#[I figured it was a good time to take advantage of the non-event period.]
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sucreboy-blog · 2 years ago
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Little worms in my brain (Jon and Martin TOH setting)
No manches! For those who haven't seen TOH “Watching and Dreaming”, the Collector's brothers are called Archivists, and do you know who else is also Archivist? Exactly! Our dearest favorite neurotic and paranoid: Jonathan “Jon” Sims AKA The Archivist.
I just finished the episode so I'm really excited rn but but but, imagine the following scenario…
-Jon is an Archivist who ended up stranded for reason A or B, in one of the different realms they travel and cannot return to his brothers.
-Martin finds Jon and takes care of him, Jon is very confused about what is happening.
-Angst with comfort(optional).
-End
With this scenario we can find several premises:
1) Martin is a witch in the times before Emperor Belos, in other words, they still practiced wild magic (I guess from the period where Luz and Lilith met Philip). Jon is an Archivist, he travels with his brothers collecting, documenting and preserving specimens, information and knowledge, these last two on which Jon focuses the most.
Jon ends up for some reason landing on the Boiling Isles, confused and having zero knowledge of how to live in society (he may Know a lot, but knowing social cues is not one of their strong suits), he goes and does something stupid.
Martin seeing this man (person who presents as masculine? Or non-binary?) infuriating all of the people he speaks with, decides to help him when things started to get a little too violent.
Jon (although he doesn't really know himself as Jon at the time) outraged decides to use his powers to get back to his brothers or maybe teach Martin or the others a lesson but surprise surprise, they don't work.
2) This setting is similar to the first one but set-in a modern human world, not really as medieval as the first but similar premise.
In this case, I imagine Martin as a customer service worker, he arrives at work (it can be a cafe, a self-service store, a McDonald's, etc.) and sees the most beautiful man(?) he has ever seen in his life, but he is dressed a really strange clothes (facial make included?) and talking non sense at his co-worker.
Jon does something stupid, the usual, tries to cross the street, almost gets run over, says the wrong thing to the wrong people, and Martin like the good samaritan he is, helps him. Jon gets mad and surprise surprise, again, his powers don't work.
(My mind runs through different scenarios of Martin teaching Jon how the human realm works, maybe set in Gravesfield or London but they end up going to Gravesfield to find a way to get Jon back home, meeting Luz and the others in the process?)
3) This scenario is a bit different than the previous two and it deviates from the orginal formula.
They're archivists, so I would imagine they must have their own archive or some kind of community archive, and they obviously employ assistants. So Martin is someone who ended up as an assistant to an Archivist after his dimension was "archived" by them.
There may also be different scenarios, but these are the three main ones that I feel I've the most developed, although we must not limit ourselves to these.
It could be that Jon was attracted to the Fears from the original TMA universe and wanted to classify them but got caught by mistake (Elias involved because he obviously wants to take advantage of Jon, dominate the world classic), or a completely different fantasy or sci-fi world where events happen more similar to the first scenario but with their own different set of rules.
From here you can add as much "spark" as you want. Elias manipulative? Of course! Either as an archivist brother or as a person who wants to take advantage of Jon. Peter? depending on the version there may even be Dad!Peter and it also depends on your level of self-inflicted masochism Dad!Peter can be a distant father (or father figure) trying to connect with his son or just pure Angst.
Tim, Sasha, Melanie, Georgie, Basira and Daisy? Of course! Add them as witches, demons, humans, etc.
Tim and Sasha can be humans, so are Melanie and Georgie but they, especially Melanie, have their youtube channel on paranormal investigation. And Basira and Daisy would be in the demon realm (Obviously if premise 2 or variations is chosen).
Add different avatars that can be friends or enemies, put all this together and have fun!
I was really excited, sorry, I have zero motivation and concentration to write a story like this, but I wanted to share:)
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tealfloyd · 2 years ago
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A COSTUME-SHIFTING HALLOWEEN
"MC's first Halloween ended up being disastrous a marvelous one~!"
SUMMARY: During the last day of Halloween, MC encounters a singular ghost who drags her to a confusing situation... (Everyone x Fem!Reader)
WARNINGS: Death mentions at the end, jealousy (?)
CONTENT: I didn't have any ideas for Ortho :( The ghost has a sad backstory, and, uh— That's it, I think. WORDS: 7K+
A/N: Okay, I know Halloween has already passed, but I got an excuse since this is a repost, so bear with me here :)
Some costumes were hard to describe, but I think they're not that bad. They're acceptable tier, I guess.
After this fic, everything else published will be the requests I've saved, so I ask for some time before starting to work on the new ones!
Now onto the fic~
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Halloween was just around the corner, and you’re still trying to figure out what is happening.
It was a strange surprise when Grim and you returned to your dorm, not expecting to see it covered with paper and cloth; somehow looking a lot like a Ghost Festival entrance.
Lilia was on charge of the decoration placements, and while you were okay with it (it actually made the Ramshackle dorm look good), Grim was demanding an explanation for this.
After he got it, you wondered if everyone was doing the same thing, and now that you think about it, you haven’t seen any of the first years after class during the recent days; most likely preparing everything for the arrival of the spooky season.
It wasn’t till the next day that you got a more detailed explanation of how Halloween was celebrated here; your troublemaker friends being overly excited for this event, and you had to admit that the joy was contagious.
And you may be wondering: “will this finally be the event where the only requisite is to enjoy it and not engage in any unusual thing?”
And to answer that question, I must ask: “MC, are you really attending NRC if not?”
8 DAYS FOR HALLOWEEN
A week before Halloween arrived, a steering committee session was scheduled so everyone could show the work they’ve done so far, talking about the venue decoration and the costume related to it.
Since a stamp rally was going to be held, everything had to be in perfect condition for when the guests would come to visit.
You got to see every dorm’s venue location and costume, amazed by the amount of work and effort they’ve put into it.
Vil tried to make you a costume, but you declined, stating that you were okay without a one. He really wanted you to have one, fuming slightly when you refused again, the response being that you didn’t want to take advantage of him. At the end, he reluctantly agreed to it, understanding your position.
However, that idea changed (non-voluntary) when the last day of the Halloween week started.
THE LAST DAY OF THE HALLOWEEN WEEK
Before I narrate the occurrences that happened the last day, first I must narrate what happened through the entire celebration.
You visited every dorm’s venue periodically, just wanting to have a fun time with your friends and talking about how cool their costumes were, along with some compliments of your own costume, the one that the ghosts gifted you in spirit of Halloween.
Everyone was trying to beat everyone, non-literally, of course (well, most of them). More like they were trying to show off in front of you, looking to gain your attention and appreciation.
It didn’t work at the end because they were all your friends, and you genuinely appreciated every performance they’ve put since that meant they were trying their hardest, and as much as they love your thoughtfulness, they wished you could have chosen their dorm.
Overall, everything went great. You were surprised at the way some of them interacted with children, finding it cute as you continued to stroll with Grim, the little creature receiving a lot of attention because of the viral picture the ghosts posted some days ago, leaving you to wait aside. This, shockingly enough, made you feel at ease, since now you weren’t the only girl roaming in the campus, which was now filled with children and their parents and/or brothers.
However, you weren’t invisible to a certain ghost, who decided to approach after seeing you for some time.
“Why are we here again? We’re missing all the fun!” Whined Grim, his little paws making it difficult for him to catch up with your fast pace.
“We won’t be here for long, but if you really don’t want to be with me then I guess you can go and—“ He didn’t let you finish as he ran away, excited to be once again the centre of attention. “—Leave me alone… Just when you think they’re going to listen."
You shocked your head in disbelief, returning your gaze to the pond, looking for something.
“Hey, little fishes~ Where are you~?” You called, gaze tracing the water to see if they were hiding. “It’s me, so there’s no need to hide—"
“I see you’ve grown quite fond of these creatures."
The unknown voice startled you, and you backed away in surprise, almost falling into the water.
“Oh, thank the Sevens…” Exhaling in relief, you exclaimed. “You scared me!"
“Isn’t that the purpose of this event?”
It didn’t come off as a surprise to be spooked by a ghost; you’ve grown accustomed to it since it was Halloween, yet it did seem weird that this one was the one spooking you, thinking that it took advantage of your unawareness.
“Can I help you with something? I don’t have candy right now but if you wait, I can bring you some," you said, hoping that your words convinced her.
“Oh dear, I’m not looking for candy," you turned your head, furrowing your brows. “I was looking for you”.
Baffled, you pointed at yourself. “Me?”
“Indeed, I’ve noticed that you are the only female student here," she floated closer to you. “I wonder why~”
You sighed. “It’s a large story, but that doesn’t explain why you’re looking for me."
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”.
“If I’m being honest ma’am, I’m more scared of Lilia’s cooking than your presence."
“Well, that works for me~," she chuckled at your response, seemingly thinking about something. “Where did you get that Halloween costume?”
“This?” You signalled the costume. “My ghost friends made it for me, since Grim and I were the only ones without one."
“I see~” She inspected it, humming in disapproval as she checked every detail. “Some of the seams are incomplete, and the colour palette can be better…”
“Hey, what are you doing—"
“I’ve decided!” The abrupt yell caught you by surprise, looking at her in shock. “You’re going to be my new muse, and your friend’s designs are the perfect way to start!”
Now you’re confused, completely and utterly confused, because you can’t comprehend what this ghost is talking about.
“Muse? I… I’m afraid I don’t understand…" You said, tone hesitant. “You shall not worry, dear! You will get it pretty soon!”
And with that final note, you seemed to have no other option than to let this ghost drag you outside the outings of the campus, floating towards Diasomnia’s location.
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FIRST PARADE, DIASOMNIA: RAMSHACKLE DORM – A MIGHTY “LOONG”
The costume didn’t have any major changes on it; most of the original design was kept untouched, but what differentiated Diasomnia’s costume from this one is that it had a golden necklace, and in the centre of it was a shiny chrome diopside, the green gem contrasting with the solid colours of the entire outfit. But what did change was the head accessory, the hat being replaced by a golden crown, vaguely resembling a dragon.
“What are we doing here…?” You asked, seeing how everyone was walking around the intricate decorations.
“Now, stay still…” And just like she was using a magic wand, she started swinging her hand with grace and after some seconds and several sparks, she proudly smiled. “Done! Now tell me what you think!”
You looked down, surprised to see that your old costume was replaced with Diasomnia’s one, feeling somewhat conflicted. “I… I don’t know what to say…”
She took this as a good sign, happily exclaiming that she did an excelling job, attracting the attention of the visitors.
“Woah, look! It’s a ghost!”
“Is that girl part of the presentation? Her costume is so elegant~”
“She’s so pretty! Is she supposed to be an empress? The head ornament is really cool~!”
And with that, the people who were previously taking photos of the decorations now are asking to take photos with you.
The commotion being heard by the Diasomnia students, who approached to confirm everything was right.
Malleus is baffled. At first, he doesn’t know why you have a Diasomnia costume, but that thought is quickly forgotten as he steps closer to you, complimenting you in his unique way, accidentally making the visitors think that you were a couple. He doesn’t do anything to deny those claims, sighing sadly when you explain that you’re not, feeling slightly betrayed at that. He knows that you’re beautiful, and he understands the people who think the same, but he can’t help but apart you from anyone even the ghost that he thinks is too close, hiding you behind his intimidating form, leading you to calm him down so he wouldn’t scare the customers off. Sometimes, he wishes he could keep you safe in a tower. Just sometimes.
Lilia is enjoying the whole situation. He notices the female ghost that’s part of the “main show," and he guesses that maybe she could be the reason why you’re using his dorm’s costume he likes to play detective. He’s delighted with the design, saying some strange compliments that only Lilia would say, expressing his endearing feelings for you in a… Complicated manner, one that rivals Rook. He’s the first one that poses with you, happy to see your cute attempts as your fingers try to adopt a scary pose. He had to restrain Malleus at some point from hissing at a customer because he tried to flirt with you. He gets it, but he can’t let him hiss at anyone that tries to flirt with you!
Silver is the only normal person here, but in everyone’s defence, he’s the only person there. He compliments you too, yet it ends up sounding a bit… Frigid? He doesn’t mean it that way, you caught him, the normally collected Silver, off guard showing up with his dorm’s costume. His mind wanders from helping Lilia control Malleus, to you. He knows he shouldn’t be glancing at you; his priority is the sovereign of Briar Valley, but he supposes he can let himself be distracted when the life of his master is not in danger.
Sebek is yelling at you because “you didn’t get permission to use and change Diasomnia’s costume!” Shutting up after some seconds of this because of his master’s ominous glare. He doesn’t mean to appear so rude and the fact that he made Malleus angry is something that he would never forget, but how do you expect him to react after seeing you so… Empress-like? The royal aura you’re emanating makes him want to bow down before you and patiently wait for your orders, so that’s another bodyguard for you. He also sets aside anyone that is near you, accidentally blurting a: “haven’t you learn that royalty doesn’t interact with commoners!?” and now he’s a blushing mess, screaming: “I was talking about Lord Malleus, not you, human!”
Thanks to their unrequited actions, everyone mistook the scene as a comedy skit, fortunately helping their image because right now they’re a disaster.
They didn’t really ask about the ghost beside you, maybe a ‘why?’ and ‘what?’, but they’re pretty chill about it. Yes, even Sebek.
Lilia suggested that you all should take a selfie, and since Lilia’s the shortest he took it while floating, sending it to the group chat, most likely to annoy the other students.
As you were about to be engaged in another exhausting photoshoot with the visitors, the ghost decided that it was enough for you… In this costume.
She holds your hand, and you bid your Diasomnia friends goodbye as she leads you to the next location.
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SECOND PARADE, HEARTSLABYUL: BOTANICAL GARDEN – A SKELETON GOTH LADY
The top was tight, the laces on it being identical as the original ones, while the cuffs were a bit more open. The pants were changed for a torn-up skirt, a little bit higher than the knee. Black stockings covered your legs, having a bone pattern so it would match with the skeleton concept. You didn’t had gloves, some white chains replacing them as they attached themselves to rings on every finger. Instead of a hat, you wore a skull pin on the side of your hair, a bit of black tulle added to it.
“The botanical garden, great… Why’re we here again?” You asked, a bit nervous because of the attention your costume was getting.
“My, haven’t you noticed? To change your costume, of course!” That easy going attitude wasn’t wearing off, and much less now that she’s got to see you as a source of “inspiration."
“My costume? Why? I thought it looked nice…”.
“It does! But my creativity has reached levels that I cannot ignore, so we will be changing your attire a few times today~," you couldn’t even have time to protest as she started doing the magic wand trick again, sighing at the lack of communication.
Once the magic was over, you looked down, seeing the new costume that resembled Heartslabyul’s skeleton idea.
“And…? What do you think~?” She asked, impatient for your answer.
“It’s—"
“Woah, look there! They’re holding a magic demonstration!”
“That’s such a cute costume! But I thought the students were the only ones using them?”
“I’ve heard that there’s a girl studying here, and to top it off she’s very pretty~”
“Oh no…” Indeed, here comes the photoshoot session again.
Riddle doesn’t even know where to start. He wants to scold everyone that it’s crossing your boundaries, and then he realises why it’s that. His face becomes redder than his hair, and he’s conflicted with his feelings because on one side, you look beautiful (he doesn’t understand why you’re using a Heartslabyul’s costume, but he guesses he can set it aside for now), and on the other side, some teenagers are getting too close to you, much to his and your like. He steps in, trying to be a good friend that helps another friend romantic interest, but he’s mistaken as a, and I quote, “loyal skeleton husband," Don’t worry MC, Cater’s been recording since the start of the interaction so you wouldn’t miss his flushed face. He ends up getting collared for that.
Trey chuckles, and you can’t help but think that Jade’s mannerisms had finally stuck to him. In reality, he’s doing it as a way to cover up his bashfulness, thankful of the veil covering his face. But that doesn’t mean he won’t tease you about it, saying some funny compliments in order to hide his flushed state. He’s the calmest out of the five when it comes to people approaching you, asking them to not invade your personal boundaries, his high figure making it easier for them to listen to him. He hears a comment that has him coughing out of the shock, stating that they wished they had such a gentle partner. You pat his back, completely worried because, Trey? Why’s your face so red?
Cater doesn’t know where to start; by the fact that you’re slaying in that costume or the fact that you’re using his dorm’s costume in the first place. He decides that is not important because the only relevant thing here is that you are using his dorm’s costume. He feels so proud as he announces that he was the one that came up with the original idea; not exactly this, but you know what he means. He’s the one that teaches you how to pose for photos with the visitors, snapping some quick selfies of you both and the rest of the students because it’s necessary, and no, he’s not taking any criticism. He posts it immediately, adding some fun captions and hashtags as he continues the photoshoot.
Ace remains quiet for five seconds, and you’re scared because you think he may mock you for using this. So, imagine your surprise when he muttered that you looked good in an unusual shy tone. The Ace Trappola complimenting you directly and with no teasing involved? It seems too good to be true, and it was as soon as you were about to say something nice too, he reverted to his normal personality and stated that it was because the costume itself made everyone look good. As some say, all good things must come to an end, so prepare yourself, because he’s going to tease you non-stop during your entire stance in the venue.
Deuce stays still, mind trying to elaborate the sentence he’s been meaning to say to you since some minutes ago. He’s so nervous that he ends up saying: “you look MC, beautiful." You laughed so hard that your stomach started to hurt, and the same thing happened to everyone else; even the visitors let out a chuckle at his innocent comment. He quickly tries to retract himself, blabbering that he didn’t mean it that way. He knows he just made the situation worse for him as you continue to laugh your ass off. Once you recover from the accidental joke, you tell him that’s fine, you understand what he meant by that. He’s relieved, but also concerned because he knows that Ace and his upperclassman are going to use this against him.
The whole scene seemed like a stand-up comedy show, the unintended funny comments made everyone think that it was a special performance since it was the last day.
Too bad for Deuce, now he’ll never hear the end of it because everything was recorded from start to finish. Don’t let him know that people are posting this, he’s not prepared.
Contrary to Diasomnia, they did ask about why you had a ghost accompanying you. You tried to explain them the situation, confusing them further. At the end you gave up because you didn’t understand it either, so you just dropped the topic.
After a few more photos, Cater took a surprise selfie, posing while everyone else was distracted. He also sent it to the group chat, with the captions: “Look who decided to join us~!”.
Not for long though, the ghost lady dragging you off to the following place while they were attending some customer, making them sad skeleton boys upon realisation.
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THIRD PARADE, OCTAVINELLE: LABORATORY – A MUMMIFIED YOUNG RULER
Instead of the black shirt underneath the white button-up one, it had a crop top; a black harness belts covering it. An oversized white dress shirt was tucked into the skirt, some loose bandages wrapped around your waist, along with some leather belts to secure it. Your nails were painted black, and a boater hat was placed on top of your head, slightly tilted to one side.
“Are we visiting every venue because of your inspiration stroke?” You said, already getting tired of being dragged off.
“Now you’re getting the hang of it!” She exclaimed, stopping in front of the laboratory. “It’s time to change, aren’t you curious about my next work?”
“I would be lying if I said that I’m not."
She did her magic, and in a couple of seconds your costume had drastically changed; Octavinelle’s concept, you guessed.
“Do you feel comfortable in it? I don’t know if you like the top…”
“It’s fine, it’s not usually what I would wear but it’s comfy." Relieved, she exhaled, as if she could breathe for starters.
You were wondering if nobody saw you, and that thought vanished as you heard the now expected comments of the customers.
“Is that a ghost? She looks so cool!”
“And that girl over there, is she using a mummy costume?”
“Maybe she’s the female student everyone’s talking about!”
Both of you entered the laboratory, and that did nothing to soothe the stares and whispers; if something, it enhanced them.
Azul mind’s is multitasking. One part is processing the fact that you showed up, out of the blue, with a ghost and an Octavinelle costume; this is not something he can ignore, although he can’t ignore anything that has to do with you. And the other part is thinking of possible promotions for the Mostro Lounge with you on the cover; a businessman never stops being a businessman after all. He salutes you as always, cordially asking what brings you and your ghost companion there. Azul can be a great actor when the time requires it, and this is the time that really requires it; if he embarrasses himself in front of these amount of people, the tweels and you… Be certain he isn’t leaving his octopot anytime soon.
Jade knows that when something involves you, there’s always a twist, and what a charming twist you’ve made today. He’s entertained by this scene, softly chuckling as he puts on his best smile, greeting you with his gentlemanly demeanour. He’s checking your reactions at his planned compliments, finding all of them utterly adorable. The laboratory had a fair amount of people before you arrived, but since you showed up the visitors have been doing the same; and for this situation he has a subtle way to make the customers apart from you, and by subtle I mean scaring them off with “discreet” threats and a sinister close-lipped smile.
Floyd’s mood is constantly changing from happy to hostile. Happy because of you appearing with his dorm’s costume on and with a ghost; just when he thought his Shrimpy wouldn’t get more interesting! He’s stuck to you like a koala to a bamboo tree, happily talking until someone asks for a picture, and that’s when the hostile mood comes; he can’t stand anyone that comes near you in a ‘flirtatious’ manner, ominously looking down at them. You have to distract him with funny comments so he wouldn’t squeeze anyone, but there’s definitely an unspoken condition there: he’s going to appear in every picture taken, no complaints.
They’re lucky you visited two dorms before theirs, because if not people would start to suspect that maybe anything of this wasn’t planned at all.
At this point, everyone saw the two videos that went viral on Magicam, Lilia and Cater’s courtesy, which had the only female student at NRC magically changing her costumes with the help of a friendly ghost.
The three of them had seen the photos sent to the group chat, but Floyd was the one that spoke out loud, placing the phone real high, kind of not giving time for you to pose appropriately.
He sent it immediately, bragging off about the fact that they had the coolest selfie, creating a discussion under his message, giving start to a selfie war,
The ghost lady noticed the behaviour of the sly students, and so she took the advantage when they were distracted to drag you off there to continue her inspiration spree.
Less to say that they weren’t very happy about this.
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FOURTH PARADE, SCARABIA: SAM’S SHOP – AN ARABIAN WEREWOLF PRINCESS
The main thing that differentiated this costume from the original is the top, which was red with some golden patterns on it, a translucent material covering your belly, same thing with the long sleeves. The pants were still baggy and white, a golden chain wrapped around your waist. You had a water drop head chain, making it easier for you to wear the wolf ears, while the clawed gloves were replaced with long, black nails.
