#(because it makes so much more sense when you realise that the nobility does NOT like diamant)

[chaifootsteps]

it's actually kind of shocking how well stellitz works in terms of matching canon romantic beats instead of stolitz, even when it comes to the childhood friends element and the idea that neither party is perfect — they're just trying their best with what they have. it takes a bit of fix-it juice to make the story work, but its miles better (in the case of this au, stolas is a background character and his only crimes are his ignorance and lack of emotional intelligence).

a young stella finds out on her birthday that shes been betrothed to a prince and she will have little say in how her future unfolds. sensing a tantrum, stella's parents convince her brother andrealphus to take (read: drag) her to loolooland, because small, silly children like that sort of thing, right? stellas attention is grabbed by this acrobatic clown with a mischevious streak that rivals her own and an abhorrent sense of humour. because shes spoiled nobility and doesn't know any better, she begs andrealphus to buy "the little clown boy" for an afternoon as her playmate as a birthday present. blitzo is initially wildly unsure about all of this but eventually warms up to stella as she leads in him a wild chaotic chase through her family mansion, even helping him to offload some of her brother's more expensive knickknacks (she swears he wont notice) onto blitzo's father. both she and blitzo only remember this day vaguely, but fondly.

at the show-present point in her life, stella is truly miserable — her husband is cheerfully oblivious towards her fury, too wrapped up in his hobbies and their daughter to stop and realise that playing happy families can only placate her for so long; she has mixed feelings towards the daughter she was forced to have and wishes that she could have a better relationship with her without seeing her future going down the toilet every time she so much as looks at octavia; she has no emotional outlet outside of bitching with her friends at parties, and after a while even slanderous high-society gossip starts to run dry.

blitzo crashes one of stella's parties in order to steal the grimoire. after he's caught, stella says that she'll deal with him with the reasoning that she doesn't trust stolas to be harsh enough with his punishments. after getting blitzo alone, they awkwardly exchange "hellos" and "how have you beens" and "what the hell are you doing heres". stella hears blitzo out, and because she's tired and feeling like causing some trouble, she does what any reasonable person would do and sneaks blitzo the grimoire, making him promise that he'll return it a few times a month for octavia's lessons and stolas' duties as a demon prince. they part ways, cautiously eager for the next time they'll see each other.

gradually, their one day of childhood friendship blossoms. they have their arguments, of course, but they're also on the same wavelength of crude humour, explosive emotions, and mischief, so they match each other's freak as easily as breathing. it doesn't take much for their exchanges to become sexual, and stella delights in the bodice-ripping fantasies that blitzo is happily able to fulfil. eventually, though, they have to get (mutually) found out — stolas is wildly confused about the whole thing, and while he's nattering over the fact that he thought things were going just fine, stella rips into him and berates him for not recognising her misery; for not putting himself in her shoes. stolas does apologise, but he still eventually asks for a divorce, as stella's actions have put octavia's reputation and future in jeopardy but having relations with an imp and giving him access to a powerful royal artefact. this is the one comment that gets through to stella, and the one thing she's genuinely regretful over — in her haste to actually take control of her life for once, she forgot about her own daughter.

i think realistically, that arc of the story would end with the divorce of stolas and stella, and stella getting disowned by her family, forcing her to track down blitzo and move in with him while they figure out how to get blitzo to continue accessing the mortal realm and also how stella can try and keep in contact with and fix her relationship with octavia.

It really does write itself, with only a little bit of fix-it juice to make it happen! It even saves Stolas's character, and has him come out more sympathetic in the end!

[fancyfeathers]

@istgtumlrifyoudothisonemoretime asked a question

op i see you have a need to write smart stuff. here's the best my potato brain has to offer : a psychologist darling. kind of like hannibal and clarice. a psych student trying her best to understand her math professor at times and psycho analysing him for fun, even at times asking HIM to help her read others since he is so much clearer. this is all good until she one day decides to psychologically profile the lord of crime based on his crimes...and realises alot matches with the things her professor told her... she has to take it to sherlock-

Ahhh I literally just started Hannibal and I could honestly see her having the same gift for empathy that Will has and being able to sense and interpret the feelings and motives of other people. I do not think she would be able to dream or fantasize in killing someone and instead is terrified by the idea of it. But the way she is able to see through people is like Dr. Lector and understand exactly how they tick, she is a mix between the two of them.

I imagine it is her final year at university when Professor Moriarty comes to teach at the school, she is one of the top students, excepted to work in maybe a top hospital to help patients deal with trauma or in the police to provide operational support in situations ranging from hostage negotiation to criminal profiling. Then there is no doubt that she will graduate valedictorian. William does not have her as a student since she had finished her math credits with the previous professor, but he certainly hears the rumors about the genius student who drives her professors insane by psycho analyzing them when she is bored in class. He catches glimpses of her in the halls when she is walking from one class to another or to her dormitory but never has a real opportunity to meet her, he honestly hears about her more than he sees her even from the most surprising places…

He honestly never expected to hear about her from the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. When he encounters the famous detective on the train he mentions the same brilliant student because he had the pleasure of working together with her when Scotland Yard brought her in as an intern over the summer to hopefully convince her to join the force upon her graduation.

Then one day near the end of term after his lectures he sees her walking into his classroom as everyone else is walking out. She asks him if she could use him for her final, write a report on someone’s behaviors and their physiological state. William agrees, curious to see if everything he was told about her was true. So he invites her over to the Durham estate for an evening with him and his family so she can make her observations, conversation, dinner, drinks, and then her final observations. When she is sitting in the parlor with the three brothers she begins to break down her observations.

They all survived the fire that took their parents but they seem to suffer no psychological trauma so they perhaps could have felt detachment, or experienced abuse in their care. Louis seems abnormally protective of William as he was turning over his stake knife in his hand practically all dinner since William explained why she was there, as if he was scared something would happen to William and then not to mention that Louis serves as the house staff which is unusual for such a noble standing and that would potentially lead to different views than most of nobility has and they could potentially be ridiculed for those said views. Then Albert was not to different as he poured her a rather large glass of wine when she mentioned that she would be writing the paper when she returned to campus. There are a few other things, but of course she luckily never picked up on any criminal activity since they hid anything that may lead her to that conclusion.

She graduates from the university William does not see her for quite sometime until he hears from Paterson that they received her on the Scotland Yard force, she was hired specifically to investigate the Lord of Crime, recommended by Sherlock Holmes and many police officers who have witnessed her work on the scene and her psychology professor back at Durham. Once a scene is identified by the Lord of Crime she works on her case study about the criminal mastermind, gathering more pieces on who he might be. Sometimes killing styles do not align or the use of different methods of getting to their victim changes drastically, faked heart attacks, falling into the sea or river, having someone else shoot them in their own manor, poisoning their wine at a masquerade, and the list goes on, all nobility with some sort of stain on their past. The Lord of Crime had to have connections to nobility but yet does not wish to be apart of them as he kills them.

She gets told one day that the Jefferson Hope is getting to sick and this may be the last chance she has to get any more information from him. So when she sits down with him and the two of them talk, just talk, about his life, why he did it, his late wife. She learns that his benefactor is wanting to change society, get rid of the class system, get rid of wicked nobles…

…views that could potentially be ridiculed.

She returns home to dig up her old report on the professor from her alma mater and compare it to her case file on the Lord of Crime and a panic sweeps over her as she realizes when she was laying out the crimes in her mind from the killer’s point of view she was seeing it from William’s eyes.

When she goes to retrieve a copy of the official case file from Scotland Yard and not just her notes so she has more to work with in order to show Sherlock, she notices that they are missing. She knows that some on the force then is working with the Lord of Crime and he is onto her, trying to get rid of the evidence and it is like playing a game for him. It is a game of cat and mouse and she cannot let herself be the mouse.

She has no idea that just like how she was observing the Lord of Crime or William at dinner, he has been observing her as well all this time. Paterson giving him details on how she behaves in the office, Fred or Bonde watching her from the building across from her flat which has a perfect view into her window, Mr. Jack following her on the days she goes to the market as he himself gets things for the estate, Albert watching her when she goes to prestigious clubs to conduct interviews with potential suspects, or even William himself watching her from the shadows when she is looking about a crime scene…

And he finds her fascinating, the way her mind functions to understand a killer but she would never commit such an act herself or how she can completely understand his motives without even trying. It is truly remarkable, as well as a problem, but why get rid of such a remarkable thing when you observe it like a beautiful nightingale in a cage while it sings?

[uraharasandals]

Oh forgive me! I couldn't open your rules on Tumblr so I went to chrome to open them. So this is sfw headcanon about them (OG gotei 13) having a crush on their childhood friend..

That’s absolutely fine, no worries!! My rules should’ve been in the post I’ve pinned to the top of my feed though, did it not appear? :)

Again, a disclaimer that however these characters appear in the content I make is purely how I perceive them, and not how Kubo wrote them. There’s not enough information canonically to fully flesh them out, but hopefully this is good enough!

