#she’s spent her whole life in a romantic relationship and became a mother young and she didn’t get to really be on her own | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

reallifesultanas · 3 years

Text

The myths around Kösem Sultan's execution / A Köszem szultána halála körüli legendák

One of the most frequently discussed topics about the Sultanate of Women is the brutal execution of Kösem Sultan. Usually, the casual people think that she was assassinated by her son-in-law Turhan Hatice Sultan during a long power struggle. We have plenty of accounts of the events, but there are quite a few of them that are contemporary. In this post, I would like to summarize what we know, who were the characters of the events, and what might have happened that night. In the comments section or in Tellonyme, I look forward to everyone's opinion and comment about the topic so that we can discuss it! :) If you don't know Kösem Sultan, you can read her biography HERE.

What do we know for sure?

- After Ibrahim's dethronement and execution, Kösem Sultan became a regent to her grandson Mehmed IV. - Turhan, Mehmed’s mother, and Kösem Sultan were on different sides during the political games. - Kösem Sultan was killed by her enemies on September 2, 1651. - Turhan Hatice became the new regent, Kösem Sultan's executioners were not punished, but her supporters were soon killed.

Backstory

Kösem Sultan came to power for the second time in February 1640. Along with her crazy son, Ibrahim I, she began to rule the Ottoman Empire as regent. Everyone loved her, she had a huge experience in rule, she did a lot of charity. Everything seemed perfect, but her son, Ibrahim, soon came under the influence of bad advisers. Cinci Hoca was a religious leader in occult sciences who took advantage of the Sultan’s mental problems and seriously influenced him. As a result, the Sultan executed his Grand Vizier in 1644 and exiled his mother. He originally intended to send his mother to the island of Rhodes, but eventually, his concubines persuaded him to send her only to another palace. Kösem Sultan spent the next few years there in exile, but during that time she corresponded regularly with the statesmen and tried to keep everything under control. She probably wrote her well-known letter to Hezarpare Ahmed Pasha here, saying, "In the end, he will not leave you or me alive and we will lose control of the state again, thereby destroying our society." The situation deteriorated to the point that in 1647 Kösem Sultan and the new Grand Vizier, Salih Pasha and Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi tried to dethrone Ibrahim but they failed. The next year, both the Janissaries and the Ulema joined the rebellion, and on August 8, 1648, the mad sultan was easily dethroned and imprisoned and his followers were removed from positions.

Ibrahim was succeeded by his son, Mehmed, who was barely 6 years old, andso he needed a regent. The statesmen asked Kösem Sultan for the honorary task. The position of regent was usually held by teachers, pashas, or mothers (in the case of Mehmed II, the Grand Vizier was regent; in Ahmed I, his mother and teacher; in Murad IV, and Ibrahim's case their mother), so Kösem Sultan was the first grandmother to become regent. According to the most accepted opinions, this happened because Mehmed’s mother, Turhan Hatice, was not even 25 years old at the time, too young and inexperienced to run the empire. Anyhow Kösem Sultan started her third regency and she constantly disregarded Mehmed’s mother, Turhan. Because of Turhan’s youth, she might truly would not have been the best regent, yet she had every right to control the harem. Kösem Sultan, however, did not allow this to the young woman either. So Turhan, in vain was the mother of the reigning sultan, all her duties were ruled by Kösem Sultan. Kösem Sultan gained more and more enemies both in the divan and the harem, so both places split into two sides: Kösem Sultan and her supporters and Turhan Sultan and her supporters.

Two opposite sides and characters

Kösem Sultan and her supporters

Kösem Sultan ruled the empire as a regent for decades, and when she was not a regent, she followed events as valide sultan. Earlier in her life, she worked together with most of the pashas. During her first regency, she said that she, as the representative of the ruler, intended to be there at the divan meetings in person. This was not allowed by the pashas and so she was forced to accept. During her third regency, however, she was not bowing before anyone’s will. She had lost all her sons, buried at least one daughter, sacrificed her whole life for the empire, so then she refused to compromise on anything anymore. She wished to rule the empire as an absolute monarch. And in the divan she dismissed everyone who disagreed with her. More and more people began to debate her right for ruling. One of her well-known divan speeches happed around this time. Kösem Sultan accused the Grand Vizier Sofu Ahmed Pasha of wanting to kill her, then she continued: “Thank God I survived four rulers and I ruled for a long time myself. The world will neither collapse nor reform with my death.”

Kösem Sultan went too far. She didn't just change the pashas she did not like but replaced them with Janissary officers. The Janissaries have served her with allegiance since the first regency of Kösem Sultan. Back then, in 1623, she went against everyone and gave the Janissaries a huge amount of money after Murad IV's accession to the throne. Although there were rebellions and disagreements, basically the Janissaries - but at least some of their corps - were loyal to Kösem Sultan. Representation of the Janissaries has been a thing for centuries, but to make Janissaries — or simply soldiers — vizieres was too much. Pashas learnt a lot and bore a lot to reach the highest possible positions and they were aware of how to be good veziers. This was their only aim and Kösem put Janissary officers there instead of educated statesmen. Everyone in the divan felt that Kösem Sultan wanted to build a military rule so that she could lead the empire in a way she liked. Thus, by 1651, only a few corps of Janissaries were actually on the side of Kösem in political terms. Although the people still loved her for her generous charity, in political terms their support did not mean much.

In addition to the growing tension with the pashas, Kösem Sultan had a rival in the harem also. Although most sources treat it as a fact that the relationship of Kösem Sultan and Turhan was terrible, there is no evidence to that effect. The relationship between the two of them only began to deteriorate over time, but in general, it can be said that Kösem Sultan just did not care about Turhan at all. She certainly looked down on her and didn't think much about Turhan. Kösem Sultan, although she had her own harem staff, did not have the most influential eunuch. Moreover, some said most of her servants also found her unworthy after realizing the way she treated Turhan. Perhaps it is no coincidence that so many sources mention a servant named Meleki Hatun, who famously switched sides and betrayed Kösem Sultan and began to strengthen Turhan’s side.

Turhan Hatice Sultan and her supporters

Turhan Hatice had more allies and so was in a better position in the harem than Kösem Sultan. She received help from an influential eunuch, Suleiman Agha. Suleiman aga was the leader of the harem agas, an ambitious eunuch with great power and contact system, with significant political influence. The harem was actually torn in two, thanks to the supporters of Kösem Sultan and Turhan Hatice. Both sides had their own chief eunuchs, which caused immense chaos within the harem, people did not know whose instructions to follow. And although the title of Valide Sultan belonged to Turhan Hatice as the mother of the sultan, the vernacular referred to her only as “small valide,” while Kösem Sultan was called “big valide”. Suleiman Agha's support, however, was worth its weight in gold. The eunuch looked primarily at his own interests throughout his life, and he had a great understanding of how to exploit and influence people. This is precisely why the possibility arises that it was Suleiman who set Turhan up and turned her against Kösem Sultan. Perhaps it was Suleiman who - hoping for his own rise from the young valide - persuaded her to take what was her right. In addition, Suleiman Agha was very liked by the young sultan, becoming a kind of father figure for the boy. Of course, it is not my intention to underestimate the role of Turhan in the events, but at the same time, I feel that the role of Suleiman Agha is actually underrated and I would like to make that clear. I’m not saying Turhan was a naive girl led by the evil Suleiman Agha, I just think that without Suleiman’s support and incitement, Turhan probably wouldn’t have, or much later, confronted Kösem Sultan.

In addition to Suleiman, three other major eunuchs also sided with Turhan: Hoca Reyhan Agha, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Agha, and Ali Agha. Hoca Reyhan Agha was closest to Turhan as his associate and religious leader, but Lala Hajji Aga was also a long-term partner in Turhan’s life. In addition to the eunuchs, we must also mention Meleki Hatun, whose legend is well known. According to this, she was the one who betrayed the plan of Kösem Sultan to Turhan, thus saving the little Sultan Mehmed from death and dethronement. However, the reality is probably less romantic. It is unlikely that a previously insignificant, never-ever mentioned servant like Meleki would have known about Kösem Sultan's plans and so could betray her. Certainly, Meleki was given a bigger role in the legend than she actually had. Maybe Meleki has agreed to be a scapegoat, testifying against Kösem Sultan if she gets goods in return. Given what a huge fortune Meleki gained after Kösem Sultan’s death, we can’t rule out this option either. Even if Meleki brought supporters for Turhan within the harem, she could have had quite a bit of an impact on the whole event. In addition to Turhan, the key figure was Suleiman Agha, who also had a close relationship with the divan, so he could easily connect members of the divan who were dissatisfied with Kösem Sultan. The most influential supporter was none other than the Grand Vizier, Siyavuş Pasha, but practically the entire divan turned against Kösem Sultan so far. It should also be mentioned that although most formations of the Janissaries were impartial or were on Kösem Sultan's side, the Sipahies tended to the group of Turhan and her supporters.

What led to the tragic night?

Before turning to the immediate causes, we need to jump back a bit in time to better understand Kösem Sultan's behavior. As is well known, Ibrahim I was succeeded by his son, Mehmed, barely 6 years old, who needed a regent. The statesmen asked Kösem Sultan for the honorary task. However, the request was rather strange. Why is that? The regent position was usually held by teachers, pashas, or mothers, and Kösem Sultan was none. Moreover, Kösem Sultan rejected the request for the first time on the grounds that she no longer has the strength to rule further.

Why did Kösem Sultan take on the task? Did she really want to retire?

To understand Kösem Sultan's thoughts, we need to jump a little further back in time. Kösem Sultan was in exile for years during Ibrahim's reign. From her exile, she repeatedly attempted a coup against her own son. From one of her surviving letters in exile, it is clear that she was part of the coup that eventually dethroned her son. Outwardly, however, she showed a very different picture. After Ibrahim was shut down, they wanted to put his son, Mehmed, on the throne. Kösem Sultan then met with the statesmen at Topkapi Palace to discuss with them what Ibrahim's fate should be. They negotiated for hours, but Kösem Sultan all along refused to give Ibrahim's eldest son to the statemen. The statesmen had to publicly convince Kösem Sultan for hours. Kösem Sultan who had previously done everything to dethrone her son is now standing by his son. Why? Of course, we will never know exactly what happened in her mind. However, it seems probable, that Kösem Sultan wanted to keep the image of a loving mother in front of the soldiers and the people. If she would just agree to Ibrahim's dethronement and Mehmed's enthronement that would be strange from a loving mother. Therefore, she held a sham debate with the pashas not to lose the sympathy of the people, but at the same time to keep the empire safe. Kösem Sultan was an experienced politician who was able to rule for years, and her loving and caring mother image was essential to that. Thus, with Kösem Sultan's consent, Sultan Ibrahim was eventually closed up and Mehmed has proclaimed their new sultan. Perhaps the first rejection of regency in 1648 was also part of a play like this. Kösem Sultan maybe felt the people expect this of her, so she offered to retire, while maybe in the background she had already agreed with the pashas.

And why did the members of the divan let Kösem Sultan to be the regent? After all, any of the members of the divan or even Mehmed's teacher could have applied for the task. And that would give huge power to them. So why did they give this opportunity to Kösem Sultan?

Ibrahim I was executed on August 18, 1648. Some say Kösem Sultan gave her consent to the execution but it cannot be ruled out that the execution took place behind her back. As I mentioned above, the mother of the dethroned or assassinated sultans has traditionally retreated to the Old Palace, where they lived their remaining years politically inactive. In her case, however, this did not happen. This raises the possibility that Kösem Sultan was unaware of Ibrahim’s execution and the pashas tried to reconcile the shattered woman with this gesture. Maybe Kösem gave her consent, knew what will happen, but still in the end she couldn't bear the pain. Either way, after the execution Kösem Sultan has changed. She turned against the pashas with whom she had always cooperated before. Whichever version is true, we can clearly see that the Kösem Sultan who became a regent to Mehmed IV, was no longer the same woman who had previously been considered the beloved mother of the empire.

But who ordered the execution of Ibrahim? Do we know? No, we do not know. Actually any of the statesmen could do it, but either Suleiman Agha or Turhan Sultan could make the little sultan to sign the fetwa petition and then send it to the Seyhülislam to authorize. Anyhow, the fetwa was authorized with full right, as Ibrahim was very harmful to the empire.

The murder

As can be seen from the above summary, Kösem Sultan was trying to build an absolute monarchy in which no one but a few Janissary corpses supported her, so a huge team gathered against her. According to the well-known version, over time, the strife between Kösem Sultan and the statesmen escalated to the point that, with the support of Turhan Hatice, the statesmen tried to remove her from her position. Kösem Sultan in response to this planned to dethrone Sultan Mehmed and put her other grandson on the throne instead. To do this, she wanted to let the Janissaries into the palace so that they could carry out the coup at night, which is why she left the gate to the harem open for the night. However, Kösem Sultan's plan was revealed to her enemies. According to some it was a servant named Meleki Hatun, who betrayed Kösem and told her plans to Turhan. Thus, as soon as the men of Kösem Sultan opened the gate on September 2, 1651, the men of Turhan Hatice, led by Chief Eunuch Suleiman Agha, closed it and sent an execution squad to the residence of Kösem Sultan. When she heard knocking on her door Kösem Sultan thought that her own allies had come, so she shouted at them, “Have you come?”. However, instead of the voice of the Janissaries, she heard the voice of the eunuch Suleiman Agha, which made her panic and flee. It’s not exactly known if she did get out of her apartment and if yes then how because the descriptions don’t match. Some said she hid in a closet inside her apartment, others said she tried to get to the Janissaries, but she couldn’t get through the closed gate, so she finally hid in the room next to the gate.

The execution squad, which consisted of several eunuchs (Suleiman Agha, Hoca Reyhan Agha, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Agha, and Ali Agha, as well as some unknown eunuchs) continued the search. Kösem Sultan hid in a closet from which the edge of her dress protruded, revealing her hiding place. When they found her, she threw money at her executioners, trying to pay them off, but she had no chance against Turhan's loyal men. Legend has it that while the men tried to capture and strangle the valide sultan they ripped out her diamond earrings - which she had received from Sultan Ahmed - from her ears; torn apart her clothes as they tried to take away the precious ornaments from her. Kösem Sultan beyond her sixties fought very hard but in the end, the eunuchs overcame her. Some say she was strangled with her own hair, others said with a curtain. She survived the first strangulation attempt but did not survive the second.

However, there are several points in the story above that raise doubts:

- Kösem Sultan's problem was not Mehmed but was the pashas, Turhan and Suleiman Agha. Then why didn't she get rid of them? Wouldn’t it have been easier and more logical to kill these people than to dethrone one child sultan for the benefit of another child? Of course, we can justify this with the fact that Kösem Sultan was no longer sane, so let’s not even look for logic in her actions. However, it may also raise the possibility that perhaps Kösem Sultan was completely or at least partially innocent throughout the series of events. She may not have planned anything with the Janissaries, the whole plan was only invented by Turhan and her men to legitimize their own actions. However, it contradicts that the Janissaries were indeed preparing to gather on the tragic night, and it is unlikely that Turhan and her team could successfully cheat the Janissaries without Kösem Sultan realizing it. It is possible that Kösem Sultan was indeed prepared for a minor coup, but it was perhaps not directed against Mehmed. Kösem Sultan had to realize that besides the pashas, Suleiman Aga was behind the "rebellious" behavior of Turhan and Mehmed. I think Kösem Sultan planned a smaller coup in which she would have got rid of the eunuchs and servants she didn’t like and would have scared Mehmed and Turhan. This would have ensured her own power and that neither Turhan nor Mehmed would question her anymore.

- Why was Kösem Sultan killed in such a strange way? After all, the lawful, usual method of execution was by an execution squad with Seyhülislam fetwa and silk/bow string. (It is important to note, however, that female members of the dynasty have not been executed before, women have typically been punished only with exile.) Kösem Sultan in contrast was killed by inexperienced eunuchs, with a kind of fake fetwa, and by her own hair or a curtain. The question arises that perhaps the execution of Kösem Sultan was not even planned. If the execution would be planned, executioners could clearly kill her after a legal fetwa. About the fetwa... There was, of course, a fetwa, but the temporality is somewhat disturbed by the fact that the Seyhülislam was replaced by one of Turhan's trusted men just when the execution took place. Precisely because of this, and because of the unusual brutality of the execution, there is a possibility that perhaps the execution of Kösem Sultan was not originally planned, only things slipped out of control, and in the heat of the moment, the Eunuchs executed Kösem Sultan. In retrospect, to legalize the events, they produced a fetwa with the new Seyhülislam.

- But then who and why did finally decide that Kösem Sultan should die? Turhan was not present at the events, and since the murder was not planned in advance - based on the fetwa and executioners - I would remove her from the list of suspects. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Turhan Hatice Sultan and Suleiman Agha talked about this possibility also. It is more probable, however, that they originally merely wanted to scare Kösem Sultan, to show her that she had been exposed, that time had passed over her. In my opinion, Turhan hoped that Kösem Sultan would admit her defeat and simply retire to the Old Palace. It would have been too risky to kill a venerate and beloved valide, especially knowing that none of the female members of the dynasty had ever been executed before. They probably wanted to resign her, but so far there was nothing to lose for Kösem Sultan. The only thing that still made her vivid was power, so she certainly objected to the idea of forced retreat. When Suleiman Agha realized that Kösem Sultan was not listening to them, perhaps out of fear, he decided they had to kill her. After all, if the enraged Kösem Sultan had come out of the palace, Suleiman and the other eunuchs would have found themselves headless at once. Although there is no evidence of it, my personal opinion is that Suleiman may have wanted this from the first minute, as he knew full well that Kösem Sultan would never retire. Either way, the eunuchs eventually defeated and executed the elderly valide in a way that could not be called professional at all.

