#unpredictable child dictator

[dr11ft]

don't think I ever clarified this but I genuinely don't care if people use my art as headers, icons, etc, anything really. As long as you credit me somewhere accessible from the location it's being displayed it's literally fine. You don't have to ask me and honestly I think it should be normalized to display art on the internet without personally contacting the artist for approval. Obviously if you're profiting from whatever it is that's a different story

[meazalykov]

terror arrives

barcelona femeni x female!pugh!oc

margaret (margo) pugh breaks through world class stars to score goals. so what happens when she transfers to barcelona after knocking them out of the champions league in the previous season?

the woman’s name had always been a heavy topic for opponents.

mallory pugh was the darling of american soccer, the golden girl. the one who followed the well-paved path, the one who did things the right way. 

a good youth career, senior national team. nwsl. the poster child for what a career was supposed to look like.

the younger sister… margo? margo had never done things the right way.

she is the younger sister, the shadowed talent. the one who took the road less-traveled. she is the one who was always chasing after something, even if she did not yet know what. the one who ignored the noise, the expectations, the comparisons to her older traditional sister, and ran her own race. 

literally, because margo pugh was not just fast on the pitch, she was terrifying.

tonight, the best team in the world learned just how terrifying she could be.

barcelona had confidence, as they always did. they had won the first leg 1-0, and even without alexia in full form, they were still the most dominant force in club football. 

lyon, the sleeping giant, had stumbled this season. margo? she had missed the first leg due to a minor injury. without her, lyon lacked their usual bite.

now she was back, and she was hungry.

from the first whistle, margo was a nightmare. she did not just move…she exploded. the ball stuck to her feet as if tethered by an unseen force, her low center of gravity allowing her to slip through tackles with a grace that should not have been possible at such speed. 

at just twenty-one, she was already different and already unpredictable, already rewriting the narrative that had been crafted for her due to having a sibling already in the ranks.

barcelona’s midfield, patri, keira, and aitana, were accustomed to dictating games. 

against margo, they could only chase.

at minute 18, margo picks up the ball just past midfield. she turns sharply, a half-second quicker than walsh, and she is gone. aitana reaches out, tries to pull her back…too late.

one touch. two. three. the ball moves like it is an extension of her. she slices through the space between irene and ona like a hot knife through butter. she takes a touch with her right, steadies herself, and buries it past coll before anyone can react.

1-0.

barcelona is stunned. the catalan stadium, roaring just minutes ago, falls into an uneasy silence while the away crowd goes wild. 

the aggregate is tied.

in minute 36, lyon’s press forces a mistake. renard wins the ball, flicks it to diani, who sees margo already running. she knows better than to hesitate. she sends the pass forward, and like clockwork, margo is there. 

she takes the ball in stride, past ona, past paredes…again. one-on-one with coll. this time, she fakes right. cata bites. margo drags it left, rolling the ball into the net with the ease of someone who has been doing this her entire life.

brace. 

before halftime. 2-0.

barcelona looks at each other, shaken. they have never feared a player like this before. they have never feared a twenty-one-year-old with only two years of european experience after leaving the states, but margo?

they fear her.

in minute 74, barcelona fights back and it seems like the best team in the world will have a comeback. they know one goal will send this into extra time. they push, they press, but lyon cannot break. we,, at least until fridolina gets a penalty, which she scores.

2-1.

in minute 82, the final dagger. lyon counters. margo, once again, is at the heart of it. she receives the ball at the halfway line, faced with two defenders. 

she stops. one touch. a step-over. she is gone again, but this time she does not go for a goal.

she lifts her head. she sees van de donk, waiting at the top of the box. a perfectly weighted pass splits the defense, and van de donk does not miss.

3-1.

barcelona is done.

when the final whistle blows, margo does not celebrate right away. she stands still for a moment, watching as the best team in the world lowers their heads, as their fans sit in stunned silence. 

then, she turns, running toward her teammates, arms outstretched.

the headlines will follow. of course the spanish, french, and american media will explode. for now, in this moment, margo pugh just smiles.

she is no longer the shadow, because she is the storm.

the thing is that margo had always known lyon was temporary. when she signed her two-season contract at eighteen, fresh out of high school, people questioned her decision. 

skipping college, heading straight to europe as an american teenager, it was bold and reckless some had said. however, margo had never been the type to follow expectations. she carved her own path away from her older sister who will never play in europe. 

now, at twenty-one, that path was leading her somewhere inevitable.  

when she lifted the champions league trophy with lyon, gold confetti falling around her, sweat still clinging to her skin from the 2-1 victory over chelsea, she knew this would be her last moment in a lyon jersey. 

she had done what she came to do. she had proven herself. 

she had stood on the biggest stage in club football and shown the world what she was capable of at such a young age.  

first, she had business in the states.  

the national break meant time with mallory, time with the uswnt, time to settle back into american soil before returning to europe. she didn’t talk much about what was next since her contract expired, but everyone around her already knew.  

margo had loved barcelona for as long as she could remember. long before she became the player she was today, before she was tearing through midfielders and breaking defensive lines like they were paper, she was a kid watching el clásico matches with wide eyes, heart racing every time barcelona scored. 

she had been obsessed with their style of play, the identity, their magic.  

there were pictures to prove it. old ones, dug up by the media as soon as transfer rumors swirled. 

margo, no older than five, standing next to mallory in an oversized 06/07 barcelona kit, sleeves drowning her small arms, her sister wrapping an arm around her shoulders. the picture was taken in 2010.

the jersey was so big on margo and it looked like a dress, but margo had worn it with pride.  

so when the news finally broke, almost no one was surprised.  

well, except for the barcelona players themselves.  

they had seen firsthand what margo could do, and to say they were impressed would be an understatement.  

there was a reason lyon had beaten barcelona in the champions league semifinals. a reason the best team in the world had been sent home before the final. that reason? margo pugh. 

she had run circles around them. she had been relentless. she had made even the most experienced players look slow, out of sync.  

now, that same terror was about to be on their side.  

alexia had spoken about it first. she had watched margo closely, studied the way she moved, the way she read the game. she admired it. she recognized that rare spark, the kind only the greats had. she’s special, she had told a few of her teammates, and there was no disagreement.  

some, like patri and pina, had felt something else…something dangerously close to jealousy. barcelona had been the team for so long. the standard. the team with the best midfield in the world. 

now? now a twenty-one-year-old was arriving, and she wasn’t just talented, she was a force that nobody stopped last season. not a single soul.

when margo finally landed in barcelona, the entire club felt it.  

the signing was no ordinary transfer. 

this was a statement. a warning. a shift in power.  

this time, the storm wasn’t coming for barcelona.  

it was here with them.

next part to this: 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ

masterlist

[lura-valentine]

Midas, the golden death

Daughter of Shigaraki Tomura

Name: Shigaraki Haruki (死柄木 陽煌)

Anime/Manga: My Hero Academia

Role: OC

Codename: Midas, The golden death

Quirk: Gilding

Age: 15

Size: 1.64m

Occupation: Villain

Quirk description

Just as Tomura's touch disintegrates everything and turns it to dust, Haruki's touch transforms everything into pure gold. No matter what material she touches, even people and living beings turn into gold.

Personality

At first glance, Haruki appears to be a quiet, shy, and reserved person. In new situations, she first quietly observes her surroundings before opening up. The upbringing by her strict and impulsive father taught her to be cautious and controlled – their reserve is not natural shyness, but an unconscious protective shield.

However, once Haruki has familiarized herself with a situation or senses she can take control, she reveals her true nature: She is charming, but in a dangerous way. Haruki is a master at manipulating others through targeted gestures and words. She uses the so-called Midas Effect: Through small, seemingly harmless touches, she makes others more open and trusting – without them being aware of the danger. She skillfully combines this tactical friendliness with her deadly Quirk.

