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softyoongiionly · 4 years

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Portraits of a Tiger || 04

Legends of a great and equally terrifying warrior nicknamed the Tiger have been emerging from your fellow villagers for quite sometime. Stories of his skill, his stealth and his supposed wickedness have been passed around to the point where he is more prophecy than person. You have lived your life with a strong sense of conviction, rarely letting gossip influence your opinion. However, you would be lying if you said that his legacy didn’t intrigue you. When the Tiger and his infamous army arrive in your village to refuel, you come face to face with the man behind the myth.

And no amount of marketplace gossip would ever be enough to capture the true complexity of his nature.

Pairing: Merchant! Reader x Warrior! Yoongi

Genre: Adventure, Romance, Smut (later), Fluff, Angst

Word Count: 8k

Warnings: language, depictions of violence both verbal and physical however they are fairly mild, mentions of war and power dynamics, there will be smut in future parts so, (18+ only please).

A/N: ahhh yes romance is in the air lads. I hope you like this new part!!! I’m having so much fun writing this series for you guys :) LOVE YOUUUUU

As always, a HUGE shoutout to my beautiful friend Rachel @bulletproofbirdy for her assistance with this fic. I love you sm and I hope you especially like what I’ve done with the place >:)

It’s been a few days.

Nothing of substance has happened since the night you kissed Yoongi by the river other than a clear shift in your relationship with him.

He doesn’t treat you differently in front of the patrons at the market nor does he spare more than a glance your way when you’re delivering bread.

But every night, without fail: you meet by the river.

You speak about things that seem too heavy for the daylight: war, peace, hope, loss...

He listens to your thoughts and offers many of his own but the night always ends with his lips on yours.

His hands moving across your body as if he’s trying to learn every inch of you.

Whilst you’d happily have him against a tree or down on the mushy floor of the riverbed, Yoongi always stops things before they go to far.

He whispers promises of a night without boundaries in a place you both can call your own.

He tells you that when the time is right, he will give you everything you deserve and more.

You agree with him despite the desire that rages in your body.

You know it’s best to wait until things are more concrete between the two of you.

So you part ways every time and spend the rest of the night longing for one another until sleep finally offers you momentary peace.

Until the dreams begin...

Today however, you are concerned with someone else’s dreams.

Namely, your dear friend, your original confident, the smartest gal in the world: Rachel.

After your first rendezvous with Yoongi, you had rushed over to her home and spent the better half of the night gushing about the kiss.

Of course, she had been over the moon for you and the two of you had jumped around her living room like a bunch of excited schoolgirls.

However, towards the end of the conversation, particularly when Jungkook’s name was brought up she had grown slightly somber.

Although their interaction had been brief, the chemistry was palpable and as much you had faith in your friend’s abilities, you didn’t foresee her making a move on him.

So- you have decided to take matters into your own hands.

With a basket full of fresh bread, you walk down the dirt path towards their camp to begin the initial phase of your plan.

It was unlike the members to be absent from the fields surrounding their tents but, you presume it’s because training had concluded for the day.

You expected to see Namjoon out on their bench cribbling in his journal but, there is no one to be found.

There is a bit of anxiety that comes over you as thoughts creep in of the day that this area truly is abandoned.

The day Yoongi and his battalion move on.

Deep in your gut, dread begins to grow but you force yourself to take a deep breath and focus on the objective at hand.

You tug the bell to signal your arrival expecting Seokjin’s boisterous presence to greet you but, instead you hear a bit of shuffling before a hand slips out between the cloth to tug open the entrance.

Immediately, your heart ignites in a fit within your chest at the sight before you.

Yoongi stands there, body completely rid of his normal attire, with only a pair of tight-fitting long johns adorning his figure.

His hair is out of his usual updo and pushed away from his face, long platinum tendrils cascading down his strong chest.

“Oh- hi...” You cough as the tone of your voice is audibly strained.

He smirks, his eyes lighting up as he sees you, “Good evening. Delivery?”

A jagged nod comes from you as you extend the basket towards him, “Yes. Here you go, I added some-”

Yoongi’s lips are on yours then, interrupting your sentence, one of his hands taking the basket whilst his other hand settles on your cheek.

As usual, his lips eliminate any thought in your head unrelated to him, your body going slightly limp beneath his touch.

He lingers for a moment before pulling away, his brown eyes sparkling with satisfaction.

“This color is beautiful on you.” He murmurs nodding to your dress and pecking your lips once more, “did you make this?”

You smile, licking the taste of him off your lips, “Thank you. My mom made it for me last spring.”

He grins, “She’s very talented.” He lifts the basket, “This is a wonderful thing to wake up to, my men are going to destroy it.”

You giggle, raising your brows, “Late night?”

“Very. We were out until sunrise.” He explains, “Much of our training is nocturnal and the forests around here allowed us to teach the new recruits some important skills; we all slept a little later than I anticipated...” He chuckles sheepishly, glancing behind him before his eyes fall upon you once more, “It’s nice seeing you in the daylight.”

You giggle, “Is it? That’s a relief, I feared that maybe the moonlight and the beauty of the river was what kept you coming back every night...”

Yoongi’s lips twitch as he adjusts the basket on his arm, “I think you know very well what keeps me coming back.”

Before you can offer another flirtatious quip, a ball of fluffy black hair shoves its way through the opening of the tent.

It’s Jungkook and he looks as though he hasn’t been awake for more than 30 seconds.

“Hyung- is the bread...” He mumbles sleepily before his eyes widen as they spot you, “Oh- I’m sorry...” He bows his head, “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Good uh...” He squints up at the sky, his lips pouted slightly, “Good evening Y/N.”

You bow your head, offering a smile, “Good evening. You didn’t interrupt at all, I was actually looking to speak with you when you have time. I know you’ve just woken up so, I can come back later...”

Jungkook’s cheeks heat up involuntarily as he steps behind Yoongi a little more, “Alone?”

Yoongi eyes you curiously, “What do you want with the boy?”

He chuckles at his younger brother who looks both intrigued and frightened all at once.

“We don't have to be alone.” You assure him, a bit of laughter leaving your lips, “It’s about my friend-”

“Rachel?” He assumes, wide-eyed, “Is she ok?”

You smirk knowingly, “She is. I was actually going to inquire whether or not you were interested in her but, I think I have my answer.”

“Ah- “ Yoongi interjects, looking at you pointedly, “You’re here to play matchmaker for my little brother?” He looks amused, his deep gaze boring into your own as he speaks again, “Don’t you have your hands full with another endeavor?”

The depth in his tone sends a bit of electricity up your spine and, you’re thankful that Jungkook doesn’t pick up on the bit of suggestion in his voice.

He’s hung up on your reply and aching to know more.

So timidly he says, “Is she- maybe...interested in me?”

Averting your gaze away from Yoongi, you nod towards Jungkook, “I have a feeling she’s more than interested. However, she is incredibly stubborn and refuses to acknowledge the way you look at her. So naturally-” You gesture to yourself fluidly, “I decided to come here and ask you myself.”

“Naturally.” Yoongi agrees, his lips twitching, “Well, I don’t want to intrude on your plan so-”

As he tries to retreat back into the tent, you stop him with a raised hand, “Actually. I need your help after I speak with Jungkook so, don’t go far.”

Yoongi chuckles, shaking his head, “You’re aware that I oversee a battalion of 20,000 men, correct?”

With a shrug, you gesture for Jungkook to come closer before throwing an incredulous look Yoongi’s way, “Romance waits for no one...”

“Neither does war.” He retorts with a smirk.

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” You remind him, quoting a famous war strategist, “It won’t take long anyhow, plenty of time to return to your post, General.”

Jungkook, who has been zoning out for the last minute or so raises his brows at your tone, his lips parting in curiosity and glancing towards Yoongi.

He doesn’t hear people quarrel with Yoongi often, even if they are joking so, hearing you speak so candidly to him causes him to wonder just how close the two of you have gotten.

If Yoongi is impressed by your knowledge, he doesn’t show it. But what he does do is raise his brows whilst his teeth secure themselves to his bottom lip.

“Make it quick.” He insists sharply despite the excitement dancing through his gaze.

Before you have the opportunity to respond, he disappears behind the curtain, leaving you alone with Jungkook.

“Hyung must really like you...” He observes softly, pursing his lips, “He isn’t the type to joke around with new people.”

Stifling a smirk, you shrug and gesture to the bench in front of their tent, “That’s a shame. Your hyung has quite the sense of humor. Now- I know you don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll make this quick.” You begin as the two of you sit, “Normally I’d like to approach a situation like this with a bit more class but to be frank, you won’t be in town long and after the way I saw you looking at Rachel, I don’t think you’ll mind my intervention.”

Jungkook blushes, his fingers coming up to tuck a piece of hair behind his ear, “Ke-Keep your voice down, I don’t want my hyungs to hear about this...” He pleads, “They’ll tease me relentlessly.”

You allow yourself the grin now, admiring how shy he is but you concede not wanting to embarrass him.

“Do you not want them to know you’re courting someone?”

He shakes his head, “No I just don’t want them to know until I speak with her first. I know you say she’s interested but- I'd still like to hear it from her. My hyungs will pester me about it constantly and if she ends up rejecting me, I don’t really want to be reminded about it.”

“I understand.” You concede, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I’m sure I’ve never seen her behave this way around a man before. It’s unlikely she will reject you...”

“Still-” He insists, the color on his cheeks deepening, “it's possible. I never assume people’s opinions of me.”

It’s very odd, you think, here is this fine specimen before you: handsome, experienced, talented, respected and yet- he doesn’t seem to see himself that way.

Sounds a lot like someone else you know...

“That’s probably best.” You smile, warming up to him rather quickly, “You are interested in her though, aren’t you?”

He bites his bottom lip in thought before nodding, a bit of shyness in his eyes, “I am yes. Though I’m not totally sure how you figured it out based on our limited interaction. I’ve only spoken to her once- and I made a fool of myself.”

You giggle, “Yes but, you saw her for the first time in the plaza, didn’t you? She stopped you right in your tracks.”

His toffee orbs widen, “How did you-?"

A smirk comes over your mouth as you once again shrug at his question, “My job requires me to be very observant.” You reply, “People often say more with their movements than their words.”

“Hey!” He grins, showing off his perfect teeth, “I think that too! Well- that's something Yoongi-hyung taught me. I’m trying to get better at it but, I find it harder to observe people I don’t know. Strangers make me nervous...”

His sudden warmth makes you happy as you didn’t really expect him to be this bubbly but, you’re happy he’s comfortable with you given your intentions behind this conversation.

If he’s courting your friend, he’s courting you too.

“You could have fooled me.” You retort, “I saw the way you handled the clan leader...when I came by your tent, I was anticipating on meeting someone very different.”

Jungkook chuckles, “I get that a lot. I rarely live up to people’s expectations of me- I think that’s one of my strong suits. Aside from my brute strength obviously.”

“Yes of course, we mustn't forget about that...” You concede, laughing lightly along with him, “So back to Rachel then- you plan on courting her yes?”

He shifts on the bench, his tan fingers coming up to adjust his peasant blouse, shyness returning to his features, “I would love to. She-” He pauses, looking away from you, his eyes deepening in thought, “Aish...she really is something isn't she?”

At his question, you smirk and allow warmth to fill your chest, “Now where have I heard that before.” You muse allowed, “I could facilitate a meeting between the two of you? Although- I will likely have to tell a teensy white lie because, if I warn her that you wish to meet with her- she would probably combust on the spot. Also, I doubt she would believe me...”

He smirks fondly, nibbling on the inside of his cheek before his brows furrow, “Why wouldn’t she believe you? She must know how desirable she is right?”

“Certainly not. She has no idea. Which is why I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.” You explain, propping your chin on the palm of your hand, “Rachel is a brilliant woman. She could easily run a small country if the opportunity was presented to her but, she has no concept of how wonderful she is.”

Jungkook pouts his lips, “I was certain she knew. How could someone that beautiful not understand their own beauty?”

You raise your brows, “Do you recognize yourself as desirable?”

He snickers, “Don’t be silly. I might be a suitable partner because of my status as a warrior but, I don’t think there is much else I have to offer. That’s what has me so worried...what if you’re wrong about her desire for me?”

With an incredulous look, you shake your head in disbelief, “The two of you amaze me. You’re so brilliant and yet- so foolish at the same time. I assure you; you have plenty to offer. The women in this village nearly faint every time you pass- quite frankly, you are incredibly handsome with an unusual amount of talent and-”

Jungkook is smirking, pleased with your response as he interrupts you, “I thought you were interested in my hyung Y/N-” He teases and snickers as you roll your eyes.

“That is neither here nor there.” You insist, “The point is, the courtship is worth pursuing because I believe it will go well. So I came here to suggest a plan...”

“What is your plan dear matchmaker?” He chuckles, folding his hands and resting them on the table.

“My plannnn is-” You draw out the word before leaning in closely and divulging your ideas.

You are elated when he agrees and feel slightly giddy at the thought of your dear friend meeting up with the potential love of her life.

Romance certainly is in the air.

The plan is set in motion after a few more moments of talking and the conversation ends with Jungkook eagerly rushing back to his tent to prepare.

Feeling satisfied with your healthy dose of meddling, you brush your dress off and start towards the exit of the camp.

However, the deep voice of your suitor stops you in your tracks, sending butterflies directly into your stomach.

“Leaving without a goodbye?” Yoongi calls softly, departing from his tent.

You turn with a smile on your face to see him fully dressed in his training attire: fitted black pants and a matching tunic, his sword strapped faithfully to his hip.

“I figured I caused enough havoc amongst your battalion today. Besides, I wasn’t sure if you’d be dressed and I didn’t want to disturb you.” You explain, your hands sliding down to play with the fabric of your dress.

“If havoc is putting a ridiculous smile on my brothers face than please feel free to wreak havoc anytime you wish. I have dreaded the day where I’d have to convince him to go after his potential partner and you’ve gone and lifted that responsibility from me.” He explains, stepping towards you a bit more “He says his meeting with her tomorrow evening?”

“If all goes well.” You reply, your face heating up in light of his presence, “My plans usually play out successfully.”

“I have no doubts about that.” He chuckles, his feline gaze glancing behind you momentarily before returning back to your face, “Will I be seeing you tonight?”

Pretending to toy with the idea, you narrow your eyes and place a finger on your chin, “I suppose its possible, if you aren’t too busy with your duties here...”

“My duties?” He places a hand on his chest, stepping closer to you once again, “If anyone were to be tied up with their duties, I imagine it would be you. Being a full-time apothecary is enough but, now you’ve gone and taken up matchmaking as well.” Yoongi’s eyes glint as he stares at you, “You never have to concern yourself with whether or not I’ll have time for you...”

You resist the urge to throw yourself at him, frustrated by the effect he has on you.

“Then I suppose you will see me then.”

He grins, “Good.”

For a few seconds, the two of you stew in silence before the need to kiss him becomes too much to bear and you take the steps necessary to wrap your arms behind his neck and place your lips against him.

You can hear his sharp intake of breath as you do, his hands securing themselves at the base of your back.

The movements of the kiss escalate quickly, and you find yourself forgetting that you’re stood in the middle of a military camp, where anyone could walk out and see you both canoodling in the courtyard.

Yoongi seems to realize this too as he pulls away with heavy breath and hesitation all over his face.

“My my my...” He murmurs, shaking his head, “You really have no regard for my well-being do you?”

His light scolding causes you to giggle which in turn breaks the disapproving expression on his face.

“I’m trying to improve your well-being actually.” You insist, your fingers toying with the tendrils of hair at the back of his head, a dreamy smile on your mouth.

He raises his brows, “Oh? How do you figure that?”

Before you can reply, the rustling coming from behind Yoongi pulls you out of your conversation.

The rest of his battalion have seemingly woken up and are beginning to flock to the courtyard in preparation for their training.

Glancing behind him, Yoongi sighs before turning back to you reluctantly, “Tonight?”

You offer him a smile and step back out of his grip, “Tonight.”

He takes your hand and brings it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of it before heading off to his men.

Tonight now seemed a century away despite the fact that the sun was already heading off towards the horizon.

-The next day-

Your night with Yoongi followed the similar structure that it usually does.

Deeping meaningful conversation, playful banter, difficult questions and well, a healthy dose of unresolved lust.

He asserts the end to your displays of affection every time, offering the same words of comfort.

You’re fine with this of course.

You’d never want him to do anything he didn’t want to do, and you’d certainly want the first time you were intimate to be special.

However, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t feeling dejected.

It’s not because Yoongi says it’s not the right time or that he doesn’t think the two of you were ready.

You respect him and his choices completely and would never attempt to coerce him beyond his initial responses but...

You are beginning to feel alone in your desire for him.

For you, there has never been another to ignite such a powerful response within you.

You’ve never wanted anyone so badly.

It makes you feel insane and yet, here he is, so calm in his demeanor and easily able to refuse any opportunity to sate your hunger for one another.

It’s very silly, you think, he is clearly interested in you.

He makes that very obvious.

And yet, you can’t help but feel confusion.

He wouldn’t be in your village for much longer and soon enough you’d have to say goodbye for a length of time you’d rather not assign numerical value you to.

You wish you understood his intentions more and at the same time, you wish you were able to quell your desire for him.

You did feel alone in that way.

Yoongi was an incredible, multi-faceted man with seemingly thousands of years’ worth of knowledge behind his eyes. He was open and yet so secretive all at once and because of that, you couldn’t understand why he behaved this way.

The two of you would intentionally rile each other up only for him to put a stop to things every time.

But it’s almost as if this was part of his plans with you all along.

And you just couldn’t understand why.

So naturally, you end up running to the person who always keeps you grounded for advice: Rachel.

Although, after your conversation with Jungkook yesterday, you have multiple reasons for paying your friend a visit.

“He stopped things again before they went too far and-“ You sigh, looking down at her hands that secure a warm mug of tea, “I feel a little strange about it. I’m starting to feel like maybe he doesn’t desire me the way I desire him...”

Rachel is sat across from you on her sofa as she usually is, her legs tucked up on the cushion.

She takes a sip of her tea before her brows furrow in disagreement as she shakes her head, “I sincerely doubt that. He was very, um...excited wasn’t he?”

He was, you think, and he usually is but that only adds to your confusion.

“I don’t know...” You groan, “...he says he is but- he keeps saying it’s not the right time. I’m worried I may be too lustful towards him; I’m wondering if it’s off putting.”

“He does not seem the type to play games. If he says it’s not the right time...he must have a right time in mind?” She suggests before looking at you pointedly, “And I don’t believe you are being lustful. Even if you were, what’s wrong with that”

Nothing.

Nothing is wrong with being lustful as long as you are being respectful which you can honestly say you are but, the insecurity you’re feeling is contributing to a bit of shame within you.

“I’ve never wanted anyone this way, I feel like I’m going mad. He seems so calm and collected and yet- here I am, flustered and confused. I’m used to having a handle on my emotions I guess and I wish I knew how he was able to keep himself so composed.” You ponder the end of her question, “There is nothing wrong with being lustful. I just don’t know if he feels the same if it’s so easy for him to control himself around me...”

Rachel nods along, her bright eyes listening intently before she pauses to think, “You know, you have to remember he is a ten-year veteran and the leader of the most elite military force in our country. He has so much control and discipline applied to himself in all areas, I can’t imagine he would be able to easily relinquish that control. Especially with someone he has so much affection for. I am certain it is not easy, merely well-practiced”

She has a point but then again, she usually does.

You bite your lip, turning your attention to the fabric of the chair, picking at it, “You’re right. I suppose I’m being a little immature about this...I should just be more patient.”

It’s decided in your mind that you should move on to the other reason you came to visit her this evening: a deceitful conversation with a much happier ending.

“By the way, what are you doing this evening?”

She’s stood up now and striding over to the kitchen, rubbing your arm as she passes you, “You are not immature at all! I’m confident your general is worth the patience.” She assures you with a wink before she thinks to herself once again, “I don’t have anything in particular planned, why do you ask?”

You giggle at her wink and follow her with your eyes as she heads over to make herself another cup of tea, “I have a favor to ask you- that goes beyond our mutual agreement to keep each other sane.”

Rachel snickers and shakes her head, “I don’t know if there is much hope for our sanity but what do you need?”

You smile but it doesn’t totally reach your eyes, your mind annoyingly still occupied elsewhere, “You make a good point.” You concede before brightening your expression intentionally, “I had a customer today that inquired about the type of material the village school covers for children ages 3-5. They are considering enrolling their child this year and wanted to speak with a teacher. I was hoping you would be able to meet with them? I told them to stop by the school and speak with someone but I was hoping that someone could be you because you’re so experienced.”

Rachel brightens at the mention of a new student “Oh really? I would be happy to meet with them! At that it’s primarily playing games, reading stories and singing songs but I have a lovely little bunch of students that age already!” She cheers, clapping in front of her chest, excitedly.

Her joy is infectious, and you can’t help but grin despite your knowledge that she would certainly not be receiving a new student; you almost wish that she was though.

“Great! Well they should be around right before sundown. I gave them your classroom number and a bit of background on you and the school.”

“Oh my goodness! That’s not far off...well I have to bring in the dried flowers for tomorrow’s art lesson anyway...oh and where did I put the new wax pencils. Did you see where I put them?” Rachel abandons her cup of tea on the counter and begins puttering around in the baskets on her kitchen table, completely distracted.

You spot what she’s looking for and hold up set of pencils setting on the end table, “They’re right here..” You call, turning in the chair to hand them to her, “I would wear that blue dress of yours too, it’s very complimentary.” With this suggestion, you can’t help the glint in your eyes that shines through the bit of sadness still present there, “Well- thank you for your words of wisdom. I’m probably going to take a break from the river tonight, so I’ll be home if you need me for anything. I have no doubt that tonight will go wonderfully though...”

“Oh there they are!” She chirps, taking them from you before looking down at her current outfit, “I suppose I should change, I certainly look a bit of a mess...” She pauses then to look you, noticing the glimpse of sadness in your eyes. “Don’t hold yourself back from love, Y/N. Your general is certainly just as passionate about you. I would bet all the gold in the kingdom on it!”

The excitement and certainty in her tone is almost enough to pull you out of your funk but, the stubborn naysayer in your head has different plans.

“No you don’t, you look wonderful! I just love the blue one on you.” You insist, before crossing your arms and slumping back against the chair, “I am not holding back, I’m just- trying to be reasonable I suppose. His passion is clearly controlled, and I guess I should work on controlling mine as well...” You explain matter of factly with a pout on your lips.

Rachel matches your pose as she steps around the chair to look directly at you, unconvinced, “Mmhmm. Perfectly reasonable.” She drawls sarcastically before chuckling when you attempt to kick your foot at her.

“I am!” You assert, trying to hold back a smile, “I’m just some silly little girl fawning over the man of my dreams while he gets to CALMLY walk away like us canoodling against a tree doesn’t affect him- and I feel foolish for desiring him so much when he’s able to do so.”

Rachel lets out a cackle your display of frustration. “You are NOT a silly little girl. A silly grown woman? Maybe," She giggles, “but I am CERTAIN he wouldn’t have to address this “right time” so often if he didn’t desire you. Do what makes you feel powerful! But don’t play games with the poor Tiger’s heart needlessly...from what you have said he is a much gentler man than we’ve given him credit for. “Though,” She tilts her head, her hand coming up to fuss with her hair, “you certainly shouldn’t seek advice from me. I spent the day with paste in my hair without realizing.”

Your pout deepens, “I would never play with his heart... I’m going insane with desire over here and he gets to be all collected like ‘when the right time comes- I promise you it will be worth the wait’ and oh look at me, I’m extremely handsome and I can just kiss passionately for minutes on end without going further...” You grumble haphazardly before you hesitate slightly, “Well I’m not sure what him being handsome has to do with it but you get my point.” A smile threatens your features even more when she mentions her hair, “Paste is all the rage darling, you are simply fashion forward. Besides- I have a feeling this uh- new student of yours will look out for you.”