- Can we completely rule out that Kösem Sultan was executed with a truly legal fetwa and by an execution squad? Unfortunately, this cannot be ruled out either. The English ambassador, for example, reported that an execution squad had killed Kösem Sultan after a fetwa requested by the young sultan. He said that the execution happened in front of Mehmed eyes. We must admit though that the English ambassador was not among the best-informed ones. It is likely that everyone at the time believed that the fetwa was pre-issued. Only later, after historians’ research, it became very possible that the fetwa was presumably made after the execution of Kösem Sultan. It is not seems reasonable that Kösem Sultan would have been executed before the eyes of her 10-year-old grandson, Mehmed. Turhan tried very hard to protect her son, unlikely to have exposed him to such a trauma. Mustafa Naima agrees with the English ambassador that the execution was planned in advance, but he said it was not the eunuchs but an execution squad that killed Kösem Sultan. However, then why was the execution brutal? Why wasn't there a silk/bow string? Why was it performed by unfit eunuchs?

The aftermath of the murder

To prevent any resistance, during the night, Turhan Hatice and her men removed all statesmen who would have endangered them. The first man to be appointed that night was Ebu Said Efendi, the new Seyhülislam. He was the one who eventually issued the fetwa for the execution of Kösem Sultan (in retrospect). Turhan then sent a message to all statesmen and soldiers to immediately go to an audience where they would take allegiance to Sultan Mehmed. Most, out of fear or out of sincere feelings, immediately approached the Sultan, and those who did not, the new Seyhülislam issued a fetwa for them. Thus it became lawful to execute the supporters of Kösem Sultan, since they did not appear before the Sultan either. And the rebellious Janissaries were thus stigmatized as traitors and were legally executed. For commoners, they became the scapegoat for the death of Kösem Sultan. After the murder, Kösem Sultan was transported to the Old Palace, where her body was prepared for the funeral. She received an imperial funeral, and the people of Istanbul voluntarily held 3-day mourning, closing all shops and stores. Kösem Sultan has always been popular among the people, but interestingly the same people did not turn against Turhan because of the death of Kösem Sultan, in fact, Turhan became as loved and revered valide sultan just as Kösem Sultan was.

What happened to the real culprits? Turhan and Mehmed escaped, of course, but it is questionable whether they had any part in the murder at all. It is true that a rebellion in 1656 seriously shook their power, but in the end, they did not lose it. The main reasons for this were the weak Grand Veziers, the resurgent Celali rebellion, and the war with the Venetians. Due to the war people of the capital did not get enough grain, the soldiers were not properly paid, but ordinary people were also increasingly dissatisfied, especially angered by the extreme wealth of those close to the Sultan. Eventually, under the leadership of the Janissaries and Spahis, the people revolted on the fourth of March 1656. During the rebellion, several of those close to the sultan were brutally executed, the whole capital was ravaged. The mob hung all 31 people on trees next to the Blue Mosque. Among them was Meleki Hatun, whom the sultan especially loved. Although the capital has been shaken by riots in the past, such a rebellion has never happened before. Not only did the soldiers revolt, but the people also stood by the soldiers as one. Everyone closed their shops, a general strike took place during the rebellion.

Suleiman Agha was no longer in power when the rebellion took place and perhaps this held his head on his neck. After the assassination of Kösem Sultan, he became the chief black eunuch, but he could only enjoy the position until July 1652. Suleiman continued to stretch beyond his blanket, trying to change political issues that had nothing to do with him. Turhan Hatice also began to realize that Suleiman was not on their side at all, but only on his own. Of particular interest is that Lala Ibrahim Agha convinced Turhan of this, who himself took part in the execution of Kösem Sultan. Lala Ibrahim Agha was Turhan’s personal eunuch and he never longed (or wisely didn’t show her) for a higher position. Turhan was thus finally dismissed Suleiman Agha in 1652 and exiled him to Egypt. The refined eunuch even invented himself in exile, growing into an influential figure who became one of the main figures in Cairo’s local politics. He died in 1676/7.

Epilogue

We will probably never know exactly what led to the execution and how it took place. Nor was my aim with the post to present a perfect solution in the manner as Hercule Poirot usually does. I merely wished to shed light on the fact that the generally known and accepted theory should be regarded with some healthy doubts. The fact that it is the most generally accepted theory, does not mean it is the most thorough. There are plenty of question marks, dubious information which makes it clear that this whole situation was more complicated than two women fighting for domination over the harem.

Kösem Sultan was the sultana who broke the highest, who could have been at the top for a long time, but from the great heights, she finally fell down and became the only murdered valide sultana ever. Kösem Sultan had several titles during her life: Naib-i Sultanat (regent of the Ottoman Empire), Umin al-Mu'minin (mother of all muslims), Büyük Valide Sultan (great Valide Sultan), Valide-i Sehide (martyred mother), Valide-i Maktule (murdered mother), Valide-i Muazzama (magnificent mother).

Used sources: M. Kocaaslan - IV. Mehmed Saltanatında Topkapı Sarayı Haremi: İktidar, Sınırlar ve Mimari; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem; Ö. Kumrular - Kösem Sultan: iktidar, hırs, entrika; C. Finkel - Osman’s Dream: the History of the Ottoman Empire; M. P. Pedani - Relazioni inedite; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; G. Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Ö. Düzbakar - Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire, Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan.

* * *

A Nők szultánátusának egyik legtöbbször tárgyalt témája Köszem szultána brutális kivégzése. Általában a laikusok elintézik annyival, hogy Köszem szultánát menye, Turhan Hatice gyilkoltatta meg hosszas hatalmi harc lezárásaként. Rengeteg beszámoló áll rendelkezésünkre az eseményekről, ám meglehetősen kevés van köztük, mely konkrétan korabeli lenne. Ebben az írásban szeretném összegezni, hogy mit tudunk, kik voltak a szereplők az eseményekben és hogy mi történhetett azon a bizonyos éjjelen. A kommentszekcióban várom mindenki véleményét, megjegyzését a témáról, hogy meg tudjuk vitatni a posztot! :) Aki nem ismerné Köszem szultánát, az ITT tudja elolvasni életrajzát.

Mit tudunk biztosan?

- Köszem I. Ibrahim trónfosztása és kivégzése után régens lett unokája IV. Mehmed mellett. - Turhan, Mehmed anyja és Köszem külöböző oldalon álltak a politikai játszmák során. - Köszemet 1651. szeptember 2-án meggyilkolták ellenségei. - Turhan Hatice lett az új régens, Köszem gyilkosai nem lettek megbüntetve, támogatóitól azonban rövidesen megszabadultak.

Előzmények

Köszem szultána 1640 februárjában másodjára került hatalomra. Zavart elméjú fia, I. Ibrahim mellett régensként kezdte irányítani az Oszmán Birodalmat. Köszemet mindenki szerette, az uralkodásban hatalmas tapasztalata volt, rengeteget jótékonykodott. Minden tökéletesnek tűnt, azonban fia, Ibrahim hamarosan rossz emberek befolyása alá került. Cinci Hoca okkult tudományokkal foglalkozó vallási vezető volt, aki kihasználta a szultán mentális problémáit és komolyan befolyásolta őt. Ennek az lett az eredménye, hogy a szultán 1644-ben a nagyvezírét kivégeztette, édesanyját pedig száműzte. Eredetileg Rodosz szigetére szándékozta küldeni anyját, de végül ágyasai meggyőzték, hogy csak egy másik palotába küldje. Köszem elkövetkezendő éveit ott töltötte száműzetésben, ám ezalatt az idő alatt is rendszeresen levelezett az államférfiakkal és igyekezett kézben tartani mindent. Valószínűleg itt írta meg jól ismert levelét is Hezarpare Ahmed Pasának, mely így szólt: “Végül sem titeket, sem engem nem hagyna életben és újra elveszítenénk az uralmat az állam felett, ezzel pedig lerombolnánk társadalmunkat.” Odáig fajult a helyzet, hogy 1647-ben Köszem szultána és az új nagyvezír, Salih Pasa és a Seyhülislam Abdürrahim Efendi megpróbálták trónfosztani Ibrahimot, azonban lebuktak. A következő évben a janicsárok és az ulema is csatlakozott a lázadáshoz és 1648 augusztus 8-án könnyűszerrel trónfosztották és bebörtönözték az őrült szultánt, követőit pedig eltávolították a pozíciókból.

Ibrahimot a trónon fia, az alig 6 éves Mehmed követte, aki mellett szükség volt egy régensre. Az államférfiak Köszemet kérték fel a megtisztelő feladatra. A régensi pozíciót általában tanítók, pasák vagy édesanyák látták el (II. Mehmed esetében a nagyvezír volt régens, I. Ahmednél anyja és tanítója, IV. Muradnál és I. Ibrahimnál anyjuk), így Köszem volt az első nagymama, akiből régens lehetett. Erre a legelfogadottabb vélemények szerint azért kerülhetett sor, mert Mehmed édesanyja, Turhan Hatice még 25 éves sem volt ekkor, túl fiatal és tapasztalatlan volt a birodalom irányításához. Köszem tehát belekezdett harmadik régensségébe és folyamatosan semmibe vette Mehmed édesanyját, Turhant. Turhan fiatalsága okán talán tényleg nem lett volna jó régens, ugyanakkor a hárem irányításához minden joga megvolt. Köszem viszont ezt sem engedte meg a fiatal nőnek. Turhan tehát hiába volt a regnáló szultán anyja, minden feladatkörét Köszem uralta. Emellett Köszem a divánban is egyre több ellenségre tett szert, így a hárem és a divan is két oldalra szakadt: Köszem támogatóira és Turhan támogatóira.

Két, szemben álló oldal és a szereplők

Köszem oldala

Köszem évtizedeken át uralta régensként a birodalmat, amikor pedig nem régens volt, valideként követte figyelemmel az eseményeket. Életének korábbi szakaszában a legtöbb pasa mellette állt, ami nem volt elmondható harmadik régensségéről. Köszem első régenssége alatt is jelezte, hogy ő, mint az uralkodó reprezentálása ott kíván lenni a divan gyűléseken személyesen. Ezt akkor a pasák nem engedték meg neki, amit ő kénytelen-kelletlen el is fogadott. Harmadik régenssége során azonban szó sem lehetett arról, hogy meghajoljon bárki akarata előtt. Elveszítette összes fiát, legalább egy lányát is eltemette már, egész életét a birodalomnak áldozta, nem volt hajlandó többé bármiben is kompromisszumot kötni. Gyakorlatilag egyeduralkodóként kívánta irányítani a birodalmat. A divanban pedig aki nem értett vele egyet, azt eltiporta és menesztette. Köszem jogát az uralkodáshoz egyre többen kezdték el vitatni, egyik ilyen divan vita során hangzott el a jól ismert beszéde is. Ekkor Köszem megvádolta a nagyvezír Sofu Ahmed Pasát azzal, hogy meg akarta őt öletni, majd így folytatta: “Istennek hála négy uralkodót segítettem és én magam is hosszú ideig uralkodtam. A világ nem fog sem összeomlani sem megreformálódni a halálommal.”

Köszem azonban nem elégedett meg a pasák megalázásával, tanácsaik el nem fogadásával. Még csak nem is neki tetsző más pasákra cserélte le őket, hanem janicsárokat kezdett vezíri rangra emelni. A janicsárok Köszem első régenssége óta hűséggel szolgálták az asszonyt, amiért az mindenkivel szembe menve 1623-ban hatalmas trónralépési jussot adott a janicsároknak IV. Murad trónralépése után. Bár voltak lázadások és egyet nem értések, alapvetően a janicsárok - de legalábbis néhány hadtestük - hűségesek voltak Köszemhez. A janicsárok képviselete évszázadok óta működött, azonban az, hogy janicsárokat - vagy egyszerűen katonákat - tegyenek vezírré a kitanult államférfiak helyett, több volt a soknál. Mindenki úgy érezte a divanban, hogy Köszem egy katonai uralmat kíván kiépíteni, hogy a neki tetsző módon vezethesse a birodalmat. Így Köszem oldalán 1651-re tulajdonképpen csak a janicsárok néhány hadteste állt politikai értelemben. Bár a nép továbbra is szerette őt bőkezű jótékonykodása miatt, politikai értelemben az ő támogatásuk nem jelentett sokat.

Amellett, hogy a pasákkal egyre nőtt a feszültség, Köszem a háremben is riválisra akadt. Bár a legtöbb forrás tényként kezeli, hogy Köszem és menye, Turhan viszonya tragikus volt, nincs erre utaló bizonyíték. Kettejük viszonya csak az idő előrehaladtával kezdett megromlani, általánosan azonban inkább az mondható el, hogy Köszem egyáltalán nem foglalkozott menyével. Mindenbizonnyal lenézte és nem tartotta sokra Turhant, így komolyan sem vette a nőt. Köszemnek bár megvolt a saját hárem személyzete, a legbefolyásosabb eunuch nem volt a kezében. Mindemellett egyesek szerint szolgálói nagyrésze is méltatlannak találta, ahogy Köszem Turhannal bánt. Talán nem véletlen, hogy oly sok forrás említi a Meleki Hatun nevű szolgálót, aki híresen oldalt váltott és Köszemet elárulva Turhan oldalát kezdte erősíteni.

Turhan Hatice oldala

Turhan Hatice a háremben jobban állt, mint Köszem. Segítséget kapott egy befolyásos eunuchtól, Szulejmán agától. Szulejmán aga volt a hárem agák vezetője, aki nagy hatalommal és kapcsolatrendszerrel rendelkező, ambíciózus eunuch volt, jelentős politikai befolyással. A hárem tulajdonképpen két oldalra szakadt, Köszem és Turhan Hatice támogatóira. Mind a két oldalnak megvolt a saját főeunuchja, ami hatalmas káoszt okozott a háremen belül, az emberek nem tudták, kinek az utasításait kövessék. És bár a valide szultána titulus a szultán anyjaként Turhan Haticét illette meg, a köznyelv csak “kis valide”-ként hivatkozott rá, míg Köszem volt a “nagy valide”. Szulejmán Aga támogatása ugyanakkor aranyat ért. Az eunuch első sorban a saját érdekeit nézte egész élete során, azonban remekül értett ahhoz, hogyan használjon ki és vezessen meg embereket. Épp emiatt felmerül annak a lehetősége is, hogy Szulejmán volt az, aki Turhant felbújtotta és Köszem ellen hangolta. Talán Szulejmán volt az, aki saját felemelkedését remélve a fiatal validétől, meggyőzte arról, hogy vegye el ami a saját jussa. Emellett Szulejmán Aga az ifjú szultánnal is megkedveltette magát, egyfajta apafigurává vált a fiú számára. Természetesen nem célom alábecsülni Turhan szerepét az eseményekben, ugyanakkor úgy érzem, hogy Szulejmán Aga szerepe ténylegesen alábecsült és ezt szeretném mindneképpen érzékeltetni. Nem azt mondom, hogy Turhan egy naíva volt, akit megvezetett a csúf, rossz Szulejmán Aga, csupán azt gondolom, hogy Szulejmán támogatása és felbújtása nélkül, Turhan valószínűleg nem, vagy sokkal később szállt volna szembe Köszemmel.

Szulejmán mellett három másik jelentősebb eunuch is Turhan oldalán állt, Hoca Reyhan Aga, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Aga és Ali Aga. Hoca Reyhan Aga állt legközelebb Turhanhoz, mint társalkodója és vallási vezetője, de Lala Hajji Aga is hosszútávú partner volt Turhan életében. Az eunuchok mellett meg kell említenünk Meleki Hatunt is, akinek legendája jól ismert. Eszerint ő volt az, aki Köszem tervét elárulta Turhannak, ezzel megmentve a kis Mehmed szultánt a haláltól és trónfosztástól. A valóság azonban valószínűleg kevésbé romantikus. Valószínűtlen, hogy egy korábban sosem említett, jelentéktelen szolgáló, mint Meleki tudott volna Köszem terveiről és el tudta volna árulni. Minden bizonnyal Melekit csupán oldalváltása miatt ruházták fel nagyobb szereppel, mint ami valójában volt. Talán Meleki elvállalta, hogy lesz bűnbak, tanúskodik Köszem ellen, ha cserébe javakat kap. Legalábbis tekintettel arra, hogy Meleki milyen hatalmas vagyonra tett szert Köszem halála után, nem zárhatjuk ki ezt az opciót sem. Meleki ha a háremen belül hozott is támogatókat Turhan számára, az egész eseményre meglehetősen kevés ráhatása lehetett. A kulcs figura Turhan mellett Szulejmán aga volt, akinek komoly kapcsolata volt a divánnal is, így könnyedén tudta csapatukhoz kapcsolni a divan Köszemmel elégedetlen tagjait is. A legbefolyásosabb támogató nem volt más, mint a Nagyvezír, Siyavuş Pasa, de gyakorlatilag szinte a teljes divan Köszem ellen fordult eddigre. Azt is meg kell említeni, hogy bár a jancsiárok legtöbb alakulata pártatlan vagy Köszem párti volt, a szpáhik inkább húztak a Turhan támogatói csoport felé.