“We shouldn’t have done that, now they’re going to look for us," you sighed, already thinking about the outcome.
“Don’t be silly, it would take a while for them to find us in this crowd," she seemed accustomed to it, and you don’t know if you should feel relieved or scared.
“I got lost in the mall once while shopping with Jade and Floyd, and they found me two minutes later. Two!"
“I know a thing or two when it comes to escaping~" Scared, that’s how you feel right now.
“I—" You thought for a second before re-doing your sentence. “What do you have planned for Scarabia?”
“I’m sure you would love this one!” She spoke with so much confidence that you were getting excited about this, staying still for the transformation.
Once it occurred, you were happy with the outcome, speaking your thoughts of it before she even asked. “This one’s great! How do you make these costumes?”
“You can say it’s my speciality~”
“Did they invite a princess?”
“I think she’s the female student of the videos; her werewolf costume is so cute!”
“MC!”
Oh, that was a different one.
Kalim acts like a puppy every time he sees you, all giddy and if he had a tail, it would be wagging. He was surprised to see you appearing in a different costume, and he happily complimented you, not realising at first that it was based off his dorm’s costume and not one of your ideas. You present him to your fashion ghost, who instantly loved his carefree personality, stretching hands with big smiles on their faces. It was cute, and that was a common sentiment as everyone asked for a photo; the supposedly ‘scary’ expressions only gained more attention, making Jamil act as a guardian for you both.
Speaking of Jamil, you thought he was mad at you for something since he didn’t say anything from the moment you arrived. He’s perceptive, so he probably knew this from the concerned look you unconsciously sent at him, muttering a small: ‘It suits you’ after. You don’t get to see his face since he’s hiding it, but you don’t mind, glad that you didn’t make him mad. As if you could make him mad in the first place; if anything, your presence makes him feel at ease, and he would’ve said something else if it weren’t because of the fact that you were dressed like an Arabian werewolf princess and the amount of people surrounding you right now.
Kalim already attracted the people, his cuteness being the cause of it. So, add to the formula you, the dress-shifter with a stylish ghost, and that equals: More people.
Jamil literally acted like a bodyguard, trying to control the crowd as you both posed for more pictures.
At some point, Kalim gave his phone to a girl and kindly asked her if she could take a picture of you three. She complied, shuttering a few photos until she was satisfied with the last one.
It was the typical best friend group photo; the lively Kalim, the annoyed Jamil and the one that’s in the middle, you.
Everything was fine until you heard a loud yell, which screamed: “Shrimpy~!” And that was the moment the ghost knew it was time to go.
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FIFTH PARADE, SAVANACLAW: COLOSSEUM – A SOPHISTICATED CAPTAIN
The coat was larger than the original one, almost touching the floor; the ends were a bit thorn, but it was considered more elegant than the boy's version. You wore a fancy shirt, which was under a leather, black vest; you also wore the same pants, just a little higher and tighter. You wore several silver rings, and high leather boots. You didn't have an eyepatch though; what you did have was a pirate hat, with golden feathers neatly placed on it.
“Hey— Wait! You’ll make them angry!” You could barely stand by how fast she was floating, and you swore you were floating too because you couldn’t feel the ground.
“We are short on time; we don’t have time to worry about them!”
“But they’re 6’2! And Floyd can do parkour. It’s a matter of time before they find us!” Without context, it would seem like you both were escaping from the mafia; and with context… It’s the same, but for different reasons.
“You’re right!” She abruptly stopped, leaving you to fall face first on the sand of the colosseum. “This is the perfect situation for the next costume!”
“That’s what you’re thinking about? My personal space's on the line here!” You yelled, spitting the sand that got in your mouth.
“Shhh!” Shushing you, she helped you get up, doing once again the costume transformation. “There! Aren’t you the prettiest pirate here~”
“It does fit the context, though—”
“I didn’t know the Savanaclaw dorm had pretty girls~”
“I don’t think they do, maybe she’s the student from the videos.”
“She’s such a cool pirate~ I’m going to ask for a picture!”
“When will this end…?“
Leona was napping inside the boat in a secluded place, but he got up after hearing the commotion outside. He tried to sleep again, but the noise was too much for his sensitive audition, so he went to investigate the source of it. Less to say that he froze in place after seeing you; ‘why are you using a pirate costume’ and ‘what is a ghost doing beside you’ are some of his questions. He walked up to you, asking why you are wearing that, an unconscious smirk travelling up his features. He didn’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just his way to express interest, and you seem to get it because you thanked him. You drop the topic and explain the situation, and he’s baffled because he doesn’t get how you understand his actions yet don’t realise he’s in love with you, like, how does that even work?
Ruggie chokes. He was drinking water since his throat was starting to get dry after so much talking, and that’s when he saw you. He makes enough noise for you to notice, so you try to help him, unintentionally making it worse. Once he’s done with the coughing, he asks why you’re using his dorm’s costume; he didn’t understand the explanation, maybe because he was busy staring at you. He knows he has to say something, so he compliments you; not directly though, saying that the costume looked good. You agreed, toying with the golden buttons of the coat, failing to see his flushed face. Good, because if you did, he would have to lie, and his mind can’t elaborate a lie right now.
Jack was absent for the majority of your stay, returning from Sam’s because Ruggie asked him to bring some snacks. He did hear something about a female student changing costumes, but he didn’t imagine it was you at first, thinking that maybe a girl was taking advantage of the rumours. Now he knows that he was wrong. You spoke to him first, even retrieving his bags so you can place them aside, all while people still ask you for pictures. He only begins to move when they start to cross the line, hiding you behind him so you could take a breath from the sudden fame like a good friend would do, and not a boyfriend like the customers think- Wait, a boyfriend, your boyfriend? All the efforts he made to not blush go out of the window as his tail wags and his cheeks become red.
The visitors in Savanaclaw were more controlled than those in the other dorms since you had three scary beastmen by your side Ruggie can be scary, I’m sure of it, literally, and that reduced their shoving and overall craziness.
The idea of taking the photo was from your ghost companion, seeing that none of them brought it up.
It ended up being a pretty funny photo. A boy snuck behind you all, and before he could even pose, Leona grabbed him by the collar. Jack tried to set free the poor teenager, Ruggie was laughing, and you still stood there in the middle, smiling to the camera.
There wasn’t a second chance, she liked it too much to delete it, instead sending it to the group chat.
She decided it was enough fun for this venue and continued to the next one.
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SIXTH PARADE, IGNIYHDE: LIBRARY – A MYSTERIOUS PUMPKIN DAME
Ignihyde's costume wasn’t changes in the slightest, it was the same black and neon blue armour, just that yours was adjusted so it would fit you. But instead of the greenish pumpkin head that Idia had, you had an orange one. The face in this one also changed, with mischievous eyes and sharp teeth forming a terrifying smile.
“Can I ask you a question?” You said, tilting your head to look at her.
“But of course, dear! What do you want to know?”
“Why me?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not really an interesting person, and I’m sure there are a lot of people who are more befitting of these clothes than me."
“I see… Well, that is a topic I would discuss later, when I depart, but you were my only option for this, and I sincerely mean it," instead of the cheerful tone she always spoke with, she had a nostalgic one replacing it.
“Okay…” You both didn’t talk for a few minutes, only conversing again when you arrived to the library, a crowd of people inspecting the place. “Are you going to turn me into a knight?”
“Not a knight, dear. A dame!” She made her magic, and soon enough you had a new, shiny armour and a pumpkin helmet, unaware of how scary it looked. “How does it feel? Replicating that boy’s technology is extremely difficult, so I tried to make it as light as possible”
“It’s not too heavy, but this thing surely is suffocating me," removing it from your head, you organized your hair, a bit squashed because of the sudden pressure.
That movement was enough to get you a whole fan club.
“Kyah! Who’s she? She’s so cool~!”
“Right? She must be the girl that’s trending on Magicam, she’s prettier in person~”
“Who needs a prince? I want this girl to rescue me.”
“Wow, they’re getting more creative."
Idia first thought that a devoted fan of “Pumpkin Hollow” appreciated his work and decided to show up as the character to show his respect. He didn’t expect to see you out of all people but consider him a part of your fan club with that hair movement. His hair becomes pink, and he tries to deviate the conversation from your costume to the movie. To be honest, he felt betrayed when he knew that you didn’t watch the movie at first, yet he knows he can’t blame you because you were isekai’d into this world, so he asked you if you wanted to watch it. He thinks you loved the movie just as much as him, but when you told him that your new ghost friend made it for you he deflated a little. Not for long when you told him that you did like the movie, already planning a marathon for you and Ortho to watch.
Going to Ignihyde was fun from the start. I mean, sure, some of the people were annoying, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.
At some point, you acted a bit, reciting a few lines of the movie that you remembered, making the visitors intrigued about the movie, muttering that they were definitely going to watch it Idia thinks he’s in love with you.
For the selfie, you took two: one with the helmet and one without the helmet. Idia wanted to delete the helmet-less one, but you pressed send before he could finish the sentence plead.
It was getting late, and you knew that the next location was going to be the last one, so you took the initiative and told the ghost (that suddenly became more thoughtful) that it was time to move, and so you both exited the library.
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SEVENTH PARADE, POMEFIORE: MIRROR CHAMBER – AN ENCHANTING VAMPIRE COUNTESS
The Pomefiore costume really had major changes; you wore a Victorian dress, which had the same pattern and colours as the original, a black sash covering your waist. The cape had the same design, a bit larger so it could embellish the shape of the dress. You didn't have any accessories besides your black gloves. Your makeup was also done; a dark eyeshadow and lipstick complimenting your skin.
She did the transformation with no funny puns and old-styled jokes, and you thought something was… Off.
“Are you okay?” You said, calmly walking towards the mirror chamber.
“Of course, I’m okay. Why the sudden question, dear?” She replied, a forced smile making her way past her lips.
“You seem a bit… Sad." She widened her eyes at this, lips forming a gentle smile after a couple of seconds.
“It’s nothing to worry about, dear. This will be over soon."
“Huh—?”.
The usual three comments you got used to were replaced by the voices of your distressed (except Rook) friends, looking for an explanation as soon as you arrived.
“Potato! What’s the meaning of this?”
“Ma chérie, I’m glad you’re finally here!”
“I can’t believe we were your last choice…”
Vil felt offended and outraged. How can you decline him making you a costume, but you so gladly accept the same offer from an unknown ghost? He does realise he shouldn’t be mad at you; he doesn’t know if you gladly accepted after all, but he can’t help but feel betrayed. And you didn’t come visit them first; you know he’s a beauty guru, why would you hide this from him? He found out when checking his Magicam, the trending topic being: “NRC female student magically changes costumes with the help of a friendly ghost!” He calms down, not wanting to get a pimple out of stress; he does think the costume is great, sure, there are a few errors here and there, but nothing he cannot fix.
Rook is delighted. This man would praise you if you used a trash bag as a dress, so imagine the amount of compliments you’re getting from him using his magnifique dorm’s costume! He found out too when he was asking Vil something, strangely zoned out, so he decided to see whatever had him so mesmerized; but if isn’t his belle prefect! Of course Roi du Poison would be enchanted by this! He patiently waits for you to come visit, hopefully with a new costume based off his dorm, and he sure wasn’t disappointed! He even thanks the ghost at some point for enhancing your effortless beauty, and then he just straight up starts confessing in French. He knows you don’t know French, but he enjoys seeing you so confused as you try to decipher what the hell he just said.
Epel is also offended. MC! You’re one of his best friends and romantic interest and you decide to visit him last? How could you? He starts lightly scolding you, and in the middle of it, he shuts up, noting that you were indeed using your own version of his dorm’s costume. He becomes so red that he’s not a vampire anymore, he’s a tomato. Because of this, he lets you be, uttering a small compliment while looking away, not wanting you to see his blushing face. You get distracted by Rook, and he silently thanks him as he organises the stand; the gratefulness doesn’t last long because, well, it’s Rook, and Vil also added himself to the conversation, fixing a few details of your costume. He groans, discreetly commenting something so you would talk to him too.
The Mirror Chamber didn’t have any customer, and you felt a sense of relief washing over you. People would start calling you names if they noticed that you were friends with Vil, and you didn’t need that right now.
Since this was the last venue, you stayed with them until they finished cleaning, helping a little as you couldn’t really move freely in the dress.
You all went out, taking a break before returning to their respective dorms to prepare for the upcoming party, clearly taking a selfie before it which ended up winning the contest because Vil was the one who took it.
You were almost spotted by the tweels, but manage to hide before they saw you, carefully running with your friend towards your dorm.
Once you got there, she made her magic again, transforming the dress into a simpler one, white with some flowers on it, all while a heavy sigh leaving her mouth.
“What’s wrong?” You asked, now concerned because of this.
“MC, you know why I chose you for being my muse?” The sudden question caught you off guard, and you shook your head in response. “I had a daughter, just like you: young, beautiful, and had this charisma that made every head in the room turn into her direction. Truly a charm."
You stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. “I was a fashion designer when I was alive; I rarely saw my daughter, maybe once or twice in the week, and that if I had time."
“She got sick one day. I thought it was sudden, but the doctor said that it had been going for months, and that she had only a few ones to live. It turned out, it wasn’t like that."
“One week later I was rushing to the hospital, carrying her in my arms because she collapsed."
You guessed the end, but that didn’t stop the feeling of dread. “She died that day, and I couldn’t even tell her that I loved her…”
“I’m sorry…" You muttered, not knowing what else to say.
“When I saw you, I saw her; smiling and living contently with no worries, as if she was fine and healthy," she stopped to look at you in the eyes, and asked one more question. “Do you know why I’m a ghost?”
Your eyes widened in shock, and you shook your head again. “I promised her I would dress her with beautiful clothes; I promised her that I would be there …”
“Do… Do you mean that—"
“I think that this day may have given me the chance to encounter her again… That you gave me the chance to encounter her again."
“I…” You stopped for a brief moment, a warm smile forming on your lips. “Thanks for today. I really hope you can meet your daughter again."
She chuckled, slowly vanishing as she stroked your hair affectionately. “You’re such a kind girl. Those boys are lucky to have you."
And with that, she disappeared completely, white sparks fading as silence invaded the room.
You felt something wet on your cheek, only realising after touching it that you were crying.
“Henchman! Ace told me the party’s already starting! We better get there before they run out of food!“ Grim said, abruptly yelling as he passed the opened door.
“Yeah, sure, just, uh— Give me a minute…" Hurriedly wiping your tears, he stood there dumbfounded and concerned.
“Are you crying?” He asked, frowning in confusion.
“I’m okay, it’s just that… I remembered something” You smiled in order to ease him up, knowing that down deep his egoistic façade, he was worried about you.
And it worked, since he scoffed, quickly changing the topic as you two walked towards the location of the party.
There was one thing that she was right about, they were very lucky to have you, but you were just as lucky as them.
THE END~
DON'T REPOST.
EVERY CHARACTER BELONGS TO DISNEY AND YANA TOBOSO AND I DON'T TAKE CREDIT FOR THEM.
948 notes · View notes
babyybitchhh · 4 years ago
Text
Law x Reader 18+
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Rating: Explicit/R-18+
Words: 6,653
Warnings: sexual roleplay, sex work, excessive/rough breast play, vaginal sex, creampie, set in Wano but honestly I just took advantage of that unknown period when they first arrived, chubby reader
A/N: It's okay, Law doesn't need to use condoms. He's a doctor. : )
♥♥♥♥
“Well, how do I look?”
Head coming up, Law glances over from his spot on the tatami and ire immediately flashes through stormy gray eyes. But you pretend not to notice as you turn in the doorway, letting him see the back of your kimono with its neatly tied bow and the flowing long sleeves that had delighted you when you’d first glimpsed the style of dress in this country.
Truth be told, you were really quite pleased with yourself.
Particularly after Kinemon had assured you it was a lovely choice for the role you were to take in Wano; that of a maid servant working at the finest brothel in the capital where you were sure to overhear plenty of hush hush information the others might not likewise be privy to. The place was frequented by big wig politicians, powerful samurai and members of the ruling Kurozumi faction, according to him, which meant you would be playing an integral part in the plan going forward.
You were glad for it, eager to be of some use in the coming battle to overthrow the shogunate since such an opportunity very rarely presented itself to non combatants like you.
But when you turn back around, beaming expectantly only to find Law glaring across the room, your shoulders quickly droop in defeat. “What? You don’t like it?”
Rather than directly answering the question, he scoffs and looks away. “You’re supposed to be blending in with the people of this country, not standing out like a sore thumb.”
You guffaw, glancing down at yourself. “What do you mean? Everyone’s wearing clothes like this!”
“That’s not the problem.”
“Then what is?”
Try as you might, you just couldn’t figure out what he was finding issue with here. The rich silk print wrapped around your body was understated, not nearly as intricate or attention grabbing as those of the oiran you would soon be waiting on, but that didn’t make it any less elegant. In fact, you’d thought for sure he would like it for just that reason.
The monochrome base with its bursts of color in the form of vibrant, blooming red and pink chrysanthemums had struck you as something he would appreciate for its simple yet undeniable beauty. He’d picked out his own clothes in similar fashion, going with a basic black and white kimono and a relatively plain yet stylish jittoko to wear over top so you weren’t really sure what made your outfit any different.
They were practically one and the same - and you tell him as much when you step across the room, fully prepared to fight him on this.
But as soon as you're close enough, Law reaches out to snag your wrist and he yanks you down on the floor with him. You draw a sharp breath as your knees hit the woven mat, quickly jerking your attention up only to choke on whatever you were going to say when he crowds into your space with that steely eyed frown he was known for.
“W - what?”
“It’s not the same.” He intones, low and unamused. “I’m going to be playing a traveling monk with my face covered. You’ll be working in the red light district. There’s a world of difference here.”
You start to ask him to elaborate, because you just weren’t seeing it, but stop yourself short when the answer abruptly clicks into place.
Oh.
So it was like that.
“Could it be … you’re feeling a little possessive, maybe?”
Law barks out a quick laugh, making your cheeks warm. “And why would that be?”
“I don’t know!” You blurt, embarrassed. “Even if you’re not serious about this - about us, I just thought you might be getting sort of ... jealous, thinking about other men looking at me that way. I guess.”
“You’re not mine to feel possessive about, sweetheart. You know that.”
Too well, in fact; you think as you turn your face away to hide the hurt you were sure he’d find staring back at him.
He's quick to reach out and grab under your chin though, manually turning you back around. “Don’t pout. You volunteered for this job.”
“I just wanted to be useful …”
“You are useful.” He murmurs, the pitch of his voice dropping an octave, intentionally or not, to send static racing down your spine. “Don’t you worry about that. I have a solution that I think will satisfy both of us, though.”
“O - oh?”
Without missing a beat, Law snakes his arm behind him, grabs the tengai sitting at his knee and brings it forward so he can unceremoniously plop it down on top of your head. You squawk, hands flying up to grab the hat which basically amounted to little more than a straw basket and, therefore, should have been easy to remove. But the hand he still had resting on top of the damned thing kept it firmly in place no matter how you pushed at it and you outright seethe when you catch the slightly muffled sound of his smug, snickering laughter.
“Law, you ass! Stop!”
He hadn’t even had the decency to put it on the right way! The slats were facing out at the back of your skull and you couldn’t see anything except warm light bleeding in through the woven textiles.
“But if you wear this,” he tells you in a sobered yet no less amused tone. “I won’t have to worry about horny old perverts looking at you too much.”
“I swear I’m gonna’ - -“ You stammer to a halt, suddenly realizing what he’d said. “So you are jealous that other men might look at me!”
“Mm. Jealous isn’t the word I would use, personally.”
“Oh, then what hell would - -“
You cut yourself off with a flustered gasp when his unoccupied hand abruptly winds around your waist and finds the bow Kinemon had tirelessly struggled to fasten your obi in. He tugs at it, gently at first, and then more forcefully when it doesn’t give. With a click of his tongue, so close to your basketed head that you couldn’t miss it, Law adjusts his grip and feels around for the weak point in the knot. Once located, his long, dexterous fingers make quick work of loosening it with a soft slither of silk that makes you shudder for him and lean into the heat of his body.
The amount of sway he held over you just wasn’t fair.
“Do we really have to do this … with the hat on?”
Obi successfully undone, he starts to unwind it from around your waist one slow loop at a time.
“If I have it my way,” he says quietly. “This is the closest you’ll ever get to having anonymous sex. So the answer is, yes.”
The implication of what he was saying had you running hot, and not just in arousal. “I won’t sleep with any of the men at the brothel, you know.” You tell him tersely.
“I’m sure you won’t, but just in case you ever wonder what it would be like …”
His hand finds your shoulder as soon as the ridiculously long band of fabric is pooled between both of your laps; gentle but commanding in the way he pushes you down to lay out on the floor. You comply, though not without a soft whimper at the uniquely strange pitter patter in your suddenly tight chest.
It’s not that you didn’t understand what he was doing here.
Giving you a taste of what it would be like on the off chance hearing the girlish moans in the next room over ever sparked your interest, so you’d think back on this moment and remember how good he was at fucking you into a blissed out stupor. As if you could ever forget.
But, still, it seemed he wanted you to go into this with that knowledge fresh in your mind. And if it was the thrill of anonymity you wanted, he was clearly happy to oblige in that too. The fact he cared about something so silly, enough to remind you with a hands on demonstration, warmed you from the inside out in a way that little else ever had. He may not have admitted it in quite so many words, but this was possessive behavior if you’d ever seen it.
Admittedly pleased by this turn of events, you lay back with your arms splayed across the tatami mats and feel him move close to hover over you. Bracing a hand on the floor, he begins to carefully part the layers of your kimono with the other, one at a time, while you stare up at the inside of his tengai. You badly wanted to reach up and slip it off your head, or at least spin it around the right way so you could glimpse him through the slats, but you choose to refrain. If not because you were sure he’d just find a way to secure it until he was finished making his point then certainly because you were curious to see how far he would take this.
Law clearly felt something more towards you than just baser lust and general irritation, and that excited you almost as much as his hands on you did.
“To answer your earlier question,” he drawls, gently nudging you back into the here and now. “You look good in these clothes. Almost frustratingly so, actually.”
You gulp down the butterflies dancing in your throat and try your hardest not to smile, even though he couldn’t see it either way. “Really?”
“I wouldn’t have said it otherwise, silly girl.” His long fingers finally find the nagajuban, the last flimsy barrier separating you from him, and Law noises a brief sound of anticipation as he descends upon it.