Rachel hugs herself as she laughs at your little outburst, “It has EVERYTHING to do with it! You know it does-” She accuses playfully, “I do get your point though. I’m certain you will meet again...and say what’s on your mind! You are much better at that than I am anyway.” Rachel’s face is full of hesitation then, shaking her head, “Most of my students “look out for me” by piling dandelions on my desk and leaving goopy handprints on my clothes...I hope this new student is sweet.”

A smirk plays on your lips then, dropping your other topic of conversation, “I’m sure they will be, their parents seemed nice enough...”

”Oh really?!? Do you know anything about them? Should I bring anything along? Are you sure they want to see me? Should I get going?!” She babbles excitedly, glancing towards her front door.

Her eagerness serves as your cue to head out, your stomach brewing with hunger, nerves and excitement.

You couldn’t wait to hear how tonight will go for her.

“It is almost sundown so I suppose I should get going...” You concedes with a sigh before offering her a genuine smile, patting her shoulder as you head towards the door, “Just bring your lovely self, they are very eager to meet you.”

“Okay, if you’re certain!” Rachel smiles, gathering a collection of dried flowers into a basket before heading for the door with you, “If you change your mind and go to the river after all YOU HAD BETTER TELL ME!”

“You look amazing-” You promise as you step past her through the doorway, “I have a feeling you’ll have more to tell me the next time we meet but I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

Rachel looks confused for a moment before merely shrugging it off, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek, “Okay then, I’m off! I love you ok? Hang in there...”

You embrace her shortly unable to help the growth in your smile, “I love you too. I wanna hear about the meeting tomorrow ok?”

She agrees happily, already bounding off towards the schoolhouse, a basket of flowers in her hand.

Despite the uncertainty you may feel about your own romantic life, you are filled with joy at the thought of your dear friend starting a fairytale of her own.

Even though she has absolutely no idea...

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

Rachel arrives at the schoolhouse just before sundown, using her master key to unlock the heavy oak door of the main entrance before heading off to her classroom.

The windows surrounding the exterior of the schoolyard allow for the different hues of the sunset to stream in thorough the glass, providing a beautiful stroll down the hallway.

Rachel feels optimistic as she opens up the door, immediately setting the basket of flowers on a nearby desk and lighting the various lanterns around the room.

The sun would be up for another half an hour or so but, Rachel was unsure as to how long this meeting would go so a little extra light wouldn’t hurt.

Since she doesn’t have a concrete time of arrival, she decides to busy herself with a bit of prep work and light cleaning for the next school day. She figures that if a parent were to walk in on her likes this, it might add to their overall impression of the school.

A teacher’s work is never done.

After roughly 40 minutes or so, Rachel is beginning to worry that this parent potentially changed their mind. That is until, a light knock sounds on the outside of her door.

“Come in!” She calls brightly, standing up from behind her desk.

She has no expectations for what her visitor might look like as she honestly hadn’t even considered it since you asked her this favor. However, the man who walks in through her door most certainly is not who she would have ever expected.

Because the man who just walked in, is Jungkook.

Tall, strong, doe-eyed, shaggy haired, WARRIOR Jungkook...

The terror cub himself has now found his way inside her classroom.

And she is both terribly confused and terribly excited all at once.

“Good evening,” She chokes out, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress, “Forgive me but- you're not the person I’m meant to meet with are you? Did you see any folks outside, looking a bit lost perhaps?”

Jungkook looks terrified but he steps inside nonetheless, one of his hands positioned awkwardly behind his back.

“Uh- Hi, I mean- Good evening mam...” He bows before her, “Um...” He shuffles forward a bit, his eyes scanning the room for a moment, “Heretheseareforyou.” Jungkook rushes out, shoving a bouquet of fresh daisies onto one of the empty desks, his eyes averting Rachel’s very confused expression, “I am the person you’re meant to meet actually...”

Rachel gasps to herself as she spots the daisies, her heart immediately picking up in her chest, “Oh! Oh goodness thank you, that’s very kind of you...” She smiles, her hands seemingly frozen in place at the front of her dress, “I’m- I’m so confused I apologize. Do you have children?”

He shakes his head, his floppy black hair following the motions. He is dressed in a pair of tan linen pants and a rather tight-fitting white peasant blouse, the golden expanse of his chest on full display, his feet tucked into a pair of leather boots. Rachel does her best to ignore how good he looks but, he makes it very difficult.

“No I don’t.” He answers, cringing slightly at the juvenile nature of this situation, “You know Y/N right?”

Rachel giggles, the sound a little higher pitched than usual, “I do yes. We’ve been friends since we were children...”

“Heh yeah, sorry I knew that but uh- so Y/N...” He begins, his hands coming up to assist in his explanation, “She paid me a visit earlier and suggested that...welll- She suggested that I pay you a visit.”

“Oh well- is everything alright? Are you in need of my assistance?” She inquires softly, her face decorated with concern.

Jungkook’s chest is filled with warmth at the sight of her unease, feeling very lucky to be the object of her concern.

“Everything’s ok I just- I wasn’t sure how to go about speaking with you.” He hesitates, feeling a bit of discomfort as he tries to find a way to explain his presence here, “I know you’re a very busy woman and I wasn’t even sure if you’d even want to speak with me which- by the way, if you’re uncomfortable with my presence, please let me know. I don’t want to be a bother...”

Rachel shakes her head instantly, her hands coming up to stop him from continuing that train of thought, “No- no not all! I mean-” She clears her throat, “You aren't a bother at all, I would love to speak with you. Although, forgive me- I'm a little confused as to what you’d like to speak about. Is it the school? Are you interested in meeting with the students?”

Jungkook grins softly and shakes his head, “No mam. I mean- I wouldn’t be opposed to meeting with them but, I am more interested in meeting with you...”

She gulps, her eyes widening a bit as she places a hand to her chest, “Me?”

He bites his lip and Rachel swears she sees a sparkle in his eyes as he steps closer to her.

“Yes mam. I uh-” His throat bobs with his own uncomfortable swallow as he shoves his hand in the pocket of his pants, pulling out a piece of crumbled parchment, “ I have travelled many miles. I have seen the mountains, the ocean and the forest. I have seen the sun in east and the moon in the west. I have seen the royal palace and all the riches it contains. I have seen all a man would need to see in his lifetime and yet, I have never felt complete until my eyes fell upon your face.”

Comically, Rachel’s mouth has fallen open, her face colored with shock.

Her heart seemingly freezes in her chest as Jungkook’s nervous gaze leaves the parchment and gazes up towards her.

“I wrote this when I was 17.” He begins sheepishly, “I promised myself that I would read it for the woman who captured my heart...”

Rachel inhales shakily, a slight sting in her eyes as emotion overcomes her.

“But you just read it to me...”

He chuckles warmly, his hand tucking a bit of hair behind his ear, “I did.”

“Am I-?” She begins but Jungkook cuts her off, stepping towards her a bit more.

“I know it’s a bit much isn’t it? I’ve never been very good with subtly and with my departure looming in the background, I couldn’t help but confess to you while I still had time. You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and your existence makes me warm. I haven’t felt warmth like this before and I- I guess I just wanted to see if I had a chance at courting you...”

Rachel finally closes her mouth for a moment only to cover it with her hand.

She’s in complete disbelief that this is happening, but she responds nevertheless as best as she can.

“You- you have more than chance, you have a million chances I- oh wow, I feel a little faint goodness gracious...” She sighs, fanning herself as she leans against her desk, “I don’t understand...”

He rushes over to her then, a look of concern on his face, “Are you alright? Do you need some water or something?”

She shakes her head, letting out a shaky breath at the close proximity between them, immediately noticing the way he smells like amber and rosemary.

It warm, just like he is.

“I’m ok, I just-” She looks up at him, “I honestly cannot believe you feel this way about me. I’m just a schoolteacher, I probably have paste in my hair...and you’re a warrior I- I'm confused.”

Jungkook snickers, tilting his head to the side as he spots the bit of paste still clinging to the end of her hair. With gentle fingers, he reaches out and extracts the bit of dried gunk from her hair, discarding it on the desk, “You are not ‘just’ anything. You are bright and warm. Your duty lies with educating the children and I believe that to be far nobler than what I do. Please don’t sell yourself short, especially not on my account.”

Subconsciously, they seem to lean into one another, Rachel’s nerves dissipating slightly, “So then, you said you wish to court me yes? How- how do you intend we do this?”

He purses his lips, “Well,” He tilts his head to the side, “I would love to have dinner with you. I know that there aren’t many eateries in the village but-”

“I can cook for us!” She chirps happily cause his grin to broaden, “I know a spot we can eat, it’s really beautiful and it’s private for the most part.”

Jungkook is bursting with fondness, nodding eagerly at her suggestion before turning around to grab the flowers, “That sounds wonderful. Are you available tomorrow, same time?”

“Yes! I mean-” She clears her throat as the volume of her voice escapes her, “Yes, yes I’m free. I can meet you at the plaza?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll meet you anywhere you’d like...” He nods and haphazardly pushes the flowers in her direction, “Here, I picked these for you. I’ll pick more tomorrow as well- do you have a favorite? I hope daisies were alright...I’m not familiar with the flora around here.”

She smiles brightly, accepting the flowers graciously, securing them to your chest, “These are perfect! I love wildflowers, really anything that grows along the east part of the river...” She muses thoughtfully, “Daisies are some of my favorites as well. I’m sure Y/N told you that though...” She giggles but Jungkook shakes his head.

“She didn’t actually. I suppose it was just a lucky guess.” He smiles before stepping back slightly, fiddling with his hands now that they are empty, “So tomorrow then?”

With another rapid nod she responds, “Yes, tomorrow.”

“Great! Well uh-” He hesitates, glancing longingly towards her lips before extending his hand, “May I?”

With a harsh swallow and a shaky hand, she obliges, sticking her hand out towards his.

As if she were made of glass, Jungkook carefully raises her hand to his lips before placing a chaste kiss over the ridges of her knuckles, “Until tomorrow...”

“Until tomorrow.” She squeaks, covering her mouth once more.

He bows his head, offering another devastating grin before leaving the classroom.

With a hefty sigh, Rachel stares at the door in disbelief.

“It seems as though my dear friend isn’t an apothecary but a criminal mastermind...” She muses to herself, her cheeks on fire as she giggles to herself, “Huh, you think you know people.”

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

You decided shortly after your meeting with Rachel that you would in fact be going to the river because, regardless of your uncertainty: you still wanted to see Yoongi.

“Something is troubling you...” He notes the moment he steps out from behind the trees, dressed down in a pair of black pants and a longer gray linen robe to ward of the slight chill in the air.

“What makes you say that?” You challenge with a grin, your heart fluttering as soon as you see him, “I’m just hoping my plan is playing out as I’d hoped...”

“Ah-” He lifts a finger, “I recall you saying that your plans play out relatively well. Also, you and I both know that my brother and your friend are smitten over one another so- I find it hard to believe your thinking so hard about a clear victory.”

You bite your lip, unsure of what to say next as Yoongi has so clearly seen right through you.

“We don’t get much time together; it would be a waste to spend it discussing the internal monologue going on inside my head.” You joke, stepping towards him.

He clicks his tongue, “Now see- that is where you’re wrong. It was your internal monologue and your resulting opinions that drew me to visit you in the first place. The other talents your lips have are merely a bonus.” He smirks but his eyes hold some degree of concern, “I want to know what’s on your mind Y/N...no matter how insignificant you may find it.”

Yoongi’s sincerity draws you out of your shell, your heart picking up slightly at the thought of discussing your feelings.

“It’s silly...” You warn him causing him to chuckle.

“Good, I could use a bit of silliness after today.” He promises with a grin but his laughter dissipates as he notices even the slightest bit of distress on your face, “Your thoughts aren’t silly Y/N, at least not to me. I’d really like to hear what you’re thinking.”

Gnawing on your bottom lip, you take a deep breath and muster up the courage to be honest with him, “What are your intentions with me?”

He tilts his head, stepping closer to you after your question, face decorated with curiosity, “Which intentions are you referring to?”

You feel yourself growing nervous under his gaze but, you stay strong anyway and push through, “All of them- I suppose. It’s just that, I’m having difficulty...I’m-”

The hesitation in your features concerns Yoongi and he can’t help but quell the distance between you, taking your hands gently in his own.

“My girl- what's troubling you like this? Have I upset you?”

He’s tilting his head, trying to find your gaze as you look down at where your hands are connected.

His question causes you to look up at him, lips parted as you shake your head.

“No, no of course not.” You assure him, entwining your fingers with his, “I just- oh I promise you it’s going to sound silly...”

Yoongi chuckles incredulously, gently shaking your hands in his grip, “Y/N, darling please tell me what’s on your mind. I promise you I won’t find think it’s silly.”

Your heart sings at the pet name he gives you, taking a momentary break from it’s uneven rhythm, “I’ve just been wondering why you haven’t...well, why we haven’t- why we haven’t been intimate.”

Yoongi’s chest tightens with realization, his grip on your hands tightening ever so slightly before taking a deep breath, “There is nothing silly about that at all.” He assures you with a gentle smile, his eyes shifting from your hands to your face and back again whilst he tries to come up with a response, “It’s a perfectly normal thing to be curious about, especially considering how often we kiss. To be quite honest, my reasoning is probably what will end up sounding silly to you...”

“I don’t think it will, I just want to understand where your head is at because,” You sigh, looking into his eyes, “sometimes I feel alone in how much I desire you and I thought maybe if I got an idea where your head is at, I could understand why you always stop things before they go too far.”

At this, Yoongi raises his brows, “You think you’re alone in the desire to take me to bed?” He confirms, his voice deepening, a ghost of a smirk on his lips, “And here I thought you were clever...”

With a pout to your lips, you playfully tug your hands out of his grip causing him to chuckle before capturing them once again, “I am clever! Clever people get confused all the time, besides you just said this was a perfectly normal thing to be curious about.”

He laughs still and nods, guiding your hands up to his shoulders, “Yes I did. However, I was referring to you wondering why we haven’t gone to bed together yet, not you wondering whether or not I wanted to take you to bed. That IS silly...”

“It’s not though...” You insist, a shiver running down your spine as he slides his freed hands around your waist, “You always seem so composed. We’ll have been kissing for what feels like forever and then- you stop us. Which is ok of course but, I just don’t fully understand why.”

He hums thoughtfully with a smirk still on his lips as he pulls you closer to him, “My composure is an illusion Y/N. My job requires me to have complete control all of the time, especially in the face of an enemy...”

Scoffing, your pout deepens at the end of his sentence, “Oh so I'm your enemy now? Gee Yoongi, I’m so glad I decided to share this with you- I feel much better now.”

Yoongi laughs heartily at your sarcasm before leaning in and pressing a kiss to your forehead, “You are an enemy to my composure darling- you are just refusing to realize that.”

His kiss causes your heart to sing with satisfaction, despite the fact that you are trying very hard to focus on pouting.

“Even if that were true...I still feel silly for how much I desire you.”

He quells the playfulness between the two of you then, one of his hands coming up to cup your cheek, “You are not silly, and you are not alone. My entire world has shifted because of you. I think you’d be shocked if you knew how much you occupied my thoughts.” He assures you, placing another kiss on your forehead, “However, that isn’t the answer to your question is it? You’re wondering why we haven’t gone to bed together despite how much we desire each other.”

“Yes.” You murmur, leaning against his hand, “If you have any insight on this general, please provide a briefing...”

He smirks fondly, brushing his thumb over your cheek, “You really have no idea how much I want you. I don’t think I could possibly explain it. Because of that, I want to wait until I can give you everything I have. Right now I- I simply can’t.” He admits, a bit of sadness now in his tone, “I want to wait until I have a proper villa, until I don’t have to worry about leaving at dawn to continue training, until I can stay underneath the sheets with you, until I can spend hours pleasing you- without the threat of war in the back of my mind. You deserve a man with no distractions, right now- I'm just not that man yet.”

His explanation makes perfect sense and you feel a bit of guilt for ever wondering how he felt about you in the first place but before you’re able to comment on his words, he speaks again.

“But please- please don’t think that means I don’t desire you.” He whispers, smiling softly whilst he places yet another kiss to your forehead. Letting his lips linger there, he sighs hopelessly, “One day, when I am finally free of my duties- I will spend days memorizing your skin with my lips...” He begins kissing his way down the bridge of your nose, puckering his lips gently as he does. He bypasses your lips however and uses his hand to tilt your head to the side, give him access to your neck, “I will memorize every bump,” He kisses your skin, “every curve,” Kiss “every line,” Kiss “every scar,” Kiss “every spot that gives you pleasure.” He inhales softly through his nose when he hears you gasp, your hands tightening on his shoulders, “Will you wait for me darling? Will you wait until I can give you my soul? My heart is already yours, I just need a little bit longer....”

You’re already nodding, certain with your response despite how much his presence is currently affecting you, “I’d wait for you forever, General Min.”

You can feel him grin against your neck, “I only need six months...” He chuckles, his laughter increasing as you playfully smack his back. “Then I’m yours forever.”

At his amendment, you smile and kiss the side of his head, “Forever sounds nice.”

Yoongi sighs, sliding his hands across your back to pull you into his embrace, “Forever it is then.”

571 notes · View notes

lyranova · 3 years

Text

A Fractured Diamond:

Episode 9: Neva vs Llyr

Hi guys! I’m so sorry its been so long since I’ve posted a chapter of this, I’ve been busy with other fics and series and haven’t really felt inspired for this lately. But I got hit with the inspiration recently and finally finished it 😁! This is the last part to this ‘arc’ so I hope you all enjoy~!

Taglist: @thoughtfullyrainynightmare @succulentsunrise @jovialnoise

Word Count: 4,528

Warnings: Violence

Neva rolled her shoulders back as she heard the announcer shout. This was it, she felt her nervousness from a moment ago slowly fall away. She needed to put Llyr and Langris out of her mind for now, she had to focus on the task at hand. She turned to look at Sonas and Lavis, they were just standing there, apparently they didn’t have any idea what they were supposed to be doing. She sighed and shook her head, they were useless.

“ Ok, since neither of you have mapping spells can you at least sense mana decently?” She asked as she crossed her arms, they would need to move soon before the other team discovered their location.

“ U-Um…not really.” Sonas muttered softly, Lavis shrugged his shoulder.

“ I’m decent, but not as good as most.” Neva growled in irritation.

“ Well what are you two good at?!” She snarled, she needed to do well, she wanted to be a part of the Royal Knights and she would be damned if she didn’t make it because of these two! “ Whatever. Just stay here and guard the crystal. I’ll take care of the other team.” She quickly equipped her Effervescent Armor and took off before either of her teammates could say a word.

“ Well she’s in a mood.”

——-

Yuno watched as Neva seemed to almost glide across the battlefield, she seemed to know exactly where the other team and their crystal was. Her mana sensing was quite impressive, but it didn’t help that the other team was already on their way to where Neva’s team was situated so she was at least a level 4. He watched as she summoned a crystal pillar to pierce through the other team's mode of transportation. Her armor disappeared and she began to use Diamond Shower to attack from long range and Diamond Palisade to block the team's attacks.

‘She has gotten much stronger.’ Yuno thought somewhat proud, the thing was; Neva didn’t realize how much stronger she had gotten in the past few weeks, anytime they trained she would always mutter how she needed to get stronger, how she was still too weak, how she couldn’t call herself a member of the Golden Dawn until she was able to beat someone with the same magic type as her. He shook his head slightly, she was putting too much pressure on herself. But the more he watched the more his suspicions were confirmed. These three mages she was fighting against, they were all decently strong and she was handling them with ease. Not a single spell was able to hit her. Suddenly, he watched as a single Diamond Arrow shot out of her hand went straight through the other team's crystal; they had left themselves wide open to an attack.

“ Crystal Destroyed!” Rang out through the battlefield, Yuno watched as the teams walked away from each other and climbed onto the small disks that would float them back up to where the other knights stood.

“ I told you; she doesn’t work well in teams.” Klaus muttered as he pushed his glasses up, Yuno turned to look at him.

“ But, she works well with us!” Mimosa argued, but everyone had seen it. She went rogue.

“ Yes. But the key word there is us, she knows us and has learned how to work with and around our affinities.” Klaus argued before they heard heels click against the stone ground, Yuno turned and saw the fair haired girl in question walking towards them.

Neva was breathing heavier than she would have liked, the battle really wore her out, it also used a lot more mana than she wanted. She shouldn’t have used her armor, but she wanted to get the battle done and over with as quickly as possible. She wiped the small beads of sweat off her brow with the back of her hand as she walked over to the others. Yuno’s eyes were narrowed slightly.

“ What’s wrong?” Neva asked as she stood in front of him.

“ Nothing. You did very well out there.” He answered simply, Neva quirked her eyebrow. She was sensing a ‘but’ in that statement.

“ But?” She pushed slightly, Yuno was a terrible liar or at least when it came to little white lies anyway.

“ But you need to remember this is a team test. You can’t just abandon them like that and go off on your own, that’ll most likely disqualify you if you do it again.” Yuno explained, his usual monotone voice held a certain sternness to it. Neva gritted her teeth, she knew he was right, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

“ Says the guy who told me to use them as decoys.” She threw back, Yuno blinked in surprise for a moment before he looked away in shame, he did tell her to do that didn’t he?

“ I shouldn’t have said that.” he admitted softly, causing her to sigh as well. Everyone in this test had been dealt a bad hand. Some worse than others.

“ What do you suggest I do then? Since I can’t go off on my own?” She asked him before crossing her arms, she watched Yuno think for a moment before he did a small half shrug.

“ Adapt.” He told her simply. Neva blinked, that was it? To adapt?! That was all the advice he could give her?! She shook her head before walking past him for a moment and coming to stand next to him, she watched as a small team cleaned the field for the next team.

“ Easy for you to say, you can adapt easily. I...I’m not so lucky.” She muttered under her breath, Yuno frowned, she was decent at adapting in his eyes. Sure she wasn’t as good as others, but she was still decent. Before he could open his mouth to argue his team had been called.

“ Looks like it's your turn.” Neva said as she turned to look at him, a small smirk on her face. Yuno nodded before walking towards his team.

“ Hey Yuno,” he turned as he suddenly heard Neva call him, his breath hitched in his throat slightly. She was smiling softly, like at the Star Festival. “ Good Luck.” All Yuno could do was nod in response before he turned and stood on the small platform that would take him and his team down to the small battlefield. He had seen that smile two times before, so why did it still make him feel...weird? Like he couldn’t breathe. He quickly shook his head, there wasn’t time for any of that, he needed to focus on the task at hand.

———

Neva watched silently as Yuno and his team entered the battlefield, she was nervous, even though she knew he would be alright. She didn’t really know why she was nervous for him though.

‘Maybe because you don’t want him to get hurt, hm?’ That little voice in her head teased. She quickly shook her head, no, that wasn’t it! That couldn’t be it! But a small part of her did wonder if that little voice could be correct, when Neva thought about it she was nervous when Mimosa and Klaus were fighting as well. She paled instantly, no, that was the complete opposite of what she wanted! She had to keep her distance, the walls needed to stay up, for everyone's sake. She heard the announcer begin the match and watched as Yuno and his team split up. He took charge almost as soon as they had landed on the field, he knew what he was going to do, and he expected them to follow.

Neva watched him in awe, the way he moved on the field...it was amazing! The way he used his affinity to carry himself, the way he was able to use both offensive and defensive spells at the same time without using very much mana. It was one thing when she fought alongside him, and another when she was watching him. She never noticed the way he flicked his wrist when he went to use one of his many offensive spells, or the way he clenched his jaw when his opponent made a counter move, or the way he seemed more comfortable in the air than on the ground. He carried himself differently on the battlefield than he did when he wasn’t, he was more confident, more comfortable here. This was his space. Neva hadn’t realized her mouth was slightly open in awe at him until she was snapped out of her thoughts by the one person she never wanted to see again.

“The Honest; always gives, but never takes.

A protagonist; never makes mistakes.

The honorable; always provides solace.

A leader; one that truly intimidates.

