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stardustizuku · 7 months

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Unfortunately I came across a very strange and misinformed video about Black Butler.

It’s not good. Don’t watch it. Unless you wanna ruin your day, in which case have fun.

Despite it all, I watched it. What left me wondering, however, was how off the mark the person who made the video was on, well, everything.

From their insistence that the Book of Circus Arc theme or point is non existent, to reading Ciel’s character so badly they genuinely thought the Green Witch Arc did nothing for his character development.

While baffled, it also made me think on how someone could read Black Butler so badly.

Sure, you can say that there’s no real way to read or interpret something “in the wrong way” but interpreting The Hunger Games as a pure battle-royale action story would make you believe it’s bad.

“Why are we focusing so much on how the capitol preps them?” Or “Why isn’t Katniss winning everything?” Or “I wanna know more about the rebellion” All questions that miss the actual point of the story - which is criticizing (not solving or ignoring) the way that media distracts us from violence via spectacle.

The same thing applies here. While there is no “right” way to consume media, there’s things that the author makes clear they wanna focus when creating a story. Things that, if you understand, make the story you’re reading actually make sense.

And in Black Butler there’s three things that you have to understand to properly get what Yana is saying.

Sebastian is the protagonist

Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship IS the story.

And that relationship is, fundamentally, a positive one.

A quicker version of it would be:

Black Butler is a love story from the POV of Sebastian, and you have to ship it to get it

- but that’s not entirely true.

You can still look at it as a complex but ultimately positive rship and get in broad strokes of what it’s conveying. It doesn’t have to be romantic. Although, it helps much more than a platonic framing.

(That said, interpreting their rship as father and son, still isn’t the best way to go about it. Mostly because by its very nature of “soul consuming” their relationship is extremely sexually charged. And hey, if you’re into that I don’t judge. However, if you’re desperately trying to interpret their rship as NOT romantic to the point you fall back on heteronormative patriarchal ideals of nuclear familiar as framing device, I don’t think this interpretation bodes with you)

Now, having all that ground work:

Why do I say these are the key components to understand BB?

Okay so, first,

1. Sebastian is the Main Character. The protagonist.

There’s a lot of people who wanna argue against it, claiming he’s either the villain or the antagonist. Both wrong.

He does not function as an antagonist. Even if, and an emphasis on if, you consider Ciel to the protagonist, Sebastian isn’t a narrative antagonist.

If you wanna go back to Creative Writing 101, be my guest. An antagonist is directly defined by the protagonist. It’s the opposing force. If the protagonist wants A, the antagonist wants to stop them from getting A.

Sebastian’s catchphrase is “Yes, my Lord”. He never opposes Ciel, in fact quite the contrary. By the mere fact they’ve created contract, it means that they’ve both agreed in the inevitable outcome.

People want to frame Sebastian as the villain, because Ciel having his soul taken by a demon, would be a BAD END in the context of their moral compass. They see Ciel as a frail victim of abuse, who’s being tricked by Sebastian, who wants Ciel’s soul.

Which is an. Interpretation. A bad one. But still one.

The narrative (and whether the narrative fits your personal moral compass and lack of critical thinking is irrelevant) treats Ciel as an agent in his own destiny. The abuse he suffered was the moment in which he had no control. It’s only after he meets Sebastian that he can rid of both his guilt and his despair, and do what he wants.

In this case though, it’s revenge.

The famous “Asthma” scene shows this. If Ciel is taken back to his past, he becomes helpless. Swarmed with pain and memories that make it so that he can’t even react. Sebastian is his saving grace. If Ciel didn’t have him, and the power he wields to rebuilt what’s broken, he would crumble once more.

If Ciel has a panic attack, because of all the pain he has, Sebastian picks him up and says “you are not a helpless child anymore, you are not a victim anymore, you have the power to do anything. So, what do you wanna do?”

Ciel’s answer is to kill them.

A proper analogy would be to say that, if Sebastian offers a gun, Ciel pulls the trigger. They are both at fault. Sebastian, strictly speaking, is not here to directly cause Ciel’s downfall, but as a tool Ciel uses to plunge into the abyss.

If, again if, you were to frame Ciel as a protagonist, Sebastian falls closer to the “Voice of reason” character. Not a literal voice of reason, but a literary one. If you have a protagonist and an antagonist exchanging ideals, the Voice of Reason serves to engage with the protagonist on their own ideals.

That said, Ciel isn’t the protagonist. The story quickly falls apart if you interpret it as such.

Things such as Ciel’s character arc being…shall I say odd?

It’s not that his character arc isn’t there, but it’s never lineal. His goals stay the same, the only thing that happens is that we start to peel back the “why”s of his goals. Throughout the series it’s never about Ciel understanding himself better, he knows who he is, he knows what he wants, he knows why he wants it. He doesn’t ever need to uncover these, but simply remember them. Because it’s always about the audience understanding Ciel.

He knows he wants revenge.

In the Circus Arc: He knows that he needs Sebastian because without him, the pain of the abuse he suffered would be too much to bear. But WE are introduced to it.

In the Book of Atlantis: He knows that with this new lease he does not want happiness and peace, he wants revenge. The one being told this is the audience.

In Green Witch Arc: He knows that their revenge isn’t for his family, the real Ciel or guilt. It’s because he wants it. He’s angry, he’s upset, and this is entirely for him. The one being told this is the audience.

Except. Not really. The one either discovering or remembering these key moments - is always Sebastian.

Sebastian is the one who reassures him that he now holds the power of a demon to override the pain. Sebastian is the one who remembers that to override that pain, Ciel wants revenge. And Sebastian is the one who discovers that that revenge isn’t built out of grief or guilt, but for himself.

We are witnessing it all, through the eyes of Sebastian.

This is why we have an extremely vague idea of who Ciel is, Sebastian does not have the whole picture.

If you haven’t been reading this manga with your eyes closed, you’ll realize we have a better grasp at Sebastian’s character than that of Ciel. We get a lot of insight on how he thinks and what he values through light hearted dialogue he has with the servants. You even see the character development in these little interactions.

Think about how when he first arrived to the mansion he magically created food with no regards to taste, but when he meets Bard he states that food is created to see whoever will eat it, smile.

That is character development, more than you will be able to see from Ciel.

Because Ciel’s character, while not static, doesn’t go from point A to point B. Mostly, cause it doesn’t need to. He went through that when he lost the real Ciel and got Sebastian. Everything we are watching is the falling out.

Now, given the fact that I’ve told you that it makes more sense for Sebastian to be the protagonist/main character, and that he 100% isn’t either a villain or antagonist in ANY of the interpretations you can get:

Do you believe me?

If you don’t, you’ll probably believe Yana herself.

This is from the first Volume, where Yana herself describes the process of making Black Butler. The primary idea behind the creation of BB was a butler as a “hero”.

If you go back to the introductory chapter, you notice that Ciel is barely mentioned. He’s simply the one to give Sebastian impossible tasks and standards that Sebastian must find how to overcome.

Ciel is properly introduced until the NEXT chapter. The second chapter has this formula too, introducing Lizzie as a problem to overcome. Although, to Sebastian the best way to “get rid of the problem” is simply to indulge her.

The issue here being that the problem isn’t as simple as a business meeting but something directly tied to Ciel and Ciel’s past. Each time that Sebastian has to solve a problem, it chips away at Ciel. While with Lizzie he shows a persona, once he’s alone with Sebastian he acknowledges the toll it took on him. It serves to build Ciel as Sebastian’s master, and how some problems aren’t as simple as discarding a tablecloth.

The third and the fourth, are a unified narrative, with a similar premise to the first chapter. Ciel gets kidnapped and Sebastian must find a way to retrieve him without raising suspicions.

If the first chapter is to set up what Sebastian must do as a butler, the third and the fourth serve to set up what he must do as a demon.

The entirety of the volume, and up to Book of Circus Arc, is about how Sebastian tries to follow the increasingly absurd orders that Ciel has - it is not about Ciel trying to solve them.

That’s how they work, we follow Sebastian for the most part, because he’s the one having to come up with the solutions.

If anything, in early Kuro, where the emphasis was more on a slice of life conflict, Ciel is the antagonist. He’s the one creating problems for Sebastian to solve.

What’s more, in the second volume, the very first chapter is one from Sebastian’s POV. So far, we hadn’t gotten an entire chapter from Ciel’s POV. In fact, I would find it hard to point to a single chapter where Ciel is the POV throughout. The reveal of real Ciel and the flashback is the closest contender.

But once we move past early Kuro, and into Book of Circus, this set up changes.

It’s fairly easy to assume that Ciel is the main character, because from this point on the conflict of the plot sorta surrounded him. We spend a lot of time with him and with his story. The enemies start being people directly tied to Ciel and Ciel’s trauma. Rarely, if at all, we get to see Sebastian before he met Ciel.The framing device for the story, is Ciel.

This is where point 2 gets intertwined.

2.- Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship IS the story.

The story begins at the point where Sebastian and Ciel met. Who Ciel was before he met Sebastian, informs why he’s the way he is when he does. You have to know all he went through to understand why he’s a brat, why he lashes out. However Sebastian’s past doesn’t matter…because Sebastian himself doesn’t care much for who he was, before he was “Sebastian”. That’s also part of the narrative.

Unlike Ciel, he doesn’t seem opposed to revealing information from before the contract. He talks about how pets from where he is from are gross, he talks about how he knows how to dance because of other places he’s been to, and alludes to the life he's lived before.

Just that, to him, they're footnotes.

He makes allusions to a very bland, uninteresting life, up to the point he meets Ciel.

That’s why we don’t know more about his past.

As for why we focus on Ciel’s story…okay maybe we need Creative Writing lessons 102

I studied Dramaturgy for about 3 to 4 years. And something you notice is how play-writing is the quintessential story telling. It’s making it work with the bare bones of a story.

Some other mediums have more finesse, more depth, or more spectacle - all amazing things that work for whatever they’re created for. But understanding a play, how and why it works, helps understand the fundamentals of any derivative story telling medium.

Particularly, conflict.

Conflict is dialogue and dialogue can take many forms. A story, in its essence, is a dialogue between two opposing ideas.

Take Batman, for example, who embodies the ideas of justice and order. On his own, he’s not a well rounded character.

If you ONLY present him, in a vaccum with nothing else, you don’t have a character. You have a list of characteristics that you’re supposed to know.

You only know who he is when you have dialogue with another character.

I say Dialogue, but it doesn’t necessarily mean spoken language at one another. Dialogue can mean fist fighting, playing tabletop games, talking to other people about the other, or even just a competition. The idea is to simply to compare and contrast both ideas.

If you want an example on how tabletop games serve as dialogue, watch the video “Well, Someone Had to Explain the Liar’s Dice Scene” by Lord Ravecraft

Another example, were we to retake Batman, you have him fight Joker. Who’s the embodiment of chaos and randomness.

In the following picture, you get far more information than the one previously shown. While the Joke fights with daggers and fake guns, Batman only uses his fists. He doesn’t use the tricks that Joker does. His serious demeanor, contrasted with Joker’s glee at the dangerous situation. The fact that Batman has a deathly grip on Joker’s shirt, while the Joker doesn’t, which shows a desperation to catch him.