A sedate shudder ripples down your spine while he makes casual work of spreading the robe open around you, your nipples immediately puckering when the cool air hits them. It makes you twitch and arch for him, squirming fitfully on your impromptu bed of silk; but he doesn’t stop long enough to pay it any mind and you have to bite back a groan when he somewhat callously palms your breasts with broad hands.
He isn’t as soft with you as he usually is. Not quite so preoccupied with prioritizing your pleasure over his own, and the almost greedy way he kneads at your chest serves its purpose in making you feel like a properly casual encounter. Something to vent his frustrations and nothing more.
You’d like to say it was off putting and that you didn’t like being handled so indifferently, but that would have been a bold faced lie. You were rapidly growing hot under his attention - tipping your head back inside the tengai to mewl out a whine when he bends down and eagerly seals his mouth around one stiff nipple without any of the slow buildup you were accustomed to. You were entirely at his mercy like this, in this particular role, and Law’s affinity for your breasts quickly makes itself known in the form of rough, enthusiastic sucking and nibbling that was perhaps just a little too sharply applied for it to be pleasurable.
But it wasn’t for you that he was doing this, so he takes his time indulgently suckling at the teat in his mouth until you finally whimper and twist underneath him. He comes up at the noise, leaving the tip of your breast feeling sore and unbearably coiled in the scant space that separates the shallow rise and fall of your chest from his. The tight bud gives a muted throb in the aftermath, the ache of it just edging your peripheral, and he chuckles when you squeeze doughy thighs together, rubbing them.
“Oh? You like that, do you?”
You can practically hear the roguish smirk in his tone, and your face goes hot behind the woven barrier. He knew your body well enough to recognize a sound of genuine pleasure from one of tender pain, but you don’t get the chance to correct him before the rough pad of his finger abruptly swipes over the swell of your breast. Sure and steady, it follows the natural curve of it right up to the straining nipple in the center which he delivers a sharp flick to, making you twitch and whine. The heat pooling in your gut seemed to suggest it wasn’t entirely disagreeable but you weren’t used to such indelicate treatment, not from him, and you positively writhe when he palms the weight of it in his hand again.
“My, what a sensitive little minx I’ve invited into my bed. I can already tell you’re going to be worth every penny.”
Understanding immediately dawns and you bite down on your lower lip to keep quiet as he switches his attention to the opposite tit, pinching the meat of it firmly enough to make pliable flesh spill out between his fingers. You shudder at the way he guides the puckered tip to his mouth with a sense of slow, savory anticipation, warm breath wafting against your skin moments before his lips close around it. Issuing a hazy groan, you curl your hands into the fabric laid out underneath you and arch, pushing your chest up to meet him halfway. If it was a sweetly compliant mistress of the night he expected you to play, then that was what you were going to give him.
“Mmm, you’re good at this, mister.” You murmur softly, still embarrassed to be saying it even with your resolve, and he snorts.
“Yeah? Don’t try to flatter me, sweetheart, I’m sure you say that to all the John’s.”
He goes up then and sits back on his knees, both arms stretched out across your body to cup and fondle the weight of your breasts with that same intense focus as before. A puff of air stutters out of you when he slowly drags the blunt of his thumbs over stiff points, making your pussy clench with a sympathetic flutter. Everything felt somehow that much more intense without the use of your sight and it takes every ounce of willpower you possess not to reach up and grab ahold of his bony wrists when he finally pinches one tightly coiled bud between two of his fingers.
“Nggh, w - … wait!” You mewl, your breath coming quicker when even something as simple as that makes your gut twist hard enough to leave you aching for him.
Chidingly tutting at you, Law makes a casual show of teasing your swollen nipple to straining attention while his other hand kneads the opposite breast like a happy feline earnestly fluffing it’s favorite pillow. That is to say, rather aggressively.
“Sorry, but you don’t get to tell a paying customer what to do. That’s part of the deal,” he informs you politely enough, but the reprimand itself as well as the pressure on your tit still makes you wince. “You’re mine for the night, so we’re going to do whatever it is I want. That’s what we agreed on, isn’t it?”
“... yes.”
“Good girl.” He breathes out, palming both of your tits now to squeeze them. “Stay nice and sweet for me, and I just might leave you a handsome tip when I’m done. How’s that sound, hm?”
You give your head a stilted nod before recalling that he probably couldn’t see it. “I … I’d like that very much, mister.”
“Then you had better make sure you behave yourself. I won’t give you anything extra if I don’t think you deserve it. You need to earn it. Do you understand?”
“Mm, yes … yes, I understand.”
“Good to hear.”
Giving the swell of your tits a bitingly rough pinch, Law slowly drags his palms down so that rough calluses scrape over your sensitized nipples. You can’t quite stop from crying out when the two buds give meaty little jostles in the wake of his hands, so puffy and engorged now that they felt achingly tender to the touch. He seems satisfied by the lack of protest though, and he pauses long enough to give them both another taunting tweak before trailing lower, sharp fingertips dancing across your stomach.
“You have the perfect body for this, you know.” He says, almost casually offhand. “Soft in all the right places and so very inviting. The kind of body anyone could lose themselves in, if given the chance. I’m sure you’re quite popular.”
“Mm’ not …”
Scoffing quietly, he splays his hands wide across your stomach and rubs the soft pudge there before dragging them around to squeeze at plushy lovehandles that seem to mold into his palms. You whimper at the avid attention to your body, even though you really should have been used to it by now, but he doesn’t say anything to scold you for it like some men otherwise might have. Law was more inclined to showing rather than telling, after all, and he responds instead by bringing his hands forward so he can press your thighs open for him to settle between.
“You know I don’t buy that, sweetheart. How could anyone with a working cock pass up the chance to have a pretty little pussy like this all to themselves, huh? You look like you’d just suck me right in.”
His spindly fingers dip into the space between your legs and find plump, velvety lips, slowly pressing in and spreading them apart so he can get a good, long look at you. Choking at the sensation, your thighs tense and flex as if to close him out but you stop yourself from acting on the urge with a tiny, faltering mewl. Your face is on fire behind his hat while you make do with twisting on the floor instead - your hands balling into tight little fists with layers of kimono clenched in them as you try to decide if you should happily offer him your cunt or tell him to stop. It was a surprisingly hard choice to make when he had you so vulnerably exposed like this.
“M - mister … please, you’re embarrassing me!”
“Am I now?” He chuckles faintly, making you flush even hotter. “We’ll just have to fix that then, won’t we?”
Your breath catches in your throat when you feel Law sit back on his haunches again, those long fingers of his still keeping you spread open for him. Trying to brace for what was coming next quickly proves to be an effort in futility when he crowds his other hand in with the first and presses down on your clit with expert precision, rubbing smooth little circles into it. A startled sound of pleasure erupts out of you even as your body goes ramrod stiff, the sensitive nub giving a receptive throb under featherlight pressure which prompts you to angle your hips up in search of more.
He laughs in response to the needy display, unhurriedly adjusting the position of his hand so he can flick at your clit with a slow, steady back and forth of his finger until you finally twitch and writhe, just as he wanted.
“Hmph. Pretty girl. You look good when you squirm for me like that, but I’m sure you’ll look even better when you’re squirming on my cock here in a minute.”
You let out a frazzled, sucker punched sound and twist on the floor, making your heavy tits bounce and jiggle with the jerky motion. “Please … I want it!”
“What do you want, sweetheart? Tell me.”
“N - ngh … I want - want your cock …”
Humming faintly, Law picks up the pace of his finger, battering your clit from both sides, and you almost come up off the floor with a strangled, gasping wheeze. “I didn’t quite catch that, I’m afraid. Would you like to try again?”
“Your cock! I want your cock, La - - haah, m - mister! Please put it in …”
“You’ll have to be a bit more specific. Do you want it in your mouth? Or perhaps your ass …”
You shake your head so wildly that the tengai slips up just enough for you to feel a rush of fresh air assaulting the lower half of your face, but you hardly think anything of it in your quickly mounting desperation. You didn’t need to see - you needed to feel him inside you, stretching your guts to capacity.
“No, no please, mister, not there! I want it in my pussy! Please stick it in my pussy and fuck me stupid with your cock! I p - promise I’ll be good!”
At that Law sucks in a sharp, heated breath, letting it back out in a rumbling low groan as his finger drops away from your clit to swipe through the copious slick oozing out of you, testing your wetness.
“Ooh, what a damn good girl you are. You’ll have me coming back for more, if you’re not careful. Would you like that? Do you want to share my bed again?”
“Yuh - yes! I want you to fuck me lots and lots …”
A mildly flustered sigh slips out of him, sending a brief touch of ghostly fingertips across your inflamed skin to make you tremble and shake, still so sensitive even now. “How could I ever say ‘no’ to that, huh? You’ll gladly be the ruin of me at this rate …”
He leans all the way back then, big hands retreating from your body with a deliberate sense of action. You’re left flushed and sprawled out on the floor, dizzily blinking through the needy haze that’s come over your punch drunk mind when you catch the sound of rustling fabric directly in front of you. You think to tip your head down, peering along the length of your nose, and a certain amount of surprise washes over you when you realize you can see something other than just the inside of the basket.
Past the shallow rise and fall of your chest and the soft swell of your stomach, you catch a glimpse of him moving between your bent and splayed legs. He was already naked, his borrowed kimono shrugged off and discarded; sizable cock jutting proudly into the space between you two and leaking a glistening bead of precum. You still couldn’t see Law’s face when the rim of the woven hat was taking up a good majority of your line of sight - just up to about the midway point of his waist - but that only seemed to heighten the feigned sense of anonymity in this situation.
Choking down a much needed gulp of air, you watch as if in a trance while he finishes getting himself situated and reaches out to hook his hands under your knees. Spreading them further apart and then folding them towards your chest allows him to shuffle even closer and settle the fronts of his thighs against your upturned ass, tilting your pelvis up at him in the process. He lets one leg settle beside his narrow hip so he can snake a hand into the now scant space between you two where he gives himself a few savory pumps before guiding the glans to your waiting cunt.
“L - Law!” You gasp, close to delirious at the feverish scene unfolding right in front of you.
“Hmm? Am I not ‘mister’ anymore?” He teases, slowly drawing the head of his cock up and down your slit to coat it in sticky arousal, the soft nudge against your clit on every steady stroke making your hips twitch in anticipation. “I kind of liked the sound of it, to be honest with you. Maybe I should have you call me that more often.”
In a daze, you reach down as if to grab for him but stop yourself short at the last second when you abruptly recall your assigned role here. Fingers twisting in frustration, you ball them up into fists against your lower stomach only to blush red hot at the way he chuckles, faintly laughing at you. You have to fight to keep your eyes open when you want nothing more than to screw them shut, embarrassed, and a quiet whine rises in the back of your throat as you watch Law purposefully guide himself to your entrance. He applies just enough pressure for you to feel the blunt head pressing into you, barely, but not enough to sink in yet, and your toes excitedly curl in the air, eager for the sear of penetration.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He murmurs, drawing your attention away from what’s going on between your legs. “You don’t have to hold back. I doubt you’ll be able to keep it up, anyway.”
You don’t need to be told twice, and you quickly snag your fingers around his wrists as he latches on to your other leg again, digging his fingers into pillowy soft flesh to keep them spread. Noticeably holding the air in his lungs now, Law leans his weight into you and the glans slowly breaches the first ring of muscle with an intoxicatingly delicious rush of friction that has you instantly shaking for him.
He pushes in deeper and deeper, ever so slowly, making sure you feel each individual inch that penetrates you at that tortuously staggered pace. Your eyes start to roll back before he’s even fully seated inside you, and you eventually let out some sort of desperate, wounded animal noise when he finally slides home a small eternity later.
He lets out the breath he’d been holding in a stuttering rush and it seems to rattle through his narrow chest while he takes his time grinding the sharp planes of his pelvis into the plushy give of yours. The coarse but neat thatch of curls at the base of him scratches and tickles, leaving a burning trail in their wake as you gratefully jut your cunt up into the pressure, plaintively asking for more. He felt so good inside you. He always felt so good.
“Nngh … please, Law! Please make me cum on - on your cock, please … I’ve been good …”
“You have.” He agrees, at last angling his hips back until you fear he would slip right out only to push inside again at that same frustratingly slow pace. “You’re a good girl, when you want to be. You know I’ll always reward you for a job well done, don’t you?”
You offer a quick nod, breathless, as you try to crane your neck up to get a better look at where his cock was sedately gliding in and out of you, but it only makes the tengai slide back down into place. Realizing you were once again without sight, you screw your eyes shut and groan bitterly as you toss your head back.
“T - that’s why I wanted to be useful for you …!”
Feeling him hunch over you, and rather suddenly at that, you tense when the slight change in position increases the pressure of him inside your guts. Your mouth warbles open as if to groan but nothing comes out, and genuine surprise rapidly floods the forefront of your mind when he grabs the top of the hat and pulls it off, making you blink owlishly in the suddenly bright room.
“I figured as much when you volunteered for a role as risky as it is potentially invaluable. You’re not a fighter, so it was fairly obvious you had a motive.” Fixing you with a sly smirk, he tosses the tengai aside and settles more squarely on his knees. Picking up the force behind his thrusts, now perfectly angled to drive into your upper wall and attack the tightly clustered nerves on the other side, Law clutches at you all the more fervently until you’re positive you’ll find bruises in the morning. “But I trust you … I know you’ll do a good job, sweetheart. You always do.”
Letting out a series of whimpering groans, you push up on your elbows so you can flick your attention between his glistening wet cock as it drives into you and his handsomely pinched face. “Then w - aah - what was all that b - before … you ass?”
He offers you a tersely clipped laugh. “Just a bit of fun, mostly.”
“Such a … nngh, such a jerk …”
Chuckling under his breath, Law lets up his hold on your legs in favor of sliding broad palms across your stomach, calluses scraping, to get a good grip on plushy hips. You respond with a low groan as you struggle upright so you can get your hands under you and push up, slanting your pelvis down to meet his leisurely thrusts tit for tat. The hushed sound of skin meeting skin picks up in the old room, otherwise silent besides the soft moans and faltering breaths coming from the two of you.
It was unexpectedly nice, given the circumstances.
“Yes, right t - there … haah, so good, you feel so good, Law. God, don’t stop …”
“You know I won’t,” he rumbles, possessively squeezing your sides in a pinching tight grip so he can guide you into a more energetic bouncing motion that has your heavy tits bouncing for him. “But I meant what I said earlier … any man would be a fool to pass up a night with you. I’m sure you’ll be quite popular in the brothel.”
You shake your head, sucking in a faltering gasp. “I don’t c - care … I only want you …”
“How reassuring …”
A shaky groan puffs out of him and the sound races straight to your cunt, making you clench around the stiff cock relentlessly carving out a space within you. Your subconscious reaction only seems to make him dig up into your sweet spot all the more insistently and, seething, you close your eyes, dropping your chin to your chest. You could feel the coil inside you slowly tightening just that little bit more each time he slid up inside you, making your toes curl while you struggled just to keep up with the pace he wanted.
Your legs and arms were quickly growing tired though and, with a soft, whining plea, you lift one of your hands to reach for him. Law catches on quick as usual, immediately letting go of your hips so he can curl one arm under your armpit and across your shoulder blades. With very little effort on his part, he hauls you up against him and locks the other arm behind your back so he can hold you in his lap.
“You like it better this way, sweetheart?” He murmurs, bracing his scruffy chin on the center of your chest with his head tilted back to look up at you.
“Ahh - mm, mhm!”
Clinging to his broad shoulders, you adjust the positioning of your feet and bounce on his cock a little more smoothly now. He seemed to hit even deeper than before, knocking something inside of you that made every inch of your body feel like it was on fire. You could hardly breathe through it, sucking in one haggard gasp after another while you continued to work yourself over until you felt near delirious with the need to cum.
You weren’t quite there yet though and you curl yourself around him, tucking your face into the crook of his shoulder so you can inhale the smell of him into your contracting lungs. Pinewood and ozone, the faintest note of antiseptic. You could even make out a faint trace of the dark, heady cologne he hardly ever bothered to put on. It was indescribably intoxicating, and you couldn’t take much more of it.
“Wanna’ cum …” you mewl against his collarbone, feeling like you were moments away from drooling all down the front of him. Your mind was a cotton stuffed mess.
Turning his head, Law presses his mouth to your hair and gently kisses you. “Are you starting to get tired?”
“Yuh - yeah …”
He tsks at that, the sound warm and comforting in your ear.
You suddenly choke on a sharp inhale when he tightens his arms around you without so much as missing a beat, hauling you up even closer to him and prompting you to wrap your legs around his waist with a light jostle. Crossing your ankles behind his back, you hang on for dear life as he somewhat awkwardly goes up on his knees, adjusts the grip he has on you - all without dislodging himself from your pulpy cunt - and then pivots his hips forward to test the angle.
The action rocks you in his arms, increasing the pressure on the downward slide when your soft ass paps against the fronts of his thighs. It knocks the air right out of you and you jolt, lifting your face from his shoulder so you can keen in frazzled, almost hysterical pleasure. You sounded like something wild and mindless.
“Is that better?” He whispers, his tone much too smug for him not to already know the answer.
Law doesn’t even give you a chance to respond before he does it again though, more forcefully this time, and you practically shriek in wordless delight. The momentum of his gravity assisted thrusts builds into the next, and then the next until he was fucking into you at such an enthusiastic pace that you couldn’t even begin to keep up with it.
Your mind completely blank now, you let your mouth hang open in doped out bliss while you freely moan and squeal in pleasure; the sticky wet squelching between your bodies and the sharp smack of skin on skin serving as an all too appropriate backdrop for the sounds you were making. The coil inside you was quickly reaching its breaking point and all you could do anymore was clutch at him, digging your nails into his back while he relentlessly slammed into you.
His straining grunts, so hot and heavy in your ear, had you vibrating like a wound up ball of static electricity and you hung there on the precipice for a horribly long beat, silently praying for the pin to drop. You weren’t sure how much more your aching cunt could take at this level of intensity - and then, so abruptly it almost startles you, he turns his head so he can shove his mouth against your neck and kiss you again.
It was, embarrassingly enough, the abrasive burn of his chin scruff that finally shoves you over the edge.
Toes curling to the point of genuine discomfort, you jerk in his hold so violently that it nearly tips the both of you over onto the ground. Law is quick to steady himself though and he crushes you against the front of him with a rumbling groan while your cunt spasms and tries to strangle his cock in a chokehold. You were far too caught up in the wild, full bodied tremors that were wracking through you to complain about the creaking ache in your ribs from where he was holding on to you so tight, but you also didn’t really care.
You were floating somewhere far above the physical realm, your flesh and blood body little more than an afterthought at that point.
Finally, you come back to earth with a strangled, heaving gasp, hands scrabbling against Law’s sweaty back as you writhe in his arms like you were something feral and untamed. He wasn’t about to let you go anywhere just yet though, and he rocks forward on his knees so that your back hits the rumpled layers of your kimono again. Keeping his arms locked around your quaking frame, he settles close enough to rest the fronts of his thighs on the backs of yours and pin them to the floor underneath him.
The vigorous pounding that follows seems to drag out your soul shattering orgasm to the point of real discomfort and it very nearly sends you spiraling into another. Your legs were flexing in the air, jerking with each powerful thrust of his narrow hips, but he was chasing his own high now and he couldn’t be bothered to stop long enough to pay attention to your desperate bleating. For a brief moment in time, he was a man well and truly possessed.
“Oooh, fuck, you get so tight when you cum, sweetheart, hng - haahn, your pussy’s so good to me, you know that? I’m gonna’ fill you up, baby, you ready? It’s coming …”
You jerk your head in a disoriented nod and Law drops his face to your shoulder, his slender frame shaking uncontrollably with the intensity of his fast approaching release. The obscenely loud, sticky wet squelching that noises between the two of you only seems to highlight the rough, primal quality of the seething grunts and groans that slip through his clenched teeth, rattling around inside your otherwise empty skull. You were starting to ache, in earnest this time, and reflexive tears sting at the corners of your eyes while you fervently cling to him, brokenly moaning at each desperate stroke of his cock.
For better or worse, it only takes a few minutes of this brutal pace to have Law’s hips stuttering and losing their rhythm, his thrusts gradually turning sloppy and uneven before grinding to a complete stop. Heaving, he puts the whole weight of his body into it and slams himself inside the mess he’s made of your cunt, mercilessly rocking you back against the floor once, twice, three times. On the fourth plunge, he suddenly freezes on top of you, lurching with the loss of momentum, and a powerful shudder races down his spine while he sensitively twitches and paints your guts white.
You let out a flustered groan at the sensation, delighting in the way the warmth of his release settles and spreads through you, coating your palpitating walls in creamy discharge. It was enough to send a fresh wave of tremors racing up your legs and the two of you groan in near perfect unison as you both go limp, struggling to catch your breath.
He recovers somewhat quicker than you do, eventually pushing his weight up and slipping out from between your legs so he can tiredly roll over onto his side next to you. You’re still panting when he turns you to face him, gently drawing you up against his shallowly contracting chest so you can nuzzle your nose into the thin patch of hair there. You could still smell him, a faint comfort, through the faint musk and various bodily fluids now sticking to your skin, and you were content to enjoy it for just a little bit longer.
His hand slides around to rub across your back while you both work at coming the rest of the way down from your peaks, a true feat after that unexpectedly intense session, and he lets you press in close until it was hard to tell where one of you stopped and the other began. If asked prior to this, you wouldn’t have thought you’d be all that into role playing in the bedroom but, somehow, it was actually kind of fun with him.
Law did often seem to have that effect on you.
“Hey,” he says at last, bringing his hand up and around to gently brush the hair back from your temple. “You hungry?”
Still thrumming, you give yourself a moment to think about that. “Mm, I could eat.” You murmur even as you contentedly snuggle somehow even deeper into Law’s chest, getting comfortable.
He gives an amused snort and drags his rough palm down along your side, delivering a sharp pinch to the meat of your ass to make you jolt.
“Come on, let’s go see what kind of food we can get in Wano. I’m sure we’ll find something good, or at least something edible.” Pausing, he dips his face close and presses his mouth to the top of your head, speaking into your hair. “And when we get back maybe I’ll eat you next.”