Despite her dangerous abilities, Haruki harbors deep self-doubt. Setbacks, changes of plan, or personal failures unsettle her deeply and sometimes throw her off balance. Criticism hits her harder than it appears on the outside, as she learned from an early age to earn recognition through achievement.

Haruki is rarely open-hearted with others – she fears true friendships or deep connections because her deadly Quirk makes closeness risky. This often makes her feel isolated, even when she's surrounded by people. Her greatest inner conflict lies between the desire to be loved and the fear that her gift will irreparably destroy everything precious.

Her outward gentleness and elegance make her unpredictable. Behind an innocent smile lies a dangerous tactician, ready to bring down her opponents with charm, cunning, and a single lethal touch.

OC Lore

Haruki Shigaraki is the daughter of Tomura Shigaraki, the leader of the League of Villains, and of a former supporter of the League. Her mother possessed a rare but interesting Quirk: Gold Dust.

This caused their severed limbs to be transformed into valuable gold dust – a mechanism similar to the shedding of body parts in reptiles. However, she had to ingest metals to regenerate her limbs.

Shigaraki, pragmatic as he is, saw this ability as a potential tool to acquire resources for the League. He also noticed that his own Quirk didn't immediately pose a threat to her as long as he only touched her arms or legs – a detail that facilitated a fragile relationship between them.

Although their relationship was complicated and not without mistrust, Haruki was born from this union – a child who initially made Tomura insecure, but soon became the center of his world.

Haruki was born into the League of Villains – surrounded by misfits, rebels, and criminals. The League members became a strange but real family to her.

Dabi, Spinner, Toga, and the others looked after her, each in their own chaotic way. Haruki never grew up isolated – rather, she was accepted and protected by the League, even though her upbringing was anything but "normal."

Tomura tried as best he could to be a good father. But shaped by his own father's abuse and All-For-One's manipulative upbringing, he found it difficult to show affection in a healthy way.

Strictness, harshness, and unrealistic expectations often dictated his actions, even though he truly loved Haruki and desperately wished not to see her end up like his old self.

At the age of five, Haruki's own Quirk, Gilding, awoke. In one moment, Haruki touched her mother, she inadvertently transformed her into a lifeless gold statue. This accident shook Haruki deeply and left an indelible mark on her heart.

Tomura was inevitably catapulted into his past and immediately recognized his daughter's pain. He didn't blame her – instead, he tried to protect her, support her, and teach her to live with her dangerous gift. But the harder he tried, the more his inner conflict shaped Haruki –torn between the longing for closeness and the fear of losing everything again.

[phoenixblaze1412]

i saw the father Dottore fics that you wrote and honestly loved them! would you be willing to write about father!Dottore with a kid who has ADHD/Autism or sensory issues?

Of course^^ and yes you can be 🫧 anon

The laboratory was always a place of order. Every instrument had its designated space, every experiment followed a precise methodology, and every result was expected to be recorded without deviation. Dottore thrived in this structured world, where logic dictated every decision and unpredictability was a flaw to be eliminated.

You, his child, however, are the embodiment of unpredictability.

At first, he had thought it was simply a phase—an inability to focus, an aversion to certain sensations, an inexplicable resistance to what he deemed perfectly reasonable expectations.

You fidgeted constantly, your attention drifting between his words and the unseen world in your mind. You would recoil from certain fabrics, cover your ears at loud noises, and refuse to make eye contact for prolonged periods. Your interests were deeply fixated, but not on the subjects Dottore had hoped you would inherit.

No matter how many times he introduced you to the marvels of biology, chemistry, or engineering, you simply didn’t care. Instead, you were drawn to colors, textures, and shapes. You would spend hours sketching, completely immersed in your art, but the moment he placed a scientific text in front of you, your focus dissolved.

Frustration grew between the two of you like an unspoken wall. Dottore tried to enforce structure, believing discipline would instill the focus you lacked. It didn’t work. The segments had mixed reactions—some found your unpredictability amusing, others were visibly irritated. Pi, ever the perfectionist, struggled with your chaotic energy, while Gamma found you fascinating, often sitting beside you as you scribbled away with reckless abandon.

The tension came to a breaking point one evening when Dottore, in a rare lapse of control, snapped.

"You need to learn discipline," he said, voice sharp as he snatched away a piece of paper from you that is covered in vibrant, swirling colors. "Art is a hobby. It will not serve you in any meaningful way. You must focus on what matters."

You froze in place, expression unreadable as you got up and abruptly stormed off. You didn’t yell or cry. You simply left, your small hands balled into fists. That night, you refused to come out of your room, even when the segments tried coaxing you out. Eta, the youngest segment, who often acted as a bridge between you and Dottore, shook his head solemnly. "You hurt them."

Dottore had spent his life dissecting, analyzing, and manipulating the human condition, but the realization that he had hurt his own child in a way he couldn’t immediately fix was a foreign and unwelcome feeling.

It wasn’t until he spoke to Beta—one of his more observant segments—that he truly began to understand.

"They don’t think the way you do," Beta explained. "Their mind works differently. What you see as distractions are part of how they function. You can’t force them to be like you. You have to adapt, or you’ll lose them."

Adapting was not something Dottore did often. He demanded the world shift to his design, not the other way around. But the idea of losing his child, of pushing you so far that you no longer trusted him, was unsettling.

So he changed. Slowly. Awkwardly.

He learned that you needed noise while working—so he allowed you to hum or tap your fingers against the desk while drawing, even if it grated on his nerves. He learned that certain textures made you uncomfortable, so he adjusted your clothing accordingly. He learned that eye contact wasn’t necessary for communication and that sometimes you needed to move around while talking to him. He stopped trying to force you into rigid routines and instead built flexibility into your days, allowing you to take breaks when your focus waned.

Most importantly, he began to acknowledge your interests rather than dismiss them. When you drew, he studied your work, asked you about your techniques, and even provided you with higher-quality materials.

One evening, he found himself watching you sketch a complex diagram of the solar system, eyes alight with excitement as you explained planetary formations in a way that rivaled any scientific explanation.

“You like astronomy,” he mused, watching as your pencil danced across the page.

You nodded enthusiastically. “It’s like… science, but with colors and movement and so many possibilities.”

Science, but with possibilities. That, Dottore could understand.

The segments adapted as well. Gamma became your willing test subject, letting you doodle on his arms with ink. Eta took to making up stories about the things you drew, turning your creations into fantastical narratives. Even Pi, who had once been the most resistant, learned to engage with you in small ways, challenging you to replicate complex patterns in your art.

One day, you timidly approached Dottore with a new sketchbook in hand. You hesitated before handing it to him. “I… I drew something for you.”

He opened it to find an intricate illustration of his lab—meticulously detailed, yet softened by artistic flourishes. The test tubes shimmered, the machinery gleamed, and in the center, surrounded by all his segments, was him, drawn with an unfamiliar gentleness.

Dottore stared at it for a long moment before finally speaking. “…It’s exceptional.”

Your face lit up, relief evident in your eyes. “Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

From that day forward, your world found an unexpected harmony. Dottore still didn’t fully understand the way your mind worked, but he no longer tried to force you into a mold you weren’t meant for. Instead, he learned to meet you where you were, to build a bridge between logic and creativity.

And in return, you flourished.

Because while you could never be the scientist he had envisioned, you were something just as brilliant—his child, in all their chaotic, artistic, and endlessly fascinating glory.

