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whitejays-galaxy · 7 months ago

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Designing the entire disaster lineage as cats🐱(Reupload)

I accidentally made some design errors, so I had to redo them... To make up for my mistake, there's a small surprise in the end ^^

The disaster lineage:

This is their actual size chart

My favorite trio:

Dooky and Quiggs becuz they deserve more love:

Ref sheets:

Horizonstar/step(Yoda):

Name Meaning:

"Horizon" carried the meaning of him being the leader of his clan, a beacon of light in the distance, "Step" meant he was always one step ahead of his clanmates, thus using his knowledge and power to help his cats.

Frostshard(Dooku):

Name Meaning:

I chose "Frost" because of his cold, collected, haughty demeanor, and "Shard", his presence being able to hurt others, like when you touch a broken shard of glass. It also represents his sharpness.

Sagepelt(Qui-Gon-Jinn):

Name Meaning:

"Sage" symbolizes his wisdom of the living Force, spiritual sanctity, vice, and virtue, which some knights thought he was delusional, while others respected his high moral standards.

If you look at a sage plant, the leaves are fuzzy, and they often grow in large swishing bushels, hence the suffix "Pelt"

Hazeldusk(Obi-Wan-Kenobi):

Pls ignore his traumatized face

Anyway

Name Meaning:

I chose "Hazel" because of his pelt color and warm/comforting personality. "Dusk" has a deeper meaning; Hazel trains Skyfire, who turns to the dark side and brings Dawnclan's legacy to an end; therefore, Hazel teaches the one who brought the "Dusk" of Dawnclan's era.

Skyfire(Anakin Skywalker):

Name Meaning:

I chose "Sky" because of his godlike abilities, for in many countries and religions, the sky was where the gods lived, "Fire" because of him being ferocious yet warm/loving like a small bit of flame in a hearth. It also foreshadows how he would fall, consumed into flames.

Tawnyrain(Ahsoka-Tano):

Name Meaning:

I chose "Tawny" because of her pelt color, and "Rain", symbolizes her abandoning the teachings of Dawnclan when she goes into exile, like the rain washing over dust and grime, the corruption of Dawnclan ways, coated over her innocence and pure heart.

Long yap incoming...

<Lore>

Dawnclan was created over a thousand years ago by four Force-sensitive cats: Sunspirit(Cala Brin), Tigerblaze(Rajivari), Valorsoul(Garon Jard), and Eclipseshadow(Ters Sendon).

"True justice cannot be driven by emotion. We knights can set our passions aside, and seek the truth without fear or favor." - Sunspirit

"When Dawnclan's order began, I saw we must be dedicated to peace. To calm our emotions, and end war across the galaxy. If we fought, it should only be in self-defense. That is the founding principle of civilization." - Valorsoul

"So much is fleeting. But I remain. And I remain the cat I was." - Tigerblaze

"I am Eclipseshadow, keeper of the histories. A founder, and chronicler, of Dawnclan." - Eclipseshadow

-They walk the dreams of their ancestors in Starclan, a clan created by the light side of the Force.

-A Force-Sensitive kit is taken to the temple at a very young age, training in the basic forms of dueling.

-Padawans(apprentices) train for approximately two years with their assigned Master, the names usually ending with a 'Paw'(a universal suffix meaning apprentice or student)

-Knights must at least have trained an apprentice before they can be selected for the Dawnclan Council, a group of the most talented cats.

-A Dawnclan knight is forbidden to take a mate or have kits.

There is no Emotion, there is Peace

There is no Ignorance, there is Knowledge

There is no Passion, there is Serenity

There is no Chaos, there is Harmony

There is no Death, there is the Force

It is hard to know the birth of Darkhaven, yet one thing is for sure, evil has lurked since no beginning nor end.

The official name of these dark warriors was created by Hellfire, a soulless she-cat whom many say was the embodiment of evil itself.

The Fate Wars, the first great war in the Galaxy, led to the victory of the knights of Dawnclan, who built their main camp on the ruins of Darkhaven.

After the events of the Fate Wars, two more happened during the history of the Galaxy:

The first was the Cold War: in which former Darkhavener Corvidheart(Darth Revan) challenged the Emperor Vortexvoid(Emperor Vitalle) to reclaim balance on both sides.

The second was the Grey Wars: Darkhaven leader Stormcutter(Darth Malgus) brought the Dawnclan order to its knees and took over for a long time. This caused a rebellion act against the Darkhaven Empire by normal citizens, and as a result, the Republic was born - an invisible group that consisted of various clans and tribes to discuss peace and to help each other in crisis.

Many years passed after the Grey Wars, and one by one, the warriors of Darkhaven were hunted down by the knights of Dawnclan.

Nightshade(Darth Bane), the last known leader of Darkhaven, and the maker of the Rule of Two, swore revenge. They will always lurk in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Her apprentice Plagueshadow(Darth Plagueis) continued her work in silence, training the dreaded Lightningstrike(Darth Sidious), who would create the most feared and powerful Darkhavener of all time: Lord Deadsoul(Darth Vader)

When a Dawnclan knight falls to the Dark side, their features grow haughty and sharp because of the Dark Forest water.

Only Darkhaveners have orange eyes.

They usually have red crystals on their foreheads but in rare circumstances, purple or black could be seen also.

They communicate with the Dark Forest, an everlasting place of the Dark side of the Force, with murky water and wizened trees.

They have the Rule of Two, only allowing a Master and an Apprentice to live.

Peace is a lie, there is only Passion

Through Passion, I gain Strength

Through Strength, I gain Power

Through Power, I gain Victory

Through Victory, My Chains Are Broken

The Force shall set me Free

About Kyberclaws:

They glow red hot at the tip when unsheathed at battle mode. But they can't use them for long, or the heat would kill them(Yoda/Horizonstar has a record of using them for a full thirty minutes)

They are functioned by the Kyber Crystals on their foreheads and could cut through anything except Beskar Wood( a tree known for its silvery wood and toughness, used by the Mandalorian cats)

A Dawnclan cat develops this ability once they are 6 moons old, as their bodies mature enough to withstand the claw tip's deadly heat.

About crystals on foreheads:

The Crystals are the main source of the Kyberclaw's power, and when forcefully taken, it would cripple the owner for eternity(like a bird without wings)

When a Dawnclan cat dies, the Crystals turn a dead-looking grey, devoid of all power.

About Droids in the Au:

They are animals that are neither living nor dead(such as rats, foxes, shrews, badgers...etc)

Their commander controls them with the Smoke Crystals(used like comlinks)

About Starships in the Au:

They are huge birds of prey tamed by the cats.

Alright... the surprise... I'm actually astonished you scrolled all the way down here.

Cuddle Pile!!!

This is one of my oldest Aus that I'm working on; it's a mix of my two favorite fandoms: StarWars and Warriors(cats)

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this👍

See more of my Cat Au designs here :3

The Disaster lineage (Yoda, Dooku, Qui, Obi, Anakin, Ahsoka + lore)

Prequel villains (Sidious, Dooku, Maul, Vader + Lore)

Kit-Fisto

Plo-Koon and Ahsoka

Sifo Dyas and Dooku

Disaster trio(Obi, Ani, Soka) doodles

Smol comics(ft. Qui, Rael, Sifo, Dooku): pt 1

Aayla Secura and Quinlan Voss

Luke and Leia

DO NOT COPY ANY OF MY CAT DESIGNS

This is a PERSONAL AU and they mean so much to me

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axolartandfics · 3 months ago

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I’m not the first person to say this, but mischaracterization of Bumblebee in the TFONE fandom is honestly kind of crazy.

The infantilization aspect of it is really problematic, because it treats a full-grown man like the “kid” of the group. Bumblebee’s been slotted into this role because he’s often depicted as playing a son-like role to Optimus, which I of course *love,* generally speaking, but that’s not the role they went with in this movie, and B is still getting slotted into this role.

But in TFONE, B is actually quite possibly older than Orion Pax and D-16. We don’t know, but he’s been in Sublevel 50 for so long, he very well could be, and there’s nothing at all suggesting he’s younger than them.

Unlike in other iterations, B isn’t an “apprentice” to Optimus, either. He’s been at his side since *before* the Autobots were founded, which, since the Autobots will no doubt continue for millions of years, establishes him as a senior Autobot, not the “new kid” role he usually plays, either.

Then there’s B’s personality. B is talkative and energetic and eager to make new friends. He’s the comic relief character, which casts him in a less serious tone, but certainly not that he’s a kid. Orion doesn’t play a mentoring role to him throughout the movie, nor do any of them try to manage or babysit him. He’s an equal part of the group, even if he feels less “mature” because of his talkative personality.