The true hero; the honest.

An honest man; is he.”

Llyr closed his poetry book with a soft ‘snap’. He came to stand beside Neva and watched as Yuno continued to dodge the lesser mage’s spells.

“ Are you trying to tell me something Llyr?” Neva asked in irritation, she hated his stupid vauge poems, ever since he was a kid he was always partial to that art form. He chuckled softly.

“ Maybe I am. But sadly, the message probably goes over your poor little head.” He sighed in disappointment. She glared at him.

“ Well I’m assuming the ‘honest man’ you’re referring to is Yuno, yes?” She asked with a smirk, she saw the genuine surprise on his face before he quickly covered it.

“ My, you have changed Neva. What a smart little girl you’ve become.” Neva growled, the way he was speaking to her, like she was a naive child, was really starting to piss her off.

“ You’ve got to the count of three to go away before I kick you across the field.” She warned, Llyr held his hands up in mock surrender before he laughed.

“ Aw don’t be that way Neva, I was only teasing. But you are correct, I was talking about Yuno.” He confirmed with a nod. “ May I ask you something?”

“ You’re going to ask anyway so I don’t see the point in you asking for permission.” She snapped, Llyr always did and said what he wanted, so why should he start asking for permission now?

“ How can you two be so close, and so similar, but yet be so different at the same time?” He asked, Neva turned to look at him in confusion.

“ What are you talking about? Yuno and I aren't very close.” She stated she didn’t think they were very close, or at least not closer than how squadmates usually were, he shrugged simply.

“ You sure? Because, it doesn’t look that way to me.” Llyr smirked slightly, causing Neva to roll her eyes at him. “ Y’know what I noticed? You didn’t deny that you were different, yet similar.”

Neva hmphed a bit, she had noticed their similarities a bit. Both were quiet, focused, and didn’t really want to make friends and yet they were different in the sense Yuno told everyone what he was thinking and didn’t have a problem telling them about his family, about the people back at his home in Hage village, while she, well, she didn’t talk about anything.

“ Crystal Destroyed!” Suddenly rang out, pulling Neva out of her thoughts, Yuno’s team had won and she missed it, because of Llyr!

“ Great thanks a lot.” Neva snapped, she had wanted to see all her squadmates' victories. The red haired man smirked and ‘tsked’.

“ What a shame you missed your boyfriend's overwhelming victory.” He tutted, Neva growled and she glared at him.

“ He is not my boyfriend!”

“ Whatever you say blondie, whatever you say.” He teased before walking away, she glared at the red heads retreating form. He was probably the most infuriating person on the planet, a small piece of her wondered how his fellow squadmates hadn’t killed him yet. She looked over when she saw Yuno and his team come over, Noelle walked past her to go speak with Asta and the other Black Bulls that had come to cheer her on while the man from the Green Mantis went over to be by himself, or that’s what Neva assumed anyway.

“ You did great out there.” Neva said with a smirk, she hadn’t gotten to see the entire match, but from what she had seen, and what she knew about him, it was probably an easy victory.

“ Thanks I guess. It wasn’t that difficult.” Yuno said quietly as the two watched a small crew begin to clean up again.

“ I didn’t figure it was.” She said with a small laugh, she figured most of these matches would be pretty easy for him, unless he went up against the Captain of the Aqua Deer or one of the Vice Captains. That would probably be the only time he would struggle.

The raven haired man and platinum haired woman stood in silence as the next team entered the field, neither really felt the need to constantly fill the silence with small talk like a lot of people felt they needed too, Neva had to admit it was nice not having to think of something to say. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and saw he appeared to be lost in thought, most likely about his next match. She sighed softly, she had been trying to think of a strategy herself, but considering her two teammates might as well be useful as a chocolate teapot in the middle of summer.

Neva blinked as suddenly the next team was already leaving the battlefield, what? When did she miss that? Yuno frowned as he looked over at her.

“ You alright?” He asked, he watched the blonde girl shake her head. The last time he looked at her she looked to be completely lost in thought, he shook his head, she was stressing herself out.

“ I’m fine, just...got lost in thought.” She laughed humorlessly, she frowned when Yuno made a disbelieving noise, but neither commented on it. She wondered why he had made that noise. Suddenly she watched his eyes widen and his mouth open slightly in shock. “ What’s wrong?” She asked before she followed his gaze up to the board. She gasped softly as her own eyes widened at the names.

The next two teams that would be going against each other were hers and Llyrs!

“Seriously?!” She said softly, why did the world have it out for her?! It wasn’t that he was stronger than her, it was that she had to deal with his personality on the battlefield. He was already annoying enough just speaking to him, she could only imagine how he was when you fought against him!

“ Well well well, if this isn’t a pleasant surprise.” Llyr laughed as he came up to stand beside Neva and Yuno, she gritted her teeth and glared at the red head who only smirked. “ I was hoping I’d get to test out your fighting skills today. Hopefully I won’t be disappointed.” He chuckled before walking towards his teammates.

Neva shook her head before she walked over to the small platform that would carry them down to the arena.

“ You’ll be ok Neva. You’ve got this.” She froze as she heard those words leave Yuno’s lips, she turned around to face him and he had his usual look on his face that she couldn’t read, but the look in his eyes showed he believed those words without a doubt. She smirked and nodded.

“ Thanks, Yuno.” She said as she stepped onto the platform with her teammates and floated down to the arena, she couldn’t help but sigh slightly in relief. She felt better knowing someone else believed in her.

———

Neva looked around, they had been dropped in a different location than before, they were in a small slightly worn down building that was surrounded by trees and foliage. She had to admit it was a good spot to hide in, well hidden, secluded. But it was also the perfect spot to be ambushed, so she made sure to keep her guard up. She looked over at Sonas and Lavis who just stood there looking around, she sighed in exasperation; these two were completely hopeless.

“ What’s the plan boss?” Lavis asked as he crossed his arms, Neva rolled her eyes; why did it always fall to her to come up with a plan? Did neither of them have a brain of their own?

“ I don’t know.” She confessed with a shrug, Sonas blinked and looked down at the ground.

“ L-Llyr is a really strong mage and his two teammates are as well, h-how are we going to beat them without a proper plan?” He asked nervously, Neva placed a hand under her chin thoughtfully.

Llyr was not dumb by any means, sure he liked to pretend he was dumb and aloof, but he was probably one of the most intelligent people she knew. She began to pace around the room as Lavis and Sonas watched her. Llyr’s main weakness was his pride, anger, and his ego. He believed he was more powerful than he actually was, now that wasn’t to say he wasn’t powerful, but she had gone against a lot more powerful people than him before. She smirked a bit as she was hit by a sudden idea, a memory from a previous conversation had popped into her head and she knew exactly how to beat Llyr!

“ I have an idea, but I’ll need you both to listen to me very carefully and follow my instructions exactly as I tell you. Do you understand?” Neva asked them, they both frowned but nodded.

Llyr sighed as he used his water magic to carry him, his teammates, and their crystal towards Neva and her team. He lucked out in getting a mage who had a mapping spell, so they were able to locate them pretty easily.

“ Huh.” The Blue Rose knight who was using the mapping spell suddenly muttered, causing Llyr to glance over at her.

“ What’s wrong? We’re almost there.” Llyr asked in mild annoyance, the girl frowned and looked up at him.

“ The group; they’re splitting up and going in completely different directions!” She exclaimed in surprise, Llyr smirked which only surprised the team more.

“ Ah, she’s taking a huge risk doing this. But is the gain really worth it?” He muttered to himself as he suddenly dropped the water transportation spell, he landed on his feet while the others landed flat on their faces.

“ She thinks she can weaken our team by separating us, making us all go in seperate directions.” He suddenly began to chuckle. “ But she forgets; it weakens her team as well. Where is the strongest mana coming from?” He asked the Blue Rose Knight, she looked at her mapping spell before answering.

“ Straight ahead. It’s a large concentration of mana but-.” She didn’t get to finish her sentence before he took off in the direction she pointed. “ H-Hey wait!” Llyr didn’t listen, he knew where there was a large amount of mana meant that Neva was there and, knowing her, she would be guarding the crystal herself!

Neva smirked as she stood in a small clearing, waiting for the red head to show up. She glanced at the crystal behind her, she hoped her plan would work, no, she knew her plan would work. She quickly faced forward before suddenly feeling mana approach her and saw Llyr flying towards her and her smirk widened; he brought his crystal with him.

What an idiot.

Llyr suddenly let out a yell as a wave of water came towards her, Neva quickly used ‘Diamond Palisade’ and a wall of diamond quickly appeared in front of her and blocked the water mages spell. Droplets of water splashed around her, some even landed on her cheeks, but she remained calm. There was no way he would be able to cut through her diamond.

“ Nice reflexes blondie.” Llyr smirked before he sent more and more waves of water towards her.

Neva either dodged or blocked them with her Diamond Wall, she would use her Diamond shower on occasion, but he was pretty fast himself. Llyr would dodge or capture it in a bubble of water before letting it drop to the ground. The more the two fought the more destruction they caused. Tree’s were being cut down, the ground was being destroyed. But worse of all; Neva was getting tired.

‘I...I used a lot more mana than I thought.’ Neva thought somewhat bitterly, she hadn’t meant to use so much earlier but she had no choice. She tried her best to defend the crystal, she couldn’t let him break it, that one thing held her chance at being a Royal Magic Knight!

“ Haha my my, the Diamond of the Golden Dawn is getting tired is she?” Llyr teased as he sent more waves of water towards her, that had been a title given to her shortly after she became a Magic Knight. She usually didn’t mind her title, even though it wasn’t used very much, but she absolutely hated the way it fell from his lips. Like he was mocking her accomplishment. She sent more Diamond shards towards him but again he dodged or captured them on bubbles. Neva began breathing heavily, she didn’t have much mana left.

“ Hah!” Llyr suddenly shouted, he sent a spear of water towards her and she made yet another wall, but as soon as the wall went down he sent a slash of water at her, but she didn’t have time to create another wall. The sharp edge of his water knife grazed her cheek before curving past her and cutting straight through the crystal. Neva heard the crystal shatter behind her and fell to her knees; this was it.

“ Hahaha! I can’t believe it, even after all this time you still can’t beat me and you’re supposed to be a part of the Golden Dawn!” Llyr laughed almost manically as he held his head high in triumph. “ At first I’ll admit, I thought you had really gotten stronger, especially since you’re in the Golden Dawn. But apparently, I was wrong. You’re still that weak little girl from many years ago who knew nothing about her magic and could only make little sculptures with it.” He stepped towards her and glowered down at her.

“ What a disappointment.”

Neva’s head shot up at that comment and Llyr’s eyes widened; she was smirking at him. Why? Why did she look like that? Like she had just won. That’s when it suddenly hit Llyr like a ton of bricks.

The announcer didn’t call out ‘Crystal Destroyed’. His blue eyes traveled towards where the crystal had sat only moments ago, he had destroyed it hadn’t he? So why wasn’t he being declared the victor? He growled as he looked at Neva’s smirking face again.

“ What did you do?!” He shouted in rage, and all Neva did was slam her hand to the ground and a diamond spear appeared behind him and pierced his team's crystal. He whipped around and stared as the shattered remains began to disappear. He gaped like a fish out of water, what the hell did she do?!

“ Crystal Destroyed!” The announcer shouted and Llyr felt his blood boil as the blonde stood up and held her head up high.

“ I listened to a friend's advice and used everyone as decoy’s.” She smirked as Yuno’s teasing words popped into her head. He had meant it jokingly, but it was actually a pretty good idea when she thought about it. She began to walk away from Llyr, he began to follow her and just glared at her back.

“ You see; I used my Diamond Magic to make 3 fake crystals that were nearly identical to the one we were given. In order to do that I had to use a lot of mana, plus I had to insert some of my, as well as my teammates, mana into them so your team wouldn’t be able to tell which ones were real and which ones were decoy’s. The real one was hidden in that old building behind me. I used your ego and against you Llyr, I knew you would come after me if the teams split up because you want to prove you're stronger than I am. Of course you failed because you let your pride get in the way of your intelligence.” Neva finished as she turned around to face him.

Llyr was pale. He had been played like a fool, and that made him angry. He began to shake violently, how dare she be so smug about this? How dare she think she’s better than him! He was able to beat her during their matches when they were kids, he was able to prove to everyone that he was better, stronger, and more capable than she was! He suddenly leapt forward to try and attack her, but Neva was quicker.

Without a second thought, the minute he got close enough Neva quickly kneed him in the groin, causing him to stop instantly and double over in pain. She shook her head and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“ You’ll never be better than me, not in a million lifetimes. Sure you can get strong, but I’ll get stronger. After all, I was gifted with more mana than you,” she smirked as she lowered her voice even more. “ commoner.”

The word slipped off her tongue like a slur, she watched as Llyr’s body stiffened and she could feel his rage bubbling. But he couldn’t say a single word to dispute her claim. She was born a noble, he was born a commoner. That’s why he had taken so much pride in beating her as children, because who would have ever thought a commoner would be able to beat a noble. She quickly turned around and walked away from him, sudden guilt beginning to eat away at her. She never threw her status in someone's face, it wasn’t who she was, but Llyr...he needed to learn to stop being so cocky all the time!

She glanced up at Klaus and Mimosa and saw them beaming with pride and happiness, even Yuno seemed to be slightly proud of her. But all she felt was shame. ‘Llyr deserved it, he wanted to call me weak and put me down, he deserved a taste of his own medicine!’ She tried to justify to herself, she quickly looked away from her squadmates and stood on the platform that would take her back up to the others.

Neva had thought she would be happy she had finally beat Llyr in a battle, but instead all she felt was guilt.

———

Ah I apologize this wasn’t very good but I hope you all enjoyed and I’m so sorry for the wait 😅! Hopefully chapter 10 won’t be as long a wait! Anyway thanks for reading and I hope you all have a good day~!

#a fractured diamond #oc neva #black clover oc #black clover fanfic #episode 9

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dreaming-of-assclass · 4 years

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Oooooo if 3-E were supernatural creatures who would be what 👀👀👀

Oooohh this is interesting to think about! I’m sorry, I don’t know a lot haha so I did some research to have more options!!

Karma: Demon

I feel like I don’t need to elaborate on this too much lmao. The boy is mischievous, LOVES to mess with mortals for no reason. When he’s feeling a particularly strong emotion, usually rage, excitement, etc, his eyes glow a shade of yellow-gold (like what canon showed)

Isogai: Demi-God

His crazy perfection in everything has to come from somewhere. His father was a God who left his realm and lost his immortality to be with Isogai’s mother, a mortal. Isogai only became aware of his heritage after his father’s passing.

Okajima: Half-Angel

LMAO I mostly picked this for the irony, but it kinda fits ngl. He’s generally a good, loyal, kind person and a very good friend. His perverted nature is his one big flaw and comes from the influence of his mortal father, who was his main guardian since his mother remained on Heaven.

Okano: Werewolf

I’m gonna credit this one to @greengargouille haha. They made a wonderful post about this idea that I still adore with my whole heart. But yeah, Okano being a badass werewolf with crazy athleticism and defying femininity expectations? Yes please.

Okuda: Witch

She excels in potion-making, of course. She comes from a long line of witches and magic-users in her family. So she feels quite a bit of pressure to be successful. She’s very talented but needs a tad bit more of control in her magic.

Kataoka: Mermaid

This one shouldn’t be a surprise haha. She’s a very strong and powerful swimmer...but where does all that raw talent come from? Surprise, Megu is a mermaid and she can transform between her physical forms at will. She loves the water because it’s her home and what she knows best.

Kayano: Part-Phoenix

I don’t know how this works and how someone can be part-Phoenix lmao, but it fits her way too well. A being that goes out in flames and starts a new life...isn’t that basically what Kayano did after her reveal? Her new life is her going by Akari again and showing her true colors to the class.

Kanzaki: Goddess

She’s apart of a very royal family of gods...all with ridiculously high standards and little respect for her. Kanzaki is very powerful and has so much raw potential but she’s never been able to show it. Her best skills are teleportation, invisibility, and a strong grasp on aerokinesis.

Kimura: Centaur

I’m serious about this one lmao. He’s a very fast runner and impresses everyone, and it’s thanks to his strong physique and raw energy in centaur form. Don’t worry, he can shape-shift back to a human form, but he hates it because he loses his height and is back to being 160 cm.

Kurahashi: Fairy

Of course, this bright, sunny, cheerful sweet girl could only be a fairy. She has a very strong connection to nature and wildlife, to the point that if they’re harmed, she feels the pain. Her wings are very tiny at age 14 can easily hide underneath her clothes. But by adulthood, they’re grown and able to use for flight.

Nagisa: Half-Ghoul

Surprise...this soft boy is actually half-evil :’). His father is actually a ghoul, and Nagisa was very much unaware of it for all his life. Hiromi kept it a secret and tried to suppress that part of him too. Basically I imagine what it means for Nagisa is that death draws him, and his physiology is why he has such a high bloodlust. When he’s pushed to his limits, he’s terrifying... (cough Takaoka cough)

Sugaya: Wizard

He comes from a relatively average line of wizards, who all moved to the mortal realm and own artisan businesses. Sugaya wishes to do something similar and follow his passion for art. He mostly uses his magic for that, levitating his brushes, enhancing his work, creating new things. He’s quite talented at conjuring.

Sugino: Angel

Yes, I’m serious about this. Sugino is a very good person and always strives to lead others down the right path. He’s good at guiding, but even he wants to live for himself for once. So he learns what baseball is and grows a strong love for it.

Takebayashi: Wizard

Unlike Sugaya, he comes from a super prestigious line of successful and powerful wizards. His family is one of the top ones. He feels immense pressure to live up to them. His talents lie in fire magic, particularly creating explosions. And he’s a very skilled healer.

Chiba: Half-Dragon

Fitting considering his name 💜 He has the ability to change between his human and dragon form, but it’s very shaky for now. His eyes are a bright, terrifying shade of red, and it exposes his dragon heritage so he must hide it.

Terasaka: Half-Titan

His Titan physiology is the reason for his raw strength and physical prowess. He’s incredibly strong and has a high endurance, durability, stamina... He’s a talented fighter and will always use his advantage to protect his loved ones.

Nakamura: Siren

She hates being a siren so much. She has to deal with boring mortal guys all the time, who for some reason, love her voice. She gets a real kick out of fooling them though, and the pranks are always chaotic. Since she’s been having to sing and use her voice, she’s gotten the chance to learn many languages. She has an affinity for them, and wants to continue learning more.

Hazama: Witch

I know this is a little cliche. But in contrast to the potion-centered Okuda, Hazama excels in linguistic spells. She keeps a journal of every new one she learns, as well as images of herbs and such. She’s very interested in dark arts, but will only indulge in it with the presence of someone else, to make sure she doesn’t fall too deep.

Hayami: Witch

Wow I’m really repeating so many. Hayami is a very hardworking, talented witch. But she’s so focused on helping others, she tends to get taken advantage of unfortunately. She’s best at transfigurations, altering things to her (and others) liking. Her favorite test subject is Okajima. She’s quite talented in hand-to-hand combat and having kinetic vision, which helps in magic. She wants a cat as a familiar so badly.

Hara: Fairy

Hara says “fuck you” to the idea that fairies are traditionally small and frail. She’s proud of her physique and strength, and her interest in fighting. She’s still the sweetest fairy there could be, always looking after everyone and all of nature. She loves cooking and sharing it with as many people as she can find.

Fuwa: Ghost

Yep our crazy, lively Fuwa is a ghost! Specifically, she’s a poltergeist, the kind who try to create mischief in some way and move things around. The reason why Fuwa is kinda wild and open about her passions is so she can be noticed by people...if her presence isn’t being acknowledged, she loses her physical form and goes back to being a transparent spirit. It isn’t all bad though. Her favorite thing to do is read mangas in ghost form, so all people see is a floating copy of One Piece.

Maehara: Vampire

This one is a little cliche lmao, but he’s a vampire playboy who always ends up accidentally turning his girlfriends into vampires too with his bites. No one ever suspects him of being a vampire since he looks like sunshine incarnate. He’s quite reckless and has come close to being exposed multiple times, and Isogai always scolds him.

Mimura: Elf

Poor boy is a little insecure about being an Elf...he tries his best not to stand out, especially given his dad’s love for the spotlight. He is good at basic magic, slightly above average. His best talent and what he excels at is photokinesis. He uses it on his filming hobby, to change what’s on camera, adjust lighting, etc. He can go as far as even completely remove shadows from the sunlight.

Muramatsu: Alchemist

He comes from a relatively average family of alchemists that used their abilities for culinary purposes. He enjoys it a lot, and is very talented. He prefers to rely on physical prowess when it comes to fights, but is able to use his alchemy additionally.

Yada: Vampire

Yada is the hot vampire girlfriend we all wish we had 😔 Just kidding haha. But yes, she’s a vampire and no one would ever expect it with how good she is at hiding. She plans out her life and days to specifically avoid sunlight, garlic, etc. She’s a very busy member of the school community and has tons of friends and connections. She and Maehara, her fellow vampire, constantly compete to see who can get more dates.

Yoshida: Werewolf

This is slightly cliche since he’s the resident bad boy, but it fits. He tries to keep a tough image even in human form partly since his family taught him to do so, and because it is comfortable for him. But he’s a softie deep down, and is nowhere near as ruthless as he’s believed to be.

Ritsu: Magic Mirror?

Hmm this is kind of the only option I see fitting for her as it correlates to her role in canon. One classmate has to carry the mirror around for her to communicate, but she’s very powerful and helpful.

Itona: Mummy

Ok so storyline here: he was abandoned to die by his family centuries ago, and his 13 body was mummified against his will. In present time, Shiro awakens him, revives him, and uses him as a tool. He goes through a lot...but is able to live a peaceful life with 3-E once all that is over. He wears bandages almost everywhere, only exposing his eyes which glow yellow when he’s using his power.

Bonus:

Gakushuu is a Demi-God, of course. He’s pretty annoyed that his elemental magic only extends to hydrokinesis and cryokinesis, but he’s still amazingly talented.

Ren is a Merman who flirts with girls at the beach with sappy poetry. He’s gotten caught in a fisher net too many times.

Seo is an Ogre.

#assclass #assassination classsroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #3-E #ask #gakushuu asano #ren sakakibara #seo tomoya #fantasy au #?

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ohbyunhunn · 4 years

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Same as my Hiruzen post, just wanna keep this analysis using the feminist (I hope I did it right and my Literature teachers won’t roll their eyes at me lol) (but it’s just for Twitter so wtvr) approach on my Tumblr too. Was posted on July 11 2020:

Ok this has been in my (Twitter) drafts for so long but I wanted to wait till I finish all 500 episodes to post this lol. I love Naruto but God, the writing for its female characters is shit. This is written based only on Naruto and Naruto Shippūden (manga and anime). I think it got better in Boruto but I’ve yet to see it. Anyway

Women are not given the burden of carrying important roles that represent relationships built throughout the series, as if, they are not capable of creating bonds strong enough to drive a character even though it is what Naruto is all about; the importance of bonds between humans.

Examples of relationships;

Friends: Naruto-Sasuke, Kakashi-Obito

Kouhai-senpai: Itachi-Shisui

Siblings: Itachi-Sasuke

Student-teacher: Naruto-Jiraiya, Naruto-Iruka, Asuma-Shikamaru

Patriotism: Itachi-Konoha, Shisui-Konoha

Lovers to enemies: Hashirama-Madara ( :p )

These relationships as we all know are the basis of the series’ plots and developments. I mean, if not for Naruto’s feelings towards Sasuke, the anime won’t exist... and if not for Sasuke’s feelings towards Itachi, he wouldn’t have abandoned Naruto... and if not for Itachi’s patriotism towards his village, he wouldn’t have killed off the Uchiha clan, which is the reason why Sasuke hated him in the first place. These three related, complementing events are I think crucial instances of what the Naruto universe is built upon. They also are the reason other relationships were able to be expanded (i.e. Itachi-Shisui share the same loyalty and love for Konoha, Naruto became Jiraiya’s apprentice to be able to compete with Sasuke).

