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welcometothejianghu · 10 months

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Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 琅琊榜/Nirvana in Fire.

Nirvana in Fire is a 2015 historical series best described as either a complicated succession drama set in the premodern Chinese imperial palace, or the story of a man who didn't die a decade ago and has decided to make it everyone else's problem.

And really, I almost feel silly giving my glib little summary, because Nirvana in Fire is so well-known of a property. It's a classic for a reason, and that reason is that it's legitimately very good. This show is what happens when you adapt a solid story, get a bunch of very talented actors, and throw a huge amount of money at it. It's incredibly popular and highly acclaimed, and it earned all of the hype.

Still, while I bet there are few people adjacent to c-drama stuff who've never heard of Nirvana in Fire, I'm sure there are plenty who haven't watched it. After all, it looks like one of those slow, serious shows with a lot of ponderous talking and no joy. If that's the impression you've been given, I could imagine looking at the 54-episode commitment and saying, I don't need that in my life.

I am here to tell you you're wrong. It is a banger of a show. It's tense. It's funny. It's heartbreaking. It’s exceptionally clever. It’s jaw-droppingly stupid. It’s romantic. It’s tragic. It has smart plots and bizarre subplots. And that's not even touching the thing with the yeti.

So in case you're one of those people who's heard of Nirvana in Fire, but has put off watching it for one reason or another, I'm here with five reasons I think you should try it.

1. Epic Shit

Did you like the Lord of the Rings? More specifically, did you really like the second Peter Jackson film? Great, then you're all set for this.

I guess I could have called this Game of Thrones without the dragons, but that's not actually the vibe at all. Game of Thrones is much more sensational and salacious, with all the blood and butts and what-not. The Tolkien comparison is more apt, I think, because Nirvana in Fire is equally about as wholesome as you can get in a property where dudes are still getting stabbed all the time.

This is a show about vengeance. And yeah, justice for the fallen, sure, that's fine too. But mostly it's about a bunch of good people joining forces to make sure the bastards who did wrong pay, with their lives as necesary.

The problem, though, is that these bastards are incredibly powerful, which means that a pure brute-force approach isn't going to work. Accordingly, this quickly becomes a story about the power of smart teamwork to exact retribution on some people who can (and did!) legally get away with murder -- and our heroes are some of the people with their necks most on the line if anything goes wrong.

Don't let the Middle Earth comparison fool you into thinking this is all epic swordfights. It's not. (I mean, for one thing, as well-funded as this project is, it doesn't have Peter Jackson Money.) The vast majority of the tension in the show comes from dialogue and slow, terrible realizations. The fight scenes are almost a relief from the nail-biting intensity of intimate conversations about getting a letter from somebody's ex-wife or returning a book.

All told, the show has that incredible almost-RPG vibe of going through all the little subquests and cutscenes you find along the way to defeat the final boss. The plot carefully unravels a multi-tendriled mystery told to you by people in incredible costumes. It doesn't get much more epic than that.

(Nirvana in Fire is also a cautionary tale about how you should be very careful with who gets invited to your birthday party.)

2. A chronically ill protagonist

Okay, right in the first episode, it is established that the main character has three whole completely different names and an old nickname. I'm going to call him Mei Changsu for the duration of this rec post, but let the record show that I could just have easily gone with one of the other three.

What you learn in that same first episode is that Mei Changsu used to be a palace insider, the cocky son of a noble family, only now nearly everyone he used to know thinks he's dead. Also, he's not far off from being actually dead -- he has an unspecified terminal condition that's mostly managed, provided he stays in his little mountain hideaway with his handsome doctor bestie and doesn't return to his old stomping ground and start kicking over hornets' nests.

So guess what he's about to do.

I have to make a note of how brilliant the casting is here: Hu Ge is an action actor! He is a kickpuncher of a man! And I think it's great that you can sort of see his frustration, as well as Mei Changsu's, at having to spend the whole series wrapped in countless layers of fabric and/or lying in bed while everyone around him gets to be the badass action heroes.

Mei Changsu's not faking it, either -- he's actually dying. He expends his energy where he thinks it's necessary, and sometimes that means he has to spend the following week in bed. He's constantly frustrated with himself for what he can't do anymore. He's racing a clock, and that clock is his own failing body. If he dies, the only hope anyone here has for justice dies with him.

He gets two love interests that the show treats pretty much equally. One's a lady general who wasn't even a love interest in the book. The other's the handsome prince who was initially going to be his textual romantic partner in same book, until the author hopped genres from danmei to general historical drama. I can't even call this a love triangle, because there's no competition. He just gets a wife and a husband -- in that he gets neither, because circumstances and his own illness keep him distant from them. He lies to both of then about his condition (among other things). He wants to be with them both and knows he can't be with either. And they in turn have to learn to accept what of him they can and can't have.

(Also, Nihuang (her) and Jingyan (him) are both incredibly gorgeous, which is exactly what bisexual genius Mei Changsu deserves.)

Obviously this isn't a perfect representation of life with chronic illness, largely because Mei Changsu is an incredily wealthy man who lives in a universe with what's basically magic medicine. However, I've seen the story's treatment of him and his condition resonate with a lot of chronically ill viewers, so even with the fantasy layer on it, there's definitely something there.

3. Dave

I have already told the story of how Meng Zhi became "Dave," but long story short, he's such a Dave that I legitimately forget his character's real name. He embodies Daveness. He's The Ultimate Dave.

Dave is an excellent fighter, a loyal friend -- and a terrible liar. He's possbly the only straightforward character in the entire show. When he's asked to be duplicitous, he's comically bad at it. Dave will never do a heel turn. I was misled at first by his semi-evil facial hair, but I have seen the error of my ways. Dave is pure lawful good.

And the reason I list Dave as such a selling point is that having a Dave means you always know what's going on. This is because Dave never knows what's going on, and he has no ego about that, so he asks questions, and other characters have to explain to him what just happened, and that is how you figure out what's going on.

It's an incredibly smart move on the drama's part, because some of the (very fun) schemes are so complicated that there's no way for you, the viewer, to understand them just by watching. Without the internal monologues and omniscent narration of a book, the machinations are opaque. You need things explained -- but why would the schemers explain their schemes? Well, Dave needs some exposition, so here you go.

So if you're worried that you might be left feeling stupid by a show where so many sneaky people are hatching so many complex plans, worry not! Like the good man he is, Dave has your back.

4. A Million Amazing Antagonists

If you like bad guys, this is a show for you. This show has brilliant bad guys all the way down. It has bad guys at every turn. It has bad guys for every taste. Welcome to Big Liang's Big Bad Guy Emporium, where we guarantee you'll walk out of here with a bad guy you like, or your money back!

(And yes, this set of pictures is also to say that their costume budget was entirely well-spent.)

Without getting too far into spoilers, I will say that the basic situation underlying the whole series is this: The emperor has done a lot of bad things, and he has enlisted a bunch of people's help in hiding those bad things, so much so that many of those other people have done even more bad things the emperor didn't even know about -- and then everyone has gone to great lengths to cover those up as well. Our protagonists spend the whole series unraveling this colossal shitshow and bringing people to task for their crimes.

So really, if you're going to spend 54 episodes taking down the baddies, they've got to be baddies you love to see taken down. And these are -- in part because all of them have crystal-clear, rock-solid motivations for their actions. Nobody here is a moustache-twirling comic-book-villain baddie. They're all bad for reasons that are very understandable in their individual contexts. And not a single one of them is going to go down without a fight.

5. World's Best Mom

(Sidebar: The fact that four out of five of my reasons to watch the show are individual or groups of characters should be your strongest indicator that this is an intensely character-driven story.)

This is not a Dead Mom Show. Okay, some moms are dead, but mostly this is a Moms Are Alive And Often Cause Problems Show, which is a lot of what makes the palace drama so delicious. But there is one Good Mom who stands out above all the rest: Consort Jing.

Played with perfect grace and devastating politeness by the stunning Liu Mintao, Consort Jing is a skilled doctor and excellent baker who starts the show with a low-level status among the women of the palace. She swallows down all kinds of mistreatment because she's not in a place to oppose it -- and when she can retaliate, it must only be through soft power. She loves her jock son with all her heart, but because of both their relatively poor positions in the hierarchy, she doesn't get to see him all that much. She wants to be an asset to him, while all the time she has to fear becoming a liability.

She is also the smartest person in any room that she's in, unless she's in a room with Mei Changsu, and even then it may be a tie.

There are lots of great characters in the show that I could have highlighted here, and plenty of them are women, but Consort Jing in particular never ceases to impress me. She is trapped in a gilded cage, married to a man who [lengthy list of spoilers that are traumatic to her in particular], and held hostage by how every time she even looks like she's out of line, it puts both her and her boy in danger. She's the most vulnerable of any of our good guys. Kind of like Wang Zhi, she's got to be clever or she's dead.

Consort Jing is not part of Mei Changsu's original plan. She figures out his plan and makes herself part of it -- and entirely remotely, as she and he aren't even in the same room until episode 40 or so. She puts herself in great danger to make sure he succeeds, not because it will necessarily do her any good, but because Jingyan needs him. This woman has been captain of the Mei Changsu/Jingyan ship for like twenty years already.

Oh, and did I mention her outfits?

I love you, Consort Mom.

Are you ready to watch it yet?

Get it on Viki! Get it on YouTube! Get it on YouTube but in a different playlist! (And also maybe get it on Amazon? Not in my region, but maybe in yours.)

I will warn you that it does take off running -- I think I saw someone say it introduces nineteen characters in the first episode? I was worried that I'd be too innundated by situations and flashbacks and names to be able to follow. By the second or third episode, though, I was rolling with it. So if you feel like you're struggling at the beginning, stick with it a bit. See if you don't feel it start to click.

...Man, reading over this post has left me going, oh, but I missed that! and that! and that guy! And yeah, the truth is that there are just so many great things about the show that limiting myself to only five (and being limited to only thirty images) was tough. I'm sure that people reblogging will add their own must-see elements.

Truly, this is a show that deserves its reputation. It may not be for everyone, but if this is the kind of thing that you like, it is a shining example of that thing.

Besides, you have to love a production where everyone was clearly having just a whole lot of fun being big ol' costumed dorks.

#nirvana in fire #lang ya bang #琅琊榜 #i made this #rec post

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skyfallscotland · 3 months

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Some updates since the last summary post. I didn't go to the convention on Sunday, but @caitm1 did and she said the workers told her that Rebecca's wrist swelled up from the amount of signatures she was doing (already, one day in!) and she had it taped up.

Rebecca also mentioned last night (Monday) at the second event I attended that she'd had a vestibular migraine just before and couldn't walk in a straight line a few hours ago, so I mean, I felt like I wanted to mention that first because as a chronically ill girlie I know how fucking hard it must be and I don't think a lot of fans appreciate what she does for us and how much she puts her body through.

Her signings this weekend were free and even though we paid for a ticket on Monday night, if you bought the ticket with the pre-signed book, that was at cost. $20 for a signed paperback. So yeah, just...I know it's a business, but she does a lot, ok. Don't be unappreciative of the extra mile.

Now, I recorded both Saturday's panel and Monday night's, I'm trying to figure out how to post it, but no website wants to cooperate with such a big file, so stand by, or like...help if you know tech things 💀

If you haven't seen my post with what we learned from Saturday's, it's here. Below is a summary of what we've learnt since then.

Bombshell alert: @caitm1 tells me that on Sunday, Rebecca said one of her original ideas for the end of Iron Flame was for Violet to become venin and not Xaden. *crickets* let's just take a moment here together... 😨

Honestly, I'm all for it, I low key feel like I would have liked that better, it would have been so good, but alas, we have venin-Xaden now, so we have to deal 🥲

Now, about Monday. A lot of the questions asked and things spoken about were the same as Saturday. The host picked the fan questions she asked and didn't really pick much that was plot or character related. She didn't pick any of mine and yes, I'm still mad about it. WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES

Here's the quotes, questions and tidbits I found interesting:

• Her editor for Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, is the head of Red Tower, so she's the publisher. I did not know this. I don't think I've seen this in practice before? She's also involved with the Amazon series because of this.

• "I'm not afraid of hurting you." That we already knew. 💀

• "Because we knew what had the television series when I was in edits, so we had to write out a synopsis and when I first thought it would be five books, I immediately sent the synopsis to my editor, who, you know, we sent it to Amazon because we needed to tell them; this is the definitive vision for the story. I can tell you, in Onyx Storm, I've already deviated from like...who I thought would pass in that book, as opposed to...I've already deviated some from that."

Sorry, what? Who was meant to die? My money is, as always, on Rhi or Garrick. You know I have thoughts/feelings about that. Look, if I've learned anything this weekend it's that someone important is going to die, a lot of people are going to die, ok? She's very frank about death and the realities of war and if you're worried about your favourite side characters for the next few books, well...you should be.

• She loves writing Ridoc. @yanny-77 no chance to ask about bodoc, sorry! 😂

• On Xaden and people's perception of him: "It's always funny because I always hear...he gets compared to Rhysand a lot? Xaden's like twenty-two at the beginning of Fourth Wing; Rhysand's like what? Five hundred? Ok, twenty-two, so it's very much like—it is a college. It's a college romance and that first love."

• She was surprised at how much people loved Aaric, given how little he's on-page.

• She also defended Dain again 🥳💗 #DainApologistsClub

• She expanded a little more on Jack. So perhaps what she meant on Saturday about his reasons, was simply that his reason will be touched upon in OS, but it's clear. "Jack's motivations are clear-cut, which makes him so easy to write. He's such an example of the hunger for power and what happens when you aren't selected for the power you think you deserve, which is one of the themes of Fourth Wing. So Jack's an easy character, he's straight-on."

• Are there any easter eggs that you put in the first two books that you don't think were caught by fans? "Violet's second signet! I totally thought it was obvious. Um, I did, to the point where my editor was like 'hey, we should probably put a line in here' and I was like dude no, people will catch it." Y'all know my thoughts on that so I'll stay quite over here in my corner.

Someone asked "what is it then?" and she replied, "no, no, no, now we're having fun with this, now."

• The hardest scene for her to write in Fourth Wing was the battle scene, because it was her first fantasy and so her first one. She wrote it and her editor said no, it has to be a little longer than this.

"So that was really hard for me to write, especially because in the moment she loses Liam, she has to get up and go. And I'm used to being able to give my characters this moment to grieve, this moment to take the news, this moment to absorb it and really feel it. And it's hard to get the reader to really feel that emotion when death is coming straight for you. So that was really difficult. And I was crying."

ME TOO, TBH

• If she was to describe Onyx Storm in two Taylor Swift songs, it would be Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? & So It Goes.

• If Empyrean was written in interconnected stand alones, she would have already jumped to Rhi or Imogen.

• Her favourite sections are the epigraphs that she writes above the chapter headings. "It's my most valuable real estate, the fact that you guys skip over them sometimes, I'm like—I'm wicked funny in there, ok?"

• If Violet and Xaden visited Australia, what would they do for fun? "I'd say go visit places they can't catch on fire. I guess they could find a beach." @empyrean-thrones there you go, we're on point! 😂

And that's about it! Happy theorising! 💗

It was a wild weekend, but so worth it. I was in my feelings a lot. I hope you guys get a chance to meet her or hear her speak in person one day, too 🫶

#fourth wing #the empyrean #iron flame #onyx storm #fourth wing spoilers #iron flame spoilers #rebecca yarros

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batfambrainrotbeloved · 5 months

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How to Writing multiple characters in a scene!!

Writing tips w/ Sunny (part 1, because I ramble and im positive ill end up doing this again if people want or for my own satisfaction)

This is just my methodology put in a way I think makes sense, if this doesnt apply to you thats okay everyone has different stradegies that work for them <33

SO lets begin.