Also I omitted Kumoi and Zenjou because I honestly got completely stumped when it came to those two, so apologies for that. If you want theirs to be written out, feel free to send in another request!

(And yes, this ended up being wayyyy too long)

ORIGINAL GOTEI 13 HAVING A CRUSH ON THEIR CHILDHOOD FRIEND

Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni

Yamamoto is a man of strong and unwavering intentions -- if he has a crush on his childhood friend, it’s likely that such feelings came from a deep place within his heart, and that these feelings are solidified after a long period of contemplation. Whether he acts upon them is another matter, but when he admits those feelings even to himself, know that they come from a place of long and detailed contemplation.

It depends which period of his life he’s currently living. If Yamamoto was living in a (relatively) peaceful time, before the war where he was teaching in the academy he set up, certainly he would be encouraged to act upon those feelings. However, if it was during wartime or immediately post-war, Yamamoto would push them aside. It’s not that he wants to wait for the right timing or feels that you don’t deserve such an important announcement in the wake of such destruction, but rather his mind is occupied by other matters. When it comes to killing the Quincy and manifesting a romantic relationship, the choice is simple. 

Nonetheless, I think he would definitely sit you down and tell you about them over a cup of tea. Yamamoto doesn’t pressure you to giving him an answer, nor into a relationship - but he definitely wants to maintain your friendship. Rather, he would walk into that confession having faith in your friendship, because he ultimately values the strength of your bond and the connection you share over any potential romantic love between you two.

Shihouin Chika

With this man, you’ll need to wrestle an answer out of him before he tells you upfront what exactly he wants to tell you. Spending so much time in proximity with Chika means that you can tell any irregularities in his behaviour, even if he acts like nothing is wrong, so you’ll need to wheedle him because he doesn’t and won’t tell you first. 

But when confronted with it, Chika won’t dance around the topic. He’ll just tell you upfront about his feelings, just like that. Though he acts like he doesn’t care, Chika definitely does. He cares a lot about your response, about your feelings, and your friendship. Childhood friendships are precious to him, especially if you’re someone he actually gets along well with because in nobility circles, true friends are hard to come across. 

A romantic relationship with Chika would hardly deviate from your friendship with him, largely because I don’t think an intimate relationship would change much regardless, except there would be more romantic physical intimacy. In the period of time after you gave him your response, you would probably be very confused because Chika doesn’t seem to be much affected by your acceptance/rejection. It’ll come clearer afterwards - if you accepted his feelings, he would start becoming more physically affectionate (e.g. brushing your cheek with a kiss, which is something he doesn’t do as friends). If you rejected him, you’d realise him withdrawing for a while before resuming the sense of closeness from before. Chika’s not very good with putting his feelings in words (he rehearsed before confessing to you, but even then it was very blunt), so he shows his emotions through actions and behaviour. 

Izuhara Kinroku

I don’t think this man would particularly be interested in keeping up relationships with his childhood friends, so if you managed to arouse interest in him, then you should be proud of yourself, because that’s no small feat. I imagine you would’ve been lingering in the back of his mind for a while, perhaps a memory from the distant past that floats up occasionally. Maybe he catches sight of something and is reminded of you, and a sense of fondness spreads within his chest. 

At any rate, when you’re united -- highly likely after the war, I’d imagine -- he doesn’t say anything. Not that Kinroku was ever a man of much words, but unspoken understanding has always been your chosen language. He treats you with a sense of tenderness - not afraid that you’re easily broken, exactly, but as children, relationships are tinged with a sense of gentleness that is now a stranger to him, whose life was forged on sentiments of harshness and the principle of ‘life or death’ -- and it’s clear that the reunion is rather awkward. 

Is it a crush or is it merely affection for you in a world where he feels apathy for everyone else? Hard to say. Kinroku certainly spends more time with you, talking to you more than he ever has (or at least, any of the other Captains had ever seen), taking walks, all the mundane moments he can steal away from his Division. Even if he realises he has romantic feelings for you, I don’t think he’d admit or make them into a reality. Largely because he doesn’t view them as a necessity to his life, nor does he want to infuse major lifechanging change into his routine. Also probably because he has never experienced romantic feelings for anyone before, or at least to the extent that it’s strong enough for him to act upon them. So he shows his affection by spending more time with you - that, I think, speaks more than enough.

Shijima Chigiri

Chigiri is an enigma both inside and outside. He acts indifferent most of the time, and it's hard to really tell what he's thinking. That said, if you spend enough time with him, you can notice the little hints he let slip. A hint of a smile on his lips when he’s looking at you, handing over a tissue when you’re sniffling, buying the tea leaves you’ve been eyeing for a long time. Small gestures build up to his intentions.

He won’t tell you how he feels. That’s not how Chigiri works, and it’s unlikely you’ll ever realise unless you pay attention. But as his childhood friend, you’ve seen the side of him that was more…open, before he decided to subdue his emotions. There are telltale signs of his feelings, and you also have ways of drawing them out if you want to — he acts more relaxed around you, and the trust from the past starts to resurface. For a few moments, he lets his guard down and actually shows how much he likes you.

For some reason, I imagine him as a nature guy?? As in he’s the type to pick flowers and gift them to you? Insane, I know. Chigiri buried that part of him when he becomes an assassin, and he doesn’t really see it as necessary after he becomes part of the Gotei 13, but with you, that vulnerable side comes out again. Any Squad member or fellow Captain of the Gotei 13 would raise an eyebrow at the 4th Captain carrying flowers of all things, so he has someone leave it at your desk or doorstep. He won’t admit to sending it, but the calligraphy is clearly his, and the message on the piece of paper is enough to give you a small smile.

Obana Danjirou 

Ah, we finally have an honest and straightforward guy. Danjirou doesn’t see the point of dancing around the point of anything — he prefers to be upfront about his feelings about everything, and that’s no exception…except when it comes to romantic feelings.

He doesn’t splutter or lose his composure, exactly. Danjirou just feels a little…embarrassed, I guess? It’s definitely not his first venture with love, but somehow confessing to his childhood crush feels a little strange. You’re one of the few people who knew him before he started killing people for a living, and all his embarrassing stories when he’s a kid and all that, so he knows he can’t put up a front when it comes to you, because you can just see right through it.

He invites you out to a dinner — a nice Japanese restaurant with the food prepared with fine ingredients. Not too expensive, because he doesn’t want it to be too formal (and that’s not how he does things, anyways), and he tells you what has been hanging on the tip of his tongue for the past few weeks. Again, not overtly serious, but genuine enough that you know that he’s not joking around. Danjirou walks you back home afterwards and everything - he doesn’t wait around for an answer and doesn’t demand one, but secretly he hopes you’d say yes. 

Saitou Furoufushi 

Furoufushi’s first priority in life is not romance, and it’ll never be. I don’t think she’d recognise the feelings as romance anyways -- if she has an affection scale, the highest is probably best friend. I don’t think she’s aromantic necessarily -- I believe she’s capable of falling in love if and when that happens, but for now having a close intimate friend is enough for her.

There won’t be much difference in how you’ll be treated physically and even verbally. Maybe you’ll get called your nickname, but that’s how you were referred to all the time anyways, since you were childhood friends. To the external onlooker, you two tumble around like puppies, playfighting and wrestling, all the schtick.

Honestly, I don’t think Furoufushi’s attitude towards you would change much. Again, since she’s not the character who’s too overtly into romantic love, I imagine it’ll just be the same. I don’t think even you would notice. Maybe she wants to spend more time with you, but that’s about the most obvious change you’ll notice. 

Shigyou Nobutsuna 

Nobutsuna...is a hard man to read. His live revolves around few things -- eating, sleeping, killing, etc. Inter-personal relationships with others aren’t on the top of his priority list either, but he does make time for those he cherishes. 

And that includes you, of course. As his childhood friend, you’re already closer to him than most people are, largely because outside of his Gotei 13 duties and everything else he has to do, Nobutsuna doesn’t really have the patience nor energy to ‘get to know’ other people or be close to them. You’re already ahead in the intimacy game, and you know it.

I imagine the only significant change that occurs is again, spending more time together. And maybe physical intimacy. He doesn’t seem like the type who is too eager on that front (not that many people would dare to approach him either, with his appearance), so if he initiates that, you know you’re special. But not anything too much, or obvious. Maybe catching your wrist when you stumble, or leaning against you when he’s tired. He’ll even come to you for small favours. Like bandaging his wounds or something. 

Katori Batsu’unsai 

One would assume that Batsu’unsai is the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. And maybe we’re right - who knows? I certainly imagine her to be that way - a small smile for everyone, a little flustered at times but completely ruthless on the battlefield. 

She doesn’t start out that way, though. Kindness has to be learnt in the chaotic mess of a world that Soul Society was, and you’ve seen the side of her that she tries to keep buried. When you start showing up, she lets her guard down, just a little, around you. 

