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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years

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Satisfied, Part 30

First

~~~

She hummed softly as she walked through town with the horse miraculous. She watched people’s faces in search of some hint of recognition, but it seemed that she was still pretty obscure. Good. She didn’t want people to know that 'NightMare’ ever existed.

Outside of Harley and her crew, of course.

But, as her eyes landed on a person in the same suit as before and quickly found their way to the needle in their hands, she was beginning to wish that they didn’t know her either. She held her hands up in surrender as they neared her.

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m not going to fight, just put a bag over my head and we can go.”

The henchmen looked at each other awkwardly. Apparently, they hadn’t expected a near-child begging them not to put a needle in her. They didn’t seem all too interested in going against a kid’s wishes.

She smiled as a bag was put over her head and she was picked up.

She tried to track where they were going, she really did. But after turn number 14548 she started to wonder if they were purposely going around in circles to confuse her. Eventually she tipped her head back and closed her eyes.

She was brought firmly to the present as the bag was pulled off, nearly blinding her. Her hands came up to cover her eyes again as she cursed in French.

After half a minute she finally could look up, even though she needed to squint pretty hard to do so.

It wasn’t just Harley and the Penguin. Her eyes wandered over each Rogue in turn. No one seemed to be distinctly hostile. Harley smiled and waved. The Riddler was watching her with interest, not unlike how one would look at a puzzle. The Penguin was sending her wary looks out of the corner of his eyes. Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman seemed uninterested.

She smiled and wrapped Harley in a tight hug. “Hey! Nice to see you again!” She chirped, making sure to keep her face in the woman’s shoulder when she said so. If they were calling for her, something must be going on. She didn’t think it was going to be pleasant.

“Nice to see you, too, darlin’.”

She stood close to Harley’s side. She was the only one reacting positively to her existence.

Marinette bit down on the inside of her cheek as she looked around.

They were in a different warehouse than before, if the box placement was any indication, but it was an abandoned warehouse. Inconvenient if they changed every time they wanted to see her, it meant her and the bats couldn’t just plant a tracker on her and plot an ambush at a random time. They probably could come by right now, but everyone was clearly on guard, probably waiting for that kind of betrayal. They’d have to wait until the Wayne Gala to capture them.

The silence stretched on and Marinette fought to urge to curl in on herself. “So... why am I here?”

To her surprise, Penguin was the one to speak up: “Nothing special, I just wanted to ask a few questions.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I thought I got my interrogation out of the way last time?”

He shook his head. “Different questions.”

“Okay...”

They both sat in the dust and he pulled out a set of cards. She frowned confusedly as he started separating the deck into halves.

He gave a small smile as he handed over half. “Do you know how to play War?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”

She looked him up and down. He was clearly different from everyone else there. While everyone else seemed to have some sort of manic light in their eyes, his were so cold and calm that she felt a shiver run through her as he stared her down. She’d thought Harley to be the most worrying of the group, she was most likely to catch her out on a lie, but Penguin... she felt like he could figure out she was about to lie before she’d even opened her mouth.

She swallowed thickly as she shuffled her cards a bit.

They started playing, tossing the cards onto the ground. It was a simple rhythm. Toss, toss, winner takes. He waited until they got to a pretty quick pace before speaking again: “What’s your weakness?”

Her hand fumbled her card. That wasn’t at all the subtle manipulation she’d been warned of. She looked up at him, tipping her head to the side. “I don’t know. I guess I’d do anything for my friends...”

“And I’m guessing you wouldn’t tell us any of their names?”

She tossed down her card and sighed when they matched. “I. De. Clare. War.” She considered his question for a second, then snickered. “No, of course not. I’m not giving anyone anything they can use to find my identity.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “I. De. Clare. War.” They examined their losses and then all of the cards were pushed to her side. “Useless ones, anyways,” he muttered, though he still seemed somewhat annoyed.

“Why’d you ask?”

“Just hoping that you would be easier since you’re a kid and new to Gotham,” he explained calmly.

She scowled despite herself. He was hardly trying at all. Was he underestimating her? Or was there some sort of secret game he was playing?

They started to get into a rhythm again. “Alright, so the friends thing is bullsh--.”

“Language!” Hissed Harley.

Penguin shot her a glare. “So the friends thing is a lie. What’re you doing this for?”

“Necessity,” she repeated her answer from last time, tossing down an Ace.

She grinned cheekily at him, up until he set down one of his own.

“Sure, obviously, no one comes to this side for any other reason. But what is it that you need?”

She pursed her lips. “I. De. Clare. War.”

“I. De. Clare. War.”

She pushed everything over to Penguin.

“So, what is it? Money?”

“Nope.”

“Revenge?”

“No!”

“Power?”

She’d been expecting the question. It didn’t save her from tensing, from the slight pause of her hand. Still, she tried: “Of course not.”

His lips quirked into a grin. He’d definitely noticed.

He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he was going to say was cut off when Harley shoved a tray of cookies in their faces. “Here you go, darlin’s.”

Marinette smiled awkwardly and took one from Penguin’s side. Nothing personal, she just preferred if she didn’t get poisoned.

Then he grabbed one from her side.

She bit the inside of her cheek. Dang, had she guessed wrong? Or was he just trying to even out what he saw as a debt? She couldn’t really change her choice, now, though. She nibbled at the cookie. It was pretty good.

Riddler suddenly dropped down on their left, smiling. “Hey! Can I join?”

She tipped her head to the side, cookie dangling half out of her mouth as she glanced at Penguin. Even if she wanted to have some sort of buffer between the two of them, she wasn’t going to say anything. It was his interrogation, not hers.

Penguin sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He dropped his cards into Riddler’s lap. “I got everything I needed, anyways.”

Riddler beamed and took the cards from her so he could shuffle. “You up for a game of speed?”

She shrugged and nodded as she picked her deck. She picked the top few up and started organizing them. Riddler did the same. Fun.

They reached out and flipped the middle cards, and then they were off.

“Who are you?”

“Secret.”

“Were you from Paris?”

“Not every person in France is a Parisian,” she muttered irritably.

“Didn’t answer me.”

“Yes.”

She cursed in French as he beat her to a card, her hand fumbling back to her deck. She waited for him to either put down a card she could wait until he ran out of things to play. Hopefully the first, she didn’t want to get behind.

“Were you known in Paris?”

“Yes. Under a different name and with a different outfit, though.”

“Is this your first time doing villain stuff?”

He’d paused, his hand hovering over his deck.

They met eyes for a few seconds and then gave each other a nod. They flipped to a new card and the process restarted.

“No,” she said. Not a lie. She’d done ‘villain stuff’ twice before.

“Does anyone know who you are?”

“Unfortunately,” she muttered. She tapped her last two cards against her chin as he whittled his deck down to one card.

“Would you tell me who?”

“Not a chance.”

He grinned and they flipped to a new set of cards. They both glanced at their hands and then at each other. They flipped again. Marinette put down her second to last card and then they eyed each other. They flipped one last time --.

Nothing.

They both sighed and let their cards slip from their fingers. Two sevens. Club and spade. Fun.

She rested her head on her hand and then blinked as he thrust a hand in her face.

“Good game. I’d love to get to know you better.”

She tipped her head to the side as she considered this. He seemed to think of her as something to figure out, as some sort of challenge. She already had two people who knew her identity, that was already far too much, but...

She grinned and shook his hand. “I’d love to get to know you, too, Riddler.”

He smiled and started shuffling cards again.

She felt a weight drop on her and blinked up at Catwoman, who had slung herself over Marinette.

“I don’t have anything to steal,” she said calmly, popping another cookie in her mouth. She figured she’d already be dead if they were poisoned, Harley seemed the type to like instant gratification.

“Saying that because I’m a Rogue?” She purred and all Marinette could do was sigh as she was handed a deck.

“I’m saying that because you’re Catwoman, being a Rogue itself isn’t all that concerning right now.”

She pouted but her hands stopped brushing over Marinette’s clothes for something to grab. To her surprise, though, Catwoman didn’t immediately pull away from her. She just continued to lean on her as she and the Riddler restarted their game.

Five draws later, both of them were cursing.

“HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!”

“I DONT KNOW BUT ITS STUPID!” She yelled back, tossing the cards down and resting her head in her hands.

Catwoman rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. Marinette would be lying if she said it wasn’t at all soothing.

“Maybe this just isn’t our game.”

Riddler chewed at a cookie irritably. She would have thought that impossible a few minutes ago, but now she completely understood.

She smiled as Poison Ivy and Scarecrow came to sit on either side of them. “Thank kwami, now we can play something else,” she muttered half jokingly.

Poison Ivy gave her a small smile as she looked at everyone. “Go fish?”

Marinette snickered. “Aren’t you supposed to be Rogues? What’s with all the schoolkid games?”

Scarecrow laughed quietly. “You’re a kid, aren’t you? Wouldn’t be right to scam you out of your money. Come back when you’re 21 and then we’ll talk.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Fine. Ivy, got any...”

She played miscellaneous card games until pretty much daybreak. They were all pretty evenly matched at most luck-based games, though Catwoman did attempt to ‘help her win’/cheat quite a few times.

Now, though, light streamed through the tattered blinds. She groaned exhaustedly and attempted to push the sleeping Catwoman off of her back, only to have her lean more weight into her.

She sighed and closed her eyes, allowing herself to lean into the Rogue. Just a few minutes...

~~~

I actually learned this interrogation method through my mom

She’s a therapist and she’ll play quick-pace games while asking questions people would be inclined to lie about

Apparently it’s pretty good at figuring things out

Me, staring at my finally finished plotting: oh. huh. this is a LITTLE longer than i thought it was gonna be

Taglist

@comet-kun @thatonecroc @trippingovermyfeet @swiftie-miraculer13 @nickristus-dreamer @moongoddesskiana @i-am-ironic @indecisive-mess-named-me @thebooki3h @insane-fangirl-of-everything @deepestobservationwombat @theymakeupfairies @fatimaabbasrizvi @clumsy-owl-4178 @fanofalittletoomuch @iamablinkmarvelarmy @nathleigh @lilkymilky @silvergold-swirl @dino-lovingreen-angel @thestressmademedoit @kissa-chan @ladybug-182 @alysrose-starchild @t1dwarrior-of-earth @spyofthenightcourt @rowanrouge @nik-nak-3 @momothefemur @aestheticnpoetic @labschaos @our-preciousss @mochinek0 @eliza-bich @mythogaychic @severelyenchantedwonderland @sashakoi @smolplantmum @bluesimani @tropestropestropes @kitsunebell @keepingupwiththemalfoys @sassakitty @2confused-2doanything @too0bsessedformyowngood @all-mights-asscheeks @demonicbusiness @meg-an-ace

#timinette #timari #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #tim drake #red robin #maribat #satisfied

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sarunohadaki · 3 years

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DQXI/Octopath Traveler Crossover

Crossover week: Home | 1 | 2 | 3| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

Anyone call for a story idea with just character roles planned but no plot? Oh boy do I have the post for you! I’ve only played through chapter 2 of Octopath but from how things are going I have a few ideas for plotlines… on the whole, however, this post outlines each of the characters and their backstories.

Character descriptions under the cut because it’s long! Mentions of a character who's deaf, another character who's trans, and another character with DID.

I’ve been loving Octopath Traveler, but if there’s one thing I had to nitpick, it’s that there’s not enough moments woven in between all the characters! There’s a “travel banter” feature that covers the thinnest bases, where at some points in the game, the option for travel banter will appear on your screen and you can select it to see two characters have a short conversation. You have no choice in which characters talk to which, and you can’t go to that chat feature whenever. Also, let’s say you’re doing someone’s storyline. The other characters don’t talk in other’s cutscenes!

It sort of feels like there are eight games in one when you format the game that way. It's a little… disjointed.

Premise: Another fusion fic where the eight characters in Octopath are swapped for the team in DQXI (plus Gemma). Each character can still have their own backstories and subplots, but I am hankering hard for an overarching plot and antagonist. Maybe there’s, like, an evil League of Villains or some cult. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a place to slot that in, right?

Just like in the game, you stick to one character’s perspective and travel around to pick up the rest of your team, only in this fic, there’s varying dynamics between all the characters and oh boy it’d be prominent.

Characters

H’aanit ➡ Elimelech (El)

The Hunter

Born deaf, Elimelech hunts with his wolf companion and a quiver on his back. Despite appearances, El is not one to be underestimated; he is the pride of his village, which has recently celebrated his rite to adulthood. However, with adulthood comes an unexpected discovery, one which spurs him to leave the village in search of answers to his true heritage.

A literal strong, silent type. But has his shy moments, too. I can imagine you having to tap his shoulder to get him to see you talking to him sometimes, and he has this cute, brief look of curiosity on his face… 🥺

Similar to how H’aanit spoke in Middle and Old English, I think sign language would be interpreted the same way in this world. So everyone’s comprehension of SL is good, signing back… maybe not so good.

Animal companion (Sandy but beefed up into a wolf) would help him interact with the world, or at least keep him out of trouble.

Therion ➡ Erik

The Thief

Like the muck wiped off someone’s shoe, Erik’s not much wanted in most places, but luckily not thought about, either, which helps when he’s stealing coin purses. After a heist goes wrong, he’s tasked with retrieving priceless heirlooms to get back something important.

Does Derk fit well as replacement for Therion’s best buddy? (Sure?)

Therion was apparently well-known despite no one knowing what he looked like. Maybe I can make the opposite work for Erik.

The whole thing with Therion was getting a silver band off his wrist but I still like Erik’s canon plot more, so I’d find a way to shove that in.

Tressa ➡ Gemma

The Merchant

An ambitious and overly friendly adventure wannabe, Gemma uses an anonymous journal as her guide to the wonderful — and perilous — world beneath her feet.

Original plot for Tressa tracks fine, although wouldn’t it be cool if Gemma’s journal were written by Sudo Nim??

Old Dragon Quest had merchant classes, too. Wonder if there’s anything in those mechanics I could add to this fic.

Gemma and El hit it off right away and converse excitedly about everything from cuisine to cute boys. Though… no one tells Erik, who thinks they’re crushing on each other. (love triangle that really isn’t, haha!)

Cyrus ➡ Rab

The Scholar

Newly retired and looking for a new purpose in life, Rab decides to answer a decade-old mystery. While scholarly work has always been a hobby for him, he’s prepared to get to the bottom of this puzzle and hone his analytical skills in the process.

Definitely NOT following Cyrus’s plotline here

I could still have fired Rab (similar to Cyrus) and claimed workplace discrimination, but I like my alternative: “Rab was the head of a royal estate but got bored and ‘quit,’ putting someone else in charge so he could go fart off elsewhere.”

Is Rab related to El in this??? He could be. (Sercretly.)

Alfyn ➡ Sylvia

The Performer

A talented performer with an elusive path, Sylvia has called many places home. Following in the path of a traveler who once changed her life, she sets out to bring smiles to people’s faces and avoid the roots of a past that refuses to leave her alone.

Alfyn was last on the list when I was doing matching so sorry Sylv that you got matched with this backstory. But I can adjust it to make it work

Sylvia and Alfyn both have the goal of cheering up sick kids and ya know I think Sylv could learn some healing stuff along the way! She’s much more than just a pretty face, you know.

Someone from Sylvia’s path definitely shows up again and that will be trouble for her

Primrose ➡ Jade

The Dancer

Jade’s patience and sharp mind have sustained her through years of hard living, although it is all worth it when she finds her chance to exact revenge upon those who killed her father.

— Pretty straightforward, can take a lot from Octopath’s plot for this one.

— Hard decision of whether to somehow incorporate this into Hendrik’s storyline or make Jade’s father and the king Hendrik serves two completely different people

Olberic ➡ Hendrik

The Warrior

An erstwhile knight of a fallen kingdom, Hendrik melts into life in a quiet mountain village until word comes of a former comrade who’d turned traitor and killed their liege.

Jasper is the traitor, obviously!

As for their slain liege… can it really be Carnelian again when that’s Jade’s storyline? Like a plot twist that they were both following the same guy this whole time? Probably not. Probably needs to be someone different. Or Carny can just be twice as dead.

Ophilia ➡ Serenica (Serena and Veronica)

The Cleric

A level-headed cleric, Serenica serves the faith alongside her adoptive family. She takes up the torch to fulfil a traditional pilgrimage to rekindle light across the realm.

This one is complicated and I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet

I wanted Veronica and Serena to both inhabit the same body and considered them having Dissociative Identity Disorder. I am very not sure about this. If I do it that way, I’d want to do it properly, with a sensitivity reader, research, etc. Because being respectful is Cool.

(P.s. There was fanart but someone (me) misplaced the art and never took photos of it???)

#Crossover Week #my fic ideas #my writing #Octopath Traveler #dqxi #deaf character #dissociative identity disorder #trans character #character with DID #why am i nervous hahah...

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sepublic · 4 years

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Eda’s Happiness

Okay, but can we talk about the importance of that entire crowd, vouching and cheering for Eda’s escape?!? Every time we’ve seen Eda transform in public, it’s always gone wrong- Her first moment was no doubt incredibly traumatic, especially with her own older sister doing nothing to help Eda, as she was forced to navigate this curse on her own. And you can TELL that Eda actually has a lot of trust issues, and concerns with being a freak; Like yeah she still manages to have so much self-confidence, because that’s the only way she can survive and deal with how she’s treated! Not just for her ideals, but for her curse as well… The hurt of seeing her own sister prioritize the system that hurt and abused Eda, over Eda herself!

And so Eda assumes that she’s naturally unlovable. That she’s only someone’s last choice, and the kind of people that would hang around her are only ‘weirdoes’ who have nobody else to go to. She doesn’t tell King nor Luz about the curse because she’s so afraid they’ll be turned off, that they’ll ditch her… And it’s hurting her inside because you KNOW the general public is at least somewhat aware of her curse. You know the Emperor’s Coven played up the incident as proof of what happens to Wild Witches –given Belos does so in the season finale himself- and how scummy people like Odalia and Alador told their children stories of the evil Owl Lady… And it must make Eda feel so humiliated, dehumanized, and unvalid? So unsupported and lonely???

There were no doubt snobs and bullies who rubbed it in Eda’s face afterwards, or mocked her behind her back, about having the last laugh- That no matter how much more talented or enthusiastic Eda was compared to them, it was Eda who ended up worse off as a criminal rooting around in trash, that she got what she deserved in the end! There were probably plenty who mocked Eda for the lost, wasted potential because of the curse- While her enemies and bullies went to higher, prestigious places, such as the Emperor’s Coven. And to cope with this kind of mockery and humiliation, this feeling of being outdone and left behind by people so consdescending of you when you were once the best… Like they were right all this time about you turning out to be nothing.

I think Eda really had to learn to love and appreciate what she was doing, while disregarding any notions of superiority and hierarchy existing in the first place. That Eda didn’t need to feel like she was actually secretly doing better than others by being a wanted criminal, any lifestyle was valid! Eda chose not to wallow in bitterness and self-pity, to avoid that sense of entitlement and jealousy towards others for having what she was rightfully owed and then cheated out of, when it should’ve been hers and not theirs- Eda didn’t become obsessed with petty spite, about proving everyone wrong about her, about caring about what others had to say… She didn’t foolishly invest her energy towards revenge!

At her lowest point, Eda avoided looking to Belos’ toxic system for validation and an answer like so many others had. By doing so, Eda got to live truly freely without anything holding her down, she didn’t fall for that trap, validation from herself was all Eda needed… No wonder there was such a refreshing relief and sense of self-discovery in her newfound lifestyle, and why Eda so unironically boasts of it to Luz! But in the end… it feels good to receive support from others as well, and Eda no doubt missed that from a lot of people, especially her sister Lilith. And when you have only yourself… Amidst society and your own sister calling you a degenerate and a freak? With even the nature and the Boiling Isles/Titan that Eda found inspiration from, seemingly rejecting the kind of person she was, according to the Titan’s alleged messenger?