"Rules" of writing multi character scenes + arcs, (First half is how to add them into a scene, second half is maintaining and not letting them vanish)

AHEM- Well there are four ways to place a character in a scene

Narration POV Aka the protagonist, this is the perspective ever present unless you CLARIFY the story is now through the lens of another character (Take for example my fic, while I play with multiple perspectives- a bulk is from Tims POV)

Secondary POV This is the character that DIRECTLY interacts with the narrator aka their "first point of contact" so to speak, they ground the narrator in the scene as not alone and is actually interacting with other people. (This DOES NOT have to be a speaking role, it can be purely observational if need be- but its the character that gets the most attention via the narrators perspective SIDE NOTE- THIS CAN SWITCH AS WELL)

Interactive POV Now we get to the "filling"- since Secondary doesn't need a direct tie to the narrator, you can have another character interact with the secondary character. But since they are not the focus of the scene its good to have a REASON they "Enter" or else if you spend so long giving the narrators perspective on #2 then you risk having someone "Materialize" in thin air. (This isnt really a concern unless you wait too long into the scene to go "Oh this guy exists-" you have time as you paint the reader a picture of the new enviornment/scene)

Enviorment POV Last but most certainly not least (and the one i've seen people struggle with the most) is the character that is PRESENT A N D NAMED- But serves no plot importance/relevance (to the narrator) during the opening part of the scene.

To put in better perspective- think of being in a room, The Narrator is you observing your surroundings (depending on POV style how "into the mind" of the narrator we go)

Secondary is the person you focus on, you hear their conversation, see their body language, expression, clothing, etc. They are the personal "focus" (there can be multiple as well)

Interactive is people SURROUNDING the focus, those who still play a semi active and visible role. They can either be within your line of sight interacting with the enviorment or speaking to a secondary/narrator character.

Enviorment is the person in the back of class that you know, but don't really register unless they do/say something- but you are still AWARE of their presence. CAREFUL NOT TO INTRODUCE THEM TOO LATE, OR ELSE YOU HAVE THE "MATERIALIZE" PROBLEM AGAIN

Now into a scene(aka recycling an old one)

Tim starred ahead silently from his side of the couch, watching Jason fidget with the soda tab on his shitty off brand Doctor Pepper he always insisted on getting. Around and around over and over, it was giving him second hand anxiety.

Thankfully they weren't forced to stay in the moment as Dick leaned over and pressed his shoulder into Jasons with a beaming smile "Oh come on it'll be fun"!

"Says you golden boy" Steph teased, half hanging off her chair and a foot almost knocking over Cass chip bag, only stopped by the fact Duke snatched it and moved it further along the table.

Well at least Damian seemed to be reacting rationally, seeming intent on slouching in on himself the more Dick tried to pull him and Jason together into a "group hug". It was a wonder his arms could even reach that far- even more so that they were still intact.

But Jason, like the rest of them, was weak to Dicks puppy dog eyes. Tim saw the moment he gave up a losing battle and his shoulders slumped in defeat, though his scowl ever present. "If I say yes will you fuck off"

"Ah ah language, we have children here"! Dick gasped, placing his ears on Damians ears which only earned him a snarl in return.

"I don't think Damian counts as a kid- and I just turned 16 which is basically an adult" Duke tried to defend, but his 'fierce glare' had less effect with his hand stuck in a bag of gummy worms.

Tim huffed- if Dick kept it up, they would end up with "family night", and he doubted all of them would come back alive.

(END SCENE)

Now to break down- Tim was of course the "Narrator" perspective that was viewing the scene, we get his insight even while not directly interacting with the characters just by his description tone.

Jason was of course the main "Secondary"character (though Dick was a mix as well) where the scene introduced by Tims perpective and tone by someone else in the enviornment.

Then you have Dick who is a perfect mix of Interactive character (how he entered the scene via movement, placing himself in perspective to the established other two) while shifting to have the most "scene impact" whilst still not being Tims focus.

Finally you have everyone else serving as Enviornment characters, with either a simple Line-action (ex-Steph) or a name drop in general placement (Cass) or establishment through movement, and only relevent later in the scene (Duke).

Damian kind of floats between, he is introduced via a reaction + Narrator observation, but then is mostly just an eviornment character. He is THERE but not really awknowleged beyond that.

NEXT- If that doesn't help much you can rely on "Environment rule"

Aka everyone is always doing something in any space they occupy- apply that to your characters. It can be as simple as when you have one character speak loudly to the narrating POV, another character shifts away or laughs.

They didn't need to speak nor did you need to detract from the tension/pacing of a scene by describing in detail their expression, positon, etc.

BUT in that moment your reader just clues in to "Oh okay x is here-" that is established, and whether or not x plays a role in a future scene within that enviornment doesnt matter much.

This is also the PERFECT oppertunity to give characterization. If a tense moment is going on you can have the narrator notice another character stiffen/flinch (aka affected by the conflict, even if not an active participant)

FINAL PART- MAINTAINING

This is where shit can hit the fan f a s t- getting a bunch of characters in a scene is one thing but keeping them there?? Hell at times.

But once again this all relies on "Narrator perspective" and unless you are switching narrators, you need a "cone of vision" to determine what is or isn't important unless you might break the tension of a scene.

Methods include-

Reactions

Two+ background characters interact (verbal or not)

Interact with enviornment

Enter/Leave a space (of note)

A sound registered but not explored (a chair creaking back, a glass dropping, snack bag rustling, or even my favorite which is the sudden absense of sound implying an audience)

"Incidents" (Someone drops something, attention goes to them for a sec- apology/oneliners, then switch back)

Check ins from NON NARRATOR, (or narrator, but usually works better to keep track of who is focused on who)

Characters don't need to be "ever present" just remind your reader they exist somewhere generally in the scene (and keep them in your back pocket)

But The best possible tool at your disposal?? BANTER.

Let characters interact, feel out their dyanmics- If you dont know how they interact in non tense situations, how does that change when tension amps up. Have a background character throw in a one liner- or the narrator observe a conversation they aren't a part of.

LET PEOPLE BE PEOPLE- And they basically write themselves

Last but not least- if you feel stuck or lost?? Treat EVERYONE like a narrator.

Who are they paying attention to? What are they seeing? How do they REACT to that? Do they speak up, do they tense, do they try and slip away or stay strong?

You don't need to know this for EVERY scene- but sometimes it helps out of a rut moment

ANYWAYYSS- This is my rant and personal methodology of how I place/maintain multiple characters. I hope this helps for anyone interested, if not find what works for you!!

My Asks are open if anyone wants me to give any other advice, tips, or just general ramblings about writing.

Otherwise,

Happy writing!!

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nikolais-eyepatch · 8 months

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Ofc I can give more plot to it! Okay so yan!Toman!Mikey & reader have known each other for a couple years (like 2-3 years) and they've become good friends but Mikey ends up falling for reader who's a little tomboyish, and reader kind of likes him back, but reader likes someone else even more and Mikey gets a little jealous or something along those lines, and maybe he & the other person start fighting over reader? Is this enough information that you could use, and thank you!

i...ILL START WRITTING RIGHT AWAY -

Manjiro Sano had always liked you. Maybe it was the way people thought you were weird but the second you had a single conversation with them you'd be left with his favourite grin. Maybe it was the fact you approached him first. Or the fact that he slowly discovered that you both were a teeny bit misunderstood. Or maybe the fact that after a few years your still by his side.

He loves that. He loves you. He loves you so much, he even let's you call him by his real name m-

"-Manjiro! Are you even listenting?" You exclaim shaking your hands infront of his face to get his attention.

his attention is now on you. Why wouldn't it be?

"Like I was saying earlier! Guess what! I got asked out on a date by (insert name)! the guy I was talking about!" You explain excitingly as you even use your hands to show the emphasis.

His gaze immediately darkens, he was totally expecting you to talk about anything interesting like a new episode of that new action manga, or even a new rematch on your favourite sports team, but this?

You await his response and the only thing you get is a small hum of acknowledgement and a small 'oh really?'

You state at him confused, you didn't expect him to be over the top but this was a little too...it just slightly weirded you out..

You nod vigorously as you say " yeah he actually asked me out on a date- I'm happy, that one of the guys I have a crush on asked me-"

"One of the guys? There's more?" He interrupts you as he meets your gaze. And you notice his eyes are empty just a pitch blackness.

" Mhm! There's two, he's one of them...but the other- ah! But it doesn't matter! " you say as you feel a light blush as you talk about the other crush and dismiss it...

see you've never told manjiro about the other crush because- it's him! It's manjiro sano! He doesn't like you...plus your options are open!

Manjiro mouth opens then shuts; as if on time your phone goes off-perfect! Now you don't have to explain yourself!

You check the icon and it's (insert name)! You instantly smile as you don't look up from your phone but say

"oops! I gotta go, manjiro! It's my mom! Love you! byeee! ♡ " You say happily as you get off from the steps of the stairs you and him were sitting on hanging out as you wave a goodbye to him then turn back around and call (insert name)! This was the best!

What you don't see is manjiro looking at the back of your body as your figure gets smaller, and smaller, and smaller...

Fuck it, that kids going to be lucky if he even has a face left. He thinks as his knuckles are now all pale, something you didn't notice from the second you started talking about that kid...yeah your dates tomorow huh? Guess he needs to tell ken-chin to cancel the toman meeting tonight. He needs you, now.

"-and then he leaves me like that! He fucking ghosted me! " you say pissed as you lay on Manjiros lap sideways with your gaze looking at the wall rather that him, not that he minded since he kept in gently playing with your hair, getting out knots gently.

"That's so rude of him, sounds like an asshole...you should stay away from him." He says; you have to double check as you now pay on your back in with your head still on his lap but looking up at him with a slight confusion

"Ah! I mean he left you like that, right (name)! So he could do that again..I'm a guy I know what other guys are thinking. So stay away, kay? ♡ " he says with a sickeningly sweet smile as he looks down at you and plays with you're hair.

He then cups your face then slightly squezes it making your lips go plump then he just observes with a now blank look then toys with your bottom lip then smiles again as his hands are now resting on your hands instead.

"...manjiro your so weird." You mumble out slightly blushing at the contact.

"Your weirder then." He remarks with a small smile

" course I am. " you reply as you close your eyes, relaxing them. Not bothering to even to even care about the fact that your in his lap

Your met with silence and shuffling and you feel your head being lifted for a second and you flutter open your eyes as your met with his eyes. But your also met with a sudden softness on your lips as you open your eyes.

You realize something; he's kissing you so you then shut your eyes and kiss him back as you lay back into his lap relaxing yourself as you hold one of his hands, meanwhile the other is on his cheek as you slightly feel him adjusting himself so he can kiss you deeper.

After lips shuffling against each other you have no idea how but now manjiros pinning you on his bed as he starts kissing you deeper, and deeper, and deeper. He can't get enough of you ♡ !!

Eventually as you both pull back panting you soon your eyes and see a string of saliva connecting you two and you blush as you watch him wipe it away with his sleeve then kisses you again- this one being more short due to the fact you two haven't recovered yet from the make our session.

"You know." He interrupts as he gives you a peck on your lips . "You're" a peck on your nose "all" another kiss on your cheek "mine" another kiss on the other cheek.

"you always have been and will be, you don't have a choice. " he says as he pulls back slightly and then immediately kisses you enjoying every second of it as he puts both hands on your cheek meanwhile your kissing him back with arms around his neck.

Maybe your feeling a little heartbroken about your date, he ghosted you. Maybe this is all because you feel upset...who knows? Manjiros right, he was probably playing with your feelings.

You quickly dismiss those thoughts as you kiss him then you move your head to the side and try and catch your breath and you stare up at manjiro; his lips are red, his cheeks are all red too, yours are too.

"Don't worry about that other guy, he's taken care of, kay ♡ ? Your mine now. All mine. So don't worry your pretty head about him at all. He's gone. I'm sure. " He says suddenly as his gaze darkens and he becomes scary, every thing about him screams danger

Your about to question him again as he kissed you again- a bit more roughly as if he wants to own you this time you notice.

when you keep on trying to question him he shuts you up with a kiss.

He said he's taken care of that asshole, don't worry about it. You only need him right? I mean you kissed him back so- so of course you do! He needs you so bad. so so so so so so so bad- fuck at this point he can't wait til he's going to claim all of you- he's dead serious. the things you make him do...he loves you! ♡

#tokyo revengers x reader #sano manjiro #mikey sano #mikey x reader #tr x reader #tokyo rev x you #tokyo rev smut #tokyo revengers #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo rev x y/n #sano manjiro x reader #manjiro sano #sano mikey manjiro #tokyo revengers sano manjiro #tokrev manjiro #Mikey

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silly-salty-utdr-rants · 2 months

Text

copy pasting my knight papyrus take from my main

ok so im bored and i know no one will probably read this so im gonna lay out my papyrus knight theory/au timeline

for simplicity ill break it into three segments: what happened before to set up this chain of events, how and why papyrus does it, and bare bones evidence

1 before deltarune

generally this is working off my "gaster is bad at math theory" which, to summarize, basically says gaster started as a scientist in deltarune with 2 kids (sans and paps) accidentily fucks up the math and teleports to undertale, uses deltarunes superior tech to create the core, fucks up the math and falls in, frisk/player pulls up, after a bit sans and paps dip but gaster fucks up the math postmortem and they get stuck in deltarune resulting in papyrus becoming a hermit who accidentally opens a darkworld in his closet and then does the fucking grinch smile and causes a ruckus

2 why tho

how papyrus does it: something something prophecy, destiny, gaster fuckery, what have you. effectively via the same plot convenient saving grace that allows us to close the darkworlds and control kris

why does he do it: same reason he spares frisk in geno. he sees that characters like kris, berdly, susie and noelle and knows that they can do better, they just need to try. and what better reason to try than life threatening adventure? (sidenote: i fucking despise when people make the excuse of "Oh HeS bEiNg ~MaNiPuLaTeD~ bY ______" like no shut up let papyrus be morally ambiguous dammit) he is also likely aware of the titan situation and is just deadass like "NO I CAN TAKE THEM IN A 1V1 I THINK" also it makes sense narratively due to his incomplete character arc

3 DA FAX

the closet the chapter 2 darkworld was likely started from can fit and i quote "a large person" (especially combined with the skeletons in my closet line in undertale), he has been set up by sans to have a late game appearance, no alibis in chapter 1 or 2, in chapter 2 the "trousling bones" mentioned when interacting with the door of sans' house grows distant as another darkworld closes, as mentioned in section 2 his arc is still incomplete and as mentioned in my papyrus backstory post we dont even have a clue as to half the shit he's hiding, as a more meta reason bonetrousle was originally the main theme of deltarune, the "secret name" line from papyrus qna 2, the jevil reference dialogue in papyrus qna 2, and probably the most solid motive out of the candidates. that being the fact he believes so much in that people can do good if they try, to exercise that from a more cynical perspective of these beliefs (i.e people wont try unless they have to) could look like forcing them by way of obscure supernatural prophecy and lifechanging perilous adventure

bonus: why other candidates are dumb

gerson is fucking dead

gaster, while likely behind the secret bosses, seems a bit occupied with fucking with reality and would rather cast someone else (like his son????)

dess is currently entangled in the code and likely cant have much effect on the actual world

mrs. holiday seems like a better candidate for character development by darkworld than creator of darkworld

asriel is at college

kris has been controlled by us for most of the game and i aint see them open a darkworld beyond the one post chapter 2

player, i dont know about you guys, but i have not opened a darkworld

new character sounds REALLY boring tbh

ralsei, rouxls, and any darkner candidate are ruled out due to queens speech

#deltarune #undertale #papyrus #deltarune theory #papyrus undertale #knight papyrus #papyrus is the knight #papyrus the skeleton #the great papyrus #knight deltarune #in this essay i will #essay