And as u can see, no female characters are involved at all. Only time female characters are seen creating bonds and/or have a role to move the plot is when they are driven by romance (e.g. Hinata-Naruto, Tsunade-Dan, Karin-Sasuke). This paints the idea that women are only concerned of men and romance in the anime?? Even a simple friendship between female characters was almost impossible to be portrayed healthily (i.e. Sakura-Ino are supposedly good friends but they always put down each other).

The anime itself has agreed that the sole reason a female is present amongst male characters is because they are able to be motivated when a woman is around to be impressed, which will lead them to wanting to improve themselves and become better shinobi.

When Kakashi asked Hiruzen why were Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura put together in a team, the answer he got was because Sasuke needs someone with the experience of using Sharingan to be there for him when his is activated and in order to be able to control the Kyuubi inside Naruto in case it goes berserk again, Sharingan is needed, which is a sound reason why the two of them are put together.

And Sakura??? Hiruzen said (omg it still pisses me off), she’s only in Team 7 because that would drive the boys to become stronger because they would want to impress Sakura. Like?? She only exists to be a fucking trophy that could be won is it?? That’s it?? I think this was why at first I was against Sakura and Sasuke’s relationship. IT DIDN’T SEEM TRUE. Yea yea I know there are scenes that have suggested their feelings are mutual but lol let’s be real. Boruto saved it. If not for how they’re presented in Boruto,,, lol.

Anyway, Kakashi was seen to be on the same page with Hiruzen because he was reminded of how Obito worked hard to catch up to him so that he could impress Rin. The same thing happened to Hiruzen’s team; Jiraiya wanted to beat Orochimaru just to catch Tsunade’s attention. I understand that it is natural for boys (and girls) to improve themselves in order to attract the person they like but to give female characters no role other than to be a trophy?? That’s just dumb and objectifying.

Sakura got a shit ton of hate ever since Naruto (her character only improved A BIT in Shippūden), and honestly, Idt it’s her fault. Her character writing was so shit that all she ever did was scream Sasuke’s name and when Sasuke is knocked out, she’d call for Naruto. She has a great potential to become a kunoichi of the same level as her teammates but the anime never tried to put the spotlight on her. A lot of times we saw other characters say “wow Sakura has potential” but we never see that being polished on screen.

If only she was given the chance to take an active role in battles, maybe the anime would’ve appeared better in regards to its treatment towards female characters. The only battle that I remember of with Sakura taking an active part in it??? Her fight with Sasori. Not saying that her role during the war is insignificant but even with that in mind, when Sasuke is present, she could only think of him??

And SHE COULD’VE STOPPED MUGEN TSUKUYOMI BY DESTROYING OBITO’s RINNEGAN BUT BECAUSE SHE HESITATED, MADARA MANAGED TO STEAL IT!!

[ This video has all the Sakura scenes that pissed me off. ]

Why did she hesitate?? She’s a medic nin fgs?? This is what I meant by her writing is shit. The Sakura that I know wouldn’t think twice to do what she needed to. AND to think that just a few moments before, SHE SAVED NARUTO’S LIFE?? BY PUMPING HIS HEART USING HER HAND??? And he survived!! With her aid!! The fact that she managed to pull that off but not destroying Obito’s Rinnegan is just pure bullshit.

But I’m sort of glad they had the filler episodes where they showed Sakura’s (and Ino’s) growth, how they went thru their training and stuff. It’s not much but thanks for the fillers I guess?? The manga can go suck some balls.

Another mention of a female character being disregarded as an important ninja would be Konan. Throughout the Naruto vs Akatsuki arc, Konan’s skills and determination have been displayed countless of times. And I’m glad she was given the chance to prove her ability but what rubbed me off the wrong way was Jiraiya’s opinion on her. Every time he spoke of the three orphans he took in, he always mentioned Nagato’s strength and Yahiko’s desire to bring peace in a positive manner. But when it comes to Konan, his only adjective for her was “pretty”.

Konan is more than just a feminine presence with beauty as her only personality?? She’s a strong-willed person who is able to stand alongside her comrades in fighting for what they believe in. She was willing to sacrifice herself in order to defeat Obito/Madara in a heartbeat!! Jiraiya could’ve said better things about her.

From this, we can say how biased a male character’s view is on other females?? As if, only men would fight against injustices of the shinobi world but women?? uwu she pretty yes she will grow up to be a beautifoOl woman.

Kishimoto couldn’t write women very well and he admitted this himself but God, I wish he would’ve tried harder. Not able to write women well is such a shitty excuse for a writer... especially when we know his female characters are capable just as much as their male counterparts.

Also I try to take this positively but you know how during Naruto’s time, the only medic nins are his female characters? (i.e. Sakura, Ino, Tsunade) I think he meant to portray women as healers and that’s a pure intention but lol it also sort of sends the message that to him, no matter how smart and talented a woman is, they shall not be given the duty to fight!! They should just wait and be ready to receive injured comrades while the boys go fight evil and bring peace!! I wanna give credit to him for making women healers but lol does he deserve it??

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

#Naruto #Uzumaki Naruto #Uchiha Sasuke #Haruno Sakura #Hatake Kakashi #Sarutobi Hiruzen #Uchiha Obito #Yamanaka Ino #Konan #Akatsuki #oby brain dump

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twistedapple · 4 years

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Bianca Bosconero - Snow White stayed in the wild (part 2)

The second part is here and will contain the Bosconero twins’ background from Bianca’s point of view. I’m honestly tempted to say that her general profile is an overview and this post is more relevant in regard to the sort of person she is, how she evolved and where she personally is at the time of Yuu’s arrival. It’ll certainly provide more in-depth informations than her profile (though I’ll try to keep it at a reasonable length for an easier read - and because I have a good amount of things to cover).

Links to Bianca’s profile and the twins’ overview post (which has been swallowed by goddamn Tumblr so if that site could stop bullying us #twisted wonderland users, that’d be great thx). Now I’m taking a short break before doing a post regarding her magic and her sister’s full profile and backstory. I’m also considering rewriting a part of Bianca’s backstory from another character’s point of view as well (you’ll understand when you’ll read this post)...

Without further ado...

On a cold winter morning, a woman pricked her finger while spindling. As a drop of blood fell on the floor, she found herself wishing for a girl with hair dark as night, skin white as snow and lips red as blood to the honored ancestor of the family, commonly known as the Green Man rather than an actual name. Nobody really knows who - or what - the Green Man really is, but through the Bosconero family he provided a lineage strong with sorcerers and alchemists, and sometimes his passed down powers would surge in a family member as an uncommon magical ability. Because of the Green Man’s ties to the land and the seasons, it was common in the family to develop magical abilities tied to earthen powers - and it didn’t spare the current generation when, nine months later, on a foggy first day of November, twin girls made their entrance to the world right on time for the yearly Autumn celebrations customary to the Valley of Thorns, when it was said the Green Man would end a cycle of life for it to start anew in the following months.

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- Bianca, Neve, you did an excellent work with that charm.

- Beauty and talent, with those, you will be able to properly carry the name of our house! Now try again, to make sure you have mastered it.

- Yes mother, father...

- No! How are you supposed to represent us if you cannot repeat such a simple task?

- Failure is not an option with our name on the line.

- Sorry, mother, father...

- We will try again.

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While there was a widely known reputation for the inhabitants of the Valley of Thorns to remain fairly isolated, partly due to the fear their overlords, House Draconia, would inspire, it didn’t mean none of them were socially active. The Bosconero household was a prime example of it, with a historically strong tie to the magical community as a whole, as well as a fairly large social network that would cover both the Valley and other places. One of the most well-known figure of the family was the great sorceress Margherita Bosconero who, during her time at the head of the Magic Council, had pushed revolutionary reforms regarding the regulations and teachings of magic. She was also the one who had taught Crimilde Bosconero everything she knew and in turn, Crimilde was determined to raise her daughters to a level fitting their rank - and possibly reach new heights as well.

As such, Bianca and Neve’s chilhood was filled with a variety of lessons and acitivities to meet familial expectations at every level. They were taught everything there was to know about etiquette, learned about history, science and literature in order to develop their ability to discuss about anything with anyone, They learned about the importance of an impeccable presentation - the first impression always mattered, after all -, which involved many details, such as a proper posture, a sensible sense of fashion, the many ways one could use their body language to convey or hide thoughts and feelings. They were taught about all the proper activities a lady was expected to master, such as spinning wool, creating embroideries, weaving delicate patterns, singing and playing instruments beautifully, writing and drawing with an elegant precision.

And then, there was the study of magic. If Crimilde was generally strict in the way her daughters were being educated, she was exceptionally so when it came to that side of their lessons. The family had a reputation and the two girls had to uphold it in the best way possible. Adding to that was the pressure to see if one of them hopefully had the family’s Gift - not having it was not an issue in itself, however it was deemed an incredibly valuable element for the sake of added prestige. For that reason, Crimilde would show a worryingly increasing degree of ruthlessness while overseeing the education of her daughters over time. The girls would be praised when they executed their exercises in a satisfactory manner, and put down when a failure happened. They would be subtly pitted against each other, in the hope this competition would push them to go further in their study.

Then, the Gift showed itself during a lesson of defensive magic, revealing at the same time Bianca’s unique magic. Twisted branches appeared from the ground and envelopped Bianca, its long thorns piercing her clothes and skin in many places. Then pitch black started writhing and Bianca has no recollection of what happened next. She woke up two days later, bandages here and there and an elated Crimilde by her side. The Gift had sprung up again, and in a spectacular manner! As a proof of its power, Bianca had entered a state of overblot - which had been swiftly stopped by Crimilde. From this point onward, Bianca became the center of attention of the family and had to meet even higher expectations.

It’s around this time that the sisters were introduced to social life in the magical world, participating in various gatherings, meeting people from various regions of the world and discovering new places as well. After all, one of the strong points regarding the Bosconero family’s standing was their ability to curate their network and generally be part of the socialites. And there was no better publicity than the announcement of the Gift surging yet again. Yet, a dissonance started growing. Promised child only when success was met, promised child only when smiling to other people was required. Again and again, to appease her mother she started taking it out on herself and unconsciously compromised her own sense of self everytime. Worst of all, she was on her own, the entire situation having caused a rift to grow between her and Neve, who was left behind in her shadow the whole time.

However, the situation went in the opposite direction when it came to light that Bianca, for all of her abilities and best efforts, had an issue that was deemed unsolvable. Contrary to her sister’s not-as-impressive magical powers, yet steady growth, her own was irregular and more and more punctuated with times off magic to reduce a blotting that happened faster than it should have. A point was reached, during which Crimilde simply expressed her immeasurable disappointment by deeming Bianca as defectuous, and then proceeded to report all the attention to Neve instead, certain that she was the one who should have had the Gift instead. Then, everything became incredibly obvious, and Bianca started realising with horror the dissonance she’d been putting herself through in order to keep going.

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- Neve... Neve!

-... It’s the middle of the night, go away!

- We need to talk.

- Wha-... Now?

- Yes, it’s the only moment when we’re left alone.

- What do you want?

-... Are you ok with that entire situation we’re in?

----------

Bianca tossed, again and again. Every night, for days, she tossed in her bed as she was carefully pondering her situation and the action she should take to get out of it - to save herself.

Lately, she’d been having this oppressive feeling, something writhing and screaming deep inside. She’d been feeling wary too - a peculiar feeling considering how young she still was by the Valley’s standards. Getting up with the knowledge that it was yet another day during which she’d have to become her parents’ adorable and quiet girl was heavy. Getting up with the knowledge that another surge, another mistake, would lead to the reminder that her sister was doing much better than her despite her lacking the gift bestowed by the Green Man. Yet she had to tolerate it, for the love of her parents, the love of her sister, and the necessity for the family to appear united.

Yet as time passed, it was making her sick. She felt like a monkey repeating tricks for whoever would lie their eyes on her. But she had to give a good impression, right? And uphold the status of her family, both in the Valley and in the magical world, right? It was her duty as the newest generation of Bosconero, after all... And she didn’t want any of it any more. This made her feel like a spoiled child, and the guilt born from it only served to make everything feel even worse. The worst part was when her family would participate in social gatherings, unknowingly having her observe other people the same way she’d observe her parents; direct interactions meant a work of reading the situation at various levels: what was said, what was meant... And what remained hidden. Over time, Bianca’s attention to details had been honed to the point she was able to swiftly adjust to any reaction just so she could obtain the safest result. This very situation had also led her to bury herself.

Again and again.

Bury herself, always deeper, to just choke and decay in an abandoned corner of her mind. After all, her very being felt unwanted. Yet, she had recently realised there was still a door to open when she noticed a tight knot in her chest at the view of a son and his father, during a social gathering like all the ones before. Until that pang, she thought she’d grown accustomed to that fleeting feeling of longing she’d occasionally have; it seems she had misjudged herself, though. And since then, the thought of a flight across the night sky, on her broom and with a simple luggage for companion kept following her. It’d be foolish to think someone would come for her, if she wanted to get her life under control, she had to do it herself. And she did it, after having heavily pondered on her situation, after having tried to convince her twin sister to come with her - to no avail, Neve was completely bound to the family and deluding herself as her own mean of survival.

So Bianca took off on her own one night, to fly as far as she could, disappear for a while and settle somewhere peaceful.

----------

- Back when we met, you talked about motivations, but there’s one you never told me.

- Do you want the straight-to-the-point version or the flowery one?

- Whichever expresses best what you had in mind back then.

- Alright. Then I’ll have you know, kings and princes become much less scary when you consider they sit on their ass the same way everybody else does. It’s easier to treat them as actual persons when one perceives titles as overrated.

-... Straight to the point, indeed. I’d almost be offended.

- That’s why I kept it to myself~ ♪

----------

The knowledge of fauna and flora imparted by her parents revealed itself useful for Bianca’s survival in the wild. At that point, she simply didn’t feel like dealing with more people, and wouldn’t risk it either - she had her own trail to clean up after in the first place, showing herself would be a liability for the time being. So she took the decision of going on a personal quest instead, momentarily abandoning all sort of connection to focus on herself instead. For the first time in her life, she had the possibility to do so and was in bad need of self-examination as well. Observing other people and comparing various situations to her own had made her realise something was off, and not just about her situation. Her very person had been moulded in a manner that would be sure to please other people, to do so she had sacrificed her will, thoughts and feelings again and again, until she found herself choking from self-loathing and incomprehension. She needed to find herself again, figure out where this Bianca had been buried. There was simply no room for others at that point in her life.

That is how her life in the wild started. As she went on a personal quest to find herself, she wandered left and right across the Valley, most of the times lost in her own clouds. It... Was not the greatest moment of her life. A lot of poison to swallow, truths to realise and accept, and then her own magic surging and occasionally going out of control - as if it was reacting to her own struggle and taking out what had been internalised for so long. Fear, anger, slackness, euphoria, giddiness... All of these feelings either shut down by Bianca or unwanted by her parents would feed her summonings and twist the world around her. Parts of the Valley where she dwelt for a time ended up gaining a fairly dark reputation over time, while she was giving herself time to work things out. It was writhing inside and out, and worst of all was the guilt of her incapacity to get her sister out of here as well. Of having left her behind and alone. It’s a period of her life where time somehow lost its meaning, distorted by her constant fights against herself for the sake of mastery. It’s ugly, dirty, foggy, and she remains elusive about it, merely sharing her surprising experience with general survival - both physical and mental. The most important lesson of these dark times is, however, a surprising yet massively important one for Bianca: she learned not only to fight, but to let go as well as years of poison built up in her heart was being absorbed and transformed into something new.

Once she got back on her feet, with a stronger foundation, the second step of her plan started. As she decided to keep using her knowledge in botanic, Bianca decided to pass for a wise woman, the sort that lives isolated in the forest and that people go seek in secret to relieve all sorts of ailments. She changed her name to Hilda and kept wandering around, even though she opted to dwell in the same place for a longer period of time. The look of a maiden and the wisdom of a crone, as well as her elusive nature, gave birth to some strange stories that would feed the local folklore. A young woman stealing people’s soul, an old woman protecting the hearth, a dreadful witch leading a charge across the sky and the thick forests of the Valley of Thorns... It’s when they met, too.

Under blue moon, she saw him, as she approached guided by Idle, her slythering summon which was acting as her watchful eyes that night. Hidden at first, Bianca silently skirted around the tall, horned man while keeping an eye on him. They had never met before, yet she was aware of how he looked because of who he was - as such, Malleus Draconia’s silhouette was unmistakeable and it had her worried. Her personal situation had nothing legal to it and getting caught would lead to troubles that could easily reach further the family circle. However, he seemed very much alone and was inspecting the area without showing any sign of alert - on the contrary, he was the one who put her in that state when he called out while giving a long look at his surroundings.

- This place isn’t abandoned anymore, there are traces of magic... Show yourself!

Bianca only had a few seconds to ponder on her decision. She could stay safe and hidden, and figure out how to keep him at bay. She could also comply to not push his patience - her luck - and maybe reduce the gravity of her situation by showing some good will. Either way, the risk was to make the situation worse and more political. So she took a deep breath to regain her composure and opted for the course of action she knew best, for she had been practicing it long enough to hone it: smile and stay light-hearted, gauge the situation in silence.

- Now that’s a visit I certainly never saw coming. Not even a guard?

Glowing green eyes fell on her as she came out of her hiding spot, cheeky half-smile plastered on her face. It felt pretty rude of her to conceal her intentions to the Crown Prince himself, but old habits die hard and she needed to see where she stood before making her next move. Though, having grown accustomed to dealing with a human population, she considered the fearsome reputation the Draconia household had while observing Malleus back. Why was he here, alone, in the middle of the night? There were these questions, and the fact that for everything the reputation stated about him, Malleus Draconia didn’t exactly feel like a terrifying being. If anything, he seemed oddly out of place, in Bianca’s opinion. Besides, nothing would be as anxiety inducing as her parents, in her eyes.

- Wasn’t this place supposed to be abandoned? It was, last time I strolled around.

- ... Strolled around? Well, I settled in fairly recently, was even planning to rearrange a part of the garden to grow some stuff for myself... Look, is there a part of the area you’d rather have me leave untouched? I don’t really care, I’m pretty much passing by anyway, and I’m all alone so I don’t need much room.

Initially taken aback by his reply, Bianca was quick to get back on her feet and react in a decisive manner to try and distract from the fact she wasn’t even supposed to roam around and settle the way she’d been doing in the first place. In turn, Malleus’ composed expression changed to surprise as she stated her proposition. Then surprise left place to something more thoughtful, before settling for a visibly amused smile.

- Negociating? Do you realise who you are talking to?

- ... Oh yes, I do, but my motivations for this negociation are better left for when we’re more hm acquainted with each other. So, is it a good enough reason for you to still feel comfortable hanging around?

Under blue moon, they kept meeting up and grew to enjoy each other’s company. His strong interest for gargoyles amused her, but her own interest for anything historical made their escapades to the four corners of the Valley of Thorns all the more pleasant. As habits begun to settle, they learned to read each other and it slowly downed on Bianca that she was growing attached to Malleus and everything that made him who he was. She simply couldn’t help noting the smallest details and appreciating each of them. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, how accidentally stern and teacher-like he would feel when sharing his hobby in the most serious fashion, his pout revealing more of his feelings than he could hide... And then there were heavier topics, chief of them his sense of isolation. Granted, Bianca wasn’t the best person in that regard since she was enjoying being on her own for the moment. Still, she understood the feeling and its implications, and didn’t judge his occasional discreet awkwardness - translated into a rather forward way of expressing himself, to the point of being odd and somehow backed by a logic only people who lacked proper social interactions would demonstrate.

In return, she made an effort to be more open in the way she expressed her thoughts and feelings. It wasn’t easy since hiding and using them as strategic cards had been ingrained in her - it was, in fact, one the toughest habits she had to get under control to feel like a functional person. It was even harder because she had taken the decision to keep her Hilda persona around Malleus as well. It hadn’t been a pleasant decision to make, but she kept fearing a potential escalation of her issues - besides, Bianca wasn’t one to wash her dirty clothes in public, and so she preferred keeping the full extent of her issues to herself out of a sense of privacy. After all, she had set out on her own, her alone had to deal with the consequences of this decision. Nobody else would be dragged in. Yet these secrets weighted on her shoulders and she couldn’t help feeling guilty as he was being so pleasantly open to her. A part of her felt like she didn’t deserve so much kindness from him.

Yet, under blue moon their relationship took a new turn, on a night when Malleus was helping Bianca settle in yet another hiding place. If he had questions regarding her situation and her habit to hop from place to place after a while, he kept them to himself but didn’t hide the occasional long stares with a thoughtful look - a graceful gesture the hedge witch became aware of over time and appreciated. However, for all of her observations, she never foresaw that one night coming, mostly because she never expected such a thing to happen to her in the first place. The details of what led to this situation still escape her to this day, but the most important ones remain: a look exchanged and something in reaction that caused her breath to hitch, his discreet scent like tea, soft spices and winter fire, the warm feeling of skin against skin and a tingle spreading through her body, leaning into the sensation to get more of it. Soon, fingers found their way through hair and things started to heat up... Then stopped, as Malleus was holding a strand of her hair and looking at it, then at her, with a surprised look.

- You did tell me about those magical surges of yours... But I had never seen that sort of thing happen before. Did you?

- What are you talking abo- blackthorns blossoms? No, that one is definitely new, though oddly specific. I wonder what could have caus-

Then it downed on her as she mentally considered the nature and properties of blackthorn tree. It seemed her own magic had a sense of humour and she was its victim, because the choice of plant was oddly appropriate, both in regard to the situation it decided to appear and mix in her hair, and in regard to the person that was involved in it. Bianca got redder by the second as she blurted out her explanation, eliciting the most charming reaction from Malleus in the process.

- To put it simply, I’d say you... You-made-me-bloom. Literally.

- Pff... Hahahaha well at the very least, know that the blackthorn suits you perfectly.

- You’re enjoying it all, aren’t you?

-Oh, I enjoy it a lot.

Shortly after this event, Bianca’s cover as Hilda the hedge witch was destroyed. As she lowered her guard more and more around Malleus, she became complacent as well, and that’s how she made the mistake of leaving traces for her mother’s assistant, Erico, to follow. Up until now, her parents had waited for her to come home, and her mother had sent the man when she realised her runaway of a daughter had no intention of coming back. Following her had proven difficult, between the erratic patterns she had either purposefully or accidentally created and her cautious nature, she’d proven more elusive than expected. Not surprising, considering the roots of her magic. The wild itself was her domain to rule over, the twisted magical left overs of some of her early rampages had proven so when he went and observed them.

Under blue moon, Bianca found herself cornered and felt an anxiety she thought she had managed to overcome hold her in a metaphorical chokehold again. And when Erico called her name - her actual name -, it felt like the first of a series of slaps in her face as the new reality she had built for herself fell apart. A magical fight ensued, during which Bianca noticed for the first time how far she’d come with her small but steady, daily practice. Had she stayed home, she would never have been to reach that level of mastery - even though she still had to summon Folly, a large dog-like beast, as well as sets of thick blackthorn bushes to keep the assistant at bay. As they finally came to a standstill, Bianca holding him with bushes full of long thorns slowly getting tighter around him, negociations started and poison flowed.

- Lady Bianca, you have to come home, your parents are concerned about your safety!

- My safety? Or the fact that I may cause a smear on their good name? Unless it’s an interest for what I bear? Concerned about me as a person, I don’t think so. Tell me, what do you think of my current magical abilities?

-... You’ve grown, Lady Bianca, but you’re still young and -

- Do you think I owe that growth to them? The very persons who threw me away because of what they considered a defect? The only reason they want me back is because I carry our family’s Gift. It makes me no better than some broken tool, just because I blot too quickly. But here, outside, I managed to become a person again, and it’s all my work, I don’t owe the family a single thing! Do you think I will allow you, or anybody else to take that away from me? Do you really think that?