Mi vezetett a tragikus éjszakához?

Mielőtt a közvetlen okokra rátérnék, kicsit vissza kell ugranunk az időben, hogy jobban megérthessük Köszem viselkedését. Mint ismert, trónfosztása után, I. Ibrahimot a trónon fia, az alig 6 éves Mehmed követte, aki mellett szükség volt egy régensre. Az államférfiak Köszemet kérték fel a megtisztelő feladatra. Ugyanakkor a felkérés meglehetősen furcsa volt. Miért is? A régensi pozíciót általában tanítók, pasák vagy édesanyák látták el, Köszem pedig egyik sem volt. Sőt, Köszem a felkérést először elutasította arra hivatkozva, hogy már nincs ereje tovább uralkodni.

Miért vállalta el Köszem mégis a feladatot? Valóban vissza akart vonulni?

Ahhoz, hogy megértsük Köszem gondolatait, még egy kicsit visszább kell ugranunk az időben. Köszem Ibrahim uralkodása során száműzetésben volt éveken át. Száműzetéséből pedig többször kísérelt meg puccsot saját fia ellen. Egyik száműzetésben írt levele alapján egyértelmű, hogy részese volt a puccsnak, mely végül fiát trónfosztotta. Kifelé azonban egészen más képet mutatott. Miután Ibrahimot elzárták, trónra szerették volna léptetni fiát, Mehmedet. Köszem szultána ekkor találkozott a Topkapi Palotában az államférfiakkal, hogy megvitassa velük mi legyen Ibrahim sorsa. Órákon át tárgyaltak, Köszem azonban végig megtagadta, hogy kiadja Ibrahim legidősebb fiát, Mehmedet. Így pedig nem lehetett őt kikiáltani szultánnak. Az államférfiaknak órákon keresztül kellett nyilvánsoan győzködniük Köszemet. Az a Köszem, aki korábban mindent elkövetett fia trónfosztásáért, most fia mellett állt ki. Miért? Természetesen sosem fogjuk megtudni, hogy Köszem fejében pontosan mi játszódott le. Valószínűnek tűnik azonban, hogy Köszem szerette volna megtartani a katonák és nép előtt a szerető anya képét, melybe nem fért bele saját fiának trónfosztása. Ezért egy álvitát tartott a pasákkal, hogy ne veszítse el a nép szimpátiáját, de ugyanakkor a birodalomnak is jót tegyen. Köszem tapasztalt politikus volt, aki éveken át tudott vezető szerepben maradni, ehhez pedig nélkülözhetetlen volt az imázs is. Így végül Köszem beleegyezésével elzárták Ibrahim szultánt, Mehmedet pedig új szultánjukká kiáltották ki. Talán a régensség első elutasítása is egy ehhez hasonló színjáték része volt. Köszem talán úgy érezte, hogy a nép ezt várja tőle, ezért felajánlotta visszavonulását, miközben talán a háttérben már régen megegyezett a pasákkal.

És a divan tagjai miért hagyták, hogy Köszem legyen a régens? Hiszen a divan tagjai közül akárki vagy akár Mehmed tanítója is jelentkezhetett volna a feladatra. Ez pedig hatalmas befolyást tett volna a férfiak kezébe. Miért engedték hát akkor át ezt a lehetőséget Köszemnek?

I. Ibrahimot 1648. augusztus 18-án kivégezték. Egyesek szerint Köszem szultána beleegyezését adta fia kivégzésébe, ám az sem zárható ki, hogy a kivégzés a háta mögött történt meg. Mint már fentebb említettem a trónfosztott vagy meggyilkolt szultánok édesanyja a tradíció szerint a Régi Palotába vonult vissza, ahol politikamentesen élték hátralévő éveiket. Köszem esetében azonban nem ez történt. Ez felveti annak eshetőségét, hogy Köszem nem tudott Ibrahim kivégzéséről és a pasák ezzel a gesztussal igyekeztek kiengesztelni az összetört nőt. De akkor ki rendelte el Ibrahim kivégzését? Gyakorlatilag bárki megtehette az államférfiak közül, de akár Szulejmán aga vagy Turhan is aláírathatta a fetwa kérvényt a kis szultánnal, melyet aztán a Seyhülislam teljes joggal engedélyezett, hiszen Ibrahim nagyon kártékony volt a birodalomra nézve. Akárhogyan is, Köszem a kivégzés után megváltozott. Vagy azért fordult a pasák ellen - akikkel korábban mindig együttműködő volt -, mert azok átverték őt Ibrahim kivégzésével kapcsolatban; vagy egyszerűen anyai szíve nem bírta elviselni, hogy beleegyezését adta fia kivégzésébe és megbomlott az elméje. Bármelyik verzió is igaz, azt tisztán látjuk, hogy az a Köszem, aki IV. Mehmed mellett régens lett, már nem ugyanaz az ember volt, akit korábban a birodalom imádott anyjának tekintettek.

A gyilkosság

Ahogy a fenti összefoglalásból is kiderül, Köszem egyeduralmat próbált kiépíteni, melyben néhány janicsár hadtesten kívül senki nem támogatta, így hatalmas csapat gyűlt össze ellene. A jól ismert verzió szerint, idővel a viszály Köszem és az államférfiak között odáig fajtult, hogy Turhan Hatice támogatásával az államférfiak megpróbálták Köszemet eltávolítani pozíciójából. Köszem válaszul erre azt tervezte, hogy trónfosztja IV. Mehmed szultánt és helyette másik unokáját ülteti a trónra. Ehhez a janicsárokat be kívánta engedni a palotába, hogy azok az éj leple alatt elvégezzék a puccsot, emiatt nyitva hagyatta éjszakára a hárem bejáratát. Köszem terve azonban ellenségei fülébe jutott, egyesek szerint egy Meleki nevű szolgáló által. Így amint Köszem emberei 1651. szeptember 2-án, kinyitották a kaput, Turhan Hatice emberei, a főeunuch Szulejmán Aga vezetésével bezáratták azt és kivégzőosztagot küldtek Köszem szultána lakrészébe. Mikor emberei Köszem lakrészéhez érve bekopogtak az ajtón, Köszem azt hitte, hogy saját emberei jöttek, ezért kikiabált nekik, hogy “Megjöttetek?”. Erre azonban a janicsárok hangja helyett Köszem az eunuch Szulejmán Aga hangját hallotta meg, amitől bepánikolt és menekülni kezdett. Nem pontosan tudni, hogy hogy jutott ki lakrészéből vagy ki jutott e egyáltalán, mert a leírások nem egyeznek. Egyesek szerint lakrészén belül bújt el egy szekrényben, mások szerint megpróbált kijutni a janicsárokhoz, azonban a zárt kapun keresztül nem tudott, így végül a kapu melletti szobában bújt el. A kivégzőosztag, amely több eunuchból (Szulejmán Aga, Hoca Reyhan Aga, Lala Hajji Ibrahim Aga és Ali Aga, valamint néhány ismeretlen eunuch) állt folytatta a keresést. Köszem egy szekrényben rejtőzött el, melyből ruhájának széle kilógott, ezzel felfedve rejtekhelyét. Amikor megtalálták, kivégzői elé pénzt dobott, ezzel próbálva lefizetni őket, ám esélye sem volt Turhan hű embereivel szemben. A legenda szerint a férfiak próbálták lefogni a validét, miközben füléből kitépték gyémánt fülbevalóit, melyeket Ahmed szultántól kapott; ruháját is megtépkedték, ahogy próbálták leszedni róla az értékes díszeket. Köszem túl a hatvanon is erősen ellenállt kivégzőinek, ám végül felülkerekedtek rajta. Egyesek szerint saját hajával, mások szerint egy függönnyel fojtották meg. Az első fojtogatási kísérlet után még magához tért, a másodikat azonban már nem élte túl.

Van azonban több olyan pont a fenti történetben, ami kétségeket ébreszt:

- Köszem problémája nem Mehmed volt, hanem a pasák, Turhan és Szulejmán Aga. Miért nem tőlük szabadult meg? Nem lett volna egyszerűbb és jogszerűbb meggyilkoltatni ezeket az embereket, mint trónfosztani az egyik gyermek szultánt egy másik gyermek javára? Természetesen megindokolhatjuk annyival a dolgot, hogy Köszem nem volt már épelméjű, így ne is keressünk logikát cselekedeteiben. Ugyanakkor felmerülhet az is, hogy talán Köszem teljesen vagy legalább részben ártatlan volt az egész eseménysorozatban. Elképzelhető, hogy nem tervezett semmit a janicsárokkal, az egész terv csak Turhan és emberei által lett kitalálva, hogy legitimizálják saját tetteiket. Ennek azonban ellent mond, hogy a janicsárok a tragikus éjszakán valóban gyülekezni készültek, az pedig nem valószínű, hogy Turhan és csapata sikerrel vezette meg a janicsárokat úgy, hogy Köszem erről ne szerzett volna tudomást. Lehetséges, hogy Köszem valóban készült egy kisebb puccsra, de az talán nem Mehmed ellen irányult. Köszemnek látnia kellett, hogy a pasák mellett Szulejmán Aga a fő felbújtó Turhan és Mehmed "rebellis" viselkedése mögött. Úgy vélem, Köszem egy kisebb puccsot tervezett, melyben megszabadult volna a neki nem tetsző eunuchoktól, szolgálóktól és ráijesztett volna Mehmedre és Turhanra. Ezzel biztosíthatta volna saját hatalmát és azt, hogy többé se Turhan se Mehmed ne kérdőjelezze őt meg.

- Miért gyilkolták meg Köszemet ilyen furcsa módon? Hiszen a jogszerű, szokásos kivégzési mód kivégző osztag által, Seyhülislami fetwával és selyemzsinórral történt. (Fontos ugyanakkor megjegyezni, hogy a dinasztia nő tagjain nem alkalmaztak korábban kivégzést, a nőket jellemzően száműzetéssel büntették.) Köszemet ezzel szemben képzetlen eunuchokkal, hamis fetwával és a saját hajával vagy egy függönnyel gyilkolták meg. Felmerül a kérdés, hogy talán Köszem kivégzése nem is volt eltervezve. Ha a kivégzés el lett volna tervezve, könnyedén tudtak volna kivégzőket szerezni selyemzsinórral és a fetwa kikérésének körülményei is egyértelműek lennének. Volt természetesen fetwa, de az időbeliséget kissé megzavarja a tény, hogy a régi Seyhülislamot ugyanakkor váltották le Turhan egyik megbízható emberére, mikor a kivégzés zajlott. Épp emiatt, és a kivégzés szokásostól eltérő brutalitása miatt, felmerülhet annak a lehetősége is, hogy talán Köszem kivégzése nem volt eredetileg eltervezve, csupán menet közben csúszott ki az irányítás Turhan kezéből és a pillanat hevében az eunuchok kivégezték Köszemet. Utólag pedig, hogy legalizálják az eseményeket gyártattak egy fetwát az új Seyhülislámmal.

- De akkor ki és miért döntött végül úgy, hogy Köszemnek meg kell halnia? Turhan nem volt jelen az események során, és mivel a gyilkosság nem volt előre eltervezve, őt kihúznám a gyanúsítottak listájáról. Természetesen az nem zárható ki, hogy Szulejmán Agával beszéltek erről az eshetőségről is. Valószínűbb azonban, hogy eredtileg csupán rá akartak ijeszteni Köszemre, megmutatni neki, hogy leleplezték, eljárt felette az idő. Véleményem szerint Turhan azt remélte, hogy Köszem beismeri vereségét és egyszerűen visszavonul a Régi Palotába. Túl kockázatos lett volna megölni egy ennyire tisztelt és szeretett validét, úgy, hogy korábban sosem végezték ki a dinasztia egyik nőtagját sem. Nem vall épelmére szánt szándékkal előrekitervelten, ilyen módon megölni Köszemet. Valószínűleg le akarták mondatni, Köszemnek azonban eddigre már nem volt vesztenivalója. Az egyetlen dolog, ami még éltette az a hatalom volt, így minden bizonnyal ellenkezett a kényszer visszavonulás gondolatától. Mikor Szulejmán Aga felismerte, hogy Köszem nem hallgat rájuk, talán félelemből úgy döntött meg kell őt ölniük. Hiszen ha a felbőszített Köszem kijutott volna a palotából Szulejmán és a többi eunuch azon nyomban fej nélkül találta volna magát. Bár nem utal rá bizonyíték, de személyes véleményem az, hogy Szulejmán talán az első perctől kezdve ezt akarta, hiszen tudta jól, hogy Köszem sosem fog visszavonulni. Akárhogyan is az eunuchok végül professzionálisnak egyáltalán nem mondható módon legyűrték az idős validét és kivégezték.

- Teljesen kizárható, hogy legális fetwa és kivégző osztag végzett Köszemmel? Sajnos ezt sem zárhatjuk ki. Az angol követ például arról számolt be, hogy kivégző osztag ölte meg Köszemet, az ifjú szultán által kért fetwa után, Mehmed szeme láttára. Igaz, hogy az angol követ nem a legjobban informáltak közé tartozott. Valószínű, hogy mindenki úgy hitte akkoriban, hogy a fetwa előre volt kiadva, csak később, a történészek kutatásai világítottak rá arra, hogy a fetwa feltehetőleg Köszem kivégzése után készült el. Azt pedig, hogy Köszemet a 10 éves Mehmed szeme láttára végezték volna ki, nem tartom valószínűnek. Turhan nagyon erősen igyekezett óvni fiát, nem valószínű, hogy kitette volna őt egy ilyen traumának. Mustafa Naima abban egyetért az angol követtel, hogy a kivégzés előre megtervezett volt, ám szerinte nem eunuchok, hanem kivégző osztag végzett a valide szultánával. Azonban akkor miért volt brutális a kivégzés? Miért nem volt selyemzsinór? Miért alkalmatlan eunuchok vitték véghez?

A gyilkosság utóhatása

Hogy megakadályozzanak bármiféle ellenállást, Turhan Hatice és emberei az éjszaka folyamán minden olyan államférfit eltávolítottak posztjáról, aki veszélyeztette volna őket. Az első ember, akit kineveztek akkor éjjel, az Ebu Said Efendi lett, az új Seyhülislam. Ő volt az, aki végül kiadta a fetwát Köszem kivégzésére (utólagosan). Ezekután Turhan megüzente az összes államférfinak és katonának, hogy azonnal menjenek audienciára, ahol hűséget fogadnak Mehmed szultánnak. A legtöbben félelemből vagy őszinte érzések által vezérelve, azonnal a szultán elé járultak, akik pedig nem, azokra az új Seyhülislám fetwat adott ki. Így vált jogszerűvé Köszem támogatóinak kivégzése is, hiszen ők sem jelentek meg a szultán előtt. A lázadó janicsárok pedig így árulóként lettek megbélyegezve és legálisan kivégezték őket. A nép szemében végül ők lettek bűnbaknak kikiáltva Köszem haláláért. Köszemet a gyilkosság után a Régi Palotába szállították, ahol előkészítették testét a temetésre. Birodalmi temetést kapott, Isztambul népe pedig önkéntesen 3 napos gyászt tartott, bezárva minden boltot és üzletet. Köszem mindig népszerű volt az emberek között, ám érdekes módon ugyanaz a nép, nem fordult Turhan ellen Köszem halála miatt, sőt, Turhan hasonlóan szeretett és tisztelt valide szultána lett, mint amilyen Köszem volt.

Mi történt a valódi bűnösökkel? Turhan és Mehmed természetesen megúszták, ugyanakkor kérdéses, hogy a gyilkosságban egyáltalán volt e részük. Igaz egy 1656-os lázadás komolyan megrengette hatalmukat, de végül nem veszítették el azt. A lázadásnak a legnagyobb oka a gyenge nagyvezírek, az újjáéledő Celali lázadás és a velenceiekkel vívott háború voltak. A körülmények miatt nem jutott elég gabona a fővárosba, a katonák nem kaptak rendesen fizetést, de az egyszerű emberek is egyre elégedetlenebbek voltak, különösen dühítette őket a szultánhoz közelállók extrém gazdagsága. Végül a janicsárok és szpáhik vezetésével a nép fellázadt 1656 március negyedikén. A lázadás során a szultánhoz közelállók közül többeket brutálisan kivégeztek, az egész fővárost feldúlták. A csőcselék Mehmed 31 közeli emberét a Kék Mecset mellett akasztotta fel egy egy fára. Köztük volt Meleki Hatun is, akit a szultán különösen szeretett. Bár korábban is rázták meg lázadások a fővárost, ehhez fogható még sosem történt. Nem csak a katonák lázadtak fel, a nép is egy emberként állt ki a katonák mellett és állt be mögéjük. Mindenki bezárta boltjait, általános sztrájk lépett érvénybe a lázadás idejére.