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wordsnstuff · 5 years ago
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Guide To Writing Historical Fiction
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Know The Period Well
When writing a story that takes place during a time you have no primary experience with, it’s important to do your research and not only be able to recall facts but be able to apply historical context to the plot. It’s especially important to consider diversity in period pieces and avoid whitewashing your cast, even if your story is set in a historically white place. The most obvious offender of this is England, but there were many people of color in premodern England that are completely underrepresented in modern fiction about the time.
Balance Drama and Accuracy
Realistically, you’re not writing a school report. There are corners you can cut in order to prioritize the plot and characterization over textbook accuracy. However, if you’re going to misrepresent something, be elegant and intentional about it. Make sure that the moment is worth it and that it serves you to do so. Convenience is not a reason to not do your due diligence.
Readers Will Find Errors, No Matter What
Accept that some readers will not understand that the nature of fiction is not to teach them about non-fictional things. There will be nitpickers, history buffs, “intellectuals”, and internet warriors who take it upon themselves to find and scrutinize every inaccuracy. You cannot avoid it, no matter how careful you are. Remember that your job is to entertain and provoke thought. Leave textbook writing to those who get paid for it.
Be Specific With Time and Place
Being vague about where and when your story is taking place may relieve you of heavy research about specifics, but it will take away from the reader’s experience, and that should always be your priority. People have prior knowledge about time periods and locations, so use that to your advantage. The more specific you are, the less work you have to do in order to create a world in which your characters can exist. Of course, you have to paint the picture, but at least this way you won’t have to design it.
Time and Place Shapes Your Character
Do not place contemporary people in a different time and location, put them in a corset and expect your reader to be immersed in that historical setting. Most of your work in characterizing for this genre will be contemplating what context and circumstances will shape your characters and how that will manifest in the way they think, feel, and behave. Place emphasis on this part of the process, because no matter how well you paint the background, it will be ruined if you have stick figures all over it.
It’s Gonna Take A While
Think about how long it takes to research a history paper versus how long it takes to draft. It’s the same with historical fiction. You will spend about 30% more time in the planning stage than you will in the writing stage. If you don’t have a passion or at least an interest in history, this genre is not for you. There’s no shortcut and there’s no way around it.
Common Struggles
Believable dialogue… Your writing style is your business, and the density of your writing style should usually go hand in hand with the intensity of the dialogue. If you’re writing a historical fiction in a modern voice, don’t break that up with extremely dense dialogue with vocabulary that the reader will have to pick apart. A happy medium, no matter the density of your narration, is usually a safe bet, where it evokes a time period but doesn’t directly copy it. This makes it clearly understandable by the reader but doesn’t destroy their suspension of disbelief amongst denser or lighter narration.
Little details… Guess and check. This is what editing is for. Well, that and nailing the historical voice, but that’s another issue for another time. If you’re on a roll on your first or second draft, don’t open google and agonize over one detail. Have someone more knowledgeable look over it later or do more research in the interim between writing and editing and then check yourself during the next stage.
Vocabulary… This is, again, a guess and check sort of thing. Finish the draft in a way that is clear above accurate and then highlight the words and phrases you’re unsure of before going through and checking each one. Again, you’ll spend more time editing than writing with this genre for this very reason.
Historical Norms… My best advice for getting a feel of what life was and wasn’t like during a certain time period and in a specific area is to read other texts that are reliably accurate and set/about the same time and place. It’s an easy way to get accustomed to the setting as the writer and eventually visualize that place when you’re writing it.
Retelling versus implementing… It’s really easy to lose sight of that line between setting your plot amongst a historical event and making that historical event the plot. I’d say a good way to make sure you’re not writing a narrative textbook is make a timeline of each scene in your draft and if more than 40% of your story centers around a historical event and the ins-and-outs of it rather than the fictional events within the plot, then you’re probably going a little heavy on the history.
Medicine/Technology… I’m not necessarily well-versed in historical medicine or technology but I do know that @inky-duchess can offer quite a few resources on medicine and that regarding technology throughout history, just write your first draft and then go back and fact check. Highlight technological inventions that are mentioned in the text and check that they were already in use at that time.
Other Resources
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: High Middle Ages & Renaissance
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1600s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1700s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1800s
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1900-1939
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1940-1969
Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1970-1999
Things To Listen To When You’re Working 
Useful Writing Resources
Useful Writing Resources II
Resources For Worldbuilding
Resources For Plot Development
Writing About Another Era
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mrsbarnes107 · 4 years ago
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Secret of the Widow
-part ten-
Summary: Post Endgame time period. The team is healing, trying to navigate this new normal they’ve found themselves in when Bucky and Sam bring home a stray with an attitude and a secret. Will the broken team take her in? Or is it too much to bare?
Warnings: language, violence, smut, death, fluff, angst, blood
Pairings: Bucky x OC
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Our footsteps thundered down the halls, narrowly ducking corners and vaulting stairs as we make our way to the containment unit.
"Do you have your suit?"
"No I didn't think I'd need it!"
"Shit. Okay. You stay back and find the one straggling okay? I know you're good hand to hand but without the suit your vulnerable and significantly weaker."
Luckily I always keep two knives strapped to my belt, so I toss one to Peter as we near the hallway leading to the prisoners.
"Aim between the ribs or the center of the throat. Don't stab yourself."
Just as we burst through the doors, the room shakes, pieces of the ceiling crashing to the floor, throwing us against the wall.
Immediately one of the bombers is on top of me, fist connecting sharply with my jaw. From the corner of my eye I can see Peter handling himself decently. With a swift knee to the gut I have the man under me, one knee pressing into his throat.
Before I can react, his fist slams into my stomach, sending my body further down his own. Taking advantage of my pause to get air back into my lungs, the man hauls us up and slams my skull against the wall then shoves me away.
Hot, thick blood crept slowly down over my brow, dripping into my eye, and flowing down my cheekbone.
With a sigh I plant my foot on his leg while hooking the other around his neck, throwing my body forwards. Bitches belong on their back, he seems to have not gotten the message.
Peter let's out a pained yell from across the room that has me leaping up, pausing to throw my knife straight into the piece of scums heart.
Before I can get to Peter the building is shaking again, a loud roar coming from the adjoining room. With a glance in the kids direction I can see Clint pushing him back while jackknifing the other bomber.
Heavy stomps make there way into the large room. A man well over six feet tall, covered in a billowing cloak, stalks towards me.
His face is obscured by a hood, but from what is exposed, it looks like a decomposing skull.
Black eyes meet my own, a low chuckle reverberating from his chest. "After a year of searching, here you are beautiful."
Not breaking eye contact I bend down to pull the blade from the dead mans chest, standing upright with my head cocked and a brow raised.
"I'm certain I would remember meeting you. Might I suggest a better moisturizer? You seem a little dry."
To the left Clint has disposed of the other prisoner, bow aimed at the beast before us.
The room is filled with black shadows, lit only momentarily as the red alarms flash in sequence.
As the man takes a slow step towards me Clint releases the arrow piercing the beasts arm. With a pause the arrow is snapped in half, point still embedded in the muscle.
Suddenly Clint is running at him, ducking into a slid between his legs while slicing the ankles. The large man grunts and turns as Clint swings a fist towards him. Immediately the man begins mirroring Clints every move. Matching each punch and kick, never once allowing the archer to land a blow. The avenger however was growing weaker with every hit.
With his back facing me, I jump onto his narrow hips, stabbing the blade into his shoulder, dragging it as far down his muscled back as possible. The gash is flowing with blood, covering my hands as the man throws my body to the floor, launching Clint into a wall across the room to land with a thud.
The beast of a man turns back to me, pure rage written across his dead face. "You're incredibly lucky I was ordered to bring you back alive, otherwise that pretty face of yours would be carved to pieces."
A second too late I see Peter sneaking up behind the man. His knife plunging into the mans ribs, likely grazing the heart. With a roar he falls to a knee, ripping the knife from his side. As he turns towards the boy I launch myself at him. Throwing my body weight into my punch, his head snaps to the side, his face glitching for a split second before I drag my knife up his abdomen. His large fist meets my ribs, sending me back a few yards.
He looks into my eyes and laughs as he turns to Peter, the kid stares up at him with doe eyes, terrified but standing his ground. I wish the idiot would run.
"However beautiful, him I can enjoy killing."
He launches his body at Peter, blood flowing down his back and chest, movements stuttering and slowed from his injuries.
A scream is ripped from my throat as I launch my knife into his open side wound and close my eyes.
I appear at the kids side within a blink, yanking him to me.
The last thing I see is the beastly man walking from the room slowly, his body red and weakening.
"I'll be back beautiful."
My eyes close again, opening to see Peter and I back in the lab.
***
Hours later we're sitting in the medical unit, me stitching up the boys as Peter looks at me with confused concern.
"Ali... did you know him?"
I press an alcohol cloth to Clints head, ignoring the dried blood sticking to my face.
"No, not in the technical sense. I'm pretty sure I know of him though. I called the team while you were helping Clint, they're on their way back, as is Nicky."
"O-okay, are we gonna talk about what happened earlier? In the lab?"
"Yeah Petey, we'll look at the video after the meeting. They'll be here in a couple minutes." With that I finish the last stitch and head out of the room.
Rounding the hallway I stop and fall against the doorway, a shuddering breath finally heaving from my lungs, tears welling in my eyes.
I was so fucking close to loosing them. And I'm so fucking tired.
"Ms. Romanoff, the quinjet has landed."
Letting out a deep breath I wipe my eyes and drag my body upright, forcing my legs to walk steadily to the conference room. Only faltering as I fall into the chair I sat in just yesterday.
After a few minutes Peter comes in, Clint hanging off his shoulder. They sit in the chairs to my right as I take a deep sip of my water, hopping it revives the little energy I have left.
"Hey Red, couldn't handle a few lowlifes without-" Sam playfully said as he waltzed into the room, pausing as he took a look at the beat up members in front of him, face becoming livid. "What the hell happened?"
Behind him stood Wanda and Banner, neither saying a word as they silently sit at the end of the table. Wanda eyeing me with curiosity, so I let her see the events herself.
She lets out a small gasp just as Bucky rounds the door, coming to a halt as his eyes meet mine.
Flashing a small smile I shrug, "At least you didn't do anything stupid."
That was definitely not what he wanted to hear it seems. His jaw looks like it's about to break from clenching so hard, his blue eyes cutting into me like steal as he slowly stalks forward.
He stops once his feet meet my own, bending down as his hand cups my chin, raising my eyes to meet his.
His gaze is terrifying. He looks murderous.
But his hand is gentle as he moves my head, eyes scanning my injuries. He growls from deep in his throat, "How the fuck did this happen."
***
After finally getting Bucky to sit down, albeit practically pressed against my side as his leg is hooked underneath my own, Nicky walks in demanding to know how a non-mission went to shit so hard.
I have Friday pull up the video footage of the containment room in the center of the table. All of us watching as Clint walked in and opened the cell, ordering the men out. All eyes glanced his way, but before anyone could speak the Clint in the video shimmered and turned into the beastly man.
Peter looked from the footage to me."He shapeshifts?"
"No. He projects a hologram. He likely walked past the guards straight through the front door."
I hold in a breath as I lean forward to move the footage to our arrival.
Bucky feels me tense in pain, his large hand coming to rest on my knee as his thumb rubs circles against the muscle.
Nicky stands to my right, his hand resting on the chair above my shoulder. Knuckles cracking as he watches me and the boys getting thrown around.
Bucks hand squeezes my thigh as if holding himself in place as he watches the fresh blood run down my skull.
The footage stops after I disappear with Peter from the room.
The team sits in silence for a moment, everyone staring at the paused hologram.
I take a sip of water and clear my throat. Jeez, I think Nicky is infecting me with his throat problem. "Well today wasn't boring am I right."
Nicky let's out a very burdened sigh as he shakes his head. I don't know why he seems fed up with me.
"Okay. We're going to ignore that little disappearing act for the moment while you tell me why the hell that guy seemed to want you so bad."
Buckys hand clenches tighter. Reaching down I lay my palm over is unwavering fingers and give them a soft squeeze.
"Friday, bring up a frame of Skelator please."
A grainy image of the decomposing man hovers in the center of the team. I nod at the photo as I take another drink, trying to keep from collapsing.
"To answer that very snarky comment I'm gonna have to also explain the uh the little 'disappearing act' as well."
I sit up a little straighter and push a clump of blood soaked hair from my face with a sigh.
"Having to go dark is a part of the job, we all know this. There's been a few instances where I've had to go underground for a month or so, like I said it's common in our line of work." I have to pause for a moment, trying to figure out how to best word my story. "You see, while the avengers were all tearing at each others throats after the accords, I was dealing with a group of terrorists in the mountains of Siberia. I suspected they were old Hydra members, however I did not expect getting trapped in a very well functioning base."
I glance up at Nicky, "You remember a few months ago when you asked why I went dark for six months before the snap?" A weak chuckle escapes my lips. "I was kind of taken by Hydra. The only reason I even escaped was because the snap."
Living up to his name, Nicky is looking at me with pure fury in his eye as he calmly berates me. "And you never thought to mention this?"
"There was a lot going on okay. Anyways, there were a couple others like me being kept there. Hydra was running experiments again-" Buckys body has been rigid since I mentioned being taken, but now his hand turns to weave his fingers in mine "-dozens of injections and tests, torture meant to stimulate a reaction to the serums. I was the only one to survive. And well, you saw what I can do."
"You teleport?" Sam asked with interest, concern hidden beneath the words.
"Um kind of I guess. I don't do it much, which is why I've never mentioned it. It takes a lot of energy. Like a lot. Just moving myself a few miles away requires a Barnes size serving of food and a short nap. Moving myself to another continent? I'm out within a couple hours. Moving another person? Well.." I shrug. "It's hard and it takes a lot. I can only jump to places I can visualize: my room, Tower of London, I can't just jump unless I've been there or have seen a photo."
"Have you practiced much?" Banner looked like he was running equations behind those glasses, trying to piece together an explanation.
"Not really, besides my time at Hydra I haven't used it much this past year. I think that's why today wiped me out so much."
I take another drink of water, draining the glass.
"Anyways, during my stay at the base I heard the doctors talking about a hired assassin a couple times. A man they have train new recruits and take out certain hits."
Bucky gives my hand a squeeze, his eyes never leaving my face.
"They call him Taskmaster. He has photographic reflexes, meaning he can mimic anyone's fighting styles, sometimes even their powers. I never got to see him and they never described him, but based off of what we saw with Clint and the fact that he's so adamant on finding me, I'm gonna guess he was sent by Hydra. And I think it's safe to also guess that the bombing from yesterday was to lure me out, while today's separated and weakened the team."
Peter gets up and pulls me into a soft, firm hug. Pulling away he looks into my tired eyes as I give him a smile. "Oh Petey-" "Shush and accept my thank you while I go get you some food." With a kiss to my check he jogs from the room.
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ibijau · 4 years ago
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Jin Rusong Lives / On AO3
Nie Huaisang is relieved that he will not, in any way, be further involved in this messy situation with Jin Rusong
Within two days of returning to the Unclean Realm, Nie Huaisang had recovered from his unexpected encounter with a child who shouldn't have been alive. It all felt like little more than a dream. For his own sanity, he convinced himself that it had been. His best lies, after all, had always been the ones he told himself. 
On the afternoon of the third day, a disciple knocked on the door of his office and informed him that Jiang Wanying had just arrived to the Unclean Realm, demanding to see him. Nie Huaisang shivered at the news. He had been struggling with some cultivation exercises for a few hours at that point, out of sheer boredom, and he’d have much preferred to remain bored and puzzled rather than having to face Jiang Wanyin of all people. Then again, he’d been fearing a visit of that sort for a while, and figured that perhaps certain events in Carp Tower had reminded Jiang Wanyin that Nie Huaisang had put his precious nephew in great danger barely a year earlier.
“Did you try telling him that I’m not home?” Nie Huaisang asked, risking from his seat and quickly checking that his robes were in good order. He always felt underdressed next to Jiang Wanyin by default, but since he hadn’t planned on seeing anyone nor being seen by anyone that day… but it would do. It would have to do.
“Nie zongzhu knows that Jiang zongzhu doesn’t believe us when we say that. He always seems to know when we’re lying.”
Nie Huaisang smiled weakly as they left his office. Of course Jiang Wanyin could tell when they lied. Nie Huaisang had been careful to surround himself with a certain type of people, fearful of another Jin Guangyao but also hoping that everyone would start treating all Nie as honest and easy to read. It had worked better than anticipated, but on occasion it had turned against him.
“How murderous did he look?”
“I didn’t see him personally, but Nie Junyu gave the order to fetch you and he didn’t seem worried.”
Hearing this allowed Nie Huaisang to relax a little as he strode toward the Unclean Realm’s gate. His first disciple took his safety to heart, especially since the death of Jin Guangyao. Nie Junyu had not taken well to the fact that Su Minshan had so easily captured his sect leader (Nie Huaisang had set it up that way, but apparently that didn’t make it better), and he had been unhappy to learn that the heads of the three Great Sects now had a personal grudge against him. 
Arriving at the gate, Nie Huaisang’s eyes were immediately drawn to the little island of bright purple that contrasted against the muted grey of his home. People talked about the white robes of the Lan but Yunmeng Jiang’s disciples were at least as eye-catching. Nie Huaisang had envied both, in his youth, before discovering there were advantages to being dull and unnoticeable.
Pushing away those thoughts, Nie Huaisang checked that there were enough people around to protect him if Jiang Wanyin decided to attack, then put on his most innocent smile.
"Jiang zongzhu, what a pleasure to have you here!” he exclaimed as he walked closer. “To what do I owe the pleasure of…”
Jiang Wanyin, who’d been showing only his back, turned around to face Nie Huaisang. For the second time in less than a week, Nie Huaisang felt the breath knocked out of him by the same sight. There was a child in Jiang Wanyin’s arms, and not just any child.
“SongSong?" 
"Uncle Nie!" the child shouted, extending his arms and trying to jump down from Jiang Wanyin's arms so he could run to the other man. 
Jiang Wanyin held strong. 
"None of that!" he barked, making Jin Rusong flinch. "You've seen him like I promised, now you have to wait with He Cikai while I have a chat with your damn uncle Nie. And no more crying! I'll hear about it if you're not good!" 
"Don't be like that with him!" Nie Huaisang gasped with horror, watching the child be handed over to a Jiang disciple. "He's not Jin zongzhu, you can't speak like that to him, Jiang zongzhu!" he scolded, before smiling at Jin Rusong. "Just be good, SongSong. Show your uncle Jiang what a good boy you are."
With a slight pout and pleading eyes, Jin Rusong nodded. It was clear he was unhappy about the situation and he still extended his arms toward Nie Huaisang who couldn’t resist coming closer and taking those small hands in his, squeezing gently.
“I want to be with uncle Nie!” the child begged.
Nie Huaisang dropped his hands, but managed to keep smiling.
“We’ll see about that, SongSong. For now, just be good.”
Pretending not to see the cold judgement in Jiang Wanyin’s eyes, Nie Huaisang cheerfully invited him to follow him. It was almost like before, he told himself as they walked together, Nie Huaisang blabbering about the weather and stopping servants to ask for tea and biscuits to be brought to them, Jiang Wanyin silent and sullen as always.
In the room Nie Huaisang used to entertain his more eminent guests, they made themselves comfortable waiting for their tea. Jiang Wanyin remained perfectly silent where before he would have lost patience and ordered Nie Huaisang to shut up, or announced already the reason for his presence, which was starting to get unnerving. Jiang Wanyin’s calm was never good, and Nie Huaisang much preferred him angry and snapping at those around him.
"So, dare I ask what Sandu Shengshou is doing in my home with the son of Jin Guangyao?" Nie Huaisang finally asked when the servants, having brought the tea, left them alone.
Jiang Wanyin gave him a long, cold stare.
"I'm dropping him on you. Congratulations, welcome to fatherhood." 
Nie Huaisang stared at him, mouth open in shock. 
"I did not know Jiang zongzhu had a sense of humour," he noted lightly when he recovered, before frowning, dropping any pretence of good humour. "I'm the worst person to take care of Jin Rusong."
"That's obvious," Jiang Wanyin retorted with a sneer. "You are also the only person he wants to have around. He's been screaming non-stop since he woke up the other day and was told you'd left. The only way I could get him to stop wailing was to tell him I'd let him see you if he shut up." 
Nie Huaisang pinched his lips and busied himself with pouring tea so he could gather his thoughts. 
To be trusted this way by this child was… He had to remind himself that the only reason Jin Rusong was asking for him was because he must have been the only familiar face he'd seen, at least until Jiang Wanyin's arrival. And Jin Rusong had never much liked Jiang Wanyin, of course. How could he have liked the man who periodically stole his beloved cousin from him and always seemed angry at everything? 
"You should have taken him to Gusu," Nie Huaisang said, handing a cup of tea to his guest. "Lan Xichen would take him in a heartbeat." 
"Lan Xichen killed his father," Jiang Wanyin retorted, putting down the cup without taking a sip. "As you'd know. And apparently, the Lans have been pretty adamant that they don't want their sect leader involved in this mess, not again. Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren don't want him to deal with anything relating to the Jins until he's recovered."
"Idiots," Nie Huaisang grumbled, which made Jiang Wanyin huff. Coming from him it was more or less laughter. At least, Nie Huaisang had always found it nicer to take it like that. "But I guess these two never really saw how he was with him."
They really had loved that little boy, all four of them. Even Nie Mingjue, who hadn't been around him very long, had doted on him as a baby. He'd always loved kids. 
For three of them, Jin Rusong had felt like the child they'd never have. Nie Mingjue couldn't, uninterested in forming a family of his own when he'd die early. Nie Huaisang had always had a strong preference for men, and of course later there had been more urgent matters, it would have been criminal to marry and have children while scheming against Jin Guangyao. As for Lan Xichen… Who knew. Once, years ago, Nie Huaisang had thought he knew why his brother's friend wouldn't marry, but after Nie Mingjue’s death that reason should have vanished. Lan Xichen really ought to have married already.
"Jiang zongzhu, are you really going to trust me to take care of Jin Rusong, after everything?" 
"I won’t trust you, no," Jiang Wanyin said. It made Nie Huaisang smile, sincerely for one. This was why Jiang Wanyin had always been one of his favourite people to deal with. "If he stays here and anything happens to him, even if it's an accident or something out of your control, I swear I'll be here within the hour and kill you myself so Jin Ling doesn't have to." 