Batsu’unsai would be the type of woman to be upfront about her feelings, contrary to how her appearance would suggest. She doesn’t shy away from having romantic feelings for a special someone, and she doesn’t dance around the topic. Doesn’t mean she’d be blunt about it, but that she’ll just be more straightforward about it. You can tell the shift in her mood when it happens - and unlike many others, she won’t be excessively afraid of turning a long friendship into a romantic relationship, because she has enough trust in the bond you two share. 

Outokawa Furuoki

Furuoki has a constant stream of admirers from everywhere, and he knows this. Hence why he’s less enthusiastic about starting a relationship, less so with someone he hardly knows. Luckily for you, you two have been friends since a young age. 

In my previous headcanons, I imagine him as a ronin of sorts -- fallen nobility who had to fight to defend himself from outsiders. If you two are childhood friends, it’s likely you two came from the same background, which makes it better because you have a better understanding of the turmoil he’d been through. There’s hardly anyone in his life left that he really whole-heartedly trusts, but if there’s one person, it’d be you.

You two spend a lot of time alone regardless of whether he was actually harbouring romantic feelings for you - having tea together, taking hikes in nature if you’re an outdoor person, or just taking casual walks together in Seireitei if you’re not. The level of intimacy you share is so obvious and so taken for granted (i.e. it’s natural for you to be together) anyways that when the relationship turns romantic, it doesn’t come as a surprise for either of you two. 

Unohana Yachiru

Another one that I imagine you two to be reunited after the war instead of having spent time together from childhood to adulthood. This can be for various reasons - maybe you were scared and distanced yourself from your friend-turned-murderess. Maybe she ran away from where you grew up to take up the art of the sword. Whatever the reason, when you two finally found each other after the war, there’s an obvious sense of familiarity but awkwardness at the same time - it feels like coming to a home that you no longer recognise.

It takes time to reforge and rekindle your relationship. Contrary to your expectations and the rumours, Yachiru doesn’t act as bloodthirsty as you’d thought (or at least, in front of you). And to her, you’re no longer the naive individual from that many years ago.

And it takes even longer for her to admit she has a crush on you. She’ll probably never tell you, due to whatever reasons she tells herself. You’ll have to figure it out yourself, but even then, you’ll never get an answer. Perhaps you two automatically gravitate towards one another, and end up sharing an intimate relationship that way. Who knows? 

Sakahone Shizou

I imagine y’all would’ve been married already. Like come on, this man looks like he’s on the verge of death. If y’all are still going on with the slow-burn game, you don’t have much time. If he hasn’t gotten a grip and confessed, you’re probably already married to someone else. 

[littledreamling]

Something that's been rotating in my mind like pastas in a microwave lately is : how does Hob's brain, and particularly his memory, works with his elongated life ?

this is prompted by one of your latest reblogs regarding Hob's memory, the fact that's you're actually a student of science, and because I'm pretty sure you wrote or reblogged material for an AU in which Hob became a neurosurgeon instead of a History professor in modern days, which leads him to study people suffering of the sleepy sickness, which in turns leads him to Dream's identity, or something, but I cannot find it again on your blog and maybe I'm mistaken and this sounds completely out of the blue, apologies

Because, correct me if I'm mistaken but our brains aren't fully developed until ~30 years old, which is why it's easier to learn during this period of our lives. But then it retains a considerable plasticity and we may reprogram entire neural pathways for purpose they weren't initially generated to fulfill still (like when someone goes blind and they develop extremely acute hearing or sense of touch because the part of their brain previously alloted to vision has been reprogrammed for hearing/touch instead). Right ?

Which means Hob's brain and memory is functioning just as fine as any 33 years-old's, since he is sparred the decay of his grey cells. But also ... Hob's brain, and memory is, ultimately, finite. There's only so much grey matter his skull can hold !!

He has probably started establishing sorts of "well-memorising" rituals at one point in his life, to make sure not to forget certain precious memories ... and it's probably a non-negligible reason why he got into History too !! He gets to make a living out of churning and reflecting on the past and keeping it vivid.

But there are also parts of his brain, memories and skills that necessarily get overwritten by new memories and skills ? And of course, our brains aren't like hard drives, entire sections of his memory wouldn't suddenly be wiped out. Some memories and skills would simply wither away at the outskirt of his brain, rustying until they get vacuumed into oblivion ... but what do I know about how amnesia work ?? I'm just a Japanese undergraduate and a librarian who writes !!

But combining that with a warped sense of time passing ... Hob used to be excellent on horseback. Of course, he's ridden more horses than any rider throughout his life as a soldat and a bandit, and later as a knight. Sure his title was honorary, and he was no longer a warrior then, but one didn't carve out a niche in England's nobility for themselves, let alone hosted the Queen, without virtosity in horseback fox-hunting.

Then time passes, centuries come and go, and it's been a small eternity since Hob last rode a horse. And he misses it, but he's a busy man, and one does business much more easily inside of a coach than on a horse's back. Plus it's fine, riding a horse is like riding a bike, one simply doesn't forget how to once they've learnt it. Speaking of which, bikes are fantastic !! Such elaborate mechanic would have looked like witchcraft to actually-33-years-old-Hob and yet, it's one about anyone can afford in these days and age ...

Before he realises, centuries have passed without riding a horse. And then Hob finds himself invited to monitor a Renaissance Fair as an historian, and there is jousting on the program, and he somehow finds himself arguing with the knight-wanabees over the inaccuracy of their horses' harnessing, and all they can respond is that historically-accurate harnessing wouldn't be safe for them to ride with, and Hob finds himself oddly riled up by this, and he might not say it, but he thinks loud that "Ah ! Back in my days, people didn't need all of that frill, because we knew how to ride horses," as he climbs on one, intending on demonstrating the ease of today's riders ... and almost breaks his arm in his fall upon a few steps from his mount.

Hob Gadling might know how to ride a bike nowadays, but no longer a horse ...

Uh I might have wandered off a bit here, but my point is, for all the enthusiasm Hob carry with him throughout his immortality, an abundance of oblivion for an abundance of novelty and experiences is a price of which payment he cannot escape.

And that is quite dampening ... but I had to inflict this upon you because I want to hear your thoughts on it Ꮚ•ꈊ•Ꮚ

I’m actually screaming and crying about this, you have no idea. I’m going to try to keep this short because I have about four projects due tomorrow so I can’t devote an hour to pouring my heart and soul into this ask like I want to but this is actually making me go feral!!

First and foremost, I should say that… we don’t really know how memory works in the first place, even in regular humans. I mean yeah, we understand that memories go to short term and then get transported to long term, and there’s a whole lot that goes into that, but it’s kind of a squiggly, imprecise method (and I’m sure there are others who could offer far more insight than me, and I’d love to hear it!) so comparing Hob’s memory to ours is a little difficult, to say the least. But let’s for the moment, assume that his memory works the same way: he can only hold so much information in his brain. You’re absolutely correct about the brain’s plasticity and the fact that Hob would’ve been given his immortality pretty much at the height of his brain’s functioning power (as long as you subscribe to the headcanon that he was ~30-35 at the time of his and Dream’s first meeting) so yeah, he’d have a pretty good memory! But like you said, not infinite. He’s only human, after all, and this is where I blacked out and my angst brain took off in leaps and bounds (sorry @levi1088 for spamming you out of the blue and also making you sad, I’m about to do it again) because thinking about Hob’s memory, about what he’s lived through and lost and forgotten will always make me feel like my ribs are being ripped from my chest, so I’m going to endeavor to make you feel the same way because I’m evil like that

I can’t even begin to fathom all of the things Hob has forgotten over the centuries. Names, places, skills, scents. He always told himself that he’d never forget the sound of a blade being unsheathed or the gasp of air that a man makes when his lungs have been punctured, but he eventually does. When he watches period war movies, he criticizes the sound effects, claiming inaccuracy, but he also can’t remember what it really sounded like, only that it didn’t sound like that. He told himself he’d never forget his sisters’ names, but he forgot them long before he learned his letters (working at a printing press doesn’t necessarily mean he knew the words he was printing, especially because the majority of what he would’ve printed would’ve been in Latin, not English) and with no records, their very existence has disappeared into smoke and grave dirt. Can you imagine the moment when he realized he couldn’t remember his mother’s face? Or Eleanor’s? Or Robyn’s? When he realized he could no longer remember the scent of his childhood home or the sound of his father’s laugh?

His memory isn’t any better than ours! And I’d like to comfort you (and myself) by saying that Dream could conjure up those things in the Dreaming, but he can only draw from memory; once Hob no longer remembers it, it’s gone forever. AND THEN!! The warping of memories!! Every time you remember something, it gets rewritten in your mind, so even if Hob remembered every detail about his life (which we’ve already established that he doesn’t), he probably only thinks he does, because those early memories have been warped beyond belief. And he can’t go back and check because his parents were nobodies, his siblings all died in the plague, his friends died in war. None of them got portraits painted of them, none of them could afford the paper to keep diaries or sketchbooks. There’s absolutely no record of his childhood or home town or family or friends; he’s well and truly the only one left and god, doesn’t that just kill you?