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chipchopclipclop · 1 year

Note

love ur baldurs gate 3 oc so much. idk anything about the game but i genuinely likes him. i wish hes a real character bc i would buy the game for him

thank you anon i know this message is weeks old but ily and also im going to use this ask as an excuse to dump information about him now (swagdor lore (swaglore)) for anyone who cares

general stuff;

hes 49 years old as of game time

necromancy wizard, learned scholar, heavy interest in the boundaries between life and death and undeath, researching different types of resurrection unrelated to god worship (just not a big fan of asking for favours yknow)

stoic even keeled personality, reacts neutrally or stone faced to most things (this does not mean hes uncaring, hes got a curious nature). he used to be very showy and loud when he was younger, he finds that now very embarrassing

used to be a leader of an adventuring band in his 20s, fell apart when his group were defeated in battle leaving him lone survivor, wasnt a necromancer back then

has a distinct lack of self regard, half of him believes he'll be more of use untethered to the chain of mortality (undead in some fashion, or just thinking his corpse more functionally useful) the other half is just still struggling with survivors guilt (lol)

wanders around looking for old crypts and tombs to help his arcane pursuits, do-good's alot accidentally while he does, though most people get scared of him when he reveals the necromancy magic so hes got a mixed reputation (has some sort of misnomer like The Specter of so-and-so that wyll probably recognizes and laughs about)

will go along with just about anything if it amuses him, and has a weird sense of humour. hard to catch off guard or fluster, he yes-and's people alot to see how far they'll go with something or out bluff them (sometimes this causes them to try and beat the shit out of him)

truthful about his feelings when asked, but rarely volunteers his thoughts on things of his own accord, this gives him a weirdly mysterious image at first to most people

treats his raised corpses with care befitting living beings outside combat, and used to even raise some for company even if they were functionally just puppets.

he likes skeletons more than zombies (smell…)

his fake in game quest line is called 'The Wandering Necromancer' and involves inquiring about his old adventuring days of times past and learning why he's so into skeletons. He eventually reveals his past and you can bring up his groups old misadventures (oh my god you were the backstreet boys???) and he is very embarrassed by it. He reveals his group was felled by a lich, and he never found their bodies so hes always been curious on a way to speak with them again somehow.

plot continues BLAH BLAH eventually you find out that lich is still around and swagdor's old friends are now in its undead service so you go to kill it <3 but on the way he considers if he should take the lich's place so he can have his old companions around again (even if they're in his undead service) and try to give them some semblance of new twisted life again. You either help him with the preparations (yay phylacterys) or go bro you need to Move On. Man. and instead choose to release their souls when the lich is killed.

swagdor is stronger as a lich but also becomes even more detached from concepts of mortality (his sense of danger is basically nill now regarding others... its okay if u die ill bring u back somehow :) <- unnerving smile) and also all his dead friends are talking to him in his ear so he's constantly got a sense of being away from everything.

unliched swagdor moves on properly and begins The Healing Process (better late than never king) and seems more present in current ongoings, finding a place he can really set his feet. He's also less obsessed with death but sees his necromancy instead as a means to help and speak with wayward souls of the dead.

useless trivia corner: his names swagdor bc i based him off an old div2 oc i made when i was playing that game with aqua, where i used one of the randomly generated names they gave me and put the word swag into it (lol) i now am using his div2 swagdor's adventures as a semi basis for his new bg3 versions background thats why his younger versions outfit is based off that one captain armour set i never took off in that game

#chitter chatter #anonymous #swagdor <3

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pandor-uhhh · 2 years

Text

Grieving Apologies 2

Tsu'tey x avatar reader

Warnings: illness (nothing serious), crying, reference to death, Neytiri gets mad at Tsu’tey, mentions of blood and near death, use of “y/n”, this kinda long I may have gotten carried away

Description: A visit to Ronal reveals you have the option to leave your mate. But late night memories make it hard for you to choose.

REVISIONS IN PROGRESS!!!:

This series is currently being rewritten to improve its quality and overall plot, please keep that in mind as you read.

Notes: I was not expecting the first part to do so well, thank you so much you guys. I might make this a small series, if so the name might change for each new part. Also, I had someone ask me to tag them in this, so if you want to be added to a tag list just ask or comment it. There will be a new section in my rules for that.

Part 1 | part 2 (you're here) | Part 3 | Part 4

It had been three days since the incident with Tsu’tey, since your public breakdown. You were humiliated after returning back with Tsu’tey, making a bee line for your marui.

Most of the people who had been witness to it either didn’t say anything or they asked if you were okay. You appreciated the concern, but also just wanted people to forget.

You and Tsu’tey hadn’t talked either, at least not a real conversation. The closest thing you had was when he told you to get on his ikran so you could head back to the village, aside from that you had not said a word to each other.

Neytiri had caught wind of what had happened, and when you returned she was by your side. You felt like shit, making the whole village bare witness to your issues with your mate, being checked up on by a woman who just lost her son when she should be the one being check up on, and then there was-

“Drink” Neytiri handed you a cup of tea meant to soothe your cough. The morning you and Tsu’tey returned you began feeling under the weather, you had assumed it was just still your mind but then you started coughing.

Neytiri told you everyday to go see Ronal so she could help you, you would always just roll over in bed saying you would the next day.

You finished your tea, but your coughing remained. Neytiri put a hand to your forehead, but felt no abnormal warmth.

“Neytiri, you should go back to your Jake and the kids-” “-don’t” Neytiri cut you off, she almost looked offended. “You are just as much family as they are” she stated, you sighed.

“I don’t think I will be for much-” you were cut off again, this time by the heavy footsteps of Tsu’tey. You looked away from him, your outburst had affected him too, some of the villagers had gone up to him asking what happened, you felt like shit because of it.

Neither of you even look at eachother, Neytiri got up and smacked him on the shoulder, he turned his head calmly to her.

“Your mate is sick, they need you here! Where have you been?!” She asked the last part through gritted teeth

“Hunting” was all he said before turning to the side of the room his stuff was on, “hunting?” Neytiri questioned, as if she was hearing him wrong. “Your mate is sick, and you are out hunting?!” She was pissed “have you no shame?!”.

Tsu’tey stopped what he was doing after that, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but closed it and walked right back out of the marui.

“You are acting like a child!” Neytiri yelled, she looked at you and pulled you up to your feet. You looked at her, confused “where are we going?” You questioned as she pulled you along.

Neytiri didn’t answer you, and soon you were standing outside the marui Ronal makes medicine in. “No, ‘Tiri, I’m fine-” before you could finished your sentence you were shoved inside.

Ronal looked up, and motioned you to come in. Neytiri was not far behind, you greeted Ronal with a small nod. “Come, sit” was all she said before taking things off shelves, you did as she said. “Neytiri says you are ill” it was more of a statement than a question, “it’s only a cough” you tried to deflect. You could’ve swore you heard the equivalent of a scoff from her, you decided it might be better to just be quiet and let her treat you.

Rushed footsteps could be heard, the source of them being Tsireya who had just run around the corner. She was panting, and looked like she had been in the water recently as her hair was wet, “you’re late” Ronal seethed. Tsireya’s ears went back, “sorry, mother, I lost track of time”

Ronal handed her daughter a strip of cloth “tie up their hair” she said motioning to you, you would’ve protested but that hadn’t ended well last time. Tsireya kneeled behind you and pulled your hair back, Ronal kneeled beside you and started putting some sort of petroleum-jelly-like substance on your chest. Ronal also handed you a small jar “put this on at night and the cough should be gone in three days” she also lit something that looked like incense. Ronal made me stay while she prayed to Eywa for a fast recovery, after that you sat in silence.

“It’s not uncommon for people to feel ill when they feel disconnected from their mates” Tsireya whispered to you, “quite Tsiereya!” Ronal scolded the young girl. “No!” you yelled, to Ronal, part of you was shocked you had the gull to yell at Ronal “I want to hear what she has to say” you added. Tsireya looked to her mother for approval, Ronal sighed but nodded.

Tsireya got up and kneeled in front of you “it is not uncommon for people to say that their mates… change, over time” the girl explained, your brows knitted together. “Change?” You question, “did you not say yourself that your mate's attitude has changed towards you?” she added. You sighed “you heard me?” “Tonowari did” Ronal spoke up, putting things back in their place on the shelf.

Ronal turned to you “he talked to us about it, because those wanting to leave their mates are often worried they cannot, not without dishonoring Eywa” she looked at you with what could only be described as pity “but, you can” Tsireya put a hand to your shoulder “it is more complicated if you have children, but since you have none-” “-enough from you gir!” Ronal snapped “leave!” Tsireya got up to leave.

“She’s right” both Ronal and her daughter looked at you as you spoke, you looked up at them, eyes full of tears. “Maybe it is best, maybe…” You turn to Neytiri, hoping she would tell you that you and Tsu’tey still had a chance, but she looked at you and nodded. You sighed “...maybe it’s too late for us to try again” you put your head in your hand and cried, Tsireya hugged.

“I’m sorry” she cried “I’m so sorry” Ronal put a hand on her daughters shoulder and gently guided her out, and covered the entrance with the cloth above it. She turned back to you, kneeling in front of you she put a hand to your shoulder. “Take your time, and come see me with Tsu’tey when you’re ready”, Neytiri helped you up and out the door.

The walk home was silent, she guided you to your bed. Making sure you had the gel on your chest still, then she left, you laid there unable to sleep despite the fact it was dark. You cried and closed your eyes, desperate for a reason to stay with the man you had loved since you had come to pandora.

*and past memories came flooding back to you*

After the war you remember running through the hordes of injured na'vi, desperately looking for one in particular. You had tears in your eyes, turning some Na’vi over and finding them dead. You dropped to your knees letting go of your bow “Tsu’tey!” You called out, desperately wanting to hear his voice. You heard a yell, and ran over to that source of the sound. Finding your love with bullet holes littering his body and blood all around him, “no!” You screamed, you pressed the communicator on your neck “Jake, ‘Tiri, someone please help!” You cried.

“(Y/n), what’s wrong?” Jake had thought you were gone after seeing your ikran go down, you cried “it’s Tsu’tey, he needs help!” You screamed. Jake immediately got on his ikran with Neytiri “we’re on our way, just hold on!”, you nodded and gently placed Tsu’tey’s head in your lap. You pressed on the bullet wounds, trying to stop the bleeding. He coughed up some blood and tried to reach up to you, you took his hand in yours. “Hold on, tiyawn, Jake and ‘Tiri are on their way” you let go of his hand to brush some hair out of his face.

He began closing his eyes and you shook your head “no, no, no, stay with me!” you sobbed, shaking him lightly. You heard Jake and Neytiri land behind you, you had started doing compressions on his chest.

"please, please don’t take him from me!” You cried, Neytiri pulled you off him so Jake could carry him to his ikran. You sobbed loudly as Neytiri cried with you “please Great Mother, don’t take him, I’ll do anything!” Jake threw you over his shoulder and put you on the Ikran, Neytiri held onto Tsu’tey as you flew back to camp.

Neytiri ran to her mother carrying Tsu’tey “please help him!” She begged, they carried him to the tent. You cried, you had seen so many enter that same tent but few left still living, despite Mo'at's best ability. Jake hugged you, apologizing feeling this was all his fault.

Neytiri came out motioning you to come inside, you ran in and saw Tsu’tey coughing up more blood. Most of his chest was covered with blood, it looked like he had already died and come back as a vengeful corpse. Neytiri grabbed your hand and put them on his chest while she and her mother ran trying to collect what they needed to save this life.

Tsu’tey brought his hand up to hold yours again, trying to say your name. You shook your head “don’t talk, you don’t need to talk” you held his hand tight “fight, ‘Tey, fight for me” you brought his hand up to kiss his knuckles. Mo’at began rubbing a salve on his wounds, and you pulled away so Neytiri could wrap them. Tsu’tey chanted your name out “I’m here, baby, I’m right here” Mo’at began praying over him. Neytiri pulled you back over to Tsu'tey when she was done.

He grabbed onto your wrists acting as if he let you go again you would vanish. You looked in this eyes, which didn’t leave yours. Mo’at finished her prayer, “we have done all we can” she stated “it lies in Eywa’s hands”

Neytiri and Mo’at left to give you space, you rested your head on his chest. Half your face had some of his blood on it, but you didn’t care. All that mattered to you was hearing his heartbeat. The thumping of his heart was a relief every time you heard it, more beautiful than any song or poem. You fell asleep like that, never wanting to leave his side again

*you reopen your eyes*

And saw the man you begged Eywa to save standing with his back turned, tending to the fire. There was some kind of meat cooking above it, and he took some. When you noticed him begin to turn and closed your eyes again, there was a brief silence. Then you heard him sigh, you felt him kiss your shoulder, then rest his forehead on yours.

You wanted to open your eyes and return his affection, but the moment the thought entered your head he pulled away. After a moment he shook you and your eyes snapped open, he said nothing to you, but there was food.

By the time you sat up he was gone.

Taglist: @arschbohrer

Thank you for reading ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

#tsu’tey x reader #tsu'tey x reader angst #avatar x reader angst #avatar x reader #avatar tsu'tey #fanfiction #avatar angst

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bluestar22x · 7 months

Text

The Future

The Outcast - Epilogue: The Future

Summary: Just like winter, the end is just the beginning

Pairing: Pero Tovar x F!Reader

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 2,700 (ish)

Warnings: Mention of a baby goat (kid) having died, angst, pregnancy plot, non-graphic labor and birth, fluff, pov changes, quintessential happy ending

Author’s Note: This is a very self indulgent bonus part - you can read the first four parts and have a satisfying ending if this kind of ending isn't your thing. For those who do like this kind of ending guess what my favorite line(s) to write was.

Also, any names I used in this fic were themed and/or meaningful. And if one of my running themes of relating winter with life instead of death wasn't apparent, it should be now.

xxx

Death is far from a stranger on a functioning farm. Even though you usually sold your old, infertile goats to the nearest village's butcher instead of culling them yourself, that still left a whole slew of other ways for you to witness it. Illness, lethal injuries, stillbirths, and difficult deliveries that ended badly for the doe or her offspring or both had all occurred on your farm more than once.

You'd accepted it, and your need to hunt, a long time ago, because you loved the simplicity of this kind of life. You loved being mostly self reliant, knowing you could be fully self reliant if need be, and you loved the companionship of the animals you were dependent on.

Sometimes though, the deaths still hurt. Like when River, your first horse and Meadow's mother had died a few years after you'd moved onto the mountain, due to colic. She'd been in so much pain for so long you'd been forced to end her misery with a knife. The senseless guilt you'd felt after had lasted for weeks.

That was the most you'd ever cried over losing an animal, until one spring morning a year after Pero had decided to stay.

You tried to hide how upset you were by the latest death on the farm when you returned to the cottage to cook a morning meal for you both, but as soon as he followed you inside after an hour of chomping wood, you uncharacteristically started sobbing on sight of him.

Eyes filled with concern, your husband silently approached and gathered you up in his arms, kissing your temple as he did so. You took a deep breath and focused on his soothing warmth, his reassuring broad hands that slid up and down your spine, trying to put yourself back together.

"What has you so upset, mi esposa?" he eventually asked, nuzzling the side of your face, his short beard scraping against it lightly.

You stepped away from him, leaned against the kitchen counter top on one hand, and looked back to him. "It's one of Sweets' kids, the one who was sick, I found her dead this morning."

"I'm sorry cariño," he said quietly, dark eyes serious. "I know how hard you tried to save her."

You shook your head and separated yourself from him to look at his face. "It's not that, I could handle that, it has happened several times before, but it's the way Sweets reacted when I removed the body from the paddock. She started bleating and desperately searching for her, even though she had her other new kid alongside her, even though the body had been cold when I discovered it. Hearing those sounds from her broke my heart."

"It doesn't help I kept thinking -," you paused, eyes widening as you realized what you'd been about to say.

Pero frowned at the way you'd cut yourself off. "It doesn't help what?" he prompted gently.

You sucked in a deep, shaky breath. You figured you might as well not hide it from him. "It doesn't help I kept imagining what she was feeling. Putting myself in her place. I don't think I could handle it if I lost the baby that way."