It’s no wonder she’s so tsundere about showing affection. Why Eda insists on being closed-off, and it’s why Eda insists on being nice to Luz despite her own fears of rejection, because she really doesn’t want Luz to go through what she did! And it just… MEANS. SO. MUCH, to her, when Luz and King stick with Eda after learning of the curse! And they actively help Eda with the curse, go out of their way to help her when Eda isn’t asking them, when Eda is telling them NOT to… And Eda’s kind of nervous and unsure of how to feel about Luz’s hugs. Maybe she’s afraid of being abandoned for the Coven System like Lilith did to her, which is why she’s so against Luz joining Hexside; But she also doesn’t want to force things on Luz, and she recognizes that Luz’s autonomy is more important, and that if Luz makes the choice to leave Eda, Eda should respect that! So she gives Luz that choice without trying to sway Luz to any particular opinion…

Luz is just SO KIND, and it’s all so unusual and overwhelming to Eda! Then Luz brings her friends, and Eda’s not so sure what to think, but she lets them in, she doesn’t want to be downright hostile. She’s cautious, she lets Willow and Gus exist and feels there more Luz’s friends than anything else, they probably have no opinions of her- Don’t complicate the kid’s relationships like that! Then Eda meets Odalia and Alador’s kids… And maybe she’s lowkey afraid of them recognizing and calling her out as a freak; But Amity, Emira, and Edric never do that! Amity goes out of her way to fix her own problems and it’s lowkey relieving that this girl that Luz clearly loves and vice-versa, is no threat to Eda- Though of course Eda would bear a lot of pain for Luz’s sake, you know she would even if Luz would never ask her to do that! The twins even conjure up a giant illusion of Eda that she adores…!

During Grom, it’s so painful and traumatic to see her cursed form assumed by Grom, and to have those kids look at her- And Eda must be lowkey getting panic attacks from her old memories again, but she bears through and watches so she can keep an eye on Luz, and then comes to the kid’s rescue so that Luz never has to worry about handling an uncomfortable situation without support! And Eda is just so STUNNED by how much Luz is doing for her, that she feels obligated to pay her back, as if Luz’s love isn’t unconditional to Eda and vice-versa… So she makes the Witch’s Wool cloak for Luz- And then when Luz breaks into the Conformatorium for her, Eda is just. SO touched, but concerned???

You can only imagine how much the pain of Lilith’s betrayal meant- Not just her being the curser, but especially Lilith kidnapping Luz, which is something Eda ALWAYS cites first before reminding Lilith that she cursed her little sister? But regardless this genuine betrayal of family hurts so much, but Eda swallows her pride to beg Lilith to protect Luz or at least keep her from Belos, because her love for Luz overwhelms any hatred she could have for anyone else… And Eda is resigned to her fate. She thinks this is what happens to her, and that Luz made it worthwhile, and maybe only Luz, because Eda underestimates herself.

Eda thinks she accomplished nothing. She was a rebel but never managed to change the system, and her curse discredited Eda to the public as a ‘savage’ beast. Eda felt like she had SO many unfulfilled dreams, that she was lowkey just taking up space and could never do the good things for this world that she always wanted to, so she always saw herself as just a criminal… Eda felt like all of her efforts against the system were for nothing when her own sister abandoned her for it! She thinks Luz and King are the only valid things about her, Eda relapses into that feeling that she needs to justify her own existence…

And then Willow and Gus step in. They mostly know Eda through Luz and not much more beyond that… But they VOUCH for her, and surely it’s only because Eda means a lot to Luz herself! Even so Eda is touched, but then… This entire crowd of randos, of utter strangers starts vouching for her? Morton expresses gratitude to Eda, who must’ve thought herself as just another needy customer to him… Principal Bump, who probably has regrets about failing Eda- He straight-up says Eda made him love teaching again? And you KNOW that means so much to Eda, because she has a relationship with wanting to reclaim education on her own terms, free from the Coven System’s influence…

Eda no doubt has trust issues over being taken advantage of, in regards to her curse, and her need for elixir. Tibbles didn’t exactly help that, so it means a lot to see Morton appreciate what Eda did; Obviously partly as a customer, but there’s a sense that Morton doesn’t just need Eda’s business, he wants her happiness in general out of true gratitude! Even the DEMON HUNTER who captured her in Episode 10, vouches for Eda’s escape! Granted that dude probably didn’t even know that was a person he was capturing and not a mindless beast (granted he has no qualms about murdering children even if he won’t glorify it), and maybe that Demon Hunter is vouching more in opposition to Belos, than an ACTUAL support for Eda herself…

But still, even this random jerk who persecuted Eda for being cursed, as a beast, who dehumanized her- This former enemy is now vouching for Eda’s personhood, for her right to live and exist! Then you’ve got a bunch of kids who are cheering for Eda too, even kids from high-status families like Skara- You’d think those families would be particularly against Eda, if Odalia and Alador are any indication… But the Blight kids prove that wrong. So does Skara, and then you’ve got some regular students, among them a kid who looked at Eda when he recognized her cursed form during Grom… And Eda’s felt like a freak for so long, so having these innocent kids actually vouch for her, like she’s a role model, like she’s someone to rally around and defend- It means so much! That these strangers don’t care for Eda on a personal level, but on a moral obligation they can’t bear to see her suffer- Just as Eda doesn’t connect with most people, but she defies the Coven System because of what it does to society! Even when the system offered her a place at the top, she refused because she saw others being hurt by it…

Eda is very much the kind of person who would vouch for an enemy, I feel, if she thinks their mistreatment is coming from a place of injustice, by a cruel system, and is undeserved in this particular scenario. She’d vouch for the rights and personhood of EVERYONE… Even if she’d totally kill them in self-defense for harming her Luz. To Eda, your right to exist is something you really have to work to forfeit through heinous acts and threatening others’ right to exist, instead of being something one must earn- You’re already entitled to it by default! To finally see her ideals be repeated, to have that sentiment echoed through others… After so long of feeling unheard, of feeling like her ideas have been dismissed because of her curse…

And now people are doing this, while Eda is LITERALLY cursed, right in front of them! She’s taking the form of a monster, but that doesn’t matter to any of these people! The dweebus’ dad even risks his job to let Willow and Gus fight against the system, because he thinks they and Eda make some good points; Or AT LEAST, Eda doesn’t deserve this! Every time Eda’s transformed, it was always a state of vulnerability and trauma where she was hurt and rejected. Even King, her trusted friend, lowkey dehumanized Eda by treating her as a beast to conquer others with (even if he learned his lesson in the end). Whether through Luz or her own actions, which DID affect Luz to begin with, or both… Eda has done something. Eda has actually put something out into this world, and is now receiving back from it so gloriously and kindly.

It must mean a LOT to her, it must mean so much… And obviously she couldn’t immediately react in the chaos. But afterwards, when things have calmed down and they all have time to recollect their thoughts at the Owl House? It probably struck Eda. To see kids, low-key a symbol of her lost youth, vouch for Eda… To change for the better just as Eda wants this new generation to avoid the trauma of the old one. It gives Eda a sweet hope in the new generation to save things, it gives her even more faith towards Luz, a desire to truly see her do well and propagate… Teenagers, from her first experience transforming, mock and hurt you for the curse even when you’re scared and need help. So it means a lot to Eda to see the situation change, so see Teenagers now being the kind of people who vouch for Eda…

Because keep in mind, this is all at the risk of Belos’ retaliation! This is an execution specifically propped up as being what Belos himself wants, to the point where he isn’t even going to hide it- He’s going to publicize and broadcast it! These people, kids and adults alike, even Bump who feared Belos because he likely saw his violent rise to power; They’re in the Conformatorium, at the heart of a symbol of Belos’ cruelty. The Emperor’s Coven could lash out at them for this, but they don’t care, because Eda deserves better than this, because ANYBODY deserves better than this, by principle! These people are risking themselves for Eda on the same kind of principle she tried to spread and feared would never be heard…

And it’s so incredibly validating. That Eda herself made just a change, not only for this specific kid named Luz –and she’d have been content with just that- but even with all these strangers from Bonesborough! Her existence and efforts weren’t for naught, and they expanded well beyond what Eda expected. Eda had resigned herself to never getting the dreams she wanted, and opted to get them for someone else- But now, this gives her hope that maybe Eda CAN live out the dreams she thought she lost, after all! And so when it’s finally tied off with Lilith… With Lilith risking Belos’ wrath, for Eda’s sake- Lilith FINALLY prioritizing her little sister, after all this time?

Lilith’s betrayal was among the first of Eda’s trauma. Lilith, siding with the Emperor’s Coven when Eda first transformed… It no doubt stuck in Eda’s mind and influenced her feelings of worthlessness a lot. Eda hoped that Lilith could turn around, not just because she loved her sister, because it also made Eda hope that she was lovable, that Lilith could still care for her in return… Which is kind of a parallel to Lilith hoping Eda would join the Emperor’s Coven for her, albeit in a much more compassionate and respectful way, of course! And Eda becomes resigned to Lilith’s rejection as the fundamental truth of how unlovable she is if her own sister rejects her, ESPECIALLY after learning that Lily even cursed her to be beside Belos…

And now Lilith is changing. Lilith has FINALLY changed, and now has King vouching for her- Luz has no doubt changed Lilith’s heart, and Eda is so indebted to the kid for this… But then she remembers that Luz was influenced by Eda, too. In a sense, it was Eda who indirectly managed to finally change her sister’s heart… Lilith finally realized how much she cared for Eda unconditionally. And Eda is just SO touched, after all these years of pain and abandonment- That she takes the petrification blow for Lilith and King. Probably more for King, with Lilith having to unintentionally benefit from Eda’s cursed girth that SHE caused, but still! It must be an overwhelming series of events- To have Luz and King affirm their love for Eda, to have this entire AUDIENCE of strangers, some of whom aren’t so strange to Eda, vouch for her? For Eda to realize she made a positive impact…

And now Lilith, the person whose betrayal likely hurt her most? Now even Lilith is vouching for Eda? When it finally settled in, after they all returned to the Owl House? Eda could’ve very easily cried and sobbed intense feelings of relief, of happiness, of validation… And I can see her just letting go of any grudge against Lilith, at least in the moment, because she’s just so happy and grateful for this. That she just wants love and validation, that she doesn’t care to hate- Eda never wanted to hate Lilith, always she wants to regain that lost love between them, and now it’s being offered back! Maybe in calmer moments, Eda will rightfully recall her issues with Lilith… But right now, she’s so happy. Eda’s never felt this relieved and content before, as she hugs Luz and King… It’s like she really COULD die without regrets this time, unlike what she claimed in Agony of a Witch…

Eda’s at peace with every decision she’s made now, and if given the chance to redo her life, would pick those choices again without hesitation! Eda wouldn’t change a thing, especially not after seeing where it’s gotten her now- Not a single of her own actions, she regrets! And at the same time, Eda’s still got so much more to do, so much more to look forward to! Making up for lost time with Lilith, learning Glyphs alongside Luz… Eda felt like it had already ended, or was in the process of ending- Her own lifespan had been shortened by the curse! But now, NOW, it feels like it’s just begun…! And Eda’s rediscovered that lost passion and hope for the future, that desire to head forward and explore to her heart’s content, to seize opportunities- And she’s just so happy. It just means the world to her, so much, and she’s eternally indebted towards Luz for this, for showing Eda the Light at the end of the tunnel; For getting her out of that dark place of resignation.

It’s like Eda’s going back in time, almost, to get the life she actually deserved and wanted for herself- And she is taking her chance! She’s not going to forget what she actually went through as an adult of course… But regardless, Edalyn Clawthorne has hope for the future. And not just the future, but for herself as well- It feels like she’s undone and made right her greatest regrets and failures, and now Eda feels the capacity to not just undo mistakes, but to make good… Because she DID make good, she did inspire people! And now Eda is determined to be what she always dreamed of, now that she has the chance to put in the work, and now nobody else can ever take that from her! And she won’t let people take from anyone else, either… What had been possibly the worst night of Eda’s life, was immediately followed by the best one… Not just in years; Maybe the best night in all of Eda’s life, period! And Eda could understand if there will never be a moment as great as this, ever again, because all ensuing moments from now on will still be worth it, especially if it’s with her family… And hey, who’s to say Eda can’t work to make things even better, as is?

Her confidence in herself to improve, to change the world around her, to make things better for herself and others- Not only has it returned, but it’s been truly validated! And now… now, it’s like a spark has been relit in Eda’s heart, more potent than her lost bile magic, and Eda can finally unapologetically be herself and fully pursue what she wanted, without anyone else to drag her down! Screw you Belos- Eda feels like she practically has the entire world behind her back! Fitting, given the possibility of the Titan siding with Luz… And ironic, given how Belos claimed it was the Titan’s will to spare Eda!

Maybe Belos WAS right about that in the end, and never even realized it… And being validated by the wilderness Eda loved and found solace in when there was nobody else to reassure her, the wilderness that inspired and defined her? To be told it was real, that it felt Eda’s attention and that it was touched by it in return? To do for Nature, after Nature did so much for her? Finally earning others’ respect for nature by getting them to challenge the Coven System’s loathsome rejection to wild magic… That there really was always somebody listening, that Eda was never wrong, and even on her own, she was still valid? That the world will never be against her, it too wants the best?

Eda’s life really has turned around. She was on the trajectory for what she thought would be a meaningless, unnoticed end, isolated from all others, forgotten even by the Coven System, with Belos not caring for Eda until she had the portal. But now it’s changed around, and Luz’s Light has shown her that in many regards, Eda’s life really was already that valid as she claimed, after all! And now, it’s like Eda can do anything… She knows who she is and can truly trust in that, now. The Owl House was an environment where people could finally be themselves- And after all this time, its most long-lasting and famous resident can enjoy this comfort at home for herself.

An unimaginable burden has been lifted from Eda’s shoulders, and now she feels freer than she’s ever been- And now she can truly love herself, not just in the present, but every moment in the past. Eda can fully, intensely self-love, and from there, her love of others can only flourish and bloom- And for Luz, it’s pretty intense as-is! Eda’s making new connections… All that went wrong has gone right, and Eda can safely be reassured that she doesn’t just owe it to others for this- She owes it to HERSELF as well, that Eda’s own efforts and struggles paid off in the end!

Eda made her own life not just better, she made it great from the very beginning, she truly defined herself, and applied those principles of determining one’s fate, to herself, and not just to others. Eda was a mentor to many, but now she gets to be the apprentice who learns and benefits after all this time- Not just from her own lessons, but from Luz’s as well! Eda did make a change, she really did… And I wouldn’t be surprised by a major shift in Eda’s mood from now on, in how she interacts with others and strangers, as she becomes even more open, and unapologetically herself, and openly loving with those hugs that Luz taught, or reminded her, of…

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #the owl house luz #luz noceda #meta

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keelywolfe · 3 years

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FIC: Snowdrifts ch.7 (spicyhoney)

Summary: Uncle Red is always up for babysitting, but is pitting Red against baby Snow the wisest choice?

Tags: Spicyhoney, Rescued Child, Babybones, First Time Parenthood, Idiots to Lovers

Read it on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

No matter what the boss thought, Red couldn't actually read anybody's mind. Not that he minded keeping up the illusion, nah, that was pretty fucking useful and back in Underfell, his bro wasn't the only person mostly convinced that Red was able to look right into the dirtiest corners of their mind and see what dust bunnies were lying around.

It was a perk he was gonna miss, at least for a little while. Shouldn’t be hard to get reestablished around these parts, hell, prolly a lot easier. His bro might be having some regrets about abandoning the old place, but Red was more’n happy to set up as a cuckoo in their shiny new nest. The rubes in this ‘verse were ripe for a little mystery and already the gossip was flying about the kid, where she was from and who played incubator. Smart money was on his bro as mama; word around town was that Stretch’s slutty ways took a downward trend a few months back and everyone was real damn interested in seeing who the local bird went cold turkey for.

Red gave ‘em a week before the locals started showing up with casseroles and curiosity. Never underestimate boredom and a hearty rumor mill when making plans. Red never did and he would bet good money he’d have the folks in this Snowdin watching him with awe and suspicion in no time.

Well, more than they already were.

Except Muffet but that didn't surprise him none. Multiverse theory could go hang, he figured she was gonna be a sharp slice of cheddar no matter what world she was from. ‘Least if this one was gonna suck you dry it only meant your wallet. Gal had an eye for talent, he’d give her that, hired him on right away, and Red was looking forward to a long, mutually benefitting relationship.

Anyway, mind reading, eh, not so much. What Red had was a carefully cultivated skill in knowing when people were carrying around a steaming load of bullshit. He'd been learning that knack since he was in short pants even if his pants only got wider over the years, not longer, and right now, there was a week-old baby bones trying to convince him her little soul was gonna break if she didn’t have her daddy close by to lug her around.

Kid was putting on a hell of a show. Lying on her back in a pile of blankets on the living room floor that was also Red’s part-time bedroom, feet kicking up a storm and her little hands clenched in fists that she waved like a prizefighter. Fat tears were rolling down her chunker cheekbones as she howled, awful loud for someone without a set of lungs. Kid was pissed, sure, but pissed ain’t hurt and Red might’ve been kinda impressed by her tenacity if it weren’t for the simple fact that his bro needed some rest. Here they were in marshmallow world with two extra bods helping foot the bill and his bro was still exhausting himself trying to do everything. Difference was, here Red had Stretch running interference and between the two of them, they’d shake the ants out of his brother’s pants.

‘Course, Stretch had a different way of doing it and there was a thought Red wasn’t gonna examine too close. His baby bro’s pants and Stretch could do whatever they wanted out of his line of sight.

Only problem was, the two of them were only upstairs. Kid was getting pretty loud and Red scooped her up into his lap, giving her a gentle bounce. “gonna have to do better than that, snowmonster,” Red told her. “i survived my bro and he’s an expert pain in the ass.”

The wails paused as his voice caught the baby’s attention. Snow goggled at him her mouth still open, and after a moment the cries began again, this time with an uncertain waver.

“nope, try again.” He propped his chin in his hand. "you got my bro fooled, but i ain't the gullible type. might try a little sweettalking, sweetheart.”

A short, shrill cry only got her a chuckle. "sorry, honey, it ain't gonna work on me."

The tears dried up pretty damn fast without someone to break down the dam. Kid hadn’t quite given up yet, Underfell tenacity must be built-in from creation. She gurgled out a pleading cry, her tiny hands reaching for Red’s face. He let her pat his cheekbones, wincing at a particularly firm little slap.

He took the offending hand and gave it a loud kiss, earning a smile for his troubles. "nah, your daddy bears are tired, kiddo, they need a nap. you got 'em both dancing like popcorn on a hot plate, not bad for your first trick."

Hm, daddy? Paps hadn't been too clear on that yet, and fuck them all anyway for renaming his little brother Edge, keerist, might as well name him Gloomy Ass Kissy Pants. Already took himself too fucking serious as it was.

Eh, that probably wasn’t gonna change, Red didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that; he’d been that way since he was about the size of this one, and someday he was gonna show Stretch the pics that were saved on his phone of his lil bro back when he was little. Might have to wait until they were more settled in for that, though.

He’d give it a week.

Red looked down at the baby in his arms, her wide, pale eye lights gazing back up at him. Always watching, this one, learning, figuring things out. When she learned how to crawl, she was gonna be an ever-fucking nightmare for his bro, exactly how Paps had been ever since the very instant he got mobile. Kid hadn’t stopped since.

Red couldn’t wait. Payback really was a bitch and this bitch was gonna slap it right on his little brother’s ass.

“tell you what,” Red told her, “let’s get you a snack, kiddo, and see what other toys the mutts brought over for you, how about that?”

Kid was clearly disgruntled, but she accepted the bottle when Red handed it over, suckling noisily. Red dug into the bag that was still in the corner. Blocks were well and good, but he’d bet there was something in all this junk that made some real noise.

~~*~~

Despite his brother's innuendo when he’d shooed the two of them upstairs for a nap before another night of baby-watching began, there was nothing sexual going on in the bedroom and for that, Edge was guiltily grateful. He would admit to being exhausted, his first day as a caretaker left him as weary as if he’d spent a day running the traplines, and if Stretch had given any indication at all that he was interested in sex, Edge would have been torn over his response.