- My lady please, at least come back home to share your sister’s burden - ACK!

- Share her burden? She chose to be on her own. But please, keep spouting that sort of nonsense, see what my thorns think of it!... You’ll bring a proof back to my mother. Something to show her that it’s pointless to follow a dead trail.

On these softly threatening words, Bianca went to her current hiding spot, leaving Folly to keep watch over the assistant. A dead trail it would be, as she ramaged through her stuff and got out to prepare a simple transforming charm. Quickly, animal bones got turned into humanoid bones, which she wrapped in a dark fabric.

- Since you were following orders, I’ll let you go back to my family, but you’ll bring them these bones. Tell them this it what you found at the end of the trail. You’ll be freed from this cat and mouse game in the process, isn’t it nice? Your Lady Bianca Bosconero is dead.

After she released the assistant from her magical hold and saw him off with the fake bones, Bianca collapsed on herself. Even though she had clearly gotten better at handling her magic, pushing her limit and walking it like a tightrope, it was still exhausting. In bad need of a rest, she considered not using magic for a little while to be the safest option if she wanted to recover properly. What she didn’t consider was Malleus witnessing the end of that exchange as he refrained from joining her, seeing that she was very obviously in quite the situation.

-... Bianca Bosconero? From the Bosconero household? Is it who you are?

----------

M., I think this will be the last letter between us for a while. I’m sorry things have come to that, but you know I don’t want you to be needlessly involved in my personal mess. I’ll try to figure a new way out, I’ll let you know as soon as it happens. In the mean time, please take good care of yourself. I love you.

----------

Malleus didn’t take her lie well and let it known through his scowl. However, he accepted to listen to her, and Bianca chose to talk about her situation, for the first time in years. It was clumsy and oddly unemotional in some parts, as she tried to be as detached from her recounting as possible. She remained afraid of letting to many things out, because she knew she’d break if she were to do it. Bianca wasn’t ready to break yet. Even though she had learned to let go, there were still things she desperately held onto to keep her head up. By the end of her explanations, Malleus’ scowl had left place to a more thoughtful expression. They spent the entire night together, and he kept coming back in the following days. His kindness went straight to her heart.

Once she recovered from the encounter with her mother’s assistant, he offered to help her work on her magic by being her sparing partner. She decided to focus mostly on defensive magic, fully aware that once her mother would have realised she’d been tricked by the bones, there was a high chance that she’d make the next moves herself. She needed to be ready to deal with what was coming her way, especially when it would come the woman who’d been trained directly by Margherita Bosconero. As such, having a proper set of spells to defend and attack, as well as an increased mastery of her unique magic, was necessary. The latter, in particular, had the possibility to provide Bianca a control of the field as long as she paced herself properly and kept a clear, focused mind.

Facing her mother was probably one of the hardest things Bianca ever had to do in her life. Not simply because of her power, but because of the terror she inspired her despite not having seen each other for a long time. Bianca held her ground for a surprisingly long time thanks to the preparations she had done with Malleus’ help, but in the end it prove to no avail. She was still too young and too swayed by her emotions. When the blot started to accumulate to much, when her mother’s onslaught of spells started getting past her defenses, Bianca felt herself fail and a sinking feeling, deep inside her, that she thought she had managed to keep under control, grew and made her crumble in the end.

Bianca’s home became her golden cage. She found herself sitting inbetween parents who not only viewed her as a general failure, but as a disappointment as well, while her sister remained... Cold. Bianca never asked what had been happening during her absence, but the way her sister held herself - as if she was a new version of their mother, was disturbing to witness. With that in mind, she started isolating herself more and more, both in the house and in her own mind in order to escape the pain her new situation was giving her. Reading and writing became her hobbies to kill time in a pleasant way and express herself in a way that wouldn’t cause harm to anybody. She also sent letters to Malleus regularly with the help of Sly, her twisted bird-like summon, and kept his replies well hidden. Not being able to see him was painful and even worse was the news that her mother had caught on Sly’s flights and was preparing a spell to make sure it would stop. When Idle, ever the watchful eyes, had reported on that, Bianca’s heart sank and she immediately prepared her last letter to Malleus, not knowing when they’d be able to read or even see each other again. On a sentimental impulse she still wasn’t used to, she decided to bluntly state her feelings as a promise to find a way out of her current predicament.

Then, her days slowly became awfully similar and a numbness started overtaking her with time. It felt like being back to square one, with no way out this time. Bianca silently despaired in a house that made it clear she was unwanted, yet had to remain to pay for the shame she had brought her family. It ate away at her will in an insidious manner, until an unexpected saving grace, in the form of an invitation, arrived for her. Bianca and Neve both received an invitation to study magic, but in different schools. While Neve was called by Royal Sword Academy, Bianca was meant to attend Night Raven College. It didn’t bother her, quite the contrary. She was elated at the idea of leaving the house for some years and the news alone was enough to help her find some energy back.

On the day the carriage containing the coffin that led to Night Raven College arrived, Bianca’s surprise increased when she saw a familiar silhouette ready to pass through the coffin-like door. The only reason she kept her composure was because Malleus wasn’t alone - next to him stood a smaller man with a boyish face. Lilia Vanrouge. As she was about to break into a run, Bianca managed to stop at the last second and proceeded to politely salute the two fae before following them through the door. During the entrance ceremony, amidst the whispers caused by Malleus’ presence at the college - a surprising turn of event, considering he was already among the best sorcerers world-wide -, both were sorted into different dorms by the Mirror. While Malleus joined Lilia in Diasomnia, Bianca found herself in Pomefiore, and nearly lost it as soon as the name was uttered by the Mirror. Of course, she had to be sent to the place where the most ambitious ones tended to be found.

A few days later, as they settled in their dorms, Malleus and Bianca met under blue moon. For the first time since they met, Bianca didn’t hide a thing - didn’t even try to. Tears gathered and rolled, taking away with them the exhaustion accumulated over time. Her head rested on his shoulder and she basked in the gentle blend of tea, soft spices and winter fire she’d missed more than she expected. Being in different dorms and in different classes meant they couldn’t see each other as often as they’d like, yet the occasional meeting was good enough for them. Besides, a single year didn’t mean that much.

During that same year, Bianca started working a new solution out to counter her family’s power over her. She managed to get hired as part-time library assistant and poured much of her free time into the study of legislation. Her grades suffered as a consequence, but she waved it away, considering it a lesser immediate priority. She also took it upon herself to approach Lilia at some point during the year, in order to get further advices regarding the details of certain laws and how they applied in the Valley of Thorns. Considering Lilia’s age and experience, she deemed him a reliable source of information on the subject. By the end of the year, she reached out to the school’s staff and decided to be open about her issues and how it would impact her life in the following year. Not certain about her capacity to deal with everything at the same time, she asked for an authorisation to sacrifice her second year. If the request was initially received with a certain reluctance, arguing that dealing with her personal issues as quickly as possible would allow her to concentrate on her studies later on seemed to convince her teachers and the headmaster.

As a consequence, she was fairly inactive as a student during that second year, busy working at the library and figuring out a way to at least obtain legal emancipation with the help of a counsellor. If the magic way didn’t work, Bianca hoped the legal way would do the trick. And by the end of that second year, it did. It may have brought a debt and a repeat of the year, but Bianca considered it a worthy sacrifice for her peace of mind.

This is where she is now, as her new second year starts. Sitting in front of a mirror, in her dorm uniform, she adds some subtle touches to a makeup of the dramatic sort, created solely to go with the outfit and meant to signal a turn in her life, an affirmation of who she is as a person. After all, considering how this year’s entrance ceremony went as a non-magic wielding human and a beast caused havoc in the Hall of the Mirror, this year certainly promised to be interesting.

#twisted wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #OC #Bianca Bosconero #backstory #watch me try to nuke the canon story with my stuff #watch the canon story retaliate #at least I'm following canon infos when it comes to Malleus #also they're cute dumb teens and it's nice to write stuff about them #it warms my cold dead heart #it's also a nice break because a third of that story was legit depressing to work on #HOLY SHIT IT TOOK ME TWO WEEKS TO WORK ON THAT BABY

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lassieposting · 5 years

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Do you have more thoughts about the ways that Lucifer is more demon then angel ( besides the ones you mentioned) ? Also what about times that Lucifer’s siblings (or maybe Amenideil, because he seems to be the sole one whom has had any contact with Lucifer) noticed just how much Demon he was, and how little Angel was left. And does he have any unchanging angel traits that make him stand out in Hell?

under the cut because, really really long post

ways lucifer is “too angel” for the demons

- lucifer is, by nature, friendly. demons are social creatures - most of them live in groups, they do raise their own young, etc - but in hell, interpersonal relationships are all about what you can get out of the other person.

lucifer keeps his distance from people because a hundred lifetimes in hell have taught him that people can’t be trusted, and getting close to someone will inevitably result in betrayal. but underneath all the cynicism and abandonment issues and fear, he wants to reach out to people. whenever he comes to earth, the first thing he does is make friends (and then fuck those friends). his persona is, even pre-chloe, a very approachable, charming one. he wants to connect.

whereas maze, for example, initially sees making friends as something she has to do to fit in, because her job is to protect lucifer and as long as he’s on earth, she’s stuck here too. she’s more open to human emotions than most demons because of her long association with lucifer, but she still didn’t initially have that inherent need for positive socialisation.

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- he’s moral. by human standards, lucifer is morally grey; his personal code of ethics line up with ours in some places and are wildly off in others. he abhors rape and is very big on consent, but is A-OK with being the third party in an affair, where the partner being cheated on absolutely did not consent to their partner sleeping with someone else. he won’t kill humans - cain aside, special circumstances, you understand - but doesn’t have the same standard for celestials; he won’t hesitate to explodify a demon for disobeying him or trying to rebel.

(by angel standards, he’s an absolute deviant. disgusting. irredeemable. so much of the shit he does is a sin.)

but by demon standards? he’s actually got a bit of a stick up his ass. hell is a place where anything goes. it’s not just that the strong take whatever they want whenever they want from the weak; it’s their right to do so. honour and fairness Do Not Exist down there; those are things that get you killed. lucifer’s very rigid moral code - he never lies, has standards on what is and isn’t acceptable to kill, values traits like honesty and bravery - is bizarre and absolutely does not fit in down there.

the devil is actually kind of a goody-two-shoes, and his advisors think he’s weird (they assume it’s because he’s foreign).

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- lucifer is also tactile. he needs to be touched. angels are that kind of social; they groom one another’s wings, hug their siblings, their parents held them as babies, etc. lucifer is incredibly touch-starved in hell, which is part of why he has so much sex on the surface. he’s fitting in as much touch as possible in the short period of time he can get it. you’ll notice that as he spends longer and longer on earth, and develops real relationships where he’s getting the love and touch and shit that he needs, he stops having quite as much meaningless sex. because he’s just doing it for fun, not to fill a need that’s being starved in hell.

demons aren’t tactile. outside of fighting, torture and fucking, demons don’t actually touch much at all; if someone reaches for you, you’re more likely to grab a weapon than relax into a hug. there’s a wonderful gifset of lucifer getting used to being hugged that shows the progression from “very uncomfortable” to “soft snuggly devil loves his detective 10000%”, but even at the beginning you can see that his freezing up when his humans touch him is more inexperience and bewilderment than disgust. he’s not used to non-sexual touching. he’s still lowkey conditioned to see being grabbed as a danger. but he always hugs chloe back and like. gradually starts to relax and rest his cheek on her head and do the little back-thumb-strokey thing that she does to him. he’s been deprived for millions of years, but the instinct is still there.

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- he’s gentle. just. look at him. look at any of his interactions with his favourite humans. lucifer can be absolutely vicious and ruthless and violent, but he has such a massive capacity for kindness. his nature is gentle. hell makes him go against his nature; he’s harsh to survive, not because that’s how he wants to be.

to most of the demons, having lived down there for so long and yet still retained that natural sweetness that he has would be utterly baffling.

ways lucifer is too demon for the angels

- he’s aggressive. angels bicker like all siblings do, but real fights where someone gets badly injured are very, very rare. ultimately they’re all subordinate to Dad, doing what Dad told them to do, and following the orders of the angels who rank above them, so it’s a nice neat ordered system that allows them to be (mostly) peaceful.

in hell, on the other hand, what amenadiel would call “a horrifying and brutal attack”, lucifer calls “tuesday”. demons fight over territory, over food, over sex partners, over the price of armor, over being looked at funny - you name it, they get aggressive over it. that is the social dynamic lucifer has spent most of his life in, so a lot of his everyday body language is, to an angel, super intimidating for no reason. he deliberately towers over people. he invades personal space. he gets what chloe affectionately calls ‘angry wings’, all ruffled up to make him look bigger - and a lot of the time, it’s not even deliberate, it’s just a habit from millions of years in hell, where looking bigger and meaner is never a bad thing.

ultimately lucifer is a soft adorable dumbass who just wants to be loved but his body language says he wants to kill you and that doesn’t do much for improving his relationships with his siblings

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- he’s independent. angels, generally speaking, are very much not; they rely on their Dad for purpose and instructions and live their lives as little extensions of Him. which works fine for them, and keeps the peace in the Silver City.

demons on the other hand are notoriously independent and self-serving. lucifer has advisors, and they’re good ones - first he was a devil, and then the devil, and as he’s taken over clans he’s kind of accumulated the best of the best at his back - but he’s also got to constantly be aware that every single one of them has an agenda. every single one of them wants a shot at being the devil. he can never rely on them 100%. so ultimately, he listens to his advisors, takes what they say under consideration, but he is the one who calls the shots. he makes his own decisions. and he had to learn very, very quickly to make good ones, because making a bad call in hell can get you killed.

when amenadiel doesn’t have instructions from god, he feels lost. he spends a lot of time soul-searching and introspecting over why he has no instructions, whether he’s failed his father, what he’s supposed to do now, how he’s meant to make his own choices. lucifer has always made his own choices, even in heaven, and honed that ability in hell. and if someone tells him to do something - and it’s not chloe - chances are he’s going to do the exact opposite on principle, which is utterly baffling to his dependent brother.

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- he’s sly. ‘devil’ is, historically, a ridiculously precarious and dangerous political position. everyone is out to get you, even the ones who seem to be most loyal. you have to keep your subordinates happy enough that they won’t defect to a competitor, without seeming too much of a pushover. you have to be strong and cruel and ruthless enough to defend your position, without being so bad that your own armies unite against you. every interaction he has is a subtle display of power and strength. he’s on a tightrope, constantly. he lives in a game of thrones-esque environment. so he’s become an expert at subtle manipulation, political power games, and strategy.

angels are blunt, straightforward and lack concepts like guile. lucifer’s mojo doesn’t work on other angels, but he can give someone completely the wrong impression without ever lying once, can ambush amenadiel into spluttering out information he shouldn’t have mentioned, can corral any conversation exactly where he wants it to go.

the downside of the silver city is that god has been in charge since the get-go. the angels have never needed to learn to play the kind of games that are lucifer’s bread and butter. he can run circles around them.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────

- he’s promiscuous. each of the planes have a different view on sex. angels are - bar a few notable exceptions - virginal. sex isn’t really part of their culture; although angels of different nests and different classes are distantly related enough that it wouldn’t be disgusting by human standards for them to fall in love (see: aziraphale and crowley), it just doesn’t really happen. and when it does happen, the relationship is usually sexless, because the human way is messy and sweaty and weird, and they have other ways they prefer to show love.

sex in hell is a lot more transactional. demons will fuck for fun, just like us, but they’ll also exchange sex for protection, for preferential treatment, for food. lucifer has adopted some of this attitude over the years; he used sex to buy allies when he had nothing else to offer, and as a young devil, most of his “most loyal” advisors were only loyal because he was sleeping with them. we also see him quite happily whore himself out for favours a lot during the time he’s on earth, so it’s safe to assume that he’s been doing that throughout human history. that would’ve been unthinkable to his angelic siblings, but for lucifer it was survival, and then it was survival with added fun. he hasn’t needed to sleep with his generals for a long time, but some of them are pretty good at it and there’s fuck all else to do in hell, so he still does when he’s bored

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- he’s adaptable. angels tend towards being dedicated to a fault. once they have a mission to do, they keep going until they get it done, even when it’s pretty clear they’re bashing their head against a brick wall (case in point: amenadiel and trying to send lucifer back to hell, then later on with seeing lucifer as his test). they trust, absolutely, in god’s plan. some of them have learned to think for themselves a bit more, but most angels will assume an obstacle is something their dad has put in their path, rather than something that was just unforeseen and can be dodged around.

lucifer on the other hand will change goals and strategies on a dime. everything in his life is about what he can get from it. once something is no longer valuable to him, he loses interest. if a tactic isn’t working for him, he’ll try something else, and keep going until he finds something that works. if Unforeseen Circumstances come between him and something he wants, he doesn’t waste time trying to pass whatever test dad has come up with like amenadiel, he just finds the fastest, most efficient way around it and gets on with business.

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(let’s be honest though. the freakiest thing about lucifer for both angels and demons is how human he is. he doesn’t fully fit in with either of them, but he fits in with us despite all his weirdness and non-human quirks and that’s something neither group finds particularly natural)

#lucifer on netflix #lucifer on fox #netflix lucifer #lucifer morningstar #lucifer in hell #lucifer headcanons

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batskulldrag · 4 years

Text

Phoenix by Fallout Boy

chapter thirteen is here. this one contains Romile, and plenty of fluff

Chapter Thirteen: Out of Hell by Skillet

Virgil fluttered nervously past Roman for the third time. Roman watched as his nephew peered out each window and retreated back to the couch. Virgil drummed his fingers against his laptop and chewed the band aid on his stationary hand.

“You ok Billie Stylish?” Roman asked, sitting down beside him.

“Sure. I’m fine.” Virgil didn’t look up.

“It’s going to be ok.” Roman put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Payton has laughed his last laugh. And he will spend the rest of his days being beaten up in prison.”

“But what if Payton accuses you guys of being child rapists or something? Then he’s going to win because everyone always believes him, and he’ll have ruined your lives. Or he’ll lose anyway, but still manage to ruin the three of you, and I have to live with the constant guilt that this is all my fault for getting you into this. And Uncle Patton and Uncle Logan are going to be quiet about the whole thing while silent resentment grows, because everything was fine until I showed up. Or worse, they’re not, and they’re just gonna forgive me for bringing this plague down on them.”

“That’s quite the soliloquy.” Roman patted him on the head. “And that’s not going to happen. Payton can accuse us of whatever he likes, but I know a secret.”

“You can blackmail him?” Virgil jolted up.

“No, it’s like this. You remember how the bastard always told you that people always side with the adult?”

“Yes, that’s why I’m worried.”

“Well, first of all it’s a fallacy. Secondly, what is true is that people tend to side against the man who is in prison for trying to murder a child.”

“He wasn’t trying to kill me.” Virgil’s heart audibly sank. “Was he?”

Roman leaned back in surprise. Payton probably hated Virgil, at the very least he didn’t love him. And the viper had put him in the hospital more than once. Yet, Virgil was still hurt to think that Payton wanted him dead. Why should he care what Payton wanted?

“I don’t know.” Roman hugged him. “He trapped you in a burning building. If he wasn’t trying to kill you, then it just means he’s not a murderer per say. But at the very least, it means that he didn’t care if you died. And that’s not your fault. That’s on him.”

“I’m sick of being upset about this.” Virgil made a sound halfway between a scream and a sob. “I know he doesn’t care about me. Why is it still a gut punch? Why do I even still care at all?”

“Humans feel.” Roman rubbed his back softly. “And feelings never make sense.”

“I hate it.”

“Come on, let’s go do something to take your mind off things.” Roman patted him on the shoulders. “It’s about time you got to be a kid.”

# # #

Virgil chewed on his hoodie strings as the crowd gathered around the tour guide.

“Sacred of ghosts, Sweeny toddler?” Roman teased, ruffling his hair.

“I ain’t afraid of no ghost.” Virgil sneered.

“No, but I bet they’re terrified of you. We might not even see any with you around.”

Virgil laughed softly. Two hundred uncle points. Roman put his arm around him and they walked up to the guide.

“Two spots in your tour please.” Roman said as he produced the fairs with a great flourish.

“Oh, you again.” The guide exhaled. “And you have a kid with you. Great.”

The guide took the money and Roman contentedly fell into step with Virgil in tow.

“He doesn’t like you.” Virgil taunted. “Did you steal his boyfriend?”

“Virgil, a man does not steal a life partner, nor does he win one. He woos one.”

“Woo. Woo.” Virgil added with a straight face and a straighter voice.

“And the tour guide simply doesn’t appreciate me practicing my improv while I’m on his tours.” Roman explained. “Although, he is a very nice fellow. We both work as nude models at the portraiture class. He’s straight, so I had no chances.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Virgil mimicked.

“You’ve been watching a lot of sit-coms?”

“I can’t sleep some nights, so I just YouTube deep dive. And now I know how to make a life like moose out of old newspaper.”

“Chamomile tea. Try some before bed, or warm milk.”

“You make it sound like conspiracy theories aren’t good for me.” Virgil grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Did you know that there was this one lady who made her victims into soap, and she used the soap. But the worst part was she also turned them into cake, and she ate the cake.”

“Remind me to get you some video games, something less… horrible.”

“I thought video games cause violence.” Virgil smirked.

“Sure, and vaccines cause autism. Pencils cause bad handwriting, spoons cause fat people and gays in media cause gay people.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna murder a bunch of people because I’m playing Pokémon.” Virgil sneered, damn he was good at it. “It has nothing to do with the school system that does nothing to stop bulling, or the extremely abusive dad y’all sent me home to every day. It was the video games, Linda.”

“What kind of Pokémon did you have?” Roman changed the subject away from Payton.

“I had a Mew, a Haunter and a Psyduck. And a psychic type Evee.” Virgil sighed. “I went with the mind powered ones and all the ghost types.”

“That sounds fun.” Roman beamed, finally one nice thing in this little boy’s life.

“My dad broke my computer, and any other device that had my game on it.” Virgil looked at the ground. “I think they starved to death.”

Why is it that whenever something good happens you show up to ruin it? You snake in the machine, I hate you. Roman silently scripted a call out letter to Payton.

“Hey, it’s Dr. Picani.” Virgil derailed his train of thought.

Roman looked over and spotted the familiar blond-haired doctor now wearing a brown T-shirt that displayed the Scooby Doo gang and khaki cargo shorts. More importantly though was the fact that his now exposed arms showed off an array of tattoos. Roman rubbed his eyes, no way. No way did this man, this doctor have tattoos. No, it was far more likely that he had a twin brother, and that was who they saw now.

“He’s got ink.” Virgil squeaked in awe. “Let’s go say hi to him.”

Virgil grabbed his hand and darted towards the doctor. He was alarmingly strong for a kid who only weighed a hundred pounds.

“Virge, wait.” Roman said in a hushed voice, pulling the emo back. “I’m not sure we should.”

“Are you a-scared of the doctor?” Virgil laughed.

“No, he was in my still life class last week…”

“OOOOOO, you’re embarrassed to talk to a guy who has nudes of you.” He was incorrigible. “Maybe if you ask nice, he’ll give the pictures back. Or are you afraid he’ll post it on social media?”

“I’m not embarrassed for me, he ended up getting really upset and I consoled him afterwards.” Roman explained. “I’m worried if I talk to him it’ll put him in an awkward position.”

“SUUUREEEE.” Virgil rolled his eyes. “Cause the dude who strips down and poses isn’t the guy in the awkward position.”

“Why do you suddenly turn into a kid now?”

“What’s the problem?” Virgil shrugged. “So he got upset, big deal. I cried in front of him a few times and I’m not embarrassed to talk to him. If you refused to talk to anyone who’s seen you naked or who’s gotten frustrated with painting, you’d have to be a hermit. Just like if I avoided everyone who has seen me crying about something, I wouldn’t be able to leave my room.”

“You’re stunningly sharp.”

“Hey! Dr. Picani!” Virgil yelled, which Roman didn’t think he could do, as he waved over to the doctor.