"The baby," Pero repeated, lips parting in surprise. He reached out to you and tugged you back to him, his arm looped around your waist. "Mi amor, are you saying what I think you are?"

You nodded, fresh tears flooding your eyes, joy overcoming your trepidation. "I am. It's still early, I'm probably only two months or so along, but I'm certain."

You hadn't bled in that time, and had felt nauseous many times over the previous month, neither of which was normal for you. Your emotions had been all over the place lately too. You'd never been a super stoic character, but you were usually far from the emotional wreck you felt like that morning.

Pero beamed at you and the shock of it left you breathless. It was a rare sight, his smile, let alone one that obvious. He leaned forward and kissed your cheek softly, lovingly, showing more affection than you'd once thought him capable of. "Everything will be alright, cariño," he reassured you.

It was not something he could actually promise, no man could act as a god, but his words comforted you anyway.

"I'll need to find a midwife who would be willing to stay the winter with us," you told him nervously. "If I'm correct, the baby will be born in the final days of the year or the early ones of the next. The passage will be closed off by then. When my sister visits I'll ask her to help me search for one."

Pero caressed your cheek with a thumb. "I'm sure an older one without family to care for would agree to stay with us in exchange for coin and free room and board. If not, I will convince them."

You arched your eyebrows, understanding what he meant. "I appreciate the offer, but please don't threaten any of the village midwives, especially the elderly."

"I cannot make any promises, mi amor."

Winter had never come faster. Not because it actually arrived sooner, but because there was so much to do before then. In the late spring you and Pero planted your garden and a part of the field with enough crops to keep all the animals and yourselves through the winter.

In the early summer your sister and her husband visited with their four children, two girls and two boys, and for a week the tiny cottage was chaotic. The children were always running off doing something adventurous while your sister helped you milk the goats and Pero and your brother in law worked together to build an additional room to the cottage.

As summer neared its end and your belly rounded, you began to focus on smaller tasks. You still cooked and cleaned, you still took care of the horses and goats, and some of the weeding in the small garden behind the cottage, but Pero assisted you and he took on the tasks that were more dangerous by himself, like hunting. He did the extra work gladly, wanting to do everything he could for you, never feeling like he could do enough.

Harvest came around and your brother in law returned to help with the crops, the midwife your sister had found for you in tow. Her name was Franny, and she was strict about what you could and could not do, having you rest most of the day when she wasn't helping you knit baby clothes, but she was kind, reminding Pero of the one grandmother he knew for only a decade before she passed. It took him time to get used to another adult being in the cottage for so long, but he figured a newborn would be an even bigger adjustment, so he adjusted.

The first snowfall was almost a shock, the months having flown by in a blur, and Pero began to feel anxious. Even with Franny in the spare room, what would later become the baby's room, being closed off from the village for a whole season with you in your condition and eventually a newborn worried him. So many things could go wrong, you of all people knew that, but you would have never agreed to leave the farm. As far as you were concerned if Franny couldn't help you, nobody could, and he supposed you were probably right.

Your prediction about your due date turned out to be precise, your first pangs of labor beginning during an early afternoon at the start of the new year.

He'd found you in the barn, sitting on a square bale of hay with an arm curled around the huge swell at your abdomen, grimacing as you endured the first painful wave.

And then everything moved far too slow. He helped you into the cottage and watched as Franny got to work, prepping for the delivery, clueless about what he could do. Franny was no help there. Traditional as could be, she would've shooed him out of the cottage for the day, no matter the cold, if you hadn't insisted he stay.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to stay, as useless as he felt, as fearful as he felt, but he did it for you. He scraped his mind for ways to help all the while, assisting a dubious Franny in setting up the bed for you, gathering enough firewood to keep your home warm for a couple days, and caring for all the animals on his own as quickly as he could before returning to your side to let you squeeze his hand as your contractions continued to strengthen at an agonizingly slow pace.

It wasn't until morning the next day that Franny declared it was time for you to push. She had you sit up in bed and undress halfway with Pero's help before she prompted you to spread your legs and bend your knees. You pressed your back to Pero's chest after, using his body to support your own.

Through gritted teeth you bore down with several contractions, panting and breaking out in a sweat from your efforts. Pero kept his face close to yours, murmuring encouragement into your ear as you struggled. And when you reached back and grasped one of his a thighs tightly in an attempt to distract yourself, he let you, not caring whether or not it bruised under your fingertips if it helped you cope.

As the minutes passed, as you tired, your chest rising and falling rapidly, your legs trembling, he became concerned something might be wrong, but Franny remained calm, continuously urging you to keep going.

"A couple more," she promised you. "A couple more good solid pushes and it'll be over, sweetie. Don't give up now."

Pero saw it in your eyes, the moment you mentally and physically dug your heels in and began pushing with renewed determination, and he was awed, not sure how you'd come by the reserve.

Finally your laboring paid off and you slumped backwards into his arms, relief washing over your face as a sharp wail pierced the air.

He glanced from you to the small, wet infant flailing in Franny's arms, and his world shifted.

Outside, snow began to fall.

Ten years later...

"Why do I have to go?" the seven year old girl before you bemoaned. "Why can't I stay here?"

"You're not old enough to stay here by yourself, Stela," you explained. "Your brother wouldn't even be allowed to stay by himself and he's three years older than you."

"He's old," she stated and you couldn't help but chuckle.

"Maybe, but still not old enough."

Stela pouted at you then continued to put on her winter coat and boots, a long dramatic sigh slipping from her as she stood up from the kitchen chair she'd been sitting in. You thought she was far too young to be turning into a moody teenager, but guessed it was the part she'd inherited from her father breaking through.

You finished assisting her five year old sister, Lene, with her coat before leading them both outside into the frigid night. Lene immediately dove head first into the fresh snow layered on the ground gleefully, while her older sister folded her arms and stomped her way over to the front of the barn where Pero and her brother William were waiting for them.

Out of all of your children, William looked most like his father, his eye shape, chin, and nose all miniature copycats of Pero's. Stela had his eyes, but was more like you, physically, and Lene reminded you of your sister. However, they all shared Pero's dark hair and eyes.

"Ready to ride?" Pero quizzed Stela as she trudged right past him. He frowned when she showed no sign of hearing him and met your eyes. "What is she upset about this time?"

"She's angry about being outvoted," you replied. "Said she didn't want to see the stupid lights again and wanted to stay home. She's definitely your daughter."

Pero chuckled and pulled you against him at the hip with one hand as you both trailed your children into the barn to saddle up the horses.

Lene assisted her father with Orion, a four year old colt who was the youngest offspring of the since retired Clover and Thor, grandson to the deceased Meadow, and Pero's new mount. Like his sire, Orion was jet black in color, except for the small crystal shaped star marking that was usually hidden under his forelock. His surprisingly calm disposition was more like Clover though.

Your latest mount, a five year old solid bay mare named Aspen who was Orion's full sibling, was equally as quiet once she'd settled into adulthood, and you had her tacked in no time as Stela watched, still moping.

Last was Thunder, an eight year old bay gelding with a stripe shaped like a lightning bolt running down his face. The most well behaved and eldest offspring of Clover and Thor, Thunder had been assigned to William when he got old enough to start riding on his own.

He was still too tall for William to saddle him, so Pero flung it over the horse's back for him, but the young boy took care of the rest, a true horseman despite his youth.

Once you, Pero, and William led your horses outside the girls approached, Stela hesitantly letting Pero boost her up onto Orion, and Lene begging you to set her in Aspen's saddle. You and Pero climbed on your horses so you were behind them while William found a stump to help propel himself onto Thunder's back.

Someday the children would learn how to ride bareback, but it would not be that night, so you lived with it, though the wind was making you shiver and yearn for the shared body heat.

You led the way up the mountain as was tradition, your family making the trip at least once a winter, more if the children wanted to ride out that far in the dark.

Lene loved it. Loved everything, really. The girl had more positivity and enthusiasm than you and Pero could've ever had combined.

William enjoyed it as well, already into nature as much as you were, and just as quiet about it.

And Stela, well, she often spent most of the ride brooding and complaining about the cold. That night was no different.

Once you reached your destination, you, Pero, and William slowed your horses to a stop a few yards from the edge with your horses shoulder to shoulder so everyone had a great view of the lights.

While the children had grown older (far too quickly), and you and Pero had long since started to grey, the lights had remained the same, seemingly everlasting, tying the years of memories you'd shared together as they shimmered in the sky.

You looked to each of your children in turn and smiled at the delight on their faces, even Stela's, before you glanced to Pero, who was studying your face. You hoped he would never tire of it, cause you certainly wouldn't tire of looking at him, especially when he was holding your middle child by the hip to steady her, to make sure she wouldn't fall off Orion. He was always watching out for his children like that and whenever you witnessed it first hand your heart always threatened to combust.

Fate was not something you'd believed in when you were young, but the older you got, the more you weren't so convinced there wasn't something bigger out there at least nudging you towards the future you were supposed to live out. How else could you have been so lucky to find Pero in time? How else could he have been so lucky to have been chased up your mountain instead of any of the others in the chain that were uninhabited?

One change in events and you'd have never met, or he'd have never turned back come spring. And then you would've never married, and your children would've never been born. You would have spent the rest of your life in tranquility, happy, sure, but never quite fulfilled.

Whether or not fate was real, you were grateful.

You stretched your hand out towards Pero's and he automatically intertwined his fingers with yours, having long lost a hesitancy he'd had towards sharing that kind of intimacy with you.

"Let's head back home," you said simply, and he nodded, turning Orion away from you, for once choosing to take lead.

Guiding you into your future, like you had guided him home.

xxx

Tagged: @elegantduckturtle @harriedandharassed

xxx

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

xxx

#Pero Tovar #The Great Wall #Pero Fanfic (Mine)#The Great Wall Fanfic #X Reader #The Outcast Series

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skitskatdacat63 · 1 year

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catie I NEED more vettonso lore for your au. please. (love u)

Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! C!!! Thank you so much for asking!! This took me a bit cause there’s a lot of stuff I want to cover and I had to figure out how to balance the explanation of the historical context and how I apply it to my AU. But seriously thank you for asking because I did more research to write this post and learned a lot of things that make me feel deranged but I cannot bring any of this up to anyone irl without sounding like a lunatic. I’d apologize for the length but you should expect this from me by now! (I realized this doc for this was 1.5k+ my god)

Basic Info: early 1700s historical AU with arranged marriage plot

Historical Context:

Okay, so this AU is based on a real historical event: The War of The Spanish Succession. Which is when the Spanish Throne was without a clear line of succession because the bloodline(Spanish Habsburgs) died out. So then, even though the previous Spanish King named his successor(Philip V, a Duke related to the French Royal family - representing Fernando in this AU), the Habsburgs still thought they should be allowed to keep the throne within their dynasty, thus offering up the second son(Charles VI - representing Seb in this AU) of the Holy Roman Emperor. So obviously they had to start a war because of it. But then the end result ended up being that because Charles VI’s older brother, the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, died during the war(because of illness though so it would have happened regardless), he became the next Emperor and Philip V ended up becoming the Spanish King after all, rendering it all pointless imo.

How does this relate to Vettonso?:

I'm not overly interested in either Charles VI and Philip V as people, but rather the roles they fulfill in this conflict, but obv I can’t help but draw on details from their lives. As I mentioned, Fernando is now Fernando I of Renault/France Spain and Seb is Sebastian I of Red Bull Austria. This is supposed to be like 2010-2012!Vettonso with Ferrari!Fernando and RBR!Seb(but like Fernando's title of Duke coming from France, because of his championships with Renault.) This AU is kinda just me looking at this historical event and thinking: wouldn’t a gay arranged marriage solve this succession quandary? But also just that it reminds me of Fernando and Seb’s rivalry, and the nationalities/kingdoms fit pretty well!!

Think about the throne of Spain as akin to winning a race, but becoming Holy Roman Emperor as winning the whole entire competition.(Also side note: real life Charles VI didn’t become a king until he became Emperor and adopted all of his brother’s titles, but I want Seb to be a boy king in this AU, so he can have a title as a treat.) Imagine you’re competing for something and you win it, but the only reason you win is because the other competitor won an even bigger prize!!!! Yay you got what you wanted but the boy king is now the emperor of most of Europe. And now you are stuck with him through lawfully wedded arranged marriage because they let you have what you wanted but only under the condition that the two kingdoms are still united. Yeah Fernando got the title, but Seb gained even more titles(get it???)

They probably have a lot of animosity coming into the marriage, like “how could I ever build a relationship with the man who tried to steal my birthright?” but then realize they’re pretty similar after all. Though obviously Fernando has a lot more resentment than Seb because Seb won the whole damn thing! He would have control over Spain as he’s the king but since it's still within the domain of the empire, Seb would always have the final say. And Seb tries to be magnanimous like “Don’t worry, I won’t interfere”, and Fernando is all snide with comments like “Oh thank you great imperial majesty, can I really? Would you really allow me to do so?” But eventually become loving co-rulers that still constantly snipe at each other over different decisions the other makes.

Some headcanons(I guess you’d still call it headcanons even if it's your own AU bcs it still comes from your head) + some fun facts from real life that have brainrotted me so I’m putting them in:

Their dynamic is just Seb being a very righteous, bratty boy king emperor who is unabashed about being that way, because he feels that it is his right, but still has a heart of gold and wants to treat his husband well no matter the circumstances leading to their marriage. And then Fernando is like a stray cat that keeps hissing and scratching because it’s really hard for him to accept the circumstances because he still feels humiliated, even though he got everything he wanted, but he still can’t help but be charmed by this baby emperor because he sees attributes of himself in Seb, and can’t really fault him because he would be the exact same, flaunting his power, if he were in Seb’s shoes.

They would have to speak in French to each other because that’s their shared language but eventually attempt to learn each other’s native languages! Imagine Seb has to travel to Spain to give some Emperor speech and Fernando then bullies him for his bad Spanish.

They would probably split where they live based on a schedule or by need. Yes, Fernando is the King of Spain but he is also the Emperor’s husband so he does have to spend time in the capital, Vienna. And then since Spain is a part of the empire, Seb has to go routinely, but y’know also to spend time with his husband. They find that their marriage as well as their politics is full of having to make concessions and compromises in order to make it work.

Something I find funny is that as compensation for not getting the Spanish throne back, Spain had to cede some Italian territories to the Empire. That is literally the Ferrari plot with the transfer from Fernando to Seb!!

I’m not sure how the titles would work in this AU because obviously a m/m political marriage has not ever happened(as far as I know.) But I guess Fernando would just be King Fernando I of Spain and then Seb would be Holy Roman Emperor Sebastian I with the million titles that come with being in that role(though like most importantly Archduke of Austria and King of Bohemia and Hungary, etc.) I like the idea that Seb tries to share some titles with Fernando as a show of good will but Fernando is so affronted, mostly just from embarrassment, like “oh you think I need your good will?? I can’t be happy with what I earned in my own right??” But their kids would receive both titles and would be split in the traditional way, like first kid getting it all mostly, but the others still being nobility obv(yes.. there would be mpreg because of the plot need for succession….don’t ask who…)

They bond through their love of horses, particularly fast horses. The first time they go riding together, they’re both like awkwardly trying to act very proper as a sense of showmanship to the other like “I’m more mature than you”, but then can’t stop trying to get ahead of the other person and eventually break into a full-on race. Their aids are mutually like “oh god, they’re both the same type of insane.”

Irl Charles VI was so salty about losing the throne that he wouldn’t stop dressing like a traditional Spanish monarch. I can totally see Seb doing that and Fernando getting so pissed with him like “you became emperor!! What more could you possibly want???’ and Seb then fixing him with his biggest pout and saying “your throne!” But also Fernando being weirdly into it because it’s basically Seb presenting himself blatantly as Fernando’s spouse.