The answer was a difficult one. On one hand, Stretch had been utterly appalled even a hint of the idea that Edge might pay some of the debt he owed the Swap brothers in that fashion, but on the other, Edge did feel some sense of obligation to Stretch that made him reluctant to beg off. Best not to say that aloud, it wasn't a difficult guess that the very notion would upset Stretch a great deal.

There was also the fact that they'd been sleeping together for some months now, anything at this point would have a diminished value.

Not that it mattered in this situation. Stretch didn’t give any indication that he was hoping for anything past a solid eight hours of putting the mattress to its more traditional use and barring that, at least a couple hours of decent rest.

Still, Edge couldn’t help teasing, “Are you sure you want to use our time to sleep? My brother seemed to think we could make other use of it.”

There was a tiny sprinkle of bright freckles across Stretch’s nasal nodule and Edge could privately admit that the way they scrunched together when his face twisted was rather adorable.

"baby, you know i'm always up for it," Stretch grimaced. "but i don't think i can get it up right now. unless you want to drive…?"

Tempting as the idea of being inside Stretch was, whatever desire the image managed to rouse was closer to a wet firecracker than a spark. "To be honest, I think I'd rather nap," Edge confessed. If he even could, through the closed door he could hear Snow’s wails and it was only his brother’s firm edict that they were not to come back downstairs for at least two hours that was keeping him in this room at all. The penalty for disobeying a direct order from Red was not usually a subtle revenge and Edge didn’t care to see what sort of creativity his brother might come up with in new surroundings.

"nap it is then." Stretch scrambled into the bed, sprawling across the mattress. He turned back to Edge, both arms spread wide, "since we ain’t taking off, you may as well come on in for a landing!"

Edge rolled his eye lights but crawled in with him. Stretch squawked as Edge firmly rolled him over on his side and snugged up behind him. He murmured against the smooth, sensitive bone at the base of Stretch’s skull. "I believe it's my turn to be the big spoon."

The way Stretch shifted against him nearly made him rethink his urge for sleep. Stretch laughed, a touch unsteadily, "sweetheart, you can handle my silverware anytime you like. after a nap."

After a nap, yes. The crying from downstairs had petered out and Edge pulled the blankets over them both and settled in. Napping was still unfamiliar to him and he didn't sleep so much as drift, resting in the fog of exhaustion. That alone was an unaccustomed pleasure and there was no telling how long he drifted before he resurfaced to unexpected movement.

The faint shudder of Stretch in his arms didn't wake him so much as nudge him from that fog and the loss left him disoriented and surly. Edge pushed up on an elbow, frowning down at the other skeleton and his irritation faded as he caught his breath at what he saw.

Stretch was crying. He was curled up on the mattress, still sleeping while tears seeped from his closed sockets and left wet trails down his cheekbones. His breath was clotted with the quiet sobs racking him and without the pressure of Edge’s arm holding him down, he curled up tighter into a fetal ball, his long legs drawn up against his skinny ribcage as he wept at whatever his dreams were showing him.

No amount of rest was worth this kind of pain and Edge gave him a gentle shake, saying softly, "Stretch? Stretch, wake up."

He did not anticipate Stretch lurching up and scrambling away from him, his joints lit with magic and his eye lights flaring wildly as he flung both hands out as if to ward him away, brilliant orange engulfing his fingertips like candle flames.

Edge kept still, waiting for the dregs of sleep to clear away. Long experience with his brother’s occasional bad turns at night had taught him that while his HP could easily survive an attack, the guilt that followed was always so much worse.

Sure enough, recognition slowly filled Stretch’s gaze, followed almost immediately by horror. Stretch sank back against the wall with a heartfelt groan, the flames of his magic extinguishing as he buried his face into his hands. "fuck, i am so sorry."

"If I don't need to thank you for all you’ve done, then you don't owe me any apologies for this. Come here?" Edge held his arms open in gentle offering and after a moment, Stretch did, crawling back into his arms. His bones were chilled, clacking against Edge's as he shivered, and Edge tucked the blankets back around them both.

"There we are," Edge said, as softly as he would have to Snow. He set his chin on the top of Stretch’s skull, careful not to let it dig in painfully. "Was it a bad dream?"

"more like a memory." Stretch shifted against him, his cheekbone pressed to Edge's sternum. He did not look up as he asked softly. "do you remember anything about the lab?"

"Only from recently,” Edge admitted, “not as a child. My brother doesn't talk about it much, but I do know I wasn't there for more than a couple days before he fled with me in tow."

"yeah." Stretch said nothing else, no commiseration, and Edge did not ask it of him. He didn't need to press for an unneeded explanation, not when the answer was so obvious. Memory dredged up by those numbers on one of Snow's fragile ribs, engraved too deeply to easily heal. He only held Stretch close, petting from the back of his skull down his cervical vertebra with gentle fingertips as those bone-deep shudders slowly eased.

Petting shifted to a careful massage, rubbing at the delicate cartilage between the spinal joints until all the tension wound through Stretch faded, leaving him as boneless against Edge as a skeleton could manage. He sighed, his warm breath gusting humidly over Edge’s collarbone, and his long limbs wound around Edge in a bony sort of cage, loosely holding on.

Edge was drowsing himself, his stroking gone idle, when Stretch spoke again in a low, barely audible mumble that Edge nevertheless heard very clearly, snapping awake as his soul began to pound in his ribcage. Couched on an exhale, three words that were so complex in their very simplicity.

“hnnnn,” Stretch sighed out, “i love you.”

There in the darkness, Edge lay with wide sockets staring up at the ceiling as every thought of sleep fled to the corners of his mind, leaving it utterly empty. Obviously, such a declaration required a response, and yet his thoughts were a panicked blank, his hands still on Stretch and surely he was already regretting saying such a thing, surely he was rethinking his choice as Edge only lay here like a useless fool, unable to reply.

“Stretch,” Edge choked out, faltering, and before he could manage to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth came an unexpected reply. A faint snore that rumbled through them both as Stretch snuggled in closer, his sockets closed in sleep.

Edge almost sagged in relief, letting out a slow, shaky breath. But he knew the reprieve was a brief one. That declaration would come again, he should have already been expecting it, and he would need a ready reply.

He wasn’t fool enough not to know what reply Stretch wanted. He just wasn’t sure it was one he was able to give and what consequences would come if he couldn’t? Their place here was so precarious despite what the Swap brothers said, they couldn’t be expected to stay here if there was resentment between them. Snow needed a safe home, free of arguments and snide verbal attacks and Edge meant to see she had one. No matter what it cost him.

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #drifters

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aliwritesfic · 3 years

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Our Black Hearts Part 2 (F!Reader x Jack "Whiskey" Daniels)

Summary: You decide it's time to come clean to Jack about the man he's after

W/C: 2k

Warnings: None for this chapter I think, but please tell me if I missed something

Spotify

Part 1

You loved working the towns garden. The feeling of warm dirt in your hands, the feeling of accomplishment watching something go from seedling to edible vegetable in the span of just a few weeks. Hell, sometimes you even relished in the ache in your back after a long day. It let you know you were alive.

It was while you planted a new crop of carrots that you rehearsed what you were going to say to Jack when you saw him next. Hello, I hope you don’t kill me for not telling you as soon as I was sure, but I know who killed your wife, and I think I know where to find him, or at least how to find people who know where he would be. We good?

You frowned as you dug into the earth, unable to escape the guilt gnawing at your insides like a parasite. You know you should’ve told him the first morning, when you woke up encased in his arms. But the way the pale pre-dawn light played on his skin distracted you. Then he woke up and he really distracted you. Then a week passed, and you still hadn’t summoned up the courage to tell him, despite several more rendezvous with him. You knew it would be worse the longer you waited, a somehow larger betrayal.

Of course, you could just lie, tell him you weren’t sure, but that wasn’t in your nature. You hated to lie, and you were fucking terrible at it. You had been since childhood, unable to hide your secrets from the scrutinizing gaze of your mother. Now, every time you tried to lie, you remembered the sharp blow to the back of your head you would receive, and instead you chose to just avoid the truth.

Straightening your back, you turned your gaze toward the cloudless blue sky. It was nearing midday, the hottest and most dangerous hours to be outside would soon be upon you. Already people had sequestered themselves inside, the only ones who couldn’t were those patrolling the perimeter of the town. Large sheets of rusted metal had been erected along the perimeter; the only protection afforded to those who protected the town. It had once struck you as deeply unfair, but now you knew it was necessary. Too many stories of towns being attacked at the suns highest point had reached your ears, chilled you to the bone.

“Chase,” the use of your nickname snapped you out of your thoughts. You glanced behind you and saw Sparkie, the middle-aged man who oversaw the gardens waving to you. “Come inside before you get crispy.”

You obliged, abandoning your shovel in the dusty earth. It was only a couple degrees cooler inside the garden house but being in the shade made all the difference. The garden house was arguably the dirtiest building in the whole town, boot prints and stray tools littered the cracked tile floor, the entire thing smelt of fertilizer and no number of open windows could get rid of the stench. You sat yourself down on a plastic crate and turned your attention to the window.

In the distance you could see the perimeter wall of Deepwell, a single speck of a figure under the small metal sheet. No stupid hat, so it couldn’t have been Jack. You had learnt that he was assigned as a guardsman for the town, replacing the guard who had been brutally gunned down in a raid a month before he had arrived. At the thought of that, the image of the dead guard flashed in your mind – shot so many times in the face no one could identify them until a headcount of surviving guards had been taken. Her name had been Lydia, you found out later, and you hadn’t said more than three words to her.

A shrill whistle sounded in the distance, signalling it was safe to be in direct sunlight again. Jack stepped out from the small perimeter shelter and adjusted the grip on his rifle. He had learnt protocols during his first day of what was done directly after Midday. First, he had to make sure no one was trying to breach his appointed section of wall. Most days there was nothing, occasionally a pack of wild dogs or boar would be gathered drawn by the smell of living creatures. Once he had found a Skulker, barely clinging to life, sent crazy by sun and hunger and dehydration. Parts of her skin had melted away from time spent in the Toxic Plains, leaving shiny white bone. That had been an easy kill – a single bullet between the eyes before she had even realised he was there.

There was nothing today, only the ever-present patches dead earth and haze of heat on the horizon. Jack adjusted his dark glasses, traded a year back for a half blunt knife. They had become one of his most prized possessions, a saviour for his eyesight.

The next hour passed quietly on the outside of the wall. A single mutt had appeared briefly in the distance, Jack kept his gun trained on the creature until it had slinked away, disappearing over the horizon. He could’ve shot it, sent word to the fetchers about fresh meat, but the dog wasn’t worth the bullet. Its ribs and pelvis had stuck out from its body, more skin and bones than anything edible.

Sweat was beading down the back of his neck and dampening his shirt when relief finally arrived. His replacement was a burly teenager, arms criss-crossed with scars from a childhood spent living in the lawless no-mans-lands. Jack tipped his hat and handed the shotgun to the kid.

“Happy watchin’,” he said with an easy grin. The kid grunted in response, turning to face the vast nothing in front of them.

It was mid-afternoon, early enough for the water troughs to be devoid of most people and late enough that the water wouldn’t be boiling hot anymore. The troughs were close to the well for which the town was named, though the well was just a hole in the ground fenced off by frayed rope. It was the towns only source of clean water, so deep underground it took almost five minutes for it to be pumped up.

The troughs were worked by just one woman, who Jack thought probably had the worst job in the whole town. Keeping the troughs filled and clean, making sure the stores were stocked with enough for the townspeople to clean themselves with. Not to mention having to wash the clothes of anyone who asked. Jack avoided asking for as long as he could, only going to her when the stench became too much for him to be able to deal with on his own.

Today, fortunately, his clothes weren’t an issue. He stripped down, folding his clothes neatly before easing himself into one of the troughs. He dunked his head under the warm water, scrubbing at his scalp with his fingers. He didn’t have the luxury of soap today, having worn through his last bar before he could find a suitable trade for a replacement. Jack didn’t mind though – sometimes the water itself was enough to feel clean.

“Jack,” Chase was standing at the foot of his trough, hands on her hips. Well this is a nice surprise Jack thought as he sat up, pushing his wet hair back. Her face was shiny with sweat and streaked with dirt that seemed to attach itself to any available bit of skin.

“Hello, Doll.” He had taken to calling her that, preferring it to Chase. At least, he preferred it when he was trying to seduce her.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, and Jack’s blood ran instantly cold.

“You’re not – you know?” He gestured to her stomach. Chase looked down, confused, before realization dawned on her face.

“It’s been a week, Jack, Maker help me! No. Didn’t you learn anything about how babies are actually made when you were married?” Chase raised an incredulous brow at him. Jack shrugged. “I have a book on that, you should give it a read.”

Jack rubbed at his legs with a scrap piece of cloth, knowing he was not going to read that book. “So, what’d ya need, doll? Come to take another ride?” Chase rolled her eyes.

“No. I need to talk to you-” Chase hesitated, looking conflicted. “Look, just don’t hate me, please.” Jack sat forward, suddenly intrigued.

“Well, don’t leave me hangin’ in suspense,” Jack said.

“I know who killed your wife. I can find him.”

Jack’s ears rang for a moment, he wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “You . . .”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Chase crouched down next to the trough as she spoke, her eyes imploring him to understand. “I wasn’t sure it was him; I thought he was dead! But – but it’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Who is he? How do you know?” Jack tried to keep the pain out of his voice. How long has she known, he wondered, and not told him?

Chase at least had the decency to look ashamed. “He’s – his name is Elijah. He’s missing an eye because ten years ago I stabbed him, thought I killed him too. I tried to kill him!”

“Chase, who is he to you? Are you sure you can find him?”

“I can find him. I still have connections with his old crowd, someone there will know where he is.” Chase rubbed her face, somehow smearing on even more dirt. “If I tell you who he is . . . just don’t hold it against me, okay?”

“No promises,” Jack said.

“He’s my brother. Womb brother, actually.”

“You tried to kill your brother?” Jack was too shocked to feel angry. He was an only child, but from what he knew, the bond between siblings was one of the strongest, especially those bonded in the womb.

“You’ve met him,” Chase shrugged helplessly, “he’s – look I’m not gonna pretend that I deserve understanding for keeping this from you. But now I know he’s alive . . .” she trailed off, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

“Tell me where to find him.” Jack said.

“No, you need me.” Chase shook her head. “You won’t get far without me, I promise you that.”

Jack scoffed at her. “Don’t underestimate me.”

“I’m not, I’m being realistic. You don’t know Elijah like I do. He’s paranoid, delusional, he thinks he’s a fucking god. You won’t get within ten feet of him without someone blowing your brains out. If you’re serious about this revenge thing, you need me.”

Jack pushed himself out of the trough and began to dry off quickly in the sun. Still naked, he turned to face Chase, arms crossed over his chest. “And just why are you so damn insistent on comin’ with me? You could tell me what you know, I could hire any number of mercs who could get the job done better than you, and you wouldn’t have to get your hands dirty . . . well dirtier than they already are.”

Chase took a deep breath, evidently to calm herself down. “I need to make sure what I started is finished. Someone has to kill Elijah, and I won’t be able to sleep until I know he’s dead.”

The look on her face told Jack she was completely serious. He considered for a few moments, pulling his clothes back on. If everything she said was true, he would need her help, to find Elijah, to get close enough to kill him. But –

“If you tried to kill him, how can you get close without you getting your head blown off?” Jack combed his fingers through his hair and secured it with his hat.

“He doesn’t know it was me. It’s a long story but you just have to trust me.”

Jack considered the woman standing in front of him. Of course, he didn’t trust her – it was stupid to trust anybody. But it was his only chance, he was beginning to realise, and she’d have to come along whether he wanted it or not. Which given his current mood regarding her keeping this from him, he did not.

“Alright, get your shit ready. I’m leaving at dusk.”

Tagging: @sharkbait77 @quica-quica-quica <3 <3

#jack whiskey daniels #jack daniels x f!reader #kingsmen golden circle #jack daniels au #post apocalyptic

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kumeko · 3 years

Text

A/N: for the @quarantinefanzine! I wanted to do a little compare and contrast for Tanjirou and Yushiro in a modern au

…

Tanjirou loved his home. A two-bedroom apartment, it was a small, cozy place, barely big enough for three people let alone his family of eight. Books, clothes, and knick-knacks claimed every inch of space, cluttering the modest place. Things were precariously stacked on one another, one loud sound away from crashing to the ground.

His classmates found it claustrophobic. He found their bedrooms lonely in comparison. Tanjirou woke up surrounded by a mess of limbs, ate to the sound of a dozen conversations, and laughed every minute of his life. His home was a messy, disorganized place, but it was home and it was his and he’d never needed anything more than that.

However, he had greatly underestimated just how much he relied on his school as a buffer zone to get things done. Thanks to covid, Tanjirou was stuck inside his apartment with all five of his siblings twenty-four hours a day. Seven days a week. Hopefully not 365 days a year.

It was like babysitting, except it never stopped. Tanjirou had managed all of his siblings before; as the oldest two, he and Nezuko had spent most of their weekday evenings juggling school and siblings. A few hours at most, until his parents dragged themselves home, tired and worn.

Now the hours rolled into days rolled into months. Spring had turned into fall and he wasn’t sure what happened to summer. School had started again. His table was cluttered with textbooks and lined papers and increasingly tiny pencils. Tanjirou had never been a good student on the best of days. Now? Impossible. The numbers swam as he stared at the desktop computer, trying to make sense of it all.

“Tanjirou.” A little hand tugged his sleeve and Tanjirou glanced down to find Rokuta staring up at him, his eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned. He ducked down slightly so they were on the same eye level. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Rokuta nodded. He fiddled with his thumbs nervously, looking down at his feet as he asked, “Could you play with me?”

“Play?” Tanjirou resisted the urge to wince. At just five, Rokuta didn’t really have ‘school’ to attend. His teachers held his attention for maybe an hour or two before releasing him. The only other solution was the TV.

Unfortunately, their walls were paper thin. If it was hard to study now, it would be impossible with Baby Shark running through his head. Rubbing his neck, Tanjirou ran through the checklist Nezuko came up with, “Did you read your book?”

Rokuta nodded. “Two times.”

“Your dolls?”

“They had a fight.”

“Your puppets?”

“They’re under the couch.”

“Oh.” Tanjirou bit his cheek. Just what did they have left for him to do? “What about the paper cup castle?”

Once more, his brother nodded, though this time he rocked back and forth on his feet excitedly. “It’s so big!” He spread his arms to indicate just how big his castle was. “Can we smash it?”

He peeked at his computer’s time. Ten thirty. Tanjirou had barely scratched his homework. After a long play before they’d started school, he’d hoped Rokuta would have been fine till lunch, but clearly that wasn’t the case today. Ruffling his brother’s hair, Tanjirou asked, “Can we play in thirty minutes?”

“Huh?” Rokuta trembled, his eyes watery.

“You can get things set up,” he hastily suggested. As the youngest, Tanjirou was never certain if Rokuta’s tears were real or if he’d realized all too quickly how powerful they were, but he didn’t want to find out. “We need your cars.”

Considering how quickly Rokuta beamed at him after, it was probably the latter. “Okay!”

With a sigh, Tanjirou watched as his brother scampered off to their shared bedroom, no doubt having to unearth his cars from under the multiple piles of laundry. Which was yet another to-do item he had to finish later. Running a hand through his hair, he glanced around the living room to see what the rest of his siblings were doing.

Shigeru was nowhere in sight; he was probably in the bathroom or taking a nap somewhere. Seated around a low table, Hanako hesitantly answered her homework while a frustrated Takeo glared at his. Nezuko sat between the two, checking from page to the other as she corrected them.

Catching his stare, she smiled apologetically and mouthed, Sorry.

Tanjirou shook his head sympathetically, mouthing back, It’s fine.

It wasn’t like it was her fault that their mother had to work two jobs, leaving them to take care of the house. It wasn’t like it was her fault their father was in the hospital, battling for his life. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, that they had four siblings and one computer and had to somehow balance school and babysitting between the two of them.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault, and somehow that made it harder. There was no one to blame, to direct this helpless anger at. Instead, it simmered within him, trapped. It was hard to stay positive, to act strong, when fear and rage boiled within.

