Denis Odevaere, c. 1826)

But lets get back on track here and take a closer look at that section of Manfred I mentioned at the beginning — Act II, scene one, aka the part where all the incest and supressed trauma really JUMPS out.

So, early in Act II, in the chamois hunter's abode (a chamois is a type of goat?), according Assaad's analysis, Manfred is "hyper-aroused by a cup of wine." The wine is offered in an attempt to calm Manfred; however, to the chamois hunter's great dismay, it instead agitates him and makes him utter words which are "strange" (II, i, 35). Rather than wine, Manfred sees "blood on the brim" (II, i, 25). His sudden agitation and erratic behaviour confound the chamois hunter, who observes that Manfred is losing his mind: "thy senses wander from thee" (II, i, 27). Assaad's analysis of this scene, which she believes "is the most revelatory in the entire play" discloses "a bitter truth: Manfred's traumatic past informs his present life."

We might compare this with Jon, in particular, how his dreams reveal certain bitter truths to do with his past, now subconsciously informing his present. I've already looked a bit at his crypt dream from AGOT, Jon IV, but we see a sort of recurrence of this dream again in ASOS, Jon VIII. The imagery of being in a crypt, somewhere underground, buried, in the dark, a place of ghosts and spirits, is extremely evocative. Indeed, to go back to Byron's own description of Manfred, the setting of a crypt is extremely suggestive of certain bitter truths "left half unexplained", of secrets buried... and we know that's true because the secret of Jon's parentage is hidden down there, in the form of Lyanna Stark.

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. He walked deeper into the darkness. "Father?" he called. "Bran? Rickon?" No one answered. A chill wind was blowing on his neck. "Uncle?" he called. "Uncle Benjen? Father? Please, Father, help me." Up above he heard drums. They are feasting in the Great Hall, but I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place. His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. "Ygritte?" he whispered. "Forgive me. Please." But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark... – ASOS, Jon VIII

I don't think it's outlandish to state that, unquestionably, Jon's bastard identity is a source of ongoing pain for him. I talked about the theme of despair in Jon's characterisation and it is very evident in the above, and it stems from this "bitter truth" of not being a trueborn Stark, of not being "welcome", or having a true place. The emotions/mindset this trauma, concerning his birth and identity, evokes in Jon is arguably what brings him, on first glance, so closely in line with the Byronic Hero:

Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed / The crypts were growing darker = A mysterious past / secret sin(s)

You are no Stark / I am no Stark = Deeply jaded

There is no place for you here / I am not welcome there / This is not my place = standing apart from society and societal expectations / social alienation

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell / He walked deeper into the darkness = Moody / misery in his heart

He fell to his knees / Forgive me = Guilt

He walked deeper into the darkness / Please, Father, help me / He fell to his knees = Despair

These aren't all the Byronic characteristics I've addressed in relation to Jon, but it is a substantial percentage of them, all encapsulated, in one way or another, within this singular dream passage. As far as what is fairly explicit in the text, being a bastard is Jon's "bitter truth", it is the "traumatic past inform[ing] his present life." But what is Manfred's "bitter truth", what past trauma is informing his present? And can it reveal a bit more about another layer to Jon's trauma? Because there is a key distinction — Manfred's trauma, his PTSD, stems from a specific event, notably triggered by the (imagined) "blood on the brim" of his wine, whereas for Jon, we have no singular event, we have no momentus experience, we just have this "truth."

As mentioned previously, Assaad has recognised the character of Manfred as displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In Assaad's article, she remarks that "an experience is denoted as traumatic if it completely overwhelms the individual, rendering him or her helpless," and this is quite evident in the interaction between Manfred and the chamois hunter. Sharon Stanley, an educator and clinical psychotherapist, writes that "the word trauma has been used to describe a variety of aversive, overwhelming experiences with long-term, destructive effects on individuals and communities."

So, if trauma is related to an experience, or experiences, is it still accurate to say that Jon experiences trauma, connected to being a bastard? Because there is seemingly no singular or defining root experience, or event that it stems from, it just is… it is a compellation of several moments, revealed to the reader through Jon’s memories and/or dreams. What is being "left half unexplained” here?

Assaad makes reference to the American Psychiatric Association's definition of PTSD, in which it observes that for an individual to be diagnosed with PTSD, they have to suffer from one or more intrustion symptoms, one or more avoidance symptoms, two or more negative alterations, and two or more hyperarousal symptoms. The dreams Jon has certainly suggest something, but it seems like a stretch to say that, like Manfred, he is suffering from PTSD, right? We and Jon are very much aware that he is "no Stark", at least not in the sense that he is Ned's trueborn son, this isn’t something Jon is actively suppressing. By comparison, it is incontrovertible that Manfred committed something in the past, which he deeply wishes to forget and disassociate from:

Man. I say ’tis blood—my blood! the pure warm stream Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours When we were in our youth, and had one heart, And loved each other as we should not love, And this was shed: but still it rises up, Colouring the clouds, that shut me out from heaven, Where thou art not—and I shall never be. C. Hun. Man of strange words, and some half—maddening sin

(II, i, 28-35)

However, we cannot be sure what this traumatic point of origin is, though we know that it is related to something he has done to his beloved Astarte, which subsequently led to her death. Many critics have suggested that his sin is that of incest, and as I noted earlier, that Manfred as a whole is more than just a bit autobiographical and/or confessional in nature. Manfred's incestuous sin therefore re-enacts Byron's incest with his half-sister Augusta. But regardless of the true cause, Manfred is traumatised by his past and cannot overcome it. Is there something in Jon’s past, that may have subconsciously, or consciously, influenced his departure to the Wall — his self exile — which he cannot overcome, and which is closely tied to the issue of and pain he feels due to being a bastard, not just the illegitimacy, but also the negative characteristics it assigns? Is there an event, or experience, we can pinpoint as the origin of Jon’s trauma and potential PTSD?

To circle back to Jonsa, there is some, not unfounded, debate amongst us concerning the validity of the pre-canon crush/kiss theory. I've always found it an interesting theory, but until now, I haven't really given it too much thought. In light of the Byron connection, however, as well as the textual analysis I have for Part 3, I think this scenario, as detailed by agentrouka-blog, seems more and more likely. And I don't say that lightly, I really don't. It is a somewhat uncomfortable speculation to make, even if the interaction was more innocent rather than explicit (this is the side I firmly fall down on), however, it’s ambiguity does potentially parallel Byron’s Manfred and Astarte. This post would be even longer if I included my side-by-side text comparisons, so you may have to trust me for the moment that there are some very striking similarities between Act II, scene I of Manfred, and Jon's milk of the poppy induced dream in ASOS, Jon VI, as well as the actual buildup to that vision.

But, that sounds frankly terrible doesn't it? And it doesn't bode well for his future relationship with Sansa, does it? And what does it mean if Jon is suffering from PTSD due to an incestuous encounter with Sansa? What does that mean for Sansa, Sansa who is doggedly abused and mistreated by men within the present narrative? This is awful, why would GRRM root their romance in something traumatic? Oh I hear you, and these are questions I needed to ask myself whilst compiling this. But you see... now bear with me here... it isn't the actual encounter itself that was traumatic, for either Jon or Sansa, and that is reflected in both their POVs, because, though they think about each other sparingly (explicitly at least), it is never done so negatively. No, the potential PTSD Jon suffers from this experience isn't connected to Sansa, to whatever occured between them. Rather, I believe, it's connected to either the fear, or the reality, that Ned, his assumed father, saw and/or caught him (either Sansa had left at this point, or didn't fully grasp the issue), and this fear, this guilt, this sense of despair, is made evident in this passage:

When the dreams took him, he found himself back home once more, splashing in the hot pools beneath a huge white weirwood that had his father’s face. Ygritte was with him, laughing at him, shedding her skins till she was naked as her name day, trying to kiss him, but he couldn’t, not with his father watching. He was the blood of Winterfell, a man of the Night’s Watch. I will not father a bastard, he told her. I will not. I will not. “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” she whispered, her skin dissolving in the hot water, the flesh beneath sloughing off her bones until only skull and skeleton remained, and the pool bubbled thick and red. – ASOS, Jon VI

That's the traumatic experience, I believe, not the kiss — yep, I strongly suspect there was a kiss. Moreover, Jon's recurring assertion, throughout the series, that he "will not father a bastard" is tied to this in some way, it’s tied to Ned, it’s tied to some sense of guilt and shame. It’s not tied to Sansa. But we'll look at this passage, what it means, what it parallels, and what directly precedes it, in comparison to Manfred, a lot more closely next time.

I'll leave you with a slight teaser though — the parallel that made me really sit up and take notice:

C. Hun. Well, sir, pardon me the question, And be of better cheer. Come, taste my wine; 'Tis of an ancient vintage; many a day 'T has thaw’d my veins among our glaciers, now Let it do thus for thine. Come, pledge me fairly. Man. Away, away! there’s blood upon the brim! Will it then never—never sink in the earth?

(II, i, 21-26)

Note this imagery!!!

Maester Aemon poured it full. "Drink this."

Jon had bitten his lip in his struggles. He could taste blood mingled with the thick, chalky potion. It was all he could do not to retch it back up. – ASOS, Jon VI

In both instances, a drink is offered, with "blood upon the brim", and "blood mingled". In Manfred's case, this is an explicit trigger for him, whereas for Jon? Well, it bit more hidden, a bit more buried, but this moment is, to my mind, the catalyst, because its imagery strongly evokes the colours of the weirwood tree — "blood" red and "chalky" white — you know, the "huge white weirwood" he later on envisions.

*spits out drink*

Maybe the magnitude of this parallel isn't completely evident as of yet, but it will be... or at least I hope it will be, so stay tuned for Part 3!

(Starting to run out of Byron pics so... I dunno, here's Rupert Everret, from The Scandalous Adventures of Lord Byron, 2009)

In Conclusion

To summarise, why is the Manfred connection so monumental to me? Why do I find the pre-canon kiss theory, specifically the scenario detailed by agentrouka-blog, now very hard to dismiss? Because:

The nine (!) Manfreds/Manfryds included within the text, as well as the two Byrons, one of which, the first mentioned in fact, first appears in Sansa's POV. But crucicially the direct link made by GRRM between Byron Swann and Manfred Swann.

The strength of the similarities that can be observed between Jon and the Byronic Hero, but also notably to Byron's Manfred, the "Byronic hero par excellence", according to Assaad. Especially the recurring emotions of guilt and despair, the latter exemplified perhaps most clearly in Jon's dreams.

The prominent theme of self-exile to escape something, something that perhaps cannot be openly stated, present in Manfred, Byron's own life, and Jon's narrative.

Those pesky half-sisters: Augusta, Astarte, and Sansa.

The PTSD symptoms clearly present in Manfred, but left "half unexplained", and seemingly not explained at all in Jon's POV — I'll dig more into this in Part 3.

The "blood upon the brim", and "blood mingled" — more on that in Part 3, I hope you guys like in depth imagery analysis!

Obviously, this is all still just speculation on my part, and it's speculation in connection to a theory that is understandably controversial. I'd be happy to dismiss it... if it weren't for the above. So, I suppose I'm in two minds about it. On the one hand, however you look at it, it's more trauma in an already traumatic series... which is *sighs* not what you want for the characters you care strongly about. But on the other hand, that literary connection to Manfred (and by extension to actual Lord Byron), the way it's lining up, plus that comparison GRRM himself made between Jon and the Byronic Hero... that's all very compelling and interesting to me as a reader, as a former English literature student. So, I don't want it to be true because... incest hell. But then, I also want it to be true because then it makes me feel smart for guessing correctly.

But anyway, we're going to be descending into incest hell in Part 3, so... we'll just have to grapple with that when we come to it. I hope, if you stuck with it till the incesty end, that you enjoyed this post!

Stay tuned ;)

Bibliography of Academic Sources:

American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edn (Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013); online edition at www.dsm5.org

Assaad, Lara, "'My slumbers—if I slumber—are not sleep': The Byronic Hero’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder", The Byron Journal 47, no. 2 (2019): 153–163.

Byron, George Gordon Noel, Byron’s Letters and Journals. Ed. Leslie A. Marchand. 12 vols. London: Murray, 1973–82.

Holland, Tom, "Undead Byron", in Byromania: Portraits of the Artist in Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Century Culture, ed. by Frances Wilson (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2000).

MacDonald, D. L. "Narcissism and Demonality in Byron’s 'Manfred'", Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal 25, no. 2 (1992): 25–38.

Stanley, Sharon, Relational and Body-Centered Practices for Healing Trauma: Lifting the Burdens of the Past (London: Routledge, 2016)

Twitchell, James B., The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1981).

#jonsa #jon x sansa #jonsa meta #jon as the byronic hero #byronic hero #lord byron #tw: incest #cappy's thoughts #grrm and the Romantics #Jonsa and Romanticism #percy bysshe shelley #romantic poets #literary references #damn this was a long one!#glad a split it into another part!#i started to get a bit unhinged by the end not gonna lie

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smallblip · 3 years

Note

Will there be any prologue to your Levihan Royalty AU? Like, how did Levi meet Hange? How did Hange marry The King? When was the first time they fell for each other? For the daughter.. Idk why I pictured Mikasa in my mind, except for the nose part tho. UGH I really love the story sooooo much! Can't get enough of it.. 😭

Hey! I searched my blogs because I remember writing in the tags of a post that I always imagine Mikasa to be Levihan’s kid? And I realised that post is in my drafts? Anon you read my mind? 😨

I don’t think I addressed everything but here’s a little Drabble in the same Royal AU💖 I imagine this to be the same AU mentioned in Deep Sea Baby💖 (I took a chunk from there)

A thousand burning suns pt. II

Tell me about my mother.

The girl asks as Nanaba braids her hair, fingers working deftly through untameable raven hair. By next fall she will ask to have it cropped short.

Your mother is Hanji Zoë, and she’s the bravest person I know.

And of my father?

Nanaba puts flowers in her hair, they’ll fall off by mid-day, but for now, she’s content with the stories Nanaba tells her. Her book lies abandoned on her lap.

Your father is Levi Ackerman, a man whose spirit cannot be broken.

—

Hanji was born with the secrets of the universe etched in the lines of her palm and the constellation in her eyes. She is princess of a port kingdom- a people favoured by the sun and raised by the sea. And she lets the sea- worshipped by her people- carry her to a distant land of frigid waters and snowfall, where her betrothed is king. When she sets foot on land, she's greeted by faces paler than hers and a mannerism befitting the heartiness of Northern kingdoms. Already, Hanji misses the white sandy beaches and the heat of the midday sun, but she's to be queen now, and she remembers this when she walks past the heavy doors into the throne room.

She meets him- the knight she hears about in stories, stories that bridged the seas.

Levi was born in the Underground, a street rat, a thief who now commands an army. He kneels in front of Hanji and kisses the back of her hand and swears on his life to protect her. And when he looks up, she’s grinning down at him, a glint of mischief in her eyes. And all he sees are the freckles on the bridge of her nose- the promise of sunshine. And like any creature held for too long in the dark, he learns to seek out the light.

Get up you idiot, don’t make this a habit!

—

She catches him looking. She always does. But they’re young and these stolen glances make up a larger game of push and pull- like the ebb and flow of the waves, when the sea rushes out to meet the land.

The nights are long in her new kingdom. The nights are cold and lonely and long, and her King has a habit of seeking warmth in other places; other bodies.

Levi finds her atop the walls one night, looking up at the stars, and she catches him looking. She always does. She grins at him and he’s thrown off guard, settling for a scowl to distract from the redness spreading to the tips of his ears. But she shifts to create space for him.

Do you want to hear a story?

She says, gentle like calm waters.

So he sits and listens to her talk about the stars in the skies. One story blends into another, and they make this a habit. She paints the world with wonder, vivid strokes across a dull canvass. And Levi watches the stars through the reflection in her eyes.

Levi learns the names of the planets and their moons in her mother tongue.

—

The queen fights her King’s battles. She sails his ships across the seas and flies his flag over foreign lands.

She’s formidable in battle, and her enemies tell tales of her might, and of her mercy.

In the thick of battle, she finds herself looking for him, smile ghosting her lips when she sees him looking at her too.

“Eyes in front of you, four eyes!” He shouts through the thick of death. And she feels brave enough to laugh, “don’t cause too much trouble, Levi.”

They return home victorious, they always do. But the King has an appetite that cannot be satiated. And war chips away at a human soul.

So in the cover of night he slips into her room, and looks at her with an urgency. This is inevitable. He calls out to her, says her name like it’s the only thing good left in this world. All creatures seek out the sun- in their own ways they grow towards light.

This is inevitable. Etched in the palm of her hand as destiny. So she says his name like an epiphany. She lets her robes slip down to her ankles and the waves crash onto shore. Her lover is kind and he’s good in all the ways that Hanji has learnt to recognise. He kisses along her spine, gentle like a drizzle in Spring. She makes him laugh and the sound surprises them both. In these moments, she forgets the rough hand of her King, and she remembers how much she misses dancing in the rain.

Levi looks at her like she’s divine.

She whispers something in his ear like a mantra, in a language he doesn’t understand.

The next time Levi learns to say it back.

They make this a habit.

—

The girl is an Ackerman. She hears her father’s voice in the winds. Focus, my love. Steady on your feet. Do not hesitate.

She lunges with her wooden sword, attacking where Mike is undefended. When she’s older she will exceed him, and even now, she manages to create an opening.

The girl is a Zoë. She hears her mother’s voice in the trees. Think fast, my darling. What are his weaknesses?

She manages to trip him, and when he tumbles over, he sees the glint in her eyes. She’s a feisty one. The girl giggles, falling to the ground to lie beside Mike, and she points out the shapes in the clouds to him.

The girl will have the world at her feet.

—

“It’s yours, I’m sure of it…” Hanji says.

They’re sitting by the lake. Everything is calm, and the cicadas sing like she’s back home where the days are long and the nights go quickly. She has her back against his chest, and his arms have come to snake around her, hands stroking absentmindedly at her growing belly. There’s nobody here. Some days she forgets who she belongs to.

“When the time comes we’ll run away.”

“And leave for the docks?” she breathes. There’s something lurking beyond the horizon, something bigger than the two of them, and the stars are telling her that they will die. The world is in the palm of their King- a man consumed by greed, and theirs is a union cursed from the beginning. But Levi has the strength of a hundred soldiers, so they say, and Hanji has a will that shatters the earth like lightning.

For now, Levi hums a reply and kisses her forehead when she leans back to look at him. The cicadas are still singing their song and when she closes her eyes, it feels like home.

She thinks of her child- their child- and she pictures a mop of raven hair and grey eyes like the sea. And her heart swells. Oh how lucky she has been in this life to have loved a boy as beautiful as he.

Levi knows that any child of Hanji’s will be beautiful. He pictures her nose, and the brightness of her eyes. His eyes widen in awe when he feels a kick against the tautness of Hanji’s skin.

She chuckles, hands coming to intertwine with Levi’s, “she’s a feisty one…”

—

The girl is testament to the waves crashing into shore. To the certainty of sunlight, and the promise of rain.

The neighbour’s boys come round to sneak peeks at her, they leave flowers at the door for the girl with the wild hair and the stars in her eyes. Mike knows Levi would have made quick work of them if he were here.

The girl is born of a boy from the underground who fell in love with the princess of a kingdom across the sea.

And the world is at her feet.

Part III

#thank you anon💖💖💖#I hope you like!#levihan #Drabble #mine #inbox #anon #Levi x hange #hange Zoë #Levi Ackerman

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aminiatureworld · 4 years

Text

Steadfast

Characters: Childe, gn!reader

Word Count: 3,241

Warnings: Swearing, Angst

Premise: He’d always assured you that he wouldn’t change, that he was still the man he was before. And yet how different things were, and how much it hurt to see what had come to pass.

In which the reader sees the changes in Childe

Author’s Note: Thank you so much for this request anon! Really from the bottom of my heart thank you. I really liked the concept of this prompt, I feel like it really gave me an opportunity to focus on how relationships change and grow, rather than always writing about new couples, or people just beginning to fall in love, although there is of course that involved. It’s interesting to see how people grow and change, even if it can be a little sad sometimes. Writing this was kind of depressing, I hope that this wasn’t too sad, considering you requested hurt comfort. I might’ve gotten a bit carried away…

Funny story, I actually hate one of the people Childe shares a name with. Look what you did to Cassandra Ajax the Lesser, look what you did… So to make up for this unfortunate coincidence I pronounce the names differently in my mind. Ajax the Lesser is pronounce “A-jack-s” and Childe’s name is pronounced “Ai-axe”.

I decided not to bullet point this, as I feel like it works better in a more “traditional format”, that being said if bullet points are easier to read I can go back and fix that.

When you’d first fallen in love with Ajax it had been before the change.

Back then everything with him had seemed so exciting, like stepping into the sea for the first time. You were a bit afraid, worried that you might be swept away all at once, but another part of you wanted to run straight ahead, to immerse yourself in this new and exciting experience. Wanted to keep going and never look back.

You’d known Ajax since before you could remember. The two of you had grown up in the same small village, where one could hardly take five steps without bumping into someone, and being close in age had made you automatic playmates. Ajax was a brash child, not always easy to get along with, but impossible to pull away from. Even when he knocked you to the ground, or sat on you so you couldn’t move, declaring himself the winner of whatever you’d been playing, you’d still run to meet him the next day, the tears you’d shed utterly forgotten. Childhood friends might’ve been a cliché, but it was truly then that Ajax as a person had begun to stick in your mind.

This only continued throughout the course of your adolescence. Attending the same schools you two were nearly inseparable, causing you merciless teasing from the rest of your classmates. Ajax apparently got the same treatment, resulting in him decking a kid who declared you two were going to get married when you grew up. He’d been suspended for a few days, but never seemed to regret it, and when you’d gone over to his house to ask about it he’d grinned as usual, proclaiming he’d gladly do it again.

Growing up was a difficult process, so many snags and pitfalls, new anxieties, and old ones that you’d never truly worried about before. But it was all perfectly fine with Ajax there. He was always ready to pick you up, and flash you a smile to go along with his help. No wonder you found yourself hopelessly infatuated him, years of trust and affection building up to the newfound feeling of love.

And then Ajax went missing.

You still remembered the terror that shocked your system when his mother visited, tone unnervingly light, asking if you and Ajax weren’t playing some type of game. You’d bolted outside when she’d revealed Ajax had gone missing, running towards the woods that was the only exit to the village where you lived. The adults had quickly caught up to you, but your fears had already grabbed hold, and you found yourself confronted with all you felt for him. You loved Ajax. How did this happen? Love was still so foreign, a word you could throw around but never truly catch. And yet you loved him, you loved him very much. And now he was gone.

They didn’t let you see him initially, saying he was tired, he needed rest, he’d be alright in a few days. Your imagination had run wild, your mind spinning a terrible story. Perhaps he’d been mortally wounded, perhaps he could no longer see, made blind from the snow and the cold. Perhaps he wasn’t really back, and they were simply lying to make you happy. These thoughts chased you, and it was only when you saw him again that your heart settled, even if a part of you whispered that Ajax was altogether changed.

He’d begun to leave the village. Though no one quite knew where he was you certainly knew a lot of brawling was involved. He’d sometimes sneak into your house, in a last ditch effort to keep his parents and the rest of his family from finding out how much he’d truly changed. You’d cried sometimes, seeing him with black eyes and bruising, slashes of red marring his hands, his arms, his face. He didn’t like to see you cry, would start scolding you, as if it was some fault of yours to feel worried, to care for someone who already was growing into a stranger. He always realized his fault though, and after a little while he’d pat the spot next to him. You’d sit down, head sometimes on his shoulder, listening as he spun his tales of greatness into the night, as if he were a knight fighting a great dragon and its army, rather than a troubled new adult with nowhere to turn to in terms of understanding.

When he’d ask you to be his partner you thought you’d never feel unhappy again. You felt like you were on air, kept grounded only by his arms around you, his heart beating steadily against your ear as you nestled against his chest. You could tell he was happy too, and though it amazed you slightly that he should be as in love with you as you were with him, you could only thank the Tsaritsa and every other archon under the stars, thank them for being so generous as to give you all you ever wanted.

It seemed such a funny thought in retrospect, when it was the Tsaritsa herself who was now tearing him away from you.

“Ajax, how could you?!” Your voice felt odd to your ears, somehow too thin, distant, as if someone else was saying it. “You knew, you knew that you’d have to join the Fatui. So why, why in the name of the Seven did you start that fight!”

“They were asking for it!” Ajax’s voice was just as raw, frustration mixed with something unknown. Entitlement perhaps, fear otherwise. “You should’ve heard the things they said about me, about my family. How they’d raised a good for nothing thief, a shithead who knew nothing more than how to swing a sword, and who would one day meet someone bigger than him, and die in the street, given to the rats, utterly forgotten. I had to prove them wrong! It was a matter of honor!”