In that same vein, I’m going crazy over how there’s a painting from before the war, of Philip V wearing vestments from both the French order of chivalry and the Habsburg order of chivalry. Like basically stating the desire to see those two lines combined into one kingdom, which fits so well into this AU. Just Seb going crazy over how Fernando is willingly branding himself as belonging to Seb’s house.

A testimony of Philip V’s personality is that he was a “neurotic, vacillating ruler, concerned with outward decorum and brave only in battle,” god can you not sense the energy of Fernando in that statement???

Very important to me that Charles VI reportedly had many male lovers, and that his soulmate was one of his courtiers. Maybe there can be a bit of Martian or Sebson cheating plot with them being his courtiers hahaha

Not very relevant in this AU but there’s something about how Philip V had the longest ever reign of a Spanish monarch. Is that not Fernando??? Old man who will rule on forever, or should I say, forever keep his seat

I already obv posted the wip for this but I'll include it here again as visual rep hehehe:

I've spent way too much time lately trying to research the fashion of the time ugh. But this, as I said, is like first joint portrait session into the marriage. And I guess I kind of want them to be wearing their corronation clothing, which I'm pretty solid on for Seb but still need to research more for Fernando. I think I'll maybe try and just put him in the afformentioned traditional Spanish monarch clothing, but the fact that it's all black kinda bores me, I'd rather he wear red!! This is like a typical royal couple type pose, except they're being more tactile. Also there's something to be said about the symbolism of Fernando being the one standing and Seb being the one sitting hehehe....

#*oh also posting this in my typical habit of scheduling posts for when i sleep so sry if i dont respond bcs i am in fact asleep #*sorry for making you wait for this C! I said in a bit but then i didnt...i like waking up to notes okay ...BUT AGAIN TYSM FOR ASKING #alternate title for this post: what being in Austria does to a man #I mentioned to my friend from the trip abt how having been there has affected me and has made me think way too much about the history #and shes like 'oh yeah ive not really thought about austria too much since coming back'#me just sitting there with my phone gallery full of historical paintings for reference and my head full of research like: 'haha oh okay...'#often my thoughts about AUs is just a bunch of rambling thoughts in my head #so its very nice and helpful to have to write it out like this and turn it into something more than absent thought #most of the headcanons spontaneneously popped into my head while I was writing out the main section hahah #hope you enjoy!!!! hopefully I'll be able to finish my drawing of them !!#especially since I'll prob never end up writing a fic bcs i like writing rambling but anything more formalized is soooo difficult for me #vettonso #catie.rambling.txt #catie.asks.#formula 1 #boy king au

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bizlybebo · 1 month

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do u have any starskate songs (smiling sneetly)

FUCKKK THIS NEVER POSTED CAUSE I ANSWERED IT AND PUT IT BACKI N DRAFTS </3

GRAHAHHH OK I SAID I WAS GONNA BE ON BREAK AND I STILL AM BUT STARSKATE POPPED UP ON MY PHONE SCREEN AND YRHRHEHJFJWJTJ. i have 5 songs at the moment

ok so i cant remember who sent this to me specifically but after someone recommended it back in april i unironically find good luck, babe! by chappel roan to be the starskate anthem. specifically from lightspeed’s pov— miss G is a comphet lesbian 🙏 and i view starskate as mostly (key word MOSTLY) one sided from lightspeed, at least in the beginning.

obligatory cshr song: GOODBYE LOVE. AUGGHHH this song is one i very much interpret as being from the perspective of a gay man who finds reasons to abandon all his female lovers— until the last verse:

^ alex is a gender neutral name, thus possibly being that of a male lover’s. they’re friends (at each others side “in sports and shorts in daytime”) to others but are truly able to express their love for each other in private (“and you, my dear, the fairest of the blossoms; though you only bloom at night”). they want to let their love live in the light, but their families don’t accept queerness.

and SO i think this is a very starskate coded song because both when you reverse the meaning of it to refer to unfulfilling male lovers OR unfulfilling female lovers (specifically to me i think lightspeed would go through a lot of fast, explosive relationships with other women to avoid her feelings for Miss G + also shove down her grief for her last partner). And i think that lightspeed referring to these lovers as though she were speaking to Miss G is a really interesting concept to explore here. Lyrics like “Little Claudia, I can’t speak your language” referring to how lightspeed can never seem to fully line up with or communicate properly with Miss G. YEHRGHRJWDJABGNWJ YKNOW??? this makes absolutely no sense i know but it makes my brain wann explode

another classic one that i think fits them rather well is night shift by lucy dacus. i think this one speaks for itself

and THEN diving into the more angsty parts, i think i wait for you by alex g is also a really ouaghh them song. miss G is ill and potentially dying for the majority of the prime defenders plot, and lightspeed is constantly just Waiting for her, hoping for her to get better and being angry at herself for her feelings towards miss G because how dare she feel such a way not only to miss G, the hexpert, but also compromise her own job as a literal superhero in such a way? but no matter what lightspeed is genuinely waiting for miss G because she does care for her, even if she doesn’t fully understand the way in which she does.

and THEEN toxic yuri moment: hate yourself by tv girl. i think this could be from either miss G’s or lightspeed’s pov given everything that i’ve mentioned earlier and so it’s just very UAGGHH. STARSKATEEE punches a fucking wall. i need to finish making a starskate playlist

#SORRY this got so long and i feel like a lot of the songs are kinda typical but it’s so THEMMM AUGH #ok back to my break^_^#sorgy they’re all from lightspeeds pov btw. i am obsessed with that woman #vixen rambles #vixen answers #jrwi pd #starskate #jrwi starskate #miss G #jrwi lightspeed

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coffeesleep-ooc · 10 days

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Kachina’s name is funny

Its 2 am and i cant stop thinking about this and i need to get it out bc every single time i look at her name i think of this and can’t even enjoy the storyline aaaaaa lmao

So! We’ve seen that genshin has a history of making up the most bizarre names ever, like idek what happened after inazuma or if sumeru’s names are this funny (idk much about the region it’s inspired in so forgive me for being uneducated), BUT, i do know this: there’s a poor npc in fontaine literally called Book, just Book, wtf genshin, there’s a lot of npcs and pplcalled weird things, and with Natlan that’s wven more obvious that while genshin team does great stuff for plotlines and inspiration for each region, they just say WHATEVER WHEEEEE for names. Bc, who calls themselves/their children Boba? Like wtf?! I’m not even mad about it just why??

I play the game in spanish btw, and Boba is like calling yourself silly or stupid, a friend told me that the English equivalent was also something along those lines so we know this is on purpose? Again wtf lmao

Then there’s the npc called Umi, isn’t that ocean in japanese? And said npc is from the ocean tribe dont get me wrong, if we want to make an accurate “inspiration” from America (America is a continent, ill throttle the person that says its a country thanks) it makes sense to have lots of names that come from different places bc we do have a mix of cultures that resulted in today’s life, but it doesn’t make any sense in Natlan’s whole description, bc these ppl are described as ppl that don’t go out of their country at all? They do receive visitors and i imagine one or two would probably want to stay but it’s still strange, noted, Umi is not the only strange name i’ve seen but i dont keep a notebook with all of genshin’s lore/plot/naming/etc holes bc i would have to make it a full time job. So far a couple things make no sense to me, BUT ALSO! Natlan is culturally rich and filled with stuff i approve, i mean, i like it so far, the legends, myths and way of interaction between characters is rivh and meaningful, i especially loved a quest about a shadow needles bc it felt like revisiting old myths from my memory!

the main quest relating to Kachina is also very interesting and despite it being complete fiction, the way the underworld is constructed is also reminiscent of myths and legends - ik its not called underworld, sorry, its 2am i forgot the name - that place felt to me like one of the scary tales ppl traditionally tell each other but with a very Teyvat element mixed in, and that’s good in my book

there’s also the apparent mix of maya, inca and aztecas in culture and storytelling? And its also true that America has more stories about wars and warriors known to ourselves and the rest of the world? I’d probably have much more to say about this if i had slept, but there are no towns named Fighting soul in my country for no reason, which i find funny and sad af bc wars are shitty excuses to steal and do awful awful things, but whatever. There’s also the way they captured the behavior of ppl in the coasts, kudos to them for that, obviously things irl are not always that good or pretty and some parts of America do have a lot of poverty bc corruption is also shit, but it is true that ppl (i’ve met) in the coast is much mote laidback than in the city, more prone to random music and parties and dancing, big big parties too, the surf part i have never seen in my country so no comments there

some stuff (like the food) is a bit so so for me (im still wondering where shrimp tacos were invented wtf, there’s also too much corn which i find hilarious), and im not even gonna talk about the saurian stuff bc his post is already long enough without talking about Kachina

anyways! in general i really liked it.

now, why is Kachina a weird name for me?

Bc my mother tongue is Spanish

the thing is, idk how many countries with spanish as their main language would have this two problems (or three…maybe)

nunber 3 and less important is the K, it’s overused in Natlan and i find it funny bc many ppl here use the c instead, the k it’s actually more rare in names unless your name is Katheryn or unusual (i once heard the name Ikza and I believe its cool, just not common)…just a thought but: Quinich sounds too much like Quiche so that’s why ill allow Kinich but the qu is way more vommon

number 2 the Ka is just fine, but the China. I just…China is a countey and I can’t help but think of it! Especially bc in spanish it aounds the exact same

number 1 and my biggest concern wity her name, and this is way more personal but I JUST CANT UNSEE IT! In my country we sometimes refer to young ppl as chino or china which is also the way to call ppl from China (probably not coincide but I haven’t researched why this happened to the slang in the first place) so maybe when someone is not listening to you or when they are being tricky or hot headed its bot rare flr someone else to say “¡Este chino/a!” Like saying “this little troublemaker!” Or smth like “¡esta china no hace caso!” Which means “this girl won’t listen/obey!” You could even say “la china de allá” which would mean you are pointing to a girl that is most definitely not chinese but it’s in your field of vision

its not used to denigrate anyonebut it is commonly used as slang by both adults and kids, sometimes even elderly will use it but in more informal situations…

this is why, it feels so damn weird to keep reading and hearing Kachina, sometimes i think im reading ‘pa aca china” kinda “come here kid” and other times im reading the equivalent of ka-girl

I obviously don’t blame the developers or genshin team for not knowing this (i do blame them for Poisson-Fish, Livre-Book, Boba-Silly, etc etc) but i just cant unsee it, even in serious situations its so weirdly funny and awkward

im re-baptizing her Kachi in my mind

someone save me from this misery 😂😂😂😂

#genshin impact #natlan #kachina #rambles #send help #i need sleep but this is choking me #ted talk about genshin ig #Sorry about the long thing #the reason is at the very bottom actually

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weloveakechi · 16 days

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As Dreamers Do Chapter 4

This chapter comes to you a day early! I might switch things up a bit from Saturdays to Fridays for posting just because I tend to have a bit more free time those days, but we'll see!

Previous Chapter | Chapter 1 | AO3

It is during class the next day that Goro’s phone begins to buzz. He’s spent most of the day ignoring the teacher’s rambling to plot out his schedule for the next few days in his mind, he has cases to finish up, Kurusu to research, the doctor to look into, a few interviews to prep for, and of course Shido’s newest demands to look forward to. It is a muddled kind of plotting as his mind is catching up from a near all nighter the evening before. Despite everything, school work did indeed need to be finished on time, and he'd left quite the pile of it to stew for far too long.

That had gone so long into the night he’d been left with dark bags this morning under his eyes, forcing him to alter his makeup routine to something more covering than normal to hide the exhaustion obvious on his features. He likes to think he’s rather good at makeup, and has grown expert in hiding what he doesn’t want others to see about him, like signs of exhaustion or bruises from poorly executed trips to the Metaverse.

His third cup of coffee keeps his eyes open and mind churning, because of this he’s aware enough to know his phone going off in the middle of the school day is a bad sign. He scratches off the faint hope of squeezing in a nap today and scoops his phone from his pocket as surreptitiously as he can.

His stomach gurgles uncomfortably when he sees the reminder he’d set flash back up at him, cream from the coffee curdling in distress. He’s been so distracted by Kurusu and his whole deal that he had almost forgotten about the target he has to deal with by the end of the day. Briefly he wonders if he can feign illness to sneak out and get a head start. Even as the teacher’s voice goes on about some aspect of the English canon and how it’s important to even Japanese students, he decides he can’t, he needs to keep things as normal as possible, for his image. He can’t just be seen cutting class like that.

The phone is halfway back to being tucked into the nook in his desk when it buzzes again, thankfully still in his palm and not rattling against the wood. All thoughts of checking it flee from his mind when he hears his name from his teacher.

“Akechi, why don’t you tell the class what this says, and who said it.” Goro looks up to see his teacher pointing at the whiteboard. There a line of English has been written.

Goro’s brows knit for a moment as he scans the line, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to the truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.” He reads, tone and intonation perfect, “It is from Robert Lewis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .”

It is a familiar work, they’d been required to read it the previous year and write a lengthy essay on the author and narrative comparing it with a chosen work of Japanese fiction. Goro had not hated the story.

“Excellent!” The praise comes a moment before his teacher turns to the rest of the class, already focused on the lecture again, “Robert Lewis Stevenson known well for his adventure fiction has works that have been adapted—”

He risks another glance down at his phone, convinced he’s safe from further scrutiny for the moment. Kurusu’s name belongs to the newest message, making Goro frown. What does he want?

Oh. It takes a moment but memory floods back, they were going to meet today to discuss the Metaverse in more detail. His plate is truly overflowing. With his mission at the forefront of Goro’s mind, his own decision regarding this meeting is easy. Kurusu can wait. After all, it's not like he’s going to just jump back into the Metaverse for no reason. He doesn’t know how, nor does he have a Persona.

Goro: Apologies, something has come up, I won’t be able to keep our meeting today. Why don’t we reschedule for tomorrow?

He sends the message without even reading the one Kurusu sent, and turns his attention back to class, mind racing with thoughts about how to deal with the upcoming target.

The trip to Mementos ends up being long and arduous, but he finds his target at last and can head home, all free time eaten up while he'd been in the Metaverse. His body aches with exhaustion and all Goro wants is to skip school for the next few days to sleep to hide from the world. Instead, he takes a long shower, then digs out a fresh set of clothes to set out for the next morning’s interview. Then, he falls into bed, stomach gurgling almost as soon as his head hits the pillow. He considers prying himself up to find something to eat, and decides against it. The shoot is at a local café, and Goro will be expected to eat at least something during the interview with…he can’t remember the woman’s name. Some host known for her cooking, he thinks. Or maybe how she rates restaurants? He’s too tired to care.

He curls in on himself and squeezes his eyes shut, praying the next day goes better than this one.

“Ah! Akechi-kun, glad you made it.” Koji Sato says, arms held out to give him an air hug the same way he always does.

He’s dressed in his usual style, thin glasses perched over a sharp nose to reveal even sharper blue eyes. His suit is immaculate and professional, it’s opened just enough it lends an air of youth to his fifty years, and almost makes one forget the salt and pepper tone to his short dark curls.

Goro’s public smile is already in place as he allows the man to wave his arms around him, not touching, “Sato-san, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

His agent tuts and gives him a wink, “Come now, Akechi-kun, of course I was going to be here! Kana-chan is a must see!”

What he means, is that he’s hoping to snag her as a client if she doesn’t already have an actual agent. She does in fact have an internet show rating restaurants, and while she’s fairly new, she’s a rising star who might still be too fresh to have found proper representation yet.

Kana-chan, turns out to be both very sweet and in need of an agent. A win for both Goro and Sato. What’s even better, is that they are treated to a breakfast that’s quite good, and quickly fills the gnawing hole in his stomach. It’s easy enough after that for the two to fill their time with chatter about their favorite cafes, coffee styles, and even breakfast dishes.

It’s the best interview he’s had so far, even though he hates to talk about food like this. Why he’d let Sato talk him into starting the food blog, Goro has no idea. There’s just about a hundred other things he could have done. But he will admit, the cutesy sweets themed posts have done a lot in getting his face out there. Almost better than the case he’s solved have. The interview with Kana-chan will be just one more boost to his reputation.