“You want the blue car?” Rokuta shouted, his voice piercing through Tanjirou’s gloomy thoughts.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Tanjirou replied, “Yeah!”

“Awesome!”

They’d done this everyday now, and somehow Rokuta still managed to sound enthusiastic about it all. He had to be bored of it by now, yet he always found a new way to play the same game. In the face of that, how could Tanjirou do any less? He squashed down his feelings, pushing them aside. It wasn’t like everything was bad, after all.

He still had his mother. His siblings. A place to live and food to eat. Despite it all, he had almost everything that was important to him. Tanjirou could handle anything else life threw his way.

Even this confusing homework.

“Alright.” Tanjirou slapped his cheeks, pumping himself up. He could do this. It was just a bunch of numbers that had to follow some silly rules. Stretching his arms above him, he cracked his knuckles before hunching over the computer once more.

-x-

Yushiro loved his home. Or rather, he loved Tamayo and since they lived together, he loved her home too. It was a big house, maybe too big for just the two of them; there were studies and guestrooms that had a fine layer of dust after being forgotten for a week. Still, it was her house, with every room soaked in her essence, and he never wanted to move. Even on the days when she had to go to the hospital, he never felt too alone. All it took was a glance at the living room to picture her elegant pose as she ate, or the kitchen to see her confused frown as she tried to cook. A single memory and the house felt full as he waited impatiently for her shift to finish.

Well, not that he was alone in the first place; there was Chachamaru, their cat. Sometimes, he was certain Chachamaru knew more than she let on, but that was a silly thought. She was just a cat. Cats didn’t know anything. Like right now, the fact that she was sitting on his laptop was because she found it warm, and not because she was getting revenge for this morning.

“I’m sorry I forgot your breakfast,” he apologized, just in case. “Now get off, my class is starting.”

Chachamaru gave him a blank look and yawned, revealing all of her sharp teeth. Was that a threat? He wasn’t certain. While she always got along with Tamayo, she seemed to only barely tolerate him.

“There’s other rooms,” he pointed out, feeling a little ridiculous as he argued with her. Yushiro gestured behind him at the hallway. “We live in a big house. You can pick literally any other room. Do you need me to list them to you? Take you to them? I’ll do it.”

She still looked utterly unimpressed, before laying her head flat on his laptop.

Time to bring out the big guns. Yushiro glared at her one last time. Chachamaru didn’t so much as stir. His killing intent just wasn’t strong enough. With a sigh, he left the room and padded down the hallway toward the kitchen. There was only one way to ensure he’d get his laptop back, and that was his secret stash of catnip.

The house was quiet as he walked through it. One time, he’d brought his classmates over for a project, and Tanjirou couldn’t get over how silent it was. Apparently his home was a zoo, filled with shouts and crying. Hoards of ugly children ran through it, taking over the tiny apartment. Anywhere without Tamayo was a desolate, dark place, but Tanjirou’s home especially so. Yushiro wouldn’t be able to handle it.

He preferred the quiet—it was warm and comfortable. There was nothing better than the evenings he and Tamayo spent together, reading a book or filling out forms. The only sounds were the rustling of paper, the scraping of a pencil, the soft purring of Chachamaru. Even without words, they understood each other, and sometimes he and Tamayo would exchange smiles, like they were sharing a private joke.

Yushiro flipped the lights on as he stepped into the kitchen. Tamayo’s hastily discarded apron lay messily on the table and he chuckled as he hung it back on its proper hook.

“You overslept this morning,” he murmured, staring at the flower patterns. He’d bought it as a gift years ago, and the fabric was now covered in soya sauce and oil stains.

Tamayo didn’t reply. She couldn’t, not until her shift finished, not until she was forced to take a break from the hospital.

He preferred the quiet, but not the emptiness. Stuck inside the house, he was alone more often than not, with Tamayo taking longer and longer hours as she tried to save just one more person. It was frightening. It was terrifying. The scars on her face only deepened as each day passed and he wondered how long it would be before they were permanent.

How long it would be before she stopped coming home.

A shiver ran through his spine at that last thought, and he hugged himself. Rubbing his arms, he tried to warm up, but the chill persisted. Yushiro wasn’t naïve; he’d watched the news. He’d heard the stories. Tamayo doused herself in sanitizers and soap and even then she made sure to stay a safe distance from him whenever they ate.

Even the memory of her hugs were fading now.

Something warm circled his feet and he looked down to find Chachamaru brushing her head against his ankles with a soft meow. “Finally bored of my laptop?” he asked, his voice cracking.

She meowed again, rubbing against him insistently. When he crouched, she jumped into his arms and nuzzled his neck. Her whiskers tickled his throat.

“I thought you didn’t like me,” he mumbled, pressing his face into her warm fur as he sat on the cold kitchen tiles. She purred in response. “Is that a yes?”

Chachamaru was a pain in the ass and would sit on his laptop tomorrow. She’d scratch him when he didn’t wake up in time for breakfast or nip at his ankles when she was annoyed at him.

But she was also a part of his family, however reluctant he was to admit that, and maybe it wasn’t all that bad to have someone other than Tamayo in his life. To have someone he could cry to and share his fears and not have to worry about adding to Tamayo’s already heavy shoulders.

“Can we stay like this? For a little while?” he asked.

Chachamaru licked his tears in response.

When he finally sat down for class, she stayed on his lap like a portable heater. It was hard to feel scared with her constant purring. Hard to feel alone with her weight on his thighs.

“Hey, Yushiro,” Tanjirou asked on Zoom, his hands clasped in front of him. “Could you help me?”

“Sure,” he replied charitably.

He didn’t mind the company for once.

#nezuko kamado #tanjiro kamado #chachamaru #yushiro #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #tamayo #kamado tanjirō #fanfic

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inkstaineddove · 4 years

Text

Asystole

Ships: AusHun

Characters: Hungary, Austria; mentioned Prussia

Summary: His empire failing, Austria is desperate enough to make anything work. His empire failing, Hungary is desperate enough to finally break free. One of them must give.

Vienna, 1867.

Erzsébet padded across the hallway, spine stiff and shoulders rolled back. A minute before, some poor servant had been tasked to play the messenger, urging her to head to the office straightaway. Ordinarily, this sort of urgency would’ve shocked her; today, it was expected. All people talked, from the lowliest maid to the richest of emperors, and word of their machinations never seemed to escape her. Plus – if she allowed herself a moment of honesty, instead of falsely praising her cunning – her politicians had told her everything. There truly were no surprises.

Her first sight upon entering was that of Austria, scowling down at whatever papers were before him. She wondered when she had last seen him smile – and not the fake one he flashed at diplomats and hangers’ on, but the real one. It couldn’t have been years, could it? It seemed true enough, but for his sake she hoped she was wrong.

“Are you intending to get your face frozen like that or do you just enjoy tempting fate?” Hungary slid into her seat as she spoke. Her voice lilted up in a way that would sound like gentle teasing to the untrained ear.

Fortunately, his was trained perfectly to her pitch. He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, looking as if he was in no mood to be messed with. He’d been looking like that a lot recently. It disappointed her, only because it put a damper on her fun. There was little joy in kicking a dog while it was down, even one prone to biting.

“Would you prefer I pretend to sit here, giddy about all my misfortunes? If you wanted that, you should’ve convinced your boyfriend his time and resources would’ve been better off warring with a different enemy of the hour.” Austria attempted to keep his tone dispassionate, though it didn’t work. Try as he might, it never did.

She sniffed, scrunching up her nose. “Do you have to call him my ‘boyfriend?’ That sounds so…juvenile.” It was a minor thing to pick a fight over, but she certainly wasn’t going to over whether Prussia’s war had been legitimate. There was no need when they both agreed.

“I feel I have to because, if I didn’t and forgot my restraint, I’d be tempted to call him something awful like your little bitch, but I would never. I’m above that.” Austria smiled, all teeth and hostility, and Hungary wondered how nice they would look knocked out on the floor.

She flicked her wrist dismissively. No reason to get herself worked up over something so petty. There was business to discuss and deals to be made. She leaned her weight onto the arm of her chair. “Can you just tell me what you want? You know how it is, so many rebellions to plan and so little time.”

A quirk of an eyebrow was enough to show his displeasure. “Not like you to play the fool. There’s no reason for you to pretend to be so unaware.”

“If I didn’t pretend, you might get curious on my methods. If I reveal my hand, there goes whatever illusory personal freedoms I have. You want me even more miserable than I am?” His silence was the answer she wanted. She smiled, resting her cheek on her hand. “So, tell me. What does Hofburg have in store for me?”

“You’ll be thrilled to know that for a change, it’s an offer instead of an edict. I don’t see any point in attempting to sweeten reality to you – you live here and you’re not an idiot, after all. The empire, my empire, is in an increasingly bleak situation. You would think this would endear me into the hearts of all my subjects, but I suppose I underestimated how deep nationalism’s poison infected their bloodstreams,” Austria rolled his eyes at his own foolishness. “Yours being the most infected – and, as you love to remind me – being the most likely to one day succeed, a deal needs to be made to quell their bloodlust.”

That certainly was one way to put it. Hungary couldn’t stop herself from laughing, unable to look at Austria’s overly serious expression or risk breaking into hysterics. Taking a deep breath, she composed herself, though still with a noticeable smirk. “Bloodlust? Really, Roderich? They want independence, not the death of every Austrian. Who has the time for that kind of petty revenge?”

He scoffed, clearly insulted. “As if they’d be capable of that. If I had to sacrifice a few peasants here and there to keep them peaceful, I wouldn’t bat an eye. My kingdom for a commoner is a trifle. No, the blood they want is mine. They want to see what I’ve built up over the centuries diminished in months, in days. I’ve jumped into wars for less, you know as much. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’d fare well if an army were sent in and the backlash for such a heavy-handed move doesn’t make it worth the trouble.” He shook his head, clearing his mind of useless plans.

Hungary pitied him. Look how desperate he was to hold onto something so ephemeral, so meaningless. Empires came and went like the seasons. Here was a man who thought himself wise, yet he couldn’t grasp such a basic tenet of their existence. She had learnt it; so had Poland and Lithuania and every other plaything these so-called ‘powers’ sought. It was a lunacy, one that infected all of them the same. Now his was crumbling all around him and instead of attempting to move on, he would drag out the process. It was predictable and entirely disappointing. Despite having no reason to, she expected better of him.

She sighed and turned her gaze away from him. If she stared at him any longer, she’d feel nauseous. “What do you want from me?”

Relieved to be back on track, Austria’s body became less rigid. “Nothing, really. My offer is quite favorable to you. Our marriage, partnership, whatever descriptor you prefer becomes one of equals. Complete control of your lands returns to you. You’ll have the privilege or the torture to pore over the minutiae of whatever half-formed, barely coherent policy is cooked up by your own hacks in Budapest. Christ, am I normally this cynical?” He shook off the self-awareness. That could be dealt with later or, preferably, never. “Really, everything you’ve ever harassed me and all my various rulers about is now yours. You lose nothing in this arrangement.”

“Everything, bar the most important thing. Just because it’s been roughly twenty years hasn’t changed what the people want. You’re not giving me anything you view as important. Ruling my people has become an inconvenience, so you’ll hand it off to me. Ten years ago, you would’ve been insulted at the prospect. And now the insulted party will be us.” She sighed, shaking her head. “Why is conceding so difficult for your lot to do? Clinging onto everything will only make the inevitable that much harder.”

His eyes narrowed as he stared her down. “Nothing is inevitable. We’re in a difficult spot, but we’ve been through those before. As long as I bide my time and there’s no more incidents, everything will be back on track and no one will make anymore of their bitchy little comments.” The way he sneered as he said that last part, she was willing to bet that bothered him more than anything else. He tried smiling at her, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve conceded a lot to you with this. Fine, you’re not quite independent, but it’s just as good. In some ways, I’m doing you a favor. Foreign policy is such a nuisance. All of them are sharks, all of them would be circling you, sniffing out fresh blood. Europe isn’t how you remember it.”

Hungary grinded her teeth together. Patronizing, always patronizing. Even desperate for her assistance, he couldn’t view her as a peer. And then he wondered why she behaved the way she did? Why, sometimes, she can’t even stand to be near him? He was dumber than he had any right to be.

“Do you think I’ve been completely isolated from the world? I know how they all act, how they all think. The only ones I’d have to worry about fighting off would be you and Russia, and without me, what army do you have?” She smiled, enjoying how that blow landed. How could he argue against it? He’d said as much to her – sometimes with pride, sometimes with fear – many times throughout the years. “And believe me, I would love to strike out on my own and form my own alliances. I can think of a few who’d be more than happy to spurn you with a treaty or two.”

He folded his arms over his chest, staring at her with derision. “Insulting me won’t get you what you want, Liebchen.” He practically snarled out the nickname. Pet names had always been their favorite weapons. “This is the only deal you have. I don’t get all your bitching either. We negotiated with two of your most darling heroes. There’s no need for you to be putting up this much of a fight. Will you ever be satisfied with anything I do for you, or should I learn to accept your eternal disdain?”

She took shaky breaths through her nose. That was hardly enough to constrain her. “Perhaps I’d be more accepting of the terms if you’d bother to invite me to negotiations! I appreciate,” she roared the word out, her fury overtaking her, “that you were oh-so-fucking considerate enough to know who I would’ve chosen to be my representative. And here I thought you only paid attention to my lands to slaughter innocents! But you have never, will never, respect me enough to listen to me on what my own goddamn people want! Deák and Andrássy are good men, but they know nothing compared to me! How many times must I scream this at you until you get it? If I’m not allowed to have any free will in this life, then so be it! That’s my curse, but at least let me speak on their behalf! Give me the chance, the fucking chance, to win them the freedoms it appears I’ll never have!”

She only realized she was leaning over his desk when she was done. Her rage, built up over the centuries, was causing her to tremble. Staring into Roderich’s eyes, she swore she could kill him. She swore she could and it would be the last time, the most permanent of his deaths. It was so vivid in her mind that, for a moment, she believed it to be reality.

What brought her back to the present was how utterly bored he appeared at her antics. Here was the same song and dance they performed for each other. Here it was, meant to play out for eternity. Why would he fear her? What could she do to him that was permanent? Nothing. The one thing she could, he locked it away in some deal she wasn’t allowed to be apart of.

“Don’t you ever get tired of carrying on like that? So sanctimonious. As if your cause is the most just. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to be bound to you?” He shook his head. “I’m convinced that if you ever tried to shut up, it would kill you. Though, honestly, I’d be grateful for the silence.” As she sat down, he smiled with an unrivaled arrogance. “There. Now, please, Erzsébet, try to be reasonable for a change. There’s no use in becoming so hysterical over this. Everything doesn’t have to be such a battle. Fighting like this, you haven’t taken a break in centuries. Aren’t you tired?”

She would not be baited. She refused to tell him what he wanted to hear, refused even if it were partially true. “The only thing I’m tired of is being brushed aside, but I know not to expect change from you.” She looked outside the window and sighed. “The ink is already dried, isn’t it? I can’t stop what’s been put in motion.”

“For the most part. All it needs is ratification. Though, we’ve been assured that that won’t be an issue.” Once more, he relaxed against the back of his chair. His relief was clear across his face. “I’m glad you’ve calmed yourself of those delusions. While I can commend your…dedication, you’ll have much more important things to busy yourself with.”

Hungary smiled, pleased with his false sense of security. “You’re right, there will be. I understand that, at this point, I can’t prevent anything. But, when news travels around, most will not be happy. This flies in the face of everything they’ve worked so hard to achieve over these last few years. They’ve been sold out, and I’m inclined to believe them.” She licked her lips, savoring the moment. “So, when the people take to the streets, when they demand what they know is owed to them, I won’t try to smooth things over. Never again. I will be right beside them, doing whatever I can to rile them up. Whatever they choose to do, however they decide to handle this, I will support them with every fiber of my being. And if that creates problems for you?” She stood up, smirking and curtseying. “Solve them yourself. I’m no propaganda piece.”

Head held high, she began striving out of the room. It was the only card she had left, the only thing she could think of. With every step she took, she prayed he’d be as weak as she knew he was. He had said it himself, there was nothing he could do to fight anything. Today did not come about out of a position of strength for him.

“Wait, Erzsébet! Please, don’t do this.” She heard him rise, heard the soft steps of his feet. “If you do that, neither of us will walk away from this looking good.” A soft intake of breath from him. “For once, I’m not too proud to admit that I need you. But, please, don’t throw it all away over nothing.” His voice was gentle, as if he were pleading with a lioness and not a woman.

When he reached out, she allowed him to touch her and spin her around. When had his hands last been that soft? Cornered, he was like a new man. “All you have to offer me is insults. What should I stay around for? I have more to gain away from you than besides you. I always have.”

“I know, dammit I know!” She watched his Adam’s apple shift as he swallowed. Roderich’s eyes were wide, all too aware that he was on the precipice. “Not now, though. You’re right, you’re my equal. I’ll give you whatever I can, within reason, to prevent that. Anything to prevent you from ruining me.”

The urge to scowl at his self-preservation was there. What else should she have expected? He was still Roderich; nothing could change the core of a man. Still, this was further than she’d ever gotten before. “You know me well enough to know what I want.”

“I assumed I did when making the last deal and look where it got me. Forgive me for wanting you to spell it out.” The beginning of a smile appeared on his face.

Erzsébet didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh. Feeling off-kilter, she settled for sitting on the sofa. “Not even you could mess this one up. I’m tired of sneaking around your back to leave the home. I’m not a young girl and you’re certainly not my father and you will stop treating me as such. If it’s that important to you, there’s only three places I’d be anyway, and you know them all. More importantly, start treating me like a person! You want your life to be less miserable? Then do yourself a favor and at least treat me with indifference, I’d rather that than constant disgust.” Her eyes met his and held them, challenging him to deny her. “And, whenever some big decision comes up, you better discuss it with me and actually give some consideration to my thoughts. You’re not any smarter than me and I’m as aware on everything as you are. If this is going to be both our futures, for whatever time you just bought yourself, then I’m not going to do anything to sabotage it.”

“That’s the very least of what I can do.” If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought she a flash of shame in his eyes. It couldn’t have been. She doubted that he could feel such things, so high were the walls he’d built.

She studied him skeptically. That had been far too easy. There must’ve been something he’d want in return. He couldn’t just have thought what he’d taken was enough. “Don’t you have anything you want from me? There’s no terms?”

Roderich paused, deciding his best course of action. He shrugged, apparently not finding any trap in her words. “Two. The first: cut off the affair. It can be anyone else, but not him. On a personal level, this will make me look like an even bigger cuckold than we all know I am.”

Erzsébet’s eyes hardened and she leaned away from him. “No, that’s out of the question.”

He frowned when she offered no further explanation. “Really? You could do so much better. Don’t tell me you actually love him.”

“You have no right to my personal life.”

“Right. I thought that was the case.” She couldn’t quite distinguish the exact emotions in his voice beyond disappointment and resignation. There was a layer to it that wasn’t simple to place.

He snapped her out of her thoughts when he spoke again. “Now, the emperor wants this sealed with some sort of formal wedding between us. I begged him to do anything but this. Unfortunately for the both of us, he thought it would make such a lovely story for the masses.” He gave an embarrassed smile. “I’m also not exactly asking for you to do this, since there became a gentleman’s agreement on it, but something that means much more to me.” He grew serious again at whiplashing speed. “Let me break the news to Gilbert. Give me the satisfaction.”

Erzsébet could imagine how it’d go. How the scene played out in her mind, it was horrid. Her stomach wrenched. “You’d wreck him.”

“That’s the point,” Roderich wore a cruel smile. He’d been imagining it as well.

“Why do you think I’d ever let you do that?”

He shrugged in an effort to appear nonchalant and failed. “Simple, really. If you tell him yourself, do you think he’ll believe you can’t just stop it? God, he’ll have every moronic scheme to prevent it and act all wounded when you tell him it can’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought he were just your little plaything all along. Even though I have ‘no right to your personal life,’ as you so kindly put it, I’m no fool. What’s the point in risking it and being stuck with me?” He smiled at her, warm in a way she was unfamiliar with. His tone attempted to strike a friendliness that didn’t fit him. “If I do it, he hates me, comes sobbing to you about it, and you can both continue to curse my very existence. The status quo is maintained. It’s an obvious choice to me.”