“It was a matter of ego!” You cried, feeling the ground spin slightly underneath you. “How could you let them goad you like that Ajax, goad you when you knew exactly what was going to happen.” Sitting down you put your head in your hands. The world was shattering around you, and there was no one to blame for it except the one you loved the most.

“My darling, please, I don’t want to fight.” Ajax knelt down in front of you, taking your hands in his as you raised your head to face him.

“You always want to fight…” you replied, voice hoarse, pitched barely above a whisper. “And now you’re leaving, leaving to be part of an organization of cowardliness and deceit. What happened to the adventures you were going to have? What happened to the dragons you were going to slay?”

“I’ll get them yet.” There was amusement in Ajax’s voice, but it was clearly forced, and soon forgotten about. “I promise it’ll be alright, my darling I would never do anything to knowingly hurt you.”

And yet you have, you thought. You’ve run a dagger through my heart, and now your talking to me as if I’m not being destroyed by it. It hurts, it hurts so damn much.

“You’re going away.” You finally replied. “You’re going away to a place that will only destroy you more. And now things will never be the same again. Haven’t you wondered about what will happen to you there? If you’ll ever be allowed to return home? Haven’t you wondered whether or not you’ll ever see your family again? Things will never be the same again Ajax, never. You’ve crossed the chasm, and now you cannot return.”

“Don’t talk like that.” Ajax placed a hand on your cheek. “I promise nothing will change. I will always be myself my darling. This is only a stepping stone, a piece of my journey. I promise, I promise I will always remain as I am. And I’ll never forget about you, nor my family, nor this village. Nothing is going to change. I’ll make sure it won’t. So stop crying my darling; tears never looked good on you anyways.”

And yet, how things have already changed. Still, you said nothing, instead wiping your eyes and pressing your forehead against Ajax’s. His familiar presence was reassuring, and you thought of the years ahead of you, perhaps the eternity ahead of you, when you could no longer rely on him being there. Your eyes welled with tears again, and this time you made no move to stop them. You let yourself cry. If there was anything in the world worth crying about, surely this was one of those things.

There was a new name signed in Ajax’s letters. “Childe” was the first name, “Tartaglia” was the second. They seemed to mar the page somewhat, written in Ajax’s – no, Childe’s – bold, slashing script. You hated the names, hated the memories they stirred up, reminders of all you’d lost in such a small amount of time.

The day you’d found out Childe was to become a Harbinger you’d raged as you’d never raged before. Locking yourself in the small apartment you’d managed to find – having moved out of Morepesok once the memories had become too oppressive – you’d spent most of your time reading the letter over and over and over.

He’d wanted you to attended, writing you were basically his family at this point, and besides, he wanted to show you to the Tsaritsa. Though the line about family filled your heart with no little affection, you’d refused flat out. It would’ve been too painful, seeing the crux of his transformation; the death of Ajax, the birth of Tartaglia. Childe had said nothing to your refusal, but he was clearly worried, and for a while afterwards the letters were more frequent. But even that stopped after a while, and now you savored what little information you could get, the torn pages of last month’s note a testimony to how much you reread them.

You wished that you could somehow end this purgatory you’d found yourself in. Though you’d begun your own career by now, pushing yourself to your limits as you were sure Childe was doing in his, nothing seemed so important as the drama that had comprised your entire life. How long had you known Childe? You could no longer remember. Long ago, so very long ago. Back when the world was simpler, comprised only of candy from one of the big cities, and fighting over the best fishing rod. Tears were shed over particularly brutal games of tag, then forgotten the next day. How odd that world seemed now, something you could never go back to.

Every once in a while you’d be met not by a letter, but by a visit. Those were the best days. The days where you could set all your worries and your unease away. When you could once more press your ear against Childe’s chest and feel the steady beating of his heart. As long as you could do that, maybe it’d be alright.

“How’s my darling?” Childe’s voice carried down the hall of your apartment. You’d dropped the letter you’d been reading, his letter, and ran towards the entrance. Throwing yourself in his arms you wept tears of joy. Childe returned the embrace just as enthusiastically, though his eyes were dry. They’d changed, his eyes, or perhaps you’d just learned to notice the hardness that resided in them. “I’m home.” Childe murmured, eyes closed, expression one of perfect bliss. “Don’t worry beloved, I’m home.”

His presence never left yours the days he came to visit. Always there was an arm slung around your waist, or a chin resting on your shoulder or your head. His presence was as comforting as ever, and you soaked it in gladly. He’d changed. Not that you were surprised by that, of course he’d changed. His confidence was much more calculated, his words now slicked with flattery and deceit. He easily persuaded the fishmonger to give you a discount, and some sweet talk with the waiter at a café you frequented earned you a free lemon loaf. You took it, knowing that he just wanted to treat you, but the sugary confection stuck to the roof of your mouth, which had somehow developed a bitter taste.

You said nothing about it. There was no longer any point in arguing. You two were tied together by all sorts of strings. History, location, youth, love. And yet you’d gone your own separate ways. No more were the dreams of adventuring together. The real world had come along and stolen it away. The Tsaritsa had ripped that future from your grasp, and with it went your happiness.

“Are you happy, my love?” Childe asked late one evening. You were cuddled on the small couch in what comprised your living room. You nestled against Childe, breathing him in. Were you happy? No. But in that moment you weren’t unhappy either. In that moment you could forget it all.

“Do you think that sailors feel lonely?” You asked instead, drawing circles absentmindedly on the palms of Childe’s hands. He wore gloves now, expensive ones, not like the mittens that were popular in Snezhnaya. It was so odd to watch him put them on each morning. How things had changed. “They must be lonely,” you continued now, “for there’s nothing but the ship, the water, and the stars above.”

Childe paused, staring off into the distance. He did that a lot recently. You didn’t begrudge him it. Sometimes, when he was in a frank sort of mood, he admitted that he didn’t like the Fatui’s underhanded nature. Better to fight something head on than attack from the shadows. He’d quickly added on that it was the Tsaritsa’s wish, and surely she must know better than him. But it must’ve been difficult, following a path so different than the one you were born to. Betraying your nature, every day of your life.

“It must be lonely sometimes.” He finally replied, glancing back at you. “But I don’t think they’re lonely, no. The stars may be far away, but they’re steadfast, unchanging. And sailors will always be able to rely on them.” You were silent, considering his views.

“Still... stars are so very cold.”

“Perhaps, but they’re also beautiful, are they not? And like I said, who ever heard of a star changing?” A pause, as it seemed Childe was steadying himself, dipping into unpleasant territory. “I hope I will always be your star, my love. I hope you will always be able to rely on me.”

“I will.” You promised, giving Childe a quick kiss. You meant it, even if you weren’t sure that the metaphor was apt. Childe was forever changing; his mannerisms, his name, his location, his words. Sometimes it seemed as if there was nothing left of Ajax, nothing but a small sliver of light, shivering in the darkness that was fate.

“And I will always remained steadfast in my love for you.” Childe promised in return. “For there is nothing more important to me than family, and you are my family. You are that which I hold closest to my heart, and I’ll never stop loving you. I promise.”

His words were smoother than they had been before, polished by the need to be appealing to those who heard it. But you knew they were true. All throughout your life, throughout the pain, the hardship, the feeling of slowly falling off a cliff, all throughout that the one thing that remained was the love between you and Childe. Even if you had nothing, at least you had that.

“Childe?” He grimaced at the word and you paused. “Ajax,” you began again, “are you happy?”

Childe didn’t reply, instead leaning over to kiss you. You reciprocated it gladly, not truly wanting an answer to your question, although a part of you desperately needed it. Was Childe happy? You couldn’t tell. But despite your newfound hatred for the Tsaritsa, your disdain for the gods which had grown in the years of your hardship, your long abandoned faith, you still prayed to the Seven that Childe was happy. Because he deserved it. Because you loved him.

You tried not to cry when he left, wanting to see him off with a smile and a wave, the way noble men and women would wave to the knights who were on their way to save the kingdom. But always your voice betrayed you, cracking and shaking, trembling violently against the knowledge that you wouldn’t see your loved one again, not for a very long time.

“Be careful.” You whispered, giving Childe one last hug.

“I will.” He assured you, kissing your forehead. “You be careful as well my love, I couldn’t stand it something were to happen to you. If anything happens, think of me, I’ll rush to your side immediately.”

“Don’t forget to write,” you replied, switching the subject so you didn’t have to think about the implications of Childe abandoning the Fatui, what might happen to him if he tried, “your letters are all I have.”

“I hope that’s not true!” Childe said, tone full of false mirth. “I hope you’re happy beloved, I hope you find happiness when I’m gone. Your life ought not to be spent waiting for me.”

“But you’re all I have.” You replied, staring down at the ground. “Everything has changed. My home, my work, my future. Even you’ve changed, you just keep changing and changing, running farther and farther away. But you’re still all I have. And I have to hold on to you, no matter what.”

Childe brought his hand to your cheek, raising your gaze up.

“I’m not changing my darling. No matter what I do, no matter where I go, I’m still Ajax. I’m still the man who wants to spend his life with you, who wants to travel the world with you, fighting monsters, sleeping under the stars at night. I’m still the man who wants to wake up with you every night and go to bed with you every morning. I’ll never run ahead of you, I’ll never leave you behind. Because if I’m all you have then you are what keeps me myself. You are why I can still be Ajax. And that will never change. So don’t despair, and don’t let yourself be swallowed up while I’m gone. Live your life to the fullest, I promise I’ll always be there, waiting for when you need me.”

Childe waved from the ship he’d boarded until it disappeared over the horizon. You waved back, even as your arm ached and your hand fell asleep. “Goodbye.” You whispered to the wind. There was no reply, but then again you weren’t looking for one.

Childe, Ajax, Tartaglia. These names all belonged to the one you loved. He was a whirlwind, a rogue current which had knocked you off your feet, carrying you into uncertainty. And yet you welcomed him, longed for him, loved him with all your soul.

Even if things kept changing, even if the Fatui’s hold on him only grew stronger, you’d still believe in him. He was your star, guiding you through a desolate ocean. Even if he sometimes disappeared behind the clouds, he’d always be there. You had to believe that, had to trust him.

He was your star after all.

Your Childe.

Your Ajax.

#If you really want to feel down look up the lyrics to “Dear You” and have it on as you read #For some reason the Higurashi soundtrack really fits this fic #I realize there’s a lot of crying in this I hope it’s not too much #childe #childe x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #oneshot #my writing

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thesunshinebunny · 4 years

Note

Can you please do headcanons for what the twisted wonderland boys would do if their girlfriends ex showed up wanting her back?

Uh… .ALL OF THEM ???? Are you serious ?? Oh My God !!!! Ummmmmmmm, OK, I’LL DO MY BEST, but I think it’s about time I started putting character limits because this is going to be difficult.

IT WAS INSANEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE For obvious reasons I didn’t include Ortho, so I hope this is still to your liking

Riddle

He tried to make the meeting as smooth and consistent as possible.

He is the dorm leader, he has to be the example of maturity and consistency in dealing with women.

He tried for more than half an hour to dispel the insults towards him and politely asked them to get out of Hearstlabyul, but when your ex started talking about you… oh boiiii

Our Queen is pisseeeeeeeeed.

Indispensably if your ex had magic or not, it’ll be OF WITH THEIR HEAD.

Had to ask not only to Trey and Cater but also the dynamic duo to escort them out.

Treat him with little sweetness and a cup of coffee, our redhead will thank you.

"I love you, and I will always be by your side as long as you want to have me with you"

Trey

The personified knight. Outside of joking, at no point did he get upset or ask them to leave in a rude manner.

He handled the situation calmly and when your ex finished speaking, that was when his face changed radically.

Yes, the knight in shining armor was quite a facade.

He gave your ex a gloomy look and in a low tone commented that they were not welcome at Heartslabyul, much less NRC and that they had to leave if they didn’t want to end up with a broken leg.

SHOOK.

Both of you spent the night baking cakes and watching bad movies, even though what Trey really cared the most was spending the night with you, snuggled between his sheets.

"I may have reacted in a somewhat terrifying way, but believe me when I tell you that that look will never be directed at you"

Cater

Our dear orange haired man here didn't take it very well. It was one of the few moments in which his face or voice had not the hint of happiness and amusement that characterized him so much.

He may have used his unique magic to intimidate your ex… I mean, if a mildly angry Cater doesn't do any good, I guess five will work.

Indispensably whether it worked or not, you could always call in the dynamic duo to get your ex out of the way.

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t necessary the one neuron duo, with the five Caters it was more than enough.

Before they left the dorm, he took a selfie as not in a mockery mode and uploaded it to his social medias.

“Do you want to appear in the photo? So I can show the world how beautiful you are, how lucky I am to have you and how stupid your ex was to show up at school "

Ace

Another one who lost his temper, but just when the person in front of him said it was your ex.

Don't overthink it, he just made an angry face because he already knew what your ex was up to, and he didn't like it one bit.

Believe it or not, Ace didn't hold on to the punches with them. No, he simply told them that he had no intention of letting you go and immediately sent them flying with his magic.

For the last thing, he told them not to bother trying, turned around and went to where you were to give you a long, possessive kiss in front of your ex.

"I maaaay have been a bit possessive, but I don't want you to leave my side"

Deuce

He threw a cauldron at their head ... jocking ... or not?

Nah, nah, I'm kidding, but he did come close to throwing his famous cauldron at them and leaving them squashed like a figurine.

Lowkey rogue mode activated.

It may have scared you a little, but it didn't have much of an effect.

Your ex didn't leave you alone until Deuce punched him across the face, screaming for them to leave you alone.

You have to get out of the crime scene before any teacher comes.

Ashamed of himself. Maybe the way of resolution he had was not the best, but it was effective and you were grateful for that.

You gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek and told him everything was fine, that he didn't have to worry about anything; he was your knight in shining armor.

“Sorry, anger washed over me again. I couldn't bear the idea of you being taken away from me "

Leona

Man, this one acted out of pure pride. A stranger grabbing his beloved herbivore? Ohhhh noooo, honey, you messed with the wrong lion and prince.

This is one of the few times he wouldn't send Ruggie in to fix it. No. He would stand tall and beat this motherfucker ass.

You'll have to stop him before he turns your ex to sand, and I'm not kidding this time.

The very thought of someone taking his girlfriend from him drove him wild.

With your ex out of reach, and scared for life, he will demand cuddles and a nap.

He won't admit it, but Leona was afraid for a moment of losing you. You are his, and no one else's.

“I will not let anyone take you from my arms. I will protect you no matter what”

Ruggie

Used Laught with me, no discussion.

And there was no discussion with your ex. He just saw them with you, heard snippets that they wanted you back, that they wanted a second chance, blah blah blah ... and that was it, unique magic in action.

You got disoriented for a moment when you saw your ex walking strangely towards the exit, but when you heard the famous giggle of your boyfriend you knew immediately what was happening.

Let's be honest, in all it was a pretty funny image.

Ruggie stayed by your side all afternoon in the Savanaclaw lounge room playing and splashing in the water.

"I may be a possessive and territorial hyena, but this hyena is at your complete mercy"

Jack

Nothing like a good roar to scare away any predator that intends to stick its nose into other's prey.

Just kidding, Jack would never consider you prey, you are his significant other and that means he must protect you from any danger.

Wolf mode activated to the surprise of your ex.

He growled until their figure could not be seen on the horizon… lowkey cute as fuck.

Give him cuddles in this form, he would really appreciate it… he really would love your hands caressing his soft fur.

Record a video of his tail wagging, just for science.

“I figured you were uncomfortable and couldn't think of anything else to get your ex off your back. Now come with me, I want to caress you correctly"

Azul

Believe me when I tell you that the appearance of your ex not only irritated Azul, but also brought him insecurities that he thought were already buried under the ground.

The fact that a stranger appeared at the doors of the Mostro Lounge with an air of melodrama was enough for our octopus to go out to meet them directly, thinking they was just another customer ... an annoying customer, to tell the truth.

But when they started yelling for your presence, demanding that you come back to them, oh ... Yeah, this so-called customer is now banned from entering.

He let Floyd and Jade take care of them.

Like Riddle, give him love and a few sweets, he needs it. He really needs affection.

He needs to hear your voice, to remind him that you are with him now. He wants to hear you say that he is the only person in your world right now and that you would not leave him for nothing.

“I'm a silly octopus who got tangled in your arms and not the other way around. Only you give me the comfort that I've been looking for so much "

Jade

Your ex must have some balls of steel to even be close to Jade and plan to face him to have you back ... this guy has a suicidal desire.

Jade's appearance was not only scary, but his way of talking and engaging in conversation with your ex was what made them run out of the Mostro Lounge.

But you were already more than used to his characterization as an intimidating person.

Bring him a basket full of multiple mushrooms from the botanical garden, he will appreciate it.

And maybe also a glass container to create a little mini environment for those mushrooms… both of you will have a nice time together, maybe the whole night putting it together.

"You are my favorite starfish and I cannot allow any sea thorn to monopolize your beauty"

Floyd

Even having the same calm expression as Jade when he saw your ex, it didn't last long. The moment your name came out of their mouth, Floyd's face broke.

You remember in episode 3 when he asks Adeuce braincell to shut up, well… that same expression.

By this time, Floyd was no longer as calm as his brother; in fact, he went directly to squeeze them.

If you paid close attention you could hear how the ribs were cracking little by little. Good thing you were there to stop Floyd.

Your ex stalked to the exit as they was nearly squeezed alive and Floyd gave you a grin from ear to ear as if he had done nothing wrong.

"I protect what is mine, no one has the right to take my shrimpy from my side"

Kalim

At first this ray of sunshine didn't even know what was happening, he thought they were just looking for you to chat, to keep up.

But when he heard this strange person exclaim that they wanted you back… he was still just as lost, but not in an innocent way.

He went to where you were to give you a big hug in front of your ex. He may have looked cute and adorable, but unconsciously Kalim was marking his territory.

Kindly asked your ex to leave the dorm and not make any more advances, they were making you uncomfortable, and if you were uncomfortable he was uncomfortable.

He gave you butterfly kisses when the situation calmed down. Give him kisses back, he needs them.

“You love me, right? Because I love you very much, and my love cannot be compared with anything in the world, and yours cannot be bought even with all the jewels I have in the treasure chamber "

Jamil

This is simple. Jamil only asked your ex once to leave the dorm.

Not understanding reasons the first time, he simply used his unique magic causing them to go "on their own".

Problem solved. NOW, that doesn't mean Jamil was in a good mood.

Not at all. Anger can be seen rising from his ears like smoke, but his face expresses calm.

Help him in the kitchen, he may not say anything, but internally he will thank you.

Cuddling in the middle of the night, curled up in his bed? HELL YEAH.

"You are the most precious diamond I have in my life, I am not going to let you go so easily"

Vil

How dare this pathetic person to proclaim you back in front of his own nose?

Putting aside how impressed he was by such a daring act, Vil was once again furious.

Vil isn’t a person who defends his opponent in a violent way like Leona or Floyd, but he could attack the self-esteem and brain.

Even though… if the obscene words towards you kept bubbling out of their disgusting mouth, he would have to give him a poison apple.

It almost happened, thank goodness you were there to lower the fumes.

Vil was irritable all day and not even a beauty treatment could calm him… shit this was bad.

Give him a couple of hours to calm down and try talking to him during the night and if he doesn't want to, you can always do the routine for his face before going to sleep.

“I'll be honest, I liked your ex's audacity, but it didn't displease to see how mistreated they was and if I can correctly assume, the mistreatment they caused you. You are here with me and I am here with you, neither is going to be detach from the other "

Rook

When Rook saw how your ex was trying to convince you to come back… let's just say he didn't take it very well.

But his face said otherwise. He had the same grinning and somewhat creppy expression as ever, so it was difficult to determine in that tense moment whether he was really angry or not.

I think the arrow that passed between the two of you, best expressed between your two faces, made it pretty clear that Rook wasn't going to sit idly by.

A bit violent and shocking, but effective. Your ex shitted their pants and stormed out of the place, without even looking back.

Coward.

"I'm sorry for the bad moment I put you on, but nobody touches my prey"

It may be that his action was with tenderness of support, but that doesn’t remove the shock from your face.

You slept with one eye open that night.

Epel

Let's say the conversation got off to a good start, until your ex had the brilliant idea of mistaking Epel for a girl.

Oh yeah, the truck driver's voice came out to our farmer.

Be prepared to hold him and prevent him from giving your ex a tremendous punch in the face. Even in that situation your damn ex had the decency to keep asking you to go back to them.

It even occurred to them to denigrate Epel for how short and his supposedly sweet voice was... now you can let him go.

With your ex out of your sight and a reprimanding of Vil towards Epel's ugly acting, you guys spent the night in your bedroom.

Simple caresses and a few small butterfly kisses to calm the atmosphere.

“Sorry, I lost control and gave you a hard time. Don't be mad at me, I don't even want to think about the possibility of losing you "

Idia

Oh… .emmm, embarrassed baby became even more embarrassed at having to come face to face with a complete stranger.

Talking to you is one thing, but talking about yourself with your supposed ex is another thing entirely; he even finds it difficult to talk about you with his own brother, so imagine the traumatic moment Idia had to go through.

In a stuttering manner, he asked them to please get away of hs face… and from school. If the shame towards his person was not enough to get your ex out of there, no problem ...

From somewhere he'd get a little machine that would run your ex's fucking ass outside the doors of NRC.

The machine would have a small camera embedded so you could see from its monitors how your ex ran like a baby with their butt burned thanks to Idia's invention.

He may have uploaded the file to the internet… who knows.

After this terrible and agonizing day, Idia doesn’t plan to leave his room until the end of the year.

Stay with him as long as necessary, hours, days, afternoons, nights, early mornings, whatever it is, just ... stay hugged him at all times.

“For a moment I thought you were going to leave with your ex. You know, Ortho loves you very much, and you leaving would make him very sad ... and me too"

Malleus

They have to have balls to go straight to Malleus and tell at his face that they wants you back.

10 for the audacity, -1000 for their physical health.

Malleus, like Vil, doesn’t need to destroy or attack your ex, just standing there and acting intimidating is enough.

If your ex still wants to hang around you after seeing that scene, then Malleus is going to have to put his horns on it.

Nothing like a spark of fingers to make him disappear from your side and send him flying out of school.

They are fine, at least that’s what Malleus said.

“Even being amazed at the audacity of that little creature, they should learn that the word no means no. You, little human, you are mine"

Lilia

Big bear mama Lilia took the situation with great grace. If only your ex knew that the were talking to a fairy over five hundred years old I throw a number they would freeze.

He endured the boring and monotonous talk with your ex with a sarcastic smile and when they finished speaking he wished them a good way back. He then sent them flying towards the exit of Diasomnia.

With their butt out, Lilia slammed the door in their face. You watched the scene from the top of the dorm lounge stairs.

At no time did our little fairy have a hair out of place. And with that same tranquility he disappeared from the door and magically appeared next to you with his characteristic smile and face down.

He gave you sweet kisses before he went out to babysit some freshmen who were about to set the kitchen on fire… as if Lilia hadn't done it before.

“Don't listen to them, they are part of your past. The best thing is to leave it behind, because now you have a present with me "

Silver

It happened in one of the few times when Silver was wide awake and with no intention of going to sleep in whatever corner he came across first.

Still, he literally didn't understand anything, he just wanted to spend time with you and that time was ruined.

Silver did nothing, just grabbed your hand and led you into the hall of mirrors, disappearing into Diasomnia's one.

Before going through the mirror, you turned your gaze over your shoulder, seeing how your ex was following both of you and with a handshake which happened to be raised the middle finger you disappeared into the mirror.

In the warm cold of the bedroom, you spent a long time in the arms of your loved one.

"There is no need to look into the past, I like living the present with you"

Sebek

Don't hate me for what I'm going to say… but your ex didn't even have a chance to say hello, Sebek was already on his shoulders asking them to leave if he didn't want them to face a duel.

Just kidding, not a duel… but it would give him their lesson if they didn't immediately leave the dorm.

No one without the consent of his young master Malleus could enter the residence. And speaking of Malleus… he spent about half an hour talking about his master and how he would be able to turn them to ash if they approached Diasomnia again.

And by the way to you too.

"Incredible how a person thinks they had the right to appear like this out of nowhere, how could you be with a person like that?"

Oddly enough, the day passed like nothing, even at bedtime Sebek acted as if your ex had never shown up.

But… during the early morning, a heaviness on your stomach woke you up from your dreams. Sebek was huddled behind you, his head buried in your hair, his arms across your belly.