You are being shown, through a dialogue, who Batman is.

It’s so much easier and much more effective to explore a character through another character.

This is the reason why Shonen has a tendency to make incredibly good gay ships. If you want to explore Naruto’s personality, and his feelings of inferiority, you HAVE to have him interact with Sasuke.

If you wanna understand Hinata’s passion for volleyball, you have him enjoy himself the most with the only other crazy motherfucker who’s as obsessed with volleyball - Kageyama.

And I think that originally, Yana had this problem.

Sebastian was the protagonist, but she had little room to develop him as a character in the confines of the manor, dealing with random enemies.

She likely tried to create Grell as someone of the same stature as Sebastian. Someone who could be this other person to engage dialogue with and show or allude to his past a bit more.

The problem being that Sebastian didn’t care for his past. Or really, engaging with anyone. He sees everyone as below him, but when confronted with Grell who isn’t below him, he doesn’t wanna talk to her.

So you’re stuck in conundrum.

How do you have dialogue with a character, that as a character trait, doesn’t really wanna have dialogue?

Well, Grell also solves the problem. Because only the moment she gets him to start any semblance of a dialogue - is questioning why he’s serving Ciel.

And this is the moment when it’s perfectly cemented that the focus of the story is their relationship.

Why is Sebastian here? Why does he stay? What did he see in Ciel that made him want this extremely convoluted contract?

THATS the dialogue.

THATS the conversation we’re having in Black Butler.

We need to know Ciel because understanding who he is, let’s us know WHY /Sebastian/ is here.

Then slowly, with the introduction with the Undertaker, we find out Sebastian’s conflict.

Which is…

He’s scared of losing Ciel. It becomes apparent with the constant imagery of the Undertaker taking away Ciel and at some point even obtaining r!Ciel’s body, that he’s worried it might happen.

But he can only be worried that Ciel might be taken away if he wants to stay near Ciel.

And that’s his character arc.

Realizing that he actually likes Ciel, cares for him and the role he plays a butler that he doesn’t want this to end.

In the first chapters, he doesn’t feel a need to protect Ciel anymore than what’s strictly necessary. Just don’t die, that’s about as deep as his involvement in chapter 4 gets.

But by the Green Witch Arc, he feels a need to protect Ciel from ANY harm.

This is why I also said

3.- Their relationship is fundamentally a positive one.

In broad strokes, Sebastian to Ciel is the person who allows him to survive. He’s not worried about giving up his soul since he’s already dead. While Ciel to Sebastian, is someone who’s making him have fun. He’s slowly becoming more and more attached to Ciel and the life he has with Ciel.

Their relationship is not that of just a predator and prey, but also of master and pet.

In the terms that Black Butler itself would call: Sebastian is a wild wolf acting like a collared dog.

Ciel is aware that the wild beast will eat him at the end of the day, but if he clings hard to leash for now, he might just be able to have Sebastian maul his abusers.

Sebastian as a dog, currently finds that he enjoys being a chained dog.

(This is demonstrated in the Green Witch arc where he quite literally says, he doesn’t wanna be a wild beast and prefers to be a butler)

And much like the actual DOG Sebastian, Ciel constantly interprets his attempts to get close and protect him, as an act of aggression.

This push and pull of Ciel’s perception of Sebastian and Sebastian’s true motives is what feeds the story.

And the briefs interludes were that isn’t the case (what other people call the “plot”, but I would refer to as the connective tissue) such as Sullivan and Wolfram, the other servant’s past, the grim reapers and the like, serve as a parallel to Ciel and Sebastian relationship. Either to signify how they care for each other, highlight their weaknesses or fears, or explore how they feel.

It’s no surprise that Sullivan and Wolfram are parallels to Ciel and Sebastian. A sheltered sickly child who seeks the protection of a cold hearted machine that only knew how to kill, but who eventually found he cared for her genuinely.

Undertaker and Claudia’s relationship being heavily paralleled with them, even though we aren’t 109% sure what they had but heavily implied it was a romantic attraction from the undead supernatural creature and a Phantomhive.

Everything is a parallel.

That’s why, like the approach of the terrible original video, is flawed.

Trying to interpret Black Butler as action scene after action scene, with mystery after mystery with the only connective tissue being the mystery of who burned down the mansion - is missing the trees for the forest.

That’s not the point.

And if you’re too much of a prude to engage with gothic horror in its gothic horror game, I see little point as to why you even bother to engage with it at all.

A lot of people, including the person who create the video, simply refuse to acknowledge Black Butler IS the story of Sebastian and Ciel as a close and positive relationship, romantically and sexually charged. The reason for it being that they’re “put off” by it.

Part of me wonders how much that is genuinely true, and how much is just performative outrage. It’s like ignoring the fact that Cersei and Jami are in an incestous relationship and try to frame it as “platonic love”, because the idea of it is THAT off putting.

But regardless of that, if you don’t like the fact that it’s as canon as canon can get, I would reccomend you don’t engage with the story at all.

As I’ve explained, the entirety of the series is about them. If you refuse to see Sebastian and Ciel as, at the very least, a duo that cares deeply for the other - you aren’t reading Black Butler.

I have no idea what you’re reading.Perhaps your own biases and subconscious stigma with British aesthetic. At that point, watch the fucking British Royalty Gossip Magazine. You’d find more substance there.

Just don’t be like the person in the video, please? Don’t play dumb. Don’t ignore the fact that Yana is a Shotacon, don’t ignore the fact Sebastian is a hero, don’t ignore the fact that the entirety of the story is based on Sebastian and Ciel’s dynamic.

Because if you do, you are ashamed. You are ashamed of what this story is about. You don’t wanna engage with the text, you want to engage with yourself. You wanna project into Ciel whatever traumas and experiences you have, for the sake a vanity project, where you come out as the morally superior.

You don’t wanna talk about Black Butler, you wanna talk about how good YOU are. How you “don’t sin” by watching it “without all the gross unholy stuff”.

Which is the exact opposite of what BB is about.

So, if you don’t want to, save us all the humiliation fetish and leave.

#Kuroshitsuji #black butler #sebaciel #essay #loli speaks

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yesimwriting · 10 months

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okay but after the whole lucy gray thing we know coryo was done with “love” and everything BUT what if during the following year of thg he ends up falling in love with another tribute also from district 12 and he’s just going through it bad (again) however he somehow ends up actually getting the girl in the end, maybe even buying her way into the capitol

A/n I've been thinking about a very specific part of this since i first read it but i told myself no more fic writing until i finished at least one of my essays for finals seasons 😭

also ik in the book (and it's implied in the movie) that after the events of the book he lives with the plinths, but let's pretend he lives on his own with access to the plinth fortune for privacy

ik that makes it sound like it's smutty, but it's not lol

----

Proximity aggravates distance. The closer you are to something, the more damage any remaining space causes.

The few feet dividing the two of you have no right to jab at something inside of him the way it does. It's bad enough that instead of going to bed after a long night of fulfilling his apprenticeship duties under Volumnia's watchful eye, he stopped by your apartment. Only one floor away from his.

For months, the only thing holding the two of you together had been memories of those few nights before the Games.

Coriolanus's attempt to remain indifferent towards you had quickly failed, and his backup plan of learning to loathe you had proven to be just as useless. So he settled on letting you unabashedly take his hand whenever fear overwhelmed you and committing the way your kind eyes watched him to memory.

You're looking around the room--his room--openly, eyes darting from the mahogany surface of his desk to the details elegantly carved into his bed frame.

His fingertips itch with the uncertain desire to reach for you. You've only been in the Capitol for about a day and a half. Less than 48 hours. But the move, the beginning of a program for certain, qualifying victors and their families, had been planned for months.

You shouldn't feel like a phantom that'll vanish if he lets go for too long. "What are you thinking about?"

The question grounds you the same way it did last time he asked. You do your best to hide it, but you're still adjusting, still surprised that he managed to find a way to bring you together again. Just like he promised. Your doubt isn't personal, a fact he has to remind himself of.

"I'm just..." You tilt your head slightly, gaze retreating from the royal blue wallpaper and silver trim of his bedroom walls, "Analyzing."

The comment is followed by an easygoing smile that pinches at something in his chest. His new apartment, the penthouse of one of the largest buildings in the city, another gift from the ever flowing well that is the Plinth fortune, still reeks of former poverty. The few things that hint at the personal are hidden behind layers of desperate wealth so thick the items might as well be standard.

A lifetime spent in 12 means that there's no way you can read between the lines. He can't decide if your perspective will make this room look worse or better. It's a nice bedroom, definitely grander than any bedroom you've stood in before...but it's understated. Maybe even disappointing to someone like you.

"Analyzing?"

You turn fully, "A bedroom says a lot about a person."

"You might get more out of analyzing my study," an oddly school boy worthy partial truth slips out before he can stop himself, "I think I've been spending more time there than here recently."

You shake your head once, eyes landing on the crimson red vase filed with crisp white roses his grandma'am had gifted him on his last visit. Her pride and joy now more than ever. "I'm seeing all I need."

A hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. It's the most genuine expression that's slipped past him in weeks. When he first worked out a way to bring you here, some doubting part of him wondered if the draw he felt towards you would still exist in person.

Less than two weeks after your victorious departure from the Capitol, he had searched through your files and found your address. He had written the letter in a moment of weakness and only sent it after deciding that writing a letter to never be sent is the only thing more pathetic than writing to you in the first place. He had spent the week following that wallowing in self loathing until an age-stained envelope arrived at his door.

"And what are you seeing?" He keeps his tone light. This is ridiculous. He dragged himself and his family out of a gutter clogged by the casualties of war. Coriolanus is stronger than fleeting emotion now. Your opinions on his room can't possibly affect him.

If he were to simplify what brought you here, to the Capitol, to him, he could blame it on his bedroom. The urge to see you, to figure out some way the two of you closer together before your undeserving district could swallow you whole in an attempt to make you like them, would flare up whenever he received one of your letters.

Those urges, however, had never burned him. Not until you wrote about wanting to see him out of the most curious nostalgia you'd ever felt. You wanted to see him in a way that'd let you know what his room looked like, in a way that'd let you guess at his favorite color.

He takes a few steps forward, making the conscious decision to not reach for you. You've never rejected his advances, not even when he instinctually intertwined your fingers after picking you and your family up from the train station. You had scolded him after, telling him that you'd hear no end of it from your mother. It took a lot of focus for Coriolanus to not smile at that. You spoke of it like it would've never occurred to you to just pull your hand away.

Your eyes shift from end of the room to the other. Coriolanus moves carefully, passing you before sitting at the edge of his crisply made bed.

"Before you make your decision..." You turn instinctually, expression so polite and expecting he almost doesn't know how to bear it. His hand briefly pats the space beside him in a silent invitation. "So you can see it from all perspectives."