Picani waved back and approached them. His legion of tattoos becoming clearer. Unsurprisingly, if anything about this could be considered unsurprising, most of his tattoos were from cartoons. The one that struck Roman in particular was the image of Lady Rainacorn wrapped around his left arm from shoulder to wrist. His right arm displayed a group portrait of Clifford, Courage, Scooby Doo, Blue, some green dog that looked like a stuffed toy who he didn’t recognize and Goddard.[1]

“Hey Virgil.” Emile greeted happily. “Hi Roman.”

“Awkward indeed.” Virgil looked over at Roman with raised eyebrows.

“Good evening Emile.” Roman added cordially. “Are you out ghost hunting as well?”

“Yeah, I figured I should get out. And this sounded like a nifty idea. What brings you to this haunted cul-de-sac?”

“We live here.” Virgil said smoothly with an air of villainy. “Well, lived here. We’re the ghosts that haunt these streets.”

“Aren’t you the cutest thing?” Emile ruffled Virgil’s hair. “It’s nice to see you so excited.”

Virgil scowled at the sidewalk as his face turned red. The tour guide started walking and they followed him in quite precession. Roman rubbed his hands in anticipation of their first stop. Now he had two people to impress.

“I didn’t know you had ink.” Virgil pressed Emile. “And I really didn’t know you had that much.”

“Yeah,” Emile looked at his arms. “I’ve got a couple of books worth of it. Lady Rainacorn is new. I think it’s healing up nicely.”

“Did it hurt?”

“Not as bad as my first one did.”

“What was the first one?”

“It was actually Clifford,” Emile showed them the portrait. “I got it to cover up a dog bite.”

“Really?” Virgil leaned back in surprise.

“Yeah, he was old and sore, and I tried to pet him. Still got me good.”

“That’s awful.” Roman added.

“It’s ok.” Emile shrugged. “He was a good boy, he just got old.”

“Alright our first stop.” The guide had everyone gather around. “This building stands abandoned due to the ghosts that torment anyone who dares try to live in it. The house was built atop an Indian burial ground. The spirits buried here cannot rest because of the desecration to their sacred place.”

“That is wholly inaccurate.” Roman added loudly. “The tormentors of the building are remnants of the poor souls who died their when it was used as an unlicensed hospital in the eighties. The proprietors mismanaged their facility horridly and would even go so far as to steal supplies from the actual hospital. They would go on to receive more unwelcomed visitors from beyond in the form of men and women who died as a result of their theft. Malpractice insurance really didn’t cover that one.”

“Really?” The guide looked bored. “Who are you tonight Roman?”

“Dr. Roman Brown. Paranormal expert.” Roman put his arm around Virgil. “I’m here with my ward.”

“How’d you get a kid?” The guide expressed genuine confusion and revulsion.

“I’ve had Virgil for a time now, I caught him trying to pick my pocket. Poor creature lived on the streets.”

“Really?”

“Yes really.” Virgil retorted. “I was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a Catholic church. But they believed that I had demon’s blood in my veins and sent me out into the streets to fend for myself when I was four.”

“You’re half demon?”

“Maybe.” Virgil shrugged. “Who’s to say? All I know is that there are a lot of things that keep trying to pull me into hell.”

“Really?” The guide scoffed.

“Just last month a hand shot up out of the dirt and grabbed my ankle.” Virgil continued flawlessly. “I fought it as it tried to drag me under and broke my foot in the process.”

Virgil pointed at his walking boot. The crowd murmured in astonishment. Roman’s heart swelled with pride.

Defeated, the guide took them to the next stop.

“Virgil, that was beautiful.” Roman said quietly. “The way you flawlessly wove your cast into the narrative as proof was inspired. I’m so proud of you, I may weep.”

“I got good at lying.” Virgil looked at his feet. “I learned from the best.”

“Never mind Payton.” Emile patted him on the shoulder. “You can just have fun making up stories tonight. Be a kid.”

“Are those doctor’s orders?” Virgil looked up at him.

“They are now.” Emile stood up straight.

Roman noticed an indent in Emile’s shirt. It looked like a stud in his navel. Did he have piercings as well? Who was this man?

“Here we have the next stop, it may not look like much, but Kim and Jim’s Bar and Grill was built on top of the remains of the old mortuary and is plagued with strange events to this day.” The guide explained, you could tell he hated this job.

“Yes,” Emile chimed in. “There was a gruesome series of experiments in the mortuary and now the woods are inhabited with the results. Terrifying amalgamations made of severed limbs. Hands attached to feet, heinous arm-leg monsters and every other combination that doesn’t include a face. Stripped of their identities they roam around helplessly.”

“And at night, when the drunks go home,” Roman added. “You can hear them crying. They’re in so much pain.”

The audience and guide looked at them, baffled.

“Of course.” Virgil suddenly said, gesturing towards Emile. “Dr. Emile Vankmen. Parapsychologist. A true credit to his field.”

There were many nods. The tourists didn’t really care for a believable story, they wanted a good story. And by the sniped snakes of a gorgon salon, that is what they were going to get.

They went through the stops, trumping the guide’s every tale with a gruesome murder, demonic happening or cartoon plot line. The crowd was eating it up and Virgil was teaming with energy. He seemed to be absorbing it and converting it into power.

“Virgil is having fun.” Emile laughed.

“I know,” Roman beamed. “We uncles know how to let one become a kid.”

“Are you related to the other two?”

“No, we’re just especially close.” Roman recalled fondly. “I cheated for Patton for a month while he was dealing with his mother’s death. Of course, without him knowing.”

“How did you do that?” Emile looked confused and slightly impressed.

“I wrote a few essays in character as him.” Roman brushed it off as if it were nothing. “I’m always up for a chance to practice my vocation.”

“Virgil, don’t let him cheat for you.” Emile looked down at where Virgil was.

Emphasis on was, because he was gone. Roman felt instant panic. He had lost Virgil! He had lost a traumatized child with anxiety! Virgil was probably terrified! What if he was hurt?!

“Where did he go!!??” Roman yelped. “He was just here? Virgil!?”

“Ok, ok.” Emile held up a shaking hand. “Maybe he walked to the front of the group.”

Through their panic they heard Virgil scream, then the tour guide and a few tourists scream.

The worst had happened! Roman ran to the front of the line and saw Virgil on the ground laughing while the guide stared at him irately.

“Virgil!” Roman grabbed him. “Don’t do that again! I thought I lost you!”

“Sorry.” Virgil relented rather easily. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I, I hadn’t considered that you’d notice I was gone.”

“Well, I did.” Roman walked back to their place in the group, holding Virgil’s hand. “I want you to stay where I can see you. It’s dark and you don’t know the neighborhood, something might have happened to you.”

Virgil was quiet as he looked at the sidewalk in confusion. He was probably wondering why no one was hitting him. In fact, he was probably wondering why Roman cared what happened to him. Roman sighed, he didn’t know how to un-traumatize a kid, all he really had to go off was how Logan had been after everything came out. And Virgil and Logan were drastically different characters with very different abusers. So, that wasn’t much of a comparison.

“Virgil.” Roman put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled. But you really scared me, and I don’t want you wandering around where I can’t see you.”

“You call that yelling?” Virgil looked confused. “It’s fine. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m sorry.”

“Ok. Let’s continue our tour.” Roman wrapped his arm around him. “But now you have to hold my hand.”

“Whatever.” Virgil rolled his eyes and smiled.

“And to this day, no one knows the cause of the building’s collapse.” The guide pointed at a vacant spot where a house had once been.

“Actually, that one was us.” Emile interrupted, feigning embarrassment. “It was how we found out about Virgil’s powers.”

“He has powers now?” The guide raised an eyebrow.

“Yep,” Virgil picked up. “Demonic powers made the whole building implode. I can control them much better now.”

“He had a nightmare that manifested itself into physical form and started haunting us.” Emile continued. “It picked us off one by one until only Virgil was left. Last thing I remember is just… blackness. No sound, no light. I don’t think I could even feel anything, then next thing I knew, I was just back and there was no more building. Not even rubble, just what you see now, with Virgil standing in the middle of it.”

“Yes, I remember that night.” Roman joined in. “A hideous creature started roaming the halls. It was six feet tall, completely black and had no face. Well, no face on its head. But it’s chest. Right where men have a navel, it had a mouth. And when it opened that horrid maw a vertical slit went up to its pencil thin neck and showed a ribcage. A ribcage broken down the middle that it used as teeth. A long red tongue cleaned saliva and blood off the jagged ribs as it drooled in anticipation of its next meal.”

“And the smell.” Virgil added solemnly. “It reeked of decay. Of maggot filled puss and blackened flesh. Not like cooked blackened, more like dead five times over blackened. And he enveloped his prey in darkness like a spider cocooning its next meal.” Virgil gagged, for real. The little one had just made himself sick.

“And he took the other two.” Virgil looked at the crowd. “I was the only one left, and just when I was sure that I was gonna die alone, with only that, that thing as company, I felt this sensation in my gut. Like a burning. And it went through my whole body and a moment of realization overcame me. This heat was natural, familiar. I realized what I was, who I was. And that thing, well, that thing was gonna pay for what it did. So, I focused my energy, my hatred, my courage on it and the whole building came down around us, and the thing was sucked into the ground, leaving me standing in an empty lot.”

“Let’s just move on.” The guide was even more unimpressed with them.

Virgil made faces behind the guide’s back for the rest of the night. Emile did as well. Roman sent him a few ungentlemanly hand gestures and internally called him a bitch. He had no taste for a good horror story. Heathen. That was an excellent description and a lovely climax.

As the night went on Roman noticed that Virgil was walking differently and always stood on his good foot whenever they stopped. When they were moving, he would either limp very slightly or hop on one foot, which he tried to cover up, but really couldn’t.

“Is your foot hurting?” Roman asked, fairly aware of the answer and the lie that Virgil would tell.

“No.”

“Yes, it is.”

“That’s a neat trick. Can you tell me if my neck hurts next?”

“Alright, come on.” Roman picked him up.

“What are you doing!?”

“I’m going to carry you.”

“Like hell you are!”

“Come on, you really mean to tell me that you don’t want a piggyback ride?”

“I’m an adult.”

“You’re a teenager at best.”

“That’s still too old.”

“But someday you’re gonna be too big to carry.”

“Yeah, yesterday.”

Ignoring him completely, Roman slumped Virgil over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and kept walking.

“Have you been sleeping better lately?” Emile asked, lagging behind slightly so he could see Virgil’s face.

“Yeah. I guess.”

“He,” Roman interrupted. “Has been watching horrific true crime stories on his computer.”

“Oh, sure. Say nothing about the newspaper moose.” Roman assumed that Virgil was sneering.

“Well, they proved that you shouldn’t be on your computer before bed.” Emile offered.

“Uncle Logan told me the same thing.”

“Wikipedia’s sleep routine doesn’t help him sleep though.” Roman accused.

“I’m telling him you called him that.”

“He knows.”

They apprehensively arrived at their last stop.

“This cemetery is a hot spot for paranormal activity.” The guide explained. “It is home to The Tunnleberry Vampire, the bipedal dogs and the ghost of many a deranged Civil War general. The most famous of which resides in that mausoleum over there.” He pointed to a large grey building with carved angels out front. “Legend has it that he was betrayed in battle and rose from the grave to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him. His lieutenant who spear headed the mutiny was found suffocated to death inside the general’s empty casket. The general’s body was never found.”

“I believe the vampire was just the cemetery caretaker in a mask.” Emile interrupted. “He wanted to increase tourism in these parts to drive up the value of this graveyard so they couldn’t sell it.”

“And those bipedal dogs turned out to be a pair of really hairy dudes banging.” Virgil shuddered. “I think it’s scarred onto my retinas.”

“But that mausoleum.” Roman said seriously. “There is definitely something about that place. Something that haunts me. Something that despite all my years of ghost hunting still strikes me as the most unnatural event I have ever been unlucky enough to witness with my own eyes.”

“Of course, there is.” The guide sighed.

“It was back when I was still trying to get my paranormal business off the ground.” Roman dove into the story. “My then partner, and senior ghost hunter, Luigi Verd, was by my side the entire time. True blue he was, I’ll always remember him. We found ourselves in this graveyard investigating a series of disappearances around town. Mostly just troubled teens, alcoholics, and the homeless. But a life is a life, and a mystery is a mystery indeed. So, we set up.”

Roman took a pause to let them get sucked in.

“I was doing most of the lifting, as Luigi was recovering from a head injury. He had healed nicely in the hospital. The only sign of trauma was a stitched-up gash along his forehead. He was excited to have a scar to show off.” Roman looked at the ground sadly. “Or so I thought.”

He could feel their anticipation.

“Just as I had set everything up for our séance, we were hoping to ask the dead for a clue about the living. Anyway, just as I had finished these hooded men burst into the tomb. They were clad in floor length, red robes with their hoods pulled up to block out their faces. Before I could even react, two of them had me by each arm and they forced me onto one of the coffins and started tying down. And Luigi, who was like a brother to me, he just watched. They didn’t even go for him, but he just watched them bind me. I called out to him, and in response. He…” Roman took an exaggerated gasp. “He pulled out the stitch on his forehead. And his skin fell limp, but behind it where I expected flesh to be was more skin. And he pulled his face off as if he were removing a mask. And under the mask, under the face of a man I had known my entire life was this… this stranger! This figure who I didn’t know from Payton, slowly pulling the hide of my friend off his face. Wearing Luigi as a mask! The stranger laughed at me! He laughed at the brutal terror that welled up inside me! And he pulled out a long sharp knife…”

“I was at the cemetery myself that night.” Virgil took up the story. “Following the dudes who were nice enough to not have me arrested for picking their pockets. In my childish mind I had sworn a life debt to them in that moment. But, little did I know that I’d be paying it off that night. Because that was when I heard the screams.”

Mimicking Roman’s style Virgil paused and took a breath.

“Being seven, whenever fight or flight came up in my brain I would normally fly. But that night, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why, I chose to fight. I sprinted towards the source of the screams and found the tomb doors closed to the outside. But did that stop me? No, with whatever strength a half-starved kid possesses I threw myself into the door and just kept slamming into it. I was in a frenzy! I just kept bashing into that door with all my weight. Seventy pounds of skin and bones ramming the door like there was no tomorrow.”

“That’s where I came in.” Emile joined. “I had hit an alligator, literally there was a tiny alligator wrapped around my tire and was trying to fix my tire when I heard both the screaming and the constant thudding. I too ran to the source and saw a small child, bruised and bloody, hammering his fragile body into the concrete doors. The first thing I did was wrestle him away from the door before he killed himself. Then, I forced my tire iron between the crack in the two doors to pry it open like a lever. It budged open an inch, but then the men inside swung it open to see what was going on. I fought them as best as I could, even managing to break one’s arm. But then their leader pulled out this whip, made out of bones, human spinal bones and he snapped my weapon out of my hands while I was still reeling from the shock. Next thing I knew I was being chained to the floor.”

“They took this distraction in their stride.” Roman shuddered. “And with Virgil and Emile dealt with they turned back to me. The knife wielder tore my shirt off in one swipe and drove his knife into my chest. Just when I thought I was done for I realized that he wasn’t about to stab me to death. Instead he slid the knife down towards my stomach, he was skinning me!”

“I did the only thing I knew how to do.” Virgil jumped in. “I played dead. And miracle of miracles, they bought it. The one with the whip bent down to check on me, and I bit him. I sank my teeth into his wrist like it was the most delicious prime rib known to man. He fought me with his free hand, but no number of blows was making me spit that fucker’s arm out. I dug in until I hit bone, I ground my teeth to widen the wound, I sunk in until I was certain that he and I were one…”

“And I took the opportunity to dislocate my thumb.” Emile jumped in on cue. “And slid out of one of my wrist restraints. With my free arm I put Virgil’s new chew toy in a head lock, he didn’t put up too much of a fight, as now he was woozy with blood loss. He collapsed, and Virgil started rooting through his body for the keys. Another robed guy came at me, so I did the worst thing I could think of. I grabbed his groin and I pulled with all my strength. He doubled over and Virgil tossed me the keys.”

“With this madness going on, the leader had stopped trying to skin me and was now running towards the other two.” Roman took the reins once more. “He flew at Emile with the knife and they engaged in battle. Meanwhile, Virgil freed me, and I took the leader from behind. Emile dodged a stab and the leader fell into his own weapon. I took it from him, and Emile took up his tire iron once more. And.” Roman stopped. “Knowing that we couldn’t go to the police for fear of how deep this madness runs, without any other options. We… we finished them off.”

“With that done. We sealed the tomb and vowed never to speak of it again.” Emile added. “And then we took Virgil to a hospital.”

“I had a collapsed lung.” Virgil added happily.

The crowd applauded them and even the guide looked impressed. Emile and Virgil were satisfied, but Roman had one more trick left.

“And,” Roman added, pulling up the hem of his shirt. “Here’s the receipt.”

He pulled his shirt up to display a long scar that went from his sternum to his navel, well past his navel actually. The scar took the place of the more traditional bellybutton. It was still visible in the evening light. The scar itself was horrid looking. It was jagged, narrow in some places and bore the impression of skin grafts in others. It folded in slightly at his stomach giving a clear picture of how deep it was.

The crowd gasped. Virgil squeaked in surprise and Emile looked on baffled (and hopefully impressed to be seeing Roman’s physique a second time.) Roman laughed to himself. This had been an excellent improv session and he had managed to both impress his nephew and a rather charming doctor.

At the end of the tour Roman had done the gentlemanly thing and walked Emile to his car. The three of them laughed about their story telling talents and the tales of terror they wove.

“Well, this is me.” Emile stopped at his car. “Thanks for walking me to my car. I didn’t want the cult to catch me alone.”

“Of course not.” Roman agreed.

“So, stop me if I’m intruding.” Emile started hesitantly. “But how did you get that scar?”

“It’s far worse than the story.” Roman sighed.

“Now you have to tell us.” Virgil bopped his shoulder.

“Ok. I was born a conjoined twin.” Roman sighed. “They had to cut us apart. Remus, that’s my brother, has the same scar. Well, at least a similar one”

“You both made it? That’s amazing.” Emile looked impressed. “Also, your names are Roman and Remus? Like Romulus and Remus?”

“I hate it when people get that reference.”

“Whatever would they have done if you were triplets?” Virgil taunted. “Hey, we all have Italian names.”

The two adults laughed at Virgil’s observation.

“Oh.” Emile started. “Would you two like a ride back home? I think Virgil over did it with the walking.”

“That would be lovely.” Roman lit up slightly.

“Woo.” Virgil said softly to Roman.

“Now Virgil,” Roman said as he buckled his seat belt. “What would you normally do if a stranger offered you a ride home?”

“Fight him to the death.” Virgil said plainly.

“Ok, the correct answer is to say no and run away.” Roman disregarded that comment.

They pulled into the driveway and saw that Patton and Logan were home already.

“Thanks for the ride Dr. Picani.” Virgil said quickly as he darted out of the car.

He was inside in a flash, no doubt to tell his parents everything he had been up to. Good. Roman exited the car with a bit more grace.

“Thank you very much for the ride back, Emile.” Roman said graciously.

“PSHSHHSHH.” Emile swatted the topic out of the air. “It was nothing.”

There was a pause.

“I had a good time hanging out with you.” Emile said timidly.

“I had a good time with you too.” Roman felt himself blush.

“I know there’s still the court case and everything…” Emile blushed as well. “But after that, when there won’t be any conflict of interest… are you single?”

“Completely.” Roman answered.

[1] The dogs are Clifford the Big Red Dog, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Scooby Dooby Doo, Blue from Blue’s Clues, Gir from Invader Zim (Hi Marie Pippins, that one’s for you) and Goddard from Jimmy Neutron

#dr. picani #romansanders #virgilsanders #romile #platonic lamp #lamp+deceit #remus and picani #sanderssideshunamau

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leaveharmony · 4 years

Text

Cut for humdrum childhood trauma, probably emotional abuse cw? But maybe that’s too strong a term

I went past something the other day RE ‘friendship is allowing a certain amount of ghosting to go unmentioned,’ which I mean...hard agree, obviously & I’d never expect within-a-half-hour responses to every little note I ever sent or for anyone to drop everything they’re doing at any point in time just to Validate Me; people get busy, people have their own lives, sometimes people just forget. Sometimes I’m largely out of contact w/ friends for a week or so at a time, it happens.

But even understanding the meaning of the post, my dumb doormat ass was still like “But four months or so or near total silence is unusual, right? Probably over half a year since the last real conversation is a little odd? If someone largely ceases replying to you or directly speaking to you anything like the normal amount, seemingly concurrent to when you pointed out the blatantly obvious trajectory of a wrestling storyline, it’s probably not a misinterpretation to consider it deliberate? Am I just overreacting and being paranoid & selfish? I am aren’t I, I think I’m the center of the whole universe don’t I?”

Part of me just thinks, ‘Ah, this again, it was only a matter of time.’

I mean...at home, 24/7 I'd get silence beaten into me, even on christmas morning, to prove his kids were better behaved than his brother’s kids my father made us open presents at grandma’s house quietly and slowly, one tape seam at a time while my cousins tore around like...children...ripping their wrapping paper and being excited. I wasn’t permitted to be excited, it’s why I always feel like I’m performing gratitude rather than expressing it because I have a complex about irritating people with my happiness. He threw out my wood soled clogs when I was at school because he didn’t like the noise they made. One time he bellowed at me to “GO LAY DOWN,” which was what he used to yell at the cats and the dogs left in our care. Didn’t matter if it was an animal or his literal firstborn child, if it was making more noise than he considered acceptable it had to be shut up. I got yelled at for screaming in terror and pain when he shut my wrist in the car door, bc it was making people look at us.

Like when you take that level of constant attempts to stamp out a certain behaviour and then that exact behaviour is expected of you OUTSIDE the house...christ.

I remember one of the few times I went to the movies "with friends," here in quotes because the only friend in the group was really Kristen and the rest just kinda tolerated me, we saw The Birdcage. And when we were walking out discussing it before I even had a chance to open my mouth in response to something, how Alanna immediately said in the coldest imaginable voice that she hadn't heard me laughing and thus I must have thought it wasn't funny / I was too good for it / whatever else she was projecting on me at the time.

And it was just.

I thought it was hilarious, but bc of the constant drumbeat in my head, be quiet or else, be quiet or else, laughing (or doing anything else) loudly in public is something I constantly police myself about in case it's Bothering People.

WHICH I GUESS! Made me seem cold and stuck up or something! Who the fuck knows? To this day I don't know what I did or said that made them all hate me so much.

I quit our small choir after one practice because again...after one song Jenny (Jenny being the one who tried to drown me once & then acted like it was my fault) decided I was faking it and not actually singing, everybody looking daggers at me. So then I stopped singing and left and never went back. Sixth grade.

'Course seventh grade was when Kristen spontaneously decided we were no longer friends and would not tell me why, or even if there was a why, just that we weren't. I’d try to talk to her about it and she’d shut me down and walk away every time...she even looked like she regretted it a bit, which was the worst thing because it MUST have been my fault right? And I was upsetting her by even trying to find out what I’d done. So I stopped trying & shoved away that part of myself that wanted to.

That lasted about half a year, and after summer vacation she acted as though nothing had ever happened and we were fine; I was so grateful it was over & done with that I have never once asked her about it subsequently, even though we're still in touch.

And if I'm honest, the why is because, I don't know that she'd even remember it happening. This torturous thing that left me with a permanent paranoia about abandonment / making The Mistake that would drive people away, that was so formative and damaging, I've got no idea if it made any impression on her at all...and I don't really want to know. Because I suspect, and that’s enough.

So on the one side I’d get STOP SPEAKING YOU’RE BEING TOO LOUD NOBODY CARES and on the other side I’d get WHY AREN’T YOU CONTRIBUTING TO THE CONVERSATION DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TOO GOOD FOR US GOD WHAT A STUCK UP BITCH and somewhere in the middle would be GOD WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING SO STUPID THOUGH followed by the inevitable cutting off.