As he’s getting ready to leave, Kato pats his back, bright smile on his face, “Great job today! I’ll send over the link to the video when it’s up so you can have a look, but I think this one’ll be a real winner.”

Goro nods, “I agree, thank you for setting this up.”

“Of course, of course! Anything for my rising star. Now, the best way to build off of this is you pushing a few new posts. I’m going to send a couple similar cafes your way, make sure you hit them up in the next week or two alright?”

The urge to roll his eyes is strong, but he resists it. Kato has a terrible habit of telling him things he already knows like he’s still new at this. Goro’s only got roughly a year under his belt but it’s been a good year, and he learns fast. He doesn’t need to be treated like a newbie.

Still he smiles, “Sure. Have you found someone who wants to talk about some of my cases yet?” He adds, wishing his agent would get on that rather than be so into building up his heartthrob image.

Sato nods so hard his glasses almost fall off his face, with a finger he slips them back up his nose, “I’ve got a couple bites, but what you really need is something big! I know you’ve been focused on those shutdown cases, but what about something with a little more, I don’t know? Pizzazz?”

“Sato-san, we’ve been over this. I can’t just drop what I’m working on. That wouldn’t be very professional of me, would it?” Goro’s tone is patient, like he hasn't gone over all this before with the man. But Sato is insistent when he gets something in his head. It's part of what makes him a good agent, and part of what makes Goro want to wring his neck sometimes.

He often wonders if Koji Sato has any idea of the scope of the conspiracy he’s stumbled into. Shido had only brought him in when they realized the public’s perception of Goro let him delve further into Mementos, and thus reach deeper targets. So it stands to reason he might not have any other connection to things beyond just being hired by Shido. It would be less exhausting if he were aware of just why Goro had to keep on the Shutdown cases, and not drop everything to…he doesn’t know become some kind of idol just for his looks alone. He’s not complaining too much, Sato is an excellent agent, he just sometimes has different ideas of where he thinks he can make Goro shine than either Goro or Shido want him to focus on.

“Oh I understand, but if something spicy does come up, don’t hesitate to jump on it. The public loves sensation, Akechi-kun.”

Goro manages to extract himself from the conversation with a tight smile and a promise to be on the lookout for anything ‘sensational’. Then it’s off to school to finish out his day there.

He actually manages to make it to the last lesson of the school day before anything disastrous happens.

There is a twinge of anxiety in his chest as his phone starts to buzz, the rhythm indicating a phone call. It is most likely from Shido, the man is ruthless when it comes to failure, and Goro’s been waiting on this call like a ticking time bomb since he and Kurusu stumbled out of Mementos the other day. Still, he doesn’t want, nor have time for an onslaught of demands right now.

When he does look down at it, Kurusu’s name reads on the screen. Why is he calling? Before Goro can puzzle it out, his teacher calls on the class's attention.

Even as Goro tries to focus on an assignment being handed out his phone goes off again, this time in short bursts indicating a text has come through. He sucks in a stilling breath and ignores it, pointedly taking notes on what he’s expected to turn in at the next class.

Three more texts come in back to back. Goro feels them in his teeth.

He’s sure that if he doesn’t send some kind of response Kurusu will be walking through the classroom door in the next few minutes.

Without looking his fingers flash across the screen:

Goro: In class, give me 20.

The buzzing ceases.

The moment class is out, he ducks away brushing off one girl’s attempts to corner him over something that sounds suspiciously like the start of a confession. His attempt at a polite ‘Pardon me’ most certainly comes off as rude especially as it’s tossed over his shoulder as he ducks around a clump of boys talking about basketball.

Once he’s outside, pressed up against the brick in a secluded part of the courtyard where teens think they can get away with smoking, he takes a look at the messages.

Kurusu: Thought you might not be in class today. We need to set a time to meet.

Kurusu: A lot has happened.

Kurusu: Like Metaverse stuff.

Kurusu: Don’t ignore these like yesterday, please.

He scrolls back up to read Kurusu’s message from the day before.

Kurusu: I just entered the Metaverse on accident, and took someone with me. Call me, I need to talk to you about it.

Well shit . Kurusu had ended up in the Metaverse after all, and dragged another person along with him. It’s fine, he can deal with this, at least he hopes he can.

He’s flicked out of messages and into his contacts to call Kurusu when his phone rings, Shido’s name lighting it up like a beacon of chaos. The universe really has it out for Goro, like it’s decided now is the best time to play some grand prank. He absolutely cannot let this go to voicemail.

“Yes?” He picks up, hoping he doesn’t sound as strung out as he’s suddenly feeling.

“Your next few days are booked.” Shido starts, and Goro only just bites back a swear, “Inform the school you’ll be out.”

His free hand tightens around the handle of his briefcase, the smooth handle pressing into his palm, but he keeps his tone neutral, “Might I ask what will have me so busy?”

Shido’s voice is clipped, “I’ve had to agree to a number of extra deals in order to cover for your failure with that engineer. This fallout is your responsibility.”

Pain radiates up Goro’s ear from how tightly he’s clenched his jaw. He forces himself to loosen it and say, “Of course.”

He says it in his most unaffected of voices, like he doesn’t care at all that he’s about to lose days to this. That Shido’s upended a million plans or put off Kurusu’s legitimately important call again . Kurusu, who if Goro can’t get in line soon, might actually become an issue Shido would want dealt with.

Shido’s word is law, and Goro has to treat it that way.

“Only for a little longer.” Loki promises, the words a comforting purr at the back of his mind.

The call ends there, leaving Goro to stew. He kicks back at the brick behind him viciously. He has no idea what to even say to Kurusu. He can’t call him, he doesn’t trust his voice to come out tidy. Not right now. Not as an almost helpless frustration races through his veins, choking his lungs, making him want to scream. He has to answer him, has to come up with something, anything , to make it seem like he’s not blowing him off.

Goro: Apologies, a very serious case has come up. If it were anything but an issue of life or death I would postpone it to speak with you. Until then do your best to avoid entering the Metaverse again without me. Do not click on that app, delete it if you can.

Little dots appear on his phone indicating that Kurusu is working on a reply, before they stop. They start again, blinking away at him for a long time before they stop again. Minutes tick by. In an uncharacteristic display of anxiety, Goro’s foot taps up and down against the concrete in quick bursts, heel scraping against the brick.

Goro: I understand waiting is difficult, however please give me some time.

The message is also uncharacteristic. Goro doesn’t cushion his words with artificial softness. There’s no need to be gentle in telling Kurusu not to engage in stupid or dangerous activities, in fact the warning works better as something sharp and vicious. But there is something about Kurusu’s delay in responding that bothers him.

At last a response pings back.

Kurusu: Just a few days?

Goro: Yes.

Kurusu: Be safe.

He frowns, lips pressing together at the words before shoving his phone in his pocket.

Akira’s not exactly proud of how he dealt with Akechi’s death. In fact, he freely admits that he’d spiraled. Morgana had told him as much, along with all the other thieves.

Spiraling is a nice word for what he'd been like. Obsessed is better. It's the only word he can think of for how he'd heaped mounds of guilt on himself deciding for some reason that researching every mental shutdown and psychotic break Shido had ever ordered Akechi to carry out would be a good idea. He’d memorized names, and dates, and poured over family profiles until he saw them in his nightmares. Saw Akechi in his waking hours, tutting at him, and scoffing, disdainful of his futile attempts at changing the course of events. He hadn't been able to get him out of his head, hadn't been able to stop thinking about every what if and scenario. If he'd just met Akechi a few years, months, days, earlier, if he'd known. If he'd said something to him when they'd learned about the plot. Over and over his mind tried things, endlessly taking apart events and putting them back together in different ways. Like any of that would actually change things. Like he ever had a chance.

Eventually, Ann and Makoto had staged an intervention.

When he’d suddenly found himself standing in Mementos the date on his phone reading the same year he’d come to Tokyo he’d thought, for a few brief moments that maybe he could use that now. Use it to step in and interrupt those cases happening, stop Akechi in his tracks. Keep those people safe, while he subsequently ripped Akechi out of the destructive loop he was caught in.

He stares at his phone reading Akechi’s messages again, anxiety pooling in his stomach like oil, slick and nauseating. The thing he’s quickly learning about time travel is, once he’s changed something, the consequences are swift and merciless. He’d been sure his not so ‘surprise Metaverse visit’ would get a bite yesterday. More so today with a reminder and the calls. It should have gotten the detective instantly at his door, demanding answers and insisting on joining them to keep them out of trouble.

And it would have worked if not for one thing: fucking Shido Masayoshi.

Akira hates that man so much.

He hates him more than he’s hated anything or anyone in this world. The feeling burns in his chest, fire licking at his insides, fueling that spark of rebellion that’s always lived there, in want of little more than a match to set him aflame. He cannot wait to steal Akechi from Shido. Slip him out from under his thumb like the thief he is, proving just how much a fool Shido is for being willing to toss him away like trash, rather than the treasure he is.

From Shido and Yaldabaoth. Neither of them can have him. Not this time. Never again. He’s here to make sure of it.

Except no amount of preparation can fix the fact that stopping Akechi from following Shido’s orders just this once has consequences he’d never intended. While he’d been infuriatingly vague in his message, Akira knows he’s not on a case. It’s a hit, or some other unsavory demand from the man.

He’s so stupid. He should have thought of that, but he’d been so wrapped up in his sudden chance to try something he’d spent hours daydreaming about. So elated to see Akechi alive he hadn’t spared even a moment’s thought for what consequences might arise from his meddling.

Not that he regrets saving all those lives. He just wishes it didn’t mean more trouble for his friend.

Akira kicks off from the wall he’s been leaning against and turns his eyes up to the imposing figure that is Shujin Academy. He’ll just have to do better with this next set of events he’s trying to change.

At least this time he’s had time to plan and work out what he’s going to say, what he’ll do.

Teens start to filter out of the school with practice finally over for the day to release them back to their homes and families. Akira waits, and waits, until he sees the two people he’s here to find and steps forward.

“Hi, Takamaki-san, right? We’re in the same class, I’m—”

“The new transfer student. Kurusu-kun, right?” Ann says, pausing.

Beside her, Shiho stops as well, looking rough, but nothing like she might in a few days if Akira can’t alter her trajectory.

He gives them a winning smile, hand going to the back of his neck, “That’s me. I was wondering if you might have time to go over some homework with me? It’s so much to catch up on already.”

She eyes him, skeptical, “I’m sorry,” She starts to say, clearly wanting to help, but wary of making inroads with him. Which, fair. He gets that. She already knows he lied about school that first day, plus there’s the million rumors already spiraling out of control about him flooding the school. He could be a murderer for all she knows. It’s not like Akira doesn’t actually know one of those himself.

So he lets his eyes go watery, makes his voice soft, “That’s okay. I understand. I won’t bother you about it again.” He lets his voice crack, channeling all those feelings he’d had the last time he’d only just stepped into Shujin, the desire to make a friend, to find someone to help keep him from drowning.

It’s manipulative, he knows that. He's using Ann’s kindness to get what he wants, but he refuses to let events play out the same way they did before. He has to build relationships now. Make sure these two are safe. If he can just turn them both away from Kamoshida now, he can save them so much pain later.

Shiho puts a hand on Ann’s arm, “I could use a little help too. We could do a study session?”

Ann breaks at that, eyes going soft towards her friend, “Okay, sure.” She gives Akira a smile, not the same bright, joyous one he loves, but something hopeful. Like she understands, “Why don’t we go to this diner I know in Shibuya?”

Jazz music drifts around Goro in gentle waves, as he sits, finger tapping to the beat against the base of a glass. Inside blue and green liquid bubbles and shifts as the carbonation of whatever’s been mixed inside pops around ice and a wedge of lime. It’s one of Jazz Jin’s specials, non-alcoholic until he’s old enough to imbibe, but delicious all the same.

Someone is speaking to him from across the table, their tone playful. Or at least that’s what Goro believes their voice to be like. He cannot actually hear it. He knows the words, knows the inflection with which they will fall, but can’t focus on the voice. He tries to look at their face, and it is as out of sync with everything else as the voice is. What he can see is cast in shadow, the only clear image the glint of light off glasses, concealing eyes Goro knows in his gut would pierce him if he could see them.

Despite how vague this person is, Goro is not bothered in the least. He is smiling, a real smile, one he has not let grace his lips in forever. All traces of the Detective Prince have fallen away here in this club. His companion doesn’t need that side of him, in fact they saw through it long ago and accepted Goro as himself.

“And what would your wish be?” The voice asks.

This startles him, but they’ve answered his question honestly and he owes them the same.

“It’s unrealistic.” He hedges, tapping a finger out of rhythm. A drop of condensation slips down and soaks into the tip of his glove.

His companion snorts, “It’s a wish , Akechi. It’s supposed to be unrealistic.”

He huffs, “Fine,” Still he can’t look at them when he says it, eyes trailing over to the woman singing at the mic. In stark comparison to his companion, the woman is in perfect clarity, dress a brilliant red, hair tied up and wrapped with something that glitters under the lights.

“I’d wish for more of this. Normal days, spent in good company.”

A few heartbeats pass before Goro dares look back at his companion. When he does, he can feel the traces of pity in their look they’re trying to hide, and scowls, “Stop it. What’s done is done. My actions are my own, I’ve come to accept that. You need to as well so we can move forward, or have you decided to accept his reality?”

He spits the word ‘his’ with such venom it almost shocks him. Whoever this is, Goro cannot stand them. The feeling churns in his stomach, a sick kind of hatred that he’s only ever felt for one other man.

His companion opens their mouth to continue the conversation but then they stiffen for the briefest of moments, and relax again, “I see, so that is your desire.” He still cannot hear the words, but knows these are feminine, which is wrong. The voice should be masculine.

Goro frowns, “If we are being brutally honest, yes, but what does that matter?” His eyes skim off them, unable to take in the details he wants to see, “I’d give much to change the past, but not what he’s asking. I refuse to live in a world with someone else as the architect of my fate.”

A hand reaches for his across the table, skin covered by a glove. They have more of a form now, and if he squints he can almost make them out.

“I’d like to help you with that. What do you say?”

He stares at the gloved hand, and after a beat reaches out to take it.

He opens his eyes to see his own hand reaching up towards the ceiling, fingers splayed out against a beam of sunlight peeking its way through his window. He blinks, there is something blue in the light, fluttering and delicate for just a moment.

His fingers curl into a fist, his mind itching to remember who that person was.

Remember?

No. That was a dream. Not a memory. He’s never invited anyone to Jazz Jin with him. It is his sanctuary. A haven against everything his life has become. Besides, what was with all that talk about wishes and reality?

He lets his hand fall, dropping beside him as he shakes his head against his pillow. It doesn’t matter. It was a dream, nothing more. Perhaps it’s Mementos playing tricks on him again. Frequent trips there do that sometimes, muddling reality and the other world together. Though, this would be the first pleasant one of that type that he’s experienced.

Goro shakes his head against the pillow, and shoves himself up. He doesn’t have time to waste thinking about all this. He needs to get moving. If the sun is making its way into his apartment he’s running late. He needs coffee, to take his morning bike ride, and get on with his day. Shido had given him a veritable laundry list of tasks to do, and he wants to get them done as soon as possible.

The next 48 hours are grueling to say the least. Between Mementos and a horribly cliched mansion of a Palace belonging to one of Shido’s partners Goro spends most of his time in the Metaverse with no break in order to dig up dirt on the man and his partners for Shido.

It is exhausting. All he wants is to crawl back into bed.

Goro is no stranger to being busy, in fact exhaustion and a full plate have been his close companions on his quest for vengeance against his scumbag of a father. That doesn’t stop him wanting to toss it all away and trade it for one good night’s rest. Days without a break have lined his face with exhaustion. Even makeup can’t hide the red in his eyes, or the washed out complexion he’s sporting.