[oacest]

mark lanegran's descriptions of liam, a sampling:

ignorant, loud-mouthed, and obnoxious lead singer

bothersome mosquito

low-rent tyrant

wannabe badass

entitled "rock star"

blowhard singer

this clown

a monster, one without teeth or claws, but a small, irritating monster nonetheless

a low-life cocksucker

a bedwetter

unbearable, minor-league-dictator

his buckshot-wild, painfully feeble, head-injury-victim's personality

a child ruined with indulgence, but one with an unpredictable predilection for cruelty and an ocean-sized, burning-black-hole need for attention

an obvious poser

a would-be playground bully

a total pussy

all the scare factor of a Z-grade Steven Seagal

putrid piece of shit

unstable loudmouthed prick

arrogant, spoiled, wounded baby Gallagher

phony motherfucker

[liora-vespera]

Runaway Elegance - Jungkook ff

Genre: Fluff

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

Y/N and Jungkook had been friends for as long as they could remember. Growing up in Seoul’s upper crust, their lives were intertwined from the start. Y/N’s father was a titan in the business world, owning a conglomerate spanning industry from real estate to luxury retail. Her family lived in a mansion that could rival a palace, with marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and a garden so vast it could host a small festival.

Jungkook’s upbringing was equally privileged but in a different way. His father was a prominent political figure known for his charisma and influence, and his family name carried weight in every corner of the city. Despite their wealth, the Jeons were more grounded in public life, constantly attending events and mingling with people from all walks of life.

Y/N’s and Jungkook’s fathers were longtime friends, a bond forged through years of mutual respect and collaboration. Naturally, their children became friends too. From kindergarten to university, their paths always aligned. Yet, despite their shared history and privilege, Y/N and Jungkook couldn’t have been more different.

---

Y/N was calm, composed, and mature beyond her years. Even as a child, she preferred books over toys, classical music over pop, and well-thought-out plans over spontaneity. Her reserved nature made her a role model for her peers and a source of pride for her parents, who saw her as the perfect heir to the family empire.

Jungkook, on the other hand, was a free spirit. He was the kid who climbed trees in his school uniform, the teenager who dyed his hair blue on a dare, and the young man who chased his dreams of being a professional car racer despite his family’s protests. He owned a luxurious restaurant as a side hustle, but his real passion was the thrill of the race. Carefree and impulsive, he lived life like it was one big adventure.

Despite their differences, the two were inseparable. Jungkook loved teasing Y/N, calling her “Princess Robot” for her seemingly perfect, emotionless demeanor. In turn, she’d roll her eyes at his antics but secretly appreciated how he brought chaos into her otherwise structured life.

---

By her late twenties, Y/N was working as a project manager in one of her father’s companies. Her days were filled with board meetings, strategy sessions, and managing high-stakes projects. On the surface, she seemed to have it all—beauty, intelligence, wealth, and success. But beneath the polished exterior, she felt suffocated.

Her life had always been dictated by others: her father’s expectations, her mother’s insistence on perfection, and the ever-present pressure to uphold the family name. She had no time for hobbies, no freedom to make her own choices, and certainly no room for a personal life.

Her parents had recently taken their control one step further by arranging her marriage to Minhyuk, the CEO of another powerful company. He was everything they wanted for her: accomplished, wealthy, and poised. But to Y/N, he was a walking spreadsheet. Conversations with him were dry and devoid of any spark.

---

Meanwhile, Jungkook’s life was a whirlwind of excitement. When he wasn’t racing cars, he was managing his restaurant, throwing impromptu parties, or traveling the world. He’d built a reputation as a wildcard—unpredictable but dependable when it mattered most.

Jungkook had always been Y/N’s escape. Whenever her world felt too rigid, he was there to remind her that life was meant to be lived. Whether it was sneaking out for midnight drives or crashing random parties, Jungkook made her feel alive in a way no one else could.

—

The engagement party was a grand affair held in Y/N’s family mansion. The guest list included politicians, business tycoons, and celebrities, all dressed to impress. Y/N stood beside Minhyuk, listening to him drone on about market trends while smiling politely for the cameras.

Jungkook arrived fashionably late, as always. He wore a suit that fit him perfectly but paired it with sneakers, much to the horror of the older guests. Spotting Y/N, he made a beeline for her.

"Yo, Princess Robot," he greeted her with a cheeky grin. "Why do you look like you’re attending your own funeral?"

"Don’t call me that," she replied, her tone sharp but her eyes betraying a flicker of amusement.

"You didn’t answer my question," he pressed.

"Not here, Kook," she whispered, glancing around.

Jungkook’s eyes narrowed, but he let it go for the moment.

---

Later that evening, Y/N managed to steal a moment of solitude, sitting on a couch in a quieter corner of the mansion. Jungkook, ever perceptive, found her there.

"You’re really bad at hiding your misery, you know that?" he said, plopping down beside her.

She sighed. "I don’t want to marry him, Kook. He’s a good person, but… he’s just like my dad. All business, no emotion. I can’t live like that."

"So don’t," Jungkook said simply.

"It’s not that easy," she argued. "My parents won’t listen. They’ve planned everything. The wedding is in a week."

"Then run away," he said with a shrug.

"Are you insane?"

"Probably," he grinned. "But I’m serious. If you hate this so much, why go through with it? I’ll help you, Y/N. I always have your back."

She shook her head. "I can’t. It would ruin everything."

"Fine. But if you change your mind, call me."

---

The night before the wedding, Y/N reached her limit. Her parents refused to listen, and Minhyuk dismissed her concerns as mere jitters. Feeling trapped, she finally dialed Jungkook’s number.

"Kook, I need you," she said, her voice shaking.

"I’m on my way," he replied without hesitation.

---

Jungkook arrived at the mansion, using his charm and familiarity with Y/N’s family to get past security. He made up a story about needing to discuss wedding plans and slipped into her room.

"Pack light, Robot Princess. We’re getting out of here," he said, grinning.

"What if they catch us?" she asked, her nerves getting the better of her.

"They won’t. And even if they do, I’ve got a backup plan. Trust me."

Their escape was a mix of chaos and comedy. Jungkook used every trick in the book—bluffing the guards, distracting Y/N’s nosy aunt with fake compliments, and even pretending to trip to buy time.

Once they were in his car, Y/N let out a laugh, the weight of her situation momentarily lifted.

---

They drove to a secluded seaside town where Y/N could finally breathe.

"What now?" she asked as they sat on the beach.

"Now, you live your life," Jungkook said. "And if anyone tries to stop you, they’ll have to deal with me."

For the first time in years, Y/N felt free. And as she leaned her head on Jungkook’s shoulder, she realized that no matter how chaotic he was, he was her anchor in a world that often felt too rigid.

"Thank you, Kook," she whispered.

"Anytime, Princess Robot," he replied with a smirk.

End.

[savior-of-the-ink]

Tell me everything I beg of thee

Mmmmmh— *flips through his notes* "Everything" would be a lot of stuff in one go... Buuuut I do have a bit to yap about Harley's soul trait lately, so we can start from there!

Warning: long post + mention of arson and death

Firstly, a bit of context: my Harley is included in a bigger system called the Authorspen Multiverse, which comes with its own original worldbuilding: gods, creation myth, power system and classes, concept of the afterlife etc. In this case, souls are the condensation of a person's true nature and the culmination of their life experiences and upbringing. Children's souls start off as pure white, color of the Primordial Chaos from which everything is born and symbolizing the countless possibilities held within a living being, and subsequently acquire their colors as time passes.

As you can imagine, Harley was never a particularly lively child: he was the son of a prostitute, brought up in the environment of a brothel and growing up learning how to survive the streets. He wasn't unhappy, but he followed a brutally realistic way of living since a very young age: as such, the first hues leaned on blue and green, showing off his collected demeanor and precocious practical thinking.

It was only when the fire broke out and destroyed the brothel, killing his mother in the process, at the time when Harley was barely nine and in the last stage of its first development, that his soul flared up with a bright green: this is the moment he becomes aware of mortality being "the curse of the weak" and for the first time feels a sliver of compassion for the entire human race afflicted with this heinous fate, sending him off the path to becoming a doctor.