But then (because I’m an incurable optimist and as much as I love angst, I love happy endings too) there’s always a silver lining. Hob is immortal. He’s lost everything. Every single item, every possession, every name, every single person except for one has been lost. He’s had six hundred years to come to terms with the fact that he will inevitably lose everything he currently has and that has to be okay. It has to be, because what other option does he have? He can’t be sentimental with objects because the constant sense of temporariness of every aspect of his life would drive him insane. Delirium would probably take up permanent residence at his flat if he constantly worried about everything he had lost over the course of his long life.

And I have to believe that this applies for memories, too. Hob strikes me as the type to let those kind of things roll off his shoulders like water. There’s nothing he can do about it, so why bother worrying about it? He lives his entire life in a completely transitory state; his memories are the least of his concern (as someone with pretty severe memory problems, this is a mindset that I have been forced to adopt because I, too, would drive myself absolutely insane trying to remember everything I had forgotten. If it’s important, it’ll come back to me, and if it doesn’t, someone will remind me. If neither of those happen, it’s usually none of my concern and 99% of the time, it never comes up again). And like, yeah, it sucks that he can’t remember his mother or his friends or his house, and he mourned those losses when they happened, but he’s constantly replacing those memories with new ones. He’s so invested and intrigued with the world around him and he’s always gaining new experiences; his memories come and go like the tides and he no longer gets upset at the loss of them, or at least, he no longer holds onto that mourning for longer than the emotion warrants; he grieves their absence and then he moves on.

Additionally, his memory might be finite, but the life lessons he’s learned and carried from one lifetime to the next are not. He doesn’t have to remember where he learned how to pick pockets to remember that he knows how to do it, if that makes sense. Some things transcend memory.

This might be a convoluted analogy, but I like to think of memory as a window looking into anroom with a timeline on the opposite wall. Wach person has a window to look through and they can only see the section of the timeline that corresponds to their life. The window can never get bigger, not for anyone. You can only hold a lifetime’s worth of memories. And the same goes for Hob; his window doesn’t stretch or expand any larger than anyone else’s, but it moves when no one else’s does. His window has the ability to slide along the wall, constantly replacing the memories that disappear from view with new ones. We’re all stuck with the lifetime we have, with the memories that we can create in the 70-90 years that we have (if we’re lucky). We all have our window, it’s just that Hob has the ability to shift his window to a new perspective, a new era of time, a new life. And I think he would think that was pretty cool

[obeiii-mee]

Could I request the brothers (and maybe Diavolo, if you're comfortable) reacting to a knightly/chivalrous m/c, please?

———————————————————

I haven’t written Diavolo in a hot minute, I’m glad he’s being requested again. I’m guessing you mean an MC with the attributes of a knight? The same sort of mannerisms and traits and not an actual knight! MC? Lemme know if I did this ask wrong because I was low key confused lmao.

———————————————————

The Brothers + Diavolo with a knightly/chivalrous MC:

Lucifer:

-He really didn’t like you upon first meeting

-He hated how he couldn’t intimidate you into not being a nuisance the way he could with most of his brothers

-But, to be honest, you had gained his respect rather early on

-I think, even though it may have annoyed him to no end, Lucifer was very fond of your bravery a lot of the times

-The way you would stand up for Mammon or that time you protected Beel and Luke from his outburst

-Courage is not a trait one would usually associate with humans, especially when more superior beings like demons are involved

-Your humility was also a characteristic of yours that he, surprisingly, was really fond of

-And your overall mercifulness was something to be congratulated as well

-I mean, him and his brothers put you through so much shit and for you to forgive and move on without an angry word at any of them kinda speaks on its own

-I think he understands, to an extent, the reason you’re so loyal to the people you care about too

-He has a certain devotion for Lord Diavolo and his brothers, more than he lets on

-To him, having someone like you around is something to be appreciated

-Because you are similar but also completely different and nothing like he deemed you to be at the beginning

-yo i think you remind him of himself back when he was angel tbh

-He’s sort of tired of saving your ass tho because you are very just, so you feel the need to help people all the time which leads to you getting involved in fights

-Bring him his 20th cup of coffee for the day please, it’s hard being a single father of 8 children (yes I’ve added Lord Diavolo he counts as one of the kids)

-He’s the definition of this incorrect quote I stumbled across a while back

- MC: “FIGHT ME RIGHT NOW!”

-Lucifer, from behind them “ Do not.”

Mammon:

-Ok so this random human comes to DevilDom and has the audacity to slap his hand away while he’s trying to steal from Diavolo’s castle????????

-“MC ya’re forgetting I’m a demon, my moral scale is wayyy different than yours-“

-“Put it back.”

-“......ok.”

-You’re coming at him with rightfulness and honor and your presence is gonna hit him like a truck

-Cuz he ain’t stealing anything when you’re around (lucifer uses this to his advantage ofc.)

-That was basically the only thing he disliked about you

-Other than that, after your first week in DevilDom, he thinks you’re a goddamn S A I N T

-Everytime you stand up for him when his brothers are being assholes-pls he melts into a puddle of goo from your perfection

-OOFFS AND ALL THOSE TIMES YOU GAVE HIM GIFTS BECAUSE GENEROSITY BBY

-Good thing he was wearing sunglasses, because holy fuck was he weeping under those Gucci shades

-He’s gonna give ya props for having the courage to stand up to him and his brothers

-Lucifer especially because big bro scary

-Think about it like this: literally every single one of them could have you seasoned and roasted for lunch, love

-And yet you still have the bravery to look them in the eye and tell them: “Ya’ll are dysfunctional as fuck and need family therapy.”

-Again, he doesn’t understand your morale, he’s the Avatar of Greed, if he sees something he likes or seems worthy of his presence, he takes it

-But with that look you’re giving him, he honestly feels so guilty he can’t help but put it back

-He also appreciates your patience with him when it comes to anything that involves him talking about his emotions and thought process

-Because at this point he is widely known as scum so-

-Ahhhh, in the end, he thinks you’re pretty badass for a human and would low key want to see you in an armour of sorts agajwhisebhwjwwhehgdhdh

-And he really likes it when you make the effort to open doors for him too but he’ll never have the nerve to admit it

Levi:

-Believe it or not, he warms up to you in less than a day...?

-It’s probably because he’s a navy commander and he’s used to having soldiers around and you sort of remind him of that

-Out of everyone, he reacts the least when he sees how you carry yourself because to him it’s second nature

-Even if he does tend to slouch most of the time

-Almost dropped to his knees and started worshiping you when you yelled at Mammon to give Levi his money back on your first day

-And then a friendship started to blossom (im not friendzoning y’all, relax)

-Levi has a tendency to just walk into your room with his laptop, point at the screen which is paused in the middle of an anime and go “Look, the protagonist is a knight. You’re also...really knightly. I like the protagonist. I, uh I like you too, I guess.”

-He loves how honest you are because he knows that no matter what you wouldn’t lie to him

-“MC, do you think I’m a yucky otaku?”

-“No.”

-“But-“

-“No.”

-“Oh ok.”

-But on the inside he’s like 🥰🥰💞💞💞💞

-I just think that a knightly MC would connect on an emotional level with Levi for a lot of reasons, idk

-He’s gonna be a sputtering mess when he realises how much effort you put into this relationship (platonic or romantic) and how loyal you are to it

-Like how you actually bother learning all of his stupid passwords because you are just as serious about them as he is

-He just crashed, give him a moment to reboot please

Satan:

-He takes a while to warm up to you because for some reason your overall demeanour reminded him of Lucifer lol

-He thought you might be just as stuck up as him

-It didn’t take him longer than a week or so to come to the sudden realisation that you are way more pleasant than his brother

-Like his daddy, you manage to earn his respect pretty quickly after that

-He just thought the way you handled everything that was thrown at you in DevilDom was very sophisticated but firm nonetheless, if that makes sense?

-Like, you weren’t itching to escalate fights or anything but your tone of voice could easily end a whole conversation if need be

-You were still a human of course, it would be real easy for some low rank demon to kidnap you or something

-But for some reason, your confidence seemed to intimidate a few of the weaker ones into leaving you alone

-Obviously, that didn’t mean you were completely safe or anything

-There were still others that could effortlessly overpower you

-Even so, Satan found it sort of reassuring that unlike some humans, you weren’t one to back down without a confrontation

-Don’t get me started on all those times you rebelled against Lucifer, because that’s what truly got him to get to know you better

-He found you pretty interesting and then that interest sort of evolved into actual fondness

-Another thing that caught his eye was that even though you have very strong feelings about justice and fairness, you are completely level headed most of the time

-And patience, while it’s something he can manage, is the one that he has been trying to control for centuries

-He learned a lot from you about behaviour, whether you intentionally taught it to him or not

-And if there is one thing Satan thinks highly of; it would be knowledge

-Therefore, from that point onward, your existence was so much more precious to him than your soul could ever be

Asmo:

-What can I say about our sweet Asmo?

-You could have the personality of a trashcan and he’d still love you

-You were so polite and honourable from the beginning to the point you managed to get the attention of the Avata of Lust himself????