Szulejmán Aga már nem volt hatalmon amikor a lázadás megtörtént és talán ez tartotta helyén a fejét. Szulejmán Köszem meggyilkolása után a fő hárem eunuch lett, ám a pozíciót csupán 1652 júliusáig élvezhette. Szulejmán tovább nyújtózkodott, mint a takarója ért, olyan politikai témákba is igyekezett beleszólni, amihez semmi köze nem volt. Turhan Hatice is kezdte felismerni, hogy Szulejmán egyáltalán nem az ő oldalukon áll, hanem csak a saját magáén. Külön érdekesség, hogy az a Lala Ibrahim Aga győzte meg erről Turhant, aki maga is részt vett Köszem kivégzésében. Lala Ibrahim Aga Turhan személyes eunuchja volt és maga sosem vágyott (vagy bölcsen nem mutatta ki) ennél magasabb pozícióra. Turhan így végül 1652-ben megfosztotta pozíciójától Szulejmán Agát és száműzte Egyiptomba. A rafinált eunuch még a száműzetésben is feltalálta magát, befolyásos személlyé nőtte ki magát, aki Kairó helyi politikájának egyik főszereplője lett. 1676/7-ben halt meg.

Epilógus

Valószínűleg sosem fogjuk pontosan megtudni, hogy mi vezetett a kivégzéshez és hogyan zajlott az le. A poszttal nem is az volt a célom, hogy egy tökéletes megoldást mutassak be Hercule Poirot módjára, csupán szerettem volna rávilágítani arra, hogy az általánosan ismert és elfogadott teória, inkább megszokásból tekintendő a legáltalánosabban elfogadottnak, nem pedig alapossága miatt. Rengeteg a kérdőjel, kétes információ és helyzet a kivégzés körülményei között, ami egyértelműsíti, hogy ez az egész helyzet bonyolultabb volt annál, minthogy két nő harcot vívott a hárem feletti uralomért.

Köszem volt az a szultána, aki a legmagasabbra tört, aki sokáig lehetett a csúcson, azonban a nagy magasságból zuhant végül alá és vált az egyetlen meggyilkolt valide szultánává. Élete során több címet is kapott: Naib-i Sultanat (az Oszmán Birodalom régense), Umin al-Mu'minin (minden muszlimok anyja), Büyük Valide Sultan (nagy valide szultána), Valide-i Sehide (a mártír anya), Valide-i Maktule (a meggyilkolt anya), Valide-i Muazzama (a csodálatos anya).

Felhasznált források: M. Kocaaslan - IV. Mehmed Saltanatında Topkapı Sarayı Haremi: İktidar, Sınırlar ve Mimari; L. Peirce - The Imperial Harem; Ö. Kumrular - Kösem Sultan: iktidar, hırs, entrika; C. Finkel - Osman’s Dream: the History of the Ottoman Empire; M. P. Pedani - Relazioni inedite; N. Sakaoğlu - Bu Mülkün Kadın Sultanları; G. Börekçi - Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan Ahmed I and His Immediate Predecessors; F. Davis - The Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul; Faroqhi - The Ottoman Empire and the World; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; F. Suraiya, K. Fleet - The Cambridge History of Turkey 1453-1603; F. Suraiya - The Cambridge History of Turkey, The Later Ottoman Empire, 1603–1839; Ö. Düzbakar - Charitable Women And Their Pious Foundations In The Ottoman; G. Junne - The black eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire, Networks of Power in the Court of the Sultan.

94 notes · View notes

teatimecrumpetsandsugar · 3 years

Text

ethereal (voltron fantasy/royalty AU) (set up; part zero)

Heyo! It’s your friendly neighborhood Voltron fanfic aficionado- now your friendly neighborhood Klance writer but that’s honestly besides the point I don’t even know why you’d bring up my increasing obsession with them in this Klance fanfic that I swear everyone else will be in, too-

Today, I’ll be writing from a fantasy royalty AU with my favorite show cast ever, even though it may or may not be solely because I want to put water elemental!king!Lance in pretty dresses and makeup and just go crazy with my descriptions of gowns and other things.

I imagine, here, Lance would be from a kingdom with strong ties to Pidge’s kingdom, who has strong ties with Hunk’s kingdom, making them a powerful trifecta. I also imagine that Keith and Lance’s kingdoms are on very thin ice with one another, so Pidge encourages Lance to sit down with fire elemental!king!Keith.

I also imagine that Pidge’s kingdom is closely allied with Allura’s and that the two of them grew up together, while she didn’t meet Hunk or Lance until she became queen. Also, I’d like to have my beloved Ruler Pidge go by she/they pronouns, simply because I see a lot of myself in the way she dresses and carries herself and I actually believe that these pronouns would fit her, alongside all pronouns.

Hunk and Lance likely grew up together in a very close ally ship and continue to be close friends well into adulthood because that’s just how they are. I can imagine Lance is very vaguely aware of Allura’s kingdom and would never dream of picking a fight with hers since, by default, allying with Pidge made him allies with Allura, but he probably doesn’t know her very well pre the canon timeline because I kind of want to build that relationship from the ground up to make up for what the show did to me-

Keith is definitely allied with Shiro, and Pidge and Shiro were always friends through her older brother, who, along with her father, abdicated from the throne and joined an adventurer’s guild instead (because they believed that Pidge would be a better fit for a ruler and decided that, given how they are, reconnaissance and exploration fit them better. She agreed with this insight, deciding to rule the kingdom the best way she knew how). Shiro, being a much more experienced king and friends with their brother, likely prepared them for the role as they grew into it; the two are on friendly terms, but allied isn’t exactly the right term as none of the people in their alliance knew Keith, so they weren’t sure they could ally with him.

Lance met Keith at a gala years into his reign; they did not get along.

The system of Magic here will likely be dictated by what element one is born in the kingdom of, (i.e., Lance’s kingdom being the Aqua Kingdom, Pidge’s being the Spiritus Kingdom) and the strength of it in each person will be chosen based on a random set of variables that usually depends on the mood of the Gods corresponding to each element.

Lance- Water (Aqua Kingdom)

Keith- Fire (Ignis Kingdom)

Pidge- Life (Spiritus Kingdom)

Hunk- Earth (Terra Kingdom)

Shiro- Moon (Luna Kingdom)

Allura- Light (Lux Kingdom)

I imagine the reason an alliance is called for with Keith and Shiro’s kingdoms is because a traitor to Allura’s kingdom, either Lotor is planning on starting an entire mutiny with the ranks he’s managed to gather and then, consequently, conquer all of the rest of the kingdoms by force in the name of a long-dead kingdom- the Tenebris kingdom. His parents having died in the midst of a total economic crash caused by a codependent relationship with Allura’s kingdom whilst it was under her father’s rule, he was taken in by the state of Lux by Allura’s request, since they grew up together; unfortunately Lotor held lingering feelings of resentment- towards Lux, for causing the destruction of the only thing he could’ve ever considered his own by right, and towards his parents for always making him feel as if he was of no worth. He wants to conquer the entire world just to prove to himself that he is worth something, though, unfortunately, he’s on a path straight to death.

Might redeem him, might kill him off, might exile him- who knows at this point?

Hunk, I imagine, was a commoner who won the title of king through a series of magic-based trials (upon the death of the last ruler) and now keeps his entire family in the palace with him, using his title to take care of his family and citizens as a benevolent ruler. This likely happened when he was quite young- likely when he was 9 or 10, since magic is an innate thing and, in this kingdom, it’s tested in the youngest members of the kingdom in order to deem who is the most connected to their Goddess Terra.

Allura inherited her title when her own father died in the conflict with Tenebris- he went to battle with the people they’d unintentionally doomed in order to protect his daughter and his people, and died in the process; similar to her story in Voltron except her kingdom survives and Lotor and a select few survivors of the Galra become refugees.

Keith became king by beating the previous king’s son in a battle- his mother, being one of the higher ups in the government, sent word to him that the prince didn’t want to be king, so Keith wound up challenging him for the title. He won, successfully making his way into the world of prestige and getting closer to his mother. The prince left the kingdom shortly after- it’s believed that he ran away to be with someone, but no one is quite sure. All anyone knows is that he’s happy.

Lance wound up being king at a really young age- I’m imagining that, prior to his reign, his kingdom was incredibly strictly patriarchal. The previous king likely only had daughters, and the day of his death, Lance was born with incredibly powerful water magic. As a result, at the age of 6 years old, he was forcibly taken from his poor family and raised strictly to be a perfect king- however, he still saw his sister Veronica frequently in secret, the two of them sneaking around to eat baked goods and try on dresses together. When the palace staff found out, they tightened security and warned Veronica that she was no longer allowed to see him unless she wanted to be publicly executed. After his coronation (at age 8), however, he started making drastic changes to the laws that made the laws against commoners interacting with royalty more lax, and, once allowed to dress himself, started wearing dresses and makeup because it reminded him of home and made him feel as beautiful as he knew he was. He gets quite homesick quite often, and he’s still battling to get his family into the palace with him- he has, however, stripped the kingdom of its strict patriarchy. He constantly tells the kingdom that he hopes to one day pass the throne down to his own future daughter and still keeps the three princesses as his trusted advisors because he believes what happened to them was horribly unjust. The story will be told primarily from his perspective.

Shiro became ruler of his kingdom by fighting his way through gladiator ranks when he was only thirteen, winning the entire kingdom by brute force alone and leaving him with a lot more experience and trauma than he’d have liked. Being the oldest of the current generation of rulers and having inherited a kingdom that was closely related to Pidge’s and Keith’s, he guided them both through the process of becoming a ruler and the process of ruling, no matter how difficult it gets. It’s taken far longer with Keith than it has Pidge, since Pidge was raised a royal and has an innate sense of leadership and Keith is... interesting at the whole being a royal thing. Shiro, having grown up with Keith’s mother on the streets of the kingdom of Tenebris, was more than happy to take Keith under his wing- it helps the both of them come out of their shells more, so they have a mutual appreciation for one another.

I imagine this world will be vaguely futuristic and medieval at the same time- they’ll be able to have video conferences and reach other via communicators, holographic calls, things of that nature; but they’ll also be pretty old-fashioned in their manners of dress, their social systems, their currencies, and the vast majority of their laws. I hope that makes sense.

I wonder if it’s visible here that I spent three hours winging this and started getting more and more into it as I went, or if it’s obvious that I spend most of my time working with really obscure fantasy concepts.

BAHDHAAHAHA I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS-

If you’ve got any suggestions for relationship dynamics (platonic, romantic, or otherwise), any pitches for traits you think the characters may have based on their slightly altered backstories, or any feedback in general, feel free to share- I hope you all find this as fascinating as I did while I was writing it!

Also, @keefsteefs It’s happening, I’m doing it, it’s gonna be so fricking awesome-

#voltron #voltron au #voltron alternate universe #VLD #Voltron legendary defender #klance #voltron klance #vld klance #voltron keith #voltron lance #voltron hunk #voltron pidge #voltron allura #voltron shiro #voltron lotor

31 notes · View notes

glitterytidalwavedragon · 4 years

Text

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here?

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise. When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji. So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

79 notes · View notes

llogllady99 · 3 years

Text

INTERMISSION

CHARACTERS | Levi, Erwin, Hange, Petra, Nanaba, Mike, Eld, Gunther, Oluo, Moblit

RELATIONSHIPS | Erwin x Levi

Genre | Reincarnation, Afterlife

IV | Afterlife, Hurt/Comfort, Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence. Alternate Universe - Modern Setting/ Reincarnation, Fluff, Reunions, Introspection.

SUMMARY | Levi dies and reunites with Erwin and the others in the Afterlife.

WORD COUNT | 2.5k

It was one of those sunny days that Levi passed away. The kind of days that occurred in the middle of summer, sun shining proudly in the centre of the sky, beaming with light in all directions; its yellow rays placing gentle kisses and giving shape to everything around them. A breeze blew gently, ruffling the blades of overgrown grass, flowers, and other plants that were blooming by a pristine and crystalline river. A river so clean and fresh that even the tiniest of rocks could be visible. Southern Magnolias, Flowering Dogwoods, birch, and oak trees lined the river and gardens of the people resided in the area. On such particular days, Levi could be found gardening away his late adulthood; his garden was the most clean and organised with freshly mowed lawn and colourful flowers, trees, and bushes placed meticulously around the alleyway that lead to the entrance of the house, the backyard, by his windows and entrances, and inside the house. Therefore, it should have been no surprise when Levi spent his last day doing exactly that: cleaning, organising, and arranging things.

It came unexpectedly, like death often does. It should have upset Levi, he was still considered too young to die by the rest of the world, but he himself couldn’t have been more happier, more relieved, and at peace. It had started with a soft breeze, blowing through his now white strands of hair that were still arranged in the same familiar undercut and under his white cotton dress shirt that was a bit oversized. Then came a wave of unfamiliar fatigue, causing Levi to lie on his back on the grass, his eyes now on the sapphire sky, watching the different sized clouds move along in slow motion. Somehow he knew his time had come, he always had great intuition. With black now cornering his vision, the man closed his eyes, letting the sun rest gently on his face, warming him one last time. He smelled the sweet aroma of his flowers, he listened to the almost silent buzz of a bee in the distance, appreciating the things he had become so used to. Finally ready, Levi inhaled deeply, and with a contented smile spreading on his tired and wrinkled face, exhaled slowly as everything went black, sounds and sensations ebbing away gradually.

However, the world didn’t stop, the sun still shone, the birds still sang their relaxing songs, their high pitched chirps sounding through the valleys, the wind still blew, and the clouds in the sky still travelled their never ending journey; a perfect day for humanity’s strongest soldier to pass away.

Levi was now engulfed in deep darkness, thick and relentless. Silence reigning over the infinite void. It wasn’t a heavy silence or an uncomfortable one but rather comforting and warm, making him feel at peace in god knows how long. He looked down at his hands, they weren’t wrinkly anymore but soft and smooth again. He was back in his original form, his old inky black hair hanging daintily on his forehead, his cheekbones once again high and sharp, his eyes now a strong grey steel, and his lips rosy red. His body was also young again. Now that he was in this purgatory of sorts, a giant screen appeared in front of him, displaying moments from his life in chronological order. He saw himself as a baby, his mother cutting for the first time his hair in an undercut, his mother telling him stories, embracing him, loving him. Then came her death, her horrible death, leaving Levi alone. His uncle Kenny made his appearance on the screen, taking him under his care, teaching him how to fight and defend himself after walking away never to be seen again. It showed how he met Isabell and Furlan, the days they spent together in the underground. The blonde boy reading to them by the fire, Isabell snoring in Levi’s lap, his hands in her hair, twisting the ginger strands, Levi defending the redhead in a fight, and Isabell telling them jokes one night whilst playing cards. All of the precious moments now unfolding before his eyes. It made Levi’s heart swell with happiness at seeing their faces again. He had forgotten their faces after so much time but seeing them now reminded him of their bond, their brother like bond. Then he joined the survey corps and shit hit the fan.

Next came memories of joining the survey corps, of seeing Erwin for the first time, their first kiss, first time making love, moving in the same room together, going out with his comrades, Hange, Nanaba, Mike, Moblit, everyone made an appearance on the screen. Then came the brats, their round baby faces and bright eyes full of determination. Retaking wall Maria. Erwin’s death…

It displayed the four years in between their battles. The years when he moved in with Hange and having tea with them every other afternoon before making the plans for the attack on Liberio. The shit show started, the whole fucking rumbling, Eren going batshit crazy, Mikasa killing him, and them staying behind in Marley. His friendship blossoming with the other two brats and finally tasting true freedom, a world with no walls where the sky was the limit. Other sequences also played, like how he returned to Paradis, Gabi and Falco’s visits, who were now married and living happily in some exotic country, and then the day he died. He would have argued he lived a beautiful life, one which he certainly didn’t regret, but after Erwin’s and Hange’s death his only purpose was to survive the day, get through it and ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.

If this was the after life, why wasn’t anyone here? Did he do something wrong? Where was Erwin? Didn’t he promise he’ll be waiting for him? For the first time in the darkness, Levi felt suffocated, he couldn’t breathe, the overwhelming feeling he did something wrong washed over him, imbuing his every cell and tissue. Luckily, before he could finish that destructive train of thought, a glimmer of white appeared in the distance. As the small dot got bigger and bigger, Levi realised it was some kind of vortex that was sucking everything in it, including him. It sucked in his feet first then his hips, stomach, arms and finally his head. Everything went white around him, his spirit was travelling with so much speed that he felt he was inside an airplane engine, the turbines spinning faster and faster, the noise getting louder and louder, and finally the plane took off. As the noise reached its apex, Levi’s surroundings became silent until he was pushed out of the vortex and into the afterlife, the one in which his comrades also seemed to be.

Levi landed bottom first and with a thud, his backside coursing with pain. He flinched and got up. He scanned his surrounding and noticed that in the far off distance there was a group of people. Relief washed over his entire being as the feelings of panic and loneliness left him entirely. One by one he willed his feet to move, each step becoming more hurried, until he broke out in a run. The shape of the group was getting bigger and bigger as Levi closed the distance between them. The closer he got, the more he could make out their faces. Wait! Was that blonde and messy brown? Hange and Erwin? Happiness started blossoming in his chest, like a bush of Camelias in spring, the flowers opening up more and more, becoming bigger and bigger covering the whole green bush with their beautiful pure white and milky pink. A smile grazed his features and tears started falling down his face, each droplet streaming down his jawline then falling on the ground behind him.