Nie Huaisang's smile widened, and he nodded. That was only fair. After everything that had happened, that level of suspicion was only healthy. Which didn't mean that Jiang Wanyin's threats would have stopped him if he had wanted to harm Jin Rusong, of course. There were fates worse than death, and tortures that showed no sign on the body. If Nie Huaisang had wanted to continue his revenge… 
But he didn't want that. Not anymore, at least. He'd gotten so little enjoyment out of Jin Guangyao's horrific death, he knew he would have found even less in harming an innocent. 
Revenge wasn't nearly as satisfying as people made it sound.
“What conditions are you imposing for the duration of his stay here?” Nie Huaisang asked. “I’m assuming that it’s only a temporary measure until he adapts to current circumstances,” he added. “And that the Ghost… that Wen gongzi will probably be visiting frequently to check on his state? Or am I to expect him as a long term guest as well, for safety? From what your nephew said, the operation performed on Jin Rusong was a rather invasive and delicate one so I’d understand if…”
“So you’re really dropping your act, uh?” Jiang Wanyin sharply cut him. “No more ‘One question, three I-Don’t-Know’ for you. Must have been hard to lie like that all these years.”
Nie Huaisang laughed awkwardly and looked away. He desperately wanted a fan to hide behind, but he had been planning on a quiet day of studies, he didn’t have one with him and… and Jiang Wanyin would probably not have allowed him to hide anyway.
“If I tell you it wasn’t all an act, would you believe me?” Nie Huaisang retorted. “I know what I know, I don’t know what I don’t know, it’s always been like that. I’ve rarely had to lie at all, I assure you. Sect business and politics… that never interested me much, and I’ve never bothered to learn things that don’t interest me. But Jin Rusong’s wellbeing interests me, so of course I want to know what measures are taken for his safety and his health.”
Jiang Wanyin appeared unconvinced, which was fine. Nie Huaisang was used to never being heard whether he was honest or not, so this was nothing new. If anything, it was almost comforting to find that this hadn’t changed, that he was still as unworthy of trust as before, even if the reasons were now different.
“I don’t care how you organise things with Wen Ning,” Jiang Wanyin snapped. “It’s your problem, I don’t want to waste time thinking about him if I can avoid it. But he’s got to be able to examine Jin Rusong at least twice a week until he says the child is stable, and you’ll have to establish a way to warn him in case of emergency. You’ll also have to make it clear to those brainless brutes you call disciples that even if he’s a Wen, they can’t attack him.”
“That seems reasonable,” Nie Huaisang sighed, already wondering how to set that up. A guest room for Wen Ning, strict orders for his disciples, special flares to warn the Ghost General in case he decided to wander around the Unclean Realm… it’d be quite easy, really. “Anything else?”
“Jin Ling will want to come visit his cousin. He gets to have access to the child even if he drops by unannounced, and if he decides to take Jin Rusong back to Carp Tower for any reason, he has the right to do so. Legally Jin Ling is his guardian, while I’m Jin Ling’s still, and I say he  gets to do what he wants.”
“You’ve hardly ever said anything else,” Nie Huaisang muttered, earning an affronted glare. It almost made him laugh. Did Jiang Wanyin really think nobody had realised his nephew had him wrapped around his finger? “Fine, fine. I’ll do anything you ask. I really think I’m the worst person possible to take care of SongSong, but… I’ll do my best. I know you won’t believe me when I say this, but I like that kid a lot.”
“If I didn’t know that you love that brat, I wouldn’t have brought him here,” Jiang Wanyin retorted. “No matter how much he begged for it, I wouldn’t have taken him to someone I thought might hurt him. I don’t trust you one bit, Nie zongzhu, but I remember when we thought he’d died. You and Lan Xichen probably cried more than anyone except for Qin Su and Jin Ling.”
Nie Huaisang blinked a few times, and looked away.
“You’ve got to decide what you think, Jiang zongzhu,” he complained. “Am I a threat or not?”
Jiang Wanyin shrugged, and finally took a sip of the now nearly cold tea.
“I’ll decide when you’ve decided too, Nie zongzhu. Until then, consider yourself warned.”
 He took another sip and put down the cup with a little ‘click’ noise. Nie Huaisang had told him countless times how much that specific sound irked him, so he knew it was on purpose. He used to feel it was almost a private joke between them. He didn’t know anymore.
“Why don’t you call for someone to bring in that brat?” Jiang Wanyin suggested, startling Nie Huaisang. “I want to head back home as soon as possible, I’m done with this mess.”
A little dazed by everything that was happening, Nie Huaisang obeyed and called for a servant to bring Nie Junyu and whichever disciple of Jiang Wanyin had Jin Rusong at the moment. 
It did not take very long for the two men to arrive with the child. Like before the boy reached out for Nie Huaisang but this time, with a short nod, Jiang Wanyin allowed for Jin Rusong to be passed to the man he called his uncle.
It felt wrong to be holding that child again, but mostly it felt impossibly right, especially when Jiang Wanyin announced that Jin Rusong would be living in the Unclean Realm for the foreseeable future. Jin Rusong was so overwhelmed that he started crying and Nie Huaisang, always one to tear up too easily, did the same. It had been a long while since Nie Huaisang had been the cause for anyone’s happiness. After having caused so much misery around him, seeing Jin Rusong smile and cry and cling to him this way soothed an ache that he had refused to acknowledge until then.
Next to them Jiang Wanyin huffed and puffed and grumbled against that display of emotion, but there was a softness to his expression that Nie Huaisang missed, his vision too blurred with tears.
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warriorssurvivalandstuff · 4 years ago
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Thinking about a non-bender Zuko AU that changes things up for the Fire Nation by a lot, Zuko is the one majorly altered to start a butterfly effect here but I haven’t written that much about him, actually. Full text with musings under cut.
Summary: Ozai yeets Zuko out of the palace, family, succession as he was a non-bender. Ursa manages to keep him somewhere relatively safe but they are still separated. Azula no longer has a punching bag that always distracts her mother from her and instead receives the blunt of the consequences from Ozai’s little show to usurp the throne, she is to capture the Avatar, a dangerous, time-consuming, and generally seen as impossible feat. Vehemently trained by her father and accompanied by her mother, the princess sets out on her mission. During so, she meets many faces, the Avatar, some old friends, and a mysterious figure wielding swords who seemed to defend both the Avatar’s team and her.
Major events/points:
Ozai casts Zuko out
Ursa finds somewhere to keep him safe, but cannot keep him close
Zuko is raised outside Ozai’s influence
Iroh goes to look after him after Lu Ten’s death
Zuko fully relies on his swordsmanship, trains under Piandao still with word from Iroh
Would join Aang probably due to Iroh
Azula is basically an only child
She has most of both Ursa and Ozai’s attention
Ursa is still troubled and kinda distant but is still significantly closer to Azula than canon
Ozai is always subtly distancing the two however
Azula is more learnt on compassion and empathy, but really it’s mostly just soft manipulation compared to always using fear
There would be genuine friendship with Mai and Ty Lee however I imagine
So Ozai makes his move to replace Iroh and Azulon orders to sacrifice Azula
Azula hears it and confides in Ursa, who is reminded of Zuko
Ursa confronts Ozai, simmering with all the repressed ferocity 
Ozai wouldn’t do anything permanent to Azula of course, she’s too valuable
He proposes to have Azula sent on some dangerous mission
Azulon sets the mission as hunting the Avatar, who had been missing for nearly a hundred years and is very able curbstomp a child even if found
Ozai manages to bargain for training time for Azula before the mission
Ursa all but demands to go with her
She can’t firebend iirc and Azulon is punishing Ozai so he allows it, believing she won’t make much of a difference
Ozai isn’t too happy but having Ursa to look after Azula would be favourable to her survival
He does make it clear to not try anything and makes it his task to tell Azula
Ozai and takes over Azula’s training for the period and his grooming intensifies, her time spent with Ursa is taken over by training
After some time, Azula and Ursa set off on their hunt 
Some time into the hunt, Zuko would get involved
He would probably not fit into any side initially and only show as the Blue Spirit
He is against the capture of the Avatar but will not let harm come to Ursa and Azula
Possible for Mai and Ty Lee to join her after Azulon’s death 
I do not have the motivation to get further.
First, Ozai makes good of his word and has him out. Ursa manages to keep him somewhere away, but safe, either secretly or not, Ozai would probably find out some time anyway. However I think as he sees Zuko as absolutely nothing, nothing immediate is done. He makes sure Ursa knows what he can do and uses the knowledge to threaten and blackmail her. She is kept in the palace to separate them and Zuko is raised by some old friends.
I don't know when or how non-firebenders can be determined with high certainty especially with pressure from Ozai so Zuko might fully remember or have hazy memories of his past, though clearly remembers his mother. The two scenarios would lead to rather different development for him so I won't comment too much, but I believe he would have been rather young when casted out and he would not have as much influence from Ozai as canon so act kinder from the start. At some point Iroh might get involved after losing Lu Ten, though it wouldn’t be direct, maybe through Piandao and White Lotus. Zuko would still pick up sword fighting and hone it even more without the ability to bend.
Back at the palace, Azula is now an only child. There's no competing for affections but Ursa is troubled and still distant with her daughter, not that Ozai want her too close to his prodigy child anyway. With that said, I do think Ursa would still manage to have observably more influence on Azula than canon. That or there's no one so heavily antagonised by Ozai like Zuko always being around, Ursa may fall somewhere close but canon Azula does have an attachment when really young to her mother, don't think it could be severed that easily. 
Most important part is when Ozai makes his move after Lu Ten dies, Azulon would have ordered to sacrifice Azula instead. Ozai had indeed casted his actual firstborn away but Azula excelled both mentally and physically, referred to as a true prodigy and so cannot be compared to Zuko’s case. Azula still eavesdropped and learns of the Firelord’s order, she knew no matter how much Ozai took pride in her abilities, he could not defy the Firelord. She sought comfort from Ursa and she is reminded of what happened to Zuko, then determined to protect Azula from harm. She is aware that Ozai might save his own skin over anyone, including his prodigy daughter and prepares to confront Ozai on the matter.
Ozai expected her and states that he values Azula upon her entrance, stopping the worst case scenario Ursa thought of. She skips to enquire him on any plan he has for Azulon’s order and Ozai’s reply was to have Azula in a situation the Firelord could take as as good as gone, which he suggests to be some sort of grand mission. [On the alternate options of Agni Kai and assassination, I feel Ozai would’ve gone for Agni Kai to challenge Azulon if he could, though he was bent on making Zuko’s life hell, being commanded to kill his own child and just taking it seems kinda weak. With an Agni Kai victory he might as well claim the throne as well. Assassination was suggested by Ursa in canon, which was a rather desperate option she resorted to with about only herself unwilling to let harm come to Zuko. We don’t really know if Ozai had considered that, wouldn’t put it past him to consider it before Ursa barges in with a hand. So it could be similar to canon and the two have Azulon dead, just Ozai would be the one to raise it most likely... But that’s boring and I need to have someone go after Gaang, I doubt Ozai/Iroh has any reason to chuck Zuko off to find the Avatar or that he would try to capture the Avatar himself.] Ursa contemplates the plan and their other options, then makes a condition that she would travel along Azula should the Firelord accept the proposal. Ozai tries to brush her off and talk her out but Ursa wouldn’t back down and makes points on how she would be useful. At last, Ursa is triumphant and Ozai decides that he would mould Azula before the long time that she’ll have to spend away, when Ursa is sure to sow her own beliefs on their daughter and he would not be able to tell Azula otherwise, Azulon would make sure they are to have minimal contact.
Azula would most likely hear the discussion as well, I haven’t thought up if this would cause much impact, she would probably make some suggestions to improve it if she could. Unsure if she has a strong enough opinion on Ursa coming along to talk about it.
Ozai and Ursa presents the proposal to Azulon the next day with the most convincing tone he could muster, Azula is to be sent on a mission away from the Fire Nation with the company of Ursa, with some time allowed for training prior. Lu Ten had died in battle, and there’s no reason to just throw someone skilled like Azula away for nothing, she could do to help Fire Nation’s conquest. Azulon accepts and states his conditions, he would set the goal, only a minimal crew as company, Ozai is not to communicate with her during the mission, training is to be overseen by Azulon etc. He had expected similar requirements and does not object, then Azulon drops the bomb by setting the goal as capturing the Avatar. [I don’t really know much about Azulon so I didn’t complicate things on his end. Avatar hunt is basically a wild goose chase, disappeared for about a hundred years with no hint of location and expected to be extremely dangerous, perfect for getting rid of someone.] The prince and princess had expected something along those lines, but still tensed at the impossibility of what the Firelord set. Regardless, they had got what they bargained for, and Ozai prepares Azula for ramped up training.
Azula is a quick learner and has talent, but Ozai and Azulon’s training is enough to burn even her out in just a few sessions. She is pushed to her limits, expected to master multiple forms simultaneously at quadruple normal speed for one. Ozai is already tough on Azula and does not shy away from potential non-permanent injuries, but Azulon seems like he’s straight up going to murder her at times. [Something like this: Lightning 101, after they tell her about conjuring lightning, Azulon charges up a lightning bolt and just fires at her general direction without warning, then Ozai interrupts it with a bolt of his own. Azula is then expected to know to counter it at the next blast.] Training also shortened the time she was to spend with Ursa beforehand, which he fully took advantage of, emphasising strength and power. When Ursa did not seem increasingly impressed by her quickly widened set of moves, Ozai would tell her to ignore her mother, not to seek from her and continue training with him. [Ursa does praise her, but kinda repetitive in wording... and she isn’t familiar with bending forms to notice new things. I can’t describe it clearly but to Azula, it seemed like she was saying for the sake of it, and more words just made it feel smothering.] Azula soon gains her signature blue flames and lightningbending, but also grew apart from her mother and closer to Ozai. 
Training allowance passed, Azula with Ursa is sent away on her hunt. I have not thought about basically anything that would transpire with her hunting Aang in place of Zuko and with Ursa instead of Iroh to temper her dedication to the throwaway quest. Ursa doesn’t consider the possibility of actually finding the Avatar and awaits for Azulon’s day but Azula does ponder it and genuinely looks for information. [Ursa would have picked up some extra skills to help with the hunt, mostly for defence, on top of herbalist knowledge. It would be funny if they come upon Aang right when Azulon dies. Ozai sends them the note that they can return and he instead gets their report of having found the Avatar. Though for storytelling, it might be better that he does so after the events of season 1. Unsure if Iroh would ascend to the throne in Ozai’s place in canon, he would probably stop the war then and there, and Ozai might challenge him and take the throne anyway.] No particular points of interest come to mind as this gets to the start of the show. Azula would no doubt be more effective and ruthless, and the Zhao rivalry that happened with Zuko would not happen, but something else.
Back to Zuko, he would first make appearance as the Blue Spirit [not definitely the same chronological events] then be revealed to Ursa later down the line. He would start on the Avatar’s side but be held back once he recognises Ursa. Afterwards he would probably harbour some resentment for his situation and confront her one day. Ursa tells him the whole story with an apology and Zuko tries to convince her to drop the Avatar mission. Ursa thinks it’s unlikely for Azula to change her mind but does what she can.
No clue what happens next.
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duker42 · 5 years ago
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Hey, I love your blog and I want to make a request. Maybe Levi and the reader meet at a masquerade ball and then they dance and stay together at night not knowing each other's identities and the next day they meet and repeat something they said at the prom and end up recognizing each other.( sorry i hope you understand english is not my first language)
💜Masquerade Ball💜
No one knew who anyone was. It was pretty freeing for Levi, the responsibility of being Humanity’s Strongest Soldier non-existent. He was free to be a man behind a mask, under no obligation to talk to anyone if he didn’t want.
He had still been ordered to attend. Sometimes he believed that Erwin enjoyed tormenting him with social functions. He would be here, but that didn’t mean that he had to talk to anyone.
He enjoyed his corner of the room. Able to watch the crowd as they all made fools of themselves. He would stay here until there he could leave without offending anyone. Not that he cared, but he knew that Erwin bitch at him, so he would sit here like a good boy for now.
Levi had noticed a shorter woman with brown hair curled up into an elaborate style. Her dress was cut conservatively for nobility but still beautifully accentuated her figure. The intricate black mask covered her face but brought attention to the startling green eyes that peeked out from under it.
He noticed her because she had moved over to the same corner, her lips pulled down into a scowl as she surveyed the room with a measure of distaste. When her gaze ran the length of the room and came to rest on him just a few feet away she scoffed and nodded towards the revelers. “Disgusting, isn’t it?” Her voice was dripping with disgust.
Levi arched a eyebrow at her disdain for the affair. “Not the champagne you wanted?” He quipped.
“Hardly. This entire event reeks of wealth and opulence and we scrape the bottom of the barrel and beg for handouts.” The girl said as she surveyed the wealth of the room. “Makes me want to become a thief.”
Levi caught himself before he started laughing. Then he thought better of it. Here he wasn’t the fearsome, serious Captain. His resulting chuckle sounded raw, rough from not being used.
“And how would you go about it, Madam Thief?” He asked, curious to see if she would come up with something clever.
“Ask me to dance so another pig doesn’t view me as their next meal and I will.” She demanded.
Levi said nothing as he walked the few steps over to the intriguing girl and held out his hand. His grey orbs asked her from behind his own mask and she took his hand with her gloved one.
They made their way to the dance floor and Levi began to lead her through the song. “Well? How would you do it?” He asked again.
She fit easily in his arms, gliding through the steps gracefully. Years of ODM work had made Levi light on his feet, giving him an advantage when he was forced to learn how to dance in high society. The mystery girl moved a bit more clumsily, not from lack of skill but from inexperience with this particular dance.
“The men would be easy. Flutter my eyes at them, titter at their lame jokes before damning they dance with me. When they try to pull me closer, I would let them, giving me access to their breast pocket were most keep their money purse.” She said as she looked at him, her eyes flashing with mischief.
Levi pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Could work. What about the women?”
“The biddies are more difficult, but spilling some wine on their horrible expanse of flesh they have exposed would work. They must take off the jewels to clean themselves off and many would put it in their clutch. Simple pilfer the trinkets then.”
Levi laughed again at her description of the matrons of the upper class. Biddies was right. “You must have been a thief in a past life.”
He continued to twirl her around the floor as they discussed the various ways to commit crimes against the elite in the room.
~~~~~
They danced for a bit longer and then left the dance floor together. The more time he spent with the captivating lady, the more that he wanted to talk to her. It was something rare for him, wanting to engage in a conversation and learn about someone for the simple sake of learning.
They stood offered champagne flutes as the waiters passed by and largely ignored everyone else in the ballroom as they continued their witty back and forth banter.
The time passed faster than he had thought possible. Soon enough the party was ending and he was having to leave her. Neither one had told the other their names, opting to keep the magic of the night pure.
On the carriage ride back to HQ, Levi thought about the kiss he had placed on her gloved hand. It was the first time the custom had been more than annoying formality to him. No it had been a statement of yearning on his part.
~~~~~
His mind was on the ball as he went about his day. The brats were being efficient for once, cleaning without to much of a grumble. He was only having to order a few soldiers to redo their assigned word.
He went to check on Y/N. He had assigned her to clean the dusty storage attics of the castle. She was the one that never minded being sent up there to work among the relics of the Scouts that had died.
He footsteps were light as he made his way up the stairs, reminding him of the dances he had shared with the girl behind the mask.
Levi reached the top of the stairs to find Y/N looking at some of the items in the boxes that had been packed away. Any of the items were available for taking, not that the officers had made that public knowledge. There was a mourning period they observed before letting the vultures pick over the belongings of the dead.
She had picked up a beautiful hand mirror that must have belonged to one of the female scouts. She studied her reflection in the mirror before turning it over in her hand to run her fingers over the delicate scroll work that had been etched onto the back.
“Makes me want to become a thief.” Y/N murmured as she set the mirror gently back in it’s crate and reattach the lid.
Levi’s stomach twisted in excitement. Was it really that simple?
“And how would you go about it, Madam Thief?” He asked, stepping closer to the turned back of his solider.
She paused and turned towards her Captain. She should have recognized those grey eyes behind his mask, but his laughter had made her believe that she was crazy for believing it to be him.
“Ask me to dance so another pig doesn’t view me as their next meal and I will.” She replied, a shy smile on her face.
Levi watched the happiness dance in her green eyes, know that she had felt the same connection he had last night.
He stepped closer to her and contemplated the next step for him to take. It was a bit different when they were unmasked and not at the masquerade ball.
Mobile MasterList
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girlowl11 · 4 years ago
Text
Laser Treatments Ukteeth Whitening Rates" Laser Therapies Uk.
Content
Your Local Nhs Dentist.
Teeth Whitening After Dental Braces
After Treatment
Who May Gain From Tooth Whitening?
Teeth Whitening Kits Teeth Whitener Kits Dental Gel Laser Light Mouth Trays.
Supplying Teeth Whitening In Uppingham
Our client feedback and also our study demonstrate how reliable teeth whitening can be. Many thanks to the Laser progressed power teeth whitening system we can assist you attain as much as 8 tones whiter in simply one hour consultation. Get in touch with us today to claim your half price teeth whitening offer with a no-obligation conversation. We have actually been voted Finest Value Teeth Whitening as well as our dentists are very experienced in this field. For larger restorative cases we usually consist of marked down and even complimentary teeth whitening as an added advantage. The teeth whitening gel is comprised in either methods-- Hydrogen Peroxide or Carbamide Peroxide in varying levels of concentration. To obtain the comparable value of Hydrogen Peroxide, one have to divide the Carbamide Peroxide concentration by about an aspect of 3.
Additionally, unlike some teeth whitening services, we use a mobile aspirator throughout therapy for an extra comfortable, hygienic patient experience and also improved results. Laser teeth whitening outcomes differ from person to person, however our teeth whitening system can lighten teeth usually up to 14 shades. Extensive research reveals laser whitening to be a secure approach of enhancing your smile. We offer a risk-free non peroxide whitening system which gives you with a white smile without the pain of level of sensitivity and also having to wait weeks for the outcomes. They might be able to give some different whitening gel which may work better for your teeth. " The 'Chelsea smile' describes a trend for teeth whitening made popular by this area in West London and also those that live there. This is a a lot more all-natural colour for the teeth that is still white yet maintains the character of the teeth as well as goes with the chic picture of numerous Chelsea girls/guys.