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tomtenadia · 3 years

Text

Island Dreams - Epilogue

So, this is it. We officially reached the end. I must admit I am very sad. Writing this story has been such a great journey but Aelin and Rowan have their happy ending. This chapter is set 5 years after the events of the previous chapter. it's divided in two parts. The first one we have Aelin telling in first person what happened in five years. Part two has a snippet of our beloved Whitethorn-Galathynius family. we get to meet Freyja and Morrigan and a surprise too. I hope you love the girls.

I want to say a massive thank to every single person who read the story, reblogged it or left a comment. Thank you. I am so grateful for all the support you gave me.

I am coming back.. A Little Braver is going well and I hope to be brave enough to post chapter one soon.

And now i'll leave you to the story. Enjoy <3

--------------------

5 years later

My name is Aelin and my story began five years ago. I was once heartbroken and one day I left my old life behind and took a flight to Scotland, and then a ferry and I ended up on this island called Lewis. I am a bookworm and one of the first thing I did once on the island was to go and hunt for a bookstore. And well, you know the story after that. It’s been five years since the day Rowan and I officially tied our lives together at Callanish. As promised we went back there after a year and a day and renewed our vows.

Married life had its ups and downs but Rowan and I fought through every single challenge that came our way. We made it work, we fought for each other as we promised and we love each other just as we did when we began. And some. Every year Rowan has been celebrating the anniversary of the day I arrived on the island and officially entered his life. Sometimes I think he prefers that day to our wedding anniversary. Anyway, as you remember we finished the story with the four of us, Rowan, me and our two girls Morrigan and Freyja. Those two cute bundles of flesh are now two very active five years old driving mum and dad crazy but also being the most precious thing in our life. They will start primary school next month and I am trying not to cry if I think how much they have grown. Physically they are their father’s clone. They both have deep pine green eyes and his same silver hair. Freyja likes it long and loves when either I or Rowan braid it. He has become quite a wizard at braiding our daughter’s hair. Morrigan, on the other hand, prefers it short. But the similarities end with that. Personality wise they cannot be any more different. Freyja is like me. Rowan calls her his wee Fireheart. She is fierce and stubborn. She has a very strong personality and for a five year old she has her ideas clear on what she wants. She is like quicksilver and always active. She is the first one to wake up and the last one to go to bed. She is curious and fearless and loves nature just as much as her father. She is out little hurricane. Morrigan, on the other hand, is the calm one and reserved and she reminds me so much of Rowan. She observes a lot and when you think she is not paying attention, she comes up with question that makes you realise she was listening after all. She has an inquisitive mind and her non stop questions can be exhausting after a long day. She is shy. Where her sister had been since tender age happy to be with anyone, Morrigan has always been very selective. Growing up she has her favourite selection of adults. She is very close to her father, probably because they are very similar, but Uncle Malcolm and Aedion come second. Aedion got her hooked on planes. Once we were at his and Lys’ house and Morrigan grabbed one of his models planes and started playing with it. Aedion had started talking about the plane and now when they are together she always ask him about planes. We think she’ll be a pilot. Both girls are obsessed with books just like her parents and Rowan has taken upon him the job of teaching them to read. Morrigan can read very simple words and write her own name. Freyja would too if she could sit down for more than five minutes. Good luck with the teachers. She is very bright, she just can’t stay still for very long. She was probably the one doing all the kicking while in the womb. The amazing thing is that they get along. It took us a while to teach them to sleep in their individual rooms. For a while in the morning we would find one in the other’s bed. Always curled up together as they used to do when they were little. Freyja at the park always play the protective one and looks after her sister and chases away the kids who try to take advantage of her sister’s calmer nature. If we were in a fantasy I would imagine Freyja being the woman learning to wield a sword and who would train with the guys and dreamed of becoming a knight. Morrigan, I imagine her as the one with her nose in books and who dreams of becoming a healer. I think Rowan is writing a story about them. Oh yes, I will tell you about his book in a moment. There is a further family member that I need to introduce: our son Dalamar. Yes, Rowan and I have scandalised parents at kindergarten with our weird names. Freyja did not cause much problems but a couple of mothers had a go at me for calling my daughter with such as negative name as Morrigan. I usually explain that I do not expect my daughter to become the goddess of war but that simply Rowan and I liked the name. And do not get me started with Dalamar. No-one apparently has read the Dragonlace chronicles so when we say Dalamar is a dark elf in the books, well, the glares we get are incredible. But again, Rowan and I wanted an original name. We started searching in books to find something we liked and then Rowan found his old copy of the Dragonlance chronicles and he suggested Dalamar. I joked that if we truly wanted to scandalise Stornoway, we should have called him Raistlin. So in the end we went for something less alien and settled on Dalamar. Anyway, Dalamar is two. He was planned though. Rowan and I had decided we wanted a big family so once the girls were around three we started to try and add another member. When we had the conversation we had talked about having four kids, but alas, Dalamar’s birth has been so full of complication that my chances of another pregnancy are now non existent. But Rowan and I are happy. We have our big family. So, Dalamar has blond hair, much fairer than mine and very light blue eyes. He is a gorgeous wee boy. In terms of personality he is halfway between his sisters. He can be adorable one moment and stubborn like a mule the next. But at least they get along and again, Freyja has taken him under her wing. She really is our knight in shining armour. Both girls are fluent Gaelic speakers. After they were born I asked Rowan if he wanted to teach Gaelic to the girls and he had been very happy about it. So we decided that he would speak only Gaelic to the girls and I was the boring parents with English, although sometimes I am brave and I practice with them, then I embarrass myself and revert to English. We have started the same process with Dalamar and he is like a sponge. Morrigan sometimes helps me with my exercises and Gaelic homework. I am taking classes as well when I can. It’s quite embarrassing when you are almost forty and your five years old daughter tells you “Don’t worry mum, you are doing great.” And then adds something in Gaelic and you need to wait for your husband for a translation. Kids, aside… our lives haven’t changed very much. Rowan still works at the bookstore and Malcolm’s sister is still his assistant. She had been wonderful and he could easily count on her when he needed to stay at home with me and the kids. The shop is becoming very popular, my Facebook page has now reached many followers and a year after our daughters were born he finally managed to set up a website for online ordering. My dearest husband also managed to write a book, find an editor and have it printed and distributed in some smaller bookstores. Of course I told him to have in his shop. We did a book signing hoopla and I don’t think I ever seen Rowan so embarrassed. Anyway, he wrote a fantasy and as promised I was in it and I was Queen as requested. He was my warrior. Loads of angst and epic battles but we end up together. I am very proud of him. Now he is working on one were our children are the main characters. I have only read the fist few chapters and I love it already. But I am his wife so I am biased. I still work at the hospital and still love my job. I started helping as well as paramedic and specifically in the air squad. The team that gets to be airlifted at the site of accidents and the whole thing required a special type of training and it had been amazing. On occasions, I get to work with Aedion. He flies, I save lives. I wish I could tell the London guys that they were wrong. Working in a small hospital is not throwing away my career. I feel more satisfied than I ever felt when I was down south. Malcolm is still my second and I still adore him. Three years ago he finally got married. After my wedding Aiden went for his last deployment and made it back alive and then retired from the navy. He and Malcolm started dating seriously. A year later they moved in together and a year after that Malcolm finally proposed. Aiden has found a civilian job and well, they got their happily ever after. Another couple who got their happily ever after is Lysandra and Aedion. He proposed about five months after mine and Rowan’s wedding and three months later they were married. They had gone for a very small and private ceremony. One year later they had their fist child a boy named Marcus and now Lysandra is pregnant with their second, a girl. She climbed up again the ladder at the hospital and now she is just one level below the head of the department. Then we have Elias. How can I forget him? He is still in Shetland and we keep in touch and we meet when he is back on the islands. His job is going wonderfully and recently got promoted. Two years ago he got married to Ciara and he is happy and a few months ago she gave birth to an adorable little girl named Martha. She is cute. I have seen her when they came down last month. We remained good friends and both had the happy ending we wanted. We still joke and we love to compliment each other on making marriage number two stick. His book addiction got worse and I think I created a monster. He also bought Rowan’s book and raved about it for months. Then we have Elide and Lorcan. We see each other quite regularly. Every year in July they come to Heb Celt and now they can stay at our place. We have been down to Glasgow a few times and Lorcan yearly provides Rowan with tickets for the Six Nations and we religiously go and see the matches. I am officially a Scotland’s fan and I even learnt Flower of Scotland. The boys are proud of me. Elide is still a teacher and Lorcan still the coach of the Warriors. Their family has gotten bigger as well and they have a boy and a girl and Elide is expecting a third one. Apparently they want a big family too. Oh and Lorcan can smile for more than a second. I must admit I have changed my mind about the man and once he gets comfortable with someone he is actually quite a decent human being. He as a dark sense of humour and us two are usually the ones scandalising the group with dark jokes. Aunt Maeve is still running her cafe and she had been a great help as well while the kids were growing up. She would come up with crazy excuses to offer to babysit them and gave us plenty of chances for me and Rowan to have some time alone. Especially after the two births. She also spoils the girls and love to bake for them. Freyja loves to bake with Maeve and, like me is obsessed with cakes. Also, baking is the only activity when our energetic daughter can stay still for more than ten minutes. Morrigan, on the other hand is fussy as her father and not a fan of sweet stuff. We really got one clone each. Dalamar is still too small but he eats anything. My mum has joined the group as well. She has bought a flat up here and sold the house in London. She decided that she wanted to be a part of her grandchildren lives so she moved up here and she is in good terms with Maeve and sometimes she helps her at the cafe. The two of them cooking are becoming very popular in town.

***

“Come on, let’s go and see dad in the shop.” Aelin took Dalamar’s hand and made sure the twins were walking in front of her. Morrigan started blabbing something in Gaelic but Aelin didn’t understand. “Beurla, mo chridhe,” said Aelin to her daughter. “Tha mi duilich, mum.” Morrigan gave her a toothy smile, showing off her missing tooth. They walked to the shop and once they got in the two girls ran to their father who crouched down and they crashed into him. “I bring chaos.” Joked Aelin while Dalamar was still holding her hand. Rowan had started hosting afternoon for kids in his shop when he would reads books or just have storytelling sessions. He had started during the school holidays to have a way to keep the younger children busy but then it became very popular and he kept going, so once a week the shop is invaded by parents and their kids. The twins loved to listen to their dad tell stories. Dalamar loved it as well but he was far too young to understand what was happening so most of the times he would end up playing with Lys and Aedion’s son Marcus. Aelin reached Rowan and gave him a kiss and the twins made disgusted noises and Aelin laughed “one day you will find a boy or a girl and you’ll want to kiss him or her as well and it won’t be as disgusting,” she said tickling Freyja who was the one who was the most disgusted. “I am going to be a knight. I don’t need a boy.” Added Freyja proudly. “I am going to be a doctor like mum.” Was Morrigan’s turn. “So, a knight and a doctor, I guess we got very lucky.” Rowan pulled Aelin in his arms “looks like the goddess of love wants to fight and is not interested in love and the goddess of war wants to heal people.” “Well, you can’t say that we don’t have an interesting family.” Joked Aelin. Then Rowan bend over and lifted Dalamar in his arms “and you?” He kissed his cheek “what do you want to do?” “Tuathanach.” Replied the boy hugging his father. Aelin laughed and brushed his blond hair “that is lovely, my love.” With time and once they were properly settled down they had decided to dedicate a part of the land they owned to have a small farm. They had a couple of cows, a few chickens and loads of sheep. Dalamar loved to run after the sheep and help his dad look after the animals. That’s why Aelin and Rowan were not surprised when he said he wanted to be a farmer. The twins went behind the counter and grabbed the colouring books that Rowan kept stashed for when he had them in the shop and the pencils and ran to the kids’ table at the bottom of the shop. Rowan placed Dalamar on the floor “Go and colour with your sisters.” “Tha.” And the boy joined the two girls. Aelin leaned exhausted against Rowan. “You look tired.” “They have far too much energy. We went to the park. Freyja ran and jumped the whole time. Morrigan wanted to pat the ducks and almost ended up in the pond and Dalamar chased every single dog or cat.” She explained, looking at their kids with affection “then we had ice cream, we went to say hi to Aunt Maeve and grandma Evalin and Freyja and Dalamar stuffed themselves with carrot cake. Morrigan just had a carrot. She is annoyingly healthy like you.” “My girl.” Said Rowan proudly. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them madly, but I just wished they had just a smidge less energy.” Rowan kissed her forehead “I’ll entertain them tonight and make sure they go to bed early. Hopefully they will run out of energy soon.” “Morrigan and Dalamar perhaps. Not Freyja, that girl has limitless power.” “Just like her mother.” Rowan’s arms squeezed her tight “The girls are going to school next month so hopefully they will calm down a bit.” “I am terrified at the idea of Freyja sitting on a chair all day. I feel sorry for the poor teacher.” Rowan laughed “she might find it interesting and actually sit.” “Ro, she can’t even stay still when you read stories.” He scratched his head “I was thinking we can sign her up for some sport.” “You can take her swimming.” Suggested Aelin. Rowan had kept his job as swimming instructor with Dorian and they had made it work. When the kids were at home she would take them to the swimming complex and once Rowan was done they would all swim together. He had begun teaching the twins to float and some very basics techniques. Freyja had loved it, but she preferred jumping from the smallest platform. Morrigan on the other hand had been a good student and had followed her dad’s instructions and could do a nice basic breaststroke. Dalamar would soak with Aelin with his water wings. He loved being in the water. “She could become one of those athletes who jump from platforms into water. A professional diver. She is surely fearless for a five years old.” “I can see her as a rugby player.” And Aelin laughed. “We’ll let her decide.” “Of course,”Aelin kissed him “Look, some mum and kids are arriving.” Rowan was due to start his storytelling session very soon and mothers, fathers and kids had started to arrive in the shop. Five minutes later Rowan took his position at the bottom of the shop on his chair. All the kids sat on the floor on the colourful mats Rowan had bought. Morrigan and Dalamar would sit at his feet, but Rowan would alway keep Freyja in his arms so he could hold her still for a while. “Thank you everyone for coming this afternoon. Kids, are you all comfortable?” Aelin stood in a corner and stared at him as per her usual. Rowan was such a natural around kids. It had been so easy for him to settle into his role as a dad. He had been amazing with their kids and he’d do literally anything to make them happy. But at the same time he had managed to keep the wonderful balance to prevent them to become spoiled brats whose parents would give them anything. “Today’s story is about a princess. Her name is Aelin.” “Like mum.” shouted Freyja in her father’s arms. “Tha, mo chridhe.” And Rowan kissed her head and a smug smile appeared on the girl’s face. “She is fierce and brave and very, very beautiful. So beautiful that all the princes in the realm wanted to marry her.” Aelin laughed and blushed a bit. “Is there a dragon?” Asked Freyja who seemed had already passed her attention span limit. “Shhh, my love.” But he knew it was a desperate hope. “The princess had been put under a spell by her horrible stepmother who was very jealous of her. She could not enjoy true love with the man she loved until the dragon that held the necklace with the spell was killed. Aelin was in love with the captain of the guard, a man called Rowan. The wicked stepmother had found out and so punished her. She had planned to marry her off to a wealthy old man.” When Aelin noticed Freyja was getting fidgety, she took a chair and sat beside her husband and grabbed their daughter so that he could continue his tale. “Rowan offered to go on a quest and kill the dragon but Aelin refused to be left behind. She was not a damsel in distress. So during the night she gathered some of her stuff, donned her armour and together they set off on an adventure. During their trip he would train her with the sword so she could defend herself. It took them a few months but they did manage to reach the dragon’s lair.” “Dragon.” Freyja was ecstatic and Aelin held her tight. “But while they took the path through the magic forest to reach the dragon lair, Rowan and Aelin got separated. The forest was very dangerous but they were both very brave and fought all the perils and when Aelin finally reached the lair she saw that Rowan was already there but he was injured. She drew her sword and decided to face the dragon alone. In the forest she had discovered that she had fire magic and she wanted to punish the dragon. So she started fighting him, but the dragon was huge and she was getting tired. In that instant Rowan woke up again and walked to her. Together they fought the dragon and eventually killed it and destroyed the necklace, setting Aelin free. She finally kissed him and slowly they returned back home. Once back at the castle, they discovered the wicked mother was gone and Aelin and Rowan decided to get married. They invited all the villagers and they lived happily ever after.” Rowan had to simplify the story to make it acceptable to young kids but they seemed to have liked it. He told a few more stories and two hours later the shop was empty and he was alone again with his family. Dalamar had fallen asleep in Aelin’s arms. Morrigan had gone back to her colouring book and Freyja was pretending to be a knight, swinging around the toy sword Rowan had given her. “I am princess Aelin and I kill dragons.” She shouted while Rowan chased her around the shop. Rowan finally grabbed her and lifted her like a sack of potatoes “dad, the dragon,” she protested while trying to wriggle out of her father’s grip. “Freyja!” Aelin noticed Rowan’s command voice. The one that could actually slow down the little terror. The girl stopped moving and Rowan sat her down beside her sister and she grabbed a colouring book and joined Morrigan in silence. “You really have super powers.” Rowan leaned over to kiss his wife’s head “Give me ten minutes and we’ll go home.”

Half an hour later they were finally at home. Rowan carried a sleepy Morrigan and Aelin carried Dalamar who had been sleeping for an hour now. Freyja had followed in silence, with her sword tucked in the belt loop of her trousers. “I’ll make dinner, you change the kids.” Aelin nodded “Let’s go Freyja it’s jammies time.” The little girl gave her a huge smile and followed her mother with Morrigan at her side. Aelin placed Dalamar on the bed, and helped the two girls change into their night clothes. “Did you have fun at dad’s tonight?” “Yes.” They both squealed. Once they were ready, Aelin tied Freyja’s hair “now go back downstairs to dad but let him cook, okay?” The two girls nodded and left the room. Aelin grabbed her little boy and took him to his room, changed him into his pyjama and tucked him in bed “I love you,” she told him while kissing him on the cheek. Then grabbed the baby monitor and joined the rest of her family downstairs. The twins were on the carpet playing quietly with Morrigan’s planes. Aelin joined Rowan and hugged him from behind “Dalamar is in bed and the girls are playing.” She kissed his back “and your food smells amazing.” “Freyja finally calmed down.” “My mum says that she reminds her of me when I was little.” Aelin squeezed him. He switched off the hob and turned engulfing her in his arms “It does not surprise me.” And he kissed her deeply and Aelin replied in the same manner. He pushed her to the table and she grabbed his butt pulling him to her and she moaned against his mouth. He kissed her neck and Aelin’s hands found their way under his t-shirt. Then she pulled away “Ro, the kids are in the other room and awake.” Rowan leaned his forehead against hers cupping her face in his hands. The kiss he gave her was full of need and love “I know.” He sighed pulling away. Their intimate life had taken a bit of a hit and most nights they were too tired to even try and do something. The last time they had managed to get some action was when Aelin’s mother had kidnapped their kids for an entire weekend four months before. And the mornings were not good either because the twins had the habit of waking up and joining their parents in bed for some family cuddling. Aelin crashed her forehead on his chest “I miss our wall…” she laughed “but I know that I would fall asleep as soon as my back hits it.” Rowan kissed her again “I miss you too.” Then pulled away “Come one, let’s go and feed our hurricanes.” In that instant she heard Dalamar calling her through the baby monitor and five minutes later Aelin was downstairs with a weepy boy in her arms “Someone else is joining us for dinner.” The five of them had dinner and once they were done the kids moved to the sofa and Aelin gave them her old laptop so they could watch their hour of tv. She and Rowan had never bought a tv and the kids never asked for it but allowed them to watch an hour of cartoons on Netflix in the evening after dinner while they cleaned up. Most of times they got bored after half an hour and went back playing until bed time but when they were tired they did manage their hour. “They are watching Totoro again.” Said Aelin, joining Rowan in the kitchen with a pile of dishes then she grabbed a towel and started drying all the ones he had already washed. “They do love Totoro.” He added smiling. “Morrigan the other day said she wants to study Japanese so she could talk to Totoro and Freyja wants to go in the woods to look for him.” Rowan roared with laughter “I love the idea of studying Japanese, though.” “Our two wonderful weirdos.”Aelin stored away all the dishes. Once they were done they got back in the living room and silence reigned. The laptop was on the carpet and the three kids were are all hugged together on the sofa. Dalamar sleeping on Freyja’s chest like in the scene where Mei sleeps on Totoro’s belly, her arms protectively around her brother’s back. Morrigan was snuggled against her sister, her hand holding one of Freyja’s. Aelin gasped at the scene and Rowan pulled her to him and kissed her head “they are finally fell asleep.” He turned Aelin and held her from behind, his chin on her head and his arms tight around her. “This is it, Buzzard. This is my island dream.” Rowan kissed her temple. “This is my dream too.”

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#rowaelin #rowan whitethorn #aelin galythinius #rowan x aelin #rowaelinkids #fanfic #Throne of Glass series

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houseisekai · 3 years

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Echo Battle 2: Class VII/Garreg Mach Students VS. Klee

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

- Jean waited patiently as the Instructors of House Isekai looked at all the data being transferred.

- The Knights of Favonius members were sitting near each other on crates, watching them at work.

(Lisa) "How exactly is this going to work, now?"

(Aigis) "During your last fight, we were able to recreate people from our memories with them. That's what we understand anyway, the Crystal Tower is still being investigated on how it exactly works."

(Rean) "This test is working off all of your memories, so you will not be participating in this combat exercise. We need to test the effectiveness of our recreations."

(Kaeya) "Makes sense."

(Venti) "So, just who exactly are we grabbing for this test?"

- Before anyone could answer him, Class VII and the Garreg Mach students walked in.

(Kurt) "Instructors."

(Kairos) "We're ready for today's exercise."

(Kazuma) "Good, cause by the looks of it, think you're gonna need it!"

- They all looked at each other and shrugged, walking into position and unsheathing their weapons.

(Aigis) "Last time, you were tasked with fighting overwhelming odds, going against former members Doomguy and Darkness. Today, you will be fighting a wild card, something you cannot possibly predict, much like Kazuma's group. Your objective is to simply make the enemy surrender."

(Juna) "So, who's the person?"

(Rean) "That's the fun part. You won't know."

(Stefan) "Of course not..."

(Towa) "Beginning simulation!"

- House Isekai was teleported to a massive training hall, almost a 1 to 1 recreation of Garreg Mach’s training hall. waiting for their opponent.

(Helena) "I think we'll be fighting only one person judging from what they were saying."

(Elizabeth) "Seems a bit overkill with all of us here, doesn't it?"

(Kairos) "Tch, are you forgetting how easily our asses were handed to us just against two people?!"

(Altina) "Numerical advantage does not appear to be a factor in this world. It is all about the individual."

(Musse) "That goes doubly so for our world. One person is all it takes to change the tide of a battle."

(Ash) "So...where's our target?"

(Juna) "Oh crap, did the exercise already start?!"

(Astrid) "It might be an ambush!"

- Everyone drew their weapons out and looked around.

====

- Meanwhile, the staff and Knights were watching through a screen.

(Venti) "As I was saying, who did you choose?"

(Towa) "We tried not to poke around in your memories too much, so we just grabbed someone you all had met before. She showed up pretty regularly too, specifically in Jean's."

(Jean) "She?"

(Rean) "Don't think you ever told us about her, know who this is?

- Rean held up a crystal and it displayed a low quality image.

(Amber) "...Oh hey, Klee!"

(Diluc) "Man, you don't seem to relent on giving those kids a beating, do you?'

(Kazuma) "Eh? I know the whole theme of today's training is wild card or whatever, but what can she do?"

(Jean) "Well, you see..."

====

[Let's go, Crimson Knight! - Genshin Impact OST]

(Kurt) "To our left!"

- Everyone spun around as a small figure materialized.

- It was a small red girl with a large backpack.

(Klee) "Oh, hello! Who are you all?"

(Kurt) "Uh...My name is Kurt, and this is Class VII. Juna, Altina, Ash, and Musse."

(Elizabeth) "Oh goddess, she is adorable! I'm Elizabeth! We are students of Garreg Mach! These are other students."

(Kairos) "Kairos. That's Helena, Astrid, and Stefan."

(Stefan) "Cute kid...Wait, is she our enemy for today?"

(Klee) "E...Enemy? Oh, you mean to play!"

(Ash) "...Sure?"

(Klee) "Yay! Wanna play catch?"

- Klee had a glint in her eye that made everyone get back on guard.

(Astrid) "I don't think we should say yes to that..."

(Klee) "Ah, here we go!"

- Klee brought out a small spherical object and tossed it at the group.

(Helena) "It's...kind of cute."