Now, green is an ambivalent color, symbolizing both healing and poison, which makes for a fitting choice for a Doctor (as in, a disciple of Raphael, Archangel of Medicine and All Types Of Research). Additionally, all Doctors come with an innate sense of empathy that brings them to fulfil their vows no matter the situation they find themselves in. But, because of this double-edged nature and because Doctors are fervent followers of their creed, it becomes the power class that most easily falls into corruption and loses its way, often succumbing to madness and ambition.

It is no doubt that Harley's love for research was born a place of sincere dedication and desire to uplift humanity (it must be also said that, given his deep interest in Ancient Greece, his first career of choice had once been becoming an archeologist and a scholar). But, as his studies proceeded, he had immediately come to crash against limits dictated by morals and ethics, which he failed to understand and instead found of hinderance to the scientific process. This brought his soul trait to start darkening, reaching the point of no return when Harley was expelled from the Young Geniuses Program by Elliot, where cracks start to show and bring Hate to taint that green soul into a teal one.

Teal is a peculiar hue because it comes with a combination of green (as mentioned, holding both positive and negative connotations) and violet (mostly seen as a Dark trait): an individual possessing such soul trait can come off as exceptionally smart, ambitious and able to combine practical thinking with rather creative solutions, but easily prey to jealousy and with a lacking ability to connect with people and sympathize with their experiences as well, without even counting the presence of Hate that causes Harley's unpredictable mood swings and greatly heightens his characteristical theatrics (instilled by his reading classical Greek literature when he was younger, by the way).

Harley's soul has long reached its final development stage and it is now impossible to bring back that one bit of genuine yearning for the betterment of humanity, irremediably scarred by the rejection on Elliot's behalf, the man that once was the light keeping that green soul burning bright. Despite this, Harley's indifferent behavior cannot deter his original vows and he will always, in a way or another, find himself leaning towards his calling: being at the service of the people in need, striving to do good no matter the circumstances.

After all, there is no creature more sympathetic than a Doctor.

[cn-4amsleeper]

Did a sketch of an Alan Wake AU where Alan is the young prince who just ascended the throne, Zane is the leader of the Knights, and Scratch is the regent. And now my brain can’t stop.

In this country the throne isn’t passed to the oldest child it is assigned by the king. Alan was assigned because although being the second prince and the moderate one(like he’s good at writing letters and stuff but in terms of fighting and politics skills he’s not as good as his brothers), he has the heart to care for the people and knows he has his own flaws and that he needs other’s help(so he won’t become a dictator). Zane is the oldest son, romantic knight that dazzles at balls, famous on the battlefields for his unpredictable strategy that always leads to victory somehow. Scratch is the youngest and the most ambitious, known for being a brilliant political strategist, Scratch is not his real name, just an alias his enemies call him because of how ruthless he can be.

Are they jealous for Alan assigned? Zane was at first, but he soon left the idea behind and thought he didn’t want the responsibility anyway. Scratch however took it personally and has already made a plan to take the throne, but for some reason he hasn’t executed it yet).

Alice is the girl that isn’t part of any royal family but Alan would fight the entire country to marry. Takens are a group of rogues living at the country’s border. Saga and Casey are ambassadors from other countries visiting the country to deal with the Taken problems. Koskela brothers are well known merchants. Jesse is the queen of a much bigger country who is well-known for being the best knight in the continent.

THIS IS INSOMNIA SUPERPOWER.

[milliedoesstuff]

Corrupted Universes !

Everything, story wise, about my project

CU follows Liv, a snarky, eccentric, interdimensional girl trying to live a quiet life on Earth- until her past comes back to haunt her.

There are 3 main characters:

Liv: The runaway. A 600 year-old (35 in her species years) with a knack of trouble. Hiding on Earth, but her history keeps catching up. She's witty, unpredictable, and tougher than she looks

Maya: The optimist. Liv's best friend. An ex government employee turned small tow worker. Clumsy, curious, and full of heart. She's the first to see Liv as more than a threat- and becomes her closest friend.

Victor: The ruthless one: A human from another universe with a grudge against Liv's species after his universe was destroyed. Armed with powered gloves, he will make Liv pay.. unless Liv befriends him or something that would be crazy lmao.

The story will be a fun one with linear story. Starring Liv as she's hiding out in Earth ever since she was a child, dealing with government wack jobs n such.

Before Liv came to Earth, she lived in her home dimension, Rainia. She lived in royalty as her father as the king, her mother as the queen, and [REDACTED]. Liv then had to run away from her home because of her being 'WANTED'.

With Liv being gone so long, her father, Xellio, lost his sanity due to him not being able to find her for centuries. His main goal is to find Liv and destroy her.

There are other major bad guys besides Xellio who have a bigger role much later in the story. I plan on having maybe 2-3 volumes. That's all I'm going to say for now, of course there's a LOT more than what I posted here but this was all just the main stuff. You'll just have to find out what happens. I hope I'll be able to grow this dumb thing I'm making into something bigger. I hope you enjoy what I'm making so far : )

(this post was inspired by dictator tirahs Welcome to gleamfolk city masterpost)

[woodblxssomcrowned]

I love your ocs,I have a question for you this I got to read on some blogs,How powerful do you think a child born to an uzumaki clan member with an Uchiha clan member would be,what I have seen is that he would be an incredibly formidable shinobi what do you think he would look like,Thank you for reading.

Personally I really like to think that power and genetics doesn't necessarily work in such simple and predictable manners as Uzumaki and Uchiha have baby = powerful shinobi.

Just look at Kaname.

She's a descendant from two incredibly powerful shinobi clans and is the child of two exceptional shinobi one of which is even known as 'the god of shinobi'. Surface level breeding logic would dictate that she is bound to be powerful. And yet form some reason something in her genetic makeup came out wrong and she ends up unable to alter the nature of chakra at will and neither she nor her brothers can use the mokuton, because their father failed to pass on all the necessary genes to them. Because in general parents have no say in what genetic makeup they end up passing on to their children and descendants, or how it will mesh with their partners, or what sudden mutations or abnormalities may appear, or if something that has been carried from a great-great-great grandparent suddenly causes problems .

Does she still have several of the genetic traits and benefits of both clans which does make her stronger than the average Senju in some ways? Does she also still have a lot of potential for greatness that can be unlocked by time, effort, proper training and support for her strengths and the things she has actual talent for? Yes! But she's still not a perfect mix with the best of both clans with the greatest traits of her parents the way some may have hoped and expected, because genetics can be unpredictable!

So like, I think that mixing clans, even powerful ones, doesn't guarantee the birth of a powerhouse with all their combined skills and genetic benefits. While I do think power in the Naruto universe is to an extent hereditary (almost every named parent of powerful characters are shown to also have been powerful), I don't think parentage and ancestry is a guarantee that the child of a powerful shinobi will also grow up to be as or more powerful than them. Because genetics can be unpredictable.

And in spite of what the Naruto universe wants to tell us when it comes to the concept of talent, we should also consider that skills need to be learned and refined over time, even if you do have some innate talent, and a lot of factors can play into how easy it will be to do so. You could have all the genetic benefits and talent in the world but if you don't put in the time and effort to do something with those traits and learn how to apply them they are meaningless. Without the drive to make something of that talent nothing will come of it. Talent allows you to get good faster and more efficiently, not instantly without any previous exposure. Kaname could have been born with all the best traits of the Senju and Uzumaki combined, a natural talent for all things combat, and even the affinity for the mokuton. But if she was completely indifferent to the shinobi life, didn't put in any time or effort into training or learning how to use those traits, how to fight or use weapons or the mokuton, they would mean absolutely nothing. Just like how she has a lot of untapped potential in the main verse because she was denied proper training, support and access to information that would have allowed her to be as strong as she is the the WS!AU and True timeline!AU.