“Erwin!” Levi shouted, finally getting his lover’s attention. Erwin turned, wide eyed as he recognised his voice and broke into one of his famous full mouth grins. He extending his arms, inviting the raven in. Levi gladly took that invitation, jumping on Erwin and sending both of them tumbling down, wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde, sniffling that familiar cent of cologne and tobacco. “You waited for me! I can’t believe you waited.”

“Of course I did, in fact all of us did. Look around Levi, we’re all here.” Levi lifted his face and looked around, his eyes landing on Hange grinning maniacally at him, Nanaba and Mike close to each other, Moblit, and his squad.

“Heya guys! Long time no see I guess.” Levi stood up from Erwin and made his way in between the group, taking everyone’s faces in. They were all here. He looked in Hange’s direction, they now looked truly happy without a care in the world. He approached them and wrapped them in a tight embrace, one which he so seldom offered when they were alive.

“Hey short stuff. Gotta admit watching over ya from up here got kinda boring. You were never up to any shenanigans, you just sat there all day reading your damn newspaper and drinking that awful tea.” Hange playfully reprimanded him. Levi snorted then play kicked their feet. Petra came up and hugged him from behind, burying her soft ginger hair between his shoulder blades. She inhaled shakily and choked out:

“Missed you so much, Levi Heichou.” Levi turned around and tucked some of her hair behind her year, setting his hand on her cheek, rubbing with one thumb a tear that spilled from her left eye. The raven then wrapped her tightly in the same hug he’d given Hange, burying her small head in his shoulder. “Missed you too.”

Mike came up and sniffed his hair, his nose scrunching up taking up as much of the sent as possible and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, trying to pin point the smells. He then patted Levi on the shoulder and told him:

“You still smell the same, maybe except with a hint of a flowery touch to it.”

“Always so romantic.” Levi replied, shaking his hand like brothers do. Nanaba came up behind Mike and offered him one of her beautiful smiles. “Great seeing you Levi, but Mike,” she then grabbed the tall man’s hand pulling him towards her, “it’s time for us to go.”

“Go where?” Levi asked frantically, he just got here why were they going already?

“We will get reincarnated, me, Mike, and Erwin.” Nanaba replied casually as if it was the most natural thing. Levi started hyperventilating.

“Why?” He croaked. “I just got here, you can’t go! Not yet! Erwin please don’t go!” He looked around and found the blonde standing next to Mike, he grabbed his hand tightly, urging him not to go, however it was for nothing as his lover wouldn’t budge.

“I can’t Levi, my time has come.” Erwin grabbed both of his hand and kissed his knuckles and fingers, rubbing them against his cheek. “I need you to watch over me and when your time comes too, join me. We’ll meet again, in a world with no titans and infinite time on our hands. We will truly be happy there.”

“Fine, but promise me you won’t do anything stupid Erwin. Wait for me.” Levi demanded, raising himself on his tip toes and pulling Erwin down for a passionate kiss. After they parted, Erwin stepped next to Nanaba and Mike again and waved his big hand at the others before all three of them vanished from sight.

Over time, the same exact thing happened to the others. Eld and Gunther went, shortly followed by Auruo, the other people also gradually disappearing to god knows where. After some time, only him, Hange, Petra, and Moblit were left. Now it seemed that Moblit’s time had come too, if the bear hug he gave Hange was anything to go by. Offering them one last kind smile, Moblit vanished, leaving now only the three of them. Hange cried that day, harder than he ever saw them do it and Petra rested her head on Levi’s shoulder, sorrow and longing also emanating from her being. For a few years, all they could do was watch. Watch Erwin’s seventh birthday party, Mike and Nanaba chewing on their toys, Eld being adopted, guess he didn’t have much luck in this life either, Gunther ride his bike, Auruo playing his first song on the piano and so on. On a not so special day, when they resumed their seats and watched over the others, Hange stood up and with a kind smile and wave their hand they vanished too. Levi cried and so did Petra, they missed their friend dearly but it was bound to happen. A few short months after Petra also left, leaving Levi alone, drowning in the familiar feeling of loneliness.

A month after, Levi got visitors in the after life, they were Armin, Mikasa, and Annie. They greeted their captain and took their seats next to him, joining him in watching over his friends.

“I guess now I have you brats to watch over me when I’ll go down there.” He joked, getting a pat on the back from Armin.

“Hopefully, in the next life I won’t be a midget anymore, You guys don’t know how fucking hard that has been for me.” That earned him a laugh from all of them. Over the next two months all of them got closer together, Armin and Mikasa telling him about how his death impacted everyone. Apparently it has been a national funeral, all the nobles and even queen gathering around his coffin. How ironic.

One day, Levi woke up groggier than usual and much more heavy. It felt as if the ground was pulling him towards it. It was no doubt: his time had come. Armin was the only one that was watching the world down below, Mikasa and Annie sleeping soundly a few feet away. Levi sat next to him and cleared his throat, redirecting the blonde’s attention to him.

“This reincarnation thing is so beautiful, getting a second chance in a world not as cruel as ours.” Armin began. “I’m glad we aren’t stuck here forever, it gets more boring every day.”

“Try doing that shit for seven years.”

“That’s really long. I can’t stand this place anymore and I’ve only been here for what? Two months? If you don’t mind me asking, who was the first to go?” Armin asked, a little bit shy in case he was prying too much.

“Erwin.” Armin’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I just got here and he was already gone. But now is my time and I’ll finally be reunited with him.” Levi stood up and grabbed Armin’s hand also pulling him to his feet. “See ya Armin, you were always my favourite cadet.”

Bringing his fists and arms to his chest, delivering his last salute to the 15th Commander of the Survey Corps, he vanished, white clouding his vision. Everything went black afterwards.

The next time Levi opened his eyes, he was crying his eyes out and shouting like a mad man, his little legs and arms kicking and moving in all directions. He had been born into the new world.

Notes:

A song I would recommand while reading the fic is It's been a long, long time. Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read it and notes and comments are welcomed, Obviously, I do not own Attack on titan or any of the characters that take part in it. They are inspiration for my works and I love them to the core. Thank you again lovelies for taking the time to read it! <333

21 notes · View notes

vampire--dad · 4 years

Text

Only The Sweetest Words

Based on a prompt for the October prompt bingo - a soulmate AU.

——————

Eskel remembers the morning of his sixteenth birthday like it was yesterday— and it certainly wasn’t bloody yesterday. But he remembers it as clear as day, waking up to find his soulmate’s first words on the skin of his wrist.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Classy.

Geralt thought it was hilarious. Eskel tried to act like he did too. In truth, the connotations began to haunt him. It was because he was a witcher, wasn’t it? Somebody was going to look into his yellow eyes and be repulsed by their apparent soulmate. As the years went on, those thoughts weighed even heavier on his mind whenever he saw someone with their lover. The scars across his face certainly didn’t help. Whoever it was, they’d think he was hideous. He can’t say he disagrees.

Jaskier can’t help but feel like destiny has pulled a cruel joke on him. Up until the age of sixteen, he had dreamt of seeing the most romantic words on his wrist, a prophecy of a lifetime of romance and fulfillment. His cousins were blessed with the most beautiful words upon their skin. And what did the poet get?

“Oh, fuck. Sorry.”

His mother had almost cried at the obscenity on her son’s skin. His father had tried not to laugh for fear of his wife’s wrath, but the boy saw the mirth in his eyes. Jaskier was distraught. His dreams of romance were shattered. Not to mention it was such a common phrase that many a-times he had gone stumbling after people, asking to see their wrists, only to be turned away once again. It had made his love life quite the travesty.

———

“Geralt? Geralt!”

Eskel stands from the rickety chair in the corner of the room. That head of white hair is unmistakable. That’s his best friend. Two pairs of yellow eyes meet from across the room accompanied by grinning and delighted laughter. Geralt makes his way to the corner and practically throws himself into his brother’s arms. Eskel does not notice his travel companion, but he hears a sweet voice and the familiar sound of a lute as he and Geralt share stories of their travels and a drink.

Geralt has a more… complicated relationship with destiny. He doesn’t have one soulmate, not one destined romantic partner to see him through his years. It came as a relief to him, he was never particularly fond of the idea of romance. Instead, he has upon his wrist a neat vertical line made up of four letters— the first initial of each of his platonic soulmates. E was the easiest to decipher. It was none other than Eskel, the boy he had been raised alongside, the boy who had become like a brother to him. The next letter is L, for Lambert. At first, he wondered why the feisty young redhead was tied to him, but as he grew into a man, it became clear. He might be an asshole, but he’s loyal to a fault and would defend his brothers with his life. It took almost seventy years for the mystery of the third letter to come undone. That was when he met Jaskier. After the third time they had crossed paths across the Continent, Geralt had asked for his real name. Julian, although he despises that name, was clearly destined to walk the Path with a witcher. At first Geralt hated the thought of putting him in danger, but time and time again the bard proved he wasn’t so useless with a blade. The fourth letter, A, remains a mystery.

As Eskel recounts the days he spent tracking down a griffin just south of Crinfrid, gesturing wildly in the excitement of seeing his brother again, his arm collides with a tankard grasped by a calloused hand. Ale spills over the edge and onto a pale blue doublet.

“Oh, fuck. Sorry,” Eskel says.

A pair of bright blue eyes glare at him, the same colour as the doublet on the man’s chest. Jaskier has heard those words many times, hoping he’s finally met the one, but when they fall from the lips the tall, yellow eyed, absolutely dashing man before him, he knows. He knows he’s looking at the man who cursed him with such unsophisticated and painfully common words. Not only that, but he’s spilled ale on his new doublet. He never expected to be angry when he finally met his soulmate, but he’s fuming.

And then he says those words. Those words that Eskel has dreaded hearing his whole life. The first words his soulmate would ever say to him.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Eskel winces and seems to shrink into himself. All of the thoughts he’s had about those words begin to form a terrifying reality. The man before him, his soulmate, thinks he’s a monster. Of course he does, he’s a witcher. Yellow eyes, riddled with scars, nothing compared to the well dressed beautiful man glaring at him. After a moment of pause, the man continues and what he says isn’t what Eskel could ever have expected.

“I have had those damned words on my wrist for fourteen years. My parents were disgusted that their little boy had such obscene language on his wrist and my cousins— sweet Melitele, my cousins howled with laughter. They’ve all got something quite poetic, haven’t they? And me, the aspiring little poet I was, I had ‘Oh, fuck. Sorry’ on my wrist. I suppose I can get them back for it, seeing as my soulmate is far more handsome than any of theirs. Seriously, you should see Darla’s husband. But that’s besides the point. You really couldn’t have come up with something a little… classier? Something a little more creative, romantic even?”

The white haired witcher scoffs.

“You weren’t exactly romantic yourself, Jaskier. Cut him some slack.”

“Shut up, Geralt.”

Eskel stares at him, dumbfounded.

My soulmate is far more handsome than any of theirs.

You really couldn’t have come up with something a little… classier?

Of all the things Eskel expected him to be upset about, it certainly wasn’t that. But never mind that, he thinks he’s… handsome? That doesn’t sound right, yet he said it with such conviction that the witcher can’t argue. There are too many things that Eskel wants to say at once. But only one thing comes out.

“Huh?”

Geralt laughs and shakes his head. He stands and claps a hand on each of their shoulders. Idiots.

“Allow me to be of some assistance. Eskel, this is Jaskier. He’s the bard I told you about. Forgive his little outburst, he’d really been hoping for something more romantic and if I’m guessing correctly, he’s rather upset that he’s spilled ale on his new clothes.”

“Well yes, I was getting to that…” Jaskier mumbles, earning him a pointed look from his travel companion. He falls silent again.

“Jaskier, this is Eskel. He’s my brother, one of my other soulmates, and he’s terribly sorry about your doublet.”

Geralt stands from his chair and places it behind Jaskier, pushing the two down into their seats.

“Try again.”

Geralt watches from across the room as Eskel and Jaskier get to know each other, a soft, amused smile on his lips. It’s an awkward affair at first, his dear brother has no idea what to say. But the bard, ever the charmer, coaxes him out of his shell and has him grinning from ear to ear within minutes. He apologises for his harsh words. Eskel thanks him with a smile.

Jaskier, having forgotten about the ale on his new doublet, is positively captivated by the man and he’s not afraid to say it, if only to see how flustered Eskel gets. The witcher doesn’t know how he can say such sweet words about a face like his, but Jaskier reassures him that he thinks he’s beautiful, scars and all.

Their hands touch for a moment across the table between them. Even through Eskel’s thick gloves, it feels like an electric shock. They both recoil. Eskel looks at his hands with alarm, but Jaskier laughs, soft and melodic. Eskel silently promises himself to do whatever he can to hear that laugh again.

“The same thing happened to my mother when she met my father,” Jaskier says. “Their hands met as he passed her a glass of wine. Of course he dropped it. She was too excited to even be mad about the stain on her dress.”

He looks down at the dark stain on his doublet.

“Destiny really is a wicked mistress…” he chuckles

Eskel laughs and without thinking twice, slips his gloves off and lays his hand over Jaskier’s. Their skin tingles and buzzes where it meets, but it’s a pleasant sensation. The witcher could stare at the soft smile Jaskier offers him all damn day. Eskel has never felt so comfortable with someone before. It’s wonderful. He doesn’t feel like he has to hide anything from Jaskier. Not his scars, not his past, nothing. He can be himself.

Jaskier finds his eyes wandering across Eskel’s handsome face as he speaks, only half paying attention. The bard can’t help but admire him. His hair brushes against his nose when he looks down at their hands. Jaskier begins to wonder what it would feel like to kiss him, how his stubble would feel against his cheek, what the scars across his lips would feel like against his own. What a hopeless romantic he is. He’s barely known the man for an hour and he’s already thinking about kissing him. But everything about Eskel feels… right. It’s only natural that he would want more.

“Jaskier?”

Eskel is looking at him curiously. He had a feeling Jaskier wasn’t fully paying attention to him, only to discover that he was staring at his lips with a dreamy expression. It’s endearing and baffling to think someone can be so enchanted by him, of all people.

“Can I kiss you?” Jaskier blurts out.

“Is that why you’ve been staring at me?”

“Yes.”

“Then… yes.”

Jaskier decides this table between them won’t do. He stands, slipping around the edge of the table to take Eskel’s strong jaw into his hands and press their lips together. That same shock fizzes through his body and down his spine, but this time he doesn’t pull away. The witcher’s arms wind around his waist, pulling him closer. Their first kiss is far too short. Eskel pulls away only to stand, pull Jaskier against his chest, and kiss him again, utterly entranced by the feeling of Jaskier’s lips moving against his own. A sweet taste clings to them, the bard’s breath hot against his lips. This time Jaskier is the one to pull away.

“This is not the place for what’s going to happen next if you keep kissing me like that,” he says softly, a cheeky grin on his face.

Eskel chuckles. Geralt smiles from across the room and looks down at the letters on his wrist. Destiny can be kinder than she seems sometimes.

——————

Tags: @lovelyeskel @patchwork-doublet @jaskierswolf

#the witcher #eskel #jaskier #julian alfred pankratz #jaskel #soulmate au #fan fiction #the witcher fanfiction

126 notes · View notes

oftatteredwings · 3 years

Text

leighton meester & she/her/ cisfemale ‷ watch out , skye henderson has crash-landed into roswell !! they look 31 years old and celebrate their birthday on december 11th . they are from blackpool, england, reside in aurora apartments and are currently working as an interior designer. one thing you should know about them is she was a junior ballroom dancer and spent every day in a sparkly dress‷

hello hello, Heather here, I’m so happy to be here and here’s my first baby Skye! she’s been through a lot and basically refuses to take any shit from anyone lol. like this if you want to plot and I’ll come find you!

Name: Skye Henderson Nicknames: None Age: Thirty-one Date of birth: 11th December 1990 Birth place: Blackpool, UK Occupation: Interior Designer/Owner of Henderson Homes Romantic/sexual orientation: Heteromantic/heterosexual

tw: miscarriage

She grew up in Blackpool in the UK.

Her mother constantly told her she was the greatest dancer in the world... and she believed it.

It was pretty much all she did for the first 10 years of her life, driving her dancing partners crazy as she was the type of young girl who fell in love with everyone. Her dance partner at the age of 9, Ben, basically ran for the hills.

At 10 the whole family moved to the states to New Mexico for her father’s job and that’s where the Roswell chapter began.

High school was a strange experience for her. She went from nobody to the most popular girl in school. She was head cheerleader, aced all her classes and found a boyfriend for the first time. They were a very unlikely pair, complete opposites and when things fell apart, they became ugly.

Her attitude in high school wasn’t the greatest.

It was in college she discovered interior design and the dancing fell to the wayside.

First she did up her own place upon graduation, and then moved onto other properties in town. It didn’t take long to build up her business. She opened a small office in the backroom of her home and things went from strength to strength.

At 26, she unexpectedly fell pregnant, the relationship she’d been in still fairly new. But they were happy, started making plans, figuring out the rest of their lives together.