Tumblr media
Teeth whitening can be a really efficient way of lightening the all-natural colour of your teeth without removing any of the tooth surface area. Your Teeth Whitening will start of with a short consultation discovering our more concerning your way of life including if you Smoke or not and likewise if you have had teeth whitening done prior to.
Laser Bright Teeth Whitening is the option to all your teeth whitening problems. At Laser Bright teeth whitening, we offer the best Laser Teeth Whitening solutions at the most budget-friendly costs for our consumers in Manchester. We assure you would order everybody's interest when you get the Laser Teeth Whitening services done by us. It's that just certified as well as signed up dental practitioners will be treating your smile. Our oral experts can recover your teeth to their vibrant color using the advanced Beyond Polus best innovation. The whitening procedure takes about 1 hour, as well as, depending on the customer's diet plan as well as whether or not they smoke, will certainly last between 9 and 18 months. Treatment normally costs ₤ 215, although price cuts are offered for on the internet reservation and also for teams, consisting of wedding event plans.
Your Regional Nhs Dental Practitioner.
Do Any At-Home Teeth-Whitening Products Actually Work? A Dentist Weighs In. - InsideHook
Do Any At-Home Teeth-Whitening Products Actually Work? A Dentist Weighs In..
Posted: Mon, 30 Nov 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Naturawhite produces remarkable teeth whitening results for anyone who intends to whiten his or her teeth. This includes people with teeth that has actually been tarnished by smoking cigarettes or substances such as coffee or tea. It likewise whitens teeth tarnished by tetracycline, speckled by fluoride, or genetic discolouration. Pregnant or breast feeding women or customers under 16 years old must not obtain the Naturawhite treatment. At EGO Oral method, our professionals are hugely seasoned and also conduct all laser treatments based on the most recent clinical methods and also criteria. If you want to figure out a lot more, please do not hesitate to discuss it with our laser professionals and also they will certainly clarify everything to you thoroughly.
Teeth Whitening After Dental Braces
How do celebrities get their teeth so white?
Porcelain Veneers These are very popular amongst celebrities because of their incredible results. Veneers are thin, strong shells that are custom-made from dental porcelain to cover the front surface of your teeth. Your dentist will choose the perfect shade for your smile and it will stay that way for years to come.
To learn even more visit the Brite Dental tooth whitening page, to discover your closest clinic click hereor e-mail. It is flawlessly secure to book anytime after around 2 weeks for a top up. After obtaining outcomes after one therapy you can go a couple of shades whiter after only 2 weeks. Outcomes typically improve although excellent results are achieved after one session.
Ultraviolet LED Technology Market Development History, Current Analysis and Estimated Forecast to 2026 | Crystal, Nichia Corp, Phoseon Technology, SemiLEDs - Factory Gate
Ultraviolet LED Technology Market Development History, Current Analysis and Estimated Forecast to 2026 | Crystal, Nichia Corp, Phoseon Technology, SemiLEDs.
Posted: Mon, 04 Jan 2021 07:45:00 GMT [source]
If you are desiring for a whiter smile, we at Freeman & Rosser Dental & Implant Center in Carmarthen can make it a reality. House whitening packages are very suggested by dental professionals as well as are a simple and also credible technique of securely whitening teeth. To keep this prominent therapy as affordable as possible, we now have a few of one of the most competitive teeth whitening costs in Stockport. To assist you pick the appropriate teeth whitening procedure for you, we have more details listed below. Our dentists concentrate on getting precisely the right shade to match you and on decreasing discoloration caused by beverages or smoking.
We now supplying a FREE Assessment-- Book you consultation today. Our center has expert Dental laser experts who are experienced in their areas and carry out laser therapies based on approved clinical practices and also criteria. In our system hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide is made use of to add more oxygen to the tooth enamel. This lightens the tooth colour as well as your teeth will be whiter consequently. In addition, you can use Dr Richard's tooth whitening paste to keep your smile intense. With time, teeth are stained by food, beverage and various other sources, creating the natural intense, white tooth shade as well as enamel to end up being darkened.
Good Housekeeping Editors' Favorite Products of 2020 - GH's Top Picks of 2020 - GoodHousekeeping.com
Good Housekeeping Editors' Favorite Products of 2020 - GH's Top Picks of 2020.
Posted: Tue, 29 Dec 2020 23:31:00 GMT [source]
After Care
light produces minimal warm which is the typical source of discomfort. On rare occasions, minor prickling feelings are skilled instantly after the procedure, however constantly dissipate. This will get rid of the debris and accumulated plaque and also to make the treatment 100% effective. During any kind of lockdown duration, the center will certainly continue to be open to remain to deliver your oral treatment.
That May Benefit From Tooth Whitening?
There's nothing rather like a brighter, whiter smile to assist you feel and look excellent.
If you are concerned regarding yellow teeth or brown discolorations on your teeth, then tooth whitening might be the ideal solution to bring back a gorgeous white smile.
At Shine Dental Treatment in Mansfield, we can help you like your smile and also boost your confidence with our innovative teeth-whitening treatments.
It will certainly not harm crowns, white dental fillings or false teeth, but these may call for to be changed as soon as tooth whitening is full to boost the colour match.
Teeth whitening is a wonderful method to provide a younger aim to your appearance.
Teeth whitening is an easy solution that can promptly improve the colour of your teeth and enhance your confidence.
As we age, our teeth naturally discolour as an outcome of what we eat and drink, along with just how we take care of our dental health and wellness.
Teeth Whitening Kits Teeth Whitener Packages Dental Gel Laser Light Mouth Trays.
Maturing plays its part too, as can dental problems, such as origin canal infections or fluorosis. Recommend a buddy and gain a ₤ 20 coupon in the direction of your following teeth whitening top-up or aftercare package; or give it to a friend! Assured to make them grin; they'll absolutely appreciate a present that makes a genuine distinction to them.
Giving Teeth Whitening In Uppingham
How long does it take to whiten teeth at dentist?
The most dramatic results -- teeth generally get three to eight shades brighter -- usually take several 30- to 60-minute in-office visits. Some dentists use techniques that can be done in a single 2-hour appointment (e.g. the Zoom system). The cost of in-office tooth whitening varies, but can range from $500 to $1,000.
I have not had any one of these therapies personally, so can not provide an evaluation however, go inspect them out online for a full listing of thir serivces. A few years ago I was obsessed with whitening my teeth, to the factor of obtaining them brilliant-white and even taking place a couple of holidays to get a tan, as having a tan makes your teeth look whiter. Next off came the stage of the baristas, where I was consuming coffee a minimum of 4 or 5 cups a day, so my teeth progressively went from brilliant-white to a stained shade of yellow over this 3 year period. Laser whitened teeth average up to 14 shades whiter than prior to laser therapy. For teeth whitening middle-barton @ ultimawhite.co.uk , and also for risk-free teeth whitening that functions, get in touch with Notting Hill Dental Clinic on today.
A cheek retractor is placed into the mouth to keep it open during the procedure. You'll also use protective glasses to safeguard your eyes from the laser. Our caring as well as extremely qualified professional group will chat you with the teeth whitening options available.
youtube
Dr Marques likewise clarified it will depend upon whether you smoke as well as advised me to consume milky tea and coffee in addition to avoid red wine, carbonated beverages and also refined sugar. He additionally described that a top quality electrical toothbrush, like a Philips Sonicare or Oral B version, will make a difference. Cosmetic teeth whitening has actually been featured on smile remodeling TV shows such as Extreme Transformation. Teeth whitening gel is after that put right into the tailor-maked tray and also worn either over night or for a couple of hrs throughout the evening. Some people have reported their teeth appearing whiter in just 30 minutes when making use of Pola Day, however, for the brightest results, it is recommended to make use of Pola Night overnight when sleeping. If you're considering a whiter smile, get in touch with Freeman & Rosser Dental & Implant Center on today to book a consultation.
Laser whitening requires you to also purchase an in the house package, which allows you bleach your teeth when it's most convenient for you. Just wear your trays for either one to 2 hrs a day or overnight, relying on the formula your dental expert advises. You can secure your new teeth whiteness by drinking with a straw to decrease the effect of discoloration from drinks. Make certain to see your dentist for routine appointments and also cleaning, and you can additionally make use of a whitening tooth paste to aid whiten and also safeguard teeth. The dentist will certainly then use a lightening gel to the front of your teeth. According to Bupa, the gel typically consists of either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, which launches oxygen onto the surface of your teeth and bleaches them. a company that offers will certainly line your lips with a protective SPF lotion which contains moisturisers.
Although they do not influence the natural colour of the tooth, they work at getting rid of staining and also consequently boosting the total appearance of the tooth. Whitening toothpaste may additionally aid to keep up the look, when teeth have been expertly bleached.
This advanced treatment can lighten teeth by approximately eleven shades with the use of a lightening gel and special light. Your dentist will take impressions of your teeth in order to custom-make a mouth piece. You will certainly wear the mouthpiece - loaded with whitening gel - at home for a number of hrs every day. Dr Marques explained to me that this additionally differs from one person to another and relies on exactly how white you desire your teeth to be. I still wanted mine to look natural so I do not mind way too much that the outcomes will discolor over time but ought to last for a couple of years.
youtube
Both strategies use our comfy personalized lab made whitening trays to aid keep the whitening gel in close contact with the teeth and not leakage out as well as irritate the gum tissues. The gels that we use also have the creative addition of an anti-sensitivity component which assists prevent the incident of level of sensitivity. The last decade has seen a huge rise in non-professional teeth whitening being provided in high street beauty parlor and medspas, as well as whitening tools you can acquire online. Lasers speed up the peroxide gel made use of to whiten teeth, activating it with a gentle warm that reduces the treatment time for the client. Laser whitening is backed by research studies that have revealed it is secure and also efficient for your teeth and also gums. And because our dental professionals suggests it, you can be certain that your results will correspond and also risk-free on any kind of dental fillings or remediations you could have.
1 note · View note
wormvase8 · 4 years ago
Text
Teeth Whitening Faringdon
Content
Your Neighborhood Nhs Dental Expert.
Teeth Whitening After Dental Braces
After Care
Who May Take Advantage Of Tooth Whitening?
Supplying Teeth Whitening In Uppingham
Our client feedback as well as our case studies demonstrate how effective teeth whitening can be. Many thanks to the Laser progressed power teeth whitening system we can assist you achieve as much as 8 tones whiter in just one hour visit. Contact us today to declare your fifty percent rate teeth whitening deal with a no-obligation conversation. We have been voted Finest Worth Teeth Whitening and our dentists are very experienced in this field. For bigger corrective situations we typically consist of marked down or perhaps free of charge teeth whitening as an added advantage. The teeth whitening gel is comprised in a couple of methods-- Hydrogen Peroxide or Carbamide Peroxide in differing degrees of focus. To obtain the equivalent value of Hydrogen Peroxide, one need to separate the Carbamide Peroxide concentration by regarding a factor of 3.
Can yellow teeth become white?
The good news is that it's possible to go from yellow to white teeth and, depending on the method you choose, it can be done quickly or gradually.
Additionally, unlike some teeth whitening solutions, we make use of a mobile aspirator throughout treatment for an extra comfy, sanitary person experience and also boosted results. Laser teeth whitening outcomes differ from one person to another, but our teeth whitening system can lighten teeth typically up to 14 shades. Extensive research shows laser whitening to be a risk-free technique of improving your smile. We provide a safe non peroxide whitening system which supplies you with a white smile without the pain of sensitivity and also having to wait weeks for the results. They may have the ability to supply some different whitening gel which might function better for your teeth. " The 'Chelsea smile' describes a trend for teeth whitening made preferred by this area in West London and also those who live there. This is a much more natural colour for the teeth that is still white however maintains the personality of the teeth and opts for the chic photo of numerous Chelsea girls/guys.
Tumblr media
Teeth whitening can be an extremely reliable means of lightening the all-natural colour of your teeth without removing any one of the tooth surface. Your Teeth Whitening will begin of with a brief examination finding our even more about your way of living including if you Smoke or not and also if you have actually had teeth whitening done prior to.
Laser Bright Teeth Whitening is the service to all your teeth whitening troubles. At Laser Bright teeth whitening, we offer the finest quality Laser Teeth Whitening services at the most affordable costs for our customers in Manchester. We assure you would grab everybody's focus as soon as you get the Laser Teeth Whitening services done by us. It's that only certified and signed up dental professionals will certainly be treating your smile. Our dental professionals can restore your teeth to their vibrant color making use of the cutting edge Beyond Polus ultimate technology. The whitening process takes about 1 hr, as well as, relying on the customer's diet plan and also whether they smoke, will certainly last in between 9 as well as 18 months. Treatment generally costs ₤ 215, although discount rates are offered for online booking as well as for groups, consisting of wedding celebration bundles.
Your Local Nhs Dental Practitioner.
Do Any At-Home Teeth-Whitening Products Actually Work? A Dentist Weighs In. - InsideHook
Do Any At-Home Teeth-Whitening Products Actually Work? A Dentist Weighs In..
Posted: Mon, 30 Nov 2020 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Naturawhite creates dramatic teeth whitening results for any person who intends to lighten his/her teeth. This includes people with teeth that has been tarnished by smoking or materials such as coffee or tea. It additionally whitens teeth stained by tetracycline, polychromatic by fluoride, or hereditary discolouration. Expectant or lactating ladies or clients under 16 years of age ought to not obtain the Naturawhite therapy. At VANITY Dental method, our experts are extremely skilled and also perform all laser treatments based on the latest scientific techniques and also criteria. If you wish to find out a lot more, please feel free to discuss it with our laser professionals and they will explain whatever to you in detail.
Teeth Whitening After Braces
How do celebrities get their teeth so white?
Porcelain Veneers These are very popular amongst celebrities because of their incredible results. Veneers are thin, strong shells that are custom-made from dental porcelain to cover the front surface of your teeth. Your dentist will choose the perfect shade for your smile and it will stay that way for years to come.
To figure out even more browse through the Brite Dental tooth whitening page, to find your local clinic click hereor e-mail. https://powerwhitening.co.uk/surrey/ is flawlessly secure to publication anytime after around 2 weeks for a top up. After gaining outcomes after one treatment you can go a few shades whiter after only 2 weeks. Outcomes typically improve despite the fact that wonderful outcomes are achieved after one session.
Ultraviolet LED Technology Market Development History, Current Analysis and Estimated Forecast to 2026 | Crystal, Nichia Corp, Phoseon Technology, SemiLEDs - Factory Gate
Ultraviolet LED Technology Market Development History, Current Analysis and Estimated Forecast to 2026 | Crystal, Nichia Corp, Phoseon Technology, SemiLEDs.
Posted: Mon, 04 Jan 2021 07:45:00 GMT [source]
If you are desiring for a whiter smile, we at Freeman & Rosser Dental & Implant Center in Carmarthen can make it a fact. House whitening packages are extremely recommended by dental experts and are an easy as well as credible approach of safely whitening teeth. To keep this preferred treatment as budget-friendly as possible, we currently have a few of the most competitive teeth whitening prices in Stockport. To aid you choose the appropriate teeth whitening process for you, we have even more details below. Our dental experts focus on obtaining specifically the ideal color to suit you and on minimizing discoloration triggered by drinks or smoking.
We currently providing a FREE Assessment-- Schedule you visit today. Our facility has specialist Oral laser specialists who are experienced in their areas as well as perform laser therapies in accordance with accepted professional practices and also requirements. In our system hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide is made use of to include even more oxygen to the tooth enamel. This lightens the tooth colour and your teeth will certainly be whiter as a result. On top of that, you can use Dr Richard's tooth whitening paste to maintain your smile brilliant. In time, teeth are tarnished by food, beverage as well as various other resources, triggering the natural brilliant, white tooth color as well as enamel to become dark.
Good Housekeeping Editors' Favorite Products of 2020 - GH's Top Picks of 2020 - GoodHousekeeping.com
Good Housekeeping Editors' Favorite Products of 2020 - GH's Top Picks of 2020.
Posted: Tue, 29 Dec 2020 23:31:00 GMT [source]
After Care
light produces minimal warmth which is the common resource of discomfort. On uncommon events, minor prickling feelings are seasoned quickly after the treatment, but constantly dissipate. This will certainly get rid of the debris as well as collected plaque and also to make the therapy 100% effective. During any lockdown period, the clinic will certainly stay open up to continue to provide your dental treatment.
Who May Gain From Tooth Whitening?
We provide appointments so we can analyze your teeth and supply you one of the most appropriate and effective teeth whitening treatments for you.
There's nothing fairly like a brighter, whiter smile to aid you look good.
If you are concerned concerning yellow teeth or brown spots on your teeth, then tooth whitening might be the excellent remedy to revive a stunning white smile.
At Shine Dental Care in Mansfield, we can aid you like your smile and also enhance your self-confidence with our sophisticated teeth-whitening therapies.
Done by knowledgeable oral specialists, our treatments are long lasting, safe, reliable as well as designed to fit your individual requirements.
It will certainly not hurt crowns, white fillings or false teeth, however these may require to be changed when tooth whitening is full to boost the colour match.
Teeth whitening is a wonderful means to give a vibrant want to your look.
If you are dreaming of a whiter smile, we at Pedestrian & Associates Dental & Implant Clinic can make it a reality.
As we age, our teeth normally discolour as an outcome of what we drink and eat, along with just how we take care of our dental health and wellness.
Teeth Whitening Sets Teeth Whitener Packages Oral Gel Laser Light Mouth Trays.
Maturing plays its part as well, as can oral issues, such as origin canal infections or fluorosis. Advise a buddy as well as make a ₤ 20 voucher towards your next teeth whitening top-up or aftercare kit; or give it to a buddy! Ensured to make them grin; they'll really appreciate a present that makes a genuine distinction to them.
How long does it take to whiten teeth at dentist?
The most dramatic results -- teeth generally get three to eight shades brighter -- usually take several 30- to 60-minute in-office visits. Some dentists use techniques that can be done in a single 2-hour appointment (e.g. the Zoom system). The cost of in-office tooth whitening varies, but can range from $500 to $1,000.
I haven't had any one of these therapies directly, so can not offer an evaluation however, go check them out online for a complete checklist of thir serivces. A few years ago I was stressed with whitening my teeth, to the factor of obtaining them brilliant-white and also going on a few vacations to obtain a tan, as having a tan makes your teeth look whiter. Next came the stage of the baristas, where I was consuming coffee a minimum of 4 or 5 mugs a day, so my teeth progressively went from brilliant-white to a stained color of yellow over this 3 year period. Laser lightened teeth balance as much as 14 shades whiter than before laser therapy. For friendly service, as well as for secure teeth whitening that works, contact Notting Hillside Dental Facility on today.
A cheek retractor is placed right into the mouth to keep it open throughout the procedure. You'll additionally put on safety eyeglasses to shield your eyes from the laser. Our caring and very qualified medical group will talk you through the teeth whitening options offered.
youtube
Dr Marques additionally clarified it will depend upon whether you smoke and recommended me to drink milklike tea and coffee along with avoid red wine, fizzy drinks and refined sugar. He likewise explained that a high-grade electric toothbrush, like a Philips Sonicare or Dental B version, will certainly make a difference. Aesthetic teeth whitening has been featured on smile remodeling TV programs such as Extreme Remodeling. Teeth whitening gel is after that placed right into the customised tray and also used either overnight or for a few hrs during the evening. Some clients have actually reported their teeth showing up whiter in as low as thirty minutes when making use of Pola Day, but also for the brightest results, it is suggested to utilize Pola Night overnight when sleeping. If you're taking into consideration a whiter smile, contact Freeman & Rosser Dental & Implant Center on today to reserve an examination.
Laser whitening needs you to likewise purchase an in your home package, which lets you whiten your teeth when it's most hassle-free for you. Just wear your trays for either one to two hrs a day or overnight, depending on the formula your dental expert suggests. You can safeguard your brand-new teeth brightness by consuming alcohol with a straw to reduce the result of discoloration from drinks. Make sure to see your dentist for regular checkups as well as cleansing, and also you can also make use of a whitening tooth paste to assist whiten and secure teeth. The dental practitioner will certainly then use a whitening gel to the front of your teeth. According to Bupa, the gel generally has either hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, which releases oxygen onto the surface of your teeth and lightens them. The dental expert will line your lips with a safety SPF cream that contains moisturisers.
Although they do not affect the natural colour of the tooth, they are effective at eliminating staining and also for that reason boosting the overall appearance of the tooth. Whitening tooth paste may additionally aid to keep up the look, when teeth have actually been skillfully lightened.
This advanced therapy can lighten teeth by as much as eleven tones with using a bleaching gel and unique light. learn about a laser teeth whitening berkshire will certainly take impacts of your teeth in order to custom-make a mouth piece. You will use the mouthpiece - loaded with whitening gel - at home for numerous hrs every day. Dr Marques discussed to me that this additionally differs from one person to another and relies on just how white you desire your teeth to be. I still wanted mine to look natural so I do not mind excessive that the outcomes will certainly fade with time however must last for a couple of years.
youtube
Both methods use our comfortable personalized laboratory made whitening trays to aid keep the whitening gel in close call with the teeth and also not leak out and also aggravate the gum tissues. The gels that we use likewise have the creative addition of an anti-sensitivity element which assists stop the occurrence of level of sensitivity. The last decade has seen a large increase in non-professional teeth whitening being used in high street beauty parlor and health clubs, as well as whitening gadgets you can acquire online. Lasers increase the peroxide gel made use of to bleach teeth, activating it with a mild heat that decreases the treatment time for the client. Laser whitening is backed by researches that have actually revealed it is safe and also reliable for your teeth as well as periodontals. As well as because our dental experts suggests it, you can be sure that your results will be consistent as well as risk-free on any type of dental fillings or remediations you might have.
1 note · View note
aion-rsa · 4 years ago
Text
Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters
https://ift.tt/3oTakdX
Warning: contains Brooklyn Nine-Nine spoilers.
Brooklyn Nine Nine is one of the funniest sitcoms around thanks to its fantastic ensemble cast and just-broad-enough humour blended with almost-realistic cop show elements. But that great regular cast are supported by an equally brilliant array of recurring characters and guest stars. In this list, we’re celebrating the funniest of the show’s less often-seen characters, those guest appearances who’ve turned up once or twice to inject a fresh burst of comic energy into the show.
Note that we’re not counting regular recurring characters like Adrian Pimento, Madeline Wuntch, or Kevin Cozner, aka Mr Raymond Holt. If they turn up more than once a year, or in more than three episodes in one season, they’re off the list.