Your head tilts slightly, and for a moment, Coriolanus can practically feel your rejection. Then you move, sock clad feet treading over smooth white-gray marble. You sit next to him so assuredly, anyone else would have taken the way you neatly fold your hands in your lap as politeness instead of a display of nerves.

Your family's presence makes you less pliable. It's a factor he's willing to work around considering that you would've never left them to come to the Capitol. And even if he had managed to talk you into it, your nostalgia and homesickness would've made you more of a ghost to him than before.

At least the position your family's in is uncertain enough to allow for some leeway in the social norms that you cling to. However, every once in awhile it hits you that at the end of the day, he's still a boy that you're close to, which means that it's your duty to create the distance necessary to keep everything proper. Leaving your bedroom in the middle of the night because said boy knocked at your door and then entering his room in his empty penthouse is something you would've done under normal circumstances.

But your connection isn't that black and white. If it was something so simple, he would have been able to sever it the night before your Games.

"It makes all the difference," you agree warmly, and only somewhat sarcastically. You give yourself another second to take in the space, "I like it."

He can tell that you mean it. "I haven't fully settled in yet."

You shrug, paying him little mind, "There's something about it that just feels like you."

Coriolanus shifts his focus to the ground. You can't possibly mean it in the way that he sees the room, as a reminder that he still doesn't fully fit into who he's become.

"I've been meaning to pick up a few things," he says, "Tomorrow, after my classes, I was thinking about browsing some paintings." Another half truth. He had been meaning to. Mrs. Plinth had instructed him to visit her art dealer whenever he had enough free time to pick out a few pieces to demonstrate his taste. He'd been putting it off as a dismissable task, but it feels like a safe way to give you your first taste of life in the Capitol. "If you'd like to help me pick some out."

You smile, eyebrows pinching together in a way that's just barely noticeable. You're as interested as you are puzzled. "I'd like that." Relaxing enough to let your hand rest between the two of you, you beam, "I don't know if I'd be much help, but I'd like that."

He'd be willing to get anything that caught your eye. Paintings and vases already with such an exclusive art dealer hold more or less the same level of standing, anyway.

Coriolanus moves his hand slowly, careful not to startle you before his fingers can settle against your own. You instinctually turn over your palm, intertwining your fingers. "I trust you."

You stare at him with wide, understanding eyes. Sometimes when you look at him, really look at him, Coriolanus is struck with the feeling that you can see right through him. It's an irrational feeling, that every good action and cruel deed is reflected in his eyes. Moments like this make it hard to be near you. They also, however, make the thought of adding distance between the two of you unbearable.

"I have an early class."

You dip your chin forward in an attempt to accept what you're considering a dismissal. "Right, you must be tired." The words sit between you for a long moment.

Your free hand presses into the silk of your still new pajamas. You shift like you're going to stand. His hold on your hand tightens before you can move away. You still.

He's being ridiculous. There's nothing about this situation that warrants his inability to look at you. "Stay here." His thumb runs across your knuckles. "With me."

The words are soft enough to be a request, but there's not enough space between them for questioning. He cautiously lifts his head enough to take in your reaction.

"What?" It's a display of shock more than an actual question. Coriolanus squeezes your hand even tighter. You don't try to get him to let go, but you do shift away just enough to create the reminder of distance. "You know I can't."

His other hand reaches forward, settling against your wrist. "Why not?" He doesn't mean for his voice to come off as raspy, as desperate as it does.

You swallow, attempting to straighten your spine in an attempt to offset the instinctual urge to hide your face. This isn't a topic you're even comfortable implying. "My mother would kill me if she so much as found out that I came up here so late, let alone..." You trail off, head dropping to your lap. "Stayed here."

He envelops your hand between both of his. "She knows we're friendly."

You look up just long enough to imply a pointed not that friendly. "It's--" You blink, eyes darting from to your joint hands and then finally to the ground. "You know it's..."

Coriolanus leans forward. The shift is small, just enough for his knee to brush against yours. "It's what?" He keeps his voice low, a barely there whisper that comes off as so innocent it nearly circles back to anything but.

You glance up, so wide eyed and flighty he's reminded of a rabbit. The level of precaution you're exuding can't just be about your mother's opinions, can it? He studies your expression openly, taking in the set of your eyebrows and the way you steadily press your lips together to avoid speaking without thinking. At least some part of you believes in your mother's concerns.

The realization strike shim so quickly he has to focus on keeping his expression neutral. Your bond is so much more than just coming together on a random night where exhaustion's already clouding his focus.

It will happen between the two of you. Eventually. But not yet. You've barely entered the Capitol and every aspect of your life has become vastly different than what you're accustomed to. If he were to attempt to cement any relationship between the two of you like that now, you'd be too overwhelmed or you might think that that's the only reason he brought you here.

He learned early on that it's best to introduce adjustments to you slowly, giving you enough time to hold onto ideas before enacting them. Anything of that nature would work that way too.

"I haven't been able to see much of you." He focuses on your hand, still resting safely between both of his. The words came out too quickly, a flash of some genuine sort of emotion that claw at him on the way out. With you, sometimes a glimpse of feeling works wonders.

Your thumb draws gentle patterns against the side of his hand. "You're busy." He relaxes his hand, turning over his palm. You place his hand on your knee, fingers tracing the natural creases etched into his skin. "You're important."

The way that last word comes out makes an uncertain warmth crawl up his neck. "I--I've wanted to see you more." Another thing he means so much it turns his stomach to admit it.

Your nail drags down a line that cuts across the length of his hand. "Me too."

He bends his fingers slowly, moving in until he's trapped your pointer finger against his palm. "Then stay." You twist your finger enough to express some lighthearted irritation, but not enough to count as a real attempt at escaping. "If your mother says anything, I'll explain it to her." You glare at him without any true aggression. "She likes me, doesn't she?"

Coriolanus already knows the answer. She credits your survival to him. You had mentioned that in a letter once, telling him that she insisted you pass along her gratitude after discovering that the two of you had started to correspond regularly.

He also saw the way she reacted to realizing that she had made it to the Capitol. Your mother's family had once been part of the wealthier side of 12. You're part of a recently fallen line of mine owners, a fact that your mother has only pretended to let go of. He saw a hunger behind her eyes that reminded him of a warped version of his own.

Coriolanus gave her back the pride the war had stolen from her family name tenfold. He owes her this much.

"She'd trade me for you in a heartbeat." He hears the grin in your voice more than he sees it. Your family means the world to you, which means he's subjected himself to seeking your mother's validation and winning over your two younger sisters.

It's not the way he'd choose to spend his limited free time, especially with you standing right there, but he's endured worse for less of a pay off. "Then she'd be a fool."

You fight to hold his gaze. "I doubt that."

Your eyes are pools of honest, unfiltered affection. The care that you're watching him with makes it hard to swallow. The instinct to press, to dig and claw and tear anything that could be hiding an ulterior motive into shreds makes it hard to take a full breath. You've always worn your heart on your sleeve. You're not a flighty songbird that uses its charm to distract its prey from its fang-like talons.

"Stay." Again. So breathless he almost doesn't recognize the word as his own.

The deliberation is transparent behind your eyes. You're considering it, but you're still not convinced. The hesitation stings in a way he doesn't understand. "I don't want to give her a reason to not like you."

So softly spoken he's shocked by the way the words manage to feel like a nail being hammered into his chest.

"She's let you stay with other people before." The response is too sharp, too sudden. He should refocus and think through what he's about to say. Coriolanus knows that it's easier to get you to agree to something through the use of honey sweetened words and displays of patience. "You wrote about him."

The confusion that briefly etches its way into your expression threatens to quell the uncomfortable swell of jealousy tightening his chest. "Warren?" The name makes tints the air between you with something acidic. "That was--different."

Your explanation adds an edge to the pressure in his chest. "Why?"

"We weren't--" You cut yourself off, the instinct to placate him and your desire to not start a conversation you can't finish battling each other oddly. "We were never alone." You squeeze his hand as best as you can. "He's a family friend and I only stayed over when my mom had to work late and I was too young to be alone for so long, so I haven't stayed over in years. And--and he shared a room with three of his siblings and his parents checked on us constantly."

He frowns, unconvinced. The lack of approval has you clinging to him, adjusting your hold on his hand as you gently trail your knuckles against the inside of his wrist. "I do miss you." You stare at your hands. "I know it's weird because we're--y'know--closer than before, but I-I do miss you."

The expanding wave of tension in his chest begins to deflate. You're good at that, at redirecting and soothing without even realizing it. A talent that had contributed to his original desire to loathe you. "I understand that." He runs his thumb over your knuckles. "Things aren't going to get less busy. That's why I want to use all the time we have."

You nod slowly, a hint of understanding making its appearance in the set of your brow. "I know."

"What you wrote," he begins, too aware of how much he means the question that follows, "Did you mean it."

"Of course I did." Not an ounce of hesitation, of uncertainty.

He turns your hand over before shifting his fingers up the inside of your wrist. "You wrote about wanting to see me."

"I did..." The pad of his thumb gently makes its way up your forearm. Your even breathing falters. "I do."

Coriolanus lets himself look up just enough to take in your expression. "Then stay." He swallows, too aware of the sudden dryness of his mouth. "Please."

You glance up at him through your lashes. There's a softness there that jabs at him. "Okay."

He lifts the back of your hand, carefully brushing his lips against your skin. "You mentioned wanting to see a library."

You wrote about it once. A brief mention in one of your letters of the small room in your school's office that served as a sort of communal study space with a few books stacked on a small shelf. Your longing had been clear.

Nodding curiously, you agree, "Yeah?"

"I could leave for my classes a little earlier tomorrow, you could come with me." The proposal comes out slowly, his own suggestion taking him by surprise. "My driver could bring you back, that'll give you time to meet the tutor that's being sent over for your sisters, and then when I get back we'll look at the paintings."

You immediately grin, "Really?"

He finds himself smiling back, pulling your arm closer. "Whatever you want."

You beam. "I'd really like that."

"Good," he affirms with a nod of his head that's a touch too forward. He regrets it almost immediately. "If you like it, I might be able to get your own tutor to meet you at a library."

Part of the still uncertain victor program relies on setting up the victor and their family with a new life. Education plays a role in that. Placing any one of you in an actual Capitol run institution is far out of the question. For everyone's sake. Even if the thought of sharing a classroom with someone from 12 didn't horrify the Capitol parents, you and your siblings wouldn't be able to just jump in. It's not that he views you as unintelligent, but District 12's education system isn't exactly on par with the Capitol's.

"That sounds nice," you sit up a little straighter, excited by the prospect, "A part of me kind of misses school."

Another aspect of your personality that he had learned about after your Games. You like school for the sake of it. "I'll check on the arrangements tomorrow."

He clears his throat before you can do more than just nod, "It's getting late."

Coriolanus carefully sets your hand down on the comforter. You awkwardly shift, now more aware of what you agreed to than ever. "Right," you push yourself to stand, "You need your sleep."

He pulls back his sheets before you can think about it even further. You crawl into the provided space without looking at anything in particular. He's quick to join you beneath the safety of plush bedding before leaning over and turning off the bedside lamp.