Sorry about my rambling but this ask sent me down a rabbit hole and I'm not even sure if it made sense.

In an ideal scenario though, if one were to inherit all of the best traits of both clans and given all the right opportunities...yeah I could see an Uzumaki/Uchiha child grow up to be formidable. Just having the potent chakra of the Uchiha and the physical resilience of the Uzumaki is a pretty good and sturdy foundation for a shinobi I'd think. But I think it would depend more on that character's drive and motivation to actually be formidable and the lengths they take to reach that level. As for how 'he' would look...I personally tend to think the Uchiha genes are very dominant in that regard; so dark hair and dark eyes at least.

[outeremissary]

I'd like to know more about Asperia!!!❓, and 🚶‍♂️

Whoa, Asperia time!! Thank you!! Asperia is such a Lot even just focusing on Asperia Specifically

[Thematic Headcanons]

hc + ❓ for a headcanon of the receiver's choice

Asperia had a nickname in the underworld for a long time (among those aware of the Temple, at least): the Brat Princess of the Bhaal cult. It had a few layers to it. One of them was that Asperia came to power as the leader of the cult remarkably, notably young- barely more than twelve years old. A child prodigy, you might say (although it wouldn't be entirely accurate). Not the only reason, though- he was also infamous for seemingly unpredictable moods and whims and for being incredibly difficult to deal with (even for a Bhaalist). Some of this "moodiness" and tendency to forget things was, though nearly no one knew, because "Asperia" wasn't always the same person, but that was the impression that formed the reputation. And it was definitely deepened by Asperia's tendency to dismiss any accusations of forgetting things with "clearly it wasn't (and you aren't) important enough to be worth remembering, so I don't see how this is my problem." Truly nothing covers for lost time like a sincere belief that other people matter so little that they can pass out of existence without consequence. Asperia was also known for generally self-aggrandizing behavior, frequently referencing personal divine superiority to others, treating most people as servants (very expendable ones), and always being accompanied by that damned butler. She gave the macabre impression of being an entitled rich kid who expected everyone knowing about her daddy would flatten any obstacle in her path.

Oh, and the fact he sometimes did literally call himself "princess of murder." Charming.

hc + 🚶‍♂️ for a habit-themed headcanon

Hm, Asperia's habits... aside from the obsessive religious devotion, there are a number of quirks. One significant thing about Asperia is that he has a tendency to dictate a lot of his thoughts and actions out loud when Scleritas is nearby. She expects that Scleritas will then remind her later of anything she's forgotten, or write it down so she can refresh herself (not that she should need to- that would imply Scleritas isn't there to be called on and obviously her butler would never leave her waiting). It's a dramatic, grandiose behavior for the person who claims not to bother keeping track of things beneath them, but it's a habit that most of the alters kept (and were encouraged to by Scleritas) and because of that was a significant counterbalance to losing time. Is something confusing? Ask Scleritas what's happening. He'll remind you of what "you" told him so brilliantly. It's important to note that Asperia was virtually unaware of the dissociation until shortly before the events of the game, so to Asperia this really was Scleritas reminding her of events so trivial to a divine prodigy that they slipped her mind. Those hours of careful work Paracelsus put into this project: Asperia's achievements, as long as Scleritas can describe them. Joslyn negotiating some internal troubles in the cult: Asperia did it, they were just a bit preoccupied to think much of it.

Of course, not a perfect method. Scleritas isn't always around, for one thing. Servants must sometimes be away keeping house. And sometimes Asperia had killed him for some reason or other and he hadn't come back quite yet. But more than that, there was someone who didn't like to talk to him: Kasander. Most of the blanks in Asperia's life past a certain age that they could never seem to fill were times they had switched with Kasander. Alarming blanks, considering that those were times that "Asperia" seemed to be doing everything that they shouldn't. That was always unsettling. But even though Scleritas could never give the concrete dictions to explain away secondhand reports of strange behavior, talking to him was still always good for making the worry disappear. There was always a theory there. Always something to make it rational, or to show how to make it up to Father when it was misbehavior that couldn't be explained away.

Of course, Scleritas knew what was happening all along. But it was much easier to mold an Asperia who didn't know- especially when those oral records were so easy to change to suit a moment's need.

[tomasorban]

All this attempt to control … We are talking about Western attitudes that are five hundred years old. They began at the time when Florence, Italy, was the most important city in the world. The basic idea of science—that there was a new way to look at reality, that it was objective, that it did not depend on your beliefs or your nationality, that it was rational—that idea was fresh and exciting back then. It offered promise and hope for the future, and it swept away the old medieval system, which was hundreds of years old. The medieval world of feudal politics and religious dogma and hateful superstitions fell before science. But, in truth, this was because the medieval world didn’t really work any more. It didn’t work economically, it didn’t work intellectually, and it didn’t fit the new world that was emerging.” “But now, science is the belief system that is hundreds of years old. And, like the medieval system before it, science is starting not to fit the world any more. Science has attained so much power that its practical limits begin to be apparent. Largely through science, billions of us live in one small world, densely packed and intercommunicating. But science cannot help us decide what to do with that world, or how to live. Science can make a nuclear reactor, but it cannot tell us not to build it. Science can make pesticide, but cannot tell us not to use it. And our world starts to seem polluted in fundamental ways—air, and water, and land—because of ungovernable science.” This much is obvious to everyone. “At the same time, the great intellectual justification of science has vanished. Ever since Newton and Descartes, science has explicitly offered us the vision of total control. Science has claimed the power to eventually control everything, through its understanding of natural laws. But in the twentieth century, that claim has been shattered beyond repair. First, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle set limits on what we could know about the subatomic world. Oh well, we say. None of us lives in a subatomic world. It doesn’t make any practical difference as we go through our lives. Then Godel’s theorem set similar limits to mathematics, the formal language of science. Mathematicians used to think that their language had some special inherent trueness that derived from the laws of logic. Now we know that what we call ‘reason’ is just an arbitrary game. It’s not special, in the way we thought it was. “And now chaos theory proves that unpredictability is built into our daily lives. It is as mundane as the rainstorm we cannot predict. And so the grand vision of science, hundreds of years old—the dream of total control—has died, in our century. And with it much of the justification, the rationale for science to do what it does. And for us to listen to it. Science has always said that it may not know everything now but it will know, eventually. But now we see that isn’t true. It is an idle boast. As foolish, and as misguided, as the child who jumps off a building because he believes he can fly.” “We are witnessing the end of the scientific era. Science, like other outmoded systems, is destroying itself. As it gains in power, it proves itself incapable of handling the power. Because things are going very fast now. Fifty years ago, everyone was gaga over the atomic bomb. That was power. No one could imagine anything more. Yet, a bare decade after the bomb, we began to have genetic power. And genetic power is far more potent than atomic power. And it will be in everyone’s hands. It will be in kits for backyard gardeners. Experiments for schoolchildren. Cheap labs for terrorists and dictators. And that will force everyone to ask the same question—What should I do with my power?—which is the very question science says it cannot answer.”

~ Michael Crichton - Jurrasic park

[natsumi-no-hotaru]

Chihayafuru #55: Karuta is so unpredictable... and fun!

AKA. I was completely blown away by how AWESOME this episode is. 

[Previously: The four-on-four team match and all hail the Shiranami Offensive!]

Gosh, what an episode. Absolutely wild, chockful of surprises and oh so meme-able! The pacing is faster and so much happened in 20 minutes. Seriously, a lot and wow, I haven’t felt that energized after watching Chihayafuru in a long while. Not that the last couple of episodes were dull or anything, but they kind of lack a certain spark that makes them truly memorable and leaves viewers at the edge of their seats. This is definitely not the case with Chihayafuru #55. As soon as I finished watching, I felt compelled to start writing, and had it not been for the intense workload and pressure at the office, this post would have come out much sooner. 