(Altina) ...?! "Alert, high amounts of gunpowder detected!"

(Stefan) "Wait, does that mean-"

(Musse) "IT'S A GRENADE!"

- Stefan rushed to the front as his helmet's visor slid down and slammed his shield in front of the bomb, the explosion going off and making everyone dive for cover on the ground.

- When it detonated, debris rocketed into the air, the floor's contents scattering in random directions while it rained smaller chunks onto the students.

(Kairos) "This is our wild card?!"

(Klee) "Heehee! I got more~!"

(Kurt) "JUNA!"

(Juna) "Set, Gunner!"

- Juna's tonfa's aimed towards the bombs being tossed at them, and pulled the triggers.

- Bullets flew out and hit their marks, each explosion causing a small smokescreen of dust and gunpowder to fill the air.

- Kairos and Elizabeth's hands glowed as they charged up their spells and aimed at Klee.

- Klee was humming as she tossed a massive bomb that bounced across the floor like a ball.

- Helena, Astrid, and Altina ran behind cover while Klee seemed to not notice the three on her flank.

- Stefan, Ash, and Kurt dodged out the way of the incoming bouncing bomb.

- Musse, Juna, Elizabeth, and Kairos tried shooting the bouncing bomb, but every shot ricocheted off before it blew up, scattering smaller shaped bombs around their feet.

(Musse) "NOBODY MOVE!"

(Elizabeth) "What in the world are these!?"

(Juna) "I think they're mines!-"

- She was cut off by the rapid explosions they caused, setting everything on fire, including them.

- They quickly shattered into glass-like shards and disappeared from the simulation.

====

- The four flew out of the simulation and landed on their backs.

(Juna) "Ugh...my ears are ringing...!"

- Amber and Venti couldn't help but snicker.

(Kaeya) "Well, looks like we taught her well."

(Kairos) "You trained her to use explosives?!"

(Jean) "That would have been Klee's mother..."

(Lisa) "And you think our little Klee is a handful!" chuckle

====

- Helena appeared behind Klee and grabbed her bag.

(Klee) "H-HEY!"

(Helena) "Stop that."

- Klee jumped up angrily as she reached for her bag.

(Klee) "Give Dodoco back!"

- Astrid and Altina walked up to Klee, Astrid keeping her spear out while Altina kept her summon by her side.

(Helena) "Dodoco?"

- Klee pointed at the small keychain that resembled her bombs.

(Klee) "Dodoco is my friend! You're not playing nice!"

(Astrid) "Playing nice?! You're blowing us up!"

- Kurt, Ash, and Stefan kept their distance, trying to sneak up from behind as she was distracted.

(Klee) "GIVE HIM BACK!"

- Klee reached for her pocket.

(Klee) "BLOW THEM ALL UP!"

- As her hands extended outwards, small flowers flew out behind her, all seeming to have a mind of their own as they charged up.

(Altina) "ALERT!"

(Helena) "Oh sh-"

- The small flowers shot out laser-like projectiles, which quickly blew them into smithereens, the three being reduced to shards.

(Stefan) "GOOD GODDESS!"

====

(Kazuma) "JESUS CHRIST!"

(Aigis) "I see..."

(Towa) "I think we need to choose easier candidates?"

(Rean) "Maybe we should choose next time and not Aigis."

(Aigis) "M-My apologies..."

====

(Ash) "So wait, if those automatically aimed at them, then what about-"

- The flowers turned to the last three members.

(Ash) "...Us-"

KABOOOOOOOOOOOM!

(Klee) "Hmph, jerks!"

====

- The three slid out of the simulation, face first.

(Jean) "...Well, you lasted longer than most people do."

(Diluc) "Take comfort in that, at least."

#House Isekai #House Isekai ARR #klee #kairos pasha #astrid morain #stefan von rothberg #elizabeth mcgrath #helena #kurt vander #juna crawford #musse egret #ash carbide #altina orion

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crazyyanderefangirlfan · 3 years

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Bring on the Mania Pt 7

"I can't believe you're a designer."

"I can't believe you've been living under a rock."

After their encounter with Vil and Rook, the pair made their way back to Ramshackle. But not without Amane playfully scolding the girl.

The girl flushed at his response. "W-Well, I don't really watch fashion shows or anything related to it. But after coming here, I do now." She confessed.

He quirked a brow. "Only now?"

"Well, yeah." She said, re-adjusting the crate on her arms.

"I don't really pay attention or follow the trends, too much of a hassle. But, I am beginning to watch them after meeting Vil. Just want to support him, even if I can't understand everything."

Amane blinked at her answer, felt the corners of his mouth twitch to a smile. Despite admitting her lack of knowledge of the subject, she still made an effort to understand it for his sake. She's so sweet.

Though; that begs the question...

"So, you don't have a preferred style?" He asked.

"Not really. I just wear what makes me feel comfortable. My mom doesn't care as long as I'm happy, and my grandparents just remind me to wear shorts under my skirts."

Wow.

What felt like an hour, they finally spotted the gates of Ramshackle. Beyond the gate, Valerie could vaguely make out Gerald's ghostly form watering the flowers he planted last month.

"Hey, Gerald."

Her loud voice made the ghost pause and lookup. Upon recognizing her, Gerald placed the watering can down and flew over to open the gate. When his eyes landed on their items, he smirked.

"Ya, feeding an army, kid." He joked.

"Nah, just a chubby and over-indulgent trash cat." She retorted. The ghost chuckled.

Gerald flew overhead and opened the front door. He even offered to carry the two other bags for Amane, but the demon declined, saying it was good exercise. The ghost went back to watering.

When they entered Ramshackle, they found Grim on the couch. Taking a nap with an empty tuna can next to him. When they entered the kitchen, they found Lisha picking on some stray beetles on the counter. When the little strix noticed them, she grabbed a piece of paper next to her and flew over to Valerie. Dangling it for her to read. What it said made her bit her bottom lip.

Crowley may be the closest thing she had for a father, but sometimes she wants to shove a transformation down his throat. Turning him into a real crow, and breaking a wing, so Grim can hunt better,

She shook her head from those morbid thoughts, not the time.

"Sorry, Amane, but I have to do something. I'll come back as soon as I can to help you." She said, putting the crate down.

"Oh? What happened?" He inquired, placing the bags on the counter. She sighed.

"Crowley asked me to clean his office; while he has something to attend to."

"The fuck? Why would he do that?" Above all things crow shit makes her do...

"It's okay. In fact, I was first a handywoman and cleaning lady, along with Grim. But after a certain incident, we became students." She explained, running her fingers through her ponytail.

"Okay, let's go." He announced. The girl sputtered.

"I-I'm sorry, w-what?"

"Let's go to Crow shit's office. I wanted to see more of this school again. It's been ages." He answered, taking her hand and leading her to the door.

"W-Wait! Amane, I have frozens!"

"Don't worry, we'll handle it." As if on cue, Bennett and Wilbur floated down and began arranging.

"Well, you heard your ghostly guardians. Let's go!"

"Alright, I'll be quick, don't cause any trouble." The opal-eyed girl begged. Standing in front of the office.

"No promises, Sugar tits." The hetero-eyed male winked playfully. The brunette rolled her eyes and went inside.

With the two monsters back in Ramshackle, the demon was alone. Free to flirt with any one of these gorgeous boys without Lisha clawing his eyes out; or having her turned into her original form and trying to eat him.

He smirked.

"Get ready boys, this demon is on a hunt."

For the past hour, Amane happily flirted with several students; some even try to give him their numbers or ask for his. But he turned them down, he may love good-looking guys, but he ain't touching that.

"Oh baby, maybe if you and your dick grow a few inches, then I'll see." The incubi playfully boop a pouting student's nose before happily running away.

He turned to the corner to catch his breath, but the grin never left his face. This was too much fun!

In the corner of his eye, he found something glinting under the sun. Curious, he walked over. It was a blue tablet; it looked like it was charging. Intrigued, he pressed the power button. What he didn't expect was a voice on the other end.

"W-What a-are y-you d-doing?"

Idia felt the world finally turned against him. First, he forgot to charge his tablet last night, making him replenish it in solar mode. Next, he missed a rare event that won't come back in six months. To top it all off. A normie found his tablet.

Joy.

"Oh fuck, it talks." The person on the other side of the screen said in surprise.

'Ugh, go away. Talking to people like you drains all my health.'

"Hon, if you don't reply. I'm just gonna grab this thing and drop it somewhere-"

"No!"

Idia could feel their smirk from the screen. He wants a restart.

"The name's Amane Mania, you?"

The flame-haired male wanted to deny but decided he should if he tried anything.

"I-Idia S-S-Shroud."

"Idia, huh? What dorm are you from?" Amane questioned.

"I-Ignihyde." Idia could feel a severe drain of his energy.

"Ah, Ignihyde. A bunch of shut-ins, but high in sex drive." Amane sighed blissfully.

"What!?" The man barked in laughter.

"When I was still here, I had an occasional fuck with guys. What they lack in skill, they make up for enthusiasm."

There was silence from Amane's end; before purring his following sentence.

"Let's test that with you~" Idia's hair flared up. But, he didn't stop.

"Would you like me to call you daddy or master?"

Great seven's he cannot handle this. Please, Lord of the underworld, save him.

Fortunately, his prayer was answered.

"Excuse me!"

Startled by the loud voice, the incubus turned around and faced a...Kid?

Huh?

"That's my brother's tablet. May I have it back, please?" Innocent amber eyes stared at him.

"Umm, sure. Give me a moment." Though still confused on why a child was here, he was not going without the last word.

He whispered to the tablet, making sure the kid didn't hear him.

"Until next time, Dom switch."

Amane could have sworn something exploded on the other end, but he paid no mind. Instead, he gave the tablet to the young cyborg.

"Here ya go, Kid."

The child beamed. "Thank you!" Then zoomed off.

_______________________________________________

"Anything interesting happened when I was gone?" Valerie asked.

Just as she said, the girl didn't take too long and now walking back to Ramshackle.

"Well." He began his retelling his meeting Idia and a short cyborg.

"Oh, that's Ortho. He and Idia are considered one student. Like, me and Grim."

"Except, the little guy had a better personality than the gremlin." Amane retorted, earning a playful slap on the shoulder.

"Hey! Cut Grim some slack. Yes, he can be too much sometimes, but he has his moments." She defended. Amane just pulled her hood to her face.

"My~ Is this the infamous Amane I've been hearing so much about?"

"Fucking crack whore hell!"

The suddenness of the interruption causes the incubus to cling to the girl like a frightened cat.

Hanging upside down in mid-air was Diasomnia's playful vice-dorm leader, Lilia Vanrouge. The vampire had an amused smile on his face when he perceived Amane's shocked expression.

"Fufufufu, forgive my sudden appearance. I was merely interested to know the demon who cooked that delectable food Sebek brought."

The shock quickly wore off his body, replacing it with a familiar smugness Valerie knew.

"So, my cooking became legendary already? I'm flattered." The incubus fluffed up his hair and shot Lillia a sensual look. The ex-soldier chuckled.

"I believe we haven't been properly acquainted." Lilia landed in front of them, took Amane's hand, and kissed his knuckles. Flustering the demon and surprising the girl.

"My name is Lilia Vanrouge, a pleasure to meet you." His eyes were half-lidded, his smile fanged and filled with flirtatious mischief. For the first time Valerie has met him, Amane was blushing.

"Amane?" She called out hesitantly.

That seemed to snap him out of it; the poor man tried to laugh it off.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman? But I welcome change of pace." Amane smirked.

"Lilia!"

Recognizing the voice. The young brunette peered behind the senior. Jogging his way over was Silver.

"Finally found you, old man." The young knight huffed, relieved that his search is over.

"Good morning, Silver!" The girl beamed up at him.

The aurora-eyed male smiled softly in her direction; he took her hand and placed a lingering kiss.

"Good morning to you too, Valerie."

Lilia let out a small gasp as if realizing something.

"Oh, Dove. I forgot to greet you as well. Let me fix that."

Coming near her face, he gave her cheek a sweet kiss. The girl smiled, especially feeling the strands of his hair on her face.

"Lilia, your hair is on my face." She giggled.

Standing on the side, Amane could only freeze and stare with wide eyes and raised brows. A man was kissing her cheek, which lasted longer than necessary, and not even the slightest bit affected.

Just how dense is she?

"Okay, old man. That's enough."

Silver forcefully removed the shorter male off the girl. Jealousy bubbled in the pit of his stomach. But he tried his best to ignore it.

Lilia pouted. "Your no fun, Silver."

"Remember why we needed to find Valerie, and it's not just to thank Amane for the food." The silver-haired male sternly reminded.

"Yes, yes, I know." Lilia waved him off. Reaching to his coat pocket, he drew a small velvet pouch with a yellow rope. The sound of coins jingling can be heard within it.

Valerie groaned.

"You two know how I feel about this." She complained, rubbing her temples.

"I know, Valerie. But please, accept it just this once." Silver coaxed the girl, giving her a reassuring smile. However, she shook her head.

"Tell him, I appreciate that he's trying to help me. But like all the other times, my answer will still be no." The vampiric fae sighed at her declaration.

"You are absolutely stubborn, Dove." He said, pocketing the pouch.

"But then again. It is one of your charming points." The raspberry-eyed male flashed her a fanged smile.

"We'll be going now. We at least completed one thing needed. Though once we inform him that you refused again..."

"I'll deal with him once he comes to Ramshackle." She can already picture his pouting face in her mind.

Lilia nodded and gestured Silver to follow, giving the girl one last kiss on the cheek (Lilia) and hand (Silver). They walked away.

"Hold on." Amane broke in. "Someone wanted to be your sugar daddy?"

"My, what?"

A hoard of bats attacked the poor demon.

_______________________________________________

"H-Hey! Be gentle." Amane hissed as the cotton swab touched his face.

It took a while to get the bats off him. Thankfully, they left on their own accord, and an injured Amane too. Bite marks littered across his body, more so on his body; the skin on his arms was punctured and bleeding. Some even left small scars on his legs and stomach.

The midnight-haired male never felt so relieved for the girl's abnormal strength, carrying him bridal style and dashing all the way to Ramshackle. Without breaking a sweat or looking remotely tired.

Currently, the man was having his face nursed by Wilbur. His arms, legs, and stomach were neatly wrapped in bandages. Meanwhile, the girl was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

"I am being gentle. You keep fidgeting." The ghost remarked, dabbing Amane's face.

"What did you even do?" Grim chimed in.

On the coffee table, Grim and Lisha were waiting for his answer. Concern shone in the little Strix's eyes while Grim looked bored.

"I...Might have said something wrong." He confessed.

"Not surprising." The feline snorted.

"Hey-Ouch!"

"I told you to stay still." Wilbur chided.

"I dearly hope you won't influence Valerie too much."

Speaking of which.

"Hey, Grim. I need to ask ya something." Amane gritted his teeth, feeling another sting of pain on his face.

"Oh? So you require my wisdom? The great Grim will happily provide, what is it?" A smirk formed on the monster's face. Lisha rolled her eyes at his cockiness, and Wilbur chuckled under his breath.

"Where does Valerie get her money? I know Crow shit gives her allowance, but I'm not convinced."

"Mmm? that's it?" Amane nodded. "Alright, I'll tell ya."

"Yeah, bird brain gives her money. But we do random jobs to earn extra; she even works part-time in the Monstro Lounge sometimes." Grim explained.

Amane carefully regarded this new information and came to one conclusion.

"So, in other words. Valerie is deadass close to being broke."

"Pretty much."

Amane grimaced. This girl seriously needs help.

Loud knocking brought their conversation to a halt. Amane tilted his head, brows furrowed. Please don't tell him it's crow shit.

"I'll get it!" Bennet's voice rang through the air. There was a thick wave of silence; before a sound of footsteps and Bennet's uneasy voice were coming to the lounge.

"H-Hey, now wait for a second"

"Where is the child of man?" A deep voice interrupted the ghost.

Entering the lounge was a tall male with black hair, lime green eyes, and horns on his head. Behind him was Bennet, who shifted his eyes to Amane.

Lime green eyes fell to the demon, raising a brow.

"And who might you be?"

Amane had to seal his mouth shut to keep himself from drooling. This male before him is positively gorgeous! Tall, dark, and cool air of mystery, piercing green eyes stared into his very being, made him chew his inner cheek. Damn, he wanted to see those in the bedroom, and judging by his size, he has to be packing under his pants.

"The name's Amane Mania. I'm pretty famous here for my notorious good looks."

The demon flashed him a flirtatious smirk but cringed when he felt something stick to his face. Weakly glaring at Wilbur, who held a pack of band-aids. The ghost gave him a warning glare, but Amane stuck his tongue out at him.

"Ah." Realization dawned on the tall male.

"The demon currently living with the child of man and the one who cooked that exquisite meal."

"Damn straight. Now, I would like to know your name, handsome."

Everyone, save for Lisha, stared at Amane like he actually said, something prude.

"A-Amane." Wilbur stammered.

"You...Don't know who he is?" Bennet questioned, just as stunned. Amane shook his head.

"Even you, Lisha!?" Grim shouted in surprise. The little strix shrugged her wings, just as confused as the incubus.

"Interesting." Mused the ebony-haired male.

"Oh! Malleus, you're here."

The lime-eyed male, Malleus, straightened his posture when he heard her voice. Valerie peeked through the door with messed-up hair.

"Child of man, may I have a word with you?" He inquired.

The tone of his voice made the girl fidget in place. His stare prompted her to clutch her apron.

Looks like he's upset with her rejection.

"Fine, but let talk outside." She answered. She took off her apron and gave it to Bennett. She followed the tall male out, leaving the rest of the inhabitants to process what they witness.

The pair walked a safe distance away from the dorm; and sat on a bench underneath a tree large enough to shade them.

"Why did you reject my gifts? You need the money, correct? So, why?"

As soon as they sat down, the fae prince wasted no time questioning her. Confusion and hurt shone in his eyes, completed with a pout.

Valerie sighed.

"Malleus." She began. "I know you want to help me, and I'm grateful for it. But please understand, you giving me money so freely? It makes me...Um, well." She paused to find the right words.

"I feel like I'm leeching off you-"

"You're not." He firmly objected. Taking hold of her hands. Eyeing down at her in all seriousness.

"Even so, accepting money; I didn't earn leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

Silence befell the two students. Malleus seemed to contemplate on her words, rubbing the back of her hand in small circles. After a few tense seconds, he sighed in defeat.

"Very well." He conceded, reluctantly pulling her hands away.

"However. If I ever find you struggling even more as it is, please don't refuse what I give you."

His tone made it clear that he was not giving her a choice, but there was a tinge of desperation.

"Okay, fine." The fae smiled in relief.

"Although. If you want to properly earn the money I give you, you can always come and cook for Diasomnia. I cannot count how many times Sebek has eaten Lilia's cooking for my sake."

The smile faded from his face to a tired frown upon remembering the times Lilia made those horrendous concoctions and insisting for the entire dorm to try. Out of everyone, Sebek suffered the most.

That earned a sympathetic smile from her. "I'll think about it."

She stood up, re-arranged her hair into a neat ponytail again, and faced him.

"Would you like to join me for lunch, Tsunotaro?" Her smile radiated warmth like a fireplace.

Ah, that nickname such fond memories. Enough to muster a small smile and a response.

"I would be delighted."

_______________________________________________

"So...He's a prince."

"Yes."

"And one of the top five powerful wizards."

"Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

"Eh, not into that sort of stuff."

Meanwhile, the residents of Ramshackle were busily explaining who Malleus was to the two ignorant demons.

"You could at least know he was royalty. Doesn't your family branch over Twisted Wonderland?" Gerald asked. He got back from the kitchen, and here he was.

"I honestly have no fucking interest that shit." Amane's heated reply stunned the ghosts. This is the first time they saw him this angry.

Those who had witnessed it reacted in their own way. Lisha had an understanding look in her eyes. Grim, however, yelped in fear and accidentally shot a fireball at him. Who immediately dodged.

"Gah!"

"Grim!"

"What the fuck, you little shit!"

"Screee!"

"You were about to go on demon mode!" Grim argued, swatting the flames with his tail.

"No, I wasn't!" Amane protested. He grabbed the bowl of water Wilbur used to clean his face and splashed it on the burning couch. It worked, but now they were left with a charred piece of furniture.

"Oh, boy." Gerald muttered under his breath; as he scanned the mess.

Valerie won't be happy with this.

"I'm back!" Speak of the devil.

"I hope you won't mind that Malleus will join-" Valerie blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yeah, this is real.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply; before letting it all out.

"Alright." She finally said. Opening her eyes, she surveyed their tenses expressions.

"Grim, what did you do?"

"Why me!?" The monster complained.

"You're the only one who does fire magic." She deadpanned.

"I thought he was going on demon mode, that's why." The cat explained, pointing an accusatory paw at the incubus.

"No, I wasn't, ya little shit!" The midnight-haired male furiously retorted.

"You were!"

"Why I oughta-"

"Okay! That's enough." Valerie interrupted, stepping between the demon and monster. Both looked more than eager to fight.

"Since this is clearly an accident, and Grim just went on instinct. So Grim, please apologize to Amane." She calmly instructed the monster, who looked offended.

"What? Why should I-"

"Do it, or I'll make you go on an all broccoli and spinach diet for two weeks." Her smiling face did not match the threatening tone in her voice.

If Grim was human, he would have paled at the thought only to eat those for two weeks straight.

"Sorry, Amane." The monster mumbled, but it was audible enough to hear. Valerie smiled at her accomplishment.

She turned to face everyone and clapped her hands.

"So...Ready to eat?"

Lunch had been thankfully more tamed. Even Grim didn't give his (loud) compliments on her cooking. Looks like her threat left him silent. She did well on lunch.

Kung pao shrimp, roasted salmon with green beans, and tomatoes. A chicken and radish salad, followed by pink lemonade.

"You're an excellent cook, Valerie." Malleus complimented. Taking another bite of his salmon.

"Thank you." Valerie smiled.

"Yeah, not bad. You're almost better than me. Almost." Amane emphasized the last part with a teasing grin. To which the girl rolled her eyes.

After lunch Amane's phone went off, taking it to the lounge with Lisha on top of his head. Leaving Grim and Valerie to do the dishes, Malleus decided to stay and talk to his favorite human more.

Once that was done, she scooped Grim onto her arms, walking out the kitchen with the fae prince in tow. Making their way to the lounge, they paused when they heard Amane's voice. There was slight aggravation in his voice.

"I see. In that case, please forward it to my assistant."

Valerie peered from the entrance. The man sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair. He finally turned his head, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw her head.

"Lover of cow tiddies!- Don't do that!" He cursed. Amane slumped on the burned couch, mentally drained from the call.

"Is something troubling you, Mania?" The fae prince questioned. Taking a seat on a nearby chair, and the girl sat next to the demon.

"Nothing to sweat about. But it looks like I have to cut my time short." The incubus confessed, tiredly rubbing his face. Lisha rub his cheek in comfort.

"Huh, why?" Valerie's face wrinkled in concern. But the demon chose to ignore what she said.

Amane got up and dragged his feet out of the room. Disregarding the concern or curious gazes of the others.

The girl wordlessly watched the man walked out. As much as she wanted to help him, she knew it wasn't her business and might anger him.

"You care for him quite a lot." A deep voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

Malleus has been observing her reactions ever since they came back to the dorm. Safe to say, he was a bit jealous of the demon. The fae prince had been vying for her attention since the VDC. Even more when she saved him from his overblot.

The girl rubbed her arms. "Y-Yeah, he opened his heart towards me the last time he stayed here. So I have to be worried for him."

The lime-eyed male stayed silent.

"You didn't forget anything, right?"

"Nope, and don't worry about cleaning the room. I already did that."

The pair stood in front of the entrance door. Amane carried a small bag filled with the items be brought and bought. In the background was Malleus, who was holding Grim at the moment. Lisha was on top of the incubus' head.

"Really? How sweet." Valerie gave him a small smile. Appreciating the gesture.

"You suffered enough bullshit from this school. It the least I could do." The hetero-eyed male playfully pinched her cheek, earning a whine from her. Making him snicker.

"See ya next time, Sugar tits, and you too ya, fat gremlin."

"Quit calling me that!" The monster fumed. Long and slender fingers scratched under his chin, causing him to purr in content. Malleus let out a mirthful chuckle at the action.

Retrieving his hand, Amane gave the girl a mock salute and stepped.

_______________________________________________

Valerie hummed as she fixed her hair into her signature style, albeit replacing her pink ribbon with a black one.

It was getting dark, which meant it was time for her shift in the Monstro Lounge. Malleus left hours ago after watching some historical movie, knowing fully well Sebek and Silver would go out and bring him back to the dorm. Meanwhile, her little monster was sleeping peacefully on her bed.