Like I’m trying to work around to the point where accepting shitty immature I'm-not-talking-to-you-but-I'm-not-telling-you-why grade school behaviour where I'm pretty sure???? things are unrecoverable but I'm kicked-dog scared of confrontation so I don't dare say anything and just sit instead in a holding pattern waiting for Master to wave me over & toss down a few scraps of attention is not actually something I’m willing to put up with anymore. But I’m constantly undercut by all the times ppl have just stomped all over me & used me and thrown me away like trash only to dust me back off all buddy-buddy when they decide I’m suddenly worth something to them again. And this is not! Something I should be hoping for! Like even I can see that ‘hahaha anyway what were we talking about a year ago when I last returned any of your timid attempts at communication, friend?’ is not an ideal outcome when the ppl that do it will just feel even more at liberty to do it again when they see I just sorta jello myself back into the form they expect of me & am always, always too scared to say “Ok first of all, what the fuck?”

It doesn’t seem to matter if there’s a small voice going ‘Yes but you’re maybe worth a little more than that and maybe people shouldn’t treat you that way?’ if the whole rest if the world is going ‘lol no you’re not and it’s what you deserve.’

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the-fickle-muse · 4 years

Text

The future has fangs

Colleseum AU timeline. Set post SUF 3k words.

Chapter 2 : A tiger in the woods.

The dining room was surprisingly quite empty as Steven and Connie began their breakfast. The manager, a nice lady with short hair, had chalked it up to Beach City incidents driving people away lately. He likely would have found that funny if it weren't for… well. You know.

"So, let's start again-" Connie chirped from behind a mouthful of buttered toast. Her back a little stiff after sleeping on the brick-like mattresses of the B&B. "You'd heard weird noises all night but didn't go check it out?"

"It's been keeping me awake, yeah. I thought maybe it was just a wild animal but…" He trailed off, picking with little appetite at the chunky breakfast sausage sitting on his plate, eventually giving up and tossing it to lion with a sigh. "I guess I thought once I left Beach city all the gem stuff would start going away."

A soft ache at Connie's chest forced her mouth to twist into a sad smile. Of course Steven wanted to get away from it all. It was just an awfully timed coincidence that a corrupted gem of all things would appear now. "Well, since we're only a day or so away, we could poof it and I can deliver it to the gems to cleanse the corruption. You don't have to come back if you don't want to."

The awkward expression he gave her quickly shut that idea down, remembering that Steven would need to be present to actually fix the gem. As much as taking a bottle of his spit back would work, in theory, it wasn't a particularly pleasant plan.

"No." He resigned, pushing the mostly empty plate away in defeat. "It's no big deal, just one more gem, right?" The concern in Connie's eyes was almost convincing, but he soon stood up and nodded firmly to confirm his thoughts. "Don't worry, Connie. If I wanted to say no I'd say no. Or I'd make some kind of joke about it..."

Her little chortling sounded like music to his ears. So goofy and sweet. The good kind of pink flush rushed to his rounded cheeks as she rose from her seat and shook her head. "I couldn't convince you not to if I tried, Steven Universe, but it was worth a shot." Her eyes sparkle with an idea, Lion nosing his head onto her plate to grab at the leftovers. "You know, there is one thing you could do to make this better for the both of us."

"And-" Steven is caught during the reply as Connie hopped forward to plant a peck on his cheek. "-uh, wuh, what would that be?" He stammered, blinking away the kiss with a giddy smile.

"I want you to sit this one out." It was clear and concise. Confidently worded as she let her hand linger on his shoulder, watching for the predictable 'wait what?' expression before continuing. "I can handle this, Steven." Her smile lowered, eyes drifting to lion who had finished clearing their plates and was grooming one of the many spots of missing fur from yesterday. "I really don't think-"

"Thank you."

That one little phrase stopped Connie in her tracks, eyes flicking back to him in surprise. "I… guess it was obvious I really don't want to fight, huh." He chuckled running a hand up the back of his neck. "I get it, too, that I'm not really ok to be… I don't feel comfortable after…" Oh Steven. She understood perfectly well, that's why she even brought it up. But to accept that, and understand, was already such a big leap. She didn't know whether to feel proud or pity him.

She pulled him into a soft, warm, one armed hug. Patting his back a few times before they both cleaned up their table and bid farewell to the cheerful manager. Connie pullined the heavy Pink sword from Lion's mane as they approached the main road, hoisting it up onto her shoulder with one arm while her free hand lay interlocked with Stevens.

The distant rolling thunder of cars surfing over the well kept roads almost gave the outdoors some form of white noise. The brushing of leaves and twittering of small sparrows overtaking the city symphony as they hurried across the asphalt and into the treeline. Her knees and hands, all the way up to the wrist, had been wrapped in clean, sturdy, bandages. The many little scrapes from yesterday were a learning experience, already healed with Steven's help.

The woodlands were just as they had been yesterday. Yet the sky was much different. Swirling wisps of cloud danced around like silk, taken easily in the cool breeze. The sun, not yet having risen enough to beam brightly, cast the horizon in deep golds and oranges. It reminded Steven of his early mornings back home. Rushing to the big doughnut to meet Sadie and Lars. Getting early access to last night's fry-bits from Peedee. It was a warm, Cozy feeling to be thinking of those kinds of mornings.

The minutes flew by, as did yesterday's landmarks. Passing the monolith, then the arrow-trail, and finally coming to the clearing from before. Steven took a long sigh-like breath as he finally let go of Connie and the both of them warily explored the battlezone.

He remembered the direction the gem had taken off in, but felt at a loss when he tried to imagine how far it may have gone by now. After all, gems don't need sleep like they did. And for all he knows it could have been running since their encounter. Broken twigs, a vaguely large break in the opposing bushes...

"Steven, come look at this." Connie squatted into a spry crouch, interested in the dirt, which as he got closer revealed a little glimmer of a clue. "Pawprints." She mumbled. A hand wandering idly down to touch the deep indentation in the dust. It was wide, and only had three toes, making a perfect match got the gem they had seen before. A little further forward was another, and around the same area slightly less defined triangular prints also started to show. Marks of the two-toed back feet by the looks of it.

"They look like the right size. What do you think, lion?” He asked cheerily, ruffling Lion's airy mane as the big cat stooped down to sniff at the trail. Dust and specks of grit flew away from his muzzle on every loud exhale. Taking slow meandering steps over the indentations, his ears pricking up every so often like two twitchy antennae. Finally satisfied, he turned around to look eagerly back at Steven and Connie.

Hesitation was gripping tediously at Steven's bones as he watched Connie stand up and dust off her knees, wanting to reach out and call the whole thing off so what happened yesterday wouldn't repeat itself. But he knew that wasn't an option anymore. He had faith in her but that faith alone couldn't fight away the gnawing unease of the task ahead.

Lion stayed just a pace behind the troublesome duo, eyes wandering idly of their own accord. The bushes they passed had lingering traces of the beast and with every step closer his tail twitched just a little harder.

It had hurt him, but not out of anger or savagery. No. It was scared. Lost. Abandoned? His first instinct might have been to observe it with curiosity had it not so suddenly attacked Connie. After all, that's exactly what he'd been doing for a week now. Watching it. Following it. The ambush was unexpected. If he'd known it would have behaved so destructively toward his little human companion he never would have brought her.

The slow crawl of changing scenery eventually escaped the dense trees, out into open air. Large walls of stone jutted out of the ground like steep pedestals hosting unknown treasures on top. The tracks they had been following vanished as dirt gave way to gravel and Lion suddenly halted. The scent trail gems left behind would generally grow stronger the closer they got, and right now it was pretty strong.

"Do you think it's here?" Connie whispered gingerly while letting her blade droop in her grasp.

Steven's stomach was in knots. It twisted and wrenched around itself and yet he managed to keep the feeling subdued by watching Connie's face. Her eyes were narrowed and intense. He didn't need to ask to know what was going on in that head of hers. Such blazing determination; it was infectious. "Yeah. It's got to be here." He took a breath, reaching into Lion's mane with an awkward rummage before pulling something small out. "Stand still."

"What?" She made no moves, expecting danger, but instead was greeted by his hands moving softly through her hair. "-Oh." Trying not to catch any stray tangles as he guided it all into a messy ponytail and twisted on a hairband. Earning a sweet smile as a result. "Thank you, Steven!"

The mushy moment didn't last long as without delay Connie took lead of the walk forward. Everyone's eyes scanned the available horizon until not even a minute into the search they found their prize. Snuffling over the cold stone floor, its muzzle pressing to the dust, with its tail dragging along behind it.

The gem’s ragged pelt rippled golden under the tinted dawn light. Heavy shadows from surrounding pillars casting darkness over large strips of the open area. It didn't seem to notice the approaching trio until Connie slid down a noisy bank of loose pebbles and tumbling rocks. Despite not being able to see any eyes beyond the mounds of fur, she could feel its pinpoint glare lock onto her the moment it looked her way. It’s fur prickled uncomfortably before laying flat again on noticing Lion and Steven still stashed away at the top of the sheer slide.

An eerie silence alerted Connie to the slow drumming of her pulse in her ears. Guarded and tense as her eyes bore into the creatures bottomless hair. She could feel her palms clam up with sweat underneath the bandage straps, frowning as it stayed statuesque in a frozen crouch.

Yesterday's fight had by no means been one sided. Even after Lion received one too many injuries Connie had held her ground with impressive technique. The creature fought with an air of predictability. A savage instinct that worked to make it stronger yet easier to anticipate. Many of its moves had been so heavily telegraphed she began to wonder if it was being intentionally slow.

The creature took cautious lumbering steps forward, smooth muzzle creasing, low grinding snarls serving as a warning to the determined human still menacingly standing there. The pink blade reflected soft sparkles of light across the floor with a rosy tint. Time fell to a sluggish crawl, neither making a move without the other instigating it. Connie’s patience was stretched further and further, like a boiling tea kettle. Her sweaty palms readjusted on the sword’s thorn-patterned hilt. Teeth began to grind. “Come on….” She hissed under a delayed breath, shuddering at the feeling of their onlooker’s eyes on the back of her neck. “Stop waiting, come at me!”

A thunderous screech echoed off of the surrounding stones. The gem, finally giving way to the human’s harsh demands, charged forward. It was only a few leaps until the colossal figure collided with Connie’s sword. A clash of razor claws on pearly metal threw sparks as its onslaught of blows bounced harmlessly, but not effortlessly, away from the blade. Connie’s feet danced across the dirt in quick, calm, movements. She was ready for a fight today.

The gem’s Sharp fangs glimmered, reflecting Connie’s face in their smooth polished edges, almost glowing the further into the fight they went. It was hard not to imagine them closing around her arms and shattering the bones inside. A gritty taste invaded Connie’s mouth as their brawl began to throw up clouds of dust.

The beast lowered, a sign Connie recognised immediately from yesterday. A pounce was coming. If it landed on her the amount of force would knock her over. Thinking quickly, she rolled to the left, making sure to stay away from the direction of the glaring sun so it couldn’t get in her eyes. As predicted the gem lunged forward at the moment she dodged, heavy legs swatting onto the sooty stone. Her sword sailed in a wide arc, whistling as she aimed for the Beast’s head…

The sudden drop in momentum was jarring. A reverberating rattle of metal on hard light. The gem’s mouth had caught the blade mid-swing. Connie’s wide eyes tried to process the sight as it too stood silent for a moment before it tugged at the sword, almost pulling it from her grip. Connie, wincing, shoulder still ringing from the sudden impact, dug her shoes into the pebble-ridden ground. She attempted to keep hold of the weapon while dark rumbles roll out of the creature’s mouth.

Finally it let go, though she wasn’t ready for it, and a hard pull sent her stumbling backwards onto the floor. Steven, who had been keeping a hand in Lion's mane for security, stiffened at the sight. The Gem leaned over her, a paw on either side of her legs, while she stared up at it, frozen.

“...Grrfff.” It huffed, almost disappointed. The beast blew hot air across Connie’s face before it turned around and walked away, leaving her lying propped up on padded elbows with a confused look cemented onto her face. She stared up at where its muzzle had just been before blinking repeatedly and groaning, hauling herself back onto her feet.

Steven’s head felt like it was going to implode, finally breathing out a long weighty breath he didn’t realise was being held. That was lucky. Hold on. No it wasn’t. That was intentional. His brow creased as he walked to the steep gravelly drop, watching the Gem circle away from Connie and then back again. Re-aligning itself in front of her and shaking off the dust that had settled in its mane. “It’s fighting because she asked it to.” The realisation hit like a puzzle piece being put in place. Sucking in air with surprise, he cupped both hands up in front of his mouth. “Connie, it’s sparring with you!”

Connie’s sword hand wobbled uncomfortably as she aimed the blade back at the monster. Conflicted feelings clouded her senses as it once again lurched forward into an attack. Early training days with Pearl echoed in her head. The choreographed movements, the less frantic fighting, stopping on someone’s defeat instead of following through… and then the corrupted gems she had faced before with Steven. Savage and desperate. Life threatening and high-stakes with no hesitation on either side of the field to finish the fight.

A surge of adrenaline brought a thunderous cry of effort out of her throat, slamming the flat side of the sword across the beast’s face instead of rolling away. The charge redirected as it stumbled over its own feet from the impact and crumpled to the ground, enough momentum in its run to have it roll aimlessly across the stone for a moment. It lay dizzy and dazed from the unexpected strike.

This time the creature was the one on the ground and it was Connie’s turn to blot out the sun. Planting a foot on its large forearm, she lifted the blade to its head, looking down at the creature with an impossible to read expression. In the background, Lion and Steven slid over the steep ledge and made their way to the pair. Connie sighed, lowering the sword again, and took a step away. She couldn’t poof it. It wasn’t like fighting any other corrupted gem they’d encountered before. It wasn’t just some mindless force of destruction. And neither was she.

“Connie, that was amazing!” Steven’s cheers brought her thoughts crashing back to the present as he grabbed her in a big, tight hug. “Not really what we came here to do but… I mean, I think you won, right?” He chuckled, looking from her embarrassed face to the gem beast still lying comfortably on the floor with what almost looked like a smile.

She patted the back of his jacket, looking uneasily from him to Lion and finally the creature. “I guess?” The patient looking expression on its face made her brows raise in curiosity, confirming a few lingering thoughts as the beast dipped its head in a single nod as a response. “But what about yesterday? Why would it be so aggressive then but not now? I don’t know, Steven, this one is… strange.”

“Huh, you’re right.” He mused, pulling a hand up to his mouth in thought, side-eyeing their potentially dangerous ‘acquaintance’ with a squint. “I can’t say about when you first ran into it, but when I got there it seemed pretty afraid, right? Maybe something else has been fighting it?”

Connie sighed heavily, a smile creeping back onto her face as she watched Lion approach the creature with caution. They stretched out to sniff at each others’ muzzles, despite the beast having no visible nose, and then Lion inevitably recoiled with a passive aggressive growl. They were very clearly not fond of each other, but neither made any attempt to bother the other outside of a few wayward chuffs and grumbles.

“So… what do we do? If we can’t poof it-”

“We should give it a name.” He cut her off, carrying on as Connie stared at him as if his hair had just turned into feathers. “We can’t just call them ‘it’ all the time, right? You fought it, so why don’t you name it?”

She blinked, taking a second to process the request before shaking her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Okay. Alright.” She brushed his goofy smile away with feigned irritability, trying to keep a straight face and only failing on turning back to the two large balls of fur. Lion seemed to be batting curiously at the creature’s large tail. Which it was obviously trying to ignore, flicking the tail’s clubbed end back and forth in an effort to keep it out of his puffy pink paws.

“How about…” Connie’s eyes wandered over the beast's body, settling time and time again on the large burnt orange stripes lining their arms and legs. “Weeee have Lion… so why not Tiger?”

At once the creature’s uninterested posture stiffened and it stood up. Eyeing Connie with an intensity that made her feel like a target. But, by the looks of it, Steven didn’t seem to be affected as much as she was, clapping his hands together as he beamed. “Tiger! What do you think, do you like that name?” he chirped, grabbing the gem’s attention with the word.

Connie pouted for a moment and placed both hands firmly at her hips. “If all gems are named after real gemstones… amethyst, garnet, pearl. Do you think it’s possible this is a tiger’s eye?”

“Maybe. I can’t remember meeting a tiger’s eye before. Do you think they all look like this?”

“I don’t think we’ve seen any gem that chooses to look like it's corrupted. We really need to ask the Gems about this. They’ll know.”

#su #suf #suf au #steven universe #steven universe future au #connie maheswaran #Tiger's eye #steven universe oc #su oc #gem oc #lion #keep in mind it's an AU not a direct follow on to the original show #there are changes #some might not make sense right away

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three-houses-text-files · 5 years

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claude/lysithea

c-a support + paired ending

Lysithea: Ah, so I see... If one were to combine this incantation method with the power of a Crest, then in theory, it should— Claude: Hey, there. Still studying, are we? Isn't it past your bedtime? L: Claude, I really don't appreciate you interrupting me right now. C: Ah, but if you don't get your sleep, you're never going to grow big and strong! L: Uh-huh. The last thing I need is you fretting over me as though I'm some child. L: I'm only a few years younger than you, you know. Hardly worth noting. L: Furthermore, my grades in magic—and basically every other subject—are far higher than yours. (pre-skip) L: Furthermore, my grades in magic and...basically every other subject were far higher than yours. (post-skip) C: Whoa, there! I'm not trying to treat you like a child, I promise. This is me treating you like... like a princess! C: Now, come along, princess. Brush your teeth and get yourself ready for bed. I could read you a story, if that helps? L: Ugh, the audacity! Whatever it is you think you're treating me like, it's unendingly annoying. C: If a child and a princess are out, what's left? Should I treat you as a noble hero? C: Draw your sword, Lysithea! If you wish to continue studying, you must first defeat me in battle! L: ... C: Come now! Face me like the hero of legend that you are! L: I find myself speechless in the wake of your staggering ignorance. Now, please, leave me be. C: OK, OK. I can take a hint. But in all seriousness, you shouldn't neglect your sleep. You'll fall ill if you push yourself too hard. C: Oh, and just so you know... I heard a rumor that this library is haunted. L: ... C: It's probably not true. Right? Right. Anyhow, I'm off to bed. Good night! L: You know...I am suddenly rather sleepy! Excuse me while I see myself out! C: Heh, no matter how she tries to hide it, she's still a young girl at heart.

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C: As you can see, if we were to face an enemy on this terrain, I would go here...and you would go here. L: Hang on... If we're trying to repel the enemy, I should be positioned there, correct? C: Huh? I'm not sure that's the best idea. Take a closer look at this map. C: See, there's a graveyard over here. Might run into some of those ghosts you hate so much. L: Claude! Will you knock it off already? So help me, if you continue treating me like a child, I'll— C: Easy there! I'm sorry, OK? Just don't start blasting off any spells in here. L: Hmph! I've more pride than to turn an unarmed soldier to cinders. L: It wouldn't kill you to speak to me as an equal when we're discussing matters as serious as this! C: Actually, I see you as more than an equal. There's no questioning the power you wield. C: And I was being serious about the formation just now. The bit about the ghosts was just me having fun with you. Or...trying to? C: You're so smart, I figured you'd catch on to that right away. But back to the formation... Can you see why I arranged it like I did? L: Hmm... C: The area I want you to guard requires the ability to adapt to an ever-changing situation. C: Who else could I trust with such a difficult task? You're my best bet for something like that. L: Perhaps that's true... C: Think back to the times we've fought together. When have I ever treated you like a child on the battlefield? C: I depend on you, Lysithea. I value your power almost as much as I do Teach's. L: Truly? C: I swear to you on all of Fódlan. I like to have my fun, but I wouldn't joke about something like that. I consider you a valued ally. C: I'll stop now, before I inevitably drift back into teasing you again. Just know that I meant every word, OK? L: Fair enough, then. From here forward, see to it that you treat me with the respect of an equal. L: And... I admit that you are not short on talent yourself, but don't go getting a big head over it.

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L: Strategically speaking, if I poised an archer to lie in wait here, and then lured the enemy in over here... C: Lysithea, are you up late studying again? L: I am, but I don't see how it's any of your business. C: Look, you don't need to work yourself so hard. You're already as skilled as they come. C: There aren't many people out there who can match you. Everyone knows that. L: I apologize for my sharpness. I just feel pressured. C: Why would you of all people feel pressured? L: I place a lot of personal pressure on myself—I need to become as strong as possible, to put my parents at ease. C: When I met with Count Ordelia before, he said you were his pride and joy. C: But he also said his only concern was that you might be pushing yourself too hard. C: If you really want to make your parents happy, surely you should start by taking care of yourself. L: That's true. C: Then it's settled. Get some rest. Save your energy for tomorrow's battle. L: You really are very mature, Claude. Despite the impression you give off. And I clearly have plenty of growing to do. L: I probably don't have much room to come down on you for harping on me. C: Oh, really? C: Does that mean you won't get mad if I treat you like a child from now on? L: That is absolutely not what I said! L: Just after you'd finally earned a small degree of respect from me too. C: Hey, just think about it for a second. You're the only one in the world I treat like this. C: That means you're a pretty special person to me. L: You think I'm special? C: Take it however you like. Or maybe the thought is too much for a kiddo like you... L: How dare you! C: Gah! Don't do anything you might regret! I don't want to be turned to dust! L: I'm feeling generous, so I'll let you off easy this one time. C: Well, that's good of you. All joking aside, go get yourself some shut-eye, OK? C: After all, if you don't hurry up, the boogeyman might came out and EAT YOU! L: All right, buddy, you asked for it!

——————————————————————————————

paired ending

Entrusting the future of Fódlan to his friends, Claude left for Almyra to reclaim his place as heir to the throne. When he became king, he asked Lysithea to be his queen with a heart full of love, and with the hope of fostering friendly diplomatic relations with Fódlan. Due to her shortened lifespan, Lysithea declined. Claude, unable to abandon his love for her, gave up the throne to go on a quest for a means to save her. Years later, he appeared suddenly before her, claiming to have found a cure. With her trust and love to guide him, he whisked her away, across the sea. It is unknown where they went.

#fire emblem three houses spoilers #fe16 spoilers #fe3h spoilers #claude x lysithea #lysithea x claude

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what-life-im-a-fangirl · 6 years

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Frodo and Sam

Lord of the Rings contains so many beautiful friendships. I’ve already touched on Legolas and Gimli so now I’m going to focus on the ringbearer himself and his gardener. I mean, of course, Frodo and Sam.

One thing that does get under my skin is the shipping of these pairs. So let’s clear that up - I do not ship it. I think that in Tolkien’s world, these characters just form such strong bonds but that does not necessarily mean bonds of romance.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Frodo and Sam very much loved one another - but as brothers. Comrades. Companions. It speaks to Sam’s steadfast loyalty that he never faltered in his support of Frodo. Sam was part of the Fellowship, yes, but he had no obligation to go to Mordor with Frodo. But he did go.

And let’s be real - Frodo would have never made it without Sam. How many times did Sam stop Frodo from putting on the Ring? Or rouse him back to the present when the Ring was manipulating his mind? Hell, if Sam hadn’t stuck with Frodo, Sauron would have gotten the ring after Shelob stung Frodo.

I’ll be honest, I’ve read the books and I’ve seen the films countless times, but I never really cared much for the Frodo and Sam story until recently. I really paid attention this last re-watch and so many moments touched my heart.

I know the line “Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee” was added for the film and not in the original books, but I absolutely love it. It fully encapsulates how dedicated Sam was to always sticking by Frodo.

Like in The Two Towers when Gandalf mentions Frodo is alone and Aragorn says, “He’s not alone. Sam went with him.” Gandalf is genuinely surprised for a moment and then he undoubtedly remembers what he told Sam to do. And he’s immensely pleased (and probably a little impressed, since Sam was very timid at the beginning).

Even in Fellowship when Frodo tells Sam he’s going to Mordor alone, Sam wades into the river, knowing full well he can’t swim, and declares, “Of course you are! And I’m coming with you!” It never occurred to Sam that they would ever be separated.