-He thought you were pretty hot basically

-hoWEVER

-Your righteousness always sort of nagged him because he low-key believed Diavolo snuck in another angel into the program, I-

-And for some reason, your loyalty to everyone in general ticked him off immensely at the beginning

-Mainly because he recognised that’s one of the traits he lacks entirely and he came to the conclusion that he needs to revaluate himself on that one

-He is so desperate for your attention, he will tattle on his brothers just to get you to yell at them and then comfort him

-“MCCCCC, MAMMON STOLE MY NEWEST MAKE UP KIT AND IS ABOUT TO SELL IT ON AKUZON!”

-he is so petty istg

-Your nobility still catches him off guard every now and then

-Because you’ve been living with demons for so long and yet you’re still, theoretically speaking, pure?? get your head out of the gutter people

-He probably applauds you on the fact that you can even scare Lucifer on some occasions because imagine having a scarier death glare than the eldest prince of hell

-Asmo will personally buy you clothes that he thinks suit your “aesthetic” (wtf Asmo)

-Might’ve bought you a sword and then got shouted at by Lucifer because oops turns out it was cursed

-Again, supportive mom vibes

-“MC, do you know how stunning you look strutting around with that confidence of yours? Don’t get me started on your posTURE!”

-You pulled a chair for him once and he practically swooned lmao

Beel:

-He figures you’re really nice from the start

-Mostly because you kept running errands and opening doors for him even though he let it slip that he might lose control and eat you

-Like most brothers, he finds you comforting in a way

-Beel appreciates your honesty to him too because he can count on you to tell him when he’s doing something wrong

-And he sort of needs the validation that even though he blames himself for a lot of things that took place in the past, his brothers and you are more than ready to forgive him (even if they didn’t blame him to begin with)

-Rather than respect, Beel puts a lot of trust into you, which I would believe to be more intimate

-If it’s just the two of you hanging out, he has an easier time opening up about Lilith because he knows you would never judge him and respect his feelings enough to let him get it out of his system

-You always share your food with him and give him a bigger portion and he goes so soft-

-Like who allowed you to be this generous?

-Tbh, he thinks it’s sort of refreshing having someone like you around

-Beel has been surrounded by demons for millenniums now and he’s gotten used to their...uh ‘evilness’

-Ever since you got dropped off in DevilDom, you really stood out with your nobility and morals

-It was like a breath of fresh air in a way

-He may or may not believe you’re a good influence on his siblings-if you can even influence demons of all things

-I’m not saying he invites you to work out with him and give him honest criticism, but he definitely invites you to work out with him and give him honest criticism

Belphie:

-“Out of all the humans they could’ve chosen, they picked the most annoying one, oH MY FUCKING GO-I MEAN DAD-“

-You go up to the attic that one night after tricking Lucifer into vibing to some classical TSL tunes

-He spotted you and was immediately irritated

-Like, he KNEW you were going to be a pain in the ass just by judging your posture and how you carried yourself (very knightly)

-At the start, he’s even hesitant to lie to you because he had a suspicion you wouldn’t buy his bs

-(Spoiler alert: you didn’t but you went with it either way)

-It takes a while for you to forgive him when he literally fucking kills you because that was rude af but you got over it in time

-AFTER of the whole ‘Sorry-for-choking-you-can-we-be-friends-now’ incident, you still get on his nerves a lot but at this point, he believes that’s his punishment for being a murderous dickhead

-You don’t really piss him off tho, you just confuse him a lot

-Why are you so polite? You keep pulling chairs and opening doors for him??? Why are you treating him like royalty?? Stop it, he doesn’t want to be like Lord Diavolo (he def likes it when you do that)

-Pls stop dragging the poor man to breakfast, he just wants to sleep in-

-He doesn’t understand how you’re always one time for everything

-My dude tries to wake up 20 minutes early to get somewhere in time and he is still 2 hours late

-sTOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR IDEALS ONTO HIM, HE’S A LITTLE SHIT WHO ENJOYS WATCHING PEOPLE SUFFER

-All the same, you’re a very forgiving person so he’s just grateful you don’t hate him or anything

-And in the end, it doesn’t really matter how much your chivalry and righteousness and all of that pisses him off every now and then

-Because he can’t deny the fact that you brought him and his brothers the peace they needed

-And he so loves it when you and Lucifer go head to head mhmm

Diavolo:

-This big tittied man right here takes a liking to you immediately

-A couple of days in DevilDom and he’s already inviting you for tea at his castle

-You managed to befriend the prince of hell faster than the demons you live with, huh

-He’s lonely ok? He loves having people over and having cozy chitchats

-Not to mention he thinks you’re such pleasant company!

-Most demons would be afraid to even say anything in his presence but you always speak your mind while continuing to be respectful and he’s so happy, you don’t understand-

-Only demons in close relations to Diavolo like Babrbatos and Lucifer actually know how much it takes for someone to anger him

-He doesn’t take offence to much lol

-And he’s really content that you acknowledged that

-He sometimes visits you in his spare time just to talk and hang out since Lucifer is a big meanie who doesn’t want to indulge him and Barbatos is busy making him dinner >:(

-SPEAKING OF- if you and Barbatos don’t bond then i don’t know what to tell you

-I mean, you would both have so many things in common (strong sense of loyalty, honesty, just in a way etc.)

-You’re his favourite guest to have over at the palace, sorry Luci you’ve been replaced

-He genuinely finds you interesting as well so please tell him stories from the human realm!! He’s dying to learn more!

-Diavolo notices you demeanour sort of gives off warrior vibes so-

-He really considered making you into a knight bc it’s Diavolo-what he says; goes

-“I know they’re human but they’ll be fine. Look how tough they are! They managed to survive a year with you and your brothers didn’t they?”

-“My Lord, that doesn’t amount to anything, please don’t get our human killed-“

[evilovesyou]

Tell me about Xie Lian bestie.

in reference to this.

Yes. Okay. I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT XIE LIAN. Because I love him SO. MUCH.

My favourite thing about him is how he's just so kind? And how he so unapologetically expects the best of people, always. He gives everything and never expects anything in return, you know??

Even in his "calamity days", when he's beaten down over and over again and he experiences every unkindness, every way of slander and hatred, he still only needs a single person to be kind to him to get back up. That's so fucking profound.

And don't even get me started on the way he always goes out of his way to make everyone comfortable. He looks away from things he knows are only superficial, little white lies (i.e. Feng Xin and Mu Qing pretending to be Nan Feng and Fu Yao), but the second he senses an Actual InjusticeTM, he won't fucking rest until he's solved it and he doesn't care who he pisses off on the way there (the whole Banyue arc for example).

He's so ????? He's incredibly strong, but SO FUCKING GENTLE. Like, this man could easily beat 99% of the heavenly officials in a fight, even with his two cursed shackles, yet he's humble, even refuses to engage. Xie Lian invented nobility.

I also love how much of a nerd he is. He gets so excited about swords and weapons?? I can only imagine the sparkle in his eyes when Hua Cheng first shows him the armory in Paradise Manor! God, I love when people have their thing, you know? And he treats any weapon with such respect too... Ugh E-Ming is like a literal puppy in front of him and he's (rightfully) so endeared by it! He canonically takes this scimitar to the bath with him??? And pets it all the time?? Goals. I want a pet sword, please.

And then lets talk about how he takes the time to actually get to know people. Obviously this is about Hua Cheng mostly, who everyone warns him about, yet Xie Lian refuses to listen to rumors and gets to know the guy himself. Because he knows how rumors are. And because Hua Cheng is nothing but kind to him, he actively speaks up against those rumors. And he does this all the time. He always stands up for those who are treated unfairly. (Though Hua Cheng is a bit of an arrogant asshole to everyone else, he is right, and that counts far more than rank or etiquette or reputation.)

One of my favourite things is, how horny he is for Hua Cheng without realising that's what he's experiencing. His first thought upon seeing Hua Cheng's hands is "I sure wouldn't wanna be choked by those" and yet he still goes through another 200+ chapters trying to justify that he wants to kiss him all the time. He's so smart, but so dumb and oblivious, and that's just lovely.

He's so awkward, too! Despite being gracious, beautiful, socially aware, and kind... He's still awkward! He just... he has the range, darling! Doesn't he?

Idk it's like 1am and I could go on forever, but what I really wanna say is that I love Xie Lian for being so facetted, for containing multitudes and juxtapositions and for trying so hard to do the right thing. If Hua Cheng ever kicks the bucket, I'm happy to take over as dianxia's truest believer. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[kazuhasbunny]

Giiiirl, imagine you are on Baal's side, you are a general and commanding an army against the rebels' own general, Gorou.

You are all cocky and confident, your years of experience just keeping you aware enough so you won't be consumed by your pride. But oh, your face, when after all of those carefully thought out strategies and intensive training, you end up losing to that mutt.