Darkness floods the space. There's something about the absence of light that makes things feel heavier. The potential intimacy of the situation sneaks up on him with no warning.

This isn't a loss of control. It can't be. It was his idea, he had pushed and convinced you to stay here. He's aware of everything that's led up to this moment, but that's not enough to stop him from wondering if this is something than he should have known better than to embrace. He had accepted the familiar, fickle knotting of his stomach once before.

Steady warmth presses itself against his arm. He blinks, head turning a second too quickly. Your hand has found his. Coriolanus relaxes, allowing himself to fully relax against his pillow. You pick up on his shift, reflecting it by laying down as well.

For someone that had been so hesitant, you seem to know what to do better than he does. You pull his arm towards you, gently trailing your fingers against the exposed skin. Heat crawls up his neck.

"Goodnight," you mumble, voice already drowsy.

Coriolanus lets out a long breath. He grasps your hand, bringing it back to his lips before settling back into the position the two of you were in before. "Goodnight."

#the hunger games #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus snow #the hunger games x reader #the ballad of songbirds and snakes x reader #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus x reader

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mrs5sn0w · 10 months

Text

Serenade of Shadows

I : A Dance of Shadows -> II : Whisper of Deceit -> A Symphony of Heartbreak-> IV : Fractured Reflections -> V : Shadows of Allegiance -> VI : Echoes of Decent

Series Masterlist

Young!Coriolanus Snow x Fem!reader

warnings: Arranged marriage, MILD ANGST, unrequited love, friends to enemies, enemies to lovers

Reader's surname : Flare

Time frame : Before, during and after tbosbas

synopsis: In the events of Panem's political dynamics and the 10th annual Hunger Games, Coriolanus Snow and her find themselves entwined. Standing at the brink of an enforced union, 6 years later, their mutual trust unravels amidst a damaging misinterpretation, prompting Coriolanus to believe the wrong. As the glacial barriers guarding his emotions begin to melt, a revelation of profound feelings unfolds, initiating a sprint against time for redemption.

The grandeur of the Capitol unfolded like a tapestry of opulence on the day Coriolanus Snow and her were bound in matrimony. The air was heavy with the scent of roses, and the opulent venue shimmered in the soft glow of chandeliers. The Capitol's elite had gathered to witness the union of the President of Panem and the Flare family, one of the most prestigious families in the whole Panem, their wedding was a spectacle that rivaled the most extravagant of royal weddings.

As she walked down the aisle in her resplendent gown, a vision of ethereal beauty, the weight of the ornate veil seemed to mirror the heavy burden on her heart. Coriolanus, standing at the altar in a meticulously tailored suit, wore a mask of composure that hid the turbulent emotions within.

He did not want to be there. He does not want to marry her.

The ceremony unfolded like a symphony of obligations, the vows echoing through the grand hall as if scripted by Capitol decree. Her eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, met with his cold and indifferent eyes. The congregation, unaware of the loveless undertones, erupted in applause as the Capitol celebrated the union of the two.

As the reception commenced, Snow and her navigated the intricate dance of social formalities. In front of the Capitol's watchful eyes, they exchanged pleasantries and smiled for the cameras, their every move orchestrated like pieces on a strategic board.

In a quiet corner, away from the prying eyes, she summoned a smile that barely concealed the turmoil within.

"Corio-"

"It's Snow." He reminded her not to call him by what she called him years ago.

"Snow, we are the talk of the Capitol today," she remarked, her voice carrying a hint of wistfulness.

He nodded curtly, his gaze fixed on the swirling dancers. "It's expected. our union of significance, a merging of legacies."

A fragile smile played on her lips while Coriolanus' eyes remained impassive, a fortress against the vulnerability she tried to breach.

"Sentimentality has no place in our world. Our duty is to uphold the Capitol's ideals. I'm just doing my duty by marrying you."

He then continued

"Don't get ahead of yourself if you think you can have a chance. Everyone may have forgotten what you did, but not me."

"Cor- Snow, I did what I had to do, to protect you-"

"protect me ?" He scoffed

"The only protection you did was throw my future away"

"But you're here now" she argued

"You still did it to me. It will never change." he demanded

He still believes that she did it.

but until this very day, he did not know the whole truth of what she did.

As the night wore on, the facade of marital bliss cracked in the shadows. She resplendent in her gown, felt the weight of isolation. She approached Coriolanus with a delicate grace, her eyes seeking a connection amidst the artifice.

The reception continued, a lavish display of decadence, but in the hidden recesses of their shared existence, the echoes of unspoken pain reverberated. She was once Coriolanus Snow's closest classmates, and she found herself as a stranger in his indifferent world.

"Snow," she began, her voice tinged with both sadness and defiance,

"do you ever wonder what our lives could have been if things were different?"

He looked at her, the coldness in his eyes softened by the moon's gentle caress. "Wondering is a futile endeavor. Our reality is the only truth we know."

"The only thing i wished to be different is that I didn't have to marry someone like you"

"Anyone but you"

Before she could respond, the distant strains of music heralded their return to the festivities. The grandeur of their wedding, an illusion of splendor, concealed the fractured emotions beneath the surface.

As the night waned and the Capitol reveled in the spectacle, Coriolanus Snow and his wife danced through the shadows of their union, a poignant duet of obligation and unspoken regret.

Snow's wife would always remember this day as the day she gave her life up to be stuck in a loveless marriage.

It didn't matter to her, as long as she was married to the person she loves even when he hates her with every beat of his heart.

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catindabag · 9 months

Text

One of my THG buddies kept asking me about the fate of District 13 in my TBOSAS on Crack!AU yesterday. So this is just me clarifying some random D13 stuff in this weird universe.

So what happened to D13? Here are the facts:

D13 and its citizens are still alive and pretty much hiding from the Ravinstill Regime.

Funny thing is, all of the Capitol Nobles are well aware of the fact that D13 is still alive and kicking. Even Coryo and his scheming grandmother knew about D13’s fate after the Dark Days.

However, the Ancient and Noble House Ravinstill and their sacred Bichon Frisé puppies ordered everyone to pretend that District 13 doesn’t exist anymore.

This is to protect the last remaining working marbles of crazy President Ravinstill and Class President Felix.

So District 13 is now and forever officially renamed by the Capitol Nobles as the “Mole Kingdom” ruled by the mole people.

As long as you are a certified rebel who lives underground, you are now considered a “mole person” by the Capitol.

In short, all of Panem knows about the truth of D13 and its mole people. However, instead of confronting or siding with the remaining mole rebels, everyone just agreed to ignore the Mole Kingdom’s existence after the war.

Also, after the 24 OG Mentors ended the Hunger Games forever and replaced it with ✨Panemvision✨, President Ravinstill made sure that no mole person is allowed to join the competition for rebelling against him and his ✨Bichon Frisé Cult✨.

This is also a way to punish the mole kingdom for rebelling against the Ravinstill Regime and accidentally killing the ever gorgeous Crassus Xanthos Snow.

And yes, President Ravinstill is still sadly allergic to “freedom” and mole people.

But because of ✨The Great Mole Ban✨, the mole kingdom and its mole people are now angry at the fact that they can’t join and compete in ✨Panemvision✨ for fun.

All the Districts’ excited children are now busy volunteering themselves and their most talented individuals left and right for ✨Panemvision✨. The prize was just too good to pass. I mean, who wouldn’t want to win free money, a big house, and lots of food for one’s family and District?!

Meanwhile, the mole people are just stuck living in their little underground bunkers without any real entertainment to distract them from their impending doom.

Years later, in Katniss Everdeen’s timeline, ✨Panemvision✨ is still the best show in the history of Panem!🥳

The ✨SnowPlinth Dynasty✨ is now the most powerful and influential family ever.

Sejanus Plinth-Snow is still the beloved President of Panem.

Former President Felix Ravinstill retired early in order to take care of his 40 fluffy fat cats with Androcles Anderson and their 12 Hello Kitty loving children.

Festus and Persephone’s meat stew loving dumpster diving kids even married into the ✨SnowPlinth Dynasty✨. The Creeds and the Prices finally linked their crazy bloodline back with the Snows and the Ravinstills.

And yes, Coryo and Sejanus did have 24 kids (and more), making Strabo and Ma Plinth the happiest grandparents ever.

After Sejanus and Coryo’s oldest son married Festus and Persephone’s oldest daughter, ✨The Great Sandwich Quartet Alliance✨ was officially formed.

And when Sejanus and Coryo’s oldest daughter married Felix Ravinstill’s oldest son, ✨The Great Pact of The Royal Hello Kitty Blood✨ was finally signed and secured for the greater good of Panem.

Tigris is still a tiger. Lol. But at least she now has several available nephews and nieces to spoil and design clothes for.

The ever gorgeous “First Lady” Coryo Plinth-Snow is still busy taking care of their 40 Snowjanus grandchildren and 10 Snowjanus great grandchildren.

He is also known as the beloved ✨King of Roses✨ and the true ✨Sandwich Queen of Panem✨.

Festus Creed still dumpster dives with Pup, Sejanus, and Coryo every weekend.

Hilarius and Wovey are still the best apple berry pie dealers of the country.

Clemensia and Reaper are still praying for normalcy.

Dill is still the best Mayor of District 11 and the smartest best friend of Former President Felix Ravinstill.

Treech and Lamina are still providing the best firewood and axes for Vipsania and Gaius.

The old Capitol Zoo is still ruled by the “sacred” rabid raccoons and wild squirrels.

Tigris Snow is now the ✨Queen✨ of Panem’s fashion industry along with the Ring Twins and their ✨Pajama Onesie Empire✨.

Dennis and Hy are still the secret kings of Panem’s Black Market Industry.

Arachne is still suing for her ✨Sandwich Queen✨ title.

Iphigenia is now the most famous food merchant in Panem. But she still sucks at handling money.

Mizzen and Persephone are still the eternal rulers of their ✨Pizza Palace Empire✨ and the accursed junk food industry.

Seneca is now the current biggest disappointment of the Crane family for working as a professional pizza delivery guy for Mizzen and Percy’s infamous empire.

Livia and her annoying children are still running and ruling the largest bank of Panem.

Lucy Gray is still the reigning ✨Queen✨ of the Capitol’s entertainment and music industry.

Billy Taupe is still banned for life.

Palmyra Monty is still banned from cooking.

Androcles is still the best professional kleptomaniac to ever walk on earth.

The Covey and its growing members are now the most popular band of the country, making Katniss Everdeen a nepo baby by default.

Lucy Gray is still happily married to Panini Panlo and his hair curlers for fun. They now have 5 curly haired children and 12 music loving grandchildren.☺️

Maude Ivory is still illegally selling popcorn balls and cookies for extra cash.

Mockingjays and Jubilee’s kind are still banned from the Capitol because Coryo, Coral, Reaper, Urban, and Treech are still tragically allergic to weird talking birds.

Coral and Festus are still ✨war baddies✨ who do “martial arts” every Friday.

Marcus is still denying his own existence, but is now working under District 2’s beloved immortal Mayor, Mr. Rocky Rock O’Rolly.