She wandered if he’d prepared that speech just for now. It was tempting to ask him, but the knowing would be worse. Ignorance could, indeed, be a bliss. Erzsébet knew there was an ulterior motive for his words, there always was with him. He wasn’t Feliks, who she wouldn’t feel such guilt over listening to. Still, there was a human part of her that needed outside validation regardless of the source. “Do you think I’m a coward?” Her voice was so soft, she wondered if he’d even heard her.

“No, because I can understand it. Sometimes it’s braver to manipulate.” There was an understanding in his voice. She wouldn’t be surprised if this were coming from experience.

“Fine, but don’t be crueler than you have to. Try to have some compassion if you can.” There was a feeling of hollowness Erzsébet forced herself to ignore. Her life would be livable, that was what was most important. No one would have done it differently.

“He’ll get what he deserves,” Roderich bit back his irritation. They both knew who it was really for. Instead, he nodded his head and offered her his arm. “I’m sure you don’t want to spend the rest of the day watching me work. Allow me to walk you to the door.”

She politely took his arm. They walked in silence to the door, too busy was her mind for idle chatter. Anyways, hadn’t they said enough? Only on her way out did she smile at him and offer him her thanks.

He smiled at her. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make this worthwhile.”

#aushun #aph aushun #hws hungary #aph hungary #hws austria #aph austria #hetalia fanfic #hetalia fanfiction #historical hetalia #im back on my bullshit - at least for a moment

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parasite-core · 3 years

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You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆

What influences your character's morality more - their own moral code, or the moral code of the people around them?

Thank you for the ask 😊 I’ll throw in pretty much all my characters into the mix for this one because I love thinking about their morality or lack there of.

Umbrolus: Umber’s moral code is very simple because of his sheltered upbringing. You’re either nice or mean, and either bad or good. You can be mean and good, or nice and bad, but if you’re bad you have to be stopped, and are fair game to be fought against. If you’re good he can work with you and maybe even be friends, even if you’re not always nice (see: Celeste sometimes). If you hurt Kleio, you’re automatically bad. Or his other friends, but Kleio especially. And it is very hard to move from that category in his mind, he holds a grudge. He does tend to look to Kleio for moral guidance to a certain extent because he’s aware he doesn’t really know what’s socially correct in many situations, so he tends to trust their judgement on if someone should be labeled good or bad.

Kaius “Hawke” River: Kaius doesn’t so much care about morality as he does debts. You do something to hurt him or his family, and he’ll hold a grudge and seek vengeance. You do something to help him or his family, and he’ll owe you. Do something to protect his daughter and he’ll lay down his life for you. The closest thing to morality for him outside of that is that he has a soft spot for young people who made bad choices because of their situation in life but who can still turn their lives around. He very much believes in people ability to recreate themselves and to become better, especially young people, and he highly encourages it. As far as who affects his morality...just himself, and maybe his daughter. He’ll definitely try to put a little more effort into doing the ‘right’ thing if she’s around. Usually. Unless he’s teaching her to lie and steal. ‘Because those are useful skills in the real world.’

Roland Terrasold: Roland is pretty set in his ways about his morality, he follows his moral code, which is based on the teaching of Sarenrae, and changing his stance on moral questions is anywhere from difficult to impossible. He believes in redemption, and the ability for anyone who truly wishes to better themselves to do so. He believes a second chance should be offered to those who sincerely seek to atone. He also believes those who do evil gleefully and who can and will never seek to be better deserve to be destroyed before they can do further harm. He believes in protecting the weak and defenseless, and in seeking out evil and corruption and stopping it before it can spread and fester and do more harm. He’s opposed to excessive and gleeful violence, preferring to subdue an enemy or kill them in the most quick and merciful what possible, even if the enemy in question is a particularly vile person. He doesn’t believe in an eye for an eye, vengeance begets more vengeance and doing excessive harm just leads to you being more okay with violence it doesn’t solve any problems or help anyone to be sadistic or take joy in killing. This might have a lot to do with the sort of person his extremely sadistic ex Ashton was. Also due to Valoria’s teachings after Sarenrae’s death, Roland also believes that the use of necromancy is not necessarily evil by default, if used on willing volunteers and towards noble ends.

Kiyo Alvara: Kiyo is extremely set in their way about their morality. Like Roland, they believe in doing the least amount of excessive harm, although unlike Roland they don’t have any qualms about revenge. They don’t believe in harming someone who’s helpless, even if the person in question was a vile person. Although they might make an exception if Rolth Lamm were helpless in front of them. I don’t know if they’d feel bad about it afterwards. That’s pretty personal. They believe in honesty unless a secret or lie is vital to someone’s safety, or the safety of Korvosa as a whole (ie they have no problem with keeping Blackjack’s identity secret since that’s vital to keeping Korvosa safe). They are slow to trust again when their trust has been betrayed, they’ve lived for so long and seen so few people change their innate nature, that it takes a lot for them to believe someone’s changed their ways.

Sai Gwenn: Her morality is extremely black and white, and extremely influenced by Hayden. There are good people and bad people, and the bad people need to be taken care of before they can harm the good people. Failing to get rid of a bad person is itself bad, because it enables bad people to harm more good people. Sometimes good people are in a bad situation which makes them have to do bad things, and those people should be given a second chance to be good in better circumstances. Who is good and who is bad is entirely based on Sai’s perception of them. Her morality is a little fucked up honestly. She’d forgive an assassin despite trying to kill her and her friends because she was conditioned into her position her entire life, but was so angry at a gargoyle for harming her friend that she polymorphed it into a bug and kept it in a jar until her friend was healed, then released it into the wild to inevitably live a short and terrified life trapped in the body of an insect with the mind of an intelligent creature.

Lucien Anasia: Part of me wants to say Lucien doesn’t have a moral code since he decides so much on the flip of a coin due to his worship of luck. But he does have some moral qualms. He believes in helping people suffering in front of him. He believes in sharing, and trying to help people to feel happy, and in leaving people’s lives a little brighter. He wouldn’t feel comfortable doing excessive harm to people, although that’s exactly what his cursed starknife does.

Haruki Himura: Haruki’s morality has been shaken to the core recently. He used to follow the teachings of the Nameless Father, but since being turned into a drow and the Nameless Father turned His back on him, Haruki’s been unmoored. Without something to believe in, he’s pendulum swung in the opposite direction, being willing to assassinate people he doesn’t like, violently slaughter creatures with his crystalline curse, and all around give into his anger and desire to make others hurt the way he currently is. He draws the line at harming innocents. He does harm to those who did harm first. Random civilians deserve to be able to just live their lives.

Khazrae Kulata: Khazrae is an erinyes devil, and as such she doesn’t have much in the way of a moral code. She gets her morality 90% from Maxwell and 10% from the rest of the Shadow Slayers. Her morality typically boils down to ‘if I do this will Maxwell be upset I did’. She sincerely likes the party and she owes them an eternal debt for how they saved her from a millennia of torment, so despite very much being an evil creature by nature, she does sincerely want to do right by them. However since she doesn’t always have a firm grasp on human morality, she does make the wrong call on occasion and does something evil without thinking it’ll be a big deal to everyone else, such as when she helped Claudia to kill a helpless prisoner to help another devil get revenge.

Eccardian Drovenge: Eccardian’s morality is a bit grey at the moment. He spent much of his life manipulated and possessed by his infernal father Mammon, so now that he’s finally free he’s feeling out how he actually feels about things without a literal devil whispering in his ear. He takes a lot of cues from Erik on how to be a better person, and considering whether Erik would be disappointed in a choice does go into his decision making. He’s okay with grave robbing and is gleeful about getting revenge on those who have harmed him. He has no qualms about killing to remove a threat to him and his organization. However he’s not going out of his way to do harm anymore, and is actually trying to funnel his resources into doing good for the city and the country as a whole, to help make things better for tieflings like him and ‘lesser’ citizens as a whole.

Chammady Drovenge: Chammady is a pragmatist. Her morality centers her family—which in this case means her brother and the Shadow Slayers—and anyone outside of them is fair game. She took the lessons of both nobility and the thieves’ guild to heart, and is willing to do what has to be done to protect herself and hers. She is skilled at the double talk of nobility, and the necessary manipulations to navigate politics. She’s good at making others underestimate her, playing the role of vapid noblewoman and leaning into people’s expectations and biases, although she’s done that less since becoming mayor as now she has a position of true power, where a different sort of face is both expected and necessary. Like her brother, she has no qualms about killing those who might obstruct her goals or harm her inner circle. She is fiercely protective of her inner circle.

#long post #oc asks #random oc questions fairy #Umbrolus #roland terrasold #kiyo alvara #Sai Gwenn #lucien anasia #haruki himura #Khazrae Kulata #Eccardian Drovenge #Chammady Drovenge #ok so the last three are more like step-ocs #they’re almost totally different from how they were in the book at this point #so they’re OCs in all but name #and I felt like talking about them—especially Khazrae #I love her morality just being WWMD—what would Maxwell do

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kadeu · 4 years

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Accepted — Thagard Kol

♣️ Kol Thagard aka. Enigma looks like Mads Mikkelson (actor) ♣️ He was born November 22, 1853 ; making him 167 years old but appears 50 ♣️ This Strongarm/Shifter Hybrid is Pansexual and Ace of Clubs ♣️ He is the owner of Dragonfire Hotsprings and the Armory

Biography

"We are caught inside a mystery, veiled in an enigma, locked inside a riddle.“

Kol was born as one of the rare hybrids, that were favoured by fortune to become both of the species of their parents. His father, Vilho Thagard, was a strongarm and 9 of Clubs. In addition to it he was an owner of a small but well-known horse farm, so Kol already learned horseback riding while still young and developed a special bond to those animals. His mother, Naenia Thagard, was a shifter and a 8 of Clubs. She was a stunning beauty, which didn’t go unnoticed on numerous occasions. Thus is happened that one fatal day the head of the Park family came to the horse farm, looking for a horse but falling head over heels in love with his mother. So this man, Park Jitae, returned to the farm with a few loyal fighters in the deep of the night, murdering his father and setting the farm on fire, so that his mother had no other choice than marrying him. At that time Kol was still in his adolescent years and his mother begged him not to fight back, worrying they would kill her son as well. So for the sake of his mother Kol was putting up a brave front towards his new stepfather and played along, though he wouldn’t never forget, nor forgive. He even had to change his name to Kol Park.

The Park family owned the Armory for as long as anyone can remember and so Kol was able to learn a lot about the business and weapons by his stepfather, who was a King of Clubs and a shifter, while he also tried to be Kol’s mentor to please his new wife, Kol’s mother. Soon after their marriage Kol’s half brother, Park Juno, was born, the consequence being that the newborn offspring of the Park family got the full attention of his stepfather to raise his first born as the next head of the Park family. Not that Kol would mind being no longer in focus of his stepfather’s attention, he didn’t want to be part of the Park family after all, so as soon as he was grown up, Kol left the Park family to live on his own and changed his name back to Kol Thagard much to the disgust of his stepfather. Kol was quite successful living on his own. Over the years Kol took a liking to spend time at the Dragonfire Hotsprings and that is how it came that he became a close friend to the owner, Yurippe Chontos - 10 of Clubs and Water Elementalist-, despite the age gap between them. The onsen became his safe haven, a haven of peace, in which he had got things straightened out with himself and it worked well over the last few decades. A couple of years ago Yurippe died of illness and to Kol’s surprise his friend bequeathed the Dragonfire Hotsprings to Kol, who was now the owner of his favorite place of Kadeu.

Though in recent years Kol could observe how his stepfather was more and more corrupted by power and his position as the owner of the Armory. Park Jitae was never a honorable fighter, a bit of a coward you could say. It remained a mystery to Kol how his stepfather was even able to keep his rank as a King of Clubs for so long, he figured mostly because of his status due to his family. So hearing his stepfather defeated the current Ace of Clubs in a battle, it was clear from the outset that there was something fishy about that. It wasn’t long before rumors came up that the former Ace was poisoned before the battle had started. That’d fit in with his stepfather’s way of behavior. Things were getting worse after Park Jitae had gotten the rank of an Ace of Clubs, since he became more and more a tyrant and dictator to the Club faction by trying to establish something like a regime. Usually Clubs citizens police themselves and defeat anyone trying to change their chosen freedom and lawlessness, but it seemed like people were scared to fall into disfavor with the Park family and as a consequence thereof being unwelcome to the Armory. Only when rumors came up that Park Jitae wanted to sell even the best weapons, that are meant for Clubs only, on other factions as well, there were first attempts to bring down Park Jitae, but to no effect. At that time he had managed to develop a loyal following that were fighting against all his enemies. Kol still had no intention to meddle in his stepfather’s affairs, though his stepfather represented all the wrongs of the Clubs faction.

Kol didn’t go crazy until he heard that his mother had a fatal accident, knowing very well how his stepfather handled things, Kol couldn’t believe that his mother died because of an accident right from the beginning. It was no secret that Park Jitae had several extramarital affairs and thinking of the way his father died and his mother became Jitae’s wife, Kol was pretty sure that he knew the reason why his stepfather has killed his mother and naive as his half-brother Juno was, he believed in the story of an accident. Without the slightest hesitation Kol was going to see his stepfather and seek for revenge. It was a fight to the death, all or nothing, and his stepfather had no ther choice than agreeing to the fight because if not his stepfather would have proven Kol’s accusation right indirectly. The fight didn’t take long, of course Park Jitae weapon was prepped with poison - old habits die hard - but he underestimated Kol’s blind rage. With a high rush of adrenaline running through his blood, Kol was able to fight against the poison in his blood long enough to defeat his stepfather in the fight, but to everyone’s surprise Kol spared Park Jitae’s life. As a result of this fight Kol was an Ace of Clubs from now on and besides he took part over the position of Park Jitae in the Armory, so now he was even the new owner of the Armory while Park Jitae’s rank was demoted to Kol’s former rank a 8 of Clubs and put the Park family to shame, being in disgrace as of now. In the first days after the fight Kol was busy with demoting those who were loyal to his stepfather while he still recover from his injuries, but right now he cannot allow to show any kind of weakness. It wasn’t Kol’s intentions to take over the position of his stepfather from the beginning, but after all that happened he had to stop Park Jitae, wanting to bring back honor to the Club faction. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds…

Personality

"I’m an enigma. You can’t really figure out what I’m going to do next. I like it like that.”

Kol is by all means a proud resident of the Club faction. He was content to be a mid-ranker for years and didn’t care about becoming a higher rank, nor being part of the Park family’s business, the Armory. Also he is not really interested in someone’s rank, though from time to time he catches himself being prejudices against low-rankers, like ‘they are not strong enough to alter life for the better’. To put it at its simplest there is no problem that couldn’t be solved by a fight. What he can’t stand is cruelty and torture to get what you want, even in a fight he’ll always play fair. To him that’s the only way to win honor. He has no problem with the other factions, but he is unsympathetic to resistance members. Most of the time he is easy-going, cheerful, a helper in time of need and a philanderer, but yet he is difficult to understand. As soon as you think you 'solved’ the mystery - called Kol, he acts in a way you didn’t expect. That’s why he is called Enigma, even by those he is close to.

Congratulations Mel your app has been accepted and your personalized plot drop will be sent to you soon.

Please follow and welcome @kadeu-kol to Kadeu!

#accepted;#follow;

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thepancakeboi · 4 years

Text

Day 1: Favorite Scene

Would you people hate me if I said it’s the scene after the boiler room fight...? Because it is- Granted, “Honey I’m home” is always a favorite of mine but...the after-fight FEELS. Also, my favorite scene could change as I play through Royal, as I’m still on the third palace and have just started Goro’s confidant.

I’m going to leave this now. Someone needs to remind me to stop writing things that make me cry-

I severely underestimated you, Joker. You and your band of thieves...

“You ready to call it quits?”

Skull’s question is pointless. Isn’t my answer obvious? I decide to indulge him with a response if only to put your mind at ease. “I know... I’ve had enough.” I’m done trying to kill you. It’s clear your skills exceed mine. You win again, just as you always do. “...You’re so lucky. Lucky to be surrounded... by teammates who acknowledge you...And once Shido confesses his crimes, you’ll all be heroes.” Your fame won’t be part of an elaborate scheme this time. Shido’s crimes are truly unforgivable. No one would side with him once the truth is revealed. Anyone who does isn’t in their right mind. But with the truth comes... “As for me, people will find out my past deductions were just charade. My fame and trust will vanish.” The trust I had lost with you, the Phantom Thieves, it seems minuscule in comparison.

“I see,” Mona says after a slight pause. “So you were turning people psychotic, then solving the cases yourself. And you did that by joining forces with Shido.”

He’s just now figuring this out? How foolish...though I keep those thoughts to myself. I don’t have the time nor the heart to antagonize your group further. Besides, what right have I to say anything? It was foolish of me to think I could take on all the Phantom Thieves at once. Mona was right. I’m just some child ‘throwing a temper tantrum’ as he rightly put it. What was I thinking, believing I could be something special? That was the wishful thinking of a naive little kid. “In the end... I couldn’t be special...”

Skull immediately buts in. “Dude, you’re more than special...”

Wait...what?

“It pains me to admit... but your wit and strength far exceeds ours. We only defeated you by teaming up,” Queen reluctantly admits. Where is this coming from? “I was honestly... envious of your natural ability. It was frustrating to see how much my sister trusted you...” If only you knew how strained our trust truly was when I started working with you. Sae-San and I were barely speaking to each other by that point in time.

I’m surprised when Noir joins in. She’s the last person I would expect to add on to this conversation, considering what I did to her father. “I have no intention of forgiving you for what you did to my father, but... I sympathize with you.” I don’t expect her to ever forgive me, and she shouldn’t. Not when I don’t deserve any form of forgiveness. “I wholeheartedly understand wanting to get back at the adults who took from you...”

“But when you gained the power to fulfill that desire, you only used it for your own self-benefit,” Fox adds.

Oracle chimes in after him. “If you’ve got more than one Persona, maybe you actually have the same kinda power as Joker’s.” The same power? My gaze turns to you at this. You’re being much more quiet than usual. I wonder what’s going on in that head of yours. “But you trusted no one, so you only got two Personas: one for your lies, and one for your hate. Still, you thought that was enough, right? That part I totally get.”

“You excelled at everything over us... yet that was the one thing you lacked.”

The one thing I lacked...here I thought it was skill, or perhaps friendship. To think that it would be simply trusting others. Oracle and Fox are right. I only relied on myself to get where I am, trusting no one. In the end, that’s what’s caused my downfall. Though...it isn’t entirely true. I had trusted you to some extent.

“All right, let’s go back and get that callin’ card ready!” Skull says, eager to leave. “We’re gonna take Shido down. What’re you gonna do?”

The question stuns me. You shouldn’t be concerning yourself with me. “It’d be a problem if you kept getting in our way. Wanna come along and help us settle things?” Panther asks.

“...Are you all idiots?” I finally say, shoving my own feelings away. It doesn’t matter that I want to come with your group or that I would love nothing more than to fight my father by your side. It’s too late for that. “You should get rid of me... if you don’t want me getting in your way.”

It may have been Panther who asked the question, but my eyes are on you. I want to hear your response. “No.”

“No?”

“No,” you say with such certainty, such finality, that it leaves little room for argument. “I don’t want to lose you. Come with us. We’ll change his heart, together.”

Together...? Is that really what you want? I shake my head at the absurdity. “...You all are truly beyond my comprehension.”

“Akechi?” Skull blurts out in shock. His response confuses me.

“Another one!? Wait, is he...” Fox says, and it’s then I realize the source of their surprise. I must really be faltering if I didn’t notice the newcomer, a nearly identical version of me. His dead brown eyes give away who, or what, he is.

“That’s... Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi!” Mona says, confirming my suspicions.