B can also be read as neurodivergent, which makes the infantilisation of him in the fandom more problematic, since it treats hyperactivity and other traits found in neurodivergent *adults* as “kid” traits.

Like, why is B interpreted as the kid of the dynamic? He’s the weird uncle they found in the basement, obviously.

Not to mention, B’s primary trait as the movie goes on is his violent tendencies. Based on the fandom, you’d guess he was the most innocent lil guy, when in the movie, he actively takes joy in creating chaos and going on violent outbursts.

While his violence is made out to be a joke in the movie, in a potential sequel I would *love* to see it taken seriously as a character flaw. B is unpredictable and chaotic, and this could make him hard to work with in the Autobot cause.

B’s violent tendencies are genuinely concerning; the amount of joy he gets from slicing drones in half and holding the security team at knife point is uncharacteristic of your usual Autobot hero, and I wish people would talk about that aspect of his character instead of downplaying it when he gets turned into a lil baby in the fandom.

It reminds me of the infantilization of Tailgate in the MTMTE fandom. He’s treated like a lil baby because he’s small and emotional. This sucks because

1) I’m short and I *hate* seeing physically small characters babified to an extent I know they never would be if they were the same height as the rest of the cast around them

2) it treats being emotionally vulnerable as “child-like,” when MTMTE literally makes a point about the fact that Tailgate is one of the only people who can healthily process his feelings, since he doesn’t have war PTSD, and crying and having other big shows of emotion aren’t childlike, it’s healthy.

3) not to mention that Tailgate was a victim of emotional manipulation. Infantilizing him treats him like he was “gullible” for being tricked when Getaway was literally painstakingly planning a longterm relationship to groom him. Don’t infantilize victims, it’s treats it was their fault for being manipulated and not the abuser… you know, manipulating them.

Tailgate also is powerful/violent like Bumblebee, and this similarity gets downplayed. I haven’t been in as much of the MTMTE fandom (I’m still reading Lost Light, and I’m trying to avoid spoilers) but I have seen the Tailgate infantilization to an extent, and the B infantilization is literally the only way I ever see B being treated by the fandom.

STOP TREATING GROWN MEN LIKE KIDS PLEEASSSEEE

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bonefall · 3 months ago

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i really love the comparison of the warrior code to chivalry, it makes me think of the clan symbols as like some sort of coat of arms

Funfact if you look closely, you can actually spot that a significant portion of my cultural expansions are inspired by medieval systems and motifs

New "age groups" with young, middle, and senior warriors is inspired by guild ranks. Apprentice, journeyman, master, etc

Leader ownership of the land and warriors technically belonging to them is based on a sort of mix of Scottish clan systems and manoralism.

Crusades being a pointless, bloody disaster that did not end well for anyone involved

Patron saints and angelic figures like catholic imagery

Anyway if I had like 3 more cups of coffee a day and was veering further away from canon, i would give different bloodlines their own heraldic emblems. Hawkfrost brazenly wearing the sigil he inherited from Oakstar, enemy of Darkstar, while being one of RiverClan's most prominent warriors would be so juicy.

#Bone babble

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thatsitso · 2 months ago

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Design explorations and some notes for my Orb Witch Hat Atelier AU yippie

Rafał

A very talented witch apprentice, going by the book, living an easy life, until he meets a mysterious witch who teaches him forbidden magic. His ribbon tassel can wrap around his hat, creating a floating brim (resembling the solar system) alternatively it's up in flames,,

Oczy

Not much to his design sorryyy, he's an unknowing. Him and Gras were approached by a brimhat on the brink of death who revealed to them the truth about magic and passed on his research. Oczy ventures to meet an eccentric witch who might know what to do with it

Badeni

Interested in all kinds of magic, also the forbidden,, currently a watchful eye at Grabowski's atelier (he couldn't get any other job bc of his bad reputation), only cares about his personal research tho. His life changes when he meets a certain unknowing man...

Jolenta

Witch apprentice, very talented but not taken seriously by the men around her as the only girl in her atelier. Helps Badeni and Oczy, teaches Oczy basic magic. Her father belongs to Knights Moralis..

After they're found out, she escapes and openly becomes a brimhat

Draka

Didn't really get to work on her design yettt

She belongs to a group of nomadic witches specializing in creating magical garments. Uses her magic for whatever's the most profitable,,, and oh well what's so wrong about this forbidden magic anyway, it could be useful-

That's everyone I've drawn so far, but I'll def get back to it, I need to draw Nowak and Hubert and the heretic liberation front 🫡

Now if you ask me what it is that they're researching, I'll tell you idk. Could it be heliocentrism itself? What's the stance on that in the WHA world, do they know??? Are we still on flat earth stage..? I don't recall any myths or whatnot about the cosmos,, I really wonder now lol, but for the sake of the story it's rather some magic from before the Day of the Pact, or maybe the reasons for the creation of the pact to begin with,, something that regular witches don't know and they would want to spread,,,

Well that's it for now, just enjoying designing witch outfits and thinking about them in this magical world 🫶 at least they wouldn't die here, just get their memories erased 😇 (okubade falling in love again after the memory loss ohh..... This is just like reincarnation au)

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always-tired-lilbitch · 28 days ago

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Do you wanna explore your characters in depth???? Do you want your readers to really enjoy learning about them instead of having them just... infodump about themselves via description??? Okay so here's what we're gonna do:

1: Create foils for them! What is a character foil? Just another character who will contrast with the one you want to explore. Let's say you have a dark and twisted guy, a real evil little fuck, grab it and give it a lighthearted foil, someone who maybe shares their goals but swings the other way alignment-wise, and make them interact A LOT and maybe fall in love and kiss? Idk, you do you, but really, using other characters to reflect what your character is not is super important.

There are different character foils tho, and even though they basically boil down to "complement my character", each one has its own unique strengths. You can have the classic mentor-apprentice in which the foil is an older or younger version of the character (figuratively), or the rivals, who just are... the contrary but not? idk, you get it, or even the comedic relief character, don't you waste a character ever! Use them to explore what another character lacks or needs :)

2: TRIOS!!!! Comedy works in threes and so do characters. Grab the character you want the readers to know about, put them in a group of three, and let them interact! The group can diverge from its normal surrounding cast and that's even better! Let the readers see them interact with people who are fundamentally different from what they're used to. You don't interact the same way with everyone and your character won't either, and that's super important cause it allows you to show traits that haven't been as explored!!!

Get your class clown and put them in a reunion with a parent and a teacher, or your rugged warrior and put them in a hospital with a dying old person and a doctor who can't save them, or... or...... Idk, you catch my drift! Just get them out of their comfort zone and let shit happen to them.

This technique is quite useful cause you don't have to have your character interact a lot! Maybe you just want the audience to see their reaction, so the other two characters can interact between them without output from the third, who will just think or move around in the background!!!

3: Bridge traits! I'm fairly new to these cause I literally learnt about them yesterday but it's quite an interesting concept. A bridge trait let's you trick the audience into judging a character because of the first traits they show and then pull the rug from under them when you add a new trait that totally challenges the view you have of them. These are quite useful when you want a bit of subversion, cause you can get an audience to think about someone a certain way through superficial prejudices and then BOOM, they have a depth they didn't expect and also which challenges beliefs about certain traits.

Okay, but I haven't told you what bridge traits are yet, so let me get to that. Basically, we're going to want to get a list of really shallow ideas about your character. Let's say we have a grumpy guy, a really rain-on-your-parade type of gremlin, and you want to make the audience discover that, in reality, they are mourning. Okay, so first we're going to build up the "they're just assholes" idea, make them look bad through misleading portrayal. Then, as you do this, add a moment in which the character acts a specific way which can be attributed to both a grumpy fuck and someone who's really going through it; that's the bridge trait, cause when the reveal is made and the perception changes, the fact that this trait existed before will ease your readers into believing your character's actions.

Idk if I've explained myself well enough, but if there are any questions I'll be sure to try and answer them the best I can<3

tl;dr: Explore characters in depth by giving them foils, putting them in trios, and using bridge traits.