12. Adam Sandler, played by himself in Operation: Broken Feather, Season 1, Episode 15
Adam Sandler’s appearance as himself in Season One is beautifully self-deprecating as well as funny. His deadpan delivery of “I’m a serious person” is hilarious in just the right way – of course the real Sandler is, presumably, as serious and as complex as anyone else, but he knows his own public persona and just how to play on it in the right way to raise a different kind of laugh. The interest in antiquities, the planned film about the Russian Revolution, it’s all funny – and somewhat undercut, even more amusingly, by his taunting of Jake straight afterwards. The whole scene did help to flush out a criminal though, so it wasn’t a total loss for Jake.
Funniest moment: Admitting his “serious” Russian Revolution film features Kevin James as Trotsky, and a wife who doesn’t wear a bra through the whole film.
11. Geoffrey Hoytsman, played by Chris Parnell in two episodes in Season 2
When Jake’s lawyer girlfriend Sophia uses her boss as a transparent excuse to break up with him (by going on ‘pause’), Jake wilfully misunderstands and decides that the boss is the key problem, so he sets off to make the man like him. It all goes horribly wrong when Jake finds Hoytsman snorting cocaine in the bathroom, which Hoytsman claims he was doing accidentally while screaming loudly that Jake is arresting him to the whole room of lawyers. Sophia somehow still ends up blaming Jake – probably because she simply wanted to break up with him in the first place – and Hoytsman ends up returning to take Jake hostage and quite seriously threaten his life later in the season. Parnell’s over-the-top performance as a character who is, of course, high for much of the time, is what really sells the character.
Funniest moment: Sniffing cocaine off his collar in the middle of the police precinct.
10. Jessica Day, played by Zooey Deschanel in The Night Shift, Season 4, Episode 4
Back in 2016, both New Girl and Brooklyn Nine Nine were active Fox sitcoms, so the network decided to do a crossover event in which the New Girl characters travelled to New York City and ran into the 99. Most of the crossover scenes actually ended up in the New Girl episode, but Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess Day did make a brief appearance in the otherwise stand-alone Brooklyn Nine Nine half of the crossover. While the New Girl episode provided a lot more context for Jess’s feelings about New York and her stress level surrounding Schmidt’s mom’s car and the soup she’s carrying, her appearance as an apparently slightly nutty woman who resists Jake’s attempts to commandeer the car is an entertaining interlude during the half hour.  
Funniest moment: Insisting that Jake’s oath to serve and protect applies to her soup.
9. Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown in The Box, Season 5, Episode 14
If this were a list of the show’s ‘best’ guest characters, rather than ‘funniest’, the top ranked would surely be Philip Davidson, played by Sterling K. Brown. ‘The Box’ is a tight, taught bottle episode that takes full advantage of Brooklyn Nine Nine’s hybrid status as both sitcom and cop show, and Brown’s Davidson forms a strong third of a triangle in this three-header with Holt and Peralta. It’s a really strong performance, but given that he’s playing a tough-to-crack murder suspect, not really the funniest, exactly. Still, he gets a good few laughs when appropriate over the course of a really engaging half hour of comedy/cop show crossover.
Funniest moment: When Davidson finally cracks, he cracks hard – his confession is equal parts triumphant, cathartic, and hilarious.
8. Karen Haas, played by Maya Rudolph in Coral Palms Parts 1&2, Season 4, Episodes 1&2
Maya Rudolph has a good line going in slightly weary authority figures (see also: The Good Place). Handling Holt and Peralta while they’re in witness protection is not an easy job and her exasperation at Jake’s refusal to accept his situation is well played. Haas is really funny, though, when she starts bringing her own issues into her official duties, clearly trying to get permission to cheat on her husband from someone, anyone – and Holt is happy to oblige.
Funniest moment: Whoever it is she wants to sleep with is “really young” – something that clearly shouldn’t be funny, but the face Rudolph pulls as she says it is what sells it.
7. Lin-Manuel Miranda as David Santiago in The Golden Child, Season 6, Episode 9
Miranda is marvellously smarmy as Amy’s too-perfect brother, her demanding parents’ favourite, who snubs popular culture and shows off by saving people’s lives (including Amy’s own husband). Amy’s delighted reaction when he’s arrested for cocaine possession and deep disappointment when he turns out to be innocent are highlights, but the funniest scene by far is the dance-off between David and Amy, in which both comprehensively demonstrate that dancing is not among the Santiago family’s many strengths.
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Funniest moment: David thinks elbows should form a bigger part of a dance routine than they really should.
6. Frederick, played by Nick Offerman in Ava, Season 3, Episode 8
Any time we meet Captain Holt’s friends and family, many of whom share his stoic, Vulcan-like demeanour, it’s always hilarious. JK Simmons as his old friend Dillman very nearly made the list, but he was just pipped to the post by Ron Swanson – sorry, Nick Offerman – as Holt’s ex-boyfriend. There’s a lot of crossover between Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine Nine among the cast and crew and Offerman isn’t even the only Parks & Rec alumnus to appear on this list, but he’s probably the one whose appearance most quickly calls to mind his earlier character. The idea that Holt’s ex-boyfriend is Ron F-ing Swanson is just genius. OK, Frederick lacks Swanson’s magnificent moustache (though he has a glorious beard) and he’s even more brusque and stand-off-ish, but he’s a perfect match for Holt, even more in their post-break-up mutual antagonism than we imagine they were in their relationship.
Funniest moment: His straight-faced insistence at the door that they have a “wooden-duck situation”.
5. Mark Devereaux, played by Nathan Fillion in Serve & Protect, Season 4, Episode 14
It’s always funny any time police characters in a cop show visit the set of a TV cop show, and for added meta humour, in this case the actor playing the fictional detective is played by an actor who works on a cop show (albeit as a non-cop character). Phew! That’s a lot of layers of meta. Nathan Fillion’s pompous star who apparently thinks playing a detective makes him a detective is very funny, and it gets better when it turns out that was a ruse to cover up his own petty criminal activity before he folds like wet paper. It’s just a shame we didn’t get to see more of him.
Funniest moment: Devereaux tries turning on the angry detective act from his show to cover up his own crime, only to be confronted with quite a lot more than a “shred” of evidence and fold immediately.
4. Eleanor Horstweil, played by Kathryn Hahn in Hostage Situation, Season 3, Episode 11
We heard a lot about Boyle’s ex-wife over the first couple of seasons, partly because Boyle was still living in her basement, hanging out with her new husband Hercules. We knew what sort of person Eleanor was when Boyle explained that he gets the beach house from December to February. When we finally meet her in the flesh, Kathryn Hahn does not disappoint – Eleanor is surely one of the most purely horrible characters we’ve seen on the show (and yes, we’re including all the murderers). She hits a 90-year-old priest with her car and then destroys Boyle’s frozen sperm, all with no apparent sense of guilt, and she largely gets away with it, too. But she does it all with a perfectly deadpan expression and carefree attitude, each horrifying act funnier that the last.
Funniest moment: She goes further than Jake ever thought she would when she “shoots a hostage” – i.e., throws some of Boyle’s sperm down the drain.
3. Seth Dozerman, played by Bill Hader in New Captain, Season 3, Episode 1
Bill Hader’s screentime on the show is relatively brief, but he is hilarious from start to finish, attacking the squad with every shouted command like he’s firing metaphorical bullets at them. It might actually have been really cool to see the squad try to deal with him as their Captain for more than one episode, with his extremely demanding requirements and very highly strung personality, but on the other hand, perhaps this is a joke that works better in small quantities. Any character whose dying words are “Tell my wife I love her work ethic” is probably a character better enjoyed for a shorter period of time. 
Funniest moment: Both heart attacks are very funny, but the first (non-fatal) one just pips it for the sheer suddenness of it.
2. Caleb, played by Tim Meadows in three episodes in Seasons 5 and 6
Jake is shocked to discover his only friend in maximum security prison is a cannibal (though he would prefer to be identified as a wood-worker), having assumed everyone in protective custody was a wrongly accused police officer. Caleb is surely Brooklyn Nine Nine’s best streak of really, really dark humour – not only did he murder and eat nine and a half people, they were small children too. Every reference he makes to his “nightmare” past is sickly hilarious, and gets worse and worse every time, including a reference to his “skin suit”. But he really does care for Jake, even if he still kind of wants to eat him. The sheer audacity of the black humour surrounding this character is fantastic and always funny.
Funniest moment: Caleb shows that he has a softer side when he saves Jake’s life – but he immediately deeply regrets it and would not do it again.
1. Doug Judy, played by Craig Robinson in multiple episodes (one episode or two-parter per year)
Yes, we carefully defined a recurring character as someone who is either in more than three episodes or who appears more than once a year specifically so that we could include Craig Robinson‘s Doug Judy. It’s our list and we make the rules. There’s something twistedly beautiful about Jake and Doug Judy’s tender but tense friendship, even in the early years when Judy is constantly double-crossing poor Jake. The two of them have perfect comic chemistry, and each running gag in their friendship, especially their fondness for swaggering out in a new outfit or disguise, just gets funnier and funnier. Long may Doug Judy continue to turn up roughly once every twelve months to harass his long suffering best friend.
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Funniest moment: Having escaped yet again, Doug Judy leaves Jake a pre-recorded message in a karaoke booth – complete with a full hour of pre-recorded singing for Jake to duet with.
The post Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Funniest Guest Cast Characters appeared first on Den of Geek.
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paradife-loft · 5 years ago
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part 2 of Watership Down thoughts.... a lot longer than part 1, oops.
BLACKAVAR, oh my gosh, Blackavar is also my favourite and I love him a lot ;____; (this is also a lot of what I mean w/ the Efrafans behaving like humans - the specific punishment given to him is very much a calculated thing to make an example, and a wound that even once healed is never going to look normal and unmarked. it doesn’t seem like the sort of thing most other rabbits would come up with, since they tend to be so much more concerned with what’s right in front of them.)
the part where Hyzenthlay is also a prophet like Fiver! I’d completely forgotten that angle as well; it’s very cool.
re: my earlier note about the purpose of Efrafa’s social structure - it’s interesting; the line about preventing the white blindness is what Holly brings back to tell the rest of the warren, but then when we get the bit of Woundwort’s POV, that seems like only a latecoming portion of the rationale for all of it? I wonder if that’s an intentional discrepancy to point out, maybe what the lower-ranking members of the warren are told and believe, versus Woundwort’s actual power-centric motivations? but it explains why I’d forgotten the former bit, in any case.
BLACKAVAR FEELS 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO or: oh my god, the bit where he follows Hazel under the bridge just because he figured well, it was an order? and then went to go find the others anyway even though he was exhausted???? the part where he tries to convince the group to continue on because it’s fox country out of nothing but general patrol intuition, gets voted down, and then up and forgets he made the suggestion bc that’s how you do things under Totalitarian Hell Warren, even though he’s later proved right??!?! I love him and I love the insight into Efrafan culture, and everything. also when we find out that he and the Efrafans in general have A DIFFERENT ACCENT? how is this fellow so precious. how.
This Fucking Passage, omg - ““Probably he really has. But whether or not, you’d never get him to admit that he warned you or to listen while you told him he’d been right. He could no more do that than pass hraka underground.” // “But you’re an Efrafan. Do you think like that, too?” // “I’m a doe,” said Hyzenthlay.”
this occurred to me several times beforehand, but I kept forgetting to include it - everything takes such a short period of time, by human standards! there’s barely a day or two between every major event that happens; I think in total the novel can’t cover more than a month of time, and that’s on the far side? it’s such a weird position to occupy, because you naturally want to stretch the events out to a longer timescale that better “matches” the intuitive/emotional sense portrayed (and allows for all these injuries to heal, holy shit?), but in the context of a rabbit’s lifetime, the way they experience just a few days feels very different from how we think of just a few days.
this is just a hypothesis, but - I’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on between the switching between Lapine and English translations, w/ names especially, and - I think it essentially works in the same way as how/why I switch between standard Sindarin names in narration, and Quenya in dialogue, when writing Silm material?? which is very cool. something something old English dudes who like plants and language...
Bigwig getting bad language past the radar and literally saying “eat shit, stinklord” XD fucking iconic. (also frequently quoted, as I recall, by all of us ten year olds reading the book for class who were delighted by any and all ways of insulting people in words the adults around wouldn’t understand.)
it’s honestly fascinating just how many different non-rabbit animals the main characters end up establishing alliances with or otherwise using to their advantage in their conflict with Efrafa? Kehaar, the fox, the mouse, the dog? most of them due to Hazel’s instincts and strategising, too, aside from the fox, which is pretty cool as an even further extension of his main strength as a Chief Rabbit, knowing his people and their particular gifts and trusting them to use them. and beyond that - this idea that the Efrafans, who aggressively suppress their natural instincts as rabbits, despite being very skilled at perception and analysis of their surroundings, end up repeatedly at the short end of the stick in interactions with all sorts of other parts of nature? I dunno; there’s no exact dividing line “this group acts rabbit-like and this group doesn’t” to try and force on the dynamics here, and I’m really quite glad of that and think it makes for a much better story than the alternative, but. it definitely feels like some manner of emergent theme, for sure.
there’s something that just hits fucking deep about the passage: ““My Chief Rabbit has told me to defend this run and until he says otherwise I shall stay here.” // It had never occurred to Woundwort or any of his officers that Thayli was not the Chief Rabbit of his warren.... And if he was not the Chief Rabbit, then somewhere close by there must be another, stronger rabbit who was. A stronger rabbit than Thlayli.” -- especially in context with Woundwort’s meeting/failed parlay with Hazel earlier. like damn.
FUCK YEAH SCARY FIVER!!! “I am sorry for you with all my heart... Believe me, I am sorry for your death.”
“Come back, you fools! Dogs aren’t dangerous!”
god the last like, three chapters of this book have the most metal goddamn quotes ever
Vilthuril telling an embellished version of the first quarter of the book as a story of El-ahrairah’s people to her kids??!! I love that as a worldbuilding detail so much, oh my gosh. (also uhhhh, telling that the snare warren is rewritten in as “the rabbits of Prince Rainbow”, lmao. Prince Rainbow is an asshole XD)
aaaand that’s all! what a good ending. what a good book.
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donnerpartyofone · 5 years ago
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while i’m apparently still in confession mode for some dark reason: 
after i told that awful story yesterday about the degrading one night stand that an older male friend spent a year bullying me into, i started thinking about all the cliches that are sold to us about the sexuality of precocious young women: what it means for us to navigate the devious emotional traps set out by the jealous and covetous world around us. what i mean is, there’s this whole gothic narrative that never stops circulating, involving beautiful, talented, intelligent, sensitive young women who are advanced enough to start exploring their own desires independently, but not experienced enough to identify the (typically) older male predators who hunt them. these men take advantage of their uninformed curiosity, leveraging their prey’s desire to grow up faster in order to control, possess, and abuse them. while this narrative is inherently criminal, society never seems willing to fully denounce it, preferring to preserve its erotic potency for a wide and slavering audience. the iconography of this narrative is mostly derived from Lolita–
[which btw our cultural failure to see that book as anything other than a “love story” is really disturbing and speaks volumes about our willingness to project our grossest ideas wherever we want, even when other interpretations (like “black comedy”) are abundantly available]
–a mature but fragile adolescent with that /special something/ innocently hypnotizes a genteel older man whose sophistication belies his uncontrollable animal desire for her, which is less His Problem than it is a natural response to her beauty and charm; a  forbidden love affair ensues. when i was young, i swallowed this concept hook line and sinker, hoping it would happen to me some day! i hated dumb little boys my own age, and i felt that if some Humbert Humbert type were to flatter me with his highly curated attention, then i would know that i had truly arrived.
“sadly”, i made it through high school and college without ever knowing that validating thrill. i wasted the latter half of my 20s on an abusive relationship with a guy two years younger than me, who often argued that he should be allowed to wreck my life however he wanted because he was “less mature” than i was and deserved more leeway. as i turned 30, i met the extraordinary person i would marry. i felt a profound sense of relief, entering my 30s; i had finished with so many of my old delusions, and the pulverizing pressure to have The Time of Your Life throughout one’s 20s had finally lifted. i looked back on my youth, thinking of it as a period of dreary, pointless misery in which “nothing really happened”, good or bad. but recently, when i started to think about it with greater focus, i realized that some shit really DID happened to me. i had just completely ignored it, because i thought of it as the fruits of my own bad taste. 
throughout junior high, i had a bizarre rapport with a guy in his early 20s–”nothing happened”, as they say, but this guy was sort of a freak and a loner, and i’m probably lucky that there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for something TO happen. then my supposed best friend, jealous of even this non-event in my sad little existence, forced a relationship with a 30 year old man out of nowhere, and competitively abused my ears with a lot of gnarly details about their horrible sex life. then in high school, my first two boyfriends were both pretentious manipulative dickheads in their 20s who really had no business bothering someone who wasn’t old enough to vote. some of my friends suffered from the same problem, though we all just felt like we were becoming independent young women or something. then there’s some other stuff with an older classmate who was abundantly aware of how emotionally unstable i was, and took appalling advantage of that for a long time, and i probably won’t ever be brave enough to talk about it. then in college i briefly “dated” a guy around 50 with whom luckily nothing bad happened before i got rid of him, but like, it really wasn’t cool, looking back–he made me feel incredibly obligated, and as he only informed me mid-stream, he was married with children. then i spent the rest of college getting dragged through the mud by a guy in his 30s who used his professional clout and well-honed manipulative abilities to “take my virginity” (a phrase and concept i hate, but which applies here), which he was very excited about; it would have been best if he had just abandoned me after that, as so many assholes do, because he then cultivated a long tawdry and extremely damaging soap opera between us, the only point of which was to make trouble for his actual girlfriend, who was ALSO much younger than him. and the end of college and slightly after, i developed another intense connection with a man a few decades older, who would never quite initiate a relationship, but who was insidiously manipulative and made me feel terrible when i eventually got a real (age-appropriate) boyfriend, as if i owed him something; i later found out he did the same thing to another girl that i know, who is substantially younger. the terrible one night stand, previously discussed, was just a gross little footnote to this disgusting history…
…but the thing is, i never, at any time, felt like i had taken part in the overheated archetypal drama that society has built up around may-december romances. i didn’t even see myself as a victim of the bad behavior of adults, of people who should and did know better; i just felt separate from the whole thing, even though i had fantasized about it so much as a kid. the thing is, at the same time that the Lolita narrative is inappropriately romanticized, it does provide an opportunity to see the girl as a potential victim, a Little Red Riding Hood who enters a perilous erotic negotiation with a Big Bad Wolf. because i didn’t see myself as the heroine of my own iteration of this overly familiar story, i didn’t recognize the degree to which i’d been exploited by people who knew to use my youth and inexperience against me. i just blamed myself. and the reason for all this is really sad: i simply didn’t feel attractive. in my mind, the vulnerable nymphet was always delicate, doe-like, elegant; clothes hung on her alluring frame in a way that created a dizzying paradox between her youth and her emerging maturity; she could dance, play music, or write touching poetry; she was preternaturally irresistible even to “good men”. she had to be liv tyler in STEALING BEAUTY (*barf*) or some shit; only somebody that compelling could star as the doomed princess in society’s well-loved fairy tale about statutory rape. personally, i perceived myself as ugly, awkward, socially burdensome, and most importantly, the kind of girl who should count herself extremely lucky to be the center of anybody’s attention, even temporarily. because i didn’t see myself as a damsel in distress who deserved protection and sympathy, i failed to spot my own victimization. i thought of my history of increasingly negative and abusive encounters with older men as a matter of bad luck, bad judgment on my own part, and ultimately, “the best i could do” if i wanted any kind of affection. so i guess the irony is that if i had identified myself as a desirable dolores hayes type, then yes, i would have been in serious danger of fetishizing my own mistreatment–but on the other hand, i would have had a more realistic framework for understanding the sinister thing that was happening to me. unfortunately, the other side of the misogyny coin–not the side that turns you into a sex object, but the side that excludes you from feeling sexually worthy at all–prevented me from noticing that that awful Little Red Riding Hood cliche had already happened to me several times over.
tl;dr - when misogyny convinces you that you have nothing to steal, then it’s hard to tell when misogynists are trying to rob you.
it’s funny to start recognizing this only now that i’m approaching 40. i see a lot of young women on tumblr heroically fighting to strike a balance between enjoying their kinks and avoiding the corrupt elements in their communities–all the while trying to stay aware of how their personal history and mental health plays into this drama. some of them are way farther along in that philosophical journey than i was at their age, and i really admire the work they’re doing. i’m writing this more for the ones who don’t even know that they’re already a part of this struggle, because they haven’t learned to see themselves as desirable enough to be included in it. that is to say, i wrote this for myself; but i have a sneaking suspicion that someone else out there needs to hear it, too.
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This post brought to you in part by the very beginning of CABIN IN THE WOODS, which, while not a deep film in any way, features a salient moment in which College Girl #1 tries to tell College Girl #2 that the professor who took advantage of her is a scumbag, and College Girl #2 defends him, humbly and maturely replying: “I knew what I was getting into.” The blood freezes in my veins when I think of how many times I said something like this about someone who did not deserve my defense. If you got dicked over, literally and/or figuratively, by someone older, sober-er, and/or more experienced than you, then this is your gentle reminder that you really cannot be accused of knowing what you’re getting into.
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order-progress · 5 years ago
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I used to have a really entitled outlook on life. In my mind though, I was entitled to my thought processes because it was where my mind existed in the place having had come from a once far more turbulent era. Back then I didn't question things that werent outwardly obvious. I didnt question the unremarkable identities of things that exhibited no distinctions amongst one another. Life was a stream of experience, and I just did the best of choices I decided to arrange, or really actually, more like shuffle choices into a messy pile and pat myself in the back cause I could squint at it my mismatched pile of non related events and not feel guilty for putting off routine, structure and goals.
I guess it isnt so surprising to anticipate that like all my other experiences, disicpline would present itself when and if I needed it to be summoned out of wherever creative and yet very hard to imagine location i would imagine it arriving at some future, ambiguous date, just in time to make no work look like fancier no work and with ribbons on it.
Something very common happened to me, something that is happinning right now all around the world, no matter how many days, or years after i first posted this here.
My boyfriend broke up with me.
I wore my entitlement pretty high that day, because somehow, despite there having been no carefully executed plan made on ky end--some masterpiece scheme of genius where one could really see there existed some reasonable and healthy attention to tackle to fucking problem.