So, I’ll be finding out what my father thinks of me. Haha, not that I give a shit anymore-wait, he’s...pointing a gun at me!? “I’ll deal with the rest of you later,” he says. At the look of shock on my face, he elaborates. “Captain Shido’s orders... He has no need for losers. Well... this just moves the plan up a little. He was going to get rid of you after the election anyway.”

“What!?” How... how could he!?

“Did you truly believe you’d be spared after all the murders you undertook?” No... I hadn’t believed that for a second. I knew the consequences of my crimes should they ever be discovered. But surely Shido couldn’t say anything without implicating himself! “Don’t tell me... Were you actually feeling good about having someone rely on you for once?”

“I-” I... had enjoyed being relied on, even if the reason was as deplorable as needing me as his personal hit-man.

“Oh by the way, the captain says it’s time you receive retribution for causing the mental shutdowns.”

“What the hell, man!?” Ryuji yells. He sounds pissed. “That bastard’s the one who put him up to it!”

“I see,” I chuckle. The irony of the situation doesn’t escape me. “I was wondering how he’d protect himself if I used my power to tear through his Palace. Turns out you’re how. So he’s making a puppet kill me... Sounds like something he’d do.”

He nods. “That’s right. I’ll do anything. But look at yourself... you’re the true puppet.” I...I’m the puppet? “You wanted to be acknowledged, didn’t you? To be loved? You’ve been nothing but a puppet from the very beginning.” That... was exactly what I had wanted. All of my plans, my revenge, all stemmed from simply wanting my father to acknowledge me. Here it turns out that he already knew everything and he has no qualms of killing me off. It doesn’t surprise me, but... “What’s all this nagging about?” He’s talking to you and the rest of the thieves. What did any of them even say...? “Want me to take care of you first?”

I can hear the sound of Shadows materializing behind me, but I pay them no mind. Panther is the one to speak the entire group’s thoughts. “No... He’s not alone! He has Shadows too!”

“You know what? I’ll let someone volunteer to take his place.” A cruel grin forms on the cognition’s face as if relishing the situation. “Who knows, you might delay his death.”

Immediately, my eyes hone in on you. I’ve seen that look in your eyes before, right before you execute some outlandish scheme. You better not try it now. “I-”

“No,” I snarl, cutting off whatever response you might have. I already know exactly what you’re thinking, and I’m not going to let you go through with whatever wild plan is taking shape in your mind. “I’m not letting you die for me.”

“But-”

“No.” I am not going to let you change my mind.

“You guys are all about doing things for others, aren’t you?” The cognitive me remarks as if goading you on into ignoring my wishes. “Oh, that’s just the same as me. I’m going to take all the blame for our captain. I’ll die for him too.”

“This is what Shido thinks of Akechi-kun, even after making him help with the murders!?” Queen says in surprise. Why is your group so shocked by this? I know exactly the kind of man my father is. I know what’s going to happen next.

“Here, I’ll give you one last chance.” The cognition focuses his attention solely on me. “Shoot them,” he commands.

I laugh, “I was such a fool.”

My hand is steady as I point my gun, aiming it right between your eyes. The mask hides it well, but I remember the look on your face right now. It’s the same one that you had in the interrogation room just before I murdered you in cold blood. Despite my outward stillness, my thoughts are going haywire. Am I truly capable of this? Your voice wavers a little as if you can’t bring yourself to believe the scene before you. “Goro, you-”

“Yes,” the cognition hisses excitedly. “That’s the you our captain wishes to see.”

I shake my head, a chuckle escaping me. If anyone notices my tears, I’m blaming it on the pain of my injuries. “...Don’t misunderstand.” I don’t know who I mean that to: you, the cognitive version of me, or both of you. It seems I’ve finally managed to fool you after all. “You’re the one who’s going to disappear!”

I whirl around, immediately firing once I have the cognition in my sights. My shot hits him in the abdomen. I barely spare him a glance as he drops to his knees. My next target is further away, but my accuracy pays off. The glass shatters, the bullet activating the red button underneath. Alarms blare as red lights flash. “The watertight bulkhead door has closed,” an automatic announcement says in a monotone female voice. “All personnel within the partition wall: evacuate at once.”

My intuition was right. The bulkhead door rises up from the ground, right between us. I’m left with the Shadows and the cognition. This is how it was always meant to be. “Whoa, what is this!?” Oracle says, her voice muffled behind the door.

“Akechi!” Skull yells, banging his fists hard. His voice is clearer just because of how loud he is. Typical.

“Hurry up and go,” I yell back, leaning against the door. I’m struggling to stay on my own two feet, but I fear that if I collapse now, I’ll never get back up.

“You fool!” Fox’s voice isn’t as loud as Skull’s, but his voice cuts through the thick metal. “Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”

I suppress a laugh. It wasn’t the plan, but... if it happens, so be it. At least my death will be for something- no, someone I love. “The real fools... are you guys. You should have just abandoned me here a long time ago... You would have all perished... if you had tried to face these with me weighing you down...” My words are interrupted by a fit of coughing. I cover my mouth as I do. The black gloves are speckled with red spots that hadn’t been there before. It’s blood... my blood.

“Akechi-kun!” Queen cries out. Is...she concerned about me?

I hear a fist bang against the wall, this time right behind me, and I immediately assume it to be Skull again. Instead, I’m shocked to hear your voice crying out my name, “Goro!” Are you...crying? I must be imagining things. I’m not worth your tears. “Why!? Why are you-”

My voice is strained as I continue. Even talking hurts. “Let’s make a deal, okay?”

“Goro...”

I can hear the pout in your voice. I’m so glad I cannot see your expression. It would make this so much harder. “You won’t say no, will you?”

Fox answers, “Why at a time like this!?”

I know you won’t deny my words. You’re too good, too perfect to refuse this request. “Change Shido’s heart... in my stead... End his crimes... Please!” I end with a desperate yell. I’m hoping you don’t refuse.

“Akeppi...” I wasn’t imagining it after all. You are crying over me. Of course you are. If there’s one thing that has been constant, it’s your damn feelings for me at every turn. I don’t even object to that stupid little nickname you gave me all those months ago. “I’ll hold on to your glove.”

I gasp. I thought you had forgotten about that, after everything that has happened. To think that you still have it... I shake my head. You never fail to surprise me. “Heh... After all this, that’s what you have to say? Seriously, you really are...”

I don’t have time to finish my sentence. The cognitive version of me is finally recovering, standing up as he snarls in whatever pain a cognition can feel. “You bastard...”

He immediately points his gun at me. I push myself off the wall, pointing my own gun at the cognition. “So my final enemy is a puppet version of myself... I...!”

I try to shut out the rest of the world before my resolve falters. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. I am, but... you’re worth this sacrifice. If only I could have accepted your offer, but there’s still no use talking in hypotheticals.

I’m... I’m sorry, Ren.

Case closed. This is how my ‘justice’ ends.

#GoroWeek #goro week #i need to stop writing things that make me cry #the feelings #p5 #persona 5 #p5r #persona 5 royal #persona 5 spoilers #persona 5 royal spoilers #goro akechi #akechi #ren amamiya #akira kurusu #p5 joker #phantom thieves #akeshu #shuake

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mountphoenixrp · 4 years

Photo

We have a new citizen in Mount Phoenix:

Timothée Valère Iver, who is known by no other name; a 20 year old son of Hodr. He is a student, figure skater and museum guide at Phoenix Library & Museum.

FC NAME/GROUP: hwang hyunjin of stray kids CHARACTER NAME: timothée valère iver AGE/DATE OF BIRTH: 29/05/2000 PLACE OF BIRTH: mouthe, doubs, france OCCUPATION: student at phoenix university (arts major), figure skater, part-time museum guide at phoenix, library & museum HEIGHT: 1.83m DEFINING FEATURES: he has collected a gallery of scars over the years, most of them on his legs from training, but the most evident one is across his hipbone where he took a (gracious) ice skate blow. he really loves tattoos, but given he has to wear revealing clothing, he could only get two: a gemini constellation on the inside of his right foot and an anchor on the inside of his left foot. he has his ears pierced multiple times (and changes his earrings quite often), has a small navel piercing (that he does not wear at competitions), and wears fake face piercings at times (like septum rings, lip rings, eyebrow barbell, etc.).

PERSONALITY: he is an unpredictable winter: one that could get too cold, too fast. one that could unleash its full potential if underestimated. he is a determined, and hard-working person – he strives for perfection, maybe to his downfall. he is incredibly artistic – in every way possible. because of that, he could have odd and unexpected reactions to certain things. sometimes, he is hard to approach, especially if he had a bad day. but overall, he is quite friendly, really funny and easy to talk to. he thinks humour is the only thing that keeps him sane sometimes. he is vengeful – do not step on his toes, it might be the last thing you do. he is easy to anger, but quick to calm down if pushed the right way. he is a young adult, naturally, he likes exploring and experimenting – sometimes, he does dangerous/stupid things just because he is curious about how things will play out. he has a good eye for pretty things, and could be a little bit of snob. he has strong opinions, and can be stubborn – he usually wins debates. he cannot control his feelings or powers. he appears intimidating because of his good looks and ‘popularity’, but those who know him are aware he has a goofy side.

HISTORY: tw: implied physical violence, sexual innuendo i. first snow ;

the bitter cold has a tendency to get under people’s skin – and even if snow is beautiful, the cold can be unbearable. not for her, she was born on ice – she enjoyed every single thing about winter: its glitter, its cold presence, its icy breath. that was why she fell for him, a god made of ice and snow, a god who perhaps loved her back.

mouthe, france – she went into labour while out with friends. a man, much older than her, was holding her hand and smiling at her. she found him at the ice rink, he was her instructor – and now, the man who will be her baby’s father. it was a long, hard and cold labour – when he was born, he was so cold they thought he died in the process. his fingertips were purple, and his little legs almost crumbled when touched. a cry made them breathe out relieved – the boy was born healthy. and the first thing he did was touch snowflakes – and thus his life began.

paris, france – they moved to paris from marseille, they knew it would be best for their child. paris offered opportunities that other towns did not, especially the opportunity to become the best in anything they wanted him to be. maybe that made him strive harder, be a little arrogant, look down at people who did not try as hard as he did. or maybe the fact that his mortal parents stopped loving each other had everything to do with why he was such a hard-headed kid. ii. blizzard ;

he has never been the best with conflict – a little easy to anger, hard to calm down. like a blizzard, or maybe like an avalanche. once a stone is tipped, he will come falling down with all he has. there is no telling how many fights he got into, how many throats he held in his rage. maybe, he just felt misunderstood – or maybe, he was just evil. he harboured love for finer things in life, a little less for people – he did not see love in his parents’ eyes, he only saw ‘do better’.

with feet bruised, and knees scratched – he pushed forward. maybe he thrusted back and forth, who would not? blessed with a pretty face that did betray his lust, and a perseverance that scared even elite athletes – he was truly a masterpiece. if observed from afar – absolutely gorgeous, if put under a microscope – terribly faulted. he was a dichotomy – hot and cold, pushing and pulling. there has never been a stable ground – and when he stepped on ice, it knew who its master was. and they knew too, because they screamed his name every night – timothée. iii. under snow ;

one conflict too far, and one outburst too much – he used his powers for the first time on a mortal boy who stepped on his trust. with zero tolerance for one of the most faulted qualities in humans, he froze the boy’s throat until he lost his ability to speak. surprised by the newfound power, timothée started questioning his heritage – how he did not look like his father, and was not really like his mother either. if they were not who they said they were, and he was not who he knew he was – then who was he?

the journey led him back to mouthe, where he found traces of his father. information he coaxed out of his mother after he won the nationals – his biological father was a stranger his mother met in mouthe, someone she did not see again after their union. a big, strong man with a foreign accent – one she felt attached to, and loved by until the moment he left. he begged the snow and the ice to tell him his name, and then he heard it. hodr, god of winter. iv. winter is here ;

as expected, choking someone’s voice out was not tolerable. he almost tarnished his reputation – they wanted to take his titles away. he had to go away, somewhere the snow told him to go: mount phoenix. he was only eighteen when he decided he was old enough to be by himself, fairly convinced that where he was going was home.

PANTHEON: hodr CHILD OF: norse POWERS: he is deeply connected to winter and ice. he feels at his strongest (and his happiest) in a cold environment, with a lot of white, despite having a sensitive eye-sight. he established some sort of odd communication with ice (and snow) over the years, sometimes he swears they answer him back. he can manipulate snow and ice in the presence of any form of water (sold, liquid, gas). when people annoy him, he freezes their sweat as a form of revenge. his body temperature is low, and it rarely if ever increases. thus he has a high resistance to the cold weather. naturally, he dislikes heat (sometimes feels like olaf in front of a fireplace). he gets uncomfortable if he stays in a warm place for too long, and hesitates a little when interacting with extremely warm people (whether personality wise or body temperature wise).

STRENGTHS: lithe (has quick feet), well-balanced, can navigate without sight (and often does), sharp hearing, high stamina

WEAKNESSES: little control (impulsive, and quick to anger), weary of heat (and of summer), sensitive skin and eyes (easily bruised/burnt/injured), easily overwhelmed (especially in places where there is a lot of movement), lacks concentration (sometimes sporadic)

#kpop rp #krp #stray kids #hwang hyunjin #stray kids hyunjin #mp; welcome

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loverspersonas · 5 years

Text

liability | ii

pairing: ot7? x reader

genre: spy au, grisha reader, angst, drama, fluff

length: 6k

summary: She’s known as the Wraith, a destructive member of a notorious intelligence organization. When a mission goes wrong, she runs into a rival group, BTS, and is offered a choice that could change her whole life.

↳series masterlist

It was bright.

The ceiling lights were white and blinding, the way they were in hospitals sometimes, glinting off the glass on the opposite wall. You were thankful the walls and floors at least were a darker gray or that would’ve really hurt your eyes. You shifted in the hard chair you were sitting in, only to notice the metal handcuffs pinching into your skin.

Well, shit. Your captors had been smart to restrict your hand movements, or making an escape would’ve been easier. You didn’t try to pull at them again. They only seemed to get tighter, and it was no use anyway.

The door opened all of a sudden and in walked a tall man with short ash blond hair and tan skin, dressed in a long brown coat. His eyes were framed with clear glasses and he seemed so perfectly ordinary, almost like a young college professor. But nothing about this setting, this investigation room, was ordinary. Nothing ever was in your line of work anyway.

“So,” he spoke after taking the seat across from you. Even his voice was normal and friendly. But you didn’t fall for that anymore. “Rose, is it?”

You gave him a long, hard look and turned your face away. He was unfazed by the action.

“You joined GOT7’s division of the organization JYP when you were nine years old, after your parents died. You’ve trained with them since, becoming what’s known to our world as the Wraith.”

Good for him, you thought dryly. He could memorize words from a file.

“I’m RM.” Still no response. “Let me guess. Only your friends call you Rose.”

“I don’t have any friends,” you said before you could stop yourself.

RM seemed a little satisfied that you were talking now, if not even curious by your first verbal response. “No, I don’t think you would. Most people in your line of work don’t have time for such trivial things.”

“My line of work?” you echoed. “You mean, yours too?”

He shook his head. “What we do is different from what you and your organization does. Our mandate is to protect people and information. To help society even though they don’t realize it. We don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it.”

“Neither do I.”

He leaned back a little like he was taken aback. “I’m sure you didn’t mean to. And it’s not entirely your fault. Your superiors kept information from you—“

“Why am I here?” you cut him off. You were annoyed and angry, because it felt like he was attacking you for things that were out of your control. “So you can tell me that what I’m doing is wrong?”

“I’m giving you a choice,” he said slowly, watching your features contort from suspicion to surprise. “It’s been a while since anyone’s given you that, hasn’t it?”

You didn’t look at him. You didn’t want him to know that he was right. You swallowed hard. “Doesn’t matter.”

“But it should.” He sounded so sincere, like he believed in what he was saying. But then, those were the most dangerous kinds of people. “If you help me, I’ll help you.”

“Help me?” you asked incredulously. “How can you help me?”

“Starting with that collar around you. The one they put on.”

Your hand instinctively went for your neck and the glossy silver choker you were wearing and had been for as long as you could remember. If you thought about it for too long, the memory of the electric shock almost transformed into reality and it was like you were burning again. Realizing that RM was watching you, you quickly dropped your hand in an attempt to show that you didn’t care, but it was too late for that.

“Don’t you see, Rose?” he asked. “They’ve chained you, branded you as their property. But what they didn’t see is that you’re more than just a weapon.”

How can I be more, when that’s all I’ve been my whole life? you thought. There was this visceral longing inside you. A longing that you never dared to feel anymore. Because all it ever brought you was misery.

Your voice was scratchy when you spoke finally. “I don’t know about that. I don’t… I don’t think I know anything at all.”

He looked at you with something like sympathy, though you weren’t sure. You could read pity and hatred from miles away at this point, but not sympathy. Emotions that weren’t cold and indifferent were rare sights back with GOT7.

“I want to help you.”

“Why?” you demanded. “What’s the catch? Do you expect me to believe you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?”

RM didn’t look angry like the way someone back in your organization might’ve reacted. In fact, he was waiting for you to start asking the right questions. “All right. We need intel. And it just so happens, you’re a direct source to GOT7 and JYP.”

“You want me to be your spy.”

“Of sorts. I want you to work with us.”

“Us? You mean BigHit.”

“My team, more specifically. The alpha team. We’re called Bangtan Sonyeondan, but you probably know us as BTS.” You did, but you didn’t want to admit it. While BigHit was a notorious organization, BTS was the most notorious of all. You couldn’t count the number of times your team had talked about them. Not in a good way, of course. More so in a want-to-destroy-them way. “We’re just one unit in the entire organization.”

“And you’re in charge?” you asked. You knew you were being somewhat reckless, because if the stories were true, people like BTS were known for catching and eliminating people like you. But you had to take your chances. Because if the stories were true, there was a chance you weren’t walking out of here alive. “So, tell me, RM. What happens to me if I refuse?”

“To you?”

You rolled your eyes, used to people underestimating you. “I’m not stupid. I don’t just get to walk away from this. Not without consequences.”

He gave you a thoughtful look. “You’re right. You’d be walking away, knowing you had a chance to do something different for a change. You’d be making a choice for yourself, rather than acting on someone else’s. So really, the only consequence you’d be facing here is regret.”

At first, you waited for him to add something else and when he didn’t, you couldn’t help but grin, amused. “Is that how you’re planning to convince me? By appealing to my better nature?”

He wasn’t deterred by your attitude. This whole time, he’d been quite straight faced in a way that made you think he was very good at concealing his true emotions. You were never as good in that area, at least not when you weren’t on a mission, playing the role of someone else. In this room, you didn’t know who to be and you were afraid he could tell. “Perhaps out of the goodness of your heart then.”

That was the first time someone had referred to you like that. You chuckled lowly. “What heart?”

RM tapped his fingers on the table lightly. Maybe you were trying to see how far you had to go to get a real reaction from him, to see his shield break and for everything inside to be painted clearly on his face. “Did you know there’s a tracking chip in the collar you’re wearing?” A roll of your eyes told him that you did know. “And at the casino, do you know why it was activated?”

“It was a malfunction—“

“No,” he cut you off. “It wasn’t.”

It took a few seconds for that to sink in. If the collar hadn’t malfunctioned, then someone had purposely activated it. Someone from GOT7.

“If you help me, I’ll give you something in return.”

You tried to push down the feeling of betrayal, not wanting RM to know that he’d gotten to you. “What, revenge? I don’t need anything from you.”

“What about your family?” he asked. “How much do you actually know about them? About yourself?”

You froze, your gaze fixating on the glass wall across from you. It was a two way mirror. You wondered if someone else was watching this, listening to your conversation. Could they see your mind turning over and over, searching through the corners of your memory for something about your parents? Because in the faint blue reflection in the glass, there was a girl with long, red hair and ivory skin, and you could see her trying to find those memories.

Somewhere there, there was an outline of a woman, a whimsical voice calling you Rose, the warmth of being tucked into bed at night. But it was too far away, lost in the darkness.

“Do I have your attention now?”

Your gaze shifted to him, your voice and features hardening. “You’re lying.”