#write #writer #writer advice #writing help #writing advice #writing tips #writing

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energ00n · 4 months ago

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honestly the more i reread the jazzop bits of ur comic the more i love it im so. grrrr. like- esp with the context of a few asks u answered its like

to me they are super touchy bsfs who almost verge on qpisms. the type of friends who people look at and are like... are they dating.? and then never find an answer 😭😭😭 i doubt jazz helps at all he is probably the type to find that confusion funny and make it worse on purpose (hes just like me)

they cuddle an mayhaps give eachother kisses on the cheek and hold hands and i love that for them!!! i think part of Dees jealousy might be like... he only met ori as primas apprentice, and that ori didnt really have any established friends?? so instead of dee integrating himself into oris existing groups and dynamics, he feels like jazz is intruding on existing dynamics!!

i hope he manages to find a balance i believe in him :) as someone who can also be very flirty/touchy with friends that are chill with it, theres always the possibility of having to pull back my interactions for the sake of jealous s/o's XD

i think D will figure it out though. 'not important' aside he cares about ori alot and in my professional opinion when you care about someone like that, its important to keep in mind balancing their joy with your jealousies and insecurities can end up being very cruel to them, if gone about incorrectly

qpps jazzop my beloved. also i cannot get over D's dig at jazz's visor oh my gods hush. you little nerd

Oh this is such a delight to read! I’m still figuring out how jazz and Orion are exactly but qp isn’t that far from it I suppose, I have several comic ideas I guess my view will solidify over time.

Jazz is Orion’s oldest friend (canon in tfp) and D can only guess what that implies, poor guy still learning about Orion as much as Orion is still learning about him. I want the Jazz situation to tackle the unknown part of a friend or s/o, yknow when you start questioning if you knew someone, who you feel you are close with, as much as you thought

Orion had a life before the apprenticeship and before D which he clearly still revels in, D cannot relate to that and it also poses as another barrier between them

#ask ene #ask_jazz #ask_orion #ask_d16

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rangertessadarling · 24 days ago

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Guys, guysss, the beginning of Book 8 is so underrated, seriously Flanagan FEDD us in the span of 15 chapters.

we've got Halt being a badass on the west coast kicking outsider ass, we've got cute gathering moments, we've got Will training apprentices and subconsciously acting exactly like Halt in the meantime.

not to mention cute Uncle Crowley moments with Will and the Special Task Group reveal, and the fact that a large part of the reason Will was so excited to move back to Redmont was because Alyss lived there and he'd get to see her more. And Crowley literally calls him outtt for this because Will was smiling so big at the thought of seeing his girlfriend more often.

NOT TO MENTION the small moment where the 5th year apprentices have their graduation ceremony and Will has that moment of regret for missing out on having a "happy proud family" to wish him well at his own graduation, and as quickly as that thought enters his mind, he's casting it aside because "he had Halt. and Halt was enough family for anyone." AHHHHHH

and then Will sings with Berrigan at the gathering, Will plays a bit, and then very respectfully says, "You've also taught me not to overstay my welcome." PLEASE he's so babygirl. So respectful of Berrigan's time.

THEN we get the Will and Alyss reunion and they're so cute he's holding her hand the entire time they're together ahjgksjdb

THEN we get the SQUADDD AT DINNER TOGETHER???

PAULINE, CROWLEY, ALYSS, WILL, ANDDDD HALT??

and you best believe Halt, diva that he is, showed up late, and Will proceeds to knock over his chair in excitement because he's so excited to see his dad he's like a little puppy dear god.

then of course we get them bear-hugging and we get Halt's annual "I love this kid sm" moment

then they sit down to eat lamb and talk shit, and you best believe they talked shit the entire dinner before they discussed business because that actually happened. Halt said no business till I know whats happening with Rodney and Margaret.

THEN WE GET THE BROTHER REVEAL UGH

and this is only like the first 9 chapters yall this book is underrated, i'm telling you

#rangers apprentice #ranger's apprentice #will treaty #tessa's headcanons #wilyss #halt o'carrick #crowley meratyn #im doing a little reread now that finals are over #tessa's shitposts #revive the ranger's apprentice fandom who's gonna do it. oh me? oh ok np

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literaryvein-reblogs · 5 months ago

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can you make a couple reasons on why two characters would be enemies? Tysm!!!

Character vs. Character Conflict

also referred to as person vs. person, man vs. man conflict, or protagonist vs. antagonist

Power struggles - In many instances, conflicts arise due to issues of power. For example, one person or group desires control over another, leading the other to fight back against injustice.

Oppressive authority figures - Often, this is where the man vs man conflict overlaps with man vs society. Here, characters facing oppression from authority figures (such as an authoritarian regime) undertake resistance to achieve liberty.

Revenge - A protagonist feels as if they have been personally wronged by another character and vows revenge, setting up a complication that needs to be resolved when the two finally come face-to-face.

Love triangles - Two characters find themselves in love with the same person, leading to an unwanted rivalry driven by jealousy of one another and the desire to win the heart of the person they both love.

Examples are the best way to get a feel for what all “man vs. man” conflict encompasses, so here’s a short list of ideas:

Two lovers arguing over disagreements

Knights engaging in a dramatic jousting tournament

Two siblings fistfighting over the TV remote

A corporate employee pranking their coworker

A hero finally facing off with the villain in a battle to the death

Two parents battling over custody of their child

A person getting mugged on their walk home from work

Two competitors trying to ruin the other person’s ability to compete

Two shoppers fighting over who gets to buy the last copy of a video game on the shelf

Examples: Man vs. Man Conflict in Literature & Film

The miller's daughter outsmarts Rumpelstiltskin

Cinderella is freed from the household of her evil step-mother

Greek Mythology: Theseus slays the minotaur

Rebecca: (The Second Mrs. de Winter vs. Mrs. Danvers) After a whirlwind romance with an English Aristocrat, a naïve American woman arrives in Cornwall as the new lady of Manderlay, an opulent coastal estate. But no sooner than she drops her bags at the doorstep, she is met by Mrs Danvers, a frosty housekeeper who’s still intensely obsessed with the first Mrs. de Winter, who died on a sailing trip less than a year before. Convinced that her employer’s new wife intends to replace her beloved Rebecca, Mrs Danvers starts a sneaky campaign to undermine the second Mrs. de Winter.

The Great Gatsby: Self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby wants nothing more than to win over his childhood crush, Daisy Buchanan. Standing in the way of Gatsby’s goal is Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan, an old-money cad with a mile-wide mean streak.

The Prestige: Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige features two rival magicians in Victorian England, each determined to master a mind-bending illusion: teleporting a person from one side of the stage to the other in an instant. One magician (Borden) is secretly a pair of twins sharing a single identity to protect their trick, while the other (Angiers) clones himself onstage each night and murders his original to keep the performance seamless. The fierce competition pushes them to start cutting moral corners, sacrificing relationships and even their own mental and physical well-being (or replicas thereof) in pursuit of the perfect illusion. The rivalry is used to highlight how ambition, when pushed to the extreme, can corrode even the most gifted and passionate hearts.

Othello. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello is in conflict with his confidant, Iago. Iago believes that Othello is after his wife, a conflict that only deepens when Othello promotes another man over Iago. Slowly, Iago begins to take measures to destroy Othello.

The Old Man and the Sea. In this classic Hemingway tale, the fisherman Santiago is having a streak of bad luck. He is so unlucky that his apprentice, Manolin, is forbidden by his parents to go fishing with Santiago. Although Santiago wants his apprentice to go fishing with him each day, Manolin needs to learn to fish from someone who is more successful.

Robinson Crusoe. When the book’s titular character is marooned on an island after a shipwreck, he encounters the island’s locals, who are cannibals. Crusoe first wants to kill them but decides against it; his reasoning is that the cannibals don’t think that what they’re doing is wrong. In confronting a group of people with wildly different values and views from his own, Crusoe faces the ultimate character vs. character conflict.

Character vs. character conflict - two characters have motivations, desires, needs, or beliefs that place them in opposition with each other.

This type of literary conflict places characters in a situation where these motivations and beliefs are tested.

While the conflict may be resolved with one character defeating another, it can also be resolved through persuasion or conversion.

This is an external conflict (rather than an internal one), meaning that characters face resistance from a force outside themselves.

How to Write a Character vs. Character Conflict

A character vs. character conflict can provide tension in a story. This type of conflict can also be used to highlight or expose certain characters’ strengths, weaknesses, and deeply held beliefs. Use the following tips when creating a character vs. character conflict in your writing:

Decide which two characters will be in conflict. Flesh out their desires, motivations, and the source of their conflict. Think about their lives and their histories. Write a detailed backstory for each character, and include factors like family, what they have lost in life, how they have been hurt, and what their most cherished memories are. This may seem like a lot of detail and it may not even come up in the story itself, but these characters’ full backgrounds will help you create a richer and more realistic conflict.

Next, decide how your plot will lead these two characters into conflict. If your characters don’t know each other yet, create a scene in which they come together. If they already know each other well, think of how your story can bring the topic of their conflict to the forefront. Maybe one is keeping a secret from the other, for example, and the conflict will begin once the secret is revealed.