All he’s got is a last target to take care of and then he can rest. Rest, and pray Shido’s punishment is over.

He heads to his favored Mementos entrance for day trips, a busy station where he can easily get lost in the crowd. It’s far easier to fade away in a corner in a space packed with people than be the only person somewhere who just disappears. His phone is in his palm, app just waiting to be activated when—

“Akechi! There you are. How is that case going?” Kurusu slides up next to him, hands tucked into his pockets, school bag tossed over his shoulder. He looks for all intents and purposes a totally normal student.

One who’s train route is—this one, he realizes. Goro bites back a curse.

He defaults to his interview smile, flipping his phone over in his palm so the back is facing up, “It’s progressing quickly.”

“Good!” Kurusu’s returning smile is tight, despite his bright tone, “Looks like it’s taking a toll on you. Long nights?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

One of Kurusu’s heels taps against the ground, a sign of nerves perhaps? Goro can understand that, he owes him a conversation. Some answers about whatever happened on Kurusu’s surprise trip.

“I was hoping we could talk about that accidental Metaverse trip I took the other day.” Kurusu tells him, eyes reading Goro's face, seeing the exhaustion there, “But honestly? I think you probably need to call it a day and get some sleep.”

That’s all Goro wants to do. But he can’t put this off any longer. Today. After Mementos and a nap. Hopefully whatever happened was something simple. It has to have been right? Or Kurusu would have put up more of a fight regarding the whole thing.

He shakes his head, “What about after school? I have a few things regarding this case that cannot wait, but I should be free by then.”

Kurusu glances at the subway station entrance, before turning his attention back on Goro, “Not right after school. I have something I need to do then. What about tonight? We could meet at Leblanc, my friend should be able to make it then too.”

Goro’s forgotten about the friend Kurusu took with him into the Metaverse. Just one more complication in this ever growing web.

“As much as I’d enjoy another cup of that excellent coffee, are you certain you wish to discuss that type of information in front of your boss?” Goro crosses his arms.

“Ah, right, Sojiro doesn’t—” Kurusu runs a hand through his hair, frustration ebbing off him in waves as he bites his lip.

He waits a moment, testing the boy a bit to see if he has an alternate suggestion, something that might come quickly to mind and disprove the whole ‘recent move’ excuse. Even with Sakura-san backing him up, something about it all still feels so off. And he hasn’t had a chance to really, properly , research the boy the way he wants to. Not yet at least.

When Kurusu gives him nothing, Goro takes pity on him at last, “There is a café in Kichijoji we can go to. I believe they are open later than most. Will that suffice?” It is one on Sato’s list, and will help Goro kill two birds with one stone. He wonders what his fans would say if he includes a picture of himself and the others together.

Kurusu blinks at him in surprise, his hand dropping back to his side, “Oh, yeah. That’ll work.” He smiles, “Breakfast for dinner sounds fun. Text me the address and we’ll meet you there. Around six maybe?”

“Six will work.”

He’s rewarded with a bright smile, “Perfect. Don’t be late, and don’t cancel on us again. I don’t know what I’d do without my Metaverse-sempai.”

Goro grimaces at that, “Don’t call me that.”

That only makes Kurusu’s smile widen as he points at him, “Noted. But you have to admit, it’s accurate.”

“It’s absurd.” He can’t stop the edge of laughter in his voice.

Kurusu snorts, before turning it into an actual laugh, his face brightening in a way that seems more real than anything Goro’s seen on his face before. So many of Kurusu’s expressions have been calculated, like Goro’s. It’s easy to tell, Goro knows all the signs. But this? The lightness is refreshing.

It’s an expression he hopes to see again for some reason.

#goro akechi #persona 5 royal #akira kurusu #persona 5 #i need a fic tag #as dreamers do

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yolowritter · 5 months

Text

In Offense to Emilie Agreste

Hello there everyone, and- ...okay, put down your pitchforks, I haven't even started yet! Before an angry mob gathers 'round my blog, allow me to explain what today's rant is about. Unlike Lila Rossi, whose existence makes me want to hurl bricks at my screen whenever she appears, Emilie Agreste is actually a pretty interesting character. However, there are things about her (both canon and implied) that have me giving this picture-perfect gal a very intense side-eye. So today I'll be talking about what I think of her character, why I think she could have been written better, why she absolutely isn't a good person, and how the narritive does her a diservice by reducing this poor lass to an insignificant plot device, just so her clinically insane husband can have a reason to bully teenagers in spandex!

Firstly, let's quickly establish what we know about Emilie. I'll explain why I believe anything that isn't directly stated later, now it's just the basics. She and her sister Amelie are coming from a well-off family in England, presumably with quite high standards and expectations. We know little about her early life and it frankly isn't important, but she does at some point take an interest in the creative arts. She firsts meets her husband-to-be Gabriel when she arrives in Paris to further her education, and it's easy to assume they become friends due to similar interests. Then, later down the line, they meet Nathalie Sancoeur, with whom they scour the world to find the Miraculous jewels. After they do find the Butterfly and Peacock in Tibet, they all return to Paris and she creates Adrien Agreste, her son, using Duusu's powers. About twelve years later, she falls ill and "into a deep sleep" because the Peacock Miraculous was broken. This kicks off Gabriel's descent into madness and his crusade as Hawkmoth, which slowly drove him to insanity for reasons seen in this post. But still, this vague timeline leaves us with a lot of questions as to who she was as a person, and how she lived her life.

Before I delve deeper into this, I would quickly want to clarify the sources for the above information. We know from Represenation that Emilie met Gabriel when she went to Paris for educational reasons. I honestly don't remember if her field of study is mentioned, but considering she later stars in Andre's film "Solitude" it isn't hard to derive that said studies could be related. The high expectations from Emilie's family come from the fact that Gabriel had to change his name at some point in life, possibly because Emilie's parents wouldn't accept her marrying some "lowborn". Additionally, we know Amelie's marriage to Colt was arranged, so there definately is a sense of "securing the family lineage" here that exists in what remains of aristocracy today. In Passion, Nathalie is implied to be a treasure hunter of some sort at the time she meets Gabriel and Emilie, though how long she's been at the profession isn't clear. Still, they do work together to find the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous. We see in Evolution that they are occupying the Agreste Manor with the Peacock in hand, so it's possible they purchased the house either right after their trip to Tibet or before. Other relevant information comes from the thumbnails of Emilie's videos and photos from the Passion episode.

As an aside, Astruc better give us that Tibet special, because I need more Agreste family Lore! These people made their drama the entirety of France's problem and while I respect that, I need to know more! Also, Thomas' quote of "a lot can happen when three people are in close proximity for a long time"? Pretty sure that's from Twitter btw, if you want to look it up. I see you, Thomas...I see you...

Anyway, onto exploring Emilie's themes as a character. From the very start of the show, we have a lot of clues that point to her being an angelic, kind and can-do-no-wrong type of character, at the very least in Gabriel's eyes. There is a whole other topic here about him being obsessed with the past and looking at it with rose-tinted glasses, but I digress. The portrait of Emilie in the atelier, her photo in Adrien's room, and Gabriel's fond remniscing all give us the idea that she was a wonderful, lovely person! In fact, we even get a bit of personallity added to her in the Simon Says episode, where Gabriel tells Chat Noir "you have some of her (Emilie's) flair for dramatics". So of course, she was goofy sometimes, which is a trait we see Amelie share at least a little of in the Felix episode, what with her Elsa-style entrance into the manor. For Season 1, we got plenty of information as to her character, even if we didn't know her name quite yet.

In Season 2 we get more of these examples of her being a wonderful person who is dearly missed, such as the whole plot with the above-mentioned Solitude movie, and Adrien wanting to go see it. Why exactly Parisian cinema is playing this movie in the first place considering what we know about Andre abandoning his career as a director is completely unknown and reeks of a plothole to me, but then again so do half the episodes in general. Point is, from very early on in this show we get a positive perspective on Emilie's character. Sure, there's a lot we don't know about her, but I'm sure her wedding day, her early years with Gabriel, their actual relationship, whatever she had going on with Nathalie, and the whole drama with her parents and later Amelie's husband isn't important...right?

Yeah no I'm not letting her off the hook. Aside from the obvious Adrien stuff that I'll get into in a bit, it seems suspicious to me that nobody can ever come up with anything negative to say about Emilie. And I don't mean a genuine character flaw, even if nobody is perfect, I mean just...something embarrassing? An old joke shared between friends from college, a little detail that sheds light at her sense of humor, even a fond recollection of something silly that happened in her youth. There's nothing. Aside from Gabriel saying she had a dramatic flair, which I will talk about, we know nothing about Emilie Agreste as a person. She barely feels alive, almost existing solely to be the "dead wife" archetype of the show. And okay sure, some of that is the fault of whoever was in the writing room when they try to bring her up. But come on, you're telling me Nathalie doesn't have a single memory or photo in that large stack of recollections that shows her being alive for once?

And of course I don't mean Emilie being literally alive, we see plenty of that. But think back to the photo with Gabriel, Audrey, Emilie and Andre for a second. As an example. I can't recal the exact details, but Emilie is standing to the side, closer to being out of frame than anyone else. In the middle of the shot, the other three seem to be having a good time, but she's only giving a polite, proper smile to her friends. Naturally, not every person out there is extremely expressive, but this is a safe space. Emilie is with close friends and everyone is enjoying themselves, yet her face looks like she came out of a portrait. When I noticed that little detail, I went running to find more. Aside from the videos that she left behind, we've never seen her speak or interact with any character excepting that Evolution scene where she first gets the Miraculous. So can we please think about this logically for a second? What kind of person is Emilie Agreste?

She was born in high society, with a lot of expectations on her shoulders and only her sister for company in her formative years, if Adrien and Chloe's sibling-like bond is anything to go by. And yes that's another post entirely, but they were childhood friends and he had almost nobody else his age to talk to, so I'm drawing a parallel. I won't speculate at all about Emilie's childhood, because frankly it's irrelevant to today's conversation. What I will say however, is that everyone we meet who has interacted with her has fond memories and good things to say about her. And every depiction of Emilie we get, even those not made by Gabriel, she seems to radiate perfection. And that right there is her character's theme. Being perfect. She presumably was the perfect daughter, the perfect (or at least a good enough) student to go to France in order to further her education, so on and so forth. But her family life very much isn't anything close to that. For one, her sister is stuck in an arranged marriage with an abusive a-hole who seems to have been spat directly out of a Texas steretype. There is no indication that Emilie knew about this, but...she also eventually let Colt borrow the Peacock Miraculous to make Felix. Clearly she entrusted Colt Fathom of all people with a magical artifact that can make sentient life, because sure, that seems perfectly reasonable!

Of course signs of abuse are hard to notice even when directly pointed out, but for the purposes of Emilie and Amelie, it seems fundementally against the good, pure and angelic character that Emilie has been presented as to even consider handing Duusu over to Colt. I'm ignoring the issue of Tomoe since that hasn't been explained, but there's clearly something wrong here. And now...now we come to Adrien's home life. We know that he has never been to public school before Origins, which happened only because Chloe enrolled him by the way, and Gabriel does allow him to go at the end of the day. We didn't know at the time, but it does seem reasonable for Gabriel to refuse him completely here, seeing that in hindsight, Adrien's class specifically becomes a hotspot for Akumatizations. But despite this danger, Gabriel still allows Adrien to remain in public school. Additionally, it's completely reasonable to assume that a pre-teen and later teenager would want more freedom to explore the world, and I find it incredibly unlikely that Adrien only expressed this after Emilie keeled over. Surely, this child would have wanted to make friends before then, especially if Chloe would brag about how many friends she has in school, which seems like a thing she would absolutely do to impress him. Sure, that last bit is speculation, but Chloe does act like this all the time in Season 1, so it's natural to consider that she did so before too! The thought of Gabriel being the permissive parent here, and therefore not the one keeping Adrien inside all the time...it really frightens me.

And just to be clear, this isn't a tinfoil-hat "Emilie is secretly evil" theory or anything like that. I'm just saying that she isn't perfect, never has been, and actually made a lot of mistakes during her life. Especially with Adrien. Because doesn't it seem like a loving mother's attitude to want to spend time with her precious son, showing affection and being with him at all times? As a reminder, unless the concept of adoption was never invented in this universe, Emilie Agreste could have just grabbed a child out of an orphanage at any point during her lifetime. But instead, she specifically wanted this one, Adrien. And what does she do to get her precious, perfect baby boy? Why, she scours the entire planet with her huband (possibly to-be) and her definately-not-side-chick Nathalie the treasure hunter to find a magic brooch that gives her the power to make him herself, exactly how she wants! Plot aside for a minute, doesn't that sound a little bit insane to you? The desire to have a child alone wouldn't drive anyone to go to such lengths, and this is assuming she is infertile or has some other problem that a good night under the stars with her pals Gabriel and Nathalie won't fix!

Clearly, Emilie had something very specific in mind when going through all the magical, mystical and half-maddening hoops that she had to go through in order to make Adrien in the first place! She practically dragged her husband and their friend on a worldwide trip just to find some tiny bird goddess stuck in a brooch! Are you reading this correctly? And then after Adrien popped into existence (presumably by being carried to term, etc.) Emilie made sure to shower him with love and adoration. But she also kept him isolated, and secure. This isn't as much speculation as it is just reading between the lines, but Adrien seems constantly awestruck throughout the show when presented with new experiences. Not to mention another disturbing thing, she was put inside the life support pod with Adrien Amok on her finger! That's a huge red flag, right in front of us, but it's been ignored because Gabriel is the one who uses it on-screen. Consider that by the time he does use the Ring, Gabriel is well on his way to utter insanity, considering that Shadowmoth is already unhinged enough to quickly evolve into Monarch once the conditions are right. Gabriel has absolutely no chill when it comes to terrorizing innocent people, or using Adrien's Amok to control him when need be. So why is there an implication of Emilie doing the same when she should have been perfectly sane and not driven to desperation because of a loved one's loss like her husband? Again, go check out this post for a full Gabriel analysis.

I'm not saying that Emilie was evil or crazy or a psychopath or anything of the sort. I'm telling you all that she had control issues. Among all the other stuff we know, and with said information pool being tiny to start with, Emilie Agreste seems so intersting! There should have been a whole plot point about removing the rose-tinted glasses that her death cast down on Gabriel, Adrien and Nathalie! There should have been flashbacks to when she was alive! We should have seen her interact and show love towards Adrien! To her credit, Emilie did see that her death was going to mess with Gabriel's head tremendously, and left him a little video politely asking that he doesn't become an internation terrorist. You know, just as a failsafe. It sure is a shame that she never had that conversation with her husband when she was still awake, or that to our knowledge, never said goodbye to Adrien. The public narrative is that she "disapeared". Are you joking me? Of course Gabriel covered everything up, but this is never adressed!

The writers have a ironically perfect character in their hands! Emilie is a mystery to the audience, she has a complicated relationship with both the show's main villains (Lila doesn't count if she's in barely a dozen episodes), one of the titular characters, and is also literally the reason why the show's events kick off in the first place! But we are shown nothing of her for over one hundred episodes of Miraculous! Even Ephemeral, one of the episodes I hate the most in the whole show, could have given us a glimpse into whatever Gabriel's restructured world would have looked like! It was the perfect oppurtunity for us to see Emilie up on her feet and actually having a role to play, instead of just discount Mrs Freeze! Yes I know her name is Nora, I know it's not the same situation, shush, I'm making a "Emilie is in the basement fridge" joke. The writers and Thomas did this woman so dirty it's not even funny! And I am offended at her, because at the end Emilie serves no purpose than to have Gabriel be "sympathetic" in Season 2! There are a dozen plot threads just dangling around for them to rip out of the ceiling and play with, but Emilie's very existence amounts to absolutely nothing! A gravestone would have served as a better character, because at least there could be something useful writen on it! Some kind of descriptor that gave us any insight into her personality!