“No,” he said, tilting his head a little as he studied you. “And I think you know that too. I don’t have anything as of right now. But I have people on my team who are experts for this sort of thing. So, Rose. You need to make a choice. How badly do you want to know who your parents are?”

“Hey, there.”

You jumped in your seat, instinctively reaching for anything you could get your hands on before coming to face whoever had interrupted you.

“Woah,” the chestnut haired boy said as he raised his hands in alarm. “It’s just me. Please put the screwdriver down.”

Eyebrows furrowing from confusion, you followed his gaze to realize what you’d grabbed from the table. In the seconds that followed, you remembered the table, and the room, had been practically empty. It was when you noticed the metal box full of small metal parts and tools did you realize he’d brought them with him. Slowly, you set it back down, still eyeing the boy cautiously. “You’re afraid of a screw driver?”

“I’m afraid of what you could potentially do to me with a screwdriver,” he corrected, shrugging with something close to embarrassment. “I’m not trained like the others.”

Maybe it was his reckless honesty that made you admit, “Neither am I.”

His eyebrows scrunched up before he drew out a laugh. To you, it was the sound of bubbling sunlight. “Right. You’re only the most lethal asset that JYP has ever had.”

“No,” you said quietly, turning away from him. “Not like that.”

Despite having gotten a change of clothes— black pants, a shirt and some leather boots—the metal choker was still there. You were glad to get out of the dress from the night before though. At least, you assumed it had been the previous night. Your sense of time had really taken a hit.

The boy’s eyes fix on the collar resting around your throat. “Well, maybe I can help with that.”

Only when you heard the sound of tools clinking did you look up, just in time for the boy to take a step closer to you. You jumped back in your seat instantly. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry,” he assured you. “I know what I’m doing.”

“What—”

Before you could stop him, he’d already reached out to inspect the collar. Your first thought was to blast him away. RM had removed the handcuffs, but with the collar, you remembered that you couldn’t do much, not unless you wanted to get electrocuted again. His fingers touching your skin made you want to squirm, but you resisted; it didn’t look like it was his intention to do that to you. In fact, he seemed quite oblivious.

“Hmm,” the boy murmured to himself. “That’s interesting. Haven’t seen technology like this before.”

“So, you can’t get it off?”

He looked up at you, for the first time with confidence instead of the cheery and awkward boy who’d walked into the room. “I didn’t say that. I like a bit of a challenge every now and then.” He grabbed something similar to a screwdriver and a small tablet, but hesitated before bringing the sharp object closer to you. “Can I…?”

You bit your lip as you glanced at it nervously, but then nodded. It took a few minutes of tapping on the screen of his tablet and some turns with the screwdriver and at some point, you thought he’d overestimated his abilities, but then you heard the unmistakable sound of the metal collar unlinking. Your fingers went for your neck and felt the bare skin there left pink and sore after so long of wearing that thing.

Releasing a huge breath, you turned to the boy only to see that he was quite interested in studying the collar now in his hands. “This is some high tech stuff. And dangerous. The amount of current it can send is enough to probably paralyze— oh.” He turned around slowly to look at you again. “That’s why they made you wear it.”

You would’ve noticed the sad way he was looking at you, but you were more focused on the fact that JYP’s literal hold on you was gone. RM was right in that sense. They had chained you and coerced you into doing what they wanted until you no longer needed to be coerced. Everything you’d done this far started out because of them. But did that mean everything that followed was your fault?

“Hey.” You blinked, your eyes focusing on the boy in front of you. He noticed that you’d zoned out, but didn’t comment on it. “So, now that that’s out of the way, let's go.”

“Go where?” you asked, puzzled.

“To eat,” he said like it was obvious. “It’s dinner time.”

He paused near the sliding glass doors, motioning for you to follow him which you did end up doing eventually, deciding that it was better than just sitting there with no information about where you were. You watched him out of the corner of your eye as the two of you walked down the hall. He kept talking about whatever door appeared in your path, not aware of the danger he was in just being in your presence.

He was smart. He had to be. Not anyone could so easily play with GOT7’s technology like it was their school’s science project. He had to know just what you were capable of. So, why wasn’t he running?

“What’s your name?” you asked suddenly, cutting him off.

He wasn’t offended. In fact, his face broke out into a smile. “I’m Hoseok. Bangtan’s official hacker and tech guy. Although, I also like to dabble in cryptology—”

“Bangtan? You work for RM?”

Hoseok frowned slightly. “I work with him. Maybe with GOT7, things were like that, but around here, we’re all a team.”

“You all?” you asked. Your mind flashed back to the casino and the boy with the gray eyes from the elevator. “How many of you are there?”

“We’re a unit of seven,” he answered as they went on walking. He seemed like the kind of person who might not realize that not every detail needed to be said. Things were on a need to know basis, especially when information could literally get you killed. Maybe that was why he wasn’t a field agent. “There’s RM, who’s kind of like our spymaster, so he’s usually in charge. Jin, our medic; Suga, our sharpshooter; then our field agents who each specialize in different areas: V, Jimin, and Jungkook.”

You tried to absorb all the information, but you weren’t required to doing things like that the way Hoseok probably was. You knew RM, but the other names didn’t have faces to them. And the only name you wanted to know was the one who’d helped you back in the casino.

“They were all there, weren’t they? At the casino.”

Hoseok nodded. “Our team was assigned there. To infiltrate—“ He looked away awkwardly. “Ah, I shouldn’t reveal everything right away. At least, not on an empty stomach.”

You stopped in front of a set of large glass doors, glass that was most definitely bulletproof like every door and window you had spotted so far. You wondered if it was built to withstand a power like yours. He typed in some numbers on the holographic keypad—too fast for you to actually memorize any of it.

With another smile, he gestured forward. “After you.”

You glanced inside. You were able to see some hanging chandelier lights over a long wooden table set with a running tablecloth and candles like in a home decor catalogue. Why was there a room like this in this kind of facility?

Taking the long period of silence as hesitation, Hoseok stepped forward first. “There’s no need to be shy.”

Rather than just standing there still, you had little choice but to follow him inside. It was a dining room of some kind, you concluded. And through an archway, a kitchen. On the other side, a living room area set with sofas, rugs, and a flat screen tv. Two people were sitting in front of it, playing a video game. The two boys you’d run into in the casino while searching for the shipments.

“So which one of you just lost at Mario Kart?” Hoseok asked.

“Jimin,” the brunette with the rounder, younger face said. He sat cross legged on a bean bag chair. “For the tenth time in a row.”

The pink haired boy, Jimin, scowled, throwing his controller at the younger one. “I didn’t lose. Jungkook here was cheating.”

“Throwing a red turtle at you is not cheating,” Jungkook argued. “That’s how you win.”

“Of course, you'd say that, you cheating bastard—”

“Anyway,” Hoseok cut them off, finally stepping to the side so that you appeared in their line of sight. “You guys remember Rose. Rose, this is Jimin and Jungkook.”

The two boys practically jumped from their seats, staring at you with wide eyes, but not like you were a bomb about to detonate. There was definitely surprise evident in their features, but not alarm like you were a danger to them. Little did they know, you thought, just how dangerous you could be.

“You were there.” It was you who finally broke the interminable silence, your voice somehow only raising their shock. “I remember seeing you at the casino.”

Jimin cleared his throat, breaking the eye contact he, and Jungkook, had been holding for some reason. “Yeah, that was… that was us.”

“We didn’t know if you were still here,” Jungkook admitted, his eyes falling to the carpet almost shyly. “We thought— well, we thought you’d leave.”

You gave a small shrug. “So did I.”

“All right, which one of you ungrateful assholes ate the salmon I left in the fridge?”

You turned to see a new face enter from the kitchen area. This boy was a few years older than the others, who you guessed were about the same age as yourself. He was tall with broad shoulders and ears turning pinker as his anger rose.

“Why do you always assume it was us?” Jimin demanded. “J-hope is standing right there, you know.”

You must’ve made a confused face, because Hoseok leaned closer to you and whispered, “That’s my codename.”

As you nodded, Jimin looked at him in surprise. “You told her your real name?”

“I haven’t been in the kitchen all day,” the hacker pointed out to the angry boy, ignoring Jimin. “And I’ve been with Rose for the past hour.”

The older boy’s expression morphed as he acknowledged the person in the room who was out of place. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that. These idiots have just been driving me crazy today. Not that that makes today any different from other days. I’m Jin, by the way.”

You didn’t get the chance to reply when Jungkook opened his mouth. “Yeah, you’re always so quick to blame us. What about the others? They’re conveniently not here right now. You know how much Suga likes salmon. Maybe you should ask him about it.”

“Ask me what?”

The boy who appeared from the hallway was shorter than Jin, but his presence seemed to make up for it by the way Jimin and Jungkook pressed their mouths shut. His gaze swept past them until they landed on you who could only stand there and stare back. You didn’t want to show that you were intimidated by him even though his eyes seemed like they could cut through you like glass. This must be the sharpshooter, you guessed.

“Uh, Rose, this is Suga,” Hoseok said, trying to fill in the sudden discomfort.

Suga didn’t say anything as he continued to study you, his head slightly tilted to the side. You knew that calculating look. He was sizing you up, searching for weaknesses, anything that was potentially threatening. By the way the corners of his mouth tugged upwards, it looked like he wasn’t so impressed. And that made something in you start to boil.

“So what was it you wanted to ask me?” Suga asked, his attention reshifting to the previous conversation. You hoped he found that more interesting than you.

“Someone ate all the salmon,” Jin said accusingly as he folded his arms over his chest. “That was supposed to be dinner.”

Without even hesitating, Suga deadpanned, “Which one of you was it?”

Both Jimin and Jungkook cast him offended looks. “I get that you guys like to blame us since we’re younger,” Jungkook began, “but how come no one’s paying attention to the fact that two people are missing right now?”

“Exactly,” Jimin agreed. “Where are RM and V, huh? Perhaps they’re downstairs enjoying a lovely salmon fillet while we’re all here arguing, completely oblivious of their ingenious plan.”

“Aw, that’s sweet, Jimin. You think my plan’s ingenious.”

It was unmistakably him. You watched as the gray eyed boy moved inside the room from the doorway. He was grinning faintly, his hair just as long and dark as you remembered. But now you could tell that his features weren’t just soft; his face was angular and chiseled like a sculpture. If you’d already been introduced to everyone else, this must have been V.

“I’m afraid to admit then that I have no idea what you’re talking about,” V told them. He stopped in his tracks as his gaze fell on you, morphing into recognition and something else. He opened his mouth slightly, like he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure what. You knew that feeling too.

“Then I guess it had to be RM,” Jungkook said, his voice fading into the background. Strangely, it seemed like you and the gray eyed boy were the only ones in the room.

Finally breaking eye contact, V looked away from you, and when you blinked, it was like blinking back into reality. “RM is in a meeting right now.”

“He won’t be joining us for dinner then, I presume,” Jin said with a small sigh.

“What’s the meeting for?” Jimin asked.

The second V hesitated, Suga decided to speak. “What do you think? The entire operation blew up. There has to be a shit ton of reports and things to fix and cover up.”

Jungkook winced. “Was it really that bad?”

Hoseok gave a half shrug. “Well, I mean the target did get away.”

“But we prevented the shipments from getting into the wrong hands, didn’t we?” Jimin said. “And a potential massacre. The whole casino could’ve been blown up.”

“It could’ve.” Suga’s eyes flickered over to you. “At least we managed to get the bomb out of there.”

This time, you didn’t bother to hide your annoyance. “What did you just call me?”

“Suga,” V warned.

The raven haired boy just shrugged. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. I mean, what’s stopping her from doing the same thing right now that she was going to do last night?”

He was right about that, at least. You were ready to flick your wrist and fling him into the wall just to hear his bones crack. That was just a start.

“If I’d had any say in it, I wouldn’t have just let you go.”

“Well, you didn’t,” you spoke finally. To your surprise, you were coming off pretty calm, relative to the anger surging under your skin that you were trying to suppress. “So it seems to me that what you think doesn’t matter.” You saw his eyes flash with anger, but you didn’t care. “But if it makes you feel better, you’re right. I could blow this place up faster than you can blink.” That wasn’t completely true, but you didn’t need them to know that.

Jimin and Jungkook’s eyes widened while Hoseok gulped nervously. Jin didn’t seem as outwardly scared, but you could tell by the way he shifted that your statement had put him a little on edge. The only one besides Suga who didn’t react with fear was V. He gave a small sigh, shaking his head to himself.

“Suga, this isn’t necessary,” he said.

But the sharpshooter’s focus was on you, as dangerous as if he was pointing a gun at you. “Are you threatening me?”

“And what if I am?” you said recklessly.

V stepped forward abruptly, his hand on Suga’s shoulder. “Okay, that’s enough.”

Suga looked like he had to force himself to remove the glare he was directing at you. With V, he shared a brief glance, nonverbal words being exchanged between them. Whatever it was, it somehow made Suga relax enough to put aside his anger.

Jin cleared his throat. “Uh, anyway. Besides the salmon, dinner is ready.”

You sat between Hoseok and Jungkook. Hoseok was someone you still didn’t quite trust, but was more comfortable around, and Jungkook seemed harmless despite being professionally trained in combat; he could hardly make eye contact with you without looking down at his hands all flustered. You’d consciously avoided sitting next to Suga, who was some seats away from you, and V, who was across from you.

The others had helped Jin set up the table. There was roasted potato, vegetables, butter rolls, kimchi fried rice, and a chicken dish. He’d apologized about having to reheat leftover chicken since the salmon was still missing, but you had said there was nothing to apologize for. All of it looked and smelled heavenly to you. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d had a good meal like this, something that wasn’t flavourless soup and dry bread.

You watched as the boys began piling their plates, passing dishes around the table while talking and laughing. Hoseok glanced your way shortly before starting to load your plate with potatoes. “There’s no need for formalities here,” he said, shooting you a friendly smile.

You made an attempt to return the smile, but was aware that it probably seemed a bit strained. “I just haven’t done this sort of thing before.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” You gestured around him with a hand. “This. Sitting together, eating… like everything’s normal.”

He chuckled. “Well, nothing about us is normal, really. Nothing about you either. But that’s okay here. Actually, that is kind of our normal.”

You noticed the way his face lit up as he gazed around the table at the people he considered his friends. It was a luxury you’d never gotten. “How long have you been here?”

He pursed his lips, thinking. “Well—“

“He’s been here longer than me,” Jimin answered. Apparently, he’d heard your question, and now the rest of the table turned their way too. “And I came to BigHit when I was around thirteen.”

They were kind of like you, you realized. They’d gotten roped into this sort of life since they were still kids.

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Hm?”

“How old are you?” Jimin repeated, chewing on his roll. “You seem pretty young.”

So do you, you wanted to say. “Uh, I’m twenty two.”

“Oh, you’re the same age as Jungkook. He’s kind of the baby of the group.”

Jungkook scowled at him, but his cheeks were pink. “Am not.”

Jimin ignored him. “The rest of us are in our twenties too. Jin is the oldest.”

“I think that much is obvious,” Jin said. “Your maturity level next to mine is like nothing.”

“Jungkook and Jimin’s maturity level next to anyone’s is nothing,” V joked. As the rest of them, besides the two mentioned boys, laughed along with him, you found your gaze drifting towards him. He seemed to fit in so well here in this place with people who wanted him. You could feel a part of yourself ache on the inside, and you wondered if it was because that part longed to be wanted too.

“Rose.”

It was Hoseok’s voice that shook you from your thoughts. “What?”

“You okay?” he asked. “You’re kind of zoning out again.”

“I’m fine.” You were glad he didn’t continue to push it. But from across, you could feel another set of eyes burning into you and looked up to see V staring back at you.

“Great, everyone’s here.”

The table came to a quick silence as they looked to see RM enter the room. The way the atmosphere shifted showed that they all really respected him, despite being around the same age. You noticed he wasn’t wearing his glasses anymore, revealing the weariness on his face. A part of you wondered what exactly had happened in that meeting. He took a seat at the head of the table.

“How was the meeting?” V asked him.

“That’s what I’m here to talk about.”

“Maybe this should wait,” Suga suggested, eyes darting briefly to your figure. “Wouldn’t want sensitive information to get in the enemies’ hands.”

To your surprise, it was Hoseok who came to your defence. “Really, Suga?”

Before the sharpshooter could respond, RM was talking again. “Rose stays. She needs to hear this too.”

You turned to him in mild surprise, which was nothing compared to Suga’s astonishment. A younger, more immature part of you wanted to gloat but decided that now wasn’t the best time.

“What’s going on?” Jimin asked.

“As you know already, GOT7 wasn’t the only team at the casino last night,” RM explained. “There are others after the same thing. The value and demand of ashe is increasing every day, and that puts more pressure on us. We know that EXO ships the drug, but we don’t know who’s making it.”

“What if we follow EXO?” Suga asked. “They could lead us to the ashe.”

“We’ve tried that already,” Hoseok said, shaking his head. “EXO never keeps the drug at SM headquarters, possibly at one of their warehouses. It looks like they get it delivered from another source.” His voice became quieter, almost embarrassed. “Which we haven’t been able to track.”

“So, the problem is that we don’t know who makes it,” Jungkook summarized.

“What would that do?” Jin asked. “How do we know other organizations don’t have the means to make it?”

“Because then its value would go down,” V answered. “And it wouldn’t be such a big deal for everyone to try and get their hands on. And as far as we know, that hasn’t happened.”

“Or maybe that’s what they want us to think,” Jimin mumbled.

Jin studied RM’s expression. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

RM sighed. “While the shipments were being transported to one of BigHit’s warehouses last night, they were intercepted. We presume they made it to where they were intended to go and are now available to the public from the top companies and dealers.”

The others glanced at each other in surprise and consternation. “What are we up against at this point?” V said like he was thinking out loud, but had also voiced everyone else’s thought.

“That’s what we need to find out,” RM said. “And that’s where Rose comes in.”

Jimin frowned, looking around the room to see the others’ similar expressions. “What do you mean?”

“We couldn’t figure everything out because we didn’t always have the means,” he explained then looked over at you. “But now we do. Rose is a direct connection to GOT7, for starters.”

Suga scoffed. “Exactly. She’ll report back everything we’re saying to them if we just let her go.” You rolled your eyes at this, though no one noticed. “Look, RM, I know you call the shots, but seriously, did you really think this one through?”

You were expecting RM to glare or shout or just react in some form of anger, but he was more composed than you thought. “I know it sounds risky. But we’ve exhausted all possible options. We weren’t getting anywhere further.”

More than angry, the way Suga was looking at the leader was one of betrayal. And it reminded you a little of yourself when RM had revealed to you that a member from GOT7 had compromised you. “What happened to consulting us before making big decisions?”

“This was kind of a big decision,” Jimin agreed reluctantly. “We could’ve talked about it, at least.”

“I know,” RM said. He didn’t sound apologetic, although maybe he was inside. A leader didn’t apologize for their decisions. You’d learned that by now. “But the board has already agreed, and want us to get to work immediately.”

Suga shook his head, and chuckled darkly. “If this ends with all of us dead, don’t say I didn’t fucking warn you.”

When he got up suddenly, the table shook and startled you. No one tried to stop him, but a few did exchange nervous glances.

“I should go talk to him,” V said quietly. “Try to get him to calm down and see things a little more clearly.”

RM nodded at him as he left. You didn’t expect any of them to like this idea. You didn’t like it yourself, but you didn’t have much of a choice. You were hoping the rest of the team would understand that and possibly not make it more difficult for you. That was why you were glad that V didn’t seem to be completely against the idea.

Jimin was biting his lip before he met your eyes. “Why did you agree to help us?”

Your lips parted, taken aback and not expecting such as a question. Thankfully, RM filled in for you. “We discovered that someone from GOT7 didn’t have Rose’s best interests in mind. So I made her a deal. She helps us in exchange for her freedom.”

You frowned slightly. Why didn’t he tell them the whole truth?

RM could sense Jimin’s hesitation. “I know it sounds risky. But Rose isn’t just a normal operative agent. She’s the Wraith, capable of doing so much more than us.”