He is insufferable. Even though his face and body is caked in a mixture only war can give-- blood, sweat and dirt, his smile is the biggest, smuggest thing you have ever seen in your life as a warrior. It does not help that you are on your knees, back stretching forward as the grip he has on your jaw tugs you up with such a force you won't ever believe an archer, a long distance fighter, would posses. The bodies of both sides lay scattered on the defiled land, but the purple spots decorate the most, as his last men stand straight and proud behind him, just as yours do, but the lack the attentiveness. Their tired and bored countenance ticks you in a wrong way. Why they don't look happy by this result?

Does your failure was already predicted? As if this end was something that was already calculated. Taken in account.

The man holding your jaw in a bruising grip let go of you, a mere blink of respite as the next second your left cheek explodes in pain, your vision swaggers for a second as you fall on your right side from the streght of that blow. You shut your eyes and concentrate on your breathing; the fight left you completely drained, as much as your brain screamed at you to stand up and attack that man, your bones and muscles protested as you tensed in hopes of getting up, but ultimately you only made yourself look pitiful.

Gorou turns to were his men are, his gaze lingering for a second on your laughable attempt. His focus switches to the army as he starts to pace from one side to the other, the victory was already decided, but the energy from the feat itself brought a surge of emotions within him.

Another quick glance at you, and something on his mind switched. He was wondering what to do with you; killing you off felt as a meaningless action, as the Shogun won't care for someone as low as yourself. You only were deployed to fight against them to gain time for the real force, to prepare and learn how strong the rebels actually are. With how confident you looked hours ago, it seems that your benevolent Shogun forgot to grace you with such knowledge before sending you off with a bunch of newly trainees.

"First of all, congratulations, my friends, for this well earned victory" Gorou began. The group of men on front of him quickly acknowledge his words, paying attention to what he had to say.

"Even if the outcome resulted as to what we--" He turns around, your eyes opened when he began speaking. You both made eye contact, and Gorou's smirk transformed into a full smile. Was it okay for him to fill such giddiness at the sight of your equally wounded pride and body? After all, he was the one to bring you into that state, he was the one to put you in your rightful place with just one arrow, kneeling on the dirty battlefield as the geo power incased on the arrowhead did its job in petrify you.

The glint of defeat on, dare he say, those gorgeous eyes of yours really made them stand out. Actually, as he approaches your form, he's starting to see some other appealing features he couldn't notice from a longer distance. What was the Shogun thinking, in even allowing you a spot within her number when you clearly weren't made for war?

"--Expected" his pause brought your attention to what he was actually saying. So they had all of this calculated...

"But now, all that is left to do, is tend to the wounded and take care of the dead. Yours and their sacrifice will bring an end to this stupid decree in no time. We need to prepare for tougher, real..." He gives you a glance "...battles from now on. Don't let this win get in your head"

The crowd quietly cheers between them, some of them patting each other on the shoulder for a job well done. All of that camaraderie made your stomach hollow, as you recognise the same speech you have told to your former men after a battle well fought. Those piercing blue eyes of his made you painfully aware of the consecutive part of giving a victory speech, about what is waiting for the losing side, the pit in your stomach grew in size and you really wished that it could swallow you whole before the man in front of you does.

Gorou thrills in your despair. That pretty face of yours plunging into dark dephts, your mind weaving one horrifying destiny after other speaks a lot of your character, as only those who have layed a cruel end to those before them can conceive. He knows what kind of thoughts those are, but as much of a monster as you are viewing him now, he won't do such a thing. He was quite merciful while deciding what your fate will be, even if he didn't pondered a lot in the few minutes after your fall, you are but only a child with a weapon, sent to die by that horrible woman.

And something he prides himself of, is learning from mistakes. He won't throw away something that can fulfill very well other duties than warfare ones.

"Sir! If I may--" a voice spoke between the masses of helms and spears.

"I know, I know. The general" Gorou waves off his hand, his eyes never stranding away from your form for far too long.

A groan escapes your body as his foot steps on your ribcage, not too hard but your weak body sense as if he had nails attached to the sole, your skin felt cold and as if it was being prickled by a ton of needles. He pushes your your body with a gentleness unexpected from an enemy, until you were lying on your back. The new position put pressure in the arrow wound on your right/left shoulder, your dominant arm, and for a second you were grateful of the rigidness granted by the geo element yet covering half of your arm or else you are sure you would have cried in pain, the last thing you want now is to show more weakness that what you are displaying.

"What I am going to do with her... I didn't know myself when we first begun this battle" Gorou continued. He removed his shoe from your chest to your side on the floor, so you'll be cage between his legs while he looks down on you. His arms crossed across his chest and he tilted his head to the side, as in assessing you, taking on your face just as covered in grime as his but not diminish your beauty in the slightest. He really made a good decision in regard of your fate.

The soldiers stood still, the atmosphere felt heavy like the air on a hot summer afternoon that feels stuffy on your lungs as your breath in. Their general had an unseen aura surrounding him, his usual careless actitud makes everyone forget that there's an animal side to him, although they aren't sure they will presence it for the first time, their captain is definitely switching towards that side... they even feel a little bit of pity for the woman under him.

"But as I see her like this, beaten, it makes me remember something of old, that the victorous usually sow. Can you guys guess what it is?" He squats over you, sweetly combing a couple of strands of hair out of your face.

Whispers break among the army after the question. One of them raised his hand, no barely 18 years old as he was one of the shortest in comparison to his bigger and wider shouldered comrades. The young recruit promptly lowered his arm as the general wasn't looking at their direction but that didn't stopped him from answering, eyes shining with excitement:

"They take something as a token of their victory, sir!"

Gorou hummed in affirmation. "Yes, they did. A spoil of war, if you may"

Dread washed over you. He wasn't going to kill you, as a way to demonstrate their superiority? To be taken as a trophy, a possession... He surely won't mean that, right? They are going to torture you and extract every drop of information that you have, until the last thing left in you is blood to shed on their hands as your usefulness is cut short like your troath.

You needed to say something. Anything, as long as it would arise anger within the young male, anything as long as you aren't degrade far from what you have been.

Gorou raised his eyebrows as you coughed. He wasn't expecting a monologue from you but neither silence. Your sudden wish of speaking made the men jump into action, their spears pointing at you with such terrifying speed made you realise furthermore that this battle was destined to end like this, another stripe to the tiger just like a new blow to your pride.

"Just kill me already. I won't say anything, and if given the opportunity, I will end it myself" you spat. You tried to transmit all of your pain, hate and shame in one stare, you won't go happy until you make that man see what you feel, how big your abhorrence is to his being.

All the males stare in silence, until the general himself chuckled. Your cheeks burn with rage, your teeth clenched together as you tried yo surf this flare of emotions. How dare he laugh like that! He already won and you won't speak a thing about the Shogun, why acting like that? Isn't the rebels supposed to act with nobility and fairness?

Gorou took a breath in. He's happy he didn't went for the traditional route and killed you.

"Aw, now you just proved me correct, sweetheart. I'll enjoy making you into a proper wife"

All of that just to say "Imagine being taken as Gorou's prize and he makes you his whore wife" LMAO

(Also? In the part that reader coughs? I wanted to put that Gorou spits on your lips because you looked thirsty AODJFJDC)

THIS 🙏 yes i’d love to be gorou’s housewife he should really take me in and train me to obey him . please i’d do anything for him

AND pleasee omg ... if u actually put that in i’d die on my chair it’s too hot i can’t hjnhnggrh

[thecottageinthedark]

lewis please go off about tidus. i want your tidus takes

Oh my god this is a lot of pressure????

But, ok, to start with; one thing that strikes pretty much everyone who plays FFX is how...oblivious Tidus is about how Yuna is Very Clearly On A Suicide Mission. Until it's explicitly pointed out to him, he just totally fails to connect the dots.

But...I realised, lately, that...there might be an explanation for that. One that isn't 'he's thicker than a yard of lard'.

Okay so. I would spoiler this if I could but I don't see the option for doing that on mobile and my browser is refusing to load tumblr at all for some incomprehensible reason. So.

Tidus was born and raised in the Zanarkand dream that the Fayth created as an escape from the complete hell of their undead existence. In dream-Zanarkand, there's no war, no Sin, no summoners. Because, again, this is the escapism thing. The Fayth do not want to have the shitty bits of the real world that personally damaged them showing up in their fantasy.

So, here's a theory. Besides not having the explicit Big Threats, there's an idea that's missing from the dream-world. A philosophical concept. The idea of the nobility and normalisation of sacrifice.

In Tidus's world, people get hurt, and die. His mom died of sickness and grief. Old age is a thing, and injury. Fiends don't often show up, but he does mention at one point that they're not unknown. He understands that death is a thing.

But it's always a bad thing. It hurts. It sucks. There's nothing pretty about it. It's to be avoided whenever possible. He doesn't have the cultural context to understand martyrdom as an ideal.