Lysistrata and Domitia are still the proud leaders of the ✨SnowPlinth Fan Club✨.

Dancing King Tanner is still the reigning crazy Dairy King and Mayor of District 10. He happily married Domitia Whimsiwick and her cows to rule D10 forever.😎

And yes, Lizzie is still selling her illegal ✨miracle pills✨ for fun.

First Lady Coryo Plinth-Snow even started his own secret ✨Cabbage Soup & Lima Bean Cult✨ with Felix, Festus, and Pup. In truth, they just wanted their grandchildren and great grandchildren to become close friends.

Florus is still allergic to rain. However, he now knows how to use an umbrella without getting wet.

Pup is now living in a luxurious cruise ship with a couple of retired and underpaid sailors and Peacekeepers.

Urban and Io Jasper are still busy finding the shrouded mysteries of love and the secrets of the universe.

Juno and Bobbin are still throwing insults at each other. However, their children and grandchildren are good friends for some reason.

Brandy is still living her best werewolf life.

Poor Hilarius is currently fighting for his inheritance (again) because his rebellious nephew (Plutarch Heavensbee) just disowned him and his beloved chihuahua out of the blue for no reason at all.🥲

At least homeless Hilarius Heavensbee is now happily staying at the Presidential Palace as a temporary live-in nanny for Sejanus and Coryo’s grandchildren and great grandchildren.

And D13 is still planning to launch a second rebellion against President Plinth-Snow and his friends.

In truth, D13 and its unfortunate, sad, and deprived mole children are just really obsessed with ✨Panemvision✨. They have been loyally watching, subscribing, and following the most popular show in Panem since its weird birth. Since its debut! Since its first season! Since the day they saw crazy Lucy Gray tried to strangle and throw Mizzen the Gremlin offstage for almost ruining her best performance (ever).

Some mole children even tried to contact and convince President Sejanus and former President Felix that District 13 still exist. However, because of Ravinstill’s irreversible war trauma, they still haven’t gotten a single reply from the Capitol.🥲

Of course, their evil Mole President (Alma Coin) still wants to declare war against President Sejanus for some reason.

Honestly, Alma Coin just wants to control the country, imprison the 24 OG Mentors in a mental institution, and become the ✨Eternal Star of Panem✨.

But Seji Pie doesn’t even give a flying f*ck about District 13 and it’s rebellious mole children. He’s too busy making another child with Coryo to truly notice Alma Coin’s threats and messages.😌💅

Meanwhile, when little Prim was reaped for ✨Panemvision✨, Katniss Nepo Baby Everdeen immediately volunteered and stole her sweet sister’s spot.

However it’s not because she wanted to “save” her little sister from being “forced” to sing on stage, but because the ✨Girl on Fire✨ really wanted to compete and become the ✨Star of Panem✨ that year.

And because of that, little Primrose never forgave Katniss for stealing her only opportunity to join their ever famous crazy grandaunt (Lucy Gray) and her booming music business in the Capitol.

Prim even tried to contact Lucy Gray’s grumpy husband with Gale’s help, but old man Panlo thought that they were just trying to take his crazy wife’s life and money. So the Panini Man hanged up and blocked them from his phone.😂

So bitter Prim and her cat are now the first anti-fans of the ✨Girl on Fire✨.😔

On the other hand, when Peeta “I am the bread!” Mellark was reaped for ✨Panemvision✨, Gale “I can f*ckin’ sing!” Hawthorne immediately volunteered to be with Katniss.

So the baker’s boy had to challenge an angry Gale to a dance-off battle in front of an excited crowd in order to secure his spot for the competition. This is also his first and only chance to talk to Katniss Nepo Baby Everdeen. So he had to win no matter what.

Peeta only won after executing a perfect somersault and one flawless cartwheel in front of a drunk Haymitch and a bubbly Effie Trinket.

And jealous Gale became the founding father of the anti-Peeta Mellark Fan Club.

Meanwhile, old crazy lady Lucy Gray is still busy stealing her grumpy old husband’s hair curlers after every show. #PanBaird #lovelanguage #withPaniniPanlo

And the 24 OG Mentors and their former Tributes are still good friends who usually hangout every other week to cause some chaos and traffic in Panem.

Of course, old man Mizzen is still a little gremlin through and through. He is even the main reason why the 2nd rebellion failed and never happened.

Mole President Alma Coin and her loyal minions just can’t stand a chance against Mizzen the Gremlin, crazy Persephone Creed Née Price, and their ruthless Pizza Palace Empire.😈

“You can’t start a revolution, much less a 2nd rebellion without a merciless and efficient pizza delivery service!” - Mizzen.

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choicesficwriterscreations · 6 months

Text

CFWC F/AotW - Mar 17 - 23, 2024

✒️ = Fanfic | 📱= Text Fics/Edits | 🎨 = Fanart Ⓜ️ = Mature Content 18+ | 🔥 = Explicit/NSFW 18+ 🏳️‍🌈 = LGBTQIA

AMERICAS MOST ELIGIBLE

Cherry Blossoms Dancing In The Sunlight ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Contestant x F!MC - @aallotarenunelma

BIG SKY COUNTRY

Pink Azaleas For a Love That Saved Us ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Dallas James x F!MC - @aallotarenunelma

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

A Burden We Both Share ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Valax x Nia Ellarious - @livelaughlovecassie

Forever in my Mind ✒️| Tyril Starfury x F!human!MC - @petalouda85

Mal Volari Portrait 🎨 by @artbyalz

Valax Art 🎨 by @erixadraws

THE CROWN & THE FLAME

The Crown & The Flame OC Fanart 🎨by @lupinobi

IMMORTAL DESIRES

Cas Harlow Art 🎨by @solaceriverine

Cas Harlow First Hunt 🎨 by @nukritus

Gabe Adalhard Flower Crown 🎨🏳️‍🌈 by @lilyoffandoms for @aria-ashryver

LAWS OF ATTRACTION

Aislinn Tanka Portrait 🎨 by @artbyalz

I thought that I was special...🎨🏳️‍🌈| Gabe Ricci, NB!MC - @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

Weird, but not a sin🎨🏳️‍🌈| LOA NB!MC - @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

Wind Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈 by @lilyoffandoms for @oh-so-youre-a-nerd

OPEN HEART

Baby Ramsey 📱| Ethan Ramsey x F!MC - @genevievemd

Christmas Through Your Eyes (Series) ✒️| Tobias Carrick x F!MC (eventual) - @jerzwriter Part Two: With a Capitol T Part Three: The Philadelphia Story

Half Baked 📱| Ethan Ramsey x F!MC - @genevievemd

It Happened One Miami Night Part 1 ✒️| Ethan Ramsey x F!MC - @liaromancewriter

Losing Game 3 of 4✒️| Bryce Lahela x F!OC - @peonierose

Moving In (Series) ✒️| Rafael Aveiro x F!MC - @rafasgirl23415 The Bunny Sweater

Your Death, Your Dog, Your Declaration ✒️🏳️‍🌈| Bryce Lahela x M!MC (eventual) - @mydemonsdrivealimo

PLATINUM

Wisteria Will Intertwine Around Our Wrists ✒️🏳️‍🌈| M!Raleigh Carerra x F!MC - @aallotarenunelma

RIDE OR DIE

Logan Fanart 🎨by @am-i-invisible777

Ride or Die Fanart 🎨🏳️‍🌈| F!Logan x M!MC - @cadybear420

THE ROYAL ROMANCE

Forevermore (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️| Liam Rys (King Marquise) x F!MC - @khoicesbyk Chapter 5: Joy of Winter

The Royal Romance Book 1, Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time Part 6 ✒️ | Liam Rys x MC - @fadingreveries

Savage Love (Series) ✒️Ⓜ️| Liam Rys x MC, Drake Walker x MC - @angelasscribbles Chapter 37: Gone

You Belong to Me (Series) ✒️| Liam Rys x MC, Drake Walker x F!MC - @queenrileyrose Part One: I Wonder What's Mine

CROSSOVERS

Immortal Desires / Murder at Homecoming

Murder at Homecoming: Harlow Part 3 ✒️| Cassius Harlow x MaH F!MC - @korgbelmont

#playchoices #playchoices fanfic #playchoices fanart #americas most eligible #big sky country #blades of light and shadow #the crown & the flame #immortal desires #laws of attraction #open heart #platinum #ride or die #the royal romance #murder at homecoming #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #cfwc art of the week #choices stories you play

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whumped-by-glitter · 2 months

Note

Ask Game Q’s for Annika!

🏀 Does your OC have any skills that people wouldn’t expect them to have? Do they have a hobby or pass time that others would consider strange or weird? How did they learn this particular skill or pick up this hobby?

🥊 Does your OC prefer to take the lead or follow orders? With everyone or just with certain people? Is there a reason for this?

🌊 What does your OC do on their days off from working, school or whatever else it is they may do? Do they enjoy relaxing, shopping, hanging out with friends? What is a normal day like for them?

From this ask game.

🏀It’s not necessarily strange, but she is basically a musical genius. Ever since she was little and had her first music lesson, she would use music to retreat from the stress and loneliness of being a royal child.

🥊 Annika is a leader; she was taught from a young age how to lead effectively too. If anything, she comes off as too bossy. She does have some deep insecurities that were only made worse when her father was dethroned, however, and starts slowly learning to trust Jarek and eventually Dasa as she learns she doesn’t know everything, and she can’t do it all.

🌊 Oooh, off time…. Yeah, Annika is a typical teenager and she has an overbearing parent…. She sneaks out, A LOT… she loves just walking through the marketplaces and taking in the sights, smells and flavors of life in the capitol. This little past time of hers has gotten 3 guards before Jarek fired.