“That’s exactly what Suga was saying,” Jimin told him. “If she has these abilities—that we don’t even fully understand— if she can do more than us, can we really trust her?”

You didn’t know why, but his words almost stung. You’d heard that before. You’d been marginalized and cast aside because of what you could do that no other human being could. People were scared of what they didn’t understand. You shouldn’t care what they thought, and maybe you didn’t. But you needed at least some of the team to somewhat accept you if you wanted answers.

“You’re smart not to.” Jimin’s eyes widened momentarily in surprise when you started talking. “I wouldn’t trust an outsider either. But I’m not asking you to completely trust me, or even like me. The reality is that someone at GOT7 betrayed me; I can’t go back there, and I don’t want to. So, we have a common interest now. I want to find where ashe is made, and who makes it just as much as you do.”

“Why does GOT7 want it then?” Jin asked.

You shrugged. “The same reason anyone wants it. Money, power. If they had control over the most highly demanded and expensive drug in the country, they’d have so much of both. Every company would look to them. They would get to call the shots.”

“And you? Is that what you wanted?”

You looked away from him after some time, unsure of yourself now. It felt strange that ever since coming to Bangtan, you were being given options from everywhere after so long of just following orders. Truthfully, you didn’t care much for money or power, not the way some of your team in GOT7 did. You’d rather they find ashe and the creators and put the entire thing to rest. Ashe could just become another everyday drug, an ordinary topic and this chaos would come to an end.

“No,” you answered finally. Your voice was firm, but what was underneath was something more vulnerable. Because you’d never been asked before about what you wanted; you’d never gotten to think of yourself. “But it didn’t matter what I wanted.”

You felt a pair of eyes shift towards you, and you could just tell that Hoseok was looking at you with sympathy. Jimin, however, was contemplative. You’d gotten him to think, but he was still wary. That was okay though. That was just a start.

“I believe you.” To your surprise, the quiet voice came from the boy sitting beside you. Jungkook was still seemingly uncomfortable making direct eye contact, but he nodded assuringly before looking to the others. “I think RM is right. We have information and resources we didn’t have before. We have to give it a shot, at least.”

RM met Jungkook’s eyes and nodded at him. In the short exchange, you saw the older boy’s face soften. It was clear that despite being the leader and older than him, RM cared what Jungkook, and the others, thought. It was strange how you could only tell something about him through his interactions with his team.

“I think that’s all for today,” he said. “Hoseok, will you show Rose where she’ll be staying?”

The hacker nodded mutely before standing up and moving towards the door. He didn’t say anything to you, but you assumed you were to follow him. Even minutes later when the two of you were in the elevator, he didn’t say anything, which you thought was a bit uncharacteristic, despite just meeting him some hours ago.

“Sorry,” he said, finally breaking the silence. “I was just thinking.”

“It’s fine,” you said, shrugging. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you or I’m mad at you,” he went on. “I just—I’m worried what this decision is going to mean for the team.”

What you were going to mean, you thought. It was already clear what your presence was doing. Suga hated you, Jimin didn’t trust you. What if being here would only do more harm than good?

“I’m not trying to cause drama,” you began. “I know that I’m not like you guys.”

Hoseok frowned. “What do you mean?"

“One of the good guys. And I won’t try to be something that I’m not. But I made a promise, and I’m going to stick with it."

There was a longer silence after that, but you weren’t bothered anymore. Eventually, Hoseok stopped in front of a door. “So, this is your room. A bunch of us are just down the hall, the rest are on the other side…” His gaze was moving from here to there, like he was trying to figure out what else to say. “I guess if you need something—“

“Yeah. Got it.” You wanted to punch yourself for coming off as too blunt and unemotional, because this was the kind of person who seemed to be the opposite. And he’d probably been the nicest to you out of everyone. But this was how you were trained. And if you were going to be working with any of them, that was how it should be.

He gave you a nod and halfway smile. “Well, good night.”

chapter i // chapter iii (coming soon)

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insufferable-know-it-all-blog · 4 years

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A Ranking of the Gayest American Girl Dolls

When it comes to lesbian subtext in the American Girl series, there's so much to unpack. Today I'll be discussing the 6 girls I deem the gayest.

Honorable Mentions

Felicity

Tomboy and horse girl. Has a companion doll. She hates learning etiquette. The Jiggy Nye redemption arc in her series is better than Snape's redemption arc, in my opinion. You may think she’s gayer than an honorable mention, but I think her traits read as “see this is a good and interesting colonist! She’s not like other girls uwu” as opposed to gayness. I am open to debate on the matter.

Addy

Her stories are much higher stakes than most of the other dolls', so the most time we have for subtext comes in her short stories and in her relationship with her friend Sarah. For example:

An enemies-to-lovers fic where Addy and Harriet are grown up could be veeeery interesting though.

Certified WLW (women-loving women)

6. Molly

Molly's lesbianism is more quantifiable than some of the other dolls. Some contributing factors are:

- bad at math

- lots of internalized self-loathing

- obsessed with her teacher Miss Campbell/daydreams about how pretty she is/snoops into her love life

- her OUTFITS

5. Josefina

Josefina Montoya is a Historical Doll (now called BeForever) from 1824 living in what would later become New Mexico. She's a soft girl with aspirations of becoming a healer. She's scared of goats and has a cool aunt, Tía Dolores.

Much of her stories revolve around adjusting to life after the death of her mother, and her relationship with Tía Dolores.

I don't want to gloss over this: there's a lot of discussion (in the stories and in the historical information at the back of each book) of colonialism and America's treatment of the west and those who live there.

There's also a fair amount of domestic tasks, playing music, and admiring flowers.

tldr; Josefina was the original cottagecore lesbian

4. Julie

If Molly's gayness isn't quite subtext, Julie's is canon. She's so lesbian-coded by way of lesbian stereotypes that I'm surprised a pride flag doesn't come with her accessories.

Julie petitions to join the boys basketball team, becomes an environmental activist, runs for student body president, and attends a Presidential debate. Her mom also has some very gay vibes, being a recently-divorced woman starting a career by opening a resale shop.

Julie lives in 1970s San Francisco and uses her privilege to lift up the voices of others and hold those in power accountable. Julie and her pet rabbit said gay rights.

3. Lindsey

Lindsey is the first Girl of the Year, released in 2001. She was also the first Jewish American Girl Doll. The title of the second chapter of her book is "What a Mess!" A mood. She’s not as well known so I’m going to fill you in a little bit more than with other dolls.

Lindsey is a flaming ball of chaos that ruins everything important to her family (according to herself.) Her story kicks off with her being disgusted to learn that her school is holding a "pet parade," which entails dressing pets up in human clothes and parading them around. She prepares a speech for her class to tell them off, but her teacher shuts her down. Lindsey doesn't take this well. She snatches an iguana and climbs up a tree in protest.

She plays the trumpet in her school band. One day she asks her band teacher if he has a girlfriend and she's very sad to learn he's single. How can he be happy without a woman to take care of him? Projecting much?

Lindsey also befriends a girl who is often bullied in school, cries in the bathroom (a gay ritual), and is told by her uncle, while dancing at her brother's bar mitzvah (post-Matzo ball food fight) that she is not a worm, and despite her chaos, is very loved.

Lindsey knows what she values and will throw food at your face or climb up a tree if you disrespect her. She also craves validation because she feels like a failure due to her unconventional approach to life. A lesbian icon in the making.

2. Kit

Kit spends six books telling you to fuck off with your gender roles, thank you very much. There's a lot of focus on Kit's life as a reporter and what her growing up during the depression will mean for her future expression of identity.

One part of her books that highlights Kit's relationship with gender roles and heteronormativity is when Ruthie reads fairy tales because she likes princesses, but Kit reads Robin Hood because she likes how he steals from the rich to give to the poor and tricks a sheriff. While Kit could become a case of "I'm not like other girls," I think this is avoided by her close friendship with Ruthie. She doesn't necessarily look down on traditional women's roles, she simply has other ambitions.

So yes, this part of her story is important, but what really sells it for me is her longing for adventure and her passion for baseball and Amelia Earhart.

Also? Her bomb outfits.

At one point, Kit gets anxious and hides under her porch. A lesbian oasis.

Kit is a practical and clever young lady with a bright future ahead of her. Keep up the great work, you icon.

1. Samantha

I have read, with my own two eyes, people calling Samantha a homophobe. Please.... I am so tired. Do not underestimate her like that. Let's dive in to the biggest lesbian of the bunch: Samantha Parkington.

Okay so first of all her series begins with her falling out of a tree and sassing her sexist Grandmary. From there, she grows close to Cornelia, her Uncle's girlfriend, who is involved in the fight for women's rights in the city. Samantha is heavily influenced by her and through the books, develops many of the same opinions.

When an Irish girl (Nellie) moves in next door to become a servant to Eddie Ryland's family, Samantha befriends her and teaches her to read. She never speaks down to Nellie or looks at herself as a savior, she just acts on what she thinks is right. The "Looking Back" sections of Samantha's books cover topics like social progress for women, the wealth gap, the treatment of servants, and the disparity in education between classes.

While Samantha follows in Cornelia's path, she also forms her own ideas. For instance: Samantha wins an essay contest with her essay on progress in American factories, and why America is excellent for such progress. When she shows Nellie her winning essay, Nellie tells her that it doesn't represent the truth of factories. Samantha sets out to uncover the truth about child labor that many Proud Americans have kept hidden. She decides she can't read her winning essay, so she changes it and calls out those who condone unfair labor in factories.

Samantha respects every person she comes across and always sees herself as an equal, not a superior. (Except her asshole neighbor, Eddie Ryland. He can choke!) Like Julie, Samantha uses her privilege to bring accountability to oppressors and fight for what's right.

Samantha loves women and won't rest until they all live safe, healthy, and happy lives. She questions the status-quo. She seeks revenge on the men who have made girls' lives hell. And she really loves her Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia. And climbing trees.

I imagine Samantha growing up and moving to New York City, hanging out in lesbian-owned speakeasies, and becoming a Mae West stan.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about American Girl subtext on twitter! If you enjoyed this article, please share it with a friend or two! Thank you for supporting an independent writer and American Girl stan.

#american girl #*

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yanderedbh-moved · 5 years

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The Yanderes As Shakespeare Villains

Please take this post with a grain of salt, about 90% of the characters here are expressly not meant to be either entirely good or entirely evil and not going to lie. I mostly just titled this list “yanderes as villains” for the sake of a title, as more than a few of these characters are far more like anti-heroes than outright villains. Would I identify all the Shakespeare Characters below as antagonists? No. Do I feel they are similar enough to be compared to their DBH counterpart? Yes. All that in mind, please enjoy!

Connor: Macbeth, Macbeth

(Specifically the “nice” version of Connor.) Strung along while heavily manipulated under the control of Amanda/Cyberlife as Macbeth is manipulated by his wife Lady Macbeth, despite all this. However, they are the ones actively doing evil. Carrying out these acts of violence.

Straddle the line between victim and villain. Because of this, they're viewed wildly differently by other characters. Additionally, both are dynamic characters, developing and changing thoroughly from the beginning to the end of the play.

Even though both characters unleash severe pain and even death onto others, it's mostly on account of manipulation. Because of this lack of intention on their end to commit these acts, they suffer the regret and remorse later.

Markus: Cassius, Julius Caesar

Much of their resentment for their enemy is on account of having to live and serve as a lesser to a force of evil. Not necessarily Carl specifically, but still, Markus is forced to serve and interact with humans who hate him.

They fight for freedom and Liberation from the unjust in a way. Markus for androids who deserve a better life, Cassius, who argues Rome is too good to be controlled by a tyrant like Caesar.

Not necessarily an identical parallel but one which still connects the two, Cassius is motivated by his envy for Caesar. At the same time, Markus wants revenge on humans for what they did to him and his people.

Kara: Aaron, Titus Andronicus

The only time Kara is violent, even potentially lethal to others in the story, is in the name of devotion to her child. In the same way, Aaron’s redeeming factor is his devotion to his own son.

There isn’t exactly any real detail given to explain what it is that motivates them beyond the fact they appear to act based on instincts. Kara’s instincts telling her to act as a “mama bear” for Alice, while Aaron is only doing what he believes to be right in the name of being a good lover, and provider for his significant other.

Fundamentally their monogamy and the way they are so loving with only the one they care the most about is central to their characterization. Kara is one of the only non-pleasure based female androids, and Aaron mostly only acts as a way to appease his lover.

Hank: Shylock, The Merchant of Venice

Despite if you love or hate either of them, it's undeniable that they are a victim of circumstance. His villainy is one that is created, not what he was born with.

The driving force behind his dramatic change in behavior is on a count of losing a loved family member. Causing them to cling desperately to what they have left hardening themselves in the process.

Shylock demands a pound of flesh in return for his daughter, while Hank straight-up murders (ok, technically he only shoots him in the head, but his intent stands, just the same.) Connor, on account has misplaced anger towards androids.

Luther: Hamlet, Hamlet

Hamlet may be the tragic hero of the story, and Luther is given a fair shot at redemption. Still, it's wrong to ignore the fact that both of these characters committed evil deeds before the conclusion of their story.

Both arguably have blood on their hands for some character's death even though they're not the direct killers. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were sent to their deaths by Hamlet, and Luther's complacency in Zlatko’s house kept more androids suffering.

Hardly means they should be counted among the blood thirstiest of villains listed. As they are developed through story and are defined more by their redemption and complexity than by their own faults and failings.

North: Lady Macbeth, Macbeth

Fiercely driven by her appetite for power and ambition, an iconic and classic example of female power and the corrosive influence on her husband.

Obviously, she acts as the driving force in trying to convert Markus and pursuing a path of violence and vengeance. She won't hesitate in her goals, no matter the hesitance of others.

No doubt, this unrelenting thirst for violence would likewise extend to her as a yandere. She would see her actions as ones made out of love and selflessness.

Simon: Tamora, Titus Andronicus

Strikes a chilling balance between a schemer and a bloodthirsty murderer while never leaning too far to one extreme. In a sick way, by keeping this balance, this allows Tamora to embrace the full power of violence, as well as calculation.

While in her own right, she might not be expressly powerful in her own right. However, by aligning herself with as a leader becomes far stronger, similarly, Simon is one of Markus' right-hand men.

He would be the kind of yandere who should never under any circumstances be underestimated as he is capable of intense violence. Far more than meets the eye

Josh: Claudius, Hamlet

Claudius is an interesting villain because, even though he is the one actively committing acts of violence, he is absolutely doing this of his own free will. He’s not manipulated by another, or only doing this for some higher goal. He wants power, and he knows he must kill the current king to achieve this. Yet still, he feels remorse and unease over this. Josh similarly will openly vocalize his dismay over Markus pursuing violence, yet always, will follow through with his leader all the same.

There is no joy in this bloodshed. Both are brutally realistic and understand, ultimately killing is fundamentally wrong, but follow through with this plot to satisfy their own needs. To them, killing is always wrong, it was wrong when they committed this sin, and they fear their time of atonement is coming.

Both the stories of Hamlet and DBH share the notion that no one is entirely good or entirely evil. Even though he knows it’s probably a lost cause, Josh still pleads with Markus to turn to the side of peace and to favor mercy. Claudius may be self-serving to an insidious degree. Still, it’s debatable he did care for Queen Gertrude and felt pain when she died.

Kamski: Edmund, King Lear

While it’s not ever disclosed in canon any real details about Elijah’s upbringing, the two of them share a kind of “larger than life" persona. At least a part of their motivations could be described as going above and beyond the “common man.” For Edmund, this is because of his humble upbringing, and it’s at least possible Elijah shares this need to be celebrated on account of unremarkable upbringing.

Both Elijah and Edmund are absolute snakes! There’s nothing trustworthy or loyal about them, and they have no problem sacrificing or hurting others in the name of their own gain. Edmund, the adulterer, and Kamski, who was fully ready to let Connor shoot one of his companions.

Their quest to become the perfect self-made man left them cold and withdrawn as a result. In the narrative, this cold and withdrawn behavior is Elijah’s way of appearing more cold and mysterious. At the same time, for Edmund, this is a representation of his resentment for the familial love he never received.

Chloe: Titania, A Midsummer’s Night Dream

Both are extraordinary women. Titania is debatably the most powerful character in the entire play, while Chloe is a sophisticated, empathetically driven android, perhaps the most advanced ever, in this sense. Yet are unable to reach their full potential, on account of living under the control of men. Titania, subjected to life under Oberon, and Chloe's bound to a life of domesticity.

Despite their implied superior abilities and potential, they aren’t even really able to fight back against the men who control them. Titania, under the influence of a love spell, forces her to act a fool for her husband’s enjoyment. As Chloe is kept separate and isolated from the rest of the world with no way to make connections of her own.

(I am so sorry, Titania is not a villain in any way, this is all such a reach, but this… this was literally all I got, RIP.)

Gavin: Tybalt, Romeo and Juliet

Definitely a “what you see is what you get” kind of antagonist. And this description applies to both men from the beginning to the end of the story. They wear their motivations and emotions on their sleeves and are unapologetic for the way they act and treat others.

Complete hot-heads. While they may claim not to have selfish motives, as in, they genuinely believe their enemies to be as evil and reproachable as they say, but this is not true. Tybalt’s pugnacious behavior leading to his, and the deaths of many others. While Gavin’s opposition to his fellow investigator prolong progress and only lead to infighting and tensions rising between other humans and androids.

Both characters are pretty much the closest thing to an “all bad” character as it gets. While Tybalt may mean well in some way, to protect his family from the Montagues, he doesn’t care for their well being the moment the rival family is gone. And is clearly only fighting so hard for his own enjoyment. Similarly, for someone who wants to keep humans and androids apart as fiercely as Gavin wants, he doesn’t seem to have any good-will, or kindness to share with any of his fellow humans.

Zlatko: Richard the third, Richard the Third

Both characters follow the arcs of characters who desire power, or to hold a superior status to others, only to lose this power when taken down by the demons of their past.

Even when they are surrounded by the faces of those they’ve wronged in their past, it’s only until the very last second that either of these characters shows any semblance of regret for what they’ve done. And in Zlatko’s case, this doesn’t mean he regrets what he did to the androids he tortured but does regret how he wound up in a position like this.

Ralph: Caliban, The Tempest

Both are fiercely territorial of the places they reside in. While they may or may not have a right to this level of possessiveness, it’s important to acknowledge they only have to share the space anyway on account of unfairness. (Caliban was tricked into giving up possession of his island, and Ralph technically was here before anyone else, and even if he doesn’t own the area officially, it’s still his space.)

Both are written to be “monster” like characters. Or, in other words, characters who are fundamentally different from the humans in the story. Ralph an android, as well as “corrupted” on account of his trauma. While Caliban is described as a creature that lived in the wilderness before the island was under Prospero’s control.

Through the roughness, they present to the outside world, however, the audience sees a glimmer of softness, and maybe even more intelligent than given credit for. If Kara is kind to Ralph, then he will refuse to give away her position to Connor, even under intimidation. Caliban actually does desire a life on the island with Miranda by his side. (Granted, saying he wants to populate the island with “lots of little Calibans” was a bit of a yikes move on his part.)

Daniel: Goneril & Regan

They share a common theme at the heart of their stories. The idea of spending your time, life, and energy to be close to another, to be considered a part of the family, only to lose themselves to jealousy at the notion of being replaced.

Characters with motivations which may appear petty at first glance, however, this is more than enough motivation to enact intense violence. For Daniel, this means threatening to drag the young daughter of his former host family off the top of a building. For Regan, this means literally pulling out someone’s eyes.

Nines: Don John, Much Ado About Nothing

(This is partly a headcanon here.) Even though Nines is considered an upgrade from his predecessor, Connor, that doesn’t change the fact he’s still fundamentally following in his brother’s footsteps, and he can’t help but feel out shined here. A kind of familial resentment John experiences, which motivates his actions in the story.

Even though this petty jealousy may appear superficial at first glance, it’s critical not to underestimate these characters. They are both intelligent schemers. No one is truly safe from, or around them.

This would absolutely extend to you, in terms of yandere Nines. His treachery runs deeply, and if he is so ready to start a war against his own brother than you will never know if you’re genuinely safe around him.

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