Now, when he gets to Spira, the first people he meets are Rikku and her men on the Al Bhed ship, but he doesn't stay long with them before Sin grabs him again. He lands in Besaid, and it's in Besaid that stuff starts beginning to make some kind of sense again. Wakka welcomes him and offers to help him find his feet; the other people of Besaid (with the exception of Lulu and Kimahri) are friendly to him in a way the crew of the ship (minus Rikku) weren't. Yuna is the first person who believes he isn't delusional. Hiring on with the Aurochs for the upcoming tournament gives him something to do that is familiar and within his comfort zone, and though he doesn't expect playing blitzball to be any practical help, it's no doubt really reassuring right now to have this thing that he knows how to do.

And it's in Besaid, where he finds support and structure for the first time since coming to Spira, where he starts hoping that possibly all of this crazy shit can somehow be sorted out, that he first hears about summoners and pilgrimage.

It's just completely un-intuitive to him that Yuna-this cute, smart, kind person his own age-could be...not only planning to commit suicide but declaring her intention to do so to the entire world, and not facing any resistance to that. She's getting praised for being a summoner on pilgrimage! Her friends and family are supporting her! Everyone thinks this is okay. And these people may be kind of weird about religion, and obviously foreign, but...those are things that Tidus can accept as 'I guess they do things differently here'.

The pilgrimage tradition isn't like that. It isn't the kind of weird he can conceive of as fitting into a more-or-less sane world.

.....and it's hard for us as the audience to pick up on this. Because our world also understands the idea of martyrdom as an expression of heroism. The tropes, to us, are obvious. And so Tidus comes off to us as stupid.

But really, it's innocence. And his perspective is something Yuna needs for her own character arc...just as he needs to learn from her.

Yuna learns that sacrifice isn't a one-size-fits-all solution; that sometimes it isn't a solution at all, and that there's a lot of ugliness that creeps in when it becomes viewed as the greatest form of goodness.

Tidus learns that sacrifice isn't inherently pointless. Sometimes, one's own life is not too high a price to pay. Sometimes, the rewards really are worth it. Even though you won't be there to see them.

[feanorianethicsdepartment]

Do you have any personal headcanons about Celebrimbor's mother and her relationship with Curufin? I always thought that it's weird we don't have even the barest information about that considering Celebrimbor's unique position as the only next gen Feanorian. (Sorry if you already talked about this somewhere!)

thanks for the ask! i have, but i'm not going to pass up an opportunity to blather on about my ocs for several paragraphs

curufin's wife (she lacks a name because i hate giving characters names and will delay it until i absolutely have to) is noldorin, she lives in valinor in the years of the trees. i haven't thought much about her family, but i suspect they're middling nobility at the highest the did-valinor-have-social-classes debate is a whole different rabbit hole. she's a metalworker like her husband (she probably specialises in a slightly different subcategory but idk enough to say what) and is a member of the same tirion artisan guild. it's in that context that they meet and begin their Intense Crafting Rivalry

you know that trope where a pair of rivals are so obsessively devoted to one-upping each other it's blindingly obvious that what they actually want is to kiss? that's them, that's their relationship. their specialties are just similar enough they do a lot of the same stuff but just different enough their approaches tend to be radically divergent. what starts as the two of them trying to prove the superiority of their own artistic circle or whatever evolves into them trying to show up him/her specifically, s/he's wrong about x and i know i can do better, why does my family keep asking if we're dating yet????? their competition gets absolutely ridiculous in ways only a pre-scarcity society can get, like building an entire fountain out of solid silicon specifically because he said she couldn't do it (he actually said shouldn't but screw him (not literally cousin oh my valar))

but yeah. their relationship grows an undercurrent of the-only-one-allowed-to-push-around-my-archnemesis-is-me, and they find themselves fighting back to back (occasionally literally) when tirion guild politics takes a turn for the tirion guild politics. they just slowly come to trust each other, more than anyone else, and soon there comes an appropriately dramatic moment for them to suddenly kiss. they're still always trying to out-craftself each other, celebrimbor grows up in a house that's about 70% forge to the background noise of his parents insulting each other's work, but they're comfortable with each other in a way neither of them could have imagined in the early days, and when things get rough they always have each other's backs

things do, in fact, get rough. maglor won't meet his wife until beleriand, caranthir's relationship with his spouse slowly falls apart along with the political situation in tirion, but curufin's wife is loudly team fëanor. she suffers from an acute case of finwean spouse disease, she thinks going to middle-earth to build their own world is an awesome idea, she's deeply embedded in the tirion artisan scene with an entire social circle as think the same way, and when the inevitable civil war flares up she'll probably be even more eager to fight the fingolfinians than her husband. she goes with him and their-still-pretty young son to formenos, and when the trees get eaten and fëanor does the speech she prepares for the adventure of a lifetime

then, alqualondë. i stand by my conviction that nobody on the noldorin side walked in planning to steal the boats, let alone murder the teleri, but it was dark and the world was ending and everybody had sharp things. like everybody else involved in the first kinslaying, curufin and wife got caught up in the battle because somebody shouted 'they're attacking us!' in the distance. she is at first more trying to stop them from stabbing her, obsidian fishing spears glancing off ornamental steel, but then she lashes out and she hits someone in the chest and -

there was this recurring trope in her and her husband’s endless mutual critique. she’d create something beautiful, artfully devised and elegantly constructed, showing off a whole ton of design principles and doing things with the material no one had ever done. he would look at it skeptically and go ‘okay, but what use is it? what is it for?’

red liquid running down the fuller of the exquisite sword she forged herself, light guttering out of another elf’s eyes as he coughs up blood, she knows, sure as once were the light of the trees, what the piece of metal in her hands is for

the next few moments are a blur. she threw the sword into the water, she knows that. somehow she wound up running out of alqualondë, tears streaming down her face, as buildings burned and people screamed behind her. she found a concealed spot by the road, tore off her armour, peeked outside, and watched. when the fires were dying down and the boats were clearly gone, she mustered her courage and went to save her family

in the centuries to come, very few people believe celebrimbor when he tells them his mother tried to get his father to come back by, among other things, appealing to his better nature. nobody believes that it almost worked. but curufin was still only starting out on the road to hellbeastery, and his wife was his eternal partner-in-crime. right there at the beginning, staring out over a burning city, she saw where the road the noldor were walking would eventually lead them, no matter how much they tried to deny it. no dreams could be worth that, she told him. no ideals. and she was always the idealist, wasn’t she?

she was. maybe that’s why he, who had so very few ideals to mark his path, refused to abandon this one. their discussion rapidly devolved into a screaming argument half the camp could hear, much like curufin’s last argument with celebrimbor, centuries later. soon enough, though, it became clear that he wouldn’t turn back, and she refused to go on, and neither of them could change the other’s minds. the only thing left between them was celebrimbor

celebrimbor was eight (-ish in elf years), and completely freaked out, and eight, and knew almost nothing about what was going on, and eight, and had grown up listening to his grandfather’s dreams, and eight, and was surrounded by adults who very loudly thought going to middle-earth would solve all their problems, and eight, and couldn’t tell why his mother was abandoning them. panicking, on the spot, he buried his face in curufin’s smock to wipe away his tears. when he looked up, she was gone

so yeah, curufin’s wife went back with finarfin, that’s why she didn’t go to middle-earth. she initially stayed with nerdanel because almost everyone else on both sides of her extended family remained by (and later burned) the boats, i’m only just realising the horrible curufin argument probably wasn’t even the only one she went through that night, jeez. also she really needed a hug. the sun rose, alqualondë started rebuilding, and she ended up head of her and her husband’s former mutual craft guild, mostly because nobody else with the skills to do it was left. decades turn to centuries, news slowly filters back from beleriand, and her worst nightmares are proven so awfully right

probably the biggest emotion she feels towards curufin in the aftermath is betrayal. they were partners, in every sense of the word, they took on the world and they did it together, using their constant competition to drive each other to ever greater heights. they listened to each other, they trusted each other’s judgement, and she knows he understood the point she was making. him continuing on anyway, and diving face-first into the void - the elf she thought she knew would never have done that. as time passes by, the grief and the loneliness get subsumed by a deep abiding rage. if she ever sees the thing her husband let himself become again, she’ll throw a welding torch in his face

but that anger, that heartbreak, none of that applies to her son. when the hosts of valinor began gearing up for war - she’s the leader of tirion’s most prominent metalworking guild, she can’t not go. while they’re unloading supplies and siege equipment and stuff onto the isle of balar, she happens to pass by this relatively short dusky-skinned noldo hauling some smithing equipment about. as soon as he gets a proper look at her, he gasps. she looks back in confusion, and then she meets his eyes

later, she’ll hear his tales of his adventures in the hither lands, all of the hardships, yes, but also all of the brilliance. later, she’ll learn about the person he’s grown into, someone she can be unreservedly proud of in his choices and works. later, they’ll talk about the future, about his ambitions of making his grandfather’s dream come true, but with open hands and a light to be shared with all the peoples of middle-earth. for now, though, she wraps celebrimbor in a massive hug, and lets the tears flow down her face, because no matter how much they’ve lost, no matter how deep the darkness around them, right here and now, her son is alive

[saphirered]

Fight For Dessert?

And here it finally is, part two to the last Essek x Eldritch Knight reader request. 