Make your conflict matter. If your characters are arguing over ice cream flavors, it will be hard for the reader to get invested. Giving the conflict real stakes is what keeps readers interested and also allows you to create greater insight into your characters. You can continually escalate the stakes of the conflict throughout the story to create more tension before your final resolution.

Consider combining your character vs. character conflict with other types of literary conflicts. Other types of external conflict can place your characters in conflict with nature, society, technology, or the supernatural. Perhaps you want to include a subplot in which your characters are in conflict with an external force; alternatively, you can also give your characters an internal conflict, in which they are struggling with their own beliefs or values.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hope this helps with your writing!

#writing ideas #writing tips #writeblr #character development #literature #writing reference #dark academia #writing prompt #spilled ink #writers on tumblr #creative writing #writing inspiration #writing advice #on writing #character building #writing resources

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deadlysoupy · 6 months ago

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as i prepare myself (mentally) to replay da2 i think about Isabela and Rook's relationship and how there's so little of it it makes me want to throw up (and how i imagine their relationship to be)

with Rook's background of being a Tevinter galley slave (i think this happens regardless of race which. Okay) Isabela could so easily see Fenris here. even in da2 she has a banter with him about freeing slaves:

Fenris: "So you freed a group of slaves?"

Isabela: "Would-be slaves. They weren't slaves yet"

Fenris: "Still, you did a brave thing. Many would turn a blind eye"

Isabela: "Don't read too much into it, alright? It just... seemed like a good idea at the time"

so this part is totally in character. she may joke about a lot of things, but she believes everyone should be free, as do mages, who are met with disgust by so many people in Kirkwall. so imagine her freeing our Rook and taking them in to give them a better life, so they wouldn't end up like Fenris did: angry, full of prejudices and uncontrollable rage

it would be odd for her to want to have kids, considering what her mother was to her and how quickly she gave Isabela away, but it would be interesting to delve into that side of her, especially if she's in a relationship with Hawke. if Teia and Viago get to have that dynamic, why can't she? with the way they bantered with each other after Rook and Taash come back for the first time, it's very subtly implied that she taught them everything they know

and with the way the Lords are, it's no wonder Rook's personality would be shaped by them: Isa is a cocky swashbuckler, and she'd hate to have that rob off on them, but it does. they're both so awful at feelings and emotions, so Isabela wouldn't be able to outward say how she wanted to protect them from harm by Politics, and they wouldn't be able to admit how they want to be back and how they miss being with the Lords

and during the finale i really wanted Isabela and Rook to have some closure. it felt like they separated on a sour mood, and with so much happening in the final battle i would have loved seeing Isabela giving Rook some affection because, in a way, they're her apprentice, her special little guy, and she worries for them even if she really hates to do that. maybe she even promises to get Rook back into the Lords (why they were expelled in the first place is always a mystery to me but whateverrr)

i almost wish the Lords weren't an official faction but a pirate crew or something, a trader's post, a guild, but they have so little content i don't even know what they are, fully. and who cares at this point i say we headcanon the shit out of them

#i have a lot of thoughts about them okay. like so many #dragon age #dragon age 2 #da2 #isabela #fenris #dragon age the veilguard #dragon age veilguard #datv #dragon age rook #rook #rook laidir #lords of fortune #mine #soups walkie talkie

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forestclan-clangen · 1 month ago

Text

MOON 12 (Part 2)

<< FIRST | < PREVIOUS |

Olive recovers from yellowcough. She can finally do her work as mediator. She offers to mediate between Windfur and Shiverpaw, who have a very strenuous mentor-apprentice relationship.

(Olive, mediator, female, 68 moons. Calm.) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 26 moons. Lonesome.) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, 12 moons. Loving.)

---

Olive had one job. Just one. She hadn't gotten the chance to do her job in a year. She just wanted to actually contribute to her new, gracious home, for once in twelve moons. What she didn't expect was for Clan cats to pull teeth trying to talk about how they felt.

Yes, she wasn't a saint. She knew how it felt to keep things repressed. But the Clan had started to feel the rift between Windfur and Shiverpaw, and she noticed some members of the Clan starting to subtly take sides over who they trusted to care for them. Considering the things in the woods, she wasn't keen on seeing a group of tightly-knit cats experience a divide of any kind.

Coaxing Shiverpaw and Windfur to gently agree to a mediation was easier than she expected. Getting them to actually talk wasn't.

"When did this truly start?"

Shiverpaw stared at the floor and shrugged. Windfur looked away into the treeline and didn't say anything. Olive sighed.

"Both of you agreed to be here today. This means you both acknowledge there is an issue. Correct?"

Windfur hummed in acceptance. Shiverpaw gave a single nod, still staring at the floor.

"...This also suggests you are both willing to find a resolution."

Still, a reluctant acquiescence.

"I'm here to prevent an argument, and to allow both sides to speak their thoughts clearly. For example," Olive stretched and rolled on her back. Her green eyes flickered with calm submission as she spoke. "What would be the ideal result, and what do you believe would be a realistic result to our mediation today? Windfur, we can start with you. There are no wrong answers."

Windfur froze, his tail tucked tightly around his legs. His dark blue eyes were filled with hesitation. After a few moments of collecting himself, he meowed, "I just want to…go back to how things were in early leaf-fall. But I know that's not realistic."

Shiverpaw's ears twitched, but she said nothing.

"What do you believe to be realistic?" Olive prompted.

Windfur's tail twitched. "...I don't know."

"Okay. Think about it for a moment then. Shiverpaw, how about you?"

Shiverpaw's eyes didn't leave the ground. Olive was patient, and allowed her to think. She remembered being tended to by the young apprentice, when her back was still broken. She was skilled, and gentle with her patients. But she was also anxious, and prone to allow her mind to leave her body. She had taught her how to ground herself, many moons ago. Olive blinked slowly at Shiverpaw, but said nothing.

Shiverpaw's claws stretched and tapped at the ground gently. Finally, she meowed, "In a world with no pain, I wouldn't be hurt in the first place. But I'm not in that world. I'm here."

"And do you think you can alleviate that pain in our world?"

"From others, yes."

"And yourself?"

Silence.

Olive suppressed a sigh and sat back up. "I'll give you some time to think. In the meantime - Windfur? Have you thought about what a realistic outcome today could be?"

Windfur paused for only a moment before sighing, his tail twitching. "Well, I tried to apologize before. So I don't know."

Olive tilted her head. "Okay. Shiverpaw, do you feel like Windfur tried to apologize?"

Shiverpaw seemed sheepish. "...I guess," she mumbled.

"Is forgiveness something you feel you can give Windfur one day?"

As Shiverpaw didn't answer, still refusing to look at either cat, Windfur's fur slowly started bristling. His ears threatened to droop. Shiverpaw must've noticed this, as she finally sighed, her ears flattened behind her head.

"I don't know if I feel comfortable saying anything while you're here, Olive. I'm sorry."

Olive actually brightened by this notion, her ears perked up. "If I left you alone for a while, would you feel comfortable talking about this yourselves?"

Windfur seemed resistant, but when Shiverpaw nodded, the medicine cat reluctantly agreed as well. Olive yawned, then stretched her legs.

"Very well. I will return to the center of camp. I will check on you two in twenty minutes. Is that fine?"

"Yes. That'll do. Thank you, Olive," Windfur sighed. As the two watched Olive step out of the quiet corner of camp and padding over to speak with Riversnow at the cooking fire, Shiverpaw finally spoke, her voice near-monotone.

"I could have died. Barleywave and Morningspot too."

"I know." Windfur's ears flattened and he stared at the floor in shame.

"So why? Why send me out there?"

"I didn't know you would struggle, or that the blizzard would get so bad so quickly."

"A moon before that, I was almost killed by a Woodcrawler," Shiverpaw continued. Her voice held no sharpness, only sorrow. "Tree saved me. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have known it was there."

The silence was thick.

"And still, you sent me out in charge of a patrol, not even a moon after, in dangerous conditions."

"Because I trusted you," Windfur protested, his chest tightened.

"In a season I've never seen before?"

"Shiverpaw, please, you must believe me," the tom's tail twitched and his dark blue eyes were pleading. "I wasn't trying to hurt you. I just…I…"

"Did Chicoryglint treat you like this?"

Windfur looked at her with wide eyes in disbelief. His mouth hung open in shock. Shiverpaw gave him a stunned stare, as though the question surprised her as well, but her expression solidified, deciding she was satisfied with it. As Windfur finally processed the question, his fur bristled.

"Why are you asking this? How do you know her name?" he asked crossly.

"You mentioned her a few times when I was a fresh apprentice. You stopped talking about her not long after. The -....StarClan mentioned her to me last half-moon," Shiverpaw stumbled on her last sentence, momentarily guarded.