Valerie checked herself on the mirror for the final time. She was currently wearing a female version of octavinelle's dorm uniform. Except, she replaced it with a black mini pencil skirt, lavender stockings with garters, and black kitten heels.

Once she deemed herself presentable, she grabbed her phone from the bed to check the time. However, when she opened it, there was a text. Her eye twitched when she noticed it was from the headmaster.

"Please don't let this be another errand." The poor girl prayed before reading it.

'Ms. Kemonohito, I'm happy to inform you that all your student debts have been by none other than Mr. Mania. He will also pay for your schooling and accommodations from now on. Ahh, it brings my heart such joy that Night Raven alumni can be as kind as their headmaster.'

Valerie had to re-read the text five times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks. She stood there, frozen in shock.

Just why?

A loud knocking brought her out of her dilemma.

"Come in."

Opening the door was Gerald, who held a folded piece of paper.

"I accidentally phased in Amane's room and found this on the bed. It had your name on it." The ghost informed before heading out.

Valerie eyed the piece of paper in her hands; it felt hard. Carefully unfolding it, she let out a small gasp.

Credit cards. Amane's credit cards, there were about five of them in her hands. Quickly, she read the note, desperate for an explanation.

'Hey, Sugar tits.

I hope ya like the gift I left ya. I know what you're thinking, 'I can't accept this!' But I really want you to have it, you deserved it. You've been thrown into an unknown world; and placed in the care of an arguably competent man. Which I know by experience can be utterly useless in some situations.

I also took the liberty of paying for your academics and housing of that dorm of yours too. Don't worry about paying back; it's alright, really. You worked your ass since you got here. You are tired, I can see it. Lorelei is good at hiding it too.

Also; If you are worried about earning money, I think I can arrange something, but it's a surprise.'

-Love your new reliable (and gorgeous) guardian, Amane.

A smile threatened to form her face when she finished reading it. This man, whom she known for a short while, was going above and beyond to help her. This feels like those found family tropes in media.

As thoughtful as it was, Valerie recalled a certain fae making a similar promise, and it made her stomach churned. She wasn't sure how to break the news to him. She already made him upset with her rejection, and she raised his hopes up with her promise.

The opal-eyed girl just hopes he'll take it well.

Taking a deep breath, she texted Azul that she's unable to work tonight due to feeling unwell and needed time to rest. Once she has his confirmation, Valerie flopped on her bed.

"Oi! Henchwoman! What the heck and aren't you supposed to go to work!?"

Grim growled, obviously not happy from being woken up.

The girl simply just pulled her little monster close; and buried her face on Grim's fur.

"Not tonight. Actually, I'm going to tell Azul I won't be working in the Monstro Lounge anymore unless he needs a favor." Her reply was kinda muffled. But audible. This confused them.

"Eh? Really? Then where will you get the money?" The cat monster implored. The girl merely raised her head and smiled at him.

"Let's just say; we got a certain weirdo taking care of us now."

Bonus:

"..."

"U-Uhhh, Malleus?"

"..."

"Listen, I really value your generosity and concern for me. Trust me, I was just surprised. Please believe me-"

"I do."

"Really!? Your not mad?"

"I am disappointed that I won't be able to help you, but I am thankful to him and his ability to provide for you."

"I'm not."

"No need to be jealous, Azul."

"Be quiet, Jade."

A/N: Finally done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I know this long over due but I hope you like it.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #valerie kemonohito #amane mania #idia shroud #ortho shroud #twst grim #lillia vanrouge #twst silver #malleus draconia #azul ashengrotto #jade leech

18 notes · View notes

sword-of-summer · 3 years

Note

All of them answer every question fuck you

ahahaha no i respectfully deny your "fuck you" and i accept the ask and so-

i am 5'10", and i don't wish to be taller or shorter- i am the perfect height for hugs and messy hair, and yep, i like it here-

dream pet would be a mix of golden retriver and a husky called Holly and a chonky cat called Loki- yes ofcourse my future kids have names everyone should name their future pets-

ripped jeans/black pants with a Darth Vader tshirt or a Ethnic Fusion Kurta with black sneakers/artificial leather slip-ons, and if it's cold, a black jacket open obviously- and a black wristwatch i love my black wristwatch.

favourite video game was Clash of Clans and going even back, GTA Vice City and, the og- MARIIOOOO

three things/people are Oreos, Nutella and Pizza. The Holy Trinity-

"Beware me my fingers are smeared with chicken popcorn grease"

you didn't mention an opinion, @chunkybirb, so imma give my opinion on Vanilla ice cream and Nutella- ANYONE WHO HADN'T COMBINED THESE TWO COMBINE THESE TWO THEY ARE FUCKING AWESOME

im either phlegmatic or melancholic bruh idk maybe ik or maybe not

im v v v v ticklish

not an allergy, but an intense hatred for ketchup- i vomit if it gets too close to me fuck you ketchup

im heterosexual

any between tea and coffee but full milk coffee (ik, kill me), never had cocoa- but i love a chocolate or nutella milkshake

both. both is good. (cat and dog)

i would be an elf cause hell yeah, knowledge and wisdom

favourite youtuber is Samay Raina, a stand up comedian turned youtuber who is just awesome-

as i mentioned in 1., i am 5'10"

i would not change my name cause it's the coolest fucking name ever, i am Tanay, and Tanay in Hindi means Son, and my parents literally named their son Son, and hell yeah i like it

i forgot how much i weigh- last i checked it was 75 kilos, but ive gained weight since 2019 so yep, gotta walk in the mornings

yes i believe in metaphysicality cause one- it seems cool- second- me and @theclassyghost discussed a metaphysical life theory that i really really like and metaphysicality gives preservation of knowledge so i believe in spirits

SPACE. SPACE. SPACE.

im not that religious, no

pet peeves no well nah not really

nocturnal def nocturnal i sleep at 4.50 anyway hehehehe

fav constellation is Cassiopeia

fav star is Sirius tho

what the fuck are ball jointed dolls

i do have a fear of losing people that's just anxiety i guess

yep, global warming is real

never thought that much about reincarnation tbh but maybe, i do

fav movie is Spider Man : Into The SpiderVerse and Inception and The Dark Knight Rises and Revenge of The Sith and yes, for my indian gang, 3 Idiots and Gully Boy

yep i get scared v v v easily

i have had no pets but i plan to once i grow up

@chunkybirb 's blog is fucking cool awesome and *chef's kiss* a masterpiece

blue calms me. i love blue.

live in Norway cause pretty lights, snow, and less people than this overpopulated country i am in

born in Mumbai, India

v v v dark brown like it's almost black but no it's dark brown

introvert

horoscopes and zodiacs, i do read them, never believed that much tbh-

HUGS I LOVE HUGS

i really wanna visit my brother i haven't met him in a long time i really wanna play cricket w him just like old times

my sister- she's annoying but well i care for her

nah

tattoos idk bruh im okay idk may get one or may not get one

nope, smoking is ewwww *vomits*

ah my crush- she's cool [ if she exists

when the chalk doesn't write on the board but goes iiiiiieeee I HATE THAT

a sound i love is rain pitter pattering i just hhhhhh sends me into happiness

nope fatass here

favourite actors have to be eddie redmayne, oscar issac and pedro pascal- and margot robbie and winona ryder in the actresses section also yes, elliot page

bruh already answered in 30.

im okayish!! spotify and tumblr, cool combo-

my hair are okay being black for me

yesterday, monday, from 6.40 to 6.50

music

uhhh naah not that i know of

well in Rick Riordan's Magnus Chase books, the sword of Frey aka Sumarbrander TALKS and demands to be called Jack, so here i am

bakwaas, music and comfy

yep, i believe in evolution

unfollow on hate and when they dm me sending nsfw pics ugh why are people like that

follow, well, i like people and they seem cool, so i follow them

fav kind of person is the one who'll sit with me for hours not even talking and just vibing to music

fav animals are beavers, doggos and cats

three fav blogs are @chunkybirb, @theclassyghost, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @aredhel-of-gondolin, @sue-me-imbadass, @alleenkaas, @my-ackerman, @brrrrrrrrrrzone

fav emoticon has to be ☹ this me seeing my stupidity outrank others

fav meme has to be Butternut is a master of psychological manipulation

INTP

Libraaa let's go

no dog, i have

black darth vader tshirt, black pants, black sneakers and black wrist watch

i have no selfies my phone has no cameras i live in eternal darkness

what the fuck are platform shoes

i, uhhh, i remember weird things like what i drew in class in 3rd while i was supposed to be doing english

lazy ass here, no front flips possible

i like birds they fly

nope i don't Iike swimming i like blankets

wrapped up in blankets reading books sounds better than both

ketchup

hyperspace travel

nope none

reading writing eating sleeping

my friend

tumblr seems cool

i have around 60-70 idk

yes i can run but why

yes they do but what's the fun in that

nope I'd fall over

sapphire let's go

koala bear or panda

sunflower or the one on a lemon tree

ketchup store

one cup of coffee is enough, tysm

read minds that sounds cool cool yeaaahh

nope never wore it a black clothes guy here BatMan

winter winter all year long

i don't know and i don't wanna try

i don't know and i don't wanna know

everyone cause they are better than me

bookstores cause bookstores any bookstores

sneakers, black onez

apparently some gas bitches mixed up to form a planet

non vegetarian but i partake meat just twice or thrice in two weeks

i don't know they don't seem like liking

naaaaaaaah

bugs ew

spiders ew

about the fact that i come off as arrogant and overconfident while in reality it's just that my communication skills suck

i can draw averagely whenever im in a mood

this thing im answering but i like answering it

uhhhhhhh brain freeze- idk bruh questions are good they give knowledge

yep, while sleeping

ahh yes calming, they are

cloudy days cause fucking cool vibes

hehehe wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy

CumuloNimbus i really like it's name yknow nimBUS

dark blue, dark blue always or black

naaaah no freckles

fav thing is when they laugh and it's just happy and we're both laughing like shitheads but who cares we're rebelling against depressing life and we laugh

both. both is good [ fruits and vegetables

sleep but i have to answer 170 questions cause @chunkybirb

sky sky sky it's my blog's header duh uh sKy

sweet and sour candy. SWEET AND SOUR CANDY.

dim lights it makes me feel cool

ahhh so here we go- Mooncalfs, Thunderbirds, Phoenixes, Sphinxes, Dragons that seem to be Space Nebulae, and more and more and more

i really feel like a boomer sometimes

i love everything about this site/app it makes me feel happy cause i like the people and the posts

uhhhhh i think too much about everything cause i just do. i like thinking

"He's dead, guys. For the sake of The Force, please watch Star Wars now he wanted to discuss it with you" actually no i would just say "A big shoutout to Garlic Bread he loved Garlic Bread"

myself cause i should be sleeping but sleep is for the weak and i am the weak and the strong i am a paradox-

that i obsess too much on things and try involving people it never works out

nope. had braces for 4 years, that beat out teeth showing smiles

i prefer computer-tv ahahahahaha

never tried them, so IDK

naaaaah not motion sickness- never travelled by sea so idk seasickness

lobed ears

yep i believe that deeds do count in life and beyond

idk bruh i don't believe in physical attraction too much- bodies are fake- mentally/metaphysically tho, im a 7

ahhhhh many many Stupid Genius, Tani, Tanu, Tanya

i still do-

i really want to talk to a therapist. converse. and discover.

im both, i am both.

10:1 is the ratio- giving 10, receiving 1

uhhh nothing just when i am right and people use the old "disrespect" argument

3, Hindi, Marathi, English

girls

uhh no i am not

my hair i love them everyone says things about my hair but i love them

knowledge vibes i give, someone tells me- and that's all i ever wanted

anyone i know tbh, my mutuals, my friends, my discord friends

ahhh no i wouldn't but i wish i was born 20 years earlier

bleh bloo, neither like nor dislike

i don't know if i have one

i don't know, haven't had physical contact in a long long long time in a galaxy far far away

the above point stands but i would like to ig

anything i write, 3 hours later, i instantly hate just idk why

anything i write

that i am normal no i am not and i am not okay hahahahaha

65-70 ish people

somewhere around-

many many many don't ask please but okay if you do ask

somewhat

uhhhhh idr exactly but i won't tell in public duh uh

mediummm hairrrr

last year lockdown i became harry potter

i don't know buddy i seriously don't know

yep i do cause knowledge i like knowledge

naaah never tried

no i definitely cannot stand on my hands or my head for more than 30 seconds

yep, im pretty sure i answered most of them correctly-

og link-

#personal #ask #tumblr

16 notes · View notes

5-stardustbunny · 3 years

Text

Another silly scenario that popped into my head, involving Claude and his beloved Gladiator

· It was just another busy day of work for Claude. He sat in his office within the Berserker’s Coliseum, filling out paperwork as Snow prepared him a cup of tea.

· When he reached a good stopping point, the young emperor stood and stretched, shaking out the hand that had been writing nonstop since this morning. He glanced over at his butler, and was surprised to see that the lion had stopped preparing his tea and was instead speaking quietly on the phone.

· Snow had a bemused expression on his face and Claude’s interest was piqued. “Snow, status report.” The Lion hung up the phone and bowed towards the emperor “Dear Master, Garmr has alerted me to a disturbance outside the premises. Several of our Rankers are fighting off some would be invaders now. They are joined by the young guild master of the Summoners.”

· “In that case, let us go see what all the commotion is. It behooves us to inspire our warriors to fight to their absolute best after all” So Claude said, but he suspected his butler knew his true motivations laid in seeing his fellow guild master in action.

· As the pair neared the exit, Claude could hear the familiar sounds of battle ringing out across the sidewalk. With the confidence of a man who knew he could not be touched, he strode out of the Coliseum, blinking into the bright sunlight as he took in the scene before him.

· Indeed several of his rankers were engaged in combat. At a glance, Claude could see that the enemies stood no chance. They weren’t complete trash, but it was clear that they were beneath the skill and strength of his most accomplished berserkers and were trying to compensate for this with sheer numbers.

· Ikutoshi, Bathym, Pollux, and Garmr were all engaged in a free for all against the invaders, swatting them aside as though they were nothing. Well, at least they all seemed to be finding amusement out of the whole thing if Pollux’s excited battle cries and Bathym’s roaring laughter were anything to go by.

· “I cannot believe you’re fighting in that!” Ikutoshi called out as he threw a man twice his height over his head like he weighed nothing “What’s the matter with you?!”

· “Now, now!” Bathym chimed in, obviously delighted by something “Don’t be like that darling! It’s just like with Tarus! It’s about the pizazz! The Showmanship---!”

· “—the fact that I lost a bet and have to wear this all day.” Another voice interrupted wryly. Recognizing it as the one he was searching for, Claude eagerly looked around for a glimpse of you.

· From behind a crowd of mob trash you emerged, batting them aside easily. Claude was struck dumb at the sight of you. You stood upon the battlefield proudly, deftly swinging your blade…in a wedding dress.

· It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Pure white, the off the shoulders dress dipped low, displaying a generous amount of your chest. The ballroom style skirt flowed around you as you moved, it’s delicate lace details at odds with the violence around you.

· You shone like the brightest star in the sky and the Emperor of Ikebukuro was enchanted.

· It didn’t take much longer for you and the berserkers to lay out the rest of the attackers, rendering them all unconscious with a practiced ease. Laughing brightly, you exchanged high fives with the three rankers before petting Garmr.

· Perhaps it was not a surprise that Ikutoshi was the first to notice the Guild Master’s arrival.

· “Oh!” the boy remarked, eyes widening as he caught sight of the pair standing at the door to the Coliseum. “Hey Boss, Snow. Did the noise catch your attention? Don’t worry we took care of them all already.”

· Claude froze as your eyes landed on him. You smiled so brightly it could put the sun to shame, and you waved excitedly “Claude! Hi Claude! Hi Snow!”

· Claude just stood there staring. It occurred to him that this was wildly out of character, but he could not get his heart and thoughts to stop racing.

· Your expression twisted in concern and you bound over to Claude’s side, “Youre face is all red Claude! Are you getting sick? Do you have a fever??” You step into the Emperor’s personal space and placed a hand on his forehead. Claude opened and closed his mouth but words wouldn’t come out. You frown deepened as you pulled your hand back. “You do!” You scolded “You’re working too hard! Snow!”

· The butler turned towards you, bowing “Yes?”

· “I’m taking Claude to go get some rest, okay?”

· “Of course, I’ll leave the young master in your capable hands.” Claude whipped around to stare at his butler, but the lion simply smiled “I’m afraid I must see to this mess being cleaned up, and that may take some time.” That troublesome butler of his! Claude opened his mouth to say as much, but was rendered speechless once again when you grabbed his hand and led him into the Coliseum.

· Eventually you herd him into the bedroom Claude keeps in the building. Well, it’s his in name alone, it’s never used, though Snow makes a point of keeping it clean. The emperor found himself seated on the bed and being fretted over by you. Not a bad feeling by any means, but it wasn’t necessary.

· “Our dear Gladiator” Claude interrupted you, taking your hand “You concern flatters us but there is no need. We are not ill.”

· You looked confused “Huh? But you were so red, and you weren’t saying anything.”

· “Ah, yes” Claude chuckled “Our apologies for causing any concern. We were merely struck speechless by how radiant you look in that wedding gown.” He was rewarded by your face turning a cute shade of pink as you looked down at your dress. “Now We must return to our work—”

· Claude went to stand but was forced back down by your hands on his shoulders. You were still blushing, but that concerned frown was back. “Hold on a sec there. Sure, you may not be sick but…” You cup his face gently with your hands, running a thumb gently across the dark circles under his eyes “But you’re still working way too hard. You need to rest!”

· Claude sighed out your name, but you stood your ground. “May I take this to mean you won’t be taking no for an answer?” Claude asked wryly. You nodded firmly “I’ll use force to keep you here if I have to. Don’t underestimate how seriously I take your health!”

· At that the emperor could not help but give a boisterous laugh. That stubbornness of yours was one of your most endearing traits, perhaps he should have known it would one day be turned on him. “Very well! You wish for me to remain here and rest at least until Snow is finished dealing with that business outside, correct? I shall acquiesce on one condition.”

· “Okay! What’s the condition?” You asked clearly pleased that he was willing to negotiate. “I would like for you to rest here with me. I was left in your hands by Snow after all, and it would be a waste not to spend as much time as I can basking in the image of my gladiator in full wedding regalia.”

· You give him a look of pure exasperation but you still kick off your heels. You stand in front of him, taller than usual given he was sitting on the bed, and he took you in, in all your glory. When he didn’t say anything, you raised an eyebrow “Are you gonna lie down or…?”

· Claude smirked “Of course!” Then without warning he wrapped his arms around you and twisted his body so you both landed on the bed with a soft oomph. You yelped in surprise, but allowed Claude to pull you close and bury his face in your shoulder. If you were available to do this every time perhaps Claude would consider taking breaks more often, this was the most relaxed he’d felt in months.

· “Hey, one sec” You push lightly at his shoulders and reluctantly Claude pulls back up into a sitting position “You can’t lay down in a tie man, you’ll choke yourself. And who sleeps in a cape, and blazer? Like come on my dude. Sorry I’ll be confiscating those laurels too, they’re already stabbing into my shoulder.” With each point you removed an article of his clothing until the emperor was left only in his shirt and pants. As you gently tossed his laurel to the foot of the bed, you turned back to look at him with an expression of mild surprised.

· “What is it?” He asked curiously. “Oh, um, sorry. I just noticed…” You reached out and ran you fingers through his hair over and over “Your hair is so soft.”

· Something warm settled in Claude’s chest and he dropped his head back against you shoulder, plopping you both back down across the bed. His arms twisted around you, and he ran his hands up and down the back of your dress. You gave a huff of amusement and returned the gesture, taking him in your arms while continuing to run one hand through his hair. “So you’ll stay put then?”

· “I would never go back on my word.” Claude mumbled against your skin “I will remain here resting until such time that Snow comes to collect me. However, while we remain like this, I would ask you to keep talking. I find your voice quite soothing. It can be about whatever you’d like.”

· “Hmmmmmmm” You give it some thought. “Oh I know! I’ll tell you a story! I learned it to tell Agyo and the other kids, it’s about a kidnapped prince and the brave knight who saves him!”

· Claude can hear the smile in your voice as you began the tale, and he relaxes further into your embrace. Without meaning to, he slowly succumbs to the soft call of sleep.

#I used to just think Claude was alright #And then I finished ch 7 of the main story and I fell head over heels for him #claude #tokyo afterschool summoners #housamo #dust writings

18 notes · View notes

onebadwinter · 3 years

Text

The Joker Tropes Part 2

Taken From Here and here

Nether Realm Studios especially seems to love making Joker out to be evil incarnate. In Injustice: Gods Among Us and its sequel, he loses all his cred (and life) once he nukes Metropolis; Harley ditches him entirely, Batman just completely gives up on indulging him any more, even Guest Fighters like Hellboy consider him worthless, and non-Batvillains such as Grodd and Brainiac and even Darkseid loathe him for either Metropolis, or just in general principle. Mortal Kombat 11 shows that even the MK cast see him as a scourge upon the realms, and also express distaste toward him for either his nuking, a previous outing, or because he's seen as a buffoon who cannot be taken seriously (this is usually the case for other villain characters).

About the only person who can tolerate him for long is Lex Luthor, only because they both have the same level of hatred for their respective enemies. Even then, Luthor prefers to keep his distance from the Joker, if only because a bored Joker screws with everything For the Evulz.

In the animated series, he claims to have been beaten as a child when interviewed by Harley Quinn. It is unknown if this is true. According to Batman, he's simply making it up.

In one issue of New 52, he claims to have been driven insane by an abusive grandmother, who also bleached his skin to its present pallor.

In the same continuity, he is one to a baby gorilla he adopts, trains up as a gun-wielding henchman, and ultimately gets killed off for laughs.

In the comic book adaptation of Injustice, it's implied Harley fears Joker would be one, and gives their daughter to her sister, lest he kill the child. It's left ambiguous whether the Joker's even aware of the ruse.

Averted in one story, wherein one of Arkham's doctors realizes Joker's faking insanity just to piss off Batman as revenge for his disfigurement. Another doctor finds the report and excitedly reveals it to the current head doctor, only to learn that the Joker left it for everyone to read, since the paper's written by Harley Quinn, and therefore worthless as evidence.

In Batman: The Man Who Laughs, it's established that the name "The Joker" was given to him by the media, and he liked it so much that he decided to call himself that.

The same happens in Joker (2019), where Murray tells the audience to "look at this joker" when talking about Arthur. Arthur took it to heart.

Batman: Arkham Knight takes this even further by revealing that being forgotten is the only thing the Joker truly fears.

Just to demonstrate how much disregard he has for his henchmen, a reoccurring motivation for offing his own lackeys is failing to laugh at one of his jokes. Or laughing too late. Or laughing for too long. Or laughing at the wrong joke. He's... unpredictable.

The Joker loves it when people laugh with him, whether genuine or not, but if someone laughs at him, they're most likely already dead.

Joker loves attention and being above the normals, so never imply that he's not interesting or unique. Terry exploits this flaw in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker just to drive him to a Villainous Breakdown.

The Batman Who Laughs. Since the character's first appearance in Dark Nights: Metal, the mere mention of him is enough to put The Joker in an uncharacteristically un-jolly mood and is a good way to get on his bad side. In fact, the dislike of this twisted version of his archnemesis is so great, that when Lex Luthor and The Legion of Doom started cooperating with him against Joker's protests, he quit the legion (after non-lethally jokerizing every other member of it) in disgust.

If you're going to hurt Batman, do it right. One of the supplementary stories for Joker War had him beyond furious with Bane - to the point of promising him he'd kill him in a way he would never see coming - for showing so little imagination in killing Alfred in City of Bane without even letting Batman listen to it to torture him. By his reckoning, if you have a great gag to break the Bat, use it to break the Bat - don't blow it by having Robin be the only one to witness it.

Originally Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs.

Later portrayals base themselves on his actors, with Cesar Romero a popular candidate, and after Jack Nicholson came in, artists such as Alex Ross base him on him, such as the actor's distinct widow's peak and slicked back hair.

During Knightfall he and Scarecrow killed several members of a SWAT team, and one of his last actions in Batman: No Man's Land was to kill Commissioner Gordon's second wife, Lt. Sarah Essen.

One of the alternate realities seen in Zero Hour! was one where he killed Commissioner Gordon instead of crippling Barbara.

Part of the reason Gordon takes over the post of Commissioner in both The Dark Knight Trilogy and Batman: Arkham Series is due to the Joker killing Gillian Loeb. Additionally, the first game in the latter series, Asylum, he sees several of Arkham's guards killed by him and his men.