Picking up from where we left off, the match between Chi-chan and Haruka entered its most critical juncture, as Chi-chan snatched back the Chihayafuru, the one card that Sakurazawa never managed to take from the former Queen. 

Why she plays karuta

The loss of Chihayafuru was a considerable blow to Haruka, whose inner tumult gave Chi-chan the chance to reduce the card difference and turn the tides in her favor. Facing a fearless young opponent who played with such tranquility and enjoyment, Haruka became trapped by strenuous thoughts of having to “throw off [her opponent’s] pace and not let her have fun”. 

Her elder kid is so cute!!!

Instead of making the overly enthused Aki a burden to Haruka and her pursuit of karuta, the narrative took a step far from the beaten track, in turning his curiosity and budding interest into a source of strength and encouragement for the young mom. 

The game was momentarily interrupted but it gave Haruka just the needed headspace to recall her karuta origin story. Turns out that her parents were also karuta players and she, along with her sibling, joined their karuta practice ever since they were little. Haruka grew into a successful player, as proven by her holding the Queen title for 4 consecutive years, and became a young mom with two adorable kids. Convention would dictate that she should be satisfied with what she had, with the implication of giving up karuta, akin to a part of herself, to focus on her kids. But that was not the choice that her parents made, and this is the one case where “history repeats itself” does not mean a negative thing.

“But the realization that parents can have something they treasure as much as their kids set me free.”

I am once again blown by the bold and mold-breaking direction taken by Suetsugu-san (the mangaka), and subsequently honored by the animation, with regards to Haruka’s storyline and character. At first glance, Haruka had all the family trappings that, in your run-of-the-mill competition narrative, would have weighed her down and turned her into a past-her-prime mom player. But this is definitely NOT the case here. Previously, we have seen how supportive her husband was of her karuta to the point of sharing in the child-rearing and caretaking responsibilities and how Haruka herself was not content to rest on her laurels. All of that culminates in this episode, where she demonstrates a solid conviction to be a model for her children, to show them that a rewarding lifelong pursuit does not need to come at the cost of family. She plays karuta because she wants to stay true to herself and believes that by not giving up on her passion, she is passing on her parents’ gift to her children - a chance to embark on the journey of self-validation and self-affirmation from a young age. 

To this end, there was no other way for Haruka to proceed but to play the karuta that she excels and enjoys. Instead of dwelling on how to break Chi-chan’s momentum, she recovered herself in time to showcase the top-tier hearing that carried her through past games and astonished all. 

In a battle over a multiple-syllable card, Haruka emerged victorious when she swiped at Chi-chan’s card after hearing only the first syllable, which, technically, should not be enough to let her know which card the reader was reading: hers or her opponent’s. Yet it was not a grab made in desperation or blind luck. Haruka knew which card was read with dead certainty because she could pick up on the tonal variations of the card reader (who is from the west like her). There was simply no contest possible for Chi-chan in this regard.

Just as the match was about to take a more serious turn, a curveball came out of nowhere in the form of a card being slightly moved upon the reading of a dead card. 

A moment of confusion gripped the room as everyone tried to figure out who moved the card. 

But for the two persons in question, it was no more than an amusing incident, a much-appreciated reliever of tensions that brought them closer. It is also another instance that highlights Chi-chan’s growing maturity as a karuta player; she would have been so flustered had this been a year earlier. The fact that she could laugh about it and enjoy a bonding moment with her opponent, a former Queen for 4 consecutive times no less, speaks volumes about her mindset and approach to the game. Her little routine of wiping her face, fixing her sleeve ties and hair, and exhaling deeply before returning to the game without a hint of stress viscerally reflected Chi-chan’s inner composure and enjoyment of the game itself.

“I’d thought she’d tense up against a former Queen, but right from the start, and even this close to the end, she’s not getting worked up. Maybe in Ayase’s mind, the only Queen is Wakamiya Shinobu.”

Damn, this moment gave me the shivers. It is precisely why I ship Shinochi - this fleeting yet tenacious connection between two very talented and quirky players, both in search of personal fulfilment through competitive karuta. Previously, Shi-chan found in Chi-chan a promising rival who wants nothing more than going head to head against a Queen that went all out. In Shi-chan, Chi-chan found an indomitable will to aspire to, a constant source of inspiration that buoys her up at challenging moments. If Chi-chan can face Shi-chan after a merciless match and came out all the more gratified for it, then how can she lose heart in front of an opponent lesser than the latter?  

What puts the cherry on the top for me is how these insightful observations do not come from the usual sources, like Kana-chan, Tsutomu, Taichi or more recently, Sakurazawa-sensei, but from Nishida. The fact that he could grasp this facet of Chi-chan’s psyche so well speaks to the bonds between Mizusawa karuta club members. It’s a very beautiful and understated way of showing how much they care for one another’s progress.

“This is it, Taichi”

“Even Wakamiya Shinobu isn’t invincible.”

Mentions of Shi-chan and her defeat at the hand of Arata made for a smooth transition into Arata’s unanticipated loss against the unfavorably compared Tsuboguchi. The latter’s victory was such a major upset that left everyone dumbfounded in the most hilarious of ways. 

LOL, look at their faces. I absolutely DID NOT foresee this turn of event at all, too. Kinda bet on Chi-chan facing Arata in their first official match in this tournament. Turned out that would have to wait. 

Me very glad that it was not an actual bet me made. Would be a major loss here lmao. Who would have thought that Arata would lose here, to high school karuta coach Tsuboguchi-san of all people, cursed or not by the latter’s student? 

Nothing seemed to go according to plan for opponents of the Shiranami Society. Murao-kun, Arata’s senpai, managed a win against Harada-sensei, but at great expense to his stamina. Imagine the kind of unyielding battle Harada-sensei must have waged against this much younger player, to have brought the card gap from 10 down to 4 at the end. 

It was a vicious tug of war for Chi-chan and Taichi, both locked in a tie against their opponents. At a juncture where many would play cautiously, our beloved President and Vice President persisted with the Shiranami-famous offensive style, living on the edge as their sensei and senpai would have it. 

The imagery is a little silly in how it made Harada-sensei and Tsuboguchi-san the dearly departed, instead of the still kicking members of the Shiranami Society; but the emphasis on the bond between all members and the influence they had on each other’s mentality, playstyle and decisions rendered depth to the story, neatly harking back to the team-tournament spirit espoused by Harada-sensei before the quarter-finals, as well as to the desire to stay true to oneself in karuta, as embraced by Haruka at the episode’s beginning. 

Chi-chan ended the game victoriously on the poignant note of “Since I could not hide my love” (remember when Taichi himself pulled through the class A ascension game with this same card?) and promptly fell into sleep on the spot, to the joy and dismay of Kana-chan and Nishida. The only match undecided left was Taichi’s, and as per his usual luck, it came down to a luck of the draw, again. Good thing this was not a cliffhanger cos I was literally holding on to my tea mug for support. 

Feels like Taichi is becoming a Master on his own at luck of the draw...

The instant the reader started reciting, Taichi reached for the card on Sudo-san’s side, before the latter even reacted. It was not that he could hear a decisive sound as the basis for his judgement. It was simply a move borne out of much arduous experience.

Lmao, it was too outrageous even for Sudo-san.

Regardless, GO, Taichiiiiii!!!! *exhaled in relief* Semi-finals, here we come!

Well, before the semi-finals was a somewhat out-of-the-blue segue about Chi-chan’s mother, who sought to juggle between doing her own work and supporting her daughters in their career/pursuit. 