#whump community #whump #whump writing #whumpblr #ask game #devros #my oc

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thgfanfictionlibrary · 4 months

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Teen and Up Rated Fics Masterlist (29)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 17 / Part 18 / Part 19 / Part 20 / Part 21 / Part 22 / Part 23 / Part 24 / Part 25 / Part 26 / Part 27 / Part 28 /

Created: March 14th, 2024

Last Checked:—-

Their Highland Games-Chele20035 (ao3) Summary: After a long work week, Katniss curls up with a new book and cheese buns. This was submitted to prompts in panem for day three, Queen Anne's Lace/fantasy. The Jabberjay And The Mockingjay-AntiKryptonite (ao3) Summary: They’re only scared, broken children when they’re alone, Katniss thinks. Damaged and weak and unsteady. Together, though...together, they are unstoppable. When Peeta returns to District 12, Katniss resolves to help him in the only way she knows how: by answering his real-not-real questions. Together, they play a game piecing their pasts together, but this time, maybe there can actually be two victors without any bloodshed. This time, maybe they can find their way to each other once and for all. (A Growing Back Together story because you can apparently never have too many) The Lady of the Woods-chele20035 (ao3) Summary: There are shades of black and white all around us. It's up to us to chose what we will and will not trust. What happens when Katniss and Peeta get lost in the woods? The Long Way Home-DustWriter (ff.net) Summary: An expanded option to the Mockingjay epilogue that takes Katniss across Panem to get Peeta back home. The Pawn-annieoakley1 (ao3) Summary: Katniss has his pearl to comfort her, but all Peeta has are his precious memories of her, and the Capitol is trying to take them away. Warnings for violence and torture. Italics are reworded excerpts from "Mockingjay". Written for Prompts in Panem's Round 3, Day 1 challenge. Visual Prompt: Peeta's Pearl. The Picture-Burkygirl (ao3) Summary: He shouldn’t have said it. Wouldn’t have said if he’d been sober. Known he was in trouble the minute the words slipped out of his mouth. -- Peeta's drunken mistake has torn Everlark apart. Inspired by Should've Gone to Bed by the Plain White T's. Written for Prompts in Panem -- Round 8: The Farewell Tour. Epilogue written for Prompts in Panem - the Final Tribute. The Pigeon Drop-Ashyblondwaves (ao3) Summary: What would you do if you came across an envelope full of money? Katniss Everdeen was about to find out. AU one shot. The playlist-deinde_prandium (ao3) Summary: In which Finnick harnesses the power of music to get back at an inconsiderate roommate...and play wingman for another in the process. Background Odesta and (eventual) Everlark. The Prince of Panem-Amelia_day (ao3) Summary: There should be a hard rule: the guy who steals your coffee order is not allowed to be attractive. Or attend the same university as you. Or be royal. The Raven and The Gods-Alliswell (ao3) Summary: Prompt 46 from Everlark Fic Exchange: Peeta, the Greek god Apollo, hears the most beautiful voice at his temple so he comes down to earth to find this beautiful maiden. Follows how this god falls in love with a mortal and withstand the trials the other gods put them through.

#t #teen and up masterlist #masterlist #everlark #everlark fanfiction #thg #thg fanfiction #thglibrary masterlist

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synergysilhouette · 10 months

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Brainstorming my own idea for "Kingdom of the Sun"

Originally conceived as an epic musical on par with "The Lion King" before becoming the buddy comedy "The Emperor's New Groove," KOTS suffered a lot of story issues that prevented the film from being made with the original intentions--though with my own details.

Our protagonists: Emperor Manco and the peasant Capac, heteropaternal fraternal twins, which is a pretty way of saying they're twins with different fathers--plus they were born 10 days apart. Yes, it's possible, and in order for them to look alike, they both take traits from their mother, who plays a role in this. Manco was raised by the temperamental and emotional Emperor Sayri (think King Triton), and after his wife died, he found it difficult to look at Kuzco, who looked so much like her, instead leaving his care in his advisor, Amaru. As such, Manco grows up spoiled by his people, though develops Amaru's warped view of power, especially after Sayri's death, which also leaves a hole in Manco's heart that he's desperate to fill, making it easy for his mother figure to manipulate him. Capac, on the other hand, is raised by his kind and caring father and kind stepmother, and is much more humble and insecure in contrast, being shy and ventures to the capitol in order to appeal to the cold-hearted emperor about helping his people, who he's been neglecting for the most part. He can also talk to animals, supposedly because of his pure heart, as well as being physically stronger than Manco (though Manco is smarter and more acrobatic); I don't see either of them as scrawny like Kuzco. When they meet, Manco is amused by him, and they trade places, but this turns sour when Manco realizes that Capac is much happier than he is. He inadvertently makes people upset with him due to his entitled and bratty attitude, making him more insecure and believing his father never really loved him. This embitters him to decidedly ruin Capac's life so they can both be miserable, though when Capac's family embraces Manco anyway, it makes him break down. I also like the idea that Manco's aesthetics are reds/oranges while Capac's are blues/greens.

2. Our Antagonist--Amaru, the royal advisor. She's lived for a LONG time, something that Manco (despite his arrogance) has noticed, accurately deducing that she takes advantage of the fact that no one knows much about her life by "dying" every few decades and returning as her own daughter. However, he sees this as an "old woman's game" and leaves her to it, deciding he could always fire her if she became too senile. Amaru grew up with a power-hungry mother and a royal magician for a father, so her destiny was sealed as she learned the magical dark arts, as well as the human dark arts of manipulation, breaking Manco's spirit to make him her puppet. When he and Capac switch places, she quickly realizes the change in him and blackmails Capac by threatening to out him as a sorceror who killed Manco and took his form. She's able to summon shadow monsters that can take human form, and could easily make it look like he actually did kill Manco. Once again in control, she vows to plunge the world into eternal night in order to restore her youth, which she says was wrongfully taken from her due to her ambitious family, and that she will rule the empire. She also plans to do this by inciting a civil war against "Manco" and replace him as head of the empire. I'm thinking "Queen Raveena" energy here (if you've seen "Snow White and the Huntsman): scary, cold, and calculating, though she does have fleeting moments of sympathy. Part of me imagines she has a lover--maybe a silver fox like King Magnifico with a bubbly personality like Wiggums. He supports her thirst for power, though often maneuvers things so that people are imprisoned (or banished) rather than killed.

3. The love interests--I really enjoyed Malina as Kuzco's love interest/foil in TENS, so I imagine Capac has someone like that in his corner when he becomes temporary emperor. Named Cavillace, she's a studious noble in the emperor's court who became disillusioned with Manco's cruelty, but begins to fall for "him" when the kingdom begins to take a positive turn. She doesn't trust Amaru whatsoever, but Capac's innocence and Manco's disregard of Amaru makes Cavillace believe that perhaps her feelings are misguided, and Amaru manipulates her by guit-tripping her and saying that Cavillace doesn't like her because she wants her job (and to be with "Manco"). At the end of the film, Capac and Manco decide to keep their lives switched, with only those close to them knowing, and Capac and Cavillace get married. Along with Malina, I think she'd be a mix of Princess Jasmine and Belle.

Manco's love interest, on the other hand, is a bit more vibrant. Similar to how intimate John Smith and Pocahontas were, Manco is a bit more intimate with his love interest (Chasca). She's, beautiful, sassy, clever and very self-involved, which makes Manco fall head-over-heels in love with him. Chasca reciprocates his interest, though she's taken off-guard with how emotionally fragile he is. Eventually she comes to love his dual nature, and helps him overthrow Amaru without exposing his own identity. When Manco retires to life as a peasant, Chasca does not; she convinces Capac to send them money to live off of, and while Manco rejects (most of) it, he has no issue letting Chasca keep it to further her desire for luxury. They end the movie in a boyfriend-girlfriend position. I imagine her a lot like Chel from "The Road to El Dorado" since i kinda ship her and Kuzco.

4. The resolution--I imagine the twins have a sort of "Twitches" thing going on; Manco is active during the day while Capac works best at night, plus it's a neat characterization to have the schemer a day person and the nice guy a night person. When Amaru thinks she has defeated them, she uses their innate magical powers to cause a permanent solar eclipse, strengthening the shadows while preventing the sun from escaping. When the brothers break free, they team up with their loves to defeat her, using their magic to reverse the eclipse and wither the beautiful Amaru to dust (I was thinking of turning her to stone to prevent a copy of Mother Gothel, but I wasn't sure how to implement that). If she does have a lover in this, he's banished, and her family is stripped of their status (I like the idea that she comes from a big family like Yzma did).

5. The songs. What classic Disney film would be complete without them? Okay, a few, but you get my point. Anyway, I imagine that either the Anderson-Lopez team or Lin-Manuel Miranda would do the music, as I love their work with Disney. I wasn't really impressed with what I heard from the OG tracks. Let's keep "Snuff Out the Light," though. (And BTW, if Manco and Capac had different VAs, I imagine they're both strong singers, though perhaps one is better than the other.)

The Sun King--Half-creation story, half-intro to Manco's life, I imagine this cover the legacy of the empire as well as his own mixed bag of a past, with him trying to hide any pain he feels via an upbeat number.

Moonlight--Essentially an Inca version of "Go the Distance," I see Capac singing this song as he travels to the capitol in hopes of seeing the emperor and helping his family.

The Last Night--When Manco and Capac decide to trade places, they tell themselves (and each other) that this is the last night they're unsatisfied, the last night they feel powerless and/or bored, the last night when they look in the mirror and can't see their full reflection--the last night of not having a brother. It's tender and powerful, maybe with some "Prince of Egypt" vibes in there.

I'm Better--Manco is feeling rather hurt and put off by the fact that no one really likes him when he pretends to be Capac, finding that the Capac is much more selfless, albeit sometimes at his own expense. Manco deides early on not to mimic his twin's behavior, and instead decides to be himself--and ruin Capac's own happiness.

Beguiled--A longer romantic song made of two parts: Manco and Chasca's upbeat song, something in the vein of "Rhythm of the Tambourine" and Capac and Cavillache's sweeter, cuter song, akin to "Something There."

Snuff out the Light--Essentially the same as it was originally, with the main exception being that Cavillache sees her singing this song and is abruptly captured, and this song is present-tense, happening as Amaru sings it rather than her just plotting things out.

Part of Me--Again, a longer song in my mind, a Broadway-esque song on par with "For Good" and "Let It Go (Reprise)." Manco and Capac use their powers to defeat Supai and the eclipse, erasing Amaru's shadows and turning her to dust. The brothers reflect on how different their lives are, and resolve to stay swapped for a while, if not forever.

These are just my ideas for now, subject to change! Lemme know if you have any questions or concerns about my idea

#disney #disney animation #kuzco #yzma #the emperor's new groove #el dorado #chel #the road to el dorado #dreamworks #dreamworks animation #wicked #the prince of egypt

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agentem · 10 months

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Chapter 1

I really like the first chapter of "The Hunger Games." It begins with Katniss waking up (which is something online sites will tell you not to do as a writer because it's such a common opening). As she goes hunting and talks to Gale there is a lot of world building. But it's not the kind of amateur world building I see a lot, where it's just a textbook "info dump". Collins starts with the highlights here. Hunger games. Kids fighting to the death. Capitol oppression.

This world building is unpeeled like an onion, I guess (I don't know food metaphors). Later we learn about things like mutations or "mutts", the Careers, the interviews and showmanship aspects of the games. We don't even meet Peeta until next chapter. In this chapter Katniss is very in the moment (she's actually always in the moment, she isn't a super forward thinking character). She's just focused on getting through the day. So all that will come later.

The stakes are super clear. It's a fight to the death and she doesn't want to go. Understandable.

And the twist is that she gets her wish. She isn't picked. I thought this was a beautiful way to play with the audience's expectations. Obviously if you pick up a book called "The Hunger Games" about a fight to the death, you will think the main character is going to get picked and probably Gale as well. That would be the easiest way into the story.

But Prim is picked which is somehow even worse. That's the end of the chapter but I'd defy you to put down this book after reading one chapter and say, "Nah, I don't need to read more I get the gist" (which I will admit I do often in bookstores). Because you know Katniss loves Prim and now you need to find out what she's going to do.

Collins gets knocked a lot online for "copying" Battle Royale (for the record she says she hadn't read it before she wrote this). But the fighting to the death concept is not really new. Stephen King's "The Running Man," Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and the TV show Survivor are all things that she would have been aware of.