He's holding a dead cop's corpse in his intro in Injustice: Gods Among Us and using it as a puppet. He also talks to the body of one of the Regime enforcers who captured him once he breaks out and heads to Gotham.

Whether he was driven insane or was already insane and became completely bonkers.

Where he is on the spectrum between "wacky prankster" and "utterly depraved and sadistic sociopath and murderer".

Whether he is a senseless, performative terrorist wreaking havoc for kicks or a deceptively cunning and competent criminal mastermind. Or both. Usually both.

He's no Batman, but sometimes he is a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, Knife Nut or marksman, and other times a flimsy wimp who goes down in one punch. In some of the grittier settings, his raw strength, numbness to pain and viciousness are enough to level the playing field with Batman.

Whether he actually loves Harley Quinn varies. In the animated series, (where Harley first appeared) the writers haveoutright said he's a sociopath incapable of loving anyone, and just sees her as a useful mook. Some other works imply he really does love her on some level (although he's usually still an abusive asshole.)

He can either be Faux Affably Evil, Laughably Evil, just a Monster Clown, or some combination of the three.

At least one such incident implied he would be interested in Batman... but only after he was dead. Again this may only have been a tactic to get under Batman's skin or truthful admission. The readers will never know for certain.

His plot in The Killing Joke is to put Jim Gordon through the wringer hard in the hopes of driving him mad. He'll also try to drive Batman over the edge (particularly, drive him to break his "no killing" rule), sometimes by cutting off all of Batsy's human connections.

The Dark Knight reworks it into Driving Gotham To Senseless Violence with wanton acts of destruction or terrorism, just to prove everyone's as bad as him deep down.

Ironically, a 1952 story has the Joker get himself falsely committed to an insane asylum, to question a patient who knew the location of a cache of money. The end of the story has him Laughing Mad due to a prank Batman used to disguise his identity.

He didn't have his signature laugh. This seems to have been a way to "goofy up" the character to make him less terrifying in the days of the Comics Code Authority. Later on, he'd learn to giggle while remaining terrifying.

He actually committed crimes for moneynote , and wasn't really interested in causing chaos or terror for a joke's sake.

Building off of that, his plans weren't really "insane" until the Silver Age (at which point it's not even fair to say this was exclusive to him), nor was there any question of the character's mental stability.

His obsession with Batman wasn't there, much less the idea that he would pass up chances to kill the Bat or learn his identity. This aspect was probably introduced to explain the Bond Villain Stupidity he (and every Batman villain) had become infamous for in the Silver Age.

His clown-like complexion was actually makeup in his early appearances. He even removed his makeup to disguise himself as a cop, which was referenced in The Dark Knight. It's later revealed that the look is permanent after falling in a vat of chemicals.

The Brave and the Bold #111 and #191 have him team up with Batman to clear his name after being framed for several murders. The first instance turned out to simply be a framing the guilty part occasion but the second instance was actually genuine on Joker's part (except the person Joker seemingly murdered turned out to be faking their death).

He also does this with Batman whenever The Batman Who Laughs is involved (specifically in the Dark Knights: Metal series).

He abruptly ends a partnership with Red Skull when his Nazi affiliation comes out. Red Skull simply wonders why he is so surprised when he thinks that the Joker would make a great Nazi. The Joker is NOT happy about this, proclaiming "I may be a criminal lunatic, but I'm an American criminal lunatic!" It even provides the trope's image. And yes, folks, even an equal-opportunity murderer like the Joker despises the Nazis!note

The exception is mentioned again in the Last Laugh arc where the Joker immediately refused to join the American Neo-Nazi Aryan Alliance group in the Slab after he was offered membership. Joker: I'm evil and all that, but you guys are just plain mean.

Will not harm dumb animals and doesn't condone it. There's no humor to be had in that. Higher primates apparently do not qualify but a lot more effort went into that one.

While in Arkham with villain Warren White, AKA the Great White Shark, Joker calls him the worst person he ever met. He states that while he may kill people, even he doesn't steal their kids' college funds.

Sees nothing funny about someone parking in a handicap spot when they're not handicapped. However, he does think it's hilarious to hurt them in ways that will make certain they'll always be able to park there.

A girl named Janey Bennett, whose class was studying criminal behavior, became pen pals with the Joker while he was in Arkham. When Janey revealed that her father, the mayor of Motor City, was abusing her (exactly how isn't specified, though it was implied to have been really bad) the Joker broke out and, convinced that the authorities would be of no help, tried to force the mayor into admitting to his crimes and giving him Janey (so that he could find a better home for her) by threatening to contaminate the city's blood supply, going through with it (because the ends justify the means) when the mayor refused to give in to his demands. He originally intended to give her to Batman as well so he could protect her but at the end decided to give her to her mom. Joker: I mean, stealing a city blind is something I can admire... but being mean to one's own daughter... that just makes my blood boil.

For a rather literal form of "standard", the Joker's team-up with Carnage in Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds fell apart in part because the Joker, known for his love of theatrics, found Kasady's desire to get straight to killing boring. Conversely, Kasady didn't like the Joker's flair for theatrics.

The Joker absolutely loathes The Batman Who Laughs, to the point where he drops his usual joking demeanor and is deathly serious whenever directly referring to him, even willing to work together with Batman to face him when it comes down to it. When Lex Luthor goes behind his back to make a deal with The Batman Who Laughs (going against the only condition Joker has for joining his plan), Joker responds by Joker-gassing the Legion of Doom, putting Lex into a series of deathtraps, trashing Lex's Power Armor, and quitting the Legion. In the process, he tells Luthor how he had planned on ruining the Legion utterly on the verge of victory, and as nightmarish as his plan sounded, he claims it is nothing compared to what the Batman Who Laughs is going to do.

While he still gloated about it and found Commissioner Gordon kneecapping him funny after remember that he'd crippled Barbara, the actual act of killing Sarah Essen in the penultimate issue of Batman: No Man's Land is one of the few times the Joker wasn't happy with something he himself did, considering he's seen walking away while scowling afterward, leaves the babies he originally planned to murder unharmed and immediately turns himself in to the police.

Emperor Joker sees the Joker disgusted with a corrupted Jimmy O Lsen tormenting the Superfamily and Batman when they're turned int animals.

Later one he is disgusted when his minions vandalize the Moai on Eastern Island.

Again, when he rescues Lex from The Batman Who Laugh's infected minions in Hell Arisen, the mere mention of his alternate universe rival prompts him to have a very uncharacteristic Freak Out. The Joker: I told you. I told you not to deal with him. You should have shot that thing in the head the second you had it in a cage! It is wrong. It is a wrong thing.

Played more straight in his relationship with Punchline. Only time will tell if it lasts.

There’s also a comic storyline when Hush informed that a dirty cop Office Halmet killed his wife Jeannie. The Joker wanted nothing more than to kill said cop in revenge. Then there’s Batman: Three Jokers where, despite it being being heavily implied he was abusive, the “Comedian” Joker is seen setting up fake tea parties with dolls, clearly trying to substitute them for his wife and child showing that he does miss them and desire to be a family with them.

While The Dark Knight is one of the few times the Joker's clown-like appearance is the result of make-up, he does sport a Glasgow Grin.

While Joker still has the permanent clown look, it's combined with the Glasgow Grin.

While Batman: Endgame would see the skin of his face restored with a chemical called Dionesiumnote , at the start of The New 52, the Joker had the Dollmaker skin his face and then, after he recovered it, spent Death of the Family wearing it like a Leatherface-esque mask. And even in Endgame, his restored face ends up badly burned as the result of the finale battle between him and Batman, though it still ends up restored again.

Gotham sees neither Valeska escape this. After his death in season 2, Jerome (the proto-Joker) ends up resurrected in season 3, but because Dwight thinks his attempt to revive him failed, Dwight ends up cutting off Jerome's face ala Death of the Family and Jerome ends up stapling it on when he catches up with Dwight and while he later has it properly reattached, there's still scars from what happened. Jeremiah, Jerome's twin and the show's true Joker, ends up with the "perma-clown" appearance due to Jerome having the Scarecrow brew something up to spray in Jeremiah's face, but season 5 sees his fateful fall at Ace Chemicals badly scar his face and sear off most of his hair with only stringy patches left.

Averted entirely in Joker (2019), where his clown appearance is entirely makeup, and the worst it gets is painting his iconic smile on his face with his own blood from a car crash. Not even a Glasgow Grin or anything, the blood is from his hand and his face only has a few normal cuts on it.

While Batman is a rather serious character who refuses to kill anyone, The Joker is a rather comical character who revels in death.

Joker's gadgets tend to be rather goofier but much more lethal, such as the Joker Venom that he often uses to kill his victims.

While Batman gets along well with his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl, Joker frequently abuses his sidekick Harley Quinn and has tried to kill her before, not to mention all the times he has been a Bad Boss by killing his henchmen for any reason you can think of, sometimes for no reason at all.

While Batman's backstory is well known, even by the citizens of Gotham who know of the tragedy of the rich Waynes' in Crime Alley, no one knows anything about the Joker's backstory, but most versions he tells are consistent in two things: he was a nobody, and possibly someone poor.

In most adaptations, his voice is high-pitched in contrast to Batman's Badass Baritone.

Why he went by the name the Red Hood has changed over the years: The Killing Joke claims he was a failed comedian driven to crime to support his pregnant wife. The trauma of his disfigurement from jumping in the acid and his wife's earlier accidental death drove him insane. However, even this backstory is questionable, as the Joker himself calls it "multiple choice".

In Injustice 2, an intro with Atrocitus has the Red Lantern wondering what drove the Joker to nihilism.

In the animated series, he claims to have been abused as a child when interviewed by Harley, but according to Batman, it's just another ruse to escape Arkham.

The purple suit and matching pants with either an orange and/or green shirt with a bowtie or tie, remains the definitive Joker look one that many artists and costume designers have given spin on. He is sometimes known for wearing a cool hat but other times goes hatless. Heath Ledger's custom-designed purple long-coat, trousers, blue shirt and green Waistcoat of Style with a tie has likewise become iconic and famous for its contemporary and downright stylish update on the classic look.

The original Red Hood outfit which is a black suit, white shirt, bowtie with an opera cap and a bizarre red dome is also quite famous.

The Hawaiian tourist outfit he wore in the notorious scene in The Killing Joke.

The white suit he wears in Miller's The Dark Knight Returns as well as the white nurse maid outfit with red wig in The Dark Knight is also quite notable.

The Future Joker look from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker which went with a mime look (black body suit, slicked-back hair) is also quite distinct and unique.

The first issue of Batman with Joker's debut has him described as having "burning, hate-filled eyes" and the moniker, "the harliquin of hate".

The Man Who Laughs had Bruce dosed with a light version of the Joker Venom and he felt his perspective shift into a paranoid vengeance were he felt everyone deserved to be punished for his parent's death just for existing.

Death of the Family had Batman describe how Joker's irises are always narrow when looking at anyone but Batman and that it is usually an indication of negative feelings toward something with Bruce mentioning that his eye are the eyes of someone who hates everything he sees.

In the Justice League storyline "Rock of Ages", Martian Manhunter has to put in incredible effort to reorganize Joker's mind long enough for him to give up the cataclysmic Philosopher's Stone. The briefly sane Joker immediately says My God, What Have I Done? verbatim as he hands it back, before quickly losing his mind and going back to the laughing madman.

The famous example from the end of The Killing Joke, where Batman tries to convince him to allow Batman to rehabilitate him before their vendetta kills them. Joker considers it for a long, somber moment before quietly reflecting that they're both too far gone.

Batman: Cacophony ends with Joker being pumped full of an inhuman amount of antipsychotic drugs to keep him under control while in recovery from a near-fatal stabbing. Batman takes the opportunity to have a relatively-sane conversation with him, though it's somewhat subverted by Joker still being a homicidal sociopath even while heavily sedated.

He even gives multiple reasons on how he came Back from the Dead in Injustice 2 and will go along with whatever his opponent thinks is true, despite being Dead All Along in story mode and only appearing as a hallucination to his ex-moll.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns sees him kill David Endochrine and Ruth Weisenheimer, who were clearly based on David Letterman and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

During Knightfall, once he realizes that Azrael isn't Batman, his plan's gone to hell, and one too many criticisms from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert stand-ins, he kills the stand-ins.

In one of the issues for the The Batman tie-in comic, The Batman Strikes, he terrorizes a stand-in for Conan O'Brien. This becomes darkly Hilarious in Hindsight as the real O'Brien voiced Endochrine in the animated version of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In the series proper, Harley's debut had the two of them terrorize a stand-in for Dr. Phil for the climax.

If you want to know how truly terrifying The Batman Who Laughs is, look no further than the way Joker acts whenever discussing him. He doesn't laugh, he doesn't smile. He becomes calm and serious and simply tells whomever he's talking to that the TBWL is "a wrong thing that shouldn't exist". Someone HAS to be scary if the very thought of him makes Joker act like a calm rational sane person.

In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the clown has a massive Villainous Breakdown when Terry mocks him for his failed attempts to break Batman.

On the rare occasion Joker gets bored and leaves Gotham, expect everyone to think of him as just a silly clown, until the bodies start piling up.

One issue of the Robin Series had him talking about having Abusive Parents, only for a psychiatrist to tell him it's the seventh story he's told now.

Batman lampshades on this to Harley in the animated series, thinking it's another lie to gain sympathy.

The Killing Joke claims he was a failed comedian driven to crime to support his pregnant wife. The trauma of his disfigurement and his wife's earlier accidental death drove him mad. However, even this could be a lie, as he himself calls it "multiple choice".

It's even discussed in Injustice 2, as Atrocitus wonders what drove the Joker to nihilism. Despite only appearing as a hallucination to Harley in story mode, he spews out multiple theories for his Unexplained Recovery and will say Sure, Let's Go with That in non-canon fights. Was he resurrected by someone, or is he from another universe? Did he escape from either the Source Wall or the Phantom Zone, or is he just an apparition?

Shadow of the Bat #38, Tears of a Clown: He celebrates his anniversary of the day he was a still sane, but hapless comedian, and was thrown out of an exclusive Stand-Up Comedy club for an unfunny act the patrons mercilessly heckled. It was the last straw as he agreed to provide to his family by pulling a job for the Red Hood gang. So he kidnaps all the patrons and reenacts his act with control collars that will kill them when they laugh. Oddly enough, the patrons are hardcore Stand-Up Comedy fans, so they can't remember the number of times they've booed someone. However, even this origin story could be a lie.

It's come to be his primary disfigurement over the original skin bleaching.

In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Terry McGinnis exploits this by delivering an epic Boring Insult so the clown will have a Villainous Breakdown.

King Barlowe proved to be a big one in his Thanatos Gambit in the episode "Joker's Millions" of The New Batman Adventures. In a spiteful Video Will, he gives the clown his millions, revealing in his tape that most of it was fake. Expecting the clown to splurge on it, he won't have enough to pay off the IRS, allowing Barlowe to get the "last laugh" after his death, without the Joker coming after him.

Alan Moore's "I go Loony" from The Killing Joke, an in-panel song-and-dance tune that was eventually made into an actual song belted out in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold has "Where's the Fun in That?" from the episode "Emperor Joker".

Batman: Arkham City ended with him covering The Platters' "Only You (and You Alone)", Batman: Arkham Origins had him cover Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold, Heart" and Batman: Arkham Knight had him provide an original composition, "Can't Stop Laughing".

Action Fashionista: This incarnation of the Joker has a wide variety of garish outfits for every occassion — most of them straight from the comics.

Adaptational Attractiveness: Metal teeth, lack of eyebrows, and tattoos aside, he's still being played by the youthful-looking real life Pretty Boy Jared Leto; especially since the last two cinematic Jokers were a creepy middle-aged gangster with a botched face-lift and a filthy, scarred vagrant (even the mentally unwell clown-for-hire doesn't scream Mr. Fanservice one bit). This version looks more like Marilyn Manson.

Adaptational Nice Guy: A very downplayed example. While he's otherwise the same Clown Prince of Crime we all know and love to hate, he appears to genuinely care for Harley, and even throws her out of a falling helicopter to save her life. Almost any other iteration of the Joker would do that to save his own skin or rid himself of her.

Adaptational Skimpiness: This version of the Joker tends to be shirtless a lot more than he has in any other medium. It mostly seems like an opportunity to show off his tattoos.

Adaptation Distillation: Leto's Joker seems to be less of the "evil philosopher" that Heath Ledger portrayed him as in The Dark Knight, and instead seems to be a cross between the garish, larger-than-life Mark Hamill version from the animated series and the Arkham games, and the creepy, deeply twisted Brian Azzarello version. David Ayer had also stated that he looked specifically to the Golden Age Joker for reference, providing reason for many to believe that Leto's Joker is a modern re-imagining of that incarnation.

Advertised Extra: Heavily featured in Suicide Squad promotional materials, barely appears in the film for more than seven minutes. According to Jared Leto, several of the scenes he shot were not included in the theatrical cut.

Ambiguous Disorder: In Suicide Squad, most of the time the Joker seems... not all there compared to Harley. In addition of psychopathic tendencies, the Joker has random bouts of maniacal laughter, confusion, and slurred speech-like patterns. All attributes that stem from punch-drunk syndrome. Considering he has faced Batman one too many times, it makes sense that the Joker's mental stability is finally catching up to him.

However, come Birds of Prey, they broke up, mirroring the comics where they do have an Relationship Revolving Door. It appears to stick, as Harley publicly calls it quits between the two of them.

His tattoos are very reminiscent of the Joker in All Star Batman and Robin.

Ax-Crazy: Like all the incarnations before him, calling him a violent psychopath is one of the biggest understatements you can make.

Bedlam House: Spent some time at Arkham Asylum, where he met Harley. Then he broke free from it with the help of both Harley and his gang.

Chewing the Scenery: An important part of the character is his theatricality.

Cool Car: A bright purple sports car with underglow lights and a "HAHAHA" license plate.

Dented Iron: It's subtle, but the numerous scars on his body and metal replacement teeth in his mouth are clear signs that his frequent run-ins with Batman are taking their toll.

Disney Death: He seemingly dies in the crash of his helicopter... only to come back to free Harley from her high security prison at the end of Suicide Squad.

The Dreaded: In true Joker fashion, everyone is terrified of him.

Establishing Character Moment: One that takes place before he even makes his official debut in the setting - he killed Robin (a minor) and vandalized his outfit to mock Batman over his inability to save him.

Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Insofar as much as the Joker can love anyone, anyway, but he does seem to genuinely care about Harley. Eventually, subverted.

Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He considers the brutal murder of a minor as a joke he played on Batman. When he's torturing Harleen Quinzel, he promises not to shatter her well-kept teeth while flashing his own hideous metal dentures. When Harleen later has him at gunpoint, Joker just says "please don't kill me, I'll be ya friend" in a snarky tone.

Evil Is Hammy: It's not The Joker if he's not Chewing the Scenery. And, sure enough, he does.

Evil Is Petty: The graffiti on Robin's costume seems to imply that Joker murdered him just to prod at Batman. It is confirmed in Suicide Squad that Joker and Harley killed him.

Evil Laugh: It's kind of his thing. One notable example is when he chuckles while surrounded by an arsenal of weapons.

Fake Shemp: Indie rocker Johnny Goth stood in for Jared Leto in Birds of Prey, in the flashback where he and Harley torture and tattoo the big mafia thug Harley later bumps back into.

Foil: To Batman as usual, but with some new additions. After 20 years, Batman became more jaded and cruel, while the Joker somewhat mellowed out and his criminal activity became more professional. Batman didn't settle down until the death of Superman while the Joker grew attached to Harley Quinn.

In Suicide Squad Griggs' smug indifference about his gambling debt immediately becomes pure terror when he realizes the Joker has gotten involved.

He is so feared that even the likes of Black Mask would rather steer clear of him. Harley's enemies only start gunning for her in Birds of Prey when it's become clear that she's no longer with him.

G-Y

The Ghost:

There is an allusion to him in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ("HA HA HA Joke's On You, Batman" painted across the chest of the dead Robin's empty suit in the Batcave), but he doesn't actually appear.

He gets mentioned a lot in Birds of Prey, but he's only seen very briefly in some flashbacks, always from the back (including footage from Suicide Squad). There is a whole Deleted Scene where he and Harley have a domestic dispute. Harley leaves the house through the window and the Joker throws her stuffed beaver out through the window. In the film proper, she's just kicked out of the house, with no shot of Mr. J.

Greater-Scope Villain: His role in Batman v Superman. Despite not actually appearing his murder of Robin by this point has driven Batman down a darker, more vengeful path that goes against Batman's traditional moral code; the one that the Joker is always trying to prove is wrong. Batman's rage towards Superman blinds him to the possibility of Lex Luthor being the real threat long enough for Superman to die fighting Doomsday. In a way the Joker's actions contributed to Batman's failure.

Guttural Growler: This Joker is noticeably more snarly than previous incarnations.

Handshake Refusal: He doesn't like to shake hands, as Monster T finds out.

Hell-Bent for Leather: Wears a purple crocodile skin duster at some point in the film.

Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Despite being a homicidal sociopath, he seems to truly love his girlfriend Harley Quinn. Then in Birds Of Prey, he coldly and violently breaks up with her.

Joker Immunity: He appears to die when his helicopter is shot down about halfway through Suicide Squad. To absolutely no one's surprise, he shows up alive and well in the final scene. It helps that he's the Trope Namer.

Knife Nut: And by God, does he have enough blades.◊

Lean and Mean: This Joker, while muscular, is quite lean, especially compared to the heavily muscled Batman.

Love Epiphany: Well, "love" is pushing it, but Joker realizes his affections for Harley when she dives in the chemical bath that ultimately turned Joker into what he is. Symbolic in the sense she was agreeing to join him in madness. Further adding to the complexity of the scene; Joker was tying up a loose end, having used Harley to escape from Arkham. He lead her to her demise and intended to leave her for death but at the same moment realized she had entered his world and his madness. Joker never anticipated the amount of utter devotion Harley would have for him, something inside him just couldn't walk away from her, so he jumped in to save her.

Manipulative Bastard: He manipulated Harley into helping him escape Arkham because she fell in love with him. When she served her purpose, he would have had her kill herself jumping into a bath of chemicals to prove her feelings. He instead saves her from this demise because he has a Love Epiphany in the moment.

Monster Clown: Like the previous film versions, Joker is an Ax-Crazy criminal with clownish makeup. Green hair notwithsanding, his white makeup, red lipstick and absence of facial scars make him look closer to a mime than his predecessors.

Noble Demon: In Suicide Squad, his whole motivation is to rescue Harley Quinn. His commitment is so strong he doesn't even waste time with pranks or petty acts of cruelty. Everything he does is for someone else.

Only Known By His Nickname: He's only known as The Joker, or "J" / "Mr. J".

Outlaw Couple: He and Harley Quinn are lovers and partners in crime.

Sadist: Even though there was only a few select scenes of him, one of them is him torturing Harley. It's disturbingly obvious that he is positively gleeful over it. And he doesn't seem to have lost any sleep over murdering Robin, either.

Pet the Dog: David Ayer confirms that while he did push Harley out of the falling helicopter, his intent was in fact to save her life.

Satellite Love Interest: To Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. His characterization revolves entirely around Harley, not even getting involved with the main plot.

Scary Teeth: Several of his teeth are made of metal. According to David Ayer, Batman punched his teeth out after he killed Robin, leading him to replace them with metal teeth.

Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Although he has a presence at the start of the film, The Joker appears to have left Gotham City to be controlled by Black Mask in Birds of Prey, with Roman saying that Joker has already skipped town.

The Sociopath: He's chaotic and remorseless, much like his previous versions. Special mention goes to his murder of Robin, which he topped off by spray-painting a cruel taunt for Batman onto the boy's costume.

Tattooed Crook: His torso is covered in jester-themed tattoos. He also has a few on his arms and face.

Villain of Another Story: He mainly appeared in Suicide Squad, but his biggest act of villainy to date — killing Robin — happened some years before Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which he doesn't appear. The spray-painted message on Robin's empty suit ("Ah ah ah joke's on you Batman!") in the latter film can't be anything else than his doing.

Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Is seen with a rather impressive arsenal of guns and knives. And even says to warden Griggs, at some point, "I can't wait to show you my toys." note Notably, he manages to hijack the gunship which was sent to extract Waller and the squad so he can rescue Harley.

Would Hit a Girl: In the past, the Joker electroshocks and manipulates Dr. Harleen Quinzel into allowing her to fall into a vat of chemicals, in order to become Harley Quinn.

Would Hurt a Child: He killed Batman's sidekick, Robin, while the boy was an underage minor.

You Gotta Have Blue Hair: His hair is bright green.