The two clerics stared at each other intensely for a while. The sounds of camp were drowned out by the anticipation of an answer. Windfur's ears twitched slightly, as though trying to parse his thoughts into a coherent answer. Finally, he closed his eyes, then forced his fur to lie flat.

"...Well?" Shiverpaw prompted.

"Give me a moment," Windfur replied, his voice tense. Shiverpaw gave him this grace. The two medicine cats remained in a tense silence as Windfur collected his thoughts. Finally, when the tom replied, his voice was quiet.

"...How old are you, Shiverpaw?"

Shiverpaw tilted her head. "Twelve moons."

Windfur blinked. That answer seemed to surprise him, for some reason. Just when she thought that she'd have to prompt him for an answer again, Windfur let out a deep sigh, then looked out into the middle of camp. His gaze was distant.

"...I've been thinking a lot about her. I loved my mentor. I really did. She was kind. Incredibly skilled. She challenged me to learn as much as I could, and taught me everything I know. She sang me songs. Helped me memorize treatments. I was devastated when she died." He paused again. "...I was twelve moons old when I became the sole medicine cat."

Shiverpaw didn't know how to feel. As much as she didn't like him, she couldn't imagine being left to take care of the clan on her own today. Did he really receive his name this early? She paused as her mind wandered to foggy memories of her kithood - Windfur always looked so tall and wise, just like all the adults. Is…that how Cloudthunder's kits saw her? She didn't feel like an adult. She barely knew what she was doing half the time. Windfur must've mistook her silence for pity, as he glanced at her and gave a hard stare.

"It's fine. I figured it out," he said. But after a few moments, he looked away. More quietly, he added, "...I wish I didn't have to."

"...You weren't left with much of a choice. She died," Shiverpaw murmured.

"No…she didn't."

Shiverpaw bristled. Suddenly, the words made by the beings not from StarClan made sense - asking if they knew where she was, as though there was a place outside of StarClan that she could be found.

"I thought she did. It was easier to believe that. Because if she didn't," Windfur swallowed. "Then it meant she waited until I was good enough to leave. And then I'd have to question the motives of everything else she did."

Shiverpaw was careful with her next words. She didn't know what kind of cat Chicoryglint was. But it didn't justify his choices to push Shiverpaw into situations she wasn't prepared for. It made her feel like Windfur didn't like being around her. When she opened her mouth to say something, Windfur interrupted her by raising a paw.

"This is not an excuse for my actions." Windfur lowered his paw, then curled his tail around himself. "I…acknowledge that this impacted my judgment over what you could do," Windfur struggled to finish his sentence. "And…I just want to apologize."

The sound of birds and Cloudthunder's kits squabbling loudly dominated the space left by their silence. Shiverpaw let herself sit with what Windfur told her. He said he realized how much his actions hurt her, but did he really? The moon that she and Talontooth first saw Nature's Mockery - that was what actually changed everything. Not the Woodcrawler she saw with Tree, and not the blizzard. He started growing aloof and more avoidant of her. When was the last time she actually went on a patrol with him? The fact that she couldn't remember upset her.

Is THAT what she wanted an apology for?

Shiverpaw sighed. She couldn't just hope that someone would know exactly what she wanted now. She didn't like the vulnerability. But she agreed to a mediation. If she didn't do something now, then what was the point of this mortifying endeavor?

"I know you want to apologize for the blizzard. But that's not the only thing I'm mad about. It's just…I felt like…" Shiverpaw felt heat swell up in her face in embarrassment and frustration.

Windfur's anxiety waiting for an answer must've boiled over. "Please. Please let me fix it," he mewed pathetically.

Shiverpaw burst. "If you wanted to fix it, why did you avoid me?"

Windfur's eyes widened for a split second.

"When's the last time you invited me on patrol? When's the last time you weren't actively trying to ignore me unless you had to teach me?" Shiverpaw failed to stop the words from pouring out. "Two moons into my apprenticeship, and my mentor starts avoiding me. Like I did something wrong, something to make you hate me." She hated that her voice cracked. "So of course I gave up after the storm. Why bother? I was a kid whose mentor shoved her into danger without help. How else was I supposed to interpret your actions? If you actually cared about me, why did you only start trying when you realized it made you look bad?"

Shiverpaw finally bit her tongue and suppressed a hiss. She was angry and upset and guilty, it was just tragedy after tragedy, and she felt like it was all her fault that Talontooth was -

The bottle exploded.

"I have to go," she blurted quickly before getting up and quickly distancing herself from the lonely corner, her heart filled with pain and anger. She didn't look back.

Only when she found a way to sneak out of camp and climb into a pine tree did she finally let herself wail.

---

When Olive returns and Shiverpaw is absent, she decided to help Windfur work through his feelings alone. The conversation does help Windfur decide what to do next, and he thanks her for it.

(Olive, mediator, female, 68 moons. Calm) (Windfur, medicine cat, male, 26 moons. Lonesome.)

---

Windfur failed. He horribly, horribly, horribly failed. This was the worst possible way this could've unfolded, and Windfur felt like he may as well have been stabbed by a Woodcrawler. At least then, he could atone in a way that mattered.

But no. Moon after moon, he had one more failure to add to his ever-growing list of evidence for why he was the worst cat in ForestClan, and he would deserve it. A terrible cat who was mentored by a terrible mentor that nobody liked except for him - and he hated himself for still being unable to acknowledge her folly.

He was so caught up in his self loathing, staring at his paws with his tail thrashing that he didn't notice Olive padding back up to him.

The she-cat tilted her head at Shiverpaw's absence, but her eyes flickered with some expression of knowing. "Where's Shiverpaw?"

"...I don't know."

Olive's ear twitched, but her tail remained still, making her true thoughts unreadable. "What was said?"

Windfur was resistant to speak, but as Olive pointed out that she was here to mediate communications between cats, he defeatedly went through key points. When he finally said that Shiverpaw felt like he had ignored her for moons, he left Olive with silence. He felt like the most pathetic cat to ever exist.

Because she was right. He was scared of her. He grew paranoid of the idea of her being some sort of link with the Iris, due to her trances. StarClan never had an answer for him - until last moon, when they finally managed to confirm for certain that no, he had not doomed cat-kind by bringing her to StarClan, and no, he had not failed. But what good did that do now? Shiverpaw hated him and wouldn't ever forgive him for his actions. And why should she? He was a fraud of a medicine cat, failed Chicoryglint's expectations, failed to prevent Cloudthunder's two kits from being taken -

"Windfur." The tom felt Olive's tail rest on his shoulder gently. Her sage eyes were calm, filled with empathy. "...I see it in your eyes. You have a lot of thoughts in your mind, all of them dooming. I'm familiar with it too."

Windfur froze. He dug through his memories and remembered Olive spiralling and assuming catastrophe at every turn. He remembered that she refused to name Branchpaw and Perchpaw for almost three moons. "...It's not the same. You had Queen's Grief. You had a reason," he argued.

"An explanation is not an excuse. You already know that well." Olive let her statement settle on him before removing her tail and wrapping it around her paws. "...So. What now?"

Windfur sighed deeply. "I don't know. I guess I will give Shiverpaw her name next half-moon and let her be rid of me," he said glumly.

"Is that what she wants?"

Windfur scowled, his tail thrashing. "I don't know, alright? I just know that I've ignored her, hurt her, and an apology isn't enough. There's nothing I can do to fix that."

"Who taught you that you couldn't fix your mistakes?"

Windfur finally tore his eyes off the floor to glare at Olive. In a moment of vulnerability, his memories dug themselves out of their graves. He remembered being asked by Chicoryglint to watch very, very closely at what she did and to engrain it into his memory as though his life depended on it. He did so as she gave him melodies to memorize the procedure. He remembered the guilt he felt when he failed to retrieve cobwebs correctly. She was staring with wide-eyed terror and started counting the remaining bandages they owned. He remembered the small lives stolen by the Living Tendril. He couldn't bring himself to maintain it as he found a layer of sorrow in Olive's eyes.

"...I won't speak of others' grievances. But, I was reminded a few days ago how I didn't name my children for a few moons. I pretended they didn't need them. I knew it was wrong. But I was hurt and afraid. And I am telling you this," Olive emphasizes as she saw Windfur open his mouth to interrupt. "Because an apology won't fix it alone. Changed behavior, on the other hand, will. You said Shiverpaw was hurt that you ignored her. Did she tell you outright that she didn't want you to change?"

There was a tense silence as Windfur's dark blue eyes wavered. His jaw was clenched. Eventually, he shook his head.

"Then…what do you want to do?"

"...I want to apologize…and…I don't know. I guess…not…avoid her?"

"What are some things you can do to be present with her?"