I think the real innovation that she presents here is Katniss becoming so immediately dear to the reader by volunteering for her sister. (Is "I volunteer as tribute" not THE meme to come out of this franchise?) The urge to protect ones own life is so basic to everyone on Earth that we know it is remarkable even if we have never been in a situation like this. And maybe we don't know all the details of Prim and Katniss' relationship yet, but we know the kind of love that it would take to put another person first. I think deep down we all know that we would not volunteer for just anyone and that Katniss is doing something really remarkable.

for @heavensbeehall

#thg #the hunger games #hunger games #suzanne collins #katniss everdeen #primrose everdeen #gale hawthorne #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #madge undersee #panem #district 12 #heavensbeehall

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arthdoesart · 1 year

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"In lieu...of these barbaric executions, we hold a Symbolic Hunger Games."

The universe after ten years of Alma Coin being happy: I gotchu fam sorry it's a little late the traffic lately has been i r o n i c

#hunger games #The Royale Capitol Games #heavenscoin #plutarch heavensbee #alma coin #well she's got her symbolic games now #giggles in angst #fic on ao3

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hangmansgbaby · 4 months

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HangmansGBaby Masterlist

Requests are open but will not be posted on Tumblr! You can still submit or message me here but I no longer post on Tumblr!

if you would like to read what I have written on here, this is my original masterlist with Tumblr links.

Everything below will have Wattpad and AO3 links!

My Works:

Always Darling | Hangman | Wattpad | AO3

Jake and Willow met by chance in the last 2 months of the Naval Academy. From that day, they chose to stick by each other's side through every up and down life had to offer, even when they're both selected to train for the deadliest mission they've ever faced but its just more than their life they have to worry about.

Everybody Wants You | Hangman | Wattpad | AO3

Locklyn and Jake have been together since middle school but when they went to college they decided to explore others outside of their relationship. What happens when its their senior year and Locklyn is tired of the open relationship, but is Jake?

Gunpowder & Lead | Hangman | Wattpad | AO3

Cowritten with chasethemayhem | Persephone gets a new target after Penny and Amelia show up at Cora's Bakery begging for help. Emory, who knows Pete's type well, makes it her personal mission to bring his empire down. Chief of Police Beau Simpson has been on Jake's ass more and more to catch Persephone and her accomplices. Jake's having a harder time justifying "just barely missing her" when he's trying to secretly avoid arresting his and his best friend's wife. Jake and Emory step into the most difficult phase of their relationship with a complicated question. What's more important... Their careers or their love?

I’m writing a book! With May’s blessing I have taken the G&L universe and am bring it to your digital reading pleasure! For more info, sneak peaks AND maybe an ARC read follow my pen name insta lea_bailey_author! This series will not receive any future updates because of this!

Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince | Hangman | Wattpad | AO3

Meredith ‘Meri’ Mitchell is America’s sweetheart with her dad, Pete Mitchell, as the current president of the United States. Meri is constantly sent around to the biggest parties, banquets, and gatherings that her father cannot attend but her least favorite of all, is anything that includes the prince of England. His Royal Highness, Prince Jake is next in line for the crown so he is always present at every major event. Jake thoroughly enjoys his engagements. Show up, snap a few pictures, have a good time, take a cute girl to a nearby hotel, leave before dawn, and repeat the cycle the next time. For the last three years, Meri and Jake have merely tolerated each other in passing but with her father’s reelection campaign and his impending coronation just a year away, Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince are about to spend a lot more time together, especially after they make a big scene at a royal wedding.

Top Gun Collection | Rooster/Hangman/Bob | Wattpad | AO3

Includes:

Meeting the Family | Rooster | 3 parts

A Stark in the Wind | Rooster

H_NGM_N | Hangman | 2 parts

Three's A Crowd | Rooster/Hangman/Bob

Friends Dont | Hangman

Just A Braid | Hangman

Sweater Weather | Hangman

Blanket Stealer | Bob

You Burn With Us | Hangman | Wattpad | A03

TGM x Hunger Games AU | Every year the Capitol of Panem hosts the Hunger Games where tributes are chosen at random between the ages of 11 and 25 to compete against each other to the death. 23 year old Bridget, nicknamed Birdie by the Capitol for singing in the arena, exited victorious from the 72nd Hunger games. The next year, 24 year old Jake Seresin emerged victorious from the 73rd Hunger Games thanks to the efforts of his mentor and best friend, Birdie. Now as the 74th Hunger Games nears, Jake and Birdie prepare for the probability that they will witness exactly what their fellow mentor witnessed for all but 2 years in a row, the death of their tributes all while learning if the odds were ever truly in their favor.

Songbird Series

Songbird | Rooster | Wattpad | AO3

Bradley and Delilah have been best friends for as long as they can remember, especially since their dads work together and are best friends. After an accident at Top Gun, Carole and Bradley leave San Diego while Pete and Delilah stay behind. 8 years later, Delilah and Bradley are reunited as teens but what teen friendship doesn’t have its ups and downs?

Songbird & Rooster | Rooster | Wattpad | AO3

Lieutenant Commander Delilah 'Songbird' Mitchell resides in San Diego, California as one of the top instructors at Top Gun based out of NAS North Island. When she is relieved of duty long enough to assist in a top secret mission requiring the best of the best to return to Top Gun, Delilah is not prepared for the familiar faces she will encounter. It's been 20 years since Lieutenant Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw and Delilah had been anywhere near each other. When the two finally reconnect, the truth behind everything comes out and it will take equal effort to repair the damage that was created.

Songbird's Flight | Rooster | Wattpad | AO3

After a very successful detachment, the aviators return to Top Gun to pack up before heading out for a much needed vacation but one issue still stands. LCDR Delilah "Songbird" Mitchell is to return to her duties as a Top Gun Instructor while her fiance, LT Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw is to be shipped back out to NAS Oceana. Just when Bradley and Delilah feel that everything is okay, someone from Delilah’s past shows up unexpectedly and flips their world upside down.

Puck Around and Find Out Series

Pucking Finally | Coyote x Phoenix | Wattpad | AO3

Javy and Nat had been on again, off again since freshman year of college, ending on off again at the time of graduation. A year later, Nat is in desperate need of a date to her cousin's wedding where everyone is convinced her and Javy have been together for the last year and a half, including her parents. Javy agrees to pretend so long as Nat tells them they broke up soon after. A weekend together though may just make them change their minds, but will they say something or just let the opportunity for something more serious pass them by?

Royally Pucked | Hangman | Wattpad | AO3

Layne Thomas is the new Physical Therapist for the San Diego Daggers. Day one she happens to run into the all too familiar captain of the Daggers, Jake Seresin. Jake has spent every moment thinking of his Denver girl after their chance encounter 10 months ago, but now she’s here, in San Diego. Neither can deny their feelings for eachother but as the season goes on, it starts to feel like the universe is trying its hardest to keep them apart.

What The Puck | Rooster | unavailable

Bradley Bradshaw is fresh off a nine month long break from the ice after the almost career ending accident two months into the season. In the last 10 months, Bradley feels he’s grown stronger, better, and he even met the love of his life, Daggers Ice Girls Captain, Riley St James. Everything seems perfect the first week of the season. He’s back as starting right wing, his girl cheers him on every game, and he’s ready to think about the next step of his life, marriage, that is until an unexpected visitor shows up at his door and drops a baby into his arms. The world is flipped upside down for Bradley and Riley, but are they strong enough to outlast this?

Pucking Shots | Bob | unavailable

The SD Dagger photographer sees every side of the team, but her favorite view is Bob Floyd. The sweet, wouldn’t hurt a fly boy is one of the toughest goalies in the game and Beatrice St James has her sights, and lens, set on him and she’s willing to break every rule in the handbook to win him over.

Beyond Pucked | Fanboy | unavailable

Bob’s sister, Mia Floyd, just moved to San Diego to be apart of a local dance troupe and catches the eye of one Mickey Garcia. Despite being labeled off limits by her older brother, Mickey can’t help to try his hardest to win over the dancer.

Social Pucks | Payback | unavailable

Jessica Monroe has been the social media manager for the Daggers since their inception. Although her strict no player/coworker policy, a scandal involving Reuben Fitch’s name breaks out and the only way to save his image is to convince the world he is long since taken, only… the press seems to have a different plan that the PR team.

#gbaby everybody wants you #gbaby friends dont #gbaby always darling #gbaby miss americana #gbaby gunpowder & lead #gbaby mcm gunpowder & lead #gbaby songbird #gbaby puck around #gbaby pucking finally #gbaby royally pucked #gbaby what the puck #gbaby pucking shots #gbaby beyond pucked #gbaby social pucks #gbaby you burn with us #hangmansgbaby #what if...? tgm fanfic edition

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countthelions · 4 months

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In which we meet our final player, the former Royal Scientist, and current oldest monster in the Capitol, Gaster.

#dragon au #LAST OF THE INTROS AAAAA #EXCITE #lionwrites #undertale #gaster #w.d. gaster #wd gaster #undertale fic

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vt-scribbles · 2 years

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Bro I cannot get this character-driven Zelda game concept out of my head. Just... hear me out.

The Legend of Zelda: Fates of the Triforce

I want a game where Ganon, Zelda, and Link are just Three Guys [figuratively speaking] who are all vaguely acquainted/friendly. Ganon's a skilled sorcerer of the Gerudo people. Link is a quiet but up-and-coming knight in the royal guard [In training, of course.], despite being a humble farm boy from outside the capitol. And Zelda is the young princess that has to prove herself worthy of ruling the kingdom.

They met through circumstances which I am too lazy to type right now, and wind up going on a small, low-stakes adventure across hyrule together. Through it, we learn more about each of them [Zelda and Ganon in particular since Link is the Player stand-in.] Ganon and Zelda have a friendly rivalry thing going on. Link and Ganon get chummy by sparring and Ganon teaching Link some magic through their little adventure. He gives you sage life advice as the oldest member of the caravan [though he's still young, perhaps in his 30's], and Zelda sometimes gets annoyed by him acting like he always knows best. Zelda shows she has a habit of trying to be tough and intimidating, as a future Queen should be. But, getting people to respect her is difficult. Still, she carries on.

But oh? Ganon and Zelda both seem to be hiding something from you. They act strangely whenever they see relics of the past, or imagery of the Triforce, or the old Heroes of Time. They always brush it off if you point it out, though.

Then, at the end of your little journey... someone has a powerful reaction to Ganon's appearance, and goes on a panicked tirade about the evil king, Demise, Ganondorf, all sorts of names that Link does not understand. Ganon seems bothered, but tries to cover it and calmly leaves. Zelda seems more perturbed than anyone, and silences the panicked citizen. They both leave to check on Ganon. He's outside, moping. Link checks on him to see what's wrong, but he admits he 'cannot tell you without the princess' permission.' She... reluctantly gives it. 'It's time he knew.'