It did find its way back to an unconscious Chi-chan cradled in the arms of friends but still, bit disjointed, albeit an interesting glimpse at the dynamics among the Ayase women.

“I’ll take the loss by default.”

In another surprising turn of event - well not the post-march dead-to-the-world Chi-chan, Hiroshi chose to lose by default to Chi-chan, instead of making her lose by not being able to show up for the match. Certainly one may chalk this up to team spirit but that would not be ... sufficient. Hiroshi’s concern for Chi-chan - “just let Chihaya-chan sleep” felt very brotherly, which is nice because it didn’t seem like she was showered with enough familial care and affection at home.

Taichi is a different story though. It’s not that Hiroshi did not care for Taichi but like a big brother, he knows exactly which button to push to get his sibling fire up, the way he did back at the Omi Jingu team tournament as a karuta high school coach. Hiroshi knew that Taichi needed someone to acknowledge his efforts and progress without sugarcoating the thornier parts.

“Most people here think you’re just a kid who rode a wave of momentum to get here.”

As Hiroshi rightly said, Taichi could never rely on momentum or luck, but pure skill. This helped to bolster his spirit but also placed the weight of expectations on him, as someone with the skill. Thankfully, he was motivated by the fact that Arata would be watching him - a chance to show Arata what he could do now. 

An easy win is not gonna help Taichi mentally and I think that’s partly why he said that he would not have yielded to Taichi, the way he did to Chi-chan, in response to Harada-sensei’s question. Certainly, rivalry also fueled this answer but at the core of it is Hiroshi’s desire to show that he takes Taichi seriously as well as his deep awareness of Taichi’s inferiority complex. 

“This is my first time watching Taichi play.”

Gosh, that cute chuckle of Arata. This is, if memory serves me well, the first time that we got to see Arata showing an interest purely in Taichi, without being occupied by other considerations such as forming his own karuta club or joining group tournaments. His flashback was of the few interactions with Taichi that did not directly involve Chi-chan too - the incident with Arata’s glasses in their early days and Taichi’s tsundere attitude towards playing karuta with his childhood friends. I personally enjoy very much these brief moments of camaraderie between Taichi and Arata and look forward to more of them, be it in the rest of season 3 anime or in the post-s3 chapters of the manga. There is a lot of potential to flesh out meaningful character developments from these interactions, not just from Aratachi or Taichihaya moments. 

Before getting back to Serious Land™, and I do mean it, cos oh boy the ending, here are Chi-chan’s lovely selves.

I do want to see Chi-chan and Shi-chan decked out in all their goofy glory for a karuta game lol.

The perfect defense

In previous episodes, Taichi has shown a certain affinity towards incorporating others’ techniques into his own mentally rigorous playstyle. Against a Murao-kun whose "simple-minded aggressiveness” has been whittled away by the attrition battle waged by Harada-sensei, Taichi held his own and maintained a large card difference against his opponent, even finding opportunities to test out a new pull-back move (which is Sudo-san’s move right?).  

While this battle’s outcome is more or less decided, especially with the large card difference and Chi-chan already being slated for the final, it would be nice to be able to delve deeper into Taichi’s state of mind here. Seemingly in response to the unvoiced question from Tsutomu-kun and Nishida, Taichi mentally pointed to the presence of Arata in the audience, Harada-sensei’s previous whittling effort, and Chi-chan’s absence. I am not quite sure how all these pieces fit together to bring about this version of Taichi; hopefully we will get some insight in the next episode. The most ominous piece is Chi-chan’s absence... considering what several people already said regarding Taichi’s performance in her absence. 

In the meantime, Harada-sensei clearly sensed that in spite of the offensive karuta he was taught, it is defensive karuta that increasingly defined his playstyle and brought him victory this time. I vaguely recalled someone already making an observation to similar effect, was it Sakurazawa-sensei, during the team tournament in season 2? 

And here we go, the match that has been hinted at for quite sometime now - an official match between Taichi and Chi-chan!! 

Chi-chan certainly is the better player and she has proved herself against very strong players, from Queen candidates to actual Queens, so I think there should be no surprise as to the final outcome of this match. Nonetheless, I am certain that Suetsugu-san would not have this important turning point to be without its share of twists and drama. 

Can Taichi hold his own against Chi-chan? Will he lose to himself? And more importantly, what will he do to improve his karuta, especially the defensive playstyle, in the aftermath? I eagerly await the next episode (or episodes, since the match may take longer) and what it has in store for Taichi.

Before ending this post, I just wanna drop a quick note for all readers, new or regular (gosh, do I have any left after more than a year of hiatus). Thank you so much for your support and I am sorry for disappearing for so long. Life has been putting me through the wringer ever since and drained me of any interest in putting out my own written word. This is not the first time this happened, unfortunately. But regardless of my pre-occupations, be it professional, gaming or anime-wise, I remain invested in seeing my series of posts on Chihayafuru to its completion. So buckle up, cos this train is resuming service, to the next episode of Chihayafuru and beyond!

[oathbreakerapologist]

i think the way u decided to have gortash drive a wedge between orin and your durge (as opposed to the other way around) quite interesting. what insecurities/hangups do you think he preyed upon to make that happen? what changes did ghost notice in her, if any, and how did he respond? did he suspect gortash had anything to do with this?

ah this is such a fun question!! answer below the cut because this is a long one lol

Orin was brought up in an environment that encouraged treachery with deadly stakes; arguably her most significant formative experience was being attacked by, and then slaughtering, her own mother as a young child, and I can't imagine that was the only time she encountered and overcame a similar threat. As a result, she was primed to expect betrayal—even anticipate it—and react aggressively. After all, she earned Sarevok's favor by doing exactly that. Orin survived to adulthood specifically because she eliminated potential threats before they could eliminate her.

For that reason, then, she was ideally positioned to be turned into a usurper. She was already capable of murdering even those to whom she was closest. But seeing everyone around you as either a future victim or a possible threat leaves very little room for the sort of social bonds that humans, as social beings, tend to need.

One could say Niro was the only person Orin trusted, but really their relationship was built on a stranger sort of dependence than that: they thought of each other as extensions of a single being, the lone two tokens of one type, parts of a whole that would melt back together once there was nothing left but blood, gore, and death. Nobody else thought like her, felt like her, acted like her—he was transparent, comprehensible, predictable to her in a way other people weren't, in a way he wasn't to anyone else. She trusted him because she trusted herself.

So what Gortash had to do was force her to see differences between herself and Niro. He leaned into their differing statuses, involving Niro and leaving Orin behind whenever he got the opportunity. He concocted schemes to draw Niro away from the Temple as often as possible, and added forged letters into the mix of the barrage of correspondence Niro sent back to Orin each time he was away. The letters were easy to forge, too; he didn't even need to match handwriting, as Niro—who is blind and at this point could neither read nor write—dictated all his letters to a scribe. Those letters picked at things Gortash knew Niro loved about Orin, particularly her artistic flair (in my canon the letter you can find from the Dark Urge to Orin criticizing the spectacle of her killing style exists courtesy of Gortash). The letters didn't even need to match up with what Niro would undoubtedly say to Orin in other letters; all Gortash needed to do was introduce inconsistency, confusion, unpredictability.

Soon after Gortash began targeting Orin in this way, Niro noticed her seeking reassurance from him in odd ways, as if she'd suddenly become uncertain again about things like her artistry, her place in the Temple, her place in Bhaal's visions of a slaughtered world. But his responses never seemed to improve the situation; it was as if everything he added to the mix only perturbed her further. Then she pulled away from him, which he found deeply upsetting.