Up until she miscarried anyway. They decided to try again and sadly the same thing happened. Skye was in denial, she threw herself into work, she ignored him, pretended everything was alright.

It wasn’t alright. In fact, within the space of a couple of months, the relationship ended and she found herself alone once more.

A year later she made the decision to do things alone, looking into adoption.

Now, two years later, she’s mother to Amy and she couldn’t be happier.

She’s still working herself to death, drinks too much coffee, sips on too many bottles of wine. She’s very headstrong, but a lot of fun, she prides herself on being everyone’s ‘mom’ and is always there if someone needs a shoulder to cry on.

Owns a Dalmatian called Boris, who’s getting on a little, so she constantly refers to him as her old man.

Still dances and will give the occasional lesson if you ask her nicely.

Wanted connections:

- siblings. (spencer henderson, open) - high school ex-boyfriend. (elijah parker) - the big ex and would be father of her child. (nao chiba) - other more short lived boyfriends over the years. - fwb. - friends from high school days. - ex high school bestie. (wyatt moore) - fellow parents. - past/current clients. - coffee buddies. - sister from another mister/brother from another mother. - neighbours from aurora apartments. - students from when she feels like giving a dance lesson. - anything you can think of!

#roswellintro #☆ skye ( about )#miscarriage tw

9 notes · View notes

seattlesea · 4 years

Text

Percy: *was physically abused for most of his childhood, lived in a poor, low-class household, was constantly bullied at school, went on multiple life-threatening and insanity-driving quests, went through two wars, and watched tons of his friends die in front of him* K

Annabeth: *felt unloved by her whole family and was hated by her step-mom and step-brothers, ran away from her house at age six, watched her best friend and older sister figure sacrifice herself for her and turn into a tree, and got betrayed by her older brother figure* K

Leo: *accidentally killed his own mom, was rejected and abused by his family, jumped from foster home to foster home with the fear of not being wanted and turning 18 and being kicked out of the foster homes and used humor to hide his pain and so he wouldn’t get harassed* K

Jason: *was taken from his home at age two, was raised by wolves who threatened to eat him alive on a daily basis if he showed any signs of weakness, went to Camp Jupiter alone only as a toddler, also went on many insanity-driving quests starting at a super young age, went through two wars, and watched his friends and allies die in front of him all the while thinking he had to be perfect and a great leader cause of his parentage with the pressure of a whole city and army on his shoulders* K

Frank: *lived with a strict and rude grandmother after his mom died at war, hated himself and was insecure about his appearance, and was bullied by almost everyone at Camp Jupiter except Hazel, Jason, and Reyna* K

Hazel: *was raised as a pawn by Gaea, watched her mom get possessed, was labeled as a witch and constantly bullied, was raised in segregation and faced racism everyday, was used and trafficked by her mom, sacrificed herself and her mom to stop a giant from rising, literally died, spent years in Asphodel doing literally nothing and most likely almost went insane, and came back to life only to be to faced with the same woman who possessed her mom and used her* K

Reyna: *was raised by a paranoid and abusive father who turned her house into a fortress, accidentally killed her father to protect her sister, went through the Sea of Monsters, was brought to Circe’s Island thinking she’d finally have peace only for her home to be attacked and overrun by pirates who most likely raped and abused her and her sister and all the other female friends she lived with for a year, went to Camp Jupiter after parting with her own sister, became Praetor and gained romantic feelings for Jason only for him to disappear and hold the weight of an entire city and army on her shoulders for months only for her best friend and crush to come back with another girl and completely ignore her* K

Thalia: *ran away from her home at a young age after she lost her two year old brother and hated her drunken and neglectful mother, pretty much died and turned into a literal tree, came back to life only to find that her little sister figure was thirteen years old and her best friend had betrayed her, and blamed herself for losing her little brother* K

Nico: *had his mom killed right in front of him by his uncle, had his memories wiped and was put into the Lotus Casino and taken from time for years, lost his older sister, was used by King Minos, struggled with depression, was outcasted by all of Camp Half-Blood, and felt like a loner his whole life* K

Piper: *famous, rich, and loving dad was ‘too busy’ despite showing multiple flashbacks of them being together, felt useless a few times, was bullied by a few mean girls, consciously chose to not like and stereotype her mom and siblings, and realized she didn’t want to be in a romantic relationship with Jason* OMGGGG SO MUCH PAINNNN ALL THIS PRESSURE O WOE IS ME GIVE ME A BREAK CRUEL WORLD MY DAD HATES MEEEEEE AND MY FAMILY IS SO SHALLOW THEY ALL SUCKKK MY LIFE IS SO HARDDD

The fandom and other characters: OMG YES SUCH PAIN AND SORROW SO MUCH SUFFERING AND AGONY AND MENTAL TORMENT WHAT A POOR TORTURED SOUL!!!11!1!1!!1!1!!

Me: bruh

#heroes of Olympus #percy jackson #demigods #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #annabeth chase #frank Zhang #hazel levesque #Leo Valdez #Jason grace #Nico di Angelo #you know I’m right #is this wrong tho #o woe is me #no one cares fool #Piper fans need to stop #pasts #Thalia grace

52 notes · View notes

nursemasten · 3 years

Photo

FAYE EVERWOOD MASTEN is a mutant with the ability of REPLICATION. they’ve been in new york for TWENTY-ONE YEARS where they spend most of their time as A NURSE FOR THE XAVIER INSTITUTE. when i think of them, i think of RED LIPSTICK, LEARNING HOW TO DO HER OWN MANICURES, THROWING HER HAIR INTO A MESSY BUN WHILE RUNNING LATE, ALWAYS TRYING TO SAVE THE BEES, MEDICAL GLOVES, TOO SWEET TO EVER BE MEAN.

「 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃 」

「 𝚃𝙰𝚂𝙺 𝙾𝙽𝙴 」

𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙲𝚂 —

NAME: Faye Everwood Masten ALIAS: Multitask NICKNAMES: Nurse Masten AFFILIATION: Xavier’s Institute BIRTHDAY: March 6th ZODIAC: Pisces AGE: Twenty-one SPECIES: Mutant POWER: Replication CLASSIFICATION: Alpha SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic OCCUPATION: Nurse LANGUAGES KNOWN: English, ASL, Filipino RESIDENCE: Xavier’s Institute

HEIGHT: 5’3” BODY TYPE: Slender, Toned EYE COLOR: Brown HAIR COLOR: Brunette POSITIVE TRAITS: Kind-hearted, gentle, resilient, hard-working, honest, reliable, loyal, patient, intelligent, polite, trustworthy, warm, punctual, adventurous, imaginative, fashionable, ambitious NEGATIVE TRAITS: Oversensitive, curious, anxious, naive, indecisive, spoiled, superstitious, perfectionist, verbose, gullible, passive, tense, timid, profligate BAD HABITS: Duplicating spontaneously when stressed

𝙱𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 —

Isolation hasn’t always been the norm. Faye was born into a wealthy family — the only daughter and also the youngest child to a politician and an accountant. Curiosity always let itself be known after she learned to walk. This often meant chasing after one of her older brothers around the house, but usually it would be River since they were closer in age to each other. She would plop down next to him, wanting to be included in whatever it was that he was doing. Maybe this was the beginning of their close relationship. Never saw one without the other, did you?

Her childhood would become filled with stories of princesses being guarded in castles and knights fighting off dragons. Often you could see Faye dragging blankets and pillows to bring those kingdoms to life. Hours are spent playing with the grand creations until dinner time. The mess left behind to be visited again later.

Lessons were taught at home, never attending public school like the other children. Which never impacted her work ethic, always striving to study just as much — some might argue that she spends too much time with her books. Whether it was part of her homework or just leisure, getting lost in a sea of words is a perfect time to spend an evening. Maybe in another life being a writer could have been in the cards but destiny has something else in mind. The fun and whimsical nature that surrounded these younger years don’t last, no matter how much you wish for them to.

THIRTEEN YEARS OLD — Everything changes so suddenly. The oldest Masten child turned out to be human. Faye sometimes refers to him as the ‘golden one’ since it felt like there was a standard in place to try living up to his accomplishments. Meanwhile, River grew a pair of beautiful wings, revealing himself to be a Mutant. The tension could easily be felt within these four wall and the spaces were starting to get smaller with each day. Eyes always looking at Faye, whispering in wonder about if she’ll be normal or not. It hardly seemed fair to judge those who are different. She decided to love everyone and not allow herself to be influenced by anything her father preaches.

The sun begins to set — another day winding down. However, the night would be a long one. There was an important exam tomorrow, and doing well in school has always been important for Faye. She was perhaps too studious. She has an eidetic memory or what people might refer to as photographic memory instead. She was the kid reading every page of her lessons more than once and writing her notes with care. The pressure to keep getting good grades could be felt, not wanting to feel the disappointment in the room if she were to fail. Faye is smart but the worries are always there. Expectations. Expectations. Expectations.

All the stress caused her Mutant abilities to manifest for the first time, not realizing it happened at all until turning around to see a perfect duplicate of herself standing before her. It was like looking into a mirror.

“How about I quiz you on the information that might be on the test?” The voice is her own, offering to help her study. It was the weirdest situation and the confusion settling in started to overwhelm the poor girl. The duplicate was only trying to help, frowning while looking at the original who’s clearly in distress. Neither of them knew what to do so Faye just screamed. She screamed so loud it woke up almost everyone. Her parents came racing down the hallway, swinging the door open with a force that echoed into the room. The notebook is dropped from the copy’s hands.

“What —“ Her father doesn’t finish the thought, staring at his his daughter as if he were mortified. Another one of his children turned out to be a Mutant and he hoped this wouldn’t have happened. “Make it go away.” It was an order, not a question, but Faye started tearing up because she doesn’t know how.

“I can’t, daddy!” She tried to argue softly, shifting her gaze to look at the duplicate standing at her side — appearing to look just as upset.

Life can change in just an instant. Her father pinches the bridge of his nose and moves to leave the bedroom. “Get rid of it by morning and then we’ll talk about this.” Coldness filled the room, already feeling the impact of how their relationship will never be the same. Her mother stays behind, trying to comfort her daughter and the copy before going to try talking some sense into Christopher.

Studying is forgotten, going to sleep instead — hoping that everything would be different in the morning. The clone is still there, reorganizing the closet as a means of remaining busy. Faye isn’t afraid of this newfound ability, no, the fear resides in what will change after she goes downstairs. It’s not a welcomed sight when the duplicate is still there, Faye failing to deliver on what was asked of her. This is the first real moment the disappointment is felt, pulled into her father’s office before making it to the dining room. Breakfast would certainly wait.

“I told you to get rid of it.”

“I don’t know how!”

“You’ll stay indoors until it’s gone. Nobody can find out about this. Do you understand?”

The following days were spent secluded, only the company of her duplicate until finally beginning to dissipate. Faye didn’t know how she created one in the first place but maybe everything would go back to normal again?

It doesn’t.

Faye accompanies her family to a political dinner, never her favorite kind of gatherings, but faking a smile could do wonders. It was only a few hours and then she could go home — this is what she kept reminding herself the whole evening. However, someone brought Mutant affairs up into conversation and Faye had to excuse herself to the bathroom. This feeling can’t be explained, as if her body was telling her that another duplicate would be created right there if she didn’t get out.

The replication occurs when highly stressed spontaneously or at will when she learns to control the ability. However, at such an early point in her life, there wasn’t any experience of mastering the replication process yet. She decided to hide out in here but her absence was noted from her parents and Christopher eventually came looking.

“This can’t keep happening. What if someone saw you?”

Faye is sent to Xavier’s shortly after, wanting to protect his public image. This hurt more than anything but despite everything that happened? She’ll always have River.

She’ll quickly grow tired of hiding but it’s nice not having to worry about it at the institute. She quickly learns to embrace her abilities, and how useful having duplicates of yourself can be. Make a copy, of a copy, of a copy, of a copy. Each one reading a different medical book. What else is a thirteen-year-old going to do when you’re not allowed to venture outside? She re-asborbs them to retain all the information they memorized. It’s how she quickly became a nurse for the institute at such a young age, essentially skipping many grades by having her duplicates share the studying. There’s no one better or more knowledgable, really. The work distracts Faye from all the pain that comes from the torn relationship with her father. She also genuinely enjoys taking care of others so there’s no better role for her at Xavier’s.

#c23intro #faye ✰ introduction #also not mentioned: she cares a lot about saving the bees

3 notes · View notes

officialinuyasha · 4 years

Text

Analysis on Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship

Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship to almost all in the Japanese fandom as romantic when Rin comes of age for that time period. Not only do those fans see them as what Americans call it a "Canon" couple but they are well aware of poly-amorous relationships widely accepted back in that time and era. Like how Inu no Taishou (Touga-Ou) had two wives. Where Sesshoumaru's mother was well aware of the human wife and was unphased nor appeared to be jealous. Only hinting Sesshoumaru's taste in humans (about Rin) like his father with Izayoi.

Western Culture VS Eastern Culture

Atleast 20% of the American fandom in my group while it was closed (that means members only) voted SessKagura when I ran the poll in 2019. It was 64 votes and Sesshoumaru romantic with adult Rin had 126 votes.

In a Fanpop poll SessRin had 61% and SessKagura had 39%

While I ran the poll again in 2020 as public and shared it across multiple Western fan groups which is less genuine data I had to check each profile to ensure the votes were genuine (haters tend to happen in any given anime coupling) They are able to vote even though they weren't members. This time I specifically labeled it "Romantic" or "Parental". The results within just a few hours were what I had expected. The romantic portion still surpasses the parental choice.

American Fandom VS Japanese Fandom

The American fandom majority is mostly accepting of Rin being with Sesshoumaru of age. However, the fraction that is more towards him being parental is far more than what the Eastern fandom thinks.

Two administrators of a 13,000 plus members group called Sinosphere (Eastern culture) have both spoken to me about the differences in views.

One stated (Esther Xiao) "I have never heard of this issue ever until I joined the American fandom. I've known about the gift that Rin recieves at the end of the series as an act of courting."

The second admin Hiroyuki said the Japanese viewed Sesshoumaru and Rin easily as a couple of when of age. Courting being much differently than Western and the fact of it's time period.

"Contemporary courtship in Japan is more subtle than dating in the United States. The blossoming of a relationship from friendship to marriage can take years. The relationship begins as friendship, with dates taking place only in public places, typically with groups of friends present. Public displays of affection are frowned upon. The next stage is dating only as a couple, which is done discreetly. Women typically withhold displays of extreme affection and proclamations of love until she deems her suitor is sincere. When the relationship enters the stage of magkasintahan, which means the status of boyfriend and girlfriend, the couple typically makes an announcement to friends and family members, with the suitor asking for parental permission to pursue the relationship.

The man typically brings gifts when visiting the family.”

Source: https://datingtips.match.com/courtship-japan-13196896.html

Sesshoumaru stops by to visit Rin and Kaede, often giving her gifts. The kimonos are gifts representing courtship. Kaede’s is Rin’s family

An extra unaired episode was released on an audio CD only in Japan when you pre-ordered the Final Act. Where Sesshoumaru proposes to Rin. It takes place right after the Final Act’s last episode and it’s called “The Day After Tomorrow”

Rin, are you finding life in the village okay?

No one is bullying you, right?

Are you wearing the kimono that I gave you last time?

If you ever find yourself in danger, sad or depressed, no matter when, as long as you call this Sesshomaru, I will instantly run to your side.

Even if we are far from one another, as long as you call my name, I will immediately fly to you. If not shouting, you can whistle loudly or silently.

There is no distance between us, our hearts are tied together. The power of trust will win over any fear. And that affection between us is also what makes our hearts more abundant and enriched.

Therefore, you can just be yourself right now. There is enough time for me to look forward in you finding your feelings for me. Prior to this, take care of yourself……

About the CD - No, it does not have a Satire label on it from what we looked at. It just says Asatte which means Day After Tomorrow. If you want to consider it bloopers that’s up to you. But yes, the producers and animators ship them. It is an officially licensed disc.

"Canon"

To Westerners, Canon was a term invented by the Bible.

"a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine" To Westerners nothing else is canon except Manga.

In Japan, including the Dragon Ball Z timeline and continuity - Westerners argue that anything in their perspective that is canon is law and real/what happens. The creator of the series himself, Akira Toriyama never used these terms when it came to GT, in fact anything Westerners argued "Canon". Akira Toriyama would state that it would be apart of a side story.

"If you are able, along with me, to enjoy watching the original Dragon Ball's grand side-story Dragon Ball GT, you will be pleased."

Source: https://www.kanzenshuu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5411

Still very much considered genuine by the Japanese just in a different continuity.

In Japan, Canon is not a term used. If something happens in an anime series it still happens regardless separate reality or not based on storyline. Unless a creator decides to make something in the future that erases the event from a timeline.

Even when Akira Toriyama was re-desigining Broly to fit into the Super series, here’s what he had to say -

“I went ahead and watched the movies from back then, and I felt this could be quite interesting once I rearrange some things. I got right to work trying my hand at a story that incorporates him into the Dragon Ball Super series.”