"...More patrols together?"

"That's a good idea."

Windfur waited for Olive to continue, and felt tense when she just let that statement hang. "Do...you have any other ideas?"

Olive licked her paw and groomed her ear. "I'm not sure what Shiverpaw would like. You could ask her yourself what you could do together."

Windfur shuffled. "But...what if she doesn't want to?"

"She agreed to a mediation in the first place, no? Deep down, then, she likely also wishes for solutions."

Windfur kept staring at the floor pensively. After some time, Olive's tail twitched.

"Windfur. Can I offer you some advice, as a friend?"

Windfur suddenly looked surprised - as though the notion that Olive was his friend didn't even occur to him. "Uh...yeah, sure."

"I come from a place of kindness when I say this," she started carefully. "Perhaps you'll consider me a...what do you Clan cats say? A mousebrain? For saying so. But...you are the adult here. You may not feel like it, but Shiverpaw has known you her entire life as the fully-grown, adult medicine cat who gave her checkups, and then mentored her. The fact that you didn't feel like an adult when you took her on as an apprentice, does not mean that you weren't perceived as one by other cats."

Windfur's pelt bristled, but he said nothing as Olive continued.

"I will not ask how you ended up with the sole burden of caring for an entire group of cats. That's a conversation for another day, if you wish," Olive said with a flick of her tail. "But Shiverpaw speaks from the heart of a child who never received an apology. Give her that, and recognize that time, and changed behavior will repair your relationship."

Windfur paused, and forced his fur to fall flat. Eventually, he meowed, "...I understand. Thank you."

Olive shrugged. "I'm happy to be of service."

Finally, Windfur got to his feet, dismissed Olive with a nod, and walked away. In that time, Windfur allowed negative feelings and self-loathing to slowly leave his paws and into the wet grass beneath his feet. He allowed Olive's words to sink into his system. For a brief moment, he remembered when he went to Chicoryglint's so-called grave last leaf-fall. He remembered how he begged her for answers, guidance, anything. The silence that followed. The realization that he was never going to get an apology from her.

Windfur closed his eyes, and sighed.

...He was never going to be able to reconcile that his beloved mentor had hurt others deeply. And even if he knew the truth, he couldn't separate the kind mentor from the cowardly and selfish molly. That was his friend. His teacher. The melodies she taught him were ingrained in his bones. They would turn to vile ash in his mouth. He just couldn't embrace that truth. Not yet.

But at least today, he could give Shiverpaw what he knew Chicoryglint would never give him.

---

The next day, Windfur offers a genuine apology, acknowledging how his distance hurt Shiverpaw and promising changed behavior. While Shiverpaw says that it will take time to forgive him, she appreciates his apology and is wiling to put in effort to have a more cordial relationship.

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 12 moons. Loving.) (Windfur, medicine cat, female, 26 moons. Lonesome.)

Riversnow has a long conversation with Olive, and finds that they have a lot in common - outsiders with former apprehension to the Clan, pregnant at inopportune times. Riversnow seeks advice and comfort from her.

(Olive, mediator, female, 68 moons. Calm.) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 61 moons. Adventurous.)

Windfur approaches Redstar and tries to tell her about Bracken. Redstar promises to tell patrols to keep an eye out, and to try to invite her into the Clan again, if possible.

(Windfur, medicine cat, male, 26 moons. Lonesome.) (Redstar, leader, female, 70 moons. Strict.)

At the next half-moon, Talontooth visits Shiverpaw. She breaks down and apologizes, to which Talontooth responds with teasing and reassurance. He says that he's okay...well, as okay as he can be. But he gets to see how vast the territory actually is from StarClan, and it's beautiful. He sheepishly asks if she could tell Morningspot that he's okay. Shiverpaw agrees. It's the least she can do.

(Talontooth, male, StarClan cat. 16 moons. Adventurous) (Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 12 moons. Loving.)

#warrior cats #clangen #warrior cats clangen #clan generator #forestclan #forestclan moons #warriors cats #Windfur #Olive #Shiverpaw #Talontooth #Riversnow #Redstar #pixel art #wc oc #clangen art

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perlelune · 1 year ago

Text

Training Wheels | Coriolanus Snow | ii.

Your mother's macabre work never appealed to you as you always preferred the comfort of your books, but when her apprentice takes a special interest in you, your safe, quiet world is flipped upside down.

Warnings: DUB-CON, NON-CON, Gaul!Reader, Shy Reader, Manipulation, Parental Neglect, Drinking, Peer Pressure, Hazing, University set, Loss of Virginity, Dumbification, Insecurities, Abusive Relationship, Degradation, Suicide Attempt

This is a dark story. Heed warnings before reading under the cut.

𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

The clock catches your eye the second your ethics class ends. You pick up your things and make your way to the exit. It’s lunch time. You can’t erase the conversation you had with Coriolanus from your mind. His eyes, his smile, his smell, his voice…everything about him makes your head a little cloudy. Boys have never been your concern before, especially because of Mother. It’s not that she ever forbade you to date, experiment. It was more of a silent understanding, a quiet agreement. There are more important things than boys in this world. Like science, or rebuilding the world after the war. Mother herself has only one love. Her research. So you always supposed it is your duty to aim to be the same way. Therefore, while everyone around you talked about crushes and first kisses and…other things since middle school, you’ve kept your head in your books.

It’s not like you never noticed how pretty some of the boys at the Academy were. Boys like…Coriolanus Snow. It just always felt forbidden. As Volumnia Gaul’s daughter, you had to be above it all.

Hence your predicament. What does someone like Coriolanus Snow want from you?

The question keeps swirling inside your head as you approach the cafeteria. His attention never swayed in your direction before. Towards girls like Persephone, Clemensia or Livia, perhaps. But you? The very idea is ludicrous.

You make a stop near the lunch room’s door. It’s already brimming with students. Animated chatter fills the cafeteria and you dourly note the groups that have formed. Even Lysistrata, the infamous loner, has found her tribe with the likes of Io Jasper, Persephone Price and some red-haired boy you don’t know. A few months have already passed. You should have found a crowd by now, a group of like-minded people that’d tolerate your presence. But every time you approach someone, you get tongue-tied and your mind blanks. How does one even strike up a conversation out of the blue? It still stuns you that Coriolanus spoke to you with such ease. Though you surmise the Snow heir is comfortable with people in a way you’ll never be.

Your gaze travels to his table. Coriolanus and his friends. They seem absorbed by an intense conversation, Festus waving his arms while Clemensia shakes her head in apparent disbelief.

You shift the books between your arms. Feet rooted to the floor, you struggle to move. You watch the exchange, pondering how to weave your way through the cafeteria without drawing too much attention to yourself.

As you contemplate your next move, blue eyes find yours across the cafeteria. Coriolanus’ lips curve upwards. Your pulse soars. The rest of the table seems to note your presence. Clemensia places a hand in front of her mouth and laughs. Then the rest of them, bar Coriolanus, begin to laugh as well.

Your chest clutches, fire creeping inside your cheeks. They must be laughing at you. Of course. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. This was a stupid idea. Stepping back, you dash through the hallways. The library will be a more appropriate spot for your lunch break, as it often is. Quieter. Less crowded. Safe and familiar. The wooden rows brimming with books are your shield against the noise and chaos of the world outside.

It’s where you belong anyway. Besides, you still have your notes of the morning to peruse and memorize. You can’t afford to fall behind.

The rest of the week transforms you into a nervous wreck. After you fail to show up for lunch, Coriolanus’ unnerving cobalt stare appears to follow you everywhere. Whether it’s in the lecture hall, the hallways or even the library, your safe haven, the Snow heir’s presence always lingers near. Still, you try to resume your usual routine, both at the Capitol University and the Citadel.

Tasks are never amiss in Mother’s lab. Between the mutts to feed, filing the archives and cleaning the subjects’ glass cases, something always requires your attention anyway. All the important jobs aren’t yours to have. Just menial tasks. It’s all Mother said you can manage anyways. Back when you were little, your mother paid sporadic attention to you. She’d spend time with you, show you the specimens, talk about her work. However she quickly lost interest in you once she realized your lack of ambition, intellect and inclination for casual cruelty. For a fleeting stretch of time, you know your mother harbored hope that you could succeed her, continue her research, complete her breakthroughs. Those hopes are now forever buried, along with any sliver of expectation Mother had for your future.

You couldn’t stomach the thought of her experimenting on live creatures and kept asking if they were in pain, or if they missed their family, if once she was done, she would send them back home. Mother grew annoyed by it. To this day, you feel she still holds that against you.