"Knightmare" Joker

"You won't kill me. I'm your best friend..." Appearances:

Zack Snyder's Justice League

"You need me. You... need me... to help you undo this world you created, by letting her die."

The Joker meets up once more with Batman in the nightmarish alternate future where Darkseid has conquered the Earth and Superman turned evil. But things aren't the same anymore between the two legendary foes.

See also the Knightmare page for more on that setting's characters.

Break Them by Talking: He deliberately tries to agitate Batman by reminding him of how many people have died on his watch.

Cop Killer: He wears a bulletproof vest with at least two dozens police badges on it. Whether these were good cops killed prior to the apocalypse or servants of the oppressive regime of Superman after the apocalypse is not detailed.

Costume Evolution: He has ditched his garish gangster suits for what looks like either a medical gown or a butcher gown, complete with orange gloves and a bulletproof vest with a dozen police badges pinned on it. He got rid of his "Damaged" forehead tattoo, let his hair grow and put red makeup around his mouth, looking closer to more common depictions of the character.

Enemy Mine: He and Batman had the worst kind of enmity imaginable, but the Earth being conquered by Darkseid is enough of a Conflict Killer for them to call a truce and work together to try undoing this mess.

Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He utters the line "We live in a society" while gazing upon the devastated landscape in the trailer. This is clearly a Meme Acknowledgement, and it's quite awkwardly used given the context (is there really any society left in this post-apocalyptic world?). It doesn't appear in the actual film, however. The line was improvised by Leto.

Evil Laugh: Even with the world being in such a sorry state and him still being sane enough to acknowledge how bad the situation is, he'll still let some laughs out, even though they sound more subdued than ever.

Evil Versus Oblivion: Even he sees the necessity of teaming up with Batman to try undoing what Darkseid did to Earth.

Future Badass: He survived the apocalypse brought upon Earth by Darkseid and looks like he's geared for guerilla actions.

My Card: He gives a Joker card to Batman as a symbol of their truce. Shall the Dark Knight want to break that truce, he'd just have to tear that card up. The card could be seen strapped on Batman's assault rifle in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Joker gets a high reminding Batman how costly his mistakes in the past have been.

The Nicknamer: He nicknames Mera "my little fish stick" and Robin "Boy Wonder".

Progressively Prettier: Despite being worse for wear, this Joker is arguably even better looking than his previous appearance, with his over-the-top tattooed gangster image toned down and his androgyny played up. Ironically, this version also more closely resembles the Heath Ledger incarnation.

Thousand-Yard Stare: He has such a stare when looking at the devastated horizon as he starts talking to Batman.

Villain Has a Point: While he’s the one who killed Robin, he gives Batman a minor What the Hell, Hero? for sending “a Boy Wonder to do a man’s job.”

Vocal Evolution: His voice is much softer and higher pitched than it was in Suicide Squad.

#TheJokerInformation

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teruthecreator · 4 years

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okay everyone shut up leave me alone Jack Frost (1979) maplekeene au under the readmore i have to get it out of my head or else i won’t be able to sleep

argo is jack frost bc blue skin and desire to be seen/appreciated by others. they call him “jack frost” bc of the original bearer of the title--jackal--who they nicknamed jack frost

jackal retired from the position of going down to the human world and making sure winter happens, and then argo picks up the position

father winter is hieronymous bc it’s a bigass dude with a beard like. c’mon. EITHER THAT or its mother winter so it could be shebrie. i haven’t thought deeply about this part

snip is hieronmyous and holly is firbolg. they both know far too well about argo’s obsession w the human world and its inhabitants

elisa is fitzroy but his motivations and personality are completely different (since elisa suffers from Female Rankin/Bass Love Interest Disease).

he isn’t outwardly “in love” with winter and jack frost more than he just enjoys the season because of the freedom it allows. it is also the season his mother enjoyed the most (in past tense bc in this one...she dies! for good reason i’ll explain). he does kinda “talk” to jack frost a lot, since he hasn’t got many friends and he quite enjoys walking around the woods alone. this is how argo comes to know and become slightly enamored with his mortal lad (i say mortal bc i’m still working w the fantasy races--aka a good excuse for argo to keep his blue skin)

kubla kraus is the commodore. big asshole man with a beard. controls everything by being a lying, cheating, evil bastard. has no friends. yeah that’s him alright

sir ravenal rightfellow is buckminster!! and his importance to the plot is Completely Different from the movie. i will explain now:

okay so PLOT is that argo is jack frost, the winter spirit who comes to nua (aka january junction) to make sure winter runs smoothly. he is fairly new at this job (the original jack frost being jackal, who has now retired in the land of the winter where all the winter spirits live. he’s sorta argo’s mentor in jack frosting and warns argo not to get too attached to the mortals, but argo’s heart is simply too kind for that to not happen.

argo develops a very deep love for mortals and their mortal ways, but is saddened by the fact that he cannot participate in their fun. winter and winter again, he returns to this poor village and gives them the means of living and joy, but he can’t even reveal himself to them!!! because he’s a winter spirit and mortals cannot see winter spirits. so it leaves argo feeling sorta dejected, even as he continues to watch the mortals he’s grown so fond of

fitzroy, on the other hand, is a native to this village. imma just call it January Junction bc i like that name a lot. he grew up here with his mother and father (though his father very quickly excused himself from the picture because i hate stable fathers <3). fitzroy and his mother are as poor as anyone else in the village--which is to say Very Very Poor since kubla commodore owns all the money and supplies in january junction. then, when fitzroy is about 13 or so, his mother suddenly falls ill and dies. before she passes away, she tells fitzroy that there’s documents in the kingdom about a week’s travel (by horse) away that he’ll “need when he’s older”.

for a very long time, fitzroy doesn’t know what that means

in any case, he ends up being taken in by gordie and his husband to grow up with rainer, his childhood friend. though he eventually becomes acquainted with other kids around january junction that he hadn’t really socialized with before (buckminster and leon, rolandus, zana, rhodes), he finds himself more inclined to solitude.

especially during the winter, the season when his mother passed away

despite the sadness of it all, fitzroy doesn’t find himself so glum when he’s out amongst the woods. winter is just so...beautiful. almost ethereal. he’s known about the myth of “Jack Frost” for years, so he begins just...talking to him. well, “talking”, since jack frost isn’t Real.

once argo becomes jack frost (right around when the two are like. idk 18), though, he becomes the recipient of these rants.

that’s when argo’s infatuation with mortals becomes a very deep desire. not bc he’s like In Love w fitzroy or anything (not yet), but because he feels like he really has a friend in fitzroy!!! someone is out there who actually cares about him!!! and talks to him about things!!! even if argo has no way of responding

so one year (aka the year the movie takes place) argo is especially despondent about this, when kubla commodore nearly kills fitzroy in his ignorance

if you’ve never seen the movie, kubla kraus rides a mechanical horse onto a frozen lake and nearly kills elisa by making the ice crack and send her careening towards a waterfall. assume that happens here

argo saves fitzroy by freezing over the waterfall and fitzroy exclaims “oh, jack frost, where would i be without you?” sorta just like an exclamation. but argo takes this to heart. where Would fitzroy be without him?? he’s been around this guy for so many years!!! hearing him vent about not being able to afford knight school, losing his own dream while buckminster and rolandus run off to live it for him. offering him advice (that fitzroy cannot hear) when fitzroy expresses how much he Hates doing manual labor for no pay. even being a (frozen) “shoulder” to cry on when the grief becomes too much!

and where would Argo be without fitzroy??? the man has practically become the sole reason argo gets excited for winter anymore, and he worries about the half-elf the whole year after.

so argo makes a decision that day, heads back up to the winter realm in the clouds, and begs father winter to let him become mortal

father winter is, of course, Not willing to let argo do that because he knows how mortals can be. argo argues that it isn’t fair that he has to spend the rest of his eternity watching these mortals live, get older, fall in love, and appreciate his work--all while he just watches silently, unloved, in the background

father winter is moved by this and grants argo mortality for One Winter under this condition: if argo cannot find One literal reason to remain mortal, then he shall return to his spirit form.

(this is a slight divergence to the original condition of “you must obtain a house, a horse, a bag of gold, and a wife” bc i’m modernizing it slightly okay it’s not just abt marriage now)

argo is confused by the wording, so father winter goes on to give him examples: finding a job that is meaningful, finding a person who loves him, etc. and then argo is off

before he leaves, he says goodbye to higglemas (also known as “snip” since he makes the snowflakes) and the firbolg. snips gives him his lucky pair of scissors that have the word “snip” etched into the side of them. yes this will be important

argo goes back down to earth, becomes a mortal, and crash lands in the woods where fitzroy is

fitzroy is slightly baffled to see just a random stranger in the middle of the woods, but the dude seems lost and Very confused so fitzroy offers to warm him up and help him out back in january junction. fitzroy lives in a sorta commune situation with leon, rainer and zana (they’re engaged), rhodes, and rolandus and buckminster (whenever they come home). the group welcomes argo in warmly and argo finds himself feeling right at home with this crowd of early-to-mid-twenty-year-olds

argo almost introduces himself as jack frost--as he is known by myth--but catches himself before he can reveal that. he calls himself “argo snip” (bc of the scissors and the fact that his name is actually argo), a tailor in need of business. rainer--a seamstress herself--is more than happy to have someone else in the town to work on fabrics with, and the shop that rainer runs in the house expands to allow argo’s tailoring business

while this is happening, father winter tells higgs and firbolg that they have to go down there and make sure argo doesn’t die. so now they’re human and they end up finding argo at the house. higglemas introduces himself as higglemas wiggenstaff, and the firbolg just doesn’t say anything and lets argo come up with the name “bud holly”. they are now Also tailors, which is good bc argo cannot sew.

for the few months of winter, argo enjoys life in january junction quite a bit. though things are kinda bleak, since kubla commodore owns all the gold, the town keeps itself in high spirits during the winter. argo and fitzroy Especially end up bonding during this time, and fitzroy’s solitary walks through the woods soon find themselves one additional member.

this is about the time where argo realizes “ah fuck, i think i’m in love with this fool”, which is when he realizes the One Meaningful Thing he’s meant to live on the mortal world for: fitzroy

fitzroy, meanwhile, also finds strange feelings developing for the eccentric genasi. but he’s a lot more emotionally constipated, so he won’t say much about it yet.

it’s a few days before christmas and argo and fitzroy are talking alone--the house empty for some reason (a rarity but a blessing). fitzroy is embroidering something that argo’s recently sewn as they talk, and he accidentally pricks himself with the needle. argo immediately reaches out and cradles his hand, which is when fitzroy notices for the very first time just how Cold argo is. argo laughs it off and claims that it’s bc he’s “cold-blooded” but fitzroy just sorta laughs and goes “i never said i minded...”

for some reason, this causes argo to look up at fitzroy, and the two realize how close they’ve gotten since argo grabbed fitzroy’s hand. the two are flushed, nervous, but argo dares to move forward to finally capture those lips in a--

BANG! the door flies open as a shorter man, clad in gold armor, stands in the doorway. fitzroy jumps up--first startled, then elated--as he realizes Sir Buckminster Eden has finally returned home!!!

argo reads this reaction the Entirely Wrong Way and is instantly jealous of buckminster. poor, poor idiot doesn’t realize buckminster and rolandus have been doing circles around each other since they were teenagers...

then it’s christmas!!! everyone’s too poor for gifts so they hand out invisible ones (like the movie), but buckminster has an Actual gift for fitzroy (which argo, again, takes the completely Wrong Way). the gift is a sealed parcel from the royal parliament, instructing that fitzroy Cannot open it until he is 24 years of age. fitzroy’s birthday just so happens to be the day after christmas, and somebody is Very Aware of this fact...

...that person? oh, it’s kubla commodore, of course! who kidnaps fitzroy later on that day when his guard is down. kubla commodore throws fitzroy in a dungeon and keeps the parcel amongst his many piles of gold, determined to keep its contents away from the one intended to see them

argo finds out about the kidnapping and the whole group is sprung into action to save fitzroy. but, since argo has none of his winter magic, he isn’t really able to be the help he wants to be. buckminster--having knight training--is able to scale the mountain quicker than argo, fight off the k-nights, and break fitzroy out of the dungeon.

argo doesn’t know this because he attempts to scale the mountain from the other side with higgs and firbolg, where he is captured by the remaining k-nights. now They’re locked in the dungeon as kubla commodore vows to send a thousand k-nights down to january junction to “wipe out the insubordinates”

argo has no way of breaking out of the dungeon because he has no magic. so, in a moment of desperation, he calls back to father winter to turn him back into a winter spirit. he returns to his jack frost form--which is incorporeal--and begins to freeze over kubla commodore’s castle (try saying that five times fast)

with argo back as a spirit, higgs and firby aren’t needed as mortals, so they return to the land of winter to do their winter work

meanwhile, in january junction, fitzroy is Freaking Out that they can’t find argo in this freak blizzard. he tries venturing out into the tundra himself, but buckminster and the gang holds him back, telling the half-elf that they’ll look for argo when the storm clears

oops, the storm doesn’t clear! because argo keeps up the insane blizzard for the duration of winter (though he focuses a majority of the intense weather on the castle to seal kubla commodore inside). eventually, though, father winter notifies argo that spring is soon approaching. argo is like “why” and father winter explains: “okay so basically a tiny useless groundhog comes out of his hole every year and if he sees his shadow then winter dies immediately”

who’s the groundhog? why, it’s Gotta-Go Gary!! who argo scares the living shit out of to make 6 more weeks of winter happen

after the extended 6 weeks are up, father winter tells argo that winter will end at noon on that final day. argo is like “if winter ends, then kubla commodore is going to Kill Everyone” and he bargains with father winter to be mortal once more (since he Still has till the end of winter to find his One Meaningful Thing) to set things right.

he goes back down, defeats kubla commodore (too much to explain, shenanigans is how i can describe it best), and realizes he has everything he could possibly ever Need now to offer fitzroy in exchange for his hand in marriage

you see, argo learned during his time as a mortal that marriages have dowries? and now he suddenly has a castle, a horse, and all the town’s gold in his possession so that seems dowry enough. also he thinks marriage is the only option to prove to father winter that Love is a meaningful thing enough to be mortal for

however, when he finally gets to january junction, he sees...a wedding?? who’s getting married?? and then he sees buckminster in his suit of armor, looking rather pleased with himself, and argo immediately assumes that buck and fitz are getting hitched

he storms over there and rants at buck about how He’s the one in love with fitzroy and how much He sacrificed to ensure fitzroy’s safety and happiness. and buckminster is like “woah, woah, woah, friend!!! one, uhhhh where the Fuck have you been??? two, rainer and zana are getting married dawg. fitzroy is right over there, helping rainer with her dress”

just as argo spots fitzroy, fitzroy spots argo. and Boy does fitzroy look Pissed. he storms over to argo, ready to chew him out, when suddenly the church clock begins to sound and argo looks panicked. he grabs fitzroy by the shoulders and is like: “i don’t have time to explain much but i have a house a horse and so much gold to offer you if you agree to marry me right now”

fitzroy is like “???? hello??? what??? first off, where the HELL have you been. two, marriage??? m-moving a little fast there huh--” and argo is like. freaking out bc he knows by the final sound of the bell he will be a spirit forever and so he just very quickly explains how He’s jack frost and he trapped kubla commodore in ice for the whole winter so he wouldn’t come down here and kill him and everyone else and if he doesn’t prove to father winter that his love for fitzroy is enough to want to remain mortal then fitzroy will never see him again. and fitzroy is like. flustered honestly but also rlly panicked bc like. he’s 24!!! he doesn’t wanna get married bro!!!!

basically he’s like “argo i--i Do love you, but. marriage? it doesn’t have to be that Now like--we have time!!” and argo is just like. split-second decision says “kiss me” and fitzroy doesn’t even hesitate in doing so because Dang he’s been thinking about that for A While

and as the final gong sounds and argo’s form begins to shift, argo breathes a final winter’s breath into fitzroy.

then something...changes. argo realizes, as the bell begins to fade, that he hasn’t phased through fitzroy’s body. and as fitzroy feels this cold air pass through him, he suddenly finds himself...unable to feel the chilly hands cupping his face. when they part, argo realizes what has happened.

fitzroy doesn’t look Too much different, but he’s definitely changed. his skin glows only barely, his eyes have a ring of winter-blue around the iris, and there’s a streak of snow-white in his hair. his outfit has also become a glittery, royal-looking affair--COMPLETELY different than the formal peasant clothes he was in seconds before

meanwhile, argo has returned to his jack frost attire and look, but he can still be seen!!! by everyone around him!!! and by fitzroy!!!

turns out, father winter saw that argo would be unhappy as either human (with friends and his love, but none of his friends or the satisfaction of giving people winter joy) or spirit (with his job and spirit friends, but without his mortal friends and love) and basically turned him into a demigod. demispirit? half-and-half. and, in order to guarantee fitzroy would be able to travel between the places, he Also made fitzroy into a partial winter spirit.

all of their friends are like “oh shit did you two kiss??? also why do you both look so fruity” and then the wedding happens. they hold the reception in kubla commodore’s castle, where fitzroy is finally able to read the parcel!!!!

what does the parcel say?? well, turns out fitzroy’s mother was a descendant of a line of royals. and, though she was not signficant enough to rule an entire kingdom, her father had granted her ownership of the village she chose to raise her son in. the kubla was only supposed to be a temporary position, until fitzroy’s mother was settled down enough. but kubla commodore liked his wealth too much!! so he poisoned fitzroy’s mother and made sure to keep fitzroy Extra poor so he’d never have the ability to find the proof of inheritance himself. when buckminster became a knight, he swore to fitzroy that he’d find these documents fitzroy’s mother mentioned on her deathbed.

okay so ending shit. fitzroy gives ownership of the village back to the people. wealth is dispersed, things are fixed, everyone is happy. buckminster and rolandus get together, rainer and zana take over the castle and turn it into a BIG ol spot where those without a home can have lodging, and everyone is happy. fitzroy is Finally able to travel and see the things he’s never gotten to see, while also achieving some of the “bringing people happiness and safety” thing that came w his desire of being a knight by helping argo spread winter throughout the world. the two of them sorta go back-and-forth between their cozy little cottage in january junction, going across the globe to maintain the cold, and going up to the winter realm to see higglemas and firby and father winter.

they’re in love, everyone is happy, rankin/bass Bite My Ass

just kidding i love you and your silly little movies

#taz graduation #maplekeene #ignorance cloud on #I WASNT GONNA TAG IT W THAT BUT THEN THE POST GOT TOO LONG SO. IDK.#IM DISEASED. BITCHES HELP.#its almost 4 am thank God i dont have zooms tomorrow #also im not editing this so if its not coherent just...idk. jsut take it

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blackcloverdatabase · 4 years

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English Translation of Novel 1: Chapter 3 – Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1 of 2)

With novels 2 and 3 finished, I can finally move on to translating the two chapters from novel 1 that were never animated. This one features Yami and Magna teaching at a magic academy at the border of the Common Realm. Fuegoleon also makes an appearance in this chapter (finally!).

Also, I’m saying this in advance so that you all aren’t as confused as I was when I was reading this, but, in this chapter, Magna is purposefully talking differently than how he usually talks. In the Japanese version, he’s slurring virtually every syllable, like a parody of antiquated delinquent speak. I wasn’t really sure how to convey that in English since there’s only so much slurring you can do, so please make do with the occasional slurred words and tepidly gangsta phrases I had him say in an attempt to mimic that.

--- Your Dream Will Come True (Part 1) ---

The Noble and Common Realms are dotted with educational institutions known as magic academies. They are primarily targeted toward young boys and girls who haven’t yet received their grimoires, offering a variety of information related to magic and the chance to hone one’s skills.

However, not all schools are created equal. Schools situated in the Noble Realm have all the equipment and staff they could want, but the further a school is from the Noble Realm, the more likely that it does not have the resources it needs. This may sound ruthless, but in this world where magic rules all, this was simply a fact of life. Schools near the Noble Realm got what they needed, and schools that were not had to improvise. That was the rationale used to maintain this nation’s schools.

“Uhh, b-before class starts today, there is something I must tell you all.”

This particular school was situated in the town of Ryakke, a town at the northernmost tip of the Common Realm. If one moved just one more degree north, they would find themselves in the Forsaken Realm. The town could almost be considered the boundary between the Common and Forbidden Realms, but, even so, it had a magic academy. Based on the rationale described earlier, this school would be the last to get what it needs, however……

“…….That is, a Magic Knight will be coming today as a guest lecturer.”

“!!”

Currently, the students were in homeroom for the morning. Their homeroom teacher was a young man named Harris. Hearing such great news so suddenly, the classroom erupted with chatter. It was quite rare that anyone would bother to come lecture at a magic academy as far away as this. The fact that this guest lecturer was a Magic Knight, a member of such a heroic troop, was icing on the cake.

The Magic Knights are an army of mages under the direct control of the Wizard King. They are an autonomous organization within Clover Kingdom, the kingdom’s cornerstone of defense, and the heroes whom the nation’s citizens both honor and envy. They were an elevated existence that the students could never hope to reach.

“Wow! Do you think it’s the leader of the Golden Dawn, Captain William Vangeance!?”

“No way! There’s no way somebody as awesome as him would come to a place like this!”

“But if Elude says it, then maybe it’s true!”

One child who could be considered the leader of the class, Elude, and two of his followers spoke up. This caused the others in the classroom to follow suit.

“What’ll I do if it’s the Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel-sama!”

“I know, right!? I’ve heard that he’s super hot!”

“If we’re gonna have a captain come teach us, then I want it to be the Captain of the Blue Roses - Captain Charlotte!”

“No way! Captain Fuegoleon of the Crimson Lions would be the best!”

Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. Students at the tender ages of twelve and thirteen shared the names of the knights they admired, making the classroom quite boisterous.

“……Now then, please come in.”

In all that commotion, Harris slightly raised his voice and called out to someone outside the classroom. Why was he avoiding their questions? For the moment, the students ignored such doubts and focused their eyes and hopes towards the classroom entrance.

BAM!!

The wooden door to the classroom was kicked open as a young man with slicked back silver and black hair waltzed in.

“Yo!”

The man walked with an exaggerated swagger as he headed toward the front of the blackboard. His fierce-looking sunglasses glinted with a spark before,

SLAM!!

he slammed his hand against the podium.

“I’m your guest lecturer, Magna Swing! I’ll be working ya punks to the bone today, so pleased to meet ya!!”

“………..”

‘…….This dude’s crazy!’ The whole class was petrified by him for a few moments, but once they came to, this is what they all thought. Harris told them that a Magic Knight would be coming, but the person before them was…….

“Hey!! Ya punks have some nerve ignoring me!!”

…….A delinquent. Moreover, he was a delinquent of the antiquated variety.

‘What the heck is going on here…….?’

“Magna. Don’t go yellin’ at them so suddenly. You’re always overdoin’ everything.”

As the class became more and more confused, they heard another voice come from the entrance to the classroom.

“Plus, when you act like that, that makes me look nuts, too.”

“Yessir! Gotchu, boss!!”

A man steeped down to enter through the classroom door as Magna greeted him with a deep bow. The expressions of every student in the classroom froze once more when they saw him. This man looked dangerous in all sorts of ways. He was at least 180 cm tall, his body was overflowing with muscles, and his neck was impossibly thick. Right above all that was the face of a killer. If the young man who walked in earlier was a delinquent, then this man was one of the dons of the underworld who leads young thugs like that. That was the kind of atmosphere this giant of a man had. Faced with such a man, all the students could only stare at their knees silently as a cold sweat dripped down their faces.

“Sheesh. Think about how you’re goin’ to trouble others before you act. I’m a Virgo*, you know?”

Without a care for how this will trouble the others in the room, Yami lit a cigarette and stood at the podium with such an intimidating air that it would make any young girl runaway in tears. Even though they lived in a remote area, they heard plenty of rumors about the more famous Magic Knights. They mostly heard about Magic Knights with a brilliant track record, such as the ones they mentioned earlier. However, naturally, they heard negative rumors, too. The majority of those negative rumors centered around one squad. The name of that squad was……

“Hey. I’m the Captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.”

Yes, that very squad. The image the students had of the Magic Knights was about to change completely.

Yami Sukehiro and Magna Swing. Amongst all the Magic Knights – no, even amongst the Black Bulls – those two were famous for having murderous-looking faces, so why were they here as guest lecturers? The reason can be gleaned by going back to a conversation that occurred just a few hours ago.

“……You want us to teach at some magic academy in the Common Realm for a day?”

After Yami gave Asta, Noelle, and Luck their dungeon capturing mission, a certain visitor suddenly dropped by the hideout. Yami sat on a couch in the base’s common area as he dealt with that visitor.