He did indeed consider the possibility that Gortash had engineered this situation, but because of his particularly low opinion of Gortash made Gortash a bit of a blind spot to him. As far as he was concerned, Gortash was useful because of his ability to cultivate alliances and develop technology of war, and just about all else the man did was, at best, pathetic. Niro did not think highly enough of Gortash to believe him capable of meddling in his relationship with Orin. Without a clear reason for their newfound strife, he spiraled, disappearing for long stretches of time to go on murderous rampages through the loosely-settled areas around Baldur's Gate in an attempt to exorcise his fear and grief. Of course, his absences only made the situation worse. There was a time that, when Orin didn't know where he was, she didn't believe him to be off plotting her downfall, but that time was long gone.

Ultimately, Orin betrayed Niro because Gortash, through a lens of falsehood and exaggeration, had forced her to confront something true: Niro was not her. He was someone else, he was someone else in a position of power, he was someone else in a position of power with the knowledge and physical prowess make him capable of doing her harm, and therefore he was a potential threat. And Orin had survived to adulthood specifically because she eliminated potential threats before they could eliminate her.

[unohanabbygirl]

Hi! This is a question for hiding in plain sight. Could you explain why omegas haven’t evolved some kind of defense mechanism against prime alphas in rut madness? It seems weird that there would still be prime alphas present even though evolution dictates they should have died out since rut madness is so violent that they kill their partners before they can pass on their genes. They don’t seem all that rare which implies that they’re present in the population enough that society isn’t shocked when one pops up. Why hasn’t such a violent gene died out in the abo universe you’ve constructed (other than plot reasons ofc)? It seems too depressing to think of that omegas only defense would be a stronger body/recovery system to help them survive being assaulted

Okay, I love this ask because worldbuilding is my everything and HIPS is still in its early stages with very slow updates so a lot of questionable things are left to the unknown by readers until they’re brought up in the story so let’s get into this.

Prime Alphas in the verse I’ve constructed are actually very rare (its the reason Aemond mentions there being a lot of talking amongst the commonfolk when he first presented as one in chapter 4)

There are many mentions of the destruction caused at the hands of prime’s not because its currently happening but because of the recorded history before they began to die out. To pass on their genes primes oftentimes used to marry or mate multiple partners in case one died during a rut, hurt beyond healing, ended their own life, and the list goes on and on. Think of it like this; people as present as the late 1800’s would have a lot children, I’m talking around 7– 12 or even more. They didn’t have all those kids because they loved children but because the chances that more than half of those kids would die before they reached childhood was more than likely. So to further their chances of continuing their bloodline, they kept having children. However in HIPS a child presenting as an alpha let alone a prime is split if the mother is omega or beta since a child may take on that secondary gender instead. And if that child marries a non-alpha it makes the chances of another prime alpha child less and less likely.

Being as dangerous and unpredictable in their instincts is the reason they’re all so rare. Aemond is the first prime to present in all of Westeros after Corlys who presented over 50 years prior, and before him there hadn’t been an instance of a prime alpha presenting in nearly a hundred years.

Rut madness makes it more than likely a prime will eventually end up killing their partners while they’re still teens/young adults and haven’t found the right medicines to keep their urges more under control like Corlys has. Plus he’s an older man so things have all around slowed down and will continue to until he can no longer go into rut. Think of it like menopause. However, even prime alphas who haven’t found a way to control themselves are still able to pass down their genes when they aren’t in rut aka aren’t as violent. So it’s possible, just not all that frequent making that particular gene very sparse in the pool.

For example, i’ve seen quite a few stories of children being born who look absolutely nothing like either of their parents because of genes from hundreds of years back not making an appearance until recently. What I remember particularly is the story of two African American parents whose daughter was born with blonde hair, very light skin, and blue eyes. They did some DNA testing and it turns out that they were both descendants of slave owners over 300 years prior. Neither had any direct family with these features, so it really was just a chase of genes working in odd ways.

In HIPS, so long as a bloodline has a prime alpha somewhere in there there’s always a chance that gene will make its appearance.

As for Omega’s and defense mechanisms, their bodies can reject a mating/bonding mark when under extreme duress which may not seem like all that much but is pretty much a saving grace if an omega can escape with their life like Luke has. It’s the reason why Aemond’s bite mark has scarred over so badly. Had it actually gone through and created a connection, Luke would’ve been extremely sick being as far away from Aemond as he is and may have died of bond sickness. Not to mention that had the bond gone through Luke would probably be locked up in the keep as a hostage because Aemond would have taken him back with him without question if his alpha felt that connection.

[imaginationxlost]

Ask to be added to the tag list! 🎼💜💚🎨

The Fair Folk; A Shadowed Souls Novel: An Introduction

The Story: Riichi Saito had a troubled childhood, but as a young adult they want nothing more than a quiet life far from the angst of their youth. The universe is not so kind. They think they have a chance at that peace when their absent mother’s sister leaves them a small house in a teeny community call Blindthicket, but that proves hectic as not only was it not actually from their aunt, their mother turns out to be… … A fairy dictator? Can nothing be easy in their life? Mitchell Spring is a Foundling; a human who was kidnapped as young child and replaced with a changeling. He’s not known freedom for a second in his life, but he’s willing to fight for it, and to rally the other foundlings to do the same. But the fey queens are powerful, and the Changeling Mother dangerous. He needs help to do it. Help on their level. So, when he finds out that the Autumn Queen has a secret child who could take the empty winter throne, he jumps to try to recruit them to help. But he doesn’t want to force them as they refuse, and he tries to find another way while protecting them from their mother.

Fair Folk is an extremely pro-solidarity story with found family elements, a queer romance subplot, and themes of harmful parenting and healing from that.

Main Cast:

Riichi Saito

凜一 彩冬

They/them

Childhood prodigy classical musician who quit competitions and performing in public at all when they were 16, after their father went to jail and could no longer force them. They don’t even like music anymore, but it was all they had for their entire life, and they feel like they can’t let it go.

Really, they want to find love

for it again. They just don’t know how, and it seems pretty impossible as more family drama comes to haunt them, now from their mother’s side of the family.

-

Mitchell Spring

He/him

Mitchell is a painter who never has the time to paint, instead having all his time taken by the fey who kidnapped him as a young child.

He could just runaway; he has just enough freedom to manage that, but he wants to change things, and free all foundlings and not just himself. So revolution it is.

They might be able to keep individual foundlings under their thumbs, but they can’t do it to all of them.

He hopes to make it so no kid is ever kidnapped like he was again

-

James Hynes

He/him

James Hynes is a Changeling, placed in a home to replace a child who’s name he now shares that was kidnapped. He ran away from that home when he was 16, and that’s when the Changeling Mother called him back to the Fey world, to help run the very system that produced him. And he hates it.

He was daydreaming his own revolution before he met Mitchell, and after they met, the two were inseparable, slowly and secretly building a coalition from the ground up.

Other Characters:

Nina Spring: Nina is a six-year-old Foundling girl in Mitchell’s care. He took her under his wing (and basically adopted her) as a way to protect her from the very mistreatment he received from the Changeling Mother as a child. She’s endlessly curious and very talkative.

Kyle Spring: A foundling who started in the Autumn court, but recently was transferred to Spring as to work under Mitchell.

Malina Autumn: Malina is the highest ranked foundling of the Autumn court, and she’s an ally of Mitchell’s in his planned revolution. Buff girl who kicks ass and takes no one’s shit.

The Changeling Mother: All Changelings are descended from her, though none are born directly from her these days, as she lets the lesser mothers do that, and she runs the entire awful system. She’s a very abusive woman, and no changeling or foundling wants her direct attention.

The Autumn Queen: Queen of the Autumn Court and Riichi’s mother. She’s cold, unpredictable, and cruel. She hates being denied what she wants to extreme degree.

The Spring Queen: Queen of the Spring Court, and Mitchell’s ‘boss’. She capricious and harsh and willing to go to any lengths to prove herself better than her sisters at all costs.