Source: https://comicbook.com/anime/2018/07/09/dragon-ball-super-movie-broly-canon-akira-toriyama-anime/

Star Wars Canon arguments...

Here's where American perspective on Canon fails. If a creator sells of the rights for anyone to use their character in an agreement they are allowed to twist the perspective on story reality. Disney bought the rights to Star Wars and the creator has absolutely no say whatsoever. Disney decides what is "Canon" and what isn't. That is why Americanized "Canon" is solely based on perspective.

Let's be real here, if something is officially licensed and approved it is still apart of continuity in one way or another no matter how you slice it.

Westerners and Easterners see the world differently

Source (Thanks Mod Esther for supplying)

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7882-westerners-and-easterners-see-the-world-differently/

“There is plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that Western and East Asian people have contrasting world-views,” explains Richard Nisbett, who carried out the study. “Americans break things down analytically, focusing on putting objects into categories and working out what rules they should obey,” he says.

By contrast, East Asians have a more holistic philosophy, looking at objects in relation to the whole. “Figuratively, Americans see things in black and white, while East Asians see more shades of grey,” says Nisbett. “We wanted to devise an experiment to see if that translated to a literal difference in what they actually see.”

The researchers tracked the eye-movements of two groups of students while they looked at photographs. One group contained American-born graduates of European descent and the other was comprised of Chinese-born graduate students who came to the US after their undergraduate degrees

Each picture showed a striking central image placed in a realistic background, such as a tiger in a jungle. They found that the American students spent longer looking at the central object, while the Chinese students’ eyes tended to dart around, taking in the context"

By rules that some Westerners are raised to follow when it comes to Sesshoumaru and Rin: If you save someone at a young age they are automatically considered your child regardless by blood. Rin was only with Sesshoumaru for one year and with Kaede for three years.

They are also not thinking of the Japanese culture or time period.

Nisbett hopes that his work will change the way the cultures view each other. “Understanding that there is a real difference in the way people think should form the basis of respect.”

Respecting the time period and Japan's culture. Kagome teaches us that in the series.

In the series Miroku proposes to many young girls even Koharu when she was age 11 in Chapter 147 and Episode 41. But she comes back as a 14 year old.

At first Sango and Kagome were mad thinking Miroku was perverted with her when she was 11. But he tells them that nothing happened between them. They believed him. Sango was also furiously jealous of Koharu!

Kagome states "Things were way different back then.” Stating her respect for the time period and culture.

Ayame was the same age as Rin when Kouga proposed to her when she was 8 years old. She grew up, and they got married.

InuYasha is 200 and Kagome was 15. She became 18 then they married.

Rumiko Takahashi’s Fire Tripper - There’s time traveling back in forth from Feudal Japan to Modern Era. The boy Shu was brought in with her family and the girl was sent back in time with him where he thinks that’s his little sister. Then as she’s older she’s back in time once more, he wants to make her his wife then realizes she must be his little sister. But she says they aren’t because they are not related by blood. They get married. Pretty much an the same type of pairing.

Age of consent in Japan.

As you know Rin is 8 years old when she is first introduced into the series. 3 years go by and she is 11. Had been living with Kaede for 3 years since Naraku had been defeated. InuYasha states that it's up to her to decide on "what she wants" in the final chapter.

In the proposal Sesshoumaru states that there is enough time for her to decide.

Age of consent in Japan is 13

https://www.ageofconsent.net/world/japan

Back then once you hit puberty that was your adulthood. The world was a much more dangerous place and you had to mature, fast.

The audio episode is officially licensed and produced by the same staff that made the anime but that isn't the only supporting evidence we have that it's accepted by not only the creator and producers.

We actually have the official Adult Rin design.

The character designer and animator for the InuYasha series posted these official artworks of Adult Rin and Sesshoumaru

Rumiko Takahashi wrote strict rules to the animators to follow for each character on what you can/cannot do with them. One of them being, Kagome's skirt must always be covering her underwear.

When you work for a company and produce things you must represent the characters properly so you are not sued. There are rules Rumiko Takahashi gave the animators to properly represent her characters.

To the Japanese, and many Easterners. Sesshoumaru and Rin, InuYasha and Kagome, Ayame and Kouga maturing together - Falling in love with eachother is not an issue.

To a fraction of Westerners it’s led to hate and dis-respect to the time period and Japanese culture. However, even if you don’t like it - Shouldn’t mean you should disrespect one another over it.

Just to answer any questions. Yes I like Kagura and Sesshoumaru, or Adult Rin and Sesshoumaru, Kohaku and Rin. But I can care less who he or she ends up with. I don't even care if they really did end up being father and daughter figure. But from how I see it right now from what we have Kaede adopted Rin. If that's different I'm absolutely accepting of it. I also did tons of research, polls, and asked real Eastern Sinosphere members about how they feel and think about it!

All we know right now for fact that the production team like them as a couple and the kids are half demon.

What do I not condone is the name calling and the people who go out of their way to attack others. I think it's absolutely wrong to hate on eachother over a series we should all be family about. I don't go out of my way to search people's blogs to attack them. There are ships I don't like but I never go and attack them for it. Why would I take away from THEIR happiness?

I hope that clears anything up. Thank you for reading!

#inuyasha #sessrin #sesshomaru #sesshoumaru #rin #inukag #kouga #anime #manga #japan #japanese #rumiko takahashi

409 notes · View notes

wandercrss · 3 years

Text

‹ kathryn newton. cis woman. she/her. muse 1q. › cassandra ‘cass’ mitchell is back in rochdale for the summer. they’re currently twenty two years old and are known as the lot soul of the rioters, especially after they were constantly skipping classes and smoking during school hours. they graduated in 2017 and since then they’ve been nomadically moving from place to place working odd jobs. they decided to come back for the summer because she’s alone and secretly feels like the rioters are the only family she’s ever had. let’s hope they have the summer of their dreams! ( jess. she/her. 24. est. )

trigger warnings: death, abandonment, drug mention

full character page here

G E N E R A L

FULL NAME: cassandra elaine mitchell

NICKNAME(S): cass

TROPE: the lost soul

B A S I C S

AGE: twenty-two (22)

BIRTHDAY: november 1, 1998

NATIONALITY: american

ETHNICITY: caucasian

GENDER: cis-woman

PRONOUNS: she/her/hers

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: panromantic

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pansexual

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: liberal

RELIGION: atheist

OCCUPATION: moves from job to job / currently looking for something new

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

PARENTS: kristen mitchell (mother - estranged), biological father (unknown)

SIBLINGS: penelope mitchell (older half-sister - deceased)

SIGNIFICANT OTHER(S): none.

CHILDREN: none.

CLOSEST FRIENDS: tbd.

RIVALS: tbd.

ENEMIES: tbd.

P H Y S I C A L T R A I T S

FACECLAIM: kathryn newton

EYE COLOR: blue

HAIR COLOR: blonde

HEIGHT: 5′5

BODY BUILD: slim

NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS: eyes

AESTHETIC/STYLE: casual (punk undertones...yes, i’m making that up)

P E R S O N A L I T Y

POSITIVE TRAITS: brave, determined, adventurous, loyal

NEGATIVE TRAITS: resentful, secretive, deceptive, isolating

TYPICAL MOOD/EXPRESSION: neutral

ZODIAC SIGN: scorpio

MORAL ALIGNMENT: lawful evil

ENNEAGRAM: type eight - the challenger

MBTI: entj

HOGWARTS HOUSE: slytherin

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

SKILLS: getting out of trouble, making something you’d least expect an adventure, thought-out pranks, ‘hangover cures’

HOBBIES: sketching/photography, pulling a prank on friends, smoking/drinking, more to come

FEARS/PHOBIAS: being left completely alone, losing those she loves

FAVORITES: iced coffee, burritos, thunderstorms, sunrises over sunsets

B I O G R A P H Y

cassandra elaine mitchell, mostly known as cass, was the second child born to kristen mitchell on november 1, 1998. cass’s upbringing was known to be rocky, at best. kristen was a single mother to cass and her older half-sister, penelope. cass and penelope were almost seven years apart in age, but that couldn’t get in the way of their bond.

from a young age, penelope felt very protective over cass. part of that was out of necessity. see, kristen wasn’t exactly committed to the whole mother-gig. penelope and cass weren’t apart of her plan, just byproducts of drunken one-night-stands. kristen often had trouble holding down a job and seemed more invested in finding herself a relationship to dive into. when it came to being a mother, though, she often didn’t even try. she relied on penelope a lot as the girl got older, even leaving the young child in charge for days at a time as kristen went off on another bender or to another party. penelope tried to shield cass from a lot of it, but that wasn’t an easy job.

when penelope turned 19, kristen was even more of a mess than usual. she had lost her job completely, their home was about to be repossessed, and the woman just couldn’t handle it all. so, she disappeared. packed up and left, leaving cass under penelope’s care.

it was less than ideal for a 19-year-old to now be on her own taking care of a 12-year-old child, but penelope and cass were closer than anything. they knew they could make it work. now that it was just the two of them, they didn’t have to worry about their mother coming in and screwing things up. penelope began working two jobs in town so she and cass could rent a tiny one bedroom. it was tough, but it brought penelope and cass together.

with penelope at work so often, cass was suddenly on her own more and more. it was lonely and isolating, so she decided she would find adventure for herself. cass was always an explorer. a wanderer, as penelope would often call her. she liked to dive into unknown territory, discover new things, and jump off high places just to see how it would feel. it drove penelope crazy, but it made cass feel alive.

cass always prioritized herself over school. it wasn’t that she wasn’t smart. it was that she hated the idea of being cooped up in a classroom for eight hours every day. she became known for her skill in cutting classes.

when cass was in high school, she started to make more and more friends. eventually, she found herself apart of the group known as the rioters. other than penelope, cass had never really had a family. and slowly but surely, the rioters really became to feel like one. she was their very own sarcastic, jaded, adventurous lost soul. some of her best memories ever were with the rioters.

as high school came to a close, cass had to decide what was next. most of her friends were off to exciting things, but cass didn’t have a plan. neither did penelope. but the older girl was exhausted all of the time, having spent half of her 20s just working to put a roof over their heads. so, the two decided to leave rochdale behind and actually see what else the world had to offer. after graduation, they jumped in their car and were off.

they spent many years travelling...setting up shop in small towns where they could earn some money, spending nights eating one-dollar cheeseburgers and sleeping in their car. it was far from glamorous. but it was exciting. all they needed was each other. cass would take photos, documenting their journey. they would pick up jobs in retail during the holiday season or waitress at a local diner for a few months until they decided to move on. they lived their lives month-to-month. week-to-week. minute-to-minute.

eventually, penelope felt like they should think about settling down somewhere. as much as she enjoyed the adventure with her sister, she craved stability. cass didn’t agree. this was the life she liked. nomadic. impermanent. nowhere they could hang around too long and risk getting hurt. they fought about it. weeks went by, and the two still couldn’t agree. hurtful things were said, accusations were made. cass and penelope had finally found the thing between them they just couldn’t settle.

one night, cass stormed out of their motel, having had enough of her sister. little did she know, penelope went after her. she drove around all night looking for her sister, but it was no use. penelope was starting to feel tired behind the wheel. she decided to go back to the motel, thinking perhaps cass had returned. on her way back, penelope was drifting, trying like hell to stay awake. she didn’t even realize when she had run the stop sign. then...crash.

the police were already at the motel when cass decided to head back. she found them there, lights flashing, waiting. they told her about penelope and the crash. they told her about how her sister, her person, died instantly from the impact. and that day, something inside cass broke.

as soon as she could, cass packed up her stuff and left. she was full of anger and resentment. she hated the world, but mostly, she hated herself. cass continued to travel around, now on her own. she spent a lot of time in colorado, working on a horse farm. but she couldn’t let anyone get close to her. she was incredibly lonely. after almost a year of life without penelope, cass felt herself drawn back to rochdale. for how long? she didn’t know. maybe just the summer seeing old friends would do her some good. but she was afraid to admit the truth. she needed them. the rioters. the only family she had left.

C U R R E N T L Y

cass has just come back to rochdale for the summer. she is looking forward to seeing her old friends again, but she is more than scared to admit how much she feels like she needs them. she intends to play it cool...exercising her usual bit of not letting people in. at least, not enough to see the pieces of her she keeps hidden away.

having been on the road for a long time, cass isn’t used to staying put, so she might start to feel a little restless. despite her loss, she still craves adventure and maybe even a bit of recklessness.

C O N N E C T I O N S / P L O T S

partner in crime: i would love for there to be someone who was cass’s ride or die, her partner in crime while they were in the rioters.

on-again-off-again: cass is bad relationships, but there could have been someone she was in that classic on-again-off-again relationship with. she probably cares about them a lot, but just couldn’t let her go there.

unrequited love: come on, she would also be the type to have head a friend that was like in love with her or something, but she never knew or never wanted to admit that she knew.

frenemies: someone she bumped heads with a lot. maybe they got in each other’s way or just couldn’t stand each other.

exes (flings, hook-ups, brief relationships etc): anything like this i’m totally game for.

hateship: am i a sucker for a hateship/enemies-to-lovers trope? perHAPS

anything at all: i am truly open for anything. please don’t be afraid to ask if you think she fits something you want for your character too. i can be bad at asking for plots so please don’t hesitate to hit me up!! :)

#backhomeintro #death tw #drugs tw #abandonment tw #cass mitchell — ( intro. )#open for plots come at me !!#also i proofread 0% of this thank u

11 notes · View notes

roz-ani · 4 years

Text

Okay, so first: I am so sorry it took me so long to respond, dear anon. I was really busy with school. Not to mention Tumblr wasn't kind enough to put this in my ask box, but I fortunately took the screenshot the day I received the message, while it got lost in all the other notifications.

Now, properly responding to your ask would require me to write a looonnngggg analysis. I have absolutely nothing against Bumbleby or Blacksun. In fact, I feel indifferent about both. I did say once I ship BS, but it kinda... disappeared? I think around V5. I'm not even sure what to think about Bumbleby at this point. I do feel like something is missing there, but I also don't think Blacksun should've become canon? Like I said, I haven't formed my opinion on the matter, but I'll try to explain it as good as I can while hoping to not write a novel XD

In volumes 1-3 we witnessed how friendship between Blake and Yang formed. After leaving Adam, Blake needed someone who would focus on positives, make her feel comfortable and offer emotional support. She found that in team RWBY. Did she form any special connection with Yang then?

I think this moment is one of the most important ones in their whole relationship. Yang told Blake she can't focus on fighting all the time - she has to rest too, with her friends by her side. She even winked at her, but I don't see it as something romantic. I'd connect it to Yang's playful personality.

After that, we didn't see anything really important. There were a few smaller moments between them, usually shared with Ruby and Weiss. Until the Fall of Beacon:

I've noticed many people pointing this out as the first evidence of Yang's feeling for Blake. For me it doesn't really make sense. I'm 100% sure her reaction wouldn't change if it was Weiss, not to mention Ruby.

After that, Yang expressed how disappointed and crushed she felt when Blake left. She obviously didn't blame her partner for what happened, but she was trying to protect her at that moment, she heard how she screamed after Adam hurt her. But Blake felt guilty and went to the only people she had left in her life - her parents. Sun travelled there with her, therefore they logically had to spend more time together. More one that later.

Now, them missing each other is understandable, but were they really that close? Yang wanted Blake to be with her. It was not the first time someone left her, when someone didn't give enough support after something tragic happened. Many people saw it as something romantic. I didn't. Weiss explained Blake's way of thinking to Yang and Sun did the same for Blake. However, many interpreted that longing as more than friendship. I honestly don't blame them. It really felt like they tried to work with something that... just wasn't there. Now, it all seems to come back to the moment when Yang lost her arm and Blake left her. And that's the thing that probably confuses me the most, so let's just leave it here and move on.

Volume 6, oh sweet, sweet volume 6. We started with Yang still being uneasy around Blake... for a moment. She said it'll take time for things to be normal again, but what mattered the most was the fact her partner came back. On the Brunswick farm Blake tried to show her support by promising Yang she'll protect her - Yang obviously wasn't happy with that. The audience received an information that there's still a problem, something's wrong... but then they started to talk normally again. Now, there were more important things to focus on, but it felt like the whole issue disappeared, it went absolutely nowhere. Then we got the fight with Adam. My biggest problem is his line "What does she even see in you?". It's really, really difficult, if not impossible, to not see it as something connected to love/romance. Would he say the same thing if it was Weiss not Yang?

After that we got the hug and hand holding. Was it romantic? Pretty much yes. Saying that the Renora airship scene from v4 was intimate, but this one wasn't seems kinda unfair to me. But why? Why was it romantic? What lead to those feelings? Where did they come from? There had to be something in v6. If we accepted the fact them missing each other was completely platonic then why it would suddenly become romantic?

Now, Blacksun. The first time we met Sun he immediately found Blake interesting and knew about her being a Faunus.

And while he might’ve been a bit “insistent”, he kept supporting Blake while trying to get closer to her. It’s obvious he was the one initiating something, like inviting her to the dance. Then we got this:

Now, blushes are something that can be interpreted in a few ways, mainly embarrassment or something more romantic. I think we can all agree it’s the second option. Again: why? When did Blake start to see Sun as someone she could possibly date? We obviously skipped some school weeks in the story, so it’s possible that they just spent more time with each other. Still, there wasn’t much we could pick to support this. At the same time it was more than what Blake had with Yang at this moment. While Sun became someone she started to develop feelings for, Yang remained her close friend.