“Yes. The Wizard King ordered Leo and I directly.”

That visitor was the Captain of the Crimson Lions, Fuegoleon Vermillion. Fuegoleon brought liquor and confectionaries as souvenirs and sat on a sofa across from Yami as they talked.

“Woah. That’s great. So you’re switchin’ jobs, huh? Switchin’ from bein’ a super zealous king of seriousness to a super zealous teacher of seriousness? Sounds good. Suits your character, too. It’s actually scary how well that suits you. You should get one of those jerseys P.E. teachers wear.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say about me, but……. Anyway, it’s a great chance to interact with the innocent children of this country. I was looking forward to it, but……”

In contrast to Yami, who was in a great mood thanks to the liquor Fuegoleon brought, Fuegoleon himself looked sullen.

“Today, I was given a different, more urgent mission. Both Leo and I must go.”

Then, he began smiling triumphantly as he continued,

“So rejoice, Yami! The Wizard King has decided that you and one of your squad members will go in my and Leo’s place! Please go right now!”

In a move rather uncharacteristic of him, Yami spat out his drink.

“What are you sayin’!? That doesn’t make me happy at all!”

“Why not!? This is a valuable opportunity to set an example for the young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country! I would love to postpone today’s mission to go, but since I cannot, I decided to tearfully pass on that duty to you!”

“Thanks, but no thanks! I can’t believe you’d grant me such an unwelcome favor all smiley like that! That pisses me off!”

The fact this super zealous king of seriousness can drop such a task on him in pure, heartfelt sincerity and not out of spite was one of the things Yami dreaded most about him.

“Actually, aren’t you pickin’ the wrong guy for this? These kids are gonna be taught by the worst squad in the Magic Knights, you know?”

“There are no other Captains who are free at the moment.”

“But this mission’s just to serve as a guest lecturer, so is it really necessary to send a Captain-class knight?”

“The higher one stands, the further one is separated from the point of view of the masses. I believe that it is our duty as Captains to throw ourselves into their daily lives and hear their voices.”

Yami thought that, if a guy like this was at the top of the Magic Knights, it would surely be really easy for him to motivate the other knights. However, he would rather be spared of this guy’s fiery spark spreading to other squads.

“……Truthfully, there is another reason why a Captain-class must do this.”

“…………?”

The details that followed certainly made it difficult for Yami to refuse.

“……Well, if that’s how it is, then I guess you would need a Captain-class to do this.”

“That’s right. So, are you interested in taking on this mission?”

“……Well, this was ordered by the Wizard King, so I can’t exactly refuse.”

‘Since it’s him we’re talking about, he probably ordered this while imagining how this conversation between me and Fuegoleon was gonna go with a huge grin on his face. That pisses me off.’

“Don’t look so malcontent! After all, even if all the other captains were available, I still would have recommended you for the job!”

“Hearing that just makes me even more unhappy.”

He snidely replied, but Fuegoleon was undaunted.

“I’ve always felt that you had a knack for teaching! Although you’re complaining right now, I sincerely believe that you will succeed!”

And so, our story returns to the classroom.

“……U-um, Yami…….. sensei?”

In this classroom dominated by silence, Harris-sensei spoke up with fear in his voice.

“Hm?”

He spoke up because, after Yami introduced himself, he wrote “Study Hall” on the blackboard and then flumped onto the teacher’s chair. Magna stood beside him resting a bat of flames he pulled out of nowhere, his Grand Slam, against his shoulder. It was as if he was trying to assert his dominance over the rest of the class. They truly did look like a gangster boss and his young subordinate.

“Um…… will you be starting class soon?”

With that, Yami turned his head toward the blackboard before giving Harris a frightening look.

“…….Study hall is a valid class, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes, but……. Since we have a Magic Knight Captain here, that’s such a special occasion, so we were hoping to hear all sorts of interesting things from you……”

“Huuh!? You bastard! You sayin’ you have a problem with how Yami-san’s runnin’ this class!?”

“EEEK!?”

Magna struck the floor with his bat, causing Harris to reflexively raise his hands to protect his face.

“Listen up, punk! If Yami says it’s white, then it’s white, even if it’s black! If Yami tells ya to eat somethin’, ya eat it like it’s the best damn thing you’ve ever tasted, even if it’s an Amazonian Dung Beetle! Startin’ today, these are the rules of this classroom, capisce!?”

“Like I said, its because you yell so stupidly loud that you make me look scary, too. How do you plan on payin’ up for this, huh? And wait, you’ve eaten a dung beetle? Seriously?”

Yami grabbed Magna’s head and easily lifted him off the ground with one hand. There were many things that the students, particularly Elude, wanted to say, but, at the very least, they knew that normal people don’t threaten to extort money from others like that.

“Your name was Harris-sensei, right?”

Yami threw Magna into a corner of the classroom and gave Harris a piercing, murderous glare.

“Huh!? Um, yes! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything, so please spare me……!”

‘Oh no, he’s going to break Harris-sensei’s head next!’ the students thought. Internally, they all prayed for his soul.

“I guess you’re right. My bad. This is the first time I’ve ever taught a classroom, so I don’t really get what I’m supposed to be doin’. I see. Let’s try this, then.”

Shockingly, Yami listened to Harris’s request without objection and made Magna erase the words “Study Hall” from the blackboard.

“So, anyone got any questions for me?”

He reclined against his chair once more, but, this time, he looked as if he was actually interested in teaching them, making the other students exchange glances with each other.

‘Well, just because he has a rough looking face, that doesn’t make him a bad person. He hasn’t threatened any of us. He has only been strict toward Magna, but maybe that was just to protect Harris-sensei. He’s definitely dangerous, but maybe he’s nice on the inside,’ Elude thought.

Everyone else thought so, too. As the leader of the class, Elude quietly raised his hand and asked,

“……U-umm, what do Magic Knights usually do?”

In response, Yami smiled gently and said,

“…….Hm. Good question. Well, we beat up bad guys, beat up more bad guys, then beat up more bad guys………. Yeah. That’s pretty much what we do.”

……Even though he was motivated enough to start class, he wasn’t motivated enough to do much more than that.

“Excuse me! What was the most difficult mission you’ve ever been on!?”

“…….Could you teach us magic?”

“You’ve met the Wizard King, right!? What kind of person is he!?”

He may not have been very motivated, but the fact he was willing to answer their questions was more than enough for them to all raise their hands and start asking. After all, it was rare for a Magic Knight to come all the way here. Even if it’s the Captain of the infamous Black Bulls and some young upstart, that wasn’t enough to damper the students’ curiosity.

Yami watched the whole spectacle with a smile. It wasn’t obvious when he was disciplining Magna earlier, but maybe he actually really likes kids…….

“Ha ha! This is more of a pain in the ass than I thought! Magna, switch places with me.”

……Or maybe he doesn’t.

“Yessir! I gotchu!”

‘I can hardly understand what this guy’s saying!?’ the students thought. For the second time that day, the atmosphere in the classroom froze over. Yami was dangerous, but he at least listened to them. Magna was a dangerous person who didn’t make a lick of sense when he talked. All the excitement the students felt just moments ago evaporated in an instant.

“……Also, you can talk normally now. I’ve more or less figured it out.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah, pretty sure, anyway.”

“…….Got it.”

After talking with Yami, Magna’s face relaxed, looking much less dangerous than before.

“Sorry about that everyone! The truth is that I just came back from a mission that made enemies and allies alike a bloody mess, so I was a bit on edge there!”

‘Hearing that doesn’t make us any less scared of you!’ Elude thought to himself. That said, Magna had an unexpectedly charming smile on his face as he stood at the podium.

“So, what was it that you wanted to know? Our most dangerous mission so far? Let me think. I don’t know if it was the most dangerous, but for that bloody mission I mentioned earlier, I brought two newbies with me to the village of Saussy!”

‘…….Huh?’

From that point onward, Magna forthrightly answered each and every question the students asked. Faced with such a sudden change, though the students were frightened of him at first, they slowly but surely began to smile. There were a few students who were creeped out by the sudden change, but….

“Wait, Magna. Your personality right now compared to how you were when you came here is way too different. It’s creepy. Talk about scary. Are you mentally unstable?”

“How mean! You’re the one who told me to do that!”

“Hm? Do you have a problem with me?”

“No, we cool! It was my bad! I goofed!”

“….Magna-sensei, what are you saying?”

“Isn’t that obvious!? ‘No problem at all! Thank you for the feedback’ – of course! ”

“A ha ha, he’s a stereotypical delinquent, alright!”

As he interacted with the kids, the tension that once filled the classroom gradually eased. The dangerous atmosphere that surrounded Yami and Magna also disappeared. The students couldn’t help but wonder why the two were giving off such “We’re gonna sell you on the black market” vibes earlier. Such questions were buried under the fun conversations they were having right now, and first period ended before anyone realized it.

……Well, except for one.

It was now time for second period.

“Huff……. Hah…… haah…… huff……”

After establishing a bond with the rest of the classroom, the class went out to the school grounds behind the school at Yami’s suggestion.

“……Wait…… are you kidding me? ……..This is impossible!”

The students were all dressed in sportswear……

“Hey, kid who just said this was impossible. Five more laps for you.”

…..And they were all being forced to run.

“What’s with this? What are you trying to do with us!?”

“I’ve never heard of having to run a marathon for class at a magic academy!”

Once Elude and his entourage spoke up, complaints started flying from the rest of the class. However, it was too scary to stand before Yami and voice their complaints to his face, so they opted to complain as they ran. In response, Yami looked at the students with dead looking eyes, and said,

“Didn’t one of you ask me to teach you some magic? If you do this long enough, you’ll sort of feel like you learned somethin’. Like you were training or somethin’.”

“No! Magic! We were talking about magic! We never said a word about physical training!”

“Shut up. Don’t you know that a healthy spirit resides in…… yeah….. it resides in a healthy body.”

“All this is doing is making me dizzy!”

“Yami-sensei, please stop this! At this rate, the students are going to collapse!”

Reaching the end of his patience, Harris clung to Yami with tears in his eyes.

“You were running such a fun class just moments ago, so why are you doing this all of a sudden!?”

“I had to get them all to trust me first before getting them to do what I wanted. You should take notes.”

“That’s not how you run a classroom! That’s how you convince somebody to commit a crime! Please don’t abuse my students like that!”

“But look, there are some kids who are totally into this. Take that blonde girl with the glasses, for example.”

With cigarette in hand, he pointed to a young girl who was running at a steady pace. If he remembered correctly, she was the one who asked him to teach them magic. He couldn’t really remember, but it was probably her.

“Ah, that’s Allison. She’s the top student in this class…… no, in this school.”

Harris also watched Allison, sounding a little proud as he spoke,

“She only just recently entered this academy, but she always earns the highest grades in the class, and she’s also very skilled at handling her magic. She’s a little uncooperative, which is a shame, but she’s an excellent student.”

“……Is that so?”

‘……If she’s such a great student, why did she enroll in a Magic Academy all the way out here in the sticks?’

“Anyway, please stop this! The students really will collapse if this goes on!”

“Huh!? Ya bastard! You really like questioning the way the boss does things, don’t ya!?”

“Eeek!!”

‘Harris-sensei is such a wimp,’ the students thought at they watched Harris squat down, shielding his head with his face between his knees in response to Magna’s threats. In the meantime, Yami looked like he was deep in thought.

“Well, you have a point. It would be troublesome if they collapsed……. After all, the fun part starts now.”

Yami said ominously before signaling the students to stop.

“Understood. Then, let’s start a little game. All of you go and form pairs with somebody you get along with.”

He said as he pointed at them. They all did as they were told and formed pairs while they caught their breaths. After confirming that they all formed pairs, Yami breathed a puff of smoke before telling them,

“Alright. Now, fight each other to the death.”

“HUUUH!?”

Elude and the other students exclaimed. They all knew something bad was coming, but they weren’t expecting a death game.

“……Don’t “Huh!?” me…….. What, you don’t want to have a death match?”

“Of course we don’t! Why would you ever think we wanted to!?”

“Well, you were all saying you didn’t want to run anymore, so……”

“So you thought we’d rather kill each other!? How emotionally unstable are you!?”

“Huh!? Yami-san goes out of his way to heed your concerns and this is how you repay him, ya ungrateful brats!?”

‘That delinquent is so annoying!!’

The students were starting to get angry, but Yami said as if to calm them down,

“I mean, I said death match, but obviously I didn’t actually mean that you should kill each other. That would be bad.”

The students wanted to scream “Well obviously!”

“However, you should go at it seriously, as if it were a death match. It would be beneficial for everyone to have some serious, harder combat training.”

‘……..Well, he has a point there.’

These students were all aiming for jobs far away from the battlefield, but the school curriculum still included combat training. If enriching that aspect of their education is what he was aiming for, then they had no complaints……

Elude was just about to accept this lesson, but at that moment,

“Moreover, this combat training is going to be special.”

Once Yami exchanged looks with Magna, he created a large number of fireballs and did a few practice swings with the bat he was carrying on his shoulder.

“If anybody tries to skimp out on training, Magna here will enter the battle and educate you personally, so be grateful.”

“………”

As the students stood watching Magna with eyes full of terror, Magna grabbed one of his fireballs,

“C’mon and start already, brats!”

“U-uwaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

With that, their second period class began with the most rigid training session they ever had as fireballs flew through the sky. It was a training session where they absolutely were not allowed to cut corners.

“So, with this, now you know that human beings are surprisingly tough. None of you will die that easily.”

The schoolgrounds was littered with burnt patches here and there. Some of them were still smoldering.

After being forced to do all-out combat training until the end of the class period, the students were all collapsed upon the smoldering ground, where they laid as they listened to Yami talk. Of course, even if they could hear him speak, their minds weren’t in a state where they could process what he was saying.

“And so, from now on, I guess…… you should try pursuing anything in life with the same kind of seriousness. I think. Let’s end the lesson on that kind of message.”

“That was perfect! I’d expect no less from ya, boss!”

As Yami and Magna talked, a single girl approached them – Allison. She had handled the combat training with ease, a calm expression on her face through the entire ordeal. However, right now, she was glaring at Yami.

“For days, I was looking forward to being visited by a Magic Knight, but I’m disappointed in you. Please give us a proper lesson that only a Magic Knight could offer us.”

“HEY! What are you so pissed about, little girl!?”

‘…….She’s gonna die…….’

‘……Allison’s totally gonna die……’

‘…….. I was such a big fan of her, too……’

The other students muttered. Just as they expected, Magna swung his bat against the ground.

“HUH!? Are you tryna say that we aren’t proper Magic Knights!!?”

But then Yami iron clawed Magna’s head and lifted him from the ground before turning toward Allison once more.

“Your name was Allison, right? Then, can you give me an example of what kind of lesson you’d want?”

“What you were doing before would be sufficient. There are all sorts of questions I would love to ask you, such as the internal affairs of the Magic Knights and the kinds of characteristics different knights have.”

“Hmm, your questions sound oddly specific. Why?”

“Well…… no particular reason. At the very least, I think that would benefit all of us more than these random activities you’re having us do.”

She averted her eyes from Yami for a bit before meeting his eyes once more.

“I see. Well, you have a point. The next lesson can be like that, but before that……”

He looked around at all the other students, who were all worn out from training.

“All of you, go wash your faces or somethin’. You’re all filthy. Ha ha, wonder why?”

‘I’m gonna kill him!’ Elude thought, though he was sure that he wasn’t the only one thinking about this. There was no mistake that everyone was starting to feel an emotion other than fear toward this tyrannical Magic Knight Captain.

“Take a short break. After that, gather around here and we’ll resume class.”

After receiving their instructions, they dragged themselves to the drinking fountain. As much as they wanted to kill him, their fear of him hasn’t diminished in the slightest, so no student dared to oppose him.

“……By the way, Allison.”

Yami called out to Allison to stop her.

“The fact that a Magic Knight was visiting this school was supposed to be kept secret until earlier today.”

“……!”

Her short figure froze at his words.

“How come you knew we were coming?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?”

As if to escape from Yami, she joined the rest of the students.

A few hours ago, at the Black Bulls’ base.

“There’s a spy from the Diamond Kingdom!?”

Hearing such a thing so suddenly from Yami, Magna nearly dropped the high-grade pudding Yami had given him earlier, which Yami had received as a gift from Fuegoleon. Incidentally, Magna had agreed to go with Yami as thanks for the pudding.

“And this Diamond Kingdom spy is……. hiding in Ryakke village’s magic academy?”

“Yeah, that’s the tip-off we received. That super zealous king of seriousness was supposed to go investigate that while teaching there for the day, but, in the end, it was decided that we would go instead.”

He said as he flumped against the sofa.

“Well, the truth is that there’s a number of their spies scattered around in various towns in various regions of the kingdom.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah. After all, Clover Kingdom’s doin’ it, too. We and any country we’re on unfriendly terms with mutually monitor each other from both inside and outside the country. We talk about how much we hate each other, but we can’t help but keep our eyes on each other…… like a bunch of teenagers or somethin’.”

“My apologies, Yami-san! I don’t understand half of what you just said! Graaaah, this is all because I’m stupid!”

“Uh, sorry, don’t take everything I say so seriously. You’re makin’ me feel embarrassed.”

Leaving that conversation aside, information gathering through spies, or even the intentional dissemination of information to another country was tantamount to an act of war.

“However, if we tried to go after each and every one of those spies, we wouldn’t have enough people protectin’ the Royal Capital. That’s why Captain-class Magic Knights aren’t usually deployed to missions like this.”

“So, why do you have to go this time?”

“Because of the place they’re hidin’ at. It would be a pain if they end up bein’ a bad influence on the kids. Y’know, those “ young three leaf clovers that will carry the future of this country.””

“Oh! I get it! Can I use that phrase, too!?”

“No. I came up with it, so it’s mine.”

Yami imagined Fuegoleon making a face of disappointment for stealing his words, but he didn’t mind that and continued his explanation.

“Moreover, the educational institutions established in the remote areas of this country are more useful than you’d expect to this country. If that school had to close down because of some nasty rumors, the kids who went there would have to go to some far away school instead.”

Of course, the people who live in the outskirts of the Common Realm wouldn’t have the mana nor the money to attend a school in the more urban areas. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bother attending the school in Ryakke. If that school wasn’t there, an entire region’s kids would fall into a situation where they wouldn’t be able to get an education, no matter how much they wanted one.

“Also…… we’re still shaky on the details, but the truth is that, lately, people from the Diamond Kingdom have been inciting violence in various parts of the kingdom.”

“Those guys again…… they really like invading our turf!”

“No, well….. it seems that their motive this time isn’t to invade us.”

They haven’t been attacking the villages or towns, and they haven’t been damaging the farm fields, either. They’ve merely been popping up in various places, leaving traces of battle behind. It was truly ominous.

“Well, the point is that we don’t know why they’ve been moving the way they have, so just to be safe, we’re gonna go check it out.”

“…….So, what do you think we should do?”

Magna asked. He didn’t care about the details of the mission, just what he should do. Rather than try to get a firm grasp on the events leading up to this situation, he just needed the gist of the story, one that would make the problem he needs to solve simple.

“Let’s see…… Thanks to Fuegoleon investigating for us, we have some idea on how to find the spy, but there’s still about one more thing we need to do.”

“I see! Then, let’s find them and beat the crap outta them!”

“You’re simplifying things a little too much there. Fuegoleon’s plan was to probe for the spy while going through with the lesson.”

“Understood! Then, we’ll beat up anybody who looks suspicious while we’re teaching!”

“You don’t understand shit……. Well, still, it would be good if you go to class with that attitude. If the spy reads too much into what you’re doing, they might panic and slip up.”

“Got’chu! Like this!?”

“Perfect. I can hardly understand what you’re sayin’, though.”

Yami left Magna as he practiced speaking gangsta, thinking to himself,

‘The spy will probably feel shaken up when they see two Magic Knights suddenly appear. If we spook them enough, then they should slip up. It’s possible that they may already know that we’re coming, but that in itself would help us narrow down who the culprit is. If somebody knows of our visit when it was supposed to be kept secret, then that would be very suspect.’

However,

‘……This doesn’t seem like enough.’

Even if they do shake the spy up, would that be enough to reach them? There was no guarantee that they would slip up. To begin with, he wasn’t a big fan of strategies that involve standing by and watching.

Even if they can’t do something as extreme as what Magna was suggesting earlier, there must be something they can do to make this mission more fun……. Er, rather, a solution that will make everyone happy with the outcome.

‘……Well, I’ll come up with something as we go.’

As he weighed his thoughts, he pulled out the investigative report that Fuegoleon gave him earlier from his book pouch and flipped through it. The report contained information on several people who were suspected to be Diamond Kingdom spies, but……

‘……Is one of these cute little fellas really a spy?’

--- Returning to the Magic Academy drinking fountain, after Yami’s second period lesson from hell ---

“You’re amazing, Allison-chan! I can’t believe you talked back at Yami-sensei like that!”

A young girl who Allison has almost never spoken to struck her shoulder as she said this, surprising her. If she remembered correctly, the young girl’s name was Sheila.

“W-what’s with you? Don’t just slap my shoulder like that. Don’t you have any common sense…..?”

“I-I’ve never been told that after slapping a classmate’s shoulder, but……”

She was a little put off by Allison’s odd retort, but Sheila continued to smile.

“Thanks to you, I’m sure even Yami-sensei will start teaching a proper lesson!”

“……I wonder about that.”

Two boys interceded into the conversation. Allison hadn’t talked to either of them much, either, but she was pretty sure that one of them was named Elude.

“That dude is an old geezer who’s okay with making fellow classmates fight to the death. Since you talked back to him, he might make us do something even weirder.”

“Right? We’re all exhausted already, so please don’t rile him up, okay?”

“I mean, trying so hard at some magic academy right on the border of the Forsaken Realm…… you must really be full of yourself, huh?”

Following Elude’s lead, the other boys who follow him put the blame on Allison. Sheila retaliated angrily,

“You’re wrong! Allison said all that for our sakes! Besides, all of you were complaining at Yami-sensei just a little while ago from the beginning!”

“We didn’t complain to his face. We’re telling her not to talk to him like she’s trying to start a fight. Unless, you plan on taking responsibility if something happens?”

Elude smiled maliciously as he said this, but she simply looked back at him with mild confusion.

“…….Huh? Ah, sorry. I was thinking about something else, so I didn’t hear you.”

“In a situation like this!?”

She was thinking about how this would-be bully and his stooges were just way too typical. Straight out of a textbook.

“More importantly, we’ll be scolded if we don’t return soon.”

“H-hey!”

Despite Elude’s pleas, she didn’t stop, boldly cutting her way through them.

“Don’t ignore us! What do you want, anyway!?”

One of Elude’s followers got angry with her attitude and tried to grab her thin arm, but……

“…….H-huh?”

He thought he grabbed her, but she moved out of his reach as smoothly as running water, causing him to stumble forward. Allison continued toward where Yami was, not stopping for even a moment.

“I’m different from all of you.”

“Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two…… Okay, looks like everyone’s here. Seriously? None of you ran away? But I thought of such an interesting punishment…...”

‘He’s not even trying to hide his true intentions!’ Elude thought angrily. Yami sat on the floor and put his hands on his knees as he looked around at everyone.

“Alright, for third period, I think I’ll hold a Q&A session as Allison suggested.”

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Much like Sheila did earlier, a number of students looked at Allison thinking things like “Good job!” and “You’re a God!”. However…….

“And so….”

Yami took off his Magic Knight robe, and Magna struck his fist against his palm with a vicious expression on his face.

“Those of you with both questions and courage, come at me and Magna with all you got. If you can land a finishing blow on us, we’ll answer any questions you’ve got.”

“HUUH!?”

— To be continued in Part 2 —

*Note: The reason Yami mentions that he’s a Virgo is that “Virgo” is spelled with the kanji characters for “young lady” in Japanese. In other words, he’s of the “young lady” constellation, but he would probably scare away most young ladies. I couldn’t think of a good way to localize the joke, so you’ll have to make do with an explanation.

I think Yami might have been hanging around Luck a bit too much if he’s coming up with ideas like having the class do a death match. His comment about countries spying on each other even though they insist that they hate each other like they’re a bunch of teenagers was great, though.

The kids calling Yami an old geezer had me like “??” at first, but I guess he is twice their age.

This chapter compliments the Magna and Luck one quite well in the sense that it explores yet another aspect of Clover Kingdom’s rampant inequality. It feels like chapters with Magna in it consistently emphasize Clover Kingdom’s social divides, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with him directly.

Anyway, Yami and Magna get more serious in the next half of the chapter.

#Black Clover #Yami Sukehiro #magna swing #fuegoleon vermillion #translations #Stubborn Bull Book

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