And don’t even get me started on Sam’s rousing speech at the end of Towers (another section of dialogue exclusively from the film but I love it). Frodo was completely ready to give up, but Sam reminded him of what was important. And more importantly, that Sam would never abandon him so long as the burden of the Ring was theirs.

I think it’s also important to see how Sam’s own hope faded during Return of the King. In the beginning, he tells Frodo he’s rationed the food so there will be enough for their journey home. But by the time they’ve made it into Mordor and he gives Frodo the last of his water, Frodo worries about there being none for the return journey. Sam looks bleak and says, “I don’t think there will be a return journey.” Sam desperately wants to see the Shire again, but he’s accepted that it is unlikely to happen and that he’ll die with Frodo in Mordor. And he’s still willing to do it.

And when Frodo had lost all his strength, Sam carried him up the mountain. I cry every single time during that scene. I don’t know if it’s the notes of “Into the West”, Sam’s unwavering devotion, or the combination of the two, but it never fails to make me cry.

Sam saved Frodo’s life over and over. Some people try to argue that Frodo didn’t appreciate Sam, but I believe he did. What a lot of people need to remember is that Frodo was being poisoned by the Ring. It was constantly trying to corrupt his heart and his mind and Frodo had to put practically all of his energy into resisting its influence. I believe Frodo was grateful to Sam and he knew very well that his task would not have succeeded if he had gone to Mordor alone.

Frodo was right about one thing - he wouldn’t have gotten far without Sam.

Ok, so this turned into more of a Sam appreciation post. But I do think that Frodo also did his part to try and protect Sam. In Mordor when Sam realized Frodo wasn’t dead, he gave Frodo back the Ring, despite his reluctance to do so. Now, I definitely believe by that point, Frodo was possessively obsessed with the Ring, but I also believe he meant what he said about not wanting Sam to be burdened with it. He says, “It would destroy you, Sam.”

Frodo knew how much damage the Ring had already done to his own psyche and he couldn’t bear for Sam to experience that. Sam, who always sought the beauty and joy in the world. Frodo had already endured months of the Ring’s influence. It had begun to poison his mind and torment his soul. By insisting he carry the Ring solely on his own, Frodo spared his dearest friend from suffering the same fate.

It breaks my heart that Frodo was never the same afterwards. That for three years after returning home, he probably suffered in silence, both physically from the Morgul-blade wound and mentally from the torment of the Ring. When Galadriel said the quest would claim his life, I initially assumed it meant he would die trying to destroy the Ring. He didn’t, obviously, but she was still right. Frodo’s life was never his own afterward.

I know it broke Sam’s heart when Frodo sailed to Valinor, but it makes my heart happy to know that somewhere, at last, Frodo finally found peace.

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maxtothemax · 5 years

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Max Einstein: Rebels With a Cause - Review

An anon reminded me the other day that I’ve been meaning to read this book, so I finally did it!

This post is going to include my annotations as well as my thoughts on the book after reading, so... it’s gonna be a bit long.

Overall impression: I didn’t like it as much as I liked the first one. This one didn’t really get any emotional reactions out of me. It wasn’t as exciting as the first one. Part of the draw of the first book was the intrigue surrounding Max herself and also the Corp, not to mention the suspense of whether Max was going to win that genius competition. I think the problem is the personal stakes for the characters weren’t high enough. Like, the Corp went the route of trying to convince Max to join them, several times, instead of straight up kidnapping her. And they did straight up kidnap her eventually, but I wasn’t worried about whether she was going to get hurt, or whether she was going to get out of it. I knew nothing bad was going to happen to her.

Even with the humanitarian crises the kids were helping out with (ex. getting clean water to communities in India), there wasn’t too much suspense with whether they were going to succeed. And yeah, I know it’s a middle grade book, but kids like reading suspenseful things just as much as anyone else, so that’s not an excuse.

It doesn’t help that none of the characters had much substance, either. The villains were all very cartoonishly evil, and other characters had like one (1) personality trait each.

TLDR: It was pretty mediocre.

Annotations

(Made a note that there were typos or other errors on pages 36, 45, 95, and 250. I could’ve missed some, though.)

OK! Let’s see if this answers any of the questions I was left with after book 1. [Update: it didn’t.]

2 - All Billionaires Are Bad. Just sayin’.

How long’s it been since the last book? A few months? More?

4 - I’m sorry? They let her teach?? At college??

5 - Well that sounds like a bad idea.

17 - Ben’s last name is Abercrombie? Did I miss that last time?

[and now that I’m thinking about it, what the fuck’s up with Ben’s backstory? He’s a 14 year old whose parents died and left him billions of dollars which I guess he has full access to but how did his parents even die? And who’s looking after him now? He’s 14!! He needs a parental figure!!]

21 - please don’t make this a romantic subplot

23 - 1. that makes absolutely no sense, wouldn’t the women just tell him to GTFO? 2. if that was gonna be an issue, why not give Max a female bodyguard?

27 - c’mon, this is a JP novel, why can’t they just find some ridiculously tough/strong teen girl and make her Max’s roommate? or have Max live somewhere else?

33 - was that necessary?

43 - Why does Dr. Z have sharp teeth?? What does he need those for??

If Max doesn’t get kidnapped at least once then What is the point??

46 - Why did the news article mention where she lives??

47 - Why are they even trying asking where Max is? That’s sketchy as hell

Ohh wait it’s Max’s friend, actually, not The Bad Guys

55 - for geniuses, they’re not all that smart

60 - OK even genius kids don’t use science talk all the time

71 - ...Are you sure the reason Einstein left Germany was because the Nazis didn’t like his science? Because, uh, he was also Jewish. That might’ve been the more pressing reason. Just sayin’.

[The book did mention that Einstein was Jewish, however the phrasing suggested more that the Nazis disagreed with his theories rather than his basic existence, so that’s not great. You can’t really ignore the historical context of Einstein’s life.]

75 - Why would you make a highly sophisticated AI humanoid robot and name it Lenard??

Also are they seriously trying to get Max to develop a crush on a robot??

77 - Update: I’m already annoyed by Lenard’s existence.

81 - One does not simply hotwire a motorcycle, James!!

86 - This book is written like a cartoon.

OK why does Max get to be the special one on a team of genius kids? I still don’t quite get it. (I mean, plot fuel, but I’m looking for a logical reason.)

108 - Hot take: Klaus is a spy. Or at least accidentally leaking information. Either way, I want him Gone. He’s annoying.

113 - Why aren’t any health inspectors/adults looking into the water problem?

124 - Dr. Zimm apparently has Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, and for some reason I find this unsettling.

141 - Are the villains actually that stupid?

148 - I don’t care that there’s a historical significance to the name Lenard, it’s still a dumb thing to call your teenage robot

164 - Called it! Klaus is a fucking idiot.

193 - Well that doesn’t make sense. OK kind of, but there have to be better ways to do that.

211 - So he doesn’t have a personal credit card? What a dysfunctional adult.

212 - Again, why TF does Zimm have sharp teeth?

213 - Why go through the effort of abandoning him just to capture him again?

233 - Why is Max even talking to Lenard? Why is anyone letting her do that?

Side note: what the hell kind of a name is Zacchaeus? (That’s Dr. Zimm’s first name.)

256 - I’m sorry, what the hell was that transition? You can’t just go “the bad guys showed up! Next chapter! Max wakes up from being drugged.” Where are the details??

263 - @ lenard: you are not immune to being a dumbass

266 - Kid’s a robot, why does he have opinions??

269 - God I really hope Klaus is just acting here.

270 - OK good, and now Lenard won’t be an insufferable little bitch anymore. I hope.

287 - Oh thank god they gave him a new name. Leo is so much better.

Final thoughts: I’m irritated that there was very little revealed about Max’s backstory.

And now I have to wait a while for the next book.

#they speak #max einstein #annotations #not MR related #long post

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hvlly-blog · 5 years

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- ̗̀ ❛ muse 22 , kim chungha , she / her . ❜ ̖́- did you hear about the monaco trip ? it’s legendary at ucla. holland “holly” min is going, i’m so jealous. their instagram makes it seem like they’re pretty vivacious and they’re all about an empty locket around a delicate neck & strawberry flavored lip gloss. can you believe they’re only twenty-one and they’re going on a free trip to monaco for the summer ? hopefully they don’t let their quixotic side show too much on the trip.

hello… im xan ( she / her pronouns ) im 21 and its been...200 years since i’ve made an intro post or rped so JSDBJW go easy on me ! fun fact half my keyboard is broken…..so if i take 10 yrs to reply sometimes just kno….a bitch is trying her best ok... literally just winging all of this as i type if u thought i had a plan think again JSDBWB *jungkook vc* lets get it....

pause . before we get it JDBWJDJ we can plot here over ims if discord isnt ur scene !! BUT i am....way more likely to respond to discord messages bc its easier !! so u can find me on there @ A GIRL WITH LUV 💖✨🌙#8172

idk what is triggering for any of u so if mentions of AGE GAPS, DRUG ABUSE, CAR ACCIDENTS, or SEX ADDICTIONS is sensitive stuff pls proceed with caution !!!

BACKSTORY: so . this is holland but she thinks her name is UGLY so she goes by holly

she was born and raised in los angeles and her parents both own / run a luxury chain of rehab centers for ppl with $$$ ( u already know i want a plot involving this xx ) they are new money ! so holly really does not understand ... the spoiled lifestyle since her parents raised her pretty conciously on stories abt how they struggled as immigrants coming to a new country & making it & all that jazz

as a kid her parents would host / try to charm a lot of potential donors or clients so they’d make holly “entertain” them like as a kid she’d just be cute or maybe sing a song from chorus or just be impressively well-behaved but the older she got...the more her mom would demand from her /:

as all this was going on her parents started to have issues so instead of working it out.... holly’s dad just started traveling a whole lot to other states & countries where they had a business so growing up he wasn’t really in the picture . rip !

back to holly ! so her mom had a few close business partners and “friends” that where around holly’s family pretty much all the time and there was this one guy who was relatively younger than most of the men but still significantly older than 14 year old holly who had a huge crush. basically this man tried to take advantage of that bc hes UGLY .

one day holly’s mom caught this dude alone with holly and being way too friendly for comfort and instead of flipping on the dude she flipped on holly and was like we could lose our business and i think it’s all ur fault for causing drama” and holly was literally like What the Fuck !!! her mom cut off all ties with the dude but she still made holly feel like it was her own fault woo !!

more stuff her mom did ? yea ! one night when she was 17 she was out with this guy who had celebrity parents just eating at a nice place and drinking after and as he was driving her home, they get into a big car accident. turns out that the guy she had gone to dinner with had a coke addiction & was literally high the whole time & the only reason holly’s mom had set them up was so he’d check into their rehab center bc his famous parents were considering it but she never told holly any of that so holly was PISSED but relatively unharmed from the accident besides some bruising

basically by the time college came a bitch was ready she moved out, trying to have a fresh start away from her home life ! but college was also messy basically over the years holly developed a big dependency issue where she literally...craves attention and intimacy sososo bad bc she never got it from her family so ! she looks for it in other ppl like she needs to feel that validation so bad & she does that with really unhealthy sexual habits low key bordering addiction !

oh also ? since her family was never the family vacation type JSBDWJBDJ she’s never left california before so a bitch is VERY excited and if u try to make her feel bad for it . she will tell u to fuck off and let her have this !

PERSONALITY + TIDBITS: honestly one of the most sociable ppl u will ever meet she was literally raised to entertain and please so its super easy for her to make friends !! literally one of those ppl that just.....know everyone and ur like how the fuck !!! an avid social media user...are u even friends if u dont have a snap streak ? not to holly JSBDJWBDJ definitely her guilty pleasure aside from u know...sex !

speaking of sex she really.....ho(e)lly gets around ... 100% a chaotic bi but her trust for men is abt at a solid 0 ! she will still desperately seek validation from them though so thats fun ! she can be a gossip bc shes a gemini ... but she never does it on purpose she just ... tells funny stories & realizes half way through she was talking abt a friend’s tinder date horror story ... oops ... share secrets cautiously !

for someone who makes friends like its nothing shes pretty hesitant to share any real info abt herself bc she fears being rejected and abandoned ( not just romantically ) more than anything else like shes one of those ppl who ur like “oh yeah i know her!” but if someone asks u to tell them one important thing abt her ur not gonna know wtf to say

also she’s usually very amiable but if ur just .... a horrible person .. shes gonna be honest about it SDBSJWB shes got some strong opinions ! but also very unrealistic expectations in others so a lot of the time shes just ... disappointing herself for hyping u up inside her own head

she was an english major ! bc i love to self insert <3 JSDBJWBJ but she low key wishes she did something with film bc she loves editing videos & making videos abt her friends so if ur her pal ... u 100% have abt 50 videos ur a star in ! she tried to learned to speak french 100% for the aesthetic of it but only remembers like 5 words….she used to play the fucking ukulele but stopped bc her mom was like holly grow UP JSBDSJBJW shes scared of the dark /: like legit scared if she is sleeping alone a light has to stay on....and yea i dont know what else this is long enough JSDBJSWBJW IM SORRY

im out of ... juice UHHH but some basic ideas for plots are stuff to do with her family ( family friends, maybe ur muse or their family is somehow involved with her parent’s rehab center, or ur muse or their family could have been one of those business partners...whew we have possibilities !!! ), shes an only child so i would die for sibling type friendships, hmm also fwbs or just hook up connections bc those can get uhh Dramatic since she is so dependent on sex, also would die for like confidants bc thats rare for holly like sharing her deep feelings or whatever ... enemy plots are sexy but im gonna be real honest here . i suck at purely hateful connections so if u want a mean plot we gotta have depth ! JSXBDSJDB um romatic stuff too also more platonic stuff like best friends or party buddies thats literally enough i’ve been typing for HOURS . plot with me .. or Perish xx

#monaco:intro #░▓╳┊: 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒐𝒄 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕....𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 ── OOC !#this is . so long JSDBJBJ if u dont wanna read this ? i dont blame u neither do i #not to sound like the duolingo owl but if u dont plot with me i WILL eat some poison bread and die . so /:#this is late ? on brand for me haha !

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sieben9 · 6 years

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“changelings” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Well, damn.

Where do I even start?

Ah, yes, ridiculous fashion choices. Thank you, that’ll do nicely.

Seriously, what is up with this belt? Is there a funny story/deep significance I missed here? Did the Evil Queen get really into wrestling while off-screen? Is this a Fight Club thing?

So many questions, and neary an answer in sight…

…yeah, OK, I’ll get to the actual episode. Under the cut, though. Be warned, this wasn’t a happy one for multiple reasons. For one it’s so long and I am really sorry. I just kept going “and another thing…!” until we got to the current state of things. There are some “skip here” suggestions in the text, though. For another… yeah, just go ahead and read the thing. Short version right here: I did not like this episode, and its also a microcosm of this show’s issues with character continuity. (As in “which bits are canon this episode”)

OK, brief shout out to the whole scene at the barn house. Regina threatening the Evil Queen with crushing her own heart was deeply worrying, but also kind of badass. Good on her. Also, the conversation afterwards. It’s nice to have it all out in the open for once.

Next up: the flashback!

names displayed to silently accuse the guilty (not really they just happened to be in the shot)

Which was… alright, I guess? I mean, the Rumbelle dynamic was completely off compared to what we’ve seen from anything but their very earliest days (I’m thinking about the Robin incident, which was… maybe Belle’s second day there?), but compared to all the other nonsense going on in that area, this is barely a blip on the radar.

This had definitely the only moment of much-needed comic relief of the episode, namely Blue’s dress. I mean, she wears it with commendable sincerity, but that thing just doesn’t get any better with prolonged exposure.

So, Rumple can read Elf, but he can’t read Fairy? OK, I guess, but you’d think that over a 200-year-long rivalry, he’d have made the effort. Well, if nothing else, the “Belle knows Fairy” thing is a nice fanfic fact.

Anything else here…?

Oh, yeah. Rumple’s mom.

Alright, it might be a little early, but I’m calling it now: viewed by quantity, Rumple has The Worst Parents on this show. Simply because both of them were evil, child-stealing assholes who abandoned their son. …you know, despite the very obvious irony in that sentence, I’m shocked Rumple turned out as good as he did. All praise the two spinning ladies.

By the way, how many parents do we have who didn’t abandon their children? Obviously, there are some, but I highly doubt we’d get as much as an even split. Yes, I realise that this is part of the show’s theme, but that is still a lot of absent parents.

He didn’t get much out of that conversation, though, did he? Well, looks like he’ll have another opportunity this season, at least… (If I sound a little underwhelmed, it’s just because of my general mood, I’m actually pretty excited to see more of her. “Sometimes you have to choose power over love”, huh?)

::long groan:: I don’t wanna do this. Because I feel like this should be a serious, in-depth analysis, when really all I want to say is “this episode hurt me and not in the good way”.

I think a large part of the problem is this: I wasn’t there with the story. I think Rumple and Belle’s actions both grew… sort of organically to the point they reached by the end of the episode, but getting there was such a janky, half-baked mess that I just. Didn’t. Buy it.

Right up until the end of that really, really disturbing scene in the library, there are some giant leaps of logic I’m supposed to just follow along with. Like “the best way to get my son to love me is to speed up Belle’s pregnancy” or “Rumple wants to cut our son’s destiny so that he can be corrupted ‘or worse’.” Also, what the hell is “worse” supposed to be in this scenario? What, exactly, did he think Rumple would do to his own child? Ugh!

Also, this didn’t happen until later, but “Just because he did the right thing today doesn’t mean he’ll do the right thing tomorrow”? Really, Emma? Isn’t hoping people who do the right thing today will do the right thing tomorrow kind of at the core of your entire moral system?

::dons hardhat::

OK, outright: The library scene was painful, and deliberately cruel on part of the writers. Because there were so many options for this to play out that didn’t involve Rumple chasing Belle into the elevator that’s been an established “Thing” in the narrative of this couple. I’m not saying this is bad writing (I want to, but let’s face it, I’m hardly objective), but it’s definitely a deliberate punch to the gut. And then there’s the bit where Belle has to talk Rumple down, which… ::shudder:: yeah, not a good look.

What annoys me about that conversation… OK, one of the things that annoy me about that conversation is that I can’t even properly analyse anyone’s character motivation here, because I have no fucking idea which bits of canon I’m “supposed to” remember this week!

Some canon dissection at this point, skip if you’re bored.

So. Belle told Rumple that “all she wanted [him] to do was try”, which is reasonable enough on its face. In an ideal world, I’d assume this refers back to his comment in s5 where he basically said that the darkness was irrevocably part of him and that he had no intentions of changing that. Which is a… bold choice of words for someone who was literally, straight-up cursed with that amount of darkness. But I digress. The thing is that I don’t actually know if that’s what Belle meant, because, like I said, there’s been a very clear trend of “please only remember selected pieces of established continuity” in recent seasons episodes, and if you’re going to play it like this, that makes any kind of analysis really hard.

Because here’s the thing: he absolutely did try after that. Right after that, you might say. He and Belle worked together (using Belle’s method rather than gunning for Hades directly) to get their child back from Hades. And when Belle decided to put herself under a sleeping curse so as not to risk Hades stealing their child (because Belle does impulsive shit when she feels cornered), Rumple not only got their child back, he also tried to kiss her awake afterwards—something he previously said would require too much of a change from him to even attempt! And when that didn’t work, he did what she’d asked and brought her to her father, who refused to wake her, because his child being worse-than-dead was apparently still better than her being with Rumple. (And no, words still cannot express how much I hate Moe French. He started out a shitty father and then got worse.)

And then he kept trying to wake her up, because that’s what you do for a person you love. I’d even say he was about to succeed in waking her up, when what I can only call a diabolus ex machina turned up to tell her that Rumple is bad and will “destroy his family” (in a frustratingly unspecified manner that was never elaborated upon). And I’d be happier with this if it was framed as the kind of self-fulfilling prophecy the season 2 seer girl made—that Belle trying to avoid a future where Rumple destroyed their family would put them on the path to destroying their family—but I’m not sure that’s what’s going on. And if it is, then the writing in that one bit of the show is certainly a lot subtler than everywhere else.

I don’t care how cute a baby you are, adult!you is still a douchebag

So, at this point, Rumple has tried really hard to be a better version of himself, but somehow none of that work is recognised in narrative. It’s perfectly fine for Belle not to recognise it for several reasons (it’s also a bit weird, considering how she still seems to feel about him), but the narrative never acknowledges that all of this can definitely be filed under “striving to be better.” Which, again, brings me to the “so which bits of canon are canon today?” question. (Also, hi, I have a strong suspicion that the people involved in planning this show are a lot better at short stories than ongoing series with open sequel hooks. No pun intended.)

And then, like I said, things took a pretty sharp turn towards the end of last episode and at the top of this one. I’m… not even touching that any further. I’m tired, and not in the “I woke up early to get this writing done” sense.

::sigh:: Remember The Bear and the Bow? Good times, that, huh?

Alright. Deep breath. It’s uphill from here. Kind of. The hill is inside a hell-pit, so it’s not a great climb.

The post-library bit of the episode kind of works as far as internal logic goes. The episode had pretty much lost me by then, to the point where I was just relieved it actually wasn’t Rumple who spiked that tea. Because, let me tell you, I know I said I didn’t see myself quitting the show, but that version would have been hard as hell to watch. So. Glad I don’t live in that version of reality.

Still, at that point, Belle has no reason to think someone other than Rumple would have wanted to give her that potion. Which meant he was still after the baby, so sending the little bean away was… still not a great idea, really, but I can see how she arrived there. Belle does impulsive shit when she feels cornered. If she thought Rumple had really sunk that low… yeah, it’s still not a great option (and, again some really good acting in that scene), but not completely out of left field.

And Rumple was obviously afraid something like this would happen, which is why he tried to barge into the convent like that. Didn’t exactly make him look more innocent, but he was in a hurry.

at least you’re pretty to look at, I guess

At least one person acted entirely consistent with prior characterisation, meaning the Evil Queen. Because that potion was such a classic move that I’m a bit surprised Rumple didn’t see that one coming. My guy, this is basically the same woman who convinced you Belle was dead before locking her in a cell for thirty years. She knows where to hit you and how to make it stick, and you should know that!

And this is not me saying that it’s Rumple’s fault, but he sure got a good hit from the idiot ball when he unceremoniously dropped the Evil Queen as his partner/”partner” without going “hm, could she possibly feel the urge to screw me over for this?”

And so, Rumple missed the birth of his second child, Belle had her first child without her husband to support her, and while Gideon is a lovely name, I can’t help but think that picking a name for your child is something couples should do together, playfully bickering back and forth for weeks that no, we are not naming our son Immanuel, why is this even a discussion? (…I had several friends get pregnant over the last three years and you hear some weird stuff. The little guy is called Immanuel now, by the way. Among other things.)

Oh, and speaking of the little guy’s name...

WHY WOULDN’T SHE TELL HIM? Seriously, the name wouldn’t do anything to find him he couldn’t do with blood magic. Which he has readily available, since it’s--and I know this comes as a shock--his child. Seriously, that just seems... nedlessly cruel.

Also, to close this out with some (semi-)humour, I want to make this a callout for one Belle Gold, who decided that of all the people present this was the best person to hand her newborn child:

I think I am on record for saying that I would not trust the Blue Fairy with taking care of a gerbil, nevermind a human being. Frankly, if she told me the sky was blue, I’d go outside and check, just in case the apocalypse had gone off while I wasn’t looking. That’s how little I trust her.

Now, I do know that this is not the story of how Blue has been evil all along, but there is a world where that’s the big twist at the end of this episode.

#ouat #once upon a time #ouat changelings #sieben watches ouat #ouat writing critical #so much of it #whoever did this is officially off my christmas list #(no i do not have a christmas list)#belle critical #rumple critical #rumbelle critical #mostly to be safe #but seriously #there is very little fun and games in this post #i did NOT like this episode #sieben talks

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