Once your work for the evening is done, you take a rare break in one of the empty offices. While you’re aware it’d be best to go over your flash cards for the upcoming exams, the motivation to do it isn’t with you today. The entire week all you’ve done is study, burning the midnight oil at both the University library and home. A break would be welcome. You’re craving it in fact.

So instead of your study books, you collect a novel from your leather satchel. Heart fluttering in anticipation, your fingers sweep over the cover. This one details the forbidden tryst between a prince and a castle maid. Your cheeks warm as you land on the scene you didn’t get to finish last time.

As you sink into the story, oblivious to the world around you, you don’t hear the soft steps circling closer to you.

Warm air fans over your shoulder as a deep voice erupts from behind you.

“I didn’t realize smutty romance novels were on the curriculum.”

Astonishment plucks a gasp from you. The swivel chair spins as you bolt to your feet, the book in your hands dropping to the floor with a heavy thud. Your eyes widen as Coriolanus’ towering frame invades your line of sight.

He slowly crouches to pick up your novel. As he gives it a quick once over, flipping through the yellowed pages, a smile blooms on his lips.

“These are smuggled from the Districts, aren’t they?” he inquires, a hint of disdain coating his utterance of the word ‘district’. Embarrassment flushes through you as Coriolanus’ gaze roams across the pages. “Interesting choice.” His eyes rise to meet yours. Your heart misses a beat. “Does Dr. Gaul approve?”

“N-Not really,” you confess with a small voice, fiddling with the cuff of your lab coat.

His smirk broadens at that.

The blond causes you to leap back as he snaps your book shut.

“I was expecting you at lunch the other day,” he says, edging closer to you.

Your mouth dries. “I was busy.”

Coriolanus’ brow quirks.

“Too busy for lunch with me?”

“It wasn’t just you.”

He pauses, searching your face. His silent scrutiny makes your nerves thrum. You freeze in your spot, hands squeezing the edge of the desk behind you.

After an eternity goes by, he states gently, “We weren’t laughing at you.”

Your jaw hangs slack. You feel self-conscious as his keen blue eyes hold yours, peeling the layers of you.

He heaves out a long sigh.

“Festus just said something stupid and Clemmie happened to look in your direction. I’m sorry you thought that.”

“I didn’t think anything,” you mumble, shrugging.

His face pinches ever-so-slightly.

“Yes.” He gets even closer, chest almost brushing yours. Your stomach tightens. “Yes, you did,” he articulates. “So I’m making sure you know. No one was laughing at you that day. And Clemmie wouldn't do that. She’s the nicest girl I know.”

You study Coriolanus, struck by the sincerity laced in his tone. You aren’t used to anyone considering your feelings. Besides, you don’t find it in you to argue, remembering Clemensia’s kindness on multiple occasions at the Academy. She is also one of the few wealthy students who never picked on the departed Sejanus Plinth for his roots in District Two, even defending him from Arachne’s cruelty on one occasion. Relief flows inside your chest. So you weren’t the reason behind their laughter that day. It feels strangely good, knowing that, especially coming from Coriolanus himself.

He cocks his head and scoffs, “We aren’t at the Academy anymore. Why would we do something this childish? That’s silly.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s a little silly,” you mechanically reply, something about his definitive tone making you feel dumb for even letting your mind wander there. You give a shaky nod. “Thank you.”

He hums as if he were lost in thought. His fingers then slide below your chin, startling you.

“You don’t have to lie to me, you know?”

Confusion has you blinking rapidly.

“I’m sorry?”

His digits latch around your jaw, his features disturbingly still.

“Just then, you lied,” he notes. “About it not bothering you. You don’t need to do that with me.” He pauses, tracing the curve of your bottom lip. “Besides, between you and I, you’re very bad at it.”

An anxious chuckle peals from your lips.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, curiosity evident on his features.

A hollow smile tugs your lips.

“It’s just that Mother says the same thing, that I’m a horrible liar.” It’s just one of the myriad of things you’ve always failed at. Fooling others and pretending.

Wars are won with heads, not hearts.

Coriolanus places his hand besides you on the desk, looming over you in a way that has your pulse quicken. You grow dizzy as his scent coats the air.

“You know…Clemmie and the girls were looking forward to meeting you,” he intones.

Disbelief fills you. “T-They were?”

“You’ve been so discreet during our Academy days. Everyone was just curious, that's all.” His feathery lashes sag, caressing his cheekbones. “About what you were like.”

“Oh.”

“Well, you’re a bit of an enigma, angel. The daughter of the Head Gamemaker who never talks to anyone. That makes people wonder.”

“I’m not that interesting.”

Coriolanus takes a long minute to drink you in. Your skin tingles with his intense focus. Somehow in the dim light of the office, his blue eyes seem to come alight with a strange glint.

“I disagree,” he slowly states. “I think you’re very interesting.”

You lick your lips. “I’m really not.”

Your only answer is that cryptic smile he likes to wear.

“So…you still owe me lunch.” He slants his head. “We can go together if you like.”

“Together?”

“Yes. You don’t have to feel scared if I’m with you.”

When you bow your head, hesitation lingering within you, he tilts your chin up.

“No one would dare make fun of you if I’m around. Trust me, angel.”

There’s an unfaltering certainty cinching his tone, as if repercussions were sure to befall whoever questions him.

Your forehead creases.

“You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“What?” he asks, his dark brows knitting.

“All of…that.” You turn away from him, reflexively gripping your forearm. “I-I’m fine on my own. Always have been.”

Surprise floods your insides when no snappy reply pours from his lips. Instead of answering, the blond leans away from you and releases your chin. He observes you as you remain still. You can’t help trying to figure out what thoughts bounce through his head. He must think you’re an idiot, isolating yourself like that, missing out on everything the world has to offer. If only he knew. There is no space for you in the world. Nowhere for you to fit. As Coriolanus heads for the door, the tension in your body melts a bit.

“I’ll see you in class,” he announces after several harrowing minutes of silence.

As he makes to leave, you’re hit with the realization that he still has your book in his hand.

“Coriolanus?” you call. He stops in his tracks, head pivoting towards you. “My book…”

This draws a subtle smile from him. Coriolanus makes no move to return your novel, turning his back to you as if you hadn’t called him out.

Mouth agape, you watch him take his leave without another word.

The next day, you think yourself free of Coriolanus Snow’s peculiar scrutiny. Right after the morning classes end, you head to the library. You are determined to enjoy a peaceful lunch break, have a few unenthusiastic bites of the stale sandwich you packed this morning and maybe get a head start on your molecular cell biology courses. Another topic that has you drowning in class, that you’ll need twice as much work to pass.

Naturally, however, the blond has other plans.

He shows up again while you’re sitting at the bottom of a shelf so high it nearly touches the vaulted ceiling of the library. You find him staring at you from the corner of your eye.

Your heart bounces inside your chest as your gaze crosses his.

He plops down next to you on the floor.

“Coriolanus,” you chide hotly, your voice just above a whisper. “You have to stop doing that.”

A lopsided smile decorates his handsome features.

“I like how flustered you get. It’s cute,” he replies, mirth dripping from his soft timbre. There isn’t an ounce of guilt in his words, as if the mere fact that your reaction entertains him is justification enough.

A frown mars your brow as your focus shifts back to your Biology book.

“Shouldn't you be having lunch with your friends?”

“Hm…someone’s missing at my table.”

Your nails sink into your palm, your frown deepening.

“You’re persistent.”

His raspy chuckle ripples through your skin.

“I prefer determined, angel,” he mutters, much closer than you’d like. “What are we reading today?”

“N-Nothing. Just going through my notes.”

“You don’t have to study all the time, you know.”

“No, I do.”

He hums his disapproval.

“You don’t.”

“I’m not like you, Coriolanus. I’m…” Your voice trails off. Your mind whirls as your spirits plummet. Mediocre? Dumb? Average? You couldn’t conjure the exact word, as each encapsulates a little bit of what you are. An anomaly amidst the best and the brightest in the Capitol. Regardless of your shortcomings, you want to prove Mother wrong. Besides, you’d feel so proud of yourself if you could stand on that stage one day and collect your diploma with honors. You bite your lips closed. “Nevermind.”

“You put a lot of pressure on yourself, angel.”

“Well, I don’t have a choice.” You try to ignore him. However it’s all for naught, the words blurring on the page as all sense and logic in the text is siphoned by Coriolanus’ unsettling blue stare. Your teeth clench as you sigh. “Are you just going to watch me…the entire time?”

“Maybe.” He pauses, licking his lips. “Or we could go to the cafeteria like I said.”

You gasp when he slams the book in your lap shut.

“I already told you-”

“You can’t hide away forever, angel,” he interrupts.

Ignoring your protests, Coriolanus grabs your hand and pulls you to your feet.