Then came the Fall of Beacon. Blake ran away and Sun went after her. He felt like he couldn’t leave her alone, she needed support. Like I said, Sun can be insistent, but he’s still a great friend. The only time he acted like he was flirting with her was when he called her “his hero”. After that he kept being supportive, help her solve the White Fang problem etc. Blake on the other hand was constantly saying she doesn’t want his help and that she came here to rest. If there was any romantic development from v3 left, they both knew it wasn’t the right time for it. After Sun got hurt, Blake revealed why she ran away, why she didn’t want her friend to get close to her. She viewed herself as the source of their problems, wanted to be hated. Sun explained to her why her mindset isn’t healthy.

He even knew Blake kept thinking about Yang.

Oh, I almost forgot about the parents thing XD It’s obviously an old scenario: overprotective father and supportive mother meeting their daughter’s boy-friend. It’s always connected to romance between two young people, so I don’t blame Blacksun shippers for pointing it out. After that, we didn’t get much between the two. They focused on their mission, Sun kept supporting Blake in her fight. I v6 Blake expressed how much she'll miss him and kissed him goodbye. Sun told Neptune it was never about romance and it’s true to some degree. I’m sure he’d go after her even if he wasn’t in love. Sun is an amazing friend. He has his flaws, but you can’t deny his loyalty.

Okay, I skipped a few things here and there, but there’s still something I want to point out: the audience perspective. I think it’s safe to assume that Blacksun was more obvious choice. Does that mean Bumbleby never had a chance? Absolutely not. It’s not about whether it was planned from the beginning or not. It’s about buildup. When Blake and Yang got separated it was obvious they’re going to reunite. I wasn’t part of the FNDM during v4, so I assume people expected Blacksun to become canon during v4-5. I think it was still important to remember the fact of Blake and Yang reuniting in the future, which would obviously be crucial for their relationship. I also believe it was pretty obvious Sun wouldn’t stay with the group, so Blacksun would have to be confirmed later. I think the biggest problem with Bumbleby people seem to have is how obvious it is now. We all know it’s going to be canon, some even say it’s canon now. It does make sense since it’s inevitable at this point. But let’s look at this:

It seems like they’re trying to make up for what was lost in the previous volumes. Bumbleby technically isn’t canon yet. Blake and Yang seem to be fully aware of their feelings, it’s just a matter of time before they confess. Now, that may annoy some people, because we all already know it’s the endgame. At least that’s how I see it.

Now, which ship had more buildup? It’s honestly hard to say. Just because two characters shared more scenes together it doesn’t mean the ship is going to be canon. You have to look at the context. It’s also important to not have those characters be together all the time. It gets boring and annoying. Sadly, RWBY likes to do that (although v8 is doing a great job so far). I think both ships would need more time to be properly built up. Now Bumbleby is basically canon. The ship has its flaws when it comes to writing, but it’s not something that can be changed.

#rwby #bumbleby #blacksun #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #sun wukong #anon ask #roz writes #mine

32 notes · View notes

starrynite7114 · 4 years

Text

Invisible Man

A/N: So, I don’t know how this happened, I literally got this out in like a few hours. The idea wouldn’t leave my head so I had to post it. Hope you all enjoy this one too!

I would like to blame for @justahopelessssromantic for this one. Kidding, you know I loves you twin!

Masterlist

tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic : @iambabyharry : @briannab1234 : @carlaangel86 : @marvelmaree

“How do I look?” You asked EZ as you looked at him through the mirror.

EZ was speechless. He didn’t know what to say. It crushed him to look at you knowing that he wasn’t going to be the one at the end of the aisle. But he figured it was his fault since he realized too late that he was in love with you.

When did he realize he was in love with you?

It was supposed to be the most romantic night of your life. Angel had Felipe and EZ present when he proposed to you after a fun night at the carnival with the three Reyes men. Angel proposed to you in front of the ferris wheel. The elated smile on your face was engraved in EZ’s memory because it was the moment he realized that he wanted to be in Angel’s position, he wanted to be the one you were happily smiling down on as tears came out of your eyes.

He heard you say yes and he felt like his world was falling apart.

He realized he was in love with you when his brother asked for your hand in marriage. All he could do was watch and clap, hoping he was expressing a happy smile on his lips.

“You look gorgeous.” EZ breathed out, watching as your cheeks showed a hint of pink.

“You’re just saying that.” You replied as you turned to face him. “I’m getting married, Ezekiel.”

Yeah, you were getting married and it wasn’t to him.

EZ wanted to be angry, wanted to hate Angel, but he couldn’t. He was happy for both of you, it was on him. He realized it too late and he wasn’t even sure if you even felt something for him. Because for as long as EZ could remember, you hated Angel. His cocky older brother who was a bad influence on him.

====================

“I can’t believe he’s your brother.” You commented as you adjusted your snapback, walking down the street towards your house.

You and EZ just ran into Angel, who purposely tripped his younger brother. Angel was such an asshole and you hated him with a burning passing. Every time you two ran into one another, you could feel the temperature dropping with the icy glares you two would give one another.

EZ chuckled, shrugging. “Angel’s like that, but he’s actually pretty nice. He always helps me out with baseball.”

“Well, it’s the only thing he could help you with since he’s an idiot.” You countered.

“We’ve been best friends for eight years now, we’re seventeen, how can you hate Angel all these years?”

“How can you not hate Angel?” You retorted. “Well, he’s your brother, I guess it makes sense. I don’t know, he’s just an asshole. He makes it a point to just fuck with me.”

“How so?” This was new to Angel, you’ve never exactly voiced out why you weren’t a big fan of Angel.

“I don’t know, you know he took me out on valentine’s day?”

“What?” EZ stopped walking.

“He didn’t tell you?” You bit your lip, shaking your head. “He most likely just didn’t want to fight with you.”

You began to walk, but EZ stopped you. “What do you mean? You never told me you went out. You said you were with your sister.”

“I was, I didn’t lie. I went out with her, but then Angel’s friend Johnny started talking to her so she left me alone. I was about to leave the restaurant, but Angel sat with me.”

“Wait, you have to go from the beginning.” EZ did not like this one bit. He was very selfish with you, but he didn’t care. You were his friend, not Angel’s. Angel had his choices of women to fuck with, you were off-limits, he knew that.

“Okay, so my sister wanted to go out for valentine’s day, galentine’s day since she didn’t have a date. So we went to Red Robin then we were going to go to the movies. Well, Johnny and Angel came in and he started talking up my sister. Next thing I know, they were leaving and you know, it’s okay, shit happens.” You couldn’t even look at EZ. You were certain that Angel would have told him, tell him how he took out his best friend and how pathetic it was. The fact that Angel didn’t tell him made you wonder why he didn’t. He most likely was embarrassed. “Anyways, Angel insisted that we stayed so we did then he took me out to the movies.” It was the most alone time you spent with Angel and you hated to say it, but it was actually pretty decent. “Nothing happened.” You weren’t sure why you felt disappointed informing EZ that fact, but you let it roll off. Angel was a player, he wasn’t your type, you weren’t interested. “I’m sure he just stayed with me out of pity since you were out with Emily.”

EZ began walking again, unsure of what to say. One thing he knew for sure was that he had to talk to his brother.

==========

And he did speak to Angel.

That’s when he found out that Angel had a crush on you. That Angel and Coco had noticed that you and your sister went to Red Robin while they were across the street at some Taqueria. He convinced Coco to take one for the team and take your sister away while he stayed with you. Angel told him that he had liked you, but he knew that EZ wouldn’t exactly be okay with the idea. He tried his best to keep his interest to himself, but he couldn’t anymore, so he made his move.

After that talk, EZ was upset at Angel. He had his choice of women, why did he have to like you? EZ cherished your friendship since you were the person he confided in most. There were things he couldn’t tell Emily that he could tell you with no trouble. Angel knew that you were off limits, he explicitly told his brother, that there was no reason for him to be interested in you. But Angel being Angel, the forbidden fruit was the sweetest.

But EZ also knew that Angel’s interested in you would eventually wane. He was almost a young adult, he knew Angel would want to be as free as a bird and not tied down to one girl.

However, at every turn, his brother surprised him. Angel didn’t officially ask you out on a date till you graduated high school. After your first official date with Angel at the bowling alley, EZ felt the dynamics changed. But he couldn’t even catch up because next thing he knew, he was at Stanford and you were attending a community college to save cost. Every time Angel would visit him up north, he brought you along and EZ hated it.

For EZ, it was due to the fact that you were best friends and Angel was threatening his position in your life. But that was placed in the back burner when his mother passed away. His life was turned upside down and you were the last thing on his mind, hell Emily was the last thing on his mind. He went to jail and every weekend without a fail, you visited EZ with Felipe and Angel. At times, it was only you and Felipe. EZ found out now that the times that Angel didn’t come was due to you and Angel fighting, so instead of swallowing his pride, Angel didn’t come along.

He expected Angel's interest to fade, especially when he became part of the club, but instead, Angel fell deeper and deeper in love with you and the same with you. Whenever he observed you two, he couldn’t believe just how enamored his brother was. Angel looked at you as if you held the world and he hung onto every word you had to say.

EZ was happy for you two, especially Angel. He knew his brother had some underlying issues with him, stemming from the favoritism that Angel felt existed, but he was happy his brother finally had someone, even if it was you.

EZ was the first person that Angel confided in about marrying you.

Angel came to visit him on his own, after delivering some products to the Stockton charter.

====================

“I’m gonna ask her to marry me.” Angel told his baby brother, sliding the ring over to him.

“Shit, you two that serious?” EZ wasn’t even sure why he asked that, but the expression on Angel’s face told it all.

Angel knew that EZ had some feelings for you, but his younger brother just never came to terms with it. Quite frankly, Angel was fine with that, you were his and EZ wasn’t going to change that. If there was one thing in this world he was selfish with, it was you. He would never lose you to EZ. Over his dead fucking body.

“What kind of a fucking question is that? Of course we’re serious. Ezekiel, I’ve been with her for six years.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. This is a big step Angel, do you really want to marry her?”

“Look, I know you have some feelings for her, but you can go fuck yourself, Ezekiel.” He saw the look his brother gave him and he chuckled. “Obviously, you still haven’t realized it, which is fine, it’s a win for me. But just know, I don’t give a fuck if you do figure it out. Y/N has been mine since that Valentine’s Day all those years ago. You’re my brother, I love you, but she’s the one person that I would never let you have.”

====================

Angel didn’t ask you to marry him till two years after he showed EZ that ring. EZ still didn’t realize then, when he did realize, he couldn’t bring it to himself to tell you. There were so many times that he wanted to tell you, but he couldn’t do it.

====================

“Does he have feelings for her? Is there something going on?” You questioned EZ as you both sat in the living room of the home you shared with Angel.

Angel was over the border, visiting Adelita after the whole Galindo deal came into light. You were secured in your relationship, but there were times that Angel didn’t seem to be with you anymore and it frightened you. You’ve been with Angel for almost ten years and throwing it all away now, it would devastate you.

“No, you know he loves you.” In his mind, he yelled out how much he loves you, how much he wanted to be the one to hold you at night. The one that you fretted over whenever they were out doing a run. EZ felt like a prick, wanting his brother’s wife, but he couldn’t help himself. After his realization, it was hard to ignore. “He asked you to marry him, he’s been wanting to ask you for years.”

“How do you know?”

“He visited me at Stockton, showed me the ring.”

You leaned on EZ, his arm wrapping around you. He knew that Angel wouldn’t be thrilled to see him, especially after he found out of his deal, but you invited him here. Angel could go fuck himself. As much as Angel wanted to push him out, tell him he didn’t belong in Santo Padre, he did. For once, things felt right and he wasn’t going to give that way.

“I love you EZ, I’m so happy you’re home.” EZ’s heart crushed then, hearing you say those words to him, since he knew you didn’t mean it like he did.

“I love you too.”

EZ looked up at the ceiling then, trying to prevent himself from shedding tears. It was so difficult to be around you at times. He wanted to tell you how he felt, how much he loves you and how he wished you would pick him over Angel, but after everything he put Angel through, what that would do to you and his already fractured relationship with his brother, he bit his tongue.

“Mi dulce, I’m home,” you heard Angel call out. The living room was at the back of the house near the kitchen, so you both didn’t hear Angel opening the front door.

You stood up to greet your fiance and his eyes were immediately on EZ. “Bish needs you,” he informed EZ. “Hey baby,” he wrapped his arms around you, kissing you on your lips. It gave Angel some satisfaction knowing that it killed EZ whenever he saw you two be intimate.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” he gave you a kiss on the cheek since Angel let you go. He walked past his older brother, who didn’t even look his way.

“See you,” you called out after him. “Everything okay?”

“No, but it will be soon. I gotta catch you up.”

====================

“EZ,” you shook EZ who has been silent ever since you asked him how you looked. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I just can’t believe you’re marrying my brother. You used to hate him.” He pointed out.

You laughed. “Yes I did, but you know, the more you hate, the more you love.”

“Shut up,” EZ looked at you once again, hating his brother more and more every second that passed. “You ready?”

“Yes, I am.”

EZ offered you his arm, which you gladly took. Your parents died a few years back and as much as you wanted your sister to walk you down the aisle, EZ offered to walk you down in some bout of craziness. He didn’t know why he did it, but he reasoned that it was supposed to be poetic.

With him walking you down the aisle to give you away to Angel, it was him giving up on you, that this was the end of the line and he could never turn back after today. He was tempted to confess to you now, but he was almost certain you would laugh in his face.

Ever since Angel became a more prominent fixture in your life, EZ began to feel the shift and he tried to resist it at first, but he knew it was futile.

In some ways, he felt that he became the invisible man, he watched as you fell for Angel and just let it happen.

“Thank you for doing this,” you told EZ.

“Anything for you, you know that.”

“This doesn’t change anything, we still gang up on Angel cause he deserves it.”

EZ laughed. “Of course.”

You both heard the bridal march play. EZ kissed your cheek before the doors opened. He looked down the aisle at Angel and could tell his brother was elated, the tears were coming soon, he knew. Angel was an emotional man and once he saw you coming his way, Angel would lose it.

EZ was right. Angel began to wipe his eyes as you both made your way down. The walk seemed to be quick cause the next thing EZ knew, Angel was in front of him.

“Thanks bro,” Angel gave him a hug before taking your hand and bringing you towards the altar.

EZ took his place beside you, being the man of honor. He wanted to laugh at how things turned out, but in some ways, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The most important thing was your happiness and you were happy with Angel, there’s nothing else he could ask for.

====================

EZ watched as everyone danced, with Taza spinning you around, your princess dress twirling as he did. He saw the chair beside him being pulled at the corner of his eye. He looked over and found Angel.

“You doing okay?” Angel knew. EZ was his younger brother and he knew it hurt for him to do what he did, but EZ did it anyway.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be? I’m not the one who’s tied down.” EZ attempted to joke with Angel, but he knew it wasn’t carrying over well.

“I know it hurts, but I told you all those years ago. I would never give her up, Ezekiel.”

“I know, and I’m not going to argue with you. I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you though, for walking her down the aisle, I know it meant the world to her.”

“Angel, can I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.” Angel took a swig of his beer.

“Why her? Out of every one here, why did you fall for her?”

Angel shrugged. “If I’m honest with you, I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t care much for her at first, she was your best friend, I thought she was annoying just like you. But then there was this one weekend that I stayed behind while you, mom and pops along with Emily went to the river. She came over to borrow a game of yours and I was sick as shit.” Angel fondly remembered that weekend. You stayed with him the whole weekend, leaving an hour before his family returned. He had a terrible fever and cough, you stayed with him, out of the kindness of your heart even though he never even gave you a glance prior to that weekend. The fact that you cared for him, it placed you in his radar and you just never went away. “She took care of me and after that, I just noticed her. It sounds stupid, I know, and I tried to fight my feelings for her, but then I stopped giving a fuck. I was drawn to her, I wanted to know more about her. It baffled me that I didn’t know anything about the girl who was attached to my brother’s hip. Once she batted those eyes at me, I was a goner.”

EZ nodded his head. “I hope you never hurt her.”

“Why, cause you’ll come swoop in and take her?” Angel scoffed. EZ had another thing coming if he thought he was going to let you go.

“No, she won’t leave you now, but I just hope you never hurt her. She’s been through too much, gave up so much for you to fuck up on her now.”

“She has our last name now, EZ. I haven’t fucked up on her after all these years, what makes you think it’ll happen now?”

“You’re right.” EZ downed his beer, placing it on the table. “I am happy for you, regardless of how I feel about her.”

“Thank you,” Angel patted his shoulder. “If you excuse me, I have to dance with my wife.”

EZ chuckled and playfully pushed Angel towards you. He watched as Angel wrapped his arms around you and the laugh that you let out as he did.

As long as you were happy, that’s what mattered to EZ.

He hung onto that belief and he wasn’t going to let that go.

#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fic #angel reyes fanfic #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic #ez reyes #ez reyes fanfic

221 notes · View notes