With Link being from outside of Hyrule proper... he's never heard the full story of the demon king, the hero of time, and the princess of hyrule. They tell him of the legends, the myth that every few hundred years, a new reincarnation of the wielders of Power, Courage, and Wisdom appear, and history repeats itself. The wielder of Power becomes maddened with greed and tries to take over the kingdom by force. The wielder of Wisdom is the hero of time's trusted partner, and the one who lends their magical power to defeat evil and cast away the darkness. And the wielder of Courage is the one fated to defeat the evil controlling the world, setting things straight and restoring balance to the worlds of dark and light.

They sit and talk by the fire for hours. Link, his head spinning, asks about all the imagery they've seen. Of a princess, a gerudo, and a knight.

Ganon admits that... all his life, since he started showing interest in magic as a young boy, he's heard whispers that he is the fated evil that will inherit the triforce of Power, and go down a dark path leading to his imminent demise. He idly comments that Zelda will inherit the triforce of wisdom, as is the fate of the royal family. And that, more than likely... them all meeting the way they did, and fate bringing them together.. must mean that Link is the fated hero of time, meant to take the triforce of courage so that he may be worthy of the Master Sword, to banish the eventual darkness that will blanket Hyrule.

There is no way to change this fate. Someone will always be given the triforces' powers, and they will all fight. That is the ebb and flow of time, and it is set in stone.

Link admits that this is all... a lot. And he needs some time to process. He heads out for the night, leaving Zelda and Ganon to talk. They do for a bit, discussing whether they think Link is The One. Ganon admits he doesn't believe in him... yet. He so casually remarks 'There is no force of magic nor evil that could give that boy the ability to defeat me in battle.' Zelda gets furious at him, accusing him in a fit of paranoia that he's 'planning to take out the wielders of wisdom and courage before they're even gifted their powers', maybe even going as far as to threaten him with her dagger. But he calmly looks her up and down, pushes the dagger away, and says with a somber, macabre smile, "You didn't let me finish. There's no way he could defeat me right now... but I assure you, I will train him until I'm sure he can." He gives her a chuckle and a shrug. "Just in case."

Zelda, unsure if she likes his dark sense of humor, concedes. She puts her accusing tone and dagger back in their sheathe, and they calmly, though disquietedly, talk about the day's goings-on.

They head back towards Hyrule town the next day. Ganon's being quieter than usual, more uncomfortable when addressed by Link, and Zelda is even more irritable and bossy than usual. She snaps at civilians she comes by [especially when they disrespect her or question her ideas], she constantly leads the group into rough situations with her bad leadership, and gets furious when her meager fighting skills are never enough to defend herself or Link. Ganon often has to jump in to help.

Upon returning to the castle after another long journey, full of training and quipping, although more strained than before, the trio finds Hyrule to be in unrest. The people are murmuring in the streets, the skies have been darkening at random points, and the ground feels as though it is shaking now and then.

Ganon suggests there may be some magic fluctuations beneath the castle that are causing hallucinations, making a fight break out between him and zelda. She accuses him of being part of the problem, getting uncharacteristically angry. Ganon eventually backs down and leaves the town in a huff.

You live a few days unbothered, though you observe the strange goings-on as well. The King of Hyrule asks his sages for advice, for which they have none, other than 'the balance of the world will soon be at risk,' implying the prophecy is going to come true soon. Link and Zelda overhear this conversation, and Zelda storms off to her room to train and meditate so she can be ready. Link, concerned about Ganon's part in all this, goes to find him.

But, when Link finally stumbles upon him... Ganon attacks. He throws everything he's got at Link, beating him within an inch of his life. But he stops, just before the final blow is struck.

"I was worried about this. Link..." He reaches out for his hand. "You must be prepared. I do not know if you're the one fated to stop me... but you must be ready, if the fates say it is so." Link agrees to stay with Ganon outside the town, and to train. They go on a small journey together, growing closer through it. The tremors and sky-darkening grow less frequent the longer the journey goes on. They eventually find the place they seek [the master sword shrine? just some old master Ganon had? not sure.], and train for a bit. Everything is good, and fun. Through a series of tiny adventures dotted with spars, you're slowly getting better at fighting ganon. You learn his attack patterns. Dodging. How to reflect his magic. You grow more powerful.

And finally, in one of your spars, you finally beat him, fair and square with him holding nothing back. He deems you 'ready', and tells you how glad he is that, if he's going to fall to anyone... he's glad it's you.

After a heartfelt talk, you head back to the capitol.

But the tremors return, and the sky goes dark. As you approach the castle, the citizens are fleeing in panic and terror. Monsters are crawling out from chasms forming in the earth, ravaging the town. You and Ganon fight your way through, finding out the princess and the king are holed up in the castle with the royal guard barely holding back a flood of monsters.

The sages stop you before you can enter the castle. They REFUSE to let Ganon inside, accusing him with pointing, trembling fingers that he is to blame for this. That if they let him inside, where the triforce is held under the throne room, that he will take it for himself, and all will be doomed. Ganon and Link agree that if Ganon cannot come inside, he will stay here and defend the castle gates with the royal guard. You leave him behind, racing into the castle past hordes of monsters.

By the time you get to the throne room... half the castle is filled with monsters filing in from the basement and dungeons. The castle is cracking, trembling. Zelda is trying to convince her father to leave, to run away. The people will return. But they will all die if they have no ruler.

Her pleas fall on deaf ears, for her reasoning is faulty. If he runs, he shows that he is a coward willing to abandon his kingdom. She berates him, calling him a fool, and claiming he is not fit to be king.

But then, at the pinnacle of her speech... the King is stabbed from behind. All falls silent. The king drops his royal sword, his hylian shield, and slumps to his knees, revealing the disheveled monster hunched behind him, clicking its teeth and snorting triumphantly.

'... if I am not fit to be king. Then you are not even fit to be a princess.'

The King of Hyrule... falls.

Devastated, Zelda flies into a grievous rage. She picks up her father's shield and fights with all her might against the monster that killed him. Link jumps in to help, and the fight is won. But Zelda isn't finished. She flies into a rage about how her father never listens to her. How no-one ever listens. Nobody respects her. No matter what she does, she's weak. She's frail. She's a terrible leader. Link tries to calm her down, but to no avail.

The sages, feeling a disturbance in the castle rush in. They grieve and wail over the dead king, demanding to know what happened. They berate the princess for not convincing him to leave. For if she couldn't convince her own father to save his life, how could she rule a kingdom?? She's overwhelemed, angry, grieving, heartbroken. She backs away towards the throne.

The sigil in the center of the room begins to glow.

Ganon- despite the sages' best efforts - bursts into the throne room. He asks if everyone is okay- only to see the dead king. He's stunned, horrified. And in the chaos, he sees the glowing sigil on the floor. The mark of the triforce in the center of the throne room glows gold, thrumming with unspeakable power. His eyes shine with a hungry, fascinated light. He's transfixed.

Link is given a choice to either break Ganon out of his stupor, or to intervene with the sages to make them leave Zelda alone.

Whatever Link's choice... you rush towards it, and the floor begins to shine, engulfing the room.

Everything whites out.

You awaken in the dark. The sky is pulsing a deep gold, and the ground breathes below you. You're just outside the castle gates... You hear your blood rushing in your ears, and a ringing that deafens all other sound. Your body feels awful- as if ravaged by some unbearable pressure.

Link manages to sit up, and his eye is caught by a glimmer upon his hand. His breath catches in his throat as he lays eyes upon it... the mark of the Triforce of Courage.

He scrambles back, watching the mark start to fade... when another glimmer catches his eye.

Ganon, face down on the floor, stirs. A curious golden glow lights the back of his hand as well. Link's blood runs cold as he leans in close, taking his friend's hand and pulling it near.

Everything goes silent around him.

There, fading in the golden light of the sky... visible for but a moment...

Lay the Triforce of Wisdom.

Zelda lowers her arms from the blinding light. The sages cower on their knees, confused. The throne room lay in eerie silence.

It takes a moment for Zelda to realize there's a mob of monsters lining the room, some holding guards in their grasp. They're all staring. Watching. Waiting. The guards beg the princess to do something.

She demands the monsters release her guards in a desperate attempt, but to her utter shock... they do.

And even stranger... they bow. Lines of horrid creatures bend the knee to the princess before them, in silent respect.

Gobsmacked, Zelda lifts her hand to question this behavior... and there it lay. Upon her gloved hand...

The Triforce of Power.

Zelda's eyes glitter in confusion. She flexes her fingers, and the mark fades. She gazes about the room. The sages begin demanding to know what has happened, why she let the gerudo man get so close to the castle, why she let her father die.

She silences them with a mere wave of her hand, rendering one of them to stone. The rest of the sages cower in terror, barking more confused questions at the princess. Where did this power come from?! When had she been training that?! She turns another to stone.

The questions stop.

They bow down in terror as the princess slowly walks past her father's body. She pays him a long, pained look... one of respect, and yet... resentment.

She picks up his sword, and moves toward the throne.

"Fate has revealed to me that it has other plans for the royal family. We are not to cower and bend to the will of the darkness, or the demon king. It has blessed us with unfathomable power."

She turns and waves a hand at the collected monsters, forcing them to bend to both knees and bow down to the ground. She smirks, eyeing the faint mark on her hand with dark intrigue.

"I will rein in a new era for hyrule. One where we need not fear the dark, but WELCOME it. What is there to be afraid of if we rule the very thing we fear?"

"But my princess-"

"QUEEN."

"B-but my queen, the balance of the world is out of order! The triforce must be reunited-"

"Would you like to join your fellow sages as courtyard decoration?"

"N-No my pr- my Queen..."

Zelda turns to the throne and sits upon it, monsters clustering behind her.

"If fate deigned that I am not to have this power... then they would not have given it to me. Now, I shall use it as I please."

Just as you come-to fully, you realize the ground is trembling and cracking. You manage to barely sling Ganon over your shoulder, as he's still unconscious. You stumble away from the castle as it begins to rise into the air, lifted by twisted roots and columns of stone. Darkness swirls around the castle, casting its tallest towers in shadow. You barely make it to hyrule fields as a force field flashes into view, sealing hyrule town inside.

Ganon stirs, barely lucid. He asks what's going on... only to be silenced by the sight before him. He stands shakily, wincing. He looks down at his hand, gazing in utter confusion at the mark that flickers on its back. His eyes snap to Link. He frowns and lifts up his hand, showing the mark of courage.

Ganon slowly looks to the castle... pained understanding in his gaze. He inhales through his nose, closing his eyes.

"... The fates have cruel senses of humor, don't they, my friend?" His grip tightens, and the mark on his hand fades. "... But if I am to be destiny's play-thing... I'm glad it's with you by my side."

You flee the city, going back to Ganon's master to form a plan. Because now, against all odds...

It's up to you, and the Gerudo sorcerer... to save Hyrule from the Demon Queen.

The Legend of Zelda: Fates of the Triforce

#long post #LoZ #Legend of Zelda #I WANT this GAMe #so BAD #you don't undERSTAND #I am FERAL over this concept #AUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH #I NEED A CHARACTER-DRIVEN LOZ GAME #ONE WHERE ALL THE CHARACTERS AREN'T /DEAD/#LOOKIN AT YOU BOTW

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