“Come,” he urges, already dragging you through the library.

“Wait, Coriolanus…” You almost topple over your own feet as you’re forced to keep up with his long-legged steps.

“I’m making a different choice for you, angel,” he chimes. He tosses you a teasing glance above his shoulder. “It’s okay, we don’t bite…Most of the time.”

Apprehension tangles your insides as you and Coriolanus approach the cafeteria. Coriolanus doesn’t hesitate as he crosses the threshold with your hand in his. All eyes rest on you and the Snow heir, some of the chatter dwindling while whispers fill the room. Heat creeps inside your face. Coriolanus ‘ friends too admire the strange spectacle, a mix of shock and interest mingling on their faces.

Once you reach his table, he pulls a chair out for you. You take a tremulous seat, trying your best not to cower beneath the curious eyes cast your way. Coriolanus sits next to you, his fingers clutching yours in encouragement beneath the table before he lets go of your hand.

Briefly lifting your eyes, you give a bashful wave.

“H-Hi,” you say.

Livia Cardew doesn’t say anything, her narrowed eyes drifting between you and Coriolanus like she’s desperately trying to solve a riddle that won’t yield its meaning. Ivy Briarose is too focused on her nails to pay attention to you.

Clemensia’s much perkier. She offers you her hand to shake. You take it.

“Nice to meet you, I’m-”

“I know who you are,” you reply. Your eyes widen as you note how strange a thing it is to utter to somebody you’ve never spoken to. But she takes it in stride, flashing you a sunny grin.

As you and the brunette shake hands, the sleeve of her dark blouse slides up her forearm, exposing a hint of the skin of her wrist. Your mouth drops in shock. The small patch of flesh is covered in scales, mottled in faint neon colors. This looks eerily familiar and your gaze lingers longer than it should.

Clemensia rushes to cover her scarred wrist.

“Sorry,” you sputter, your embarrassment reaching its crest. It was rude to stare. You should have caught yourself.

But the brunette brushes it off with a nonchalant huff.

“Oh, that? Looks familiar?” Clemensia bends to whisper in your ear, “Little gift from your mother.” Your blood turns to ice. She flashes her pearly smile, tossing her glossy black strands over her shoulder. “It’s alright though. Most of them have faded.” She unleashes a wry laugh. “It was much worse before…during the Games.”

You open your mouth, your brain scrambling for something to say…Anything. Mother hurt Clemensia, to prove a point probably, knowing her. You should say something, offer comfort, an apology perhaps. But your mind turns up blank. You shift awkwardly in your seat.

The panicked flurry of your thoughts is halted when Clemensia abruptly seizes your hands, squeezing them between hers.

She beams at you.

“You know what? I get the feeling that you and I are gonna be great friends.”

#dark!coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow x reader #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #hunger games #tbosas fanfiction #dark!coriolanus snow x reader

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once-in-a-blood-moon · 7 months ago

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do you think solomon would be able to survive a week of not being allowed to call mc adorable? no or no

NO. Big no, lol.

Although this does lead me to wonder why he'd need to stop calling MC his adorable apprentice for a week. Like does the rest of the cast make a bet with him to see if he's capable of going a week without the petname or does Purgatory Hall have an intervention about his excessive use of it?

"And then, listen to this! My adorable apprentice used the spell I taught them to whisk the demon away like it was nothing. You should've seen it," Solomon gushes while everyone around him seems to groan and roll their eyes.

"There he goes again with the "my adorable apprentice" thing," Asmo sighs.

Mammon pipes up next. "Yeah! And it's gettin' pretty damn annoyin' too!"

"They're not just your apprentice, Solomon," Satan scolds.

Solomon can't help but chuckle at the stink everyone seems to be making. "What, I can't be thrilled by how MC is exceeding under my supervision?"

"No, you can," Simeon starts, "it's just...you refer to them as your "adorable apprentice" a lot."

"A lot, a lot." Luke adds.

Solomon sits there in silence, soaking up what his roommates are saying. He hadn't realized how often he called MC that, though now that he thinks about it, he can't deny it. When he speaks about them he can't help but be proud.

Belphie then brings up a point mid-yawn. "I bet he couldn't go a week without saying it."

"I second that bet!" Mammon interjects with dollar signs reflected in his eyes.

Lucifer sighs next to him not wanting to entertain this more then he should, but he had to admit that this was probably a bet Mammon could win. "I have to agree with Mammon. You do say it an annoyingly often."

"Ah, so we're betting on this, are we?" Solomon grins, not passing up the opportunity to prove himself while having a little fun. "Fine. I bet that I can go a week without calling MC my "adorable apprentice"." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the Devildom equivalent of twenty dollars and throws it on the table.

"You're on!" Mammon exclaims.

"I believe in you, Solomon!" Luke cheers.

Everyone else follows suit, pooling their money in the middle while declaring their bets. Lucifer, Mammon, Satan, Belphie, and Barbatos all betting he'll lose. Leviathan, Asmo, Beel, Diavolo, Simeon, Luke, and himself betting he'll win.

And so the games begin.

Through the week, he does find it difficult to hold back from using the petname. There are several instances when talking about them almost slips him up, though he's always able to catch himself before saying it. It was a term so used to sitting on the tip of his tongue that it was hard to let go. Everyone goes around to check in with each other and him to make sure he hadn't lost the bet yet. All of them stay surprised at his determination to get through the week, but remain skeptical in his ability to actually see the week through. MC, while oblivious to the bet, has even caught on to the absence of Solomon's petname praise.

It's Thursday during their after school lesson with him when it happens. He'd been quizzing them on the different types of magic and they had correctly named each one. They were even able to identify their own and his without extra prompting. Solomon was so caught up in his pride and love for them that he said it without thinking.

"Fantastic! Just what I'd expect from my adorable appren-" he trails off, his eyes widening as his heart sinks.

He just lost the bet.

MC stares at him, worried as to why he cut himself off like that. "Um...are you okay?"

Solomon stands there silently in defeat before replying solemnly, "I need to go make some phone calls..."

"Solomon! Just the sorcerer we wanted to see." Simeon greets once Solomon enters the common room after receiving a text from the group chat calling for an emergency meeting.

Solomon glances around to see Simeon, Luke, and Raphael dotting the room in the sofa and chairs. The odd thing is that they all seem relatively calm. Simeon pats the cushion next to him on the couch with a smile, and Solomon immediately obliges and sits down.

"So, what's the emergency?" he asks.

"Oh, this isn't an emergency," Luke says while swinging his legs. Simeon finishes for him, "it's an intervention."

A brow cocks on Solomon's forehead. "An intervention? Is this about me spending too much time in my room again?"

Simeon chuckles. "No. Although we may need to talk about that sometime soon."

"It's about MC." Raphael says, cutting to the chase.

"MC? Are they alright?" Solomon glances quickly between his friends as worry gnaws at his heart.

"MC's fine! It's about you and your obsession with calling them your "adorable apprentice"." Luke explains.

Solomon pauses, almost tempted to laugh at such an asinine reason to call for an intervention. But he sees the seriousness in everyone's eyes and realizes this is actually happening. "Is this a joke or..."

Raphael shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. You use the term so much that we thought maybe it was time to talk to you about it."

"I don't use it that often," Solomon says, slightly offended by the notion. "I praise them accordingly."

"And accordingly would be...all the time?" Simeon asks with a knowing grin.

"Well, I..."

Simeon got him. Okay, so maybe he had a problem, but it's not like it's a big deal. "Why wouldn't I want to praise them for their hard work as my student? I'm sure you all would do the same."

"Maybe so," starts Raphael, "but there's a difference between being proud and being obsessed."

"Yeah, we're just concerned about you, Solomon," Luke adds.

He sees the worry in the little angel's face and sighs, having no choice but to endure this "talk."

"This is barbaric. A man can't even gush over his apprentice anymore..."

The whole of Purgatory Hall laughs at Solomon's pouty joke before continuing with their intervention.

"They say it takes a month to break a bad habit. From this point forward, when you're speaking about them just assume everyone knows MC is your adorable apprentice," Simeon suggests. "You can praise when praise is due, but you don't need to overdo it."

"Fine, I'll give it a try." Solomon mutters, not happy with the compromise. Deep down he knows he'll be lucky if he lasts a week.

#okay so my brain did the autofill thing and thought your ask said adorable apprentice...oopsie #still either way it's a no :D #dis is long i got carried away like usual but this was so fun i was laughing the whole time writing this #love you amb!! <3 #also i have your other ask i'll get to it soon i'm just a mess and a slow replier #obey me #obey me solomon #obey me solomon x reader #jo writes #blood moon mail

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