But no, she's a blank slate! She's just some gal that showed up, found a magic peafowl and keeled over, ultimately leading to Adrien's sheltered home life, social awkwardness, and mommy issues! Because you cannot tell me that Emilie's parenting, no matter how well-meaning, didn't screw Adrien's early life up! She could have been the best mum in the world and it still wouldn't have mattered, because she considered him her perfect creation! Can you see the irony here? Can you observe the myriad of metaphors and the hundreds of ways this can get included in a story? Does Thomas Astruc and his team want me to have a mental breakdown??? Like, excuse me, honestly excuse me, but the sheer amount of offense I take both on Emilie's behalf and to her utter uselessness in this franchise is astronomical! I love this character! I really do! Wrote a whole alternate backstory for her where she and Nathalie are college roomates and everything! Heck, I love her so much that I did make her into a crazy psychopath in one of my AUs just so she can play a key part in that story as the Hawkmoth-equivilant! My love and adoration for Emilie Agreste reaches the god damned moon and back, but unless she actually has more than ten seconds of dialogue in some kind of flashback or prequel, I will continue to be offended! I'll continue to be pissed! And I'll continue to pray for the day where she becomes more than a practically irrelevant plot device!

Anyway, I need to cool off. I need to have a drink. I need to relax and take a break before making the post in defense of poor Chloe, because she too got shafted by the narritive, just like Adrien's mum. Expect it sometime soon, or at the very least when I'm not going insane over the fact that despite directly causing every major event in this franchise to occur, Emilie Agreste is a bigger question mark than the dude in a banana costume. Seriously, what the heck is up with Mr Banana anyway? I'll be seeing you all soon, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

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listenheresweaty · 4 months

Text

BURGER VAN BURGER VAN—- Top text, Bottom text. ——— REVIVEBUR X READER - omg guys it’s here can you believe that I took four months to post something I had already written out

——-

Warnings: copious alcohol consumption, mentions of ableist remarks, allusions to underage drinking, jokes about alcoholism by people with drinking problems (addiction is a mental illness guys. Please be respectful about it.) The alcoholism stuff started off as humor based on my own experiences*. I had intended on expanding on it and making it into a larger plot line about recovery/etc but I do not know if I’ll ever continue this work.

*alcohol has played a role in my life but I am not technically an addict. If anything in this fic is offensive, please let me know and I’ll change it/ take it down.

Reader is called “guy” but is otherwise gender neutral.

There are a couple jokes about Beeduo flirting but it is intended humorously, not with any romantic intent.

—————-

It was a blisteringly, stupidly hot day, made only more intolerable by the long expanses of hot sand and lack of vegetation. Although, you supposed it was your fault for deciding to get a job in the Las Nevadas Casino- quite literally smack dab in the middle of a desert. Fortunately, just in the edges of the desert territory, where the sands met fresh green grass, sat a quaint, almost minuscule burger van. It received very few customers, partly due to the uninhabited nature of the area and partly because of the owner’s less than appealing reputation.

You believed that the owner’s— his name was Wilbur-- reputation was mostly undeserved. Sure, he had done some extremely questionable things in his past, and continued to carry himself with a madman’s easy grace and confidence, sending people scurrying out of his way— it was fair to say that most of the people you knew were afraid of Wilbur, despite his lack of physical strength. You, however, could never find him intimidating. He was too much of a loser complete dork.

Wilbur certainly wasn’t imposing as you walked up to him, eyeing his tall form awkwardly making its way through the van that was clearly too small for him.

He looked so silly, leaning over the burgers as they cooked, that it was hard to imagine that this was the same man everyone spoke about with such fear. You had to laugh.

Wilbur stood up straight at the sound, bumping his head against the van’s ceiling and letting out a stream of curses that stopped abruptly when his eyes landed on you.

“Quite the colorful vocabulary you have.” You teased, approaching the vans window with a playful smile. “Perhaps we should wash your mouth out with soap.”

Wilbur stood still for a moment, hand still braced against the van ceiling, before he relaxed and sent you a lopsided smile. “Only if you do it, darling.”

“Oh shut up.” You laughed. “Why in the world would you make the van so small, anyway? It’s not like it benefits your coworker- the kid’s even taller than you are.”

“Never question the logic of a genius.” Wilbur sighed like a cat stretching out in the sun, leaning out of the van with his elbows against the windowsill. “What are you doing all the way out here, anyway? You should be working. Don’t tell me-“ he grinned impossibly wider, leaning even closer, “that you missed me that much?”

You snorted. “Absolutely not. You must be concussed. How hard did you hit your head?”

Wilbur’s bottom lip pulled downwards in an exaggerated pout. “Quite hard, actually. I think I might need to see a doctor.” He sighed, dramatically.

“Awww, poor baby.” You cooed with false sympathy, reaching up above to run your fingers through Wilbur’s brown curls. “Where’d you hit yourself? Here?”

Wilbur was struck dumb, mouth opening and closing without any sound coming out—clearly, he wasn’t used to being flirted with. He regained his composure quickly, leaning into your touch with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Mhmm.” He sighed, keeping up the act. “I’m afraid it’s terminal. They’ll have to pull the plug on me.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m already hallucinating.” Wilbur announced, ever so dramatically. “Oh, [Name], sweetheart, will you cry at my funeral?”

“Of course.” You snickered, trying hard to keep a straight face. “Hallucinating? Really?”

“Hm.” A smirk pulled at Wilbur’s lips. “I’m already seeing angels.”

You rolled your eyes. “Must every sentence you utter twist itself into a pickup line?”

“Only for you.” The corners of Wilbur’s mouth pulled upwards to form an uncharacteristically genuine grin. The smile disappeared as fast as it came, making you wonder if you had only imagined it.

“Why don’t you come inside?” Wilbur offered, leaning back into the van (and nearly hitting his head, once again, against the top of the window frame).

You hesitated.

“I have air conditioning in here.” He added.

“Open the door.” You said immediately, making your way to the back of the van and jiggling the doorknob. You heard Wilbur laugh and cross the threshold quite quickly, almost frantically unlocking the doors in order to grab your hand and hoist you in. You sighed in relief at the feeling of the cool air washing over you, whisking away the sheen of sweat that the heat had formed on your skin.

Wilbur patted the counter next to him and you complied, sitting on the cool marble surface and letting your feet dangle as she observed the world outside the van window. It was a beautiful day outside, all things considered.

Wilbur gestured to the burgers that were still cooking (actually, at this point, you were fairly certain that they were burnt). “Do you mind if I continue churning out my mediocre meat meals?” He asked.

You snorted. “Go ahead.” After a few beats of silence, you spoke again. “You know, your burgers aren’t that bad.”

Wilbur hummed, but maintained focus on the dark slab of burnt meat he was trying to chisel off the grill with a spatula. “Is that so? They sure don’t seem to be bringing in many customers, do they?” He leaned in with a teasing grin. “Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere, darling.”

“It isn’t flattery.” You said. “It’s not your burgers that—“

You cut yourself off abruptly, cursing your mistake.

Wilbur clearly understood what you had been about to say, and raised an eyebrow. The quality of his business wasn’t what customers were avoiding- people avoided him.

“I suppose your right.” He said shrugging. His easygoing and flippant attitude had returned, but there was a more sullen, guarded undertone to his words. You wracked your brain for something to say, but nothing surfaced.

A clinking of glass broke you out of your thoughts. “Want a drink?” Wilbur offered, eager to change the subject.

You nodded absentmindedly. The sun was setting in the horizon, marking the approach of closing hours for most businesses in the area, including the van. Wilbur rummaged through a wooden cabinet before pulling out two expensive-looking bottles and handing one to you. “Help yourself.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Vodka? Where did you get this?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Just a little place I know. Tiny little store far from here.”

“Hm. And this tiny little far-away store sells vodka with the Las Nevadas logo on the cap?”

You heard him curse softly.

“Damn.” Wilbur chuckled. “I forgot to remove those.”

You held out your glass as Wilbur filled it, before leaning back against the wall of the van. Wilbur leaned against the counter next to you.

You swirled your cup around, eyeing the moving liquid before tilting your head back and taking a rather large sip.

“So, what have you been up to?” You asked him. “When you’re not stealing expensive liquor from the casino?”

Wilbur shrugged. “Well.. not much honestly. I’ve just been working here at the van. There’s not much I can do on most days— since my fry guy either forgets to come to work or is out flirting with the rival fry guy across the street. Then, I… ‘visit’ the casino.”

You hummed, draining your glass and gesturing for Wilbur to refill it. Wilbur complied.

“Aren’t you permanently banned from the casino? My boss would kill you if he caught you on the premises.” You continued, only half joking.

Wilbur laughed. “Oh, he could certainly try. But if a few bans can’t stop me, neither can he.”

“Can’t he?”

“Of course not.” Wilbur snickered. “He’s like half my height.”

“He could still snap you like a twig. Hell, I could snap you like a twig.”

Wilbur smiled. “Oh, I know. It’s hot.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What’s hot? The fact that I can beat you in a fight or that my boss can beat you in a fight?”

Wilbur choked on his drink. “Wh- YOU. Not- I’m not-“

You burst out laughing. “Damn, okay. I didn’t know that’s the kind of relationship you had with him.”

Wilbur spluttered. “N-no—!”

“I guess there’s more to your rivalry than meets the eye.” You sighed, grabbing the vodka bottle to refill your glass yourself since Wilbur was too busy coughing to oblige. “How romantic.”

“NO. I-I meant YOU—- I don’t have the hots for Quackity, for Gods sake. “ Wilbur looked somewhere between abashed and scandalized. “I hate the man!”

You drained your third glass. “Mm-hmm.”

Wilbur huffed. “Well, going back to the topic of whether or not Alex— sorry, ‘your boss’—could beat me up-“

“He could.” You interjected.

Wilbur sighed. “Don’t interrupt me. Anyway, YES he could beat me in a physical confrontation— stop smirking!—but you’re forgetting something important. Our rivalry is based on genius. On cold, calculated planning, ALWAYS staying one step ahead…”

“…and burgers.” You said.

“And burgers.” He agreed, finishing another glass. “Whew, I should quit drinking for today.”

“You should.” You found yourself saying, the vodka having greatly loosened your tongue. “We wouldn’t want one of today’s beautiful minds to go to waste for a pint or two of heavy liquor.”

Wilbur stiffened, turning toward you slightly to look at you with wide eyes. His cheeks looked darker than usual, although that might have been the alcohol he had consumed.

You blinked. “…What?”

Wilbur paused before speaking, raising an eyebrow. “‘Beautiful mind’?” He repeated, trying to portray smugness but the waver in his voice betrayed some other emotion. “Me?”

You nodded, watching a crimson blush that certainly had nothing to do with the alcohol settle on Wilbur’s cheekbones. You continued speaking. “Yeah. I’ve never met someone who views the world like you do, or has the same talent with words as you. You’re like a poet, honestly. .. you’re pretty incredible.”

Wilbur stared at you, caught completely off guard for the first time in his life. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to form coherent words, but failed. Oh, the irony.

It was the last thing he had expected to hear, you realized as you studied his flushed face. After his return, people had been whispering about Wilbur, using several adjectives to describe him-- none of them pleasant. “Insane” and “a ticking time bomb” had been some of the nicer ones. To hear someone compliment the very same thing that everyone had chosen to pick apart and belittle must have moved him greatly.

You wondered how people could be so foolish. Wilbur had done some reprehensible things, and continued to be morally gray at best, but he was still human.

“Broken mind,” they had all said as he walked past, thinking he wouldn’t hear.

“Beautiful mind,” You had told him.

Wilbur looked like he wanted to cry, glancing away from you with a poorly suppressed, wobbly grin.

You wanted to hug him. Perhaps he’d appreciate that, after having been isolated and despised for years.

“I mean that, you know?” You hastily added as Wilbur tried to scoff and brush it off.

His head tilted. “…Of course.”

You actually moved to hug him, startling the both of you. Standing a few inches in front of him, you hesitantly opened your arms, praying to the gods that you hadn’t made anything worse.

He shuddered slightly, nodding, and sank against you, wrapping his arms around your waist and leaning his forehead against your shoulder.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The next day, you forced your way through the casino, with sluggish movements and a pounding headache. You must have drunk more than you thought yesterday. Regardless, you took off towards Wilbur’s burger van as soon as you had the chance. This time, there were two tall figures moving about in the van. Wilbur’s fry guy, a shy kid named Ranboo , had finally returned.

Ranboo dipped his head in greeting as you approached. Wilbur remained facing towards the grill, seemingly determined not to burn more meat and unaware of your presence.

“Hello Mx., what would you like to order?” Ranboo asked.

“Hmmm… I’m a bit indecisive today. What do you suggest?” You responded.

At the sound of your voice, Wilbur whipped around, swiveling the upper half of his body toward you and Ranboo.

You met his eyes and smiled, eyes soft.

“Well, our five-spice burger is pretty popular right now. If you, uh, aren’t a fan of spicy foods, then the chicken patty is also a popular option.” Ranboo was saying. You turned your attention back towards him.

“Spicy burger sounds great, thank you.”

“And to drink?”

“Just a water, please.” You didn’t think you could handle alcohol after yesterday. Wow, you were a lightweight.

“Water?” Wilbur asked as Ranboo turned to prepare the ingredients for your burger. “That’s kinda lame.”

“Shush, you.” You retorted. “How are you holding up, anyway?”

Wilbur hesitated, and Nadia saw Ranboo glance at them curiously. He probably didn’t want to discuss his moment of weakness in front of his employee.

“The hangover, I mean.” You added. “With all the alcohol you consumed yesterday, I’m surprised you came to work.”

He relaxed a bit. “Yeah, I’m alright. Doing better than last night at least, but the headache’s a killer.” He frowned in mock offense. “And don’t you twist the story around! You drank almost as much as I did.”

You frowned. “I did not!”

“You did too. Alcoholic.”

“I am not an alcoholic. I’m not the one with three bottles of stolen vodka in a drawer.” You pointed out. Ranboo handed over your burger and water. “(Thank you, Ranboo.)”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Wilbur snorted. “You seem more of a wine person to me. You probably have a stash of Pinot noir under your bed or something.”

“Under my bed? Why the hell would anyone store alcohol under their bed?”

Wilbur shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a wine aunt thing.”

“I give you wine aunt vibes?” You asked. “I don’t even have any nephews or nieces. Or have ever been responsible for any kids.”

“Thank god for that.”

You grinned and halfheartedly slapped his shoulder, ignoring his last statement “Silence, fool.”

Ranboo coughed. “Uhh… if you guys are done flirting… it’s my break now. Can I go across the street?”

Wilbur waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” When Ranboo was out of earshot, he turned to Nadia and sighed. “Hypocrite. As if he isn’t heading to do the exact same thing.”

“Kids.” You shrugged, ignoring the part about the two of you flirting.

“He’s seventeen.”

“Still a child. Until he turns eighteen, he’s still a child.”

“Fair enough.” Wilbur stared off towards where Ranboo had run off to before turning back to you hesitantly. “So… since he probably won’t return for the rest of the day, how about you and I go somewhere? Together? You can finish your burger along the way.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Go where?”

“I-I don’t know.” Wilbur’s confidence seemed to falter, his metaphorical mask slipping and revealing the nervousness beneath. “Just… walk? In general? I-I know some nice places— or, well, I know that there are nice places around here-“

“Sounds nice.” You interrupted, placing a hand on his arm. “Should we go now, then?”

Wilbur froze. “Yeah. Now. Now sounds good.”

That’s it I’m done I can’t with this pacing

#sweaty “writes”#c!wilbur x reader #revived wilbur #revivedbur x reader #Sweaty Learn how normal people talk and write passable dialogue challenge: impossible #I communicate through clicks and body language like a cow I do not speak complex sentences #Hopefully the c!wilbur fandom is still alive #I’m on fucking deaths door here

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