Nope. My mother fucking entitled ass decided id actually be shocked. Not even fake shocked. Thats how you know you have lost touch with your surroundings, because big things happen in your wake..while your awake and yet somehow your stuck on who killed the butler in the library with the candle stick.
What makes this one of the most significant event despite its occurance being fairly common globaly, is that his presence had caused me to become more aware of more of the things I would have otherwise taken in stride, none of these events were remarkable on their own, but collectivelly, I had inadvertantly cleaned up my mindspace to find neatly organized clusters of thoughts no longer blending into the subconcious like 70's urban grafitti.
I didnt hold that moment to some disporportionately skewed sugar coating scale just to get ribbons on them after they were organized,I just acknowledged them, like a breath,where as before, they were simply obstacles or pit stops that would perpetuate the chronic attention deficit I had welcomed into my head. I like to think of ADD as the worlds most innefective street sweepers, they sweep alright, but they just make a bigger mess and then you got things in places they have no business being in.
I was in a place of low self worth because of an accumulated collection of short lived and half assed adventures, disastrous endeavers and the nefarious presence of something so obscured, so black and forboding, made me avoid certain places for simply not wanting to deal with the house keeping it wouldve required to mitigate its destructive intentions.
I kept myself busy to not force the acknowledgent that this would become a source of not only my insecuruties, but then in addition to its ever increasing interconnectedness, its complexity. Its chambers that hardened like a mystical kight of armor, whose drawers were full of destructive objects and thoughts that rattled in their confinement as a means of foreshadowing something so sinister, I could not then yet fathom the destrutive ways its icy talons would engulf and twist into my everyday life simply to create chaos, and it didnt register that this was a problem because amidst this battle royale of fragments and bits of poorly put together patterns, Francisco's presense was a light whose emimation lulled me into a complacecy I hadnt anticipated
It wasnt that in this period, that I conciously made a decision to disregard the growing issue, it was the novelty of being in a loving, beautiful and mature relationship with someone that as each day grew, so did my conviction that this person was becoming the brightest fixture in an ever cramped confined hallway of possibilities.
As I stood there aware of this moment, feeling a satisfaction and a gratitude I had never felt before, I realized that I had come so far on autopilot, it was a move that was almost instinctual, I rolled my sleeves up, put on the rocky theme song, got my gym bag ready, went and bought like every stupid unessecary stupid trinket shit people buy to feel like their getting a handle and a good start on some shit, but really it just becomes the infuriating bag of junk that is now the obstacle between you and the door handle to exit your car and actually start your project.
I felt a sense of urgency, I saw how unequipped I had been and while I was and it was this moment that taught me how much I loved him. I reckognized that somehow I was one of those fucking weirdos that jumped through those seedy ass short cut type scenarios in life to give you the same effect of the real thing in less the time, kind of like a GED vs high school diploma, or plan b instead of condoms.
I recognized that there was an innate element of unneccesary risk involved in many of my accomplishments. The risk was usually always a concious decision that I would accept a certain amount of totally unnecessary consequences that typically would define the life of those people who you catch specific glimpses of in mysterious times like dawn or dusk. And be like..yea i could totally see that guy having to figure out what to do with the llama he inherited as a result of some gamble.
This was no longer an acceptable risk. It wasnt that i thought it was dangerous or scare him away, its that I am not the kind of man that wakes up and sees the problems his factory has and finally knows how to fix it and then just be okay with going to bed and put it off.
This is where I get annoyed again. I knew that I wasnt capable of actively doing something against him, because we both agreed on things, and also neither of us was completely high as fucking kite on methamphetamines while operating a forklift to tune a paino yet.
I couldnt ever feel bad about atheletes who ugly cried after being disqualified for juicing to get an unfair advantage in the sports world.
Yet once again my overwhelming confidence, my lovable man mentality of "fuck a map or tools you got grit, spit and teeth". Prevailed.
Im mad because it was this moment right here. In a sea of me being happy to grow and learn and doing the rignt thing. I saw a place i overlooked, its presence was almost like a marker that there were many other areas i needed to work on, and i got sad.
I didnt feel good enough. I felt like a mess. I felt dissapointed at the pride in nothing I had taken so many times. I was finally proud of the changes i was making again, only to be reminded in a very real way of how I never had structure, never had a fail safe implemented effectively to instead of adopting either anxiety or no fucks about an event that could have been in my power to mitigate, i either didnt even notice I missed it, or didnt care.
As I started seeing the mountain of work I had to do, I wondered what it meant about how effectively i could handle other things moving forward, it was an irrational fear that I had that I would dissapoint him because I wanted us to be happy. But i am an artistic person, people who work with details to make a larger picture learn early on how to work details, and I never evaluated just how shoddy my altertanitive crash course was like getting PlAN B instead of putting a condom on.
I can handle pressure effectively. I can be okay with my decisions. What I cant do is open up a factory, see everything that was negelcted when I now know how to fix it, and then go to sleep like nothing bothered me.
I never in my life found myself in a place where i came face to face with old life and it made me feel sad or humilated. I felt like a fraud for just having gotten lucky that everytning worked out, while he worked hard.
I suddenly felt something I never experienced before, fear in love. The moment where you realize your not a piece of shit because you actually dont want to let someone down, the moment when you feel bad because you walked around in life with luck you didnt give a second thought to and passed it off as hard work. And here was this beautiful man, whose life was suffering and hard work, and you realized all of it at once, and there I was, eager fucking beaver captain america man of the house cause now i feel like a god damned engineer since i could assemble an ikea 3 piece wrench-back the fuck up motherfuckers.
I just felt humbled and i felt driven. I also felt the pressures rise up around me and I dont know why I couldnt look away from the sight of the realization of how id been. And its not like i did it all on purpose, but from that moment on, it was as if I had something to prove to myself that at that time I couldnt understand yet because I hadnt reflected yet. And as I was taking the scenic route on ways to "punish yourself is actually how we fucking motivate ourselves around here cus were fucking men" the bigger I created something inside me that wasnt ever there. And then as the places that I had been tendering to and growing in started to not be kept, pressure in my life at home happened. And for the first time in my entire life I was embarrassed at my life.
I remember the moment I felt it, my mom leaving me at work after I lost my car. I walked 2 miles in the cold because i was infuriated that I allowed another event I could have forseen to happen.
I never in my life reflected this intensley on my actions before. Having him in my life made me realize I had been holding myself to a higher standard because I am at my best when I when I am actively building towards something. I opened a place in me I never saw with those eyes and it hurt me. I tried to let him in, and to be honest, the insecurities of him seeing all that mortiified me..not because I would be seen as a slob or this or that, i was just dissapointed that I for a time during when I needed it the most in my early life, I wasnt necessarily taught healthy ways to do things. Mostly because I came to this country at 10, didnt know english, parents worked all the time until i was 16 and then dad got sick with brain cancer and we caught it after he had a seizure cause dad apperently loved moonlighting as my biggest fan when he would go reading my journal at night.
I didnt know how to explain it to francisco. I was feeling. New concept, i was feeling out of sync, i didnt understand why it hit me so hard. I was trying to look away and orient myself on the present.
I could have just dealt with that. But i suddenly felt raw and vulnerable. My boyfriend and I were getting into arguments because I just wanted us to be closer due to this need i didnt know how to vocalize about what I was going through, and he hesitated because he probably thought id leave him if i saw his dirty secrets.
That was the one thing he really never appreciated about my love. I just knew. If everything else was as evident ..like this feelings and where they came from and how to process them healthy while ...it just all got too much. I didnt know how to tell him what I needed. I just needed him.
I started to feel like i wasnt tethered to the focused areas I was so eager to work in. I just kept telling myself communication is key we will get through it.
Then I the drugs did something I didnt expect them to. They turned off this guilt and switch. They gave me the quiet to make them come down to a more manegeable place where I wasnt overwhelmed anymore.
Because I couldnt process this in words at the time, i didnt know how to express that to him. It led to me feeling guilty for not understanding why i enjoyed doing the drugs aside from the stimulant effect. When i tried to explain it to him, it was like trying to coin a cheesy motto for a doomed cereal commercial in french, basically everuthing sounded like something he had no understamding or could relate to.
I started feeling depressed because i could see that although from his perspective we were fighting..
I was even more frustrated becauese we werent fighting. I was pretty much crying, trying to tell him in french something he didnt understand while he was yelling at me in english about me not respecting him by not speaking english.
This was the worst fucking part. Because part of the issue that led me here was accountabiliyy and communication.
I kept telling him in the only way i knew how.please im sorry i know things are getting worse. But this isnt how we are.
I thought we could get through anything.
In his mind he saw a piece of something, he ignored my emotional attachment to it..and i mean i cant blame him, other people never quit.
But even in those moments i knew i wasnt going to be other people.
And suddenly i was alone. I was depressed. I had realized that it wasnt us that was th issue so i tried so hard to communicate more effectively that he got frustrated and said i talked in loops. I felt so alone because i understood his frustration and i just needed him to trust me. But that was the perfect storm when i just got so alone feeling from his inability to just not look at me how i felt at myself. And i honestly tried to fix it in the middle of him running away and the most painful thing was that he couldnt understand and i didnt know how to say it.
I dont blame him for leaving
But a part of me breaks to my very core to know that if he just literally lookrd at me like yes i was going crZy but i was just hurting and overwhelmed.
All i wanted and needed was him.
The worst. Pain was that he didnt see that.
And i needed to explain it. And he didnt let me.
I felt like i was desperatly trying to express something of real explaination. I just honestly was desperate to because he was running.
I
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a-simple-lee · 6 years ago
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A game of stealth
Legolas, reader, Pippin, Merry, Aragorn
Description: you make a bet with Pippin that you simply have to win, though this comes at a cost for Legolas that he isn’t entirely happy with.
A/n: oof this is the first non-marvel fic I’ve written in literal months and it feels so weird lmao
________________________
“Do you think it’s possible to sneak up on the Elf?” You ponder out loud, bored after the long hours of walking through thankfully safe yet plain country. Fields and sparse woods stretch ahead of your party as far as the eye can see, and whilst you’re grateful for the respite from the violence and danger, trudging for days without a change in scenery is starting to dampen your spirits. There are no orcs or goblins (nor trolls) in these lands, so the Fellowship is taking advantage of the easier terrain by travelling for shorter periods and setting up camp earlier each night.
“For you? No,” Pippin snorts, highly entertained by the concept of a human trying to be sneaky.
“I think I could,” you respond, glancing at your elven companion; he’s slightly ahead of everyone, talking with Aragorn.
Merry sidles up from behind you. “Don’t be ridiculous, it’s hard enough to do so as a hobbit.”
“Then I shall remind you how easy it was once I’ve accomplished it,” you grin, feeling rather confident. “I’ll show you.”
Over the course of five or so minutes, you make your way swiftly through the party’s marching order, taking advantage of a couple trees for cover every now and then. Gimli gives you an odd look, but you press a finger to your lips in warning, and he returns to his conversation with Sam.
The weather’s working in your favour; you stand downwind of the party’s trackers, and the breeze is enough to rustle the local flora into a distracting white noise. Perhaps, you think, there��s a chance you could pull this off. There’s only a few feet between you and the Elf now, who seems rather unaware. You move to place a hand on his shoulder from behind. He reaches up and grabs your wrist before you can touch him.
“Yes, little one?”
You frown. His lips quirk in an almost-smile.
“…why do you call me that? I’m no Shirefolk.”
“You spend long hours with them,” he counters.
“I suppose,” you admit; the Hobbits hold a special place in your heart as simply good people. They only ever wish to help others, and you admire their willpower. That, and Merry and Pippin tell excellent jokes.
“Do you require something?” Legolas is looking at you curiously.
“He is a wood-elf,” Pippin smiles as you return, casting a pointed glance towards the trees.
“Alright, I suppose it’s difficult.” The atmosphere turns quiet for a period after that, your trio remaining silent save for a few jibes from your halfling friends.
Later in the day, when the afternoon approaches sunset, you set up camp, sheltered in a sort of valley with large boulders scattered about.
“This should be safe,” Gandalf advises. “There’s no life here for miles.”
As time progresses, the Fellowship sits in small groups, exchanging stories and preparing for the night.
“What were you talking about earlier?” Frodo asks. “I saw you acting suspicious with Pippin, and that’s never a good sign.”
“Why,” you start, not sure whether to be honoured or offended by the accusation. “We were just discussing a bet.”
“A bet?”
“Yes-” you cast a cursory glance around the camp; the Elf is preoccupied speaking with Gimli.
“Merry and Pippin think I can’t sneak up on Legolas.” At this, Frodo narrows his eyes. “Oh, do have some faith in me!”
“-He shouldn’t, little one.” A voice from close behind you catches you off guard. You yelp, flinching and turning around to face your sylvan companion, who has drifted noiselessly over whilst you were talking.
“Legolas, I-” Merry and Pippin are laughing, but you ignore them. “I have committed to a goal, and I intend to reach it.”
“You make more noise than our halflings, little one - you’d do well to spend more time with them, and then perhaps you’ll learn to step quieter.”
“I can step quietly!” You protest. “I’ll get better!”
Several failed attempts follow this conversation, the most notable one being by your campfire in the evening, where Legolas turns to face you before you’ve gotten within 5 feet of him. The rest of your party is finding the debacle rather entertaining, much to your dismay.
“Very well,” you huff, sitting down next to Aragorn & Boromir. “If I need to learn, teach me. You’re a ranger, Aragorn - surely you have some advice.” He lets out a chuckle, and places a hand on your shoulder.
“Do not step on twigs; they make a great deal of noise.” You roll your eyes. “And stop being so careless in your movements; they’re clumsy.”
Despite the slightly patronising tone, Aragorn appears somewhat sincere.
“Thank you,” Rising from the campfire, you move to unpack your bed roll.
Morning greets you with a golden sunrise and birdsong - a luxury on your adventure. It appears you’re the last one to wake; everyone else is sat eating a breakfast of Lembas bread and dried fruits. The idea to practise your sneaking skills occurs to you - nobody’s noticed you’re awake yet, so you take the opportunity to clamber from your bed roll and cautiously tiptoe behind the rock Legolas is sitting on. Your breath is suspended, hanging in your lungs as you will no one to see you.
Nobody does, it seems, as you draw closer to your elf. The unexpected success feels suspicious. You haven’t thought about what you’ll do if you managed to sneak up on Legolas, so you spend about half a second pondering your next steps. It’s probably best to make your victory known to the party, hence a loud noise will suit the situation, you decide. In the relative quiet of the countryside, any sudden commotion will quickly gain attention, and then you shall have proved everyone wrong.
So you find yourself reaching forwards and fluttering your fingers over the elf’s neck.
What sounds like a genuine yelp of surprise escapes from Legolas, and he twitches away from your hands. The feeling of 8 pairs of eyes on the both of you reassures you of your victory. Though when the yelp dissolves into a giggle, your glee turns to curiosity.
“Good morning!” You laugh, giddy with the knowledge you’ve finally proved the hobbits incorrect.
“Good morning,” Legolas blinks, seeming taken aback by your ambush.
“Ticklish?” you tease, poking him in the side. The elf takes your hand, smiling calmly.
“Be careful,” he warns. “I’m happy to leave you this victory, though if you try that again, I can’t promise I won’t take my revenge.”
“I’m not ticklish,” you bluff, sneaking an arm behind your friend to tweak his ribs. He yelps again, this time attracting the attention of Merry and Pippin. The pair of them are overjoyed at this turn of events; or, more importantly, the mischief that will result from it. Legolas gives you a look of betrayal, but you ignore it and trot off to pack up your things, a victorious human. It isn’t long before you hear laughter and shouting from behind you.
You don’t remember Legolas’ words until the evening, since the rest of the day passes rather uneventfully. Whilst the terrain has become rockier, there’s still no sign of the peace ending, which is both reassuring and infuriating. You spar with the Aragorn whilst the others set down their belongings, but it isn’t long before he’s called away by Frodo. You sit down and begin unpacking your things, making yourself comfortable for the night. Sunset is fast approaching, and Gimli has taken Sam to look for food.
There’s not much for you to do, so you sit weaving some long blades of grass into a pattern. The activity distracts you from the clattering of equipment around you, and for a moment it’s as if you’re not even travelling, but sitting in a garden somewhere. Thoughts of danger and the trauma of the past few weeks slip away as your muscle memory takes over, repeating the same knots over and over, your little craft project growing increasingly elaborate. Flowers dot the ground next to the rock you’re sitting on, so you pick a few and weave them in, eventually tying off the braid and examining it. Not bad.
Somebody tackles you from behind, the woven bracelet falling from your grip and hands try to grab your wrists; you fight them off. You’re about to call for help when you finally stop to look up at your attacker; it’s the elf.
“Legolas, what are you-”
“I did warn you,” He states simply, trying to gain the upper hand in your impromptu wrestling match. The pieces fall into place inside your head, and suddenly this fight has higher stakes. You scramble out from under him and sprint as fast as you can, accidentally bumping into Merry on the way and yelling a rushed apology in his direction as you flee.
Behind this boulder, around this corner, down this ledge- oh no. A hand grabs your arm, and down you fall, Legolas immediately skittering his fingers over your sides.
“Ah- don’t!”
“I thought you weren’t ticklish, little one.” He smiles, and you bat at his hands in frustration.
“I’m- I’m nohohot!” To your misfortune, Legolas appears to be a deft tickler, and when he tweaks your ribs, your resolve breaks. It’s only downhill from there, the elf quickly figuring out your weak spots and using them to his advantage.
“Ahahaha-okahahahay, I yihihield! Ihihihi’m sorry!” You cry, scrunching up your neck when one hand moves to spider over the sensitive skin there.
“I didn’t ask for an apology,” he responds, squeezing your side with his other hand. By the time Legolas takes pity on you and lets you up, there are tears of mirth forming in your eyes.
You can sneak up on an elf, but you can’t outrun one, it seems.
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wanderingthroughwickford · 5 years ago
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So some thots on RAN! 
It’s one of the few games in my replay that I didn’t come out of thinking “this is better than I remember” ... but at the same time, I stand by my personal opinion that it’s not the worst Nancy Drew game. For me, it’s maintained its position as third-worst, above CRE and TOT. (Though I haven’t fully played MED yet, so time will tell). 
Things I liked:
The basic plot: one of Nancy’s friends being kidnapped by someone who has it out for her. I’ve said it before, that as much as I love the typical “solve mysterious hauntings/accidents and find a treasure” plot, it has been done ad nauseam in these games and it is always nice to have something different. 
And yes, I know that there’s still a “find a treasure” plot here, but the main incident is a kidnapping/disappearance and that’s pretty rare in the series (I think 4 out of 32 games?)
The historical backstory with El Toro’s treasure. Not really anything groundbreaking, but interesting enough that it elevates it above CRE and TOT at least. I like the idea of these sailors being stranded on a desert island and coming up with a way to hide their treasure from pirates, but gradually having their numbers and their hope whittled down as years go by without rescue. Idk, it’s the right combination of tragic, mysterious, and overly-complex to make a good Nancy Drew backstory. 
It DOES fall into that trap of “how in the world did people from [x] time period manage to construct all these elaborate puzzles” and ... yeah, it’s especially bad in that regard seeing as these were stranded sailors with virtually no resources, but on the other hand, this cliche doesn’t really distract me all *that* much, and seeing as Curse of Blackmoor Manor is one of my favorite games (and that probably takes the PRIZE for anachronistic complexity) I don’t feel like I can judge much. 
The amount of things we can do. Sailing, diving, climbing, driving, metal-detecting, playing with monkeys, etc. I didn’t necessarily like the execution of all these things, but the sheer variety of tasks we were able to do? Lots of fun. They fully took advantage of the ‘tropical island vacation’ theme. 
A lot of the puzzles, while needlessly complex, are fun once you actually figure out how to do them. I really enjoyed the codebreaking, the GPS wayfinding thing, and ... don’t @ me, but even the hourglasses.
And now for the elephant in the room ... I actually really, really like the final twist. Not *specifically* that it was Dwayne Powers (I’ve never played STFD), but the fact that the culprit was a villain from another game out for revenge on Nancy. I think that’s an amazing idea; I’d LOVE to see more past villains come back (yay for continuity!) and imho it kind of serves as a bit of a love-letter to long-term fans. I also thought it was a neat idea to not have the villain be captured at the end for once, so their fate is a little more ambiguous. 
This is small but thanks to UHS hints I realized there’s actually an optional treasure you can find at the end if you look hard enough in the room? And I think that’s neat; I don’t know if I ever noticed that before and I like when there are little surprises that may be overlooked during a first playthrough.
Coucou veers between ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ for me but ... gdi I love birds and I sometimes found her endearing so she’s going on the ‘like’ pile.
Things I didn’t like:
Basically everything everyone else has been saying for the past 10 years
I’m ... not really *that* keen on outdoorsy, not-very-historical settings for Nancy Drew games, but that’s a personal bias and shouldn’t actually affect the quality of the game. (I love DOG, DDI, and SHA, for instance). Still, I have to admit, RAN’s setting didn’t do all that much for me, and this was more due to execution. A tropical island isn’t really that ~mysterious~ a setting, so you have to work hard to give it that sort of atmosphere and this game just ... didn’t. 
A big factor in that is that the game is just so non-immersive. SO many of the areas and events are in third-person; it really takes you out of the experience and makes it less memorable.
The lack of tension or urgency in what should be a hugely stressful case for Nancy. This is Bess, her best friend, kidnapped and threatened by an unknown enemy, and she’s incredibly blase about it all. Remember how terse and on-edge she was throughout FIN? I’d liked to have seen a lot more of that throughout the game. 
How overly-complex a lot of the puzzles are, ESPECIALLY the timed ones. I had to go on UHS or ask for other people’s help a lot, and I’m 25. That underwater sudoku puzzle is brutal. 
The fact that there’s only one suspect. I admit that in a roundabout way this is sort of clever, as you’d think “it’s too obvious for them to be the culprit, so they must NOT be the culprit,” and then it turns out they are, but they’re not the person you thought they were. Still, I don’t know if that outweighs the boredom that comes from having only one person (other than George) to talk to throughout the game. 
The goddamn unskippable cutscene of monkeys laughing at you every time you lose a game
Dwayne was in blackface????? I know he’s the villain but...
I think that’s all. These are just my opinions; you can take them or leave them. I’m still happy to have played this game again for the first time in years. Now on to Warnings at Waverly Academy! 
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