A walk through the streets of Rosohna did you good but Essek was still refusing to let you go anywhere isolated with him without supervision besides his home or the Xhorhaus after the whole ordeal with the Volstruckers. The presence of the Aurora Watch brought him more comfort than it ever had done. Not for himself but the sense of security that you wouldn’t be alone if trouble found you. 

The two of you walk or float perhaps a little bit closer than may be socially acceptable but neither of you seem aware or care enough. A guard of the Aurora Watch rushes over to you a little out of breath and gives a short bow to both you and Essek. 

“What is it?” Essek asks in a tone befitting of the Shadowhand, demeanour changing to a more cold and distant one at the approach of the guard. 

“A message for you Shadowhand. And one for the Knight.” The guard holds out two delicate envelopes stamped with a deep purple seal, names written in beautiful cursive. You take the one addressed to you with a confused look and can see a hint of annoyance from Essek. 

“You may go now.” Essek dismisses the guard who keeps waiting. 

“My apologies, Shadowhand. I was instructed to await your answers.” The guard looks to the envelopes. Essek takes his and opens it as well reading it. His expression does not change. 

‘You have been graciously invited to attend a formal dinner in your honour at the estate of Den Thelyss tonight.’

“Essek?” You give him a glance allowing him to see the invitation. Essek shows you his invitation too. His has and additional note; ‘bring your friend’. You see Essek lift his chin with a deep sigh giving the guard a bit of a glare.

“Please tell my mother-“ Seeing where this is going you cut him off.

“-that we accept her gracious invitation, isn’t that right, Essek.” You would have stepped on his foot to shut him up if he weren’t floating. Essek gives you a surprised look as the guard nods, excuses himself and hurries off. 

“Why would you…” Essek doesn’t finish the question. 

“Because even I know you simply do not refuse an invite from nobility let alone a Denmother, your mother no less.” He can’t deny. You have a point. 

So there you are, dressed in the fanciest clothes gold could buy in such a short period of time, courtesy of Jester and her impeccable taste. The fine silks in hues of purple, dark blues, black and silver made you stand out in the crowd for sure if it weren’t the design itself, like it was made for you. Many garments were tried on. None but this passed Jester’s approval. Luckily for you the outfit wasn’t so heavy or tight you couldn’t even lift your arms, or would feel like you were carrying both Fjord and Caduceus on your back. You had your full range of motion and a perfect fit. 

Essek escorted you to the estate which is every bit as grand and impressive as you expected it to be. You’re a bit on edge and nervous. It’s not every day one gets such an invitation, let alone one by the family your ‘friend’ belongs to. 

“You are calmer ahead of battle than you are attending dinner. I do not think I have ever seen you this on edge.” Essek couldn’t keep his observation to himself. It’s quite a funny one in his eyes. You’d be prepared to walk into a moorbounder nest no hesitation and no fear yet a social gathering is enough to nearly throw you off your feet and have you panic. 

“Don’t laugh! Not all of us have spent our lives making friends with the leaders of nations.” He stops, you with him and turns to you. 

“And yet I doubt that’s what unnerves you so.” He places his hands on your shoulders as you take a deep breath. 

“What if she doesn’t like me? Or if she doesn’t approve your blatant admiration of me?” You manage to lighten the mood with your last question. 

“If my mother didn’t approve of you she would never have invited both of us to dinner. As for my ‘blatant admiration of you’, as you put it, I think it is more than deserved after everything.” Essek looks around seeing no one but the guards in front of the estate and pulls you into his embrace. 

“You’ll do perfectly. My mother will love you just as much as I.” He speaks as you return the hug. Pulling apart he offers his arm and the two of you make your way through the gates. 

“You’re biased.” You whisper as the guards open the doors for the two of you.

“I am. So what?” You scoff at the wizard’s answer as you enter Essek’s childhood home. 

Worked stone, stained glass windows and geometric designs make up the majority of the structure. It’s quite beautiful and comes close to what you expect a private palace might look like. Though, you didn’t expect any less from one of the most prominent and well respected Dens in the Dynasty. Your eyes wander taking in the beautiful art work displayed within the foyer alone. You can’t begin to imagine what the rest of the building looks like. 

Walking down the stairs as the servants take your and Essek’s cloaks, is the Denmother herself in all her glory. You can see the family resemblance and are taken aback by the sheer presence the woman radiates. Sensing you panic as you resist the urge to gulp Essek pats your arm leading you forward. 

You take a deep breath. For the first time you feel like the roles are reversed, Essek being your support and saviour when you’re in need instead of the other way around. He keeps you grounded. You squeeze his arm linked through yours in a quick thank you. 

It’s no different from a battle. Except your sword has been exchanged for your wit and your words are your weapon and shield. The strategy remains. You can do this. You got this. The words echo in your head only to realise Essek whispered them. You nod. You got this. 

Essek and you meet Deirta at the bottom of the stairs. You offer a brief bow in respect, returned with a bow of the head and a smile. 

“Welcome. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. My son speaks very highly of you. I am Deirta Thelyss.” Deirta takes the lead, you and Essek following into the dining room. 

A large table enough to fit half the court alone, houses only four chairs, one at the head, two on one side and a single one at the other. The table is set for four, plates, cutlery, beautiful glasses and everything. Leaning on one of the chairs is a handsome drow, dressed appropriately for the dinner bearing the vestiges of a Taskhand, or at least so you’ve been told. This drow, while elvish age might be more difficult to pinpoint seems to be a bit younger than Essek and shares similar features. A sibling perhaps? Essek doesn’t really talk about his family much. 

Essek guides you along to the two chairs next to each other, one of which the other man is leaning on. The man raises to a more proper stature and bows to you. 

“My, my, you must be my dear brother’s heroic saviour. Taskhand Verin Thelyss. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Verin pulls out the chair next to the one he was leaning on and offers it to you. You unlink your arm from Essek’s and take a seat thanking the Taskhand. Before Verin can, Essek takes the seat next to you at the right hand of the Denmother. Verin sends him a glare but Essek looks on innocently. Sibling rivalry? You’ll never let him hear the end if this goes on.

“Don’t look so glum, Verin. It doesn’t suit you.” You raise an eyebrow at Essek’s comment as Verin takes the seat opposite of his brother and Deirta takes hers. 

“And pomposity suits you perfectly brother.” Verin raises his glass.

“Children. No bickering at my table. We have a guest.” Deirta smiles at you as servants fill your glasses and uncover the plates set out in front of you to reveal a delicious looking meal. 

“Thank you for joining us tonight. I’m grateful you were able to accept my invitation on such short notice. When my son speaks about your exploits he tends to leave out the mortal danger of it all and I have to learn from others the details of the risk you put yourself at to keep him safe. You have my eternal gratitude.” Deirta places a hand over her heart. 

“You talk about me?” You give Essek a look and can just see the tiniest of blushes creep on his face for just a second as he tries to repress it. 

“Gushes on about you really, singing your praises. ‘Such an intelligence, a fast learner, strong and clever’. It never ends.” Essek glares at Verin as you lean into the arm of your chair giving him an ‘oh really’ look waiting for him to come up with some clever comment or witty remark in return to deflect from the fact he’s not been subtile about his affections towards you around his family. 

“I only shared my conclusions based on the information and evidence provided to me first hand.” 

“I believe that’s what us common folk would call ‘an opinion’, darling.” You laugh amused by the whole situation. You earned a snort from Verin with your comment. Deirta looks between the three of you before turning her attention back to you directly.

“I heard you had gotten rather seriously injured. I hope you’ve recovered well enough?” Deirta asks. 

“I have thanks to my rather talented healer friends. Though if it were not for Essek’s quick response getting them, things may have played out very differently.” You praise the wizard next to you trying to put him a bit more at ease and give him something to return fire if he has to against his brother, letting him know you have his side still. Esseks gives you a thankful smile. 

“So you’re recovered then?” Verin’s expression turns a bit more mischievous and you can see Deirta giving him a scolding look. 

“I am according to my clerics, though I feel they held off on my release from bedrest and confinement to the house for several days. It’s good to be out and about again. I’ve missed it, even though the company has been good I definitely missed being allowed to swing a sword and throw a  proper punch.” Verin’s smile grows. 

“Since you’re good to fight again, how about you show me what you’re made off? How much of my brother’s opinions prove true?” 

“Verin.” Both Essek and Deirta warn each for different reasons.

“Oh come on, I’m merely joking. Unless you’d take me up on the offer of course.” Verin gives you an innocent look you’ve seen so many times on Essek. Plausible deniability apparently runs in the family. 

You lean your elbows on the table, clasping your hands together. Essek mutters an ‘oh no’ under his breath and takes a big gulp from his drink as you grin. 

“You want a fight? I’ll give you a fight.” You wink. 

“Verin need I remind you of your manners. We do not challenge guests to a fight over dinner.” Deirta scolds her son. 

“It’s just a bit of fun, mother.” Verin complains and where he not presenting himself as a renowned official and the person he is, it might have sounded like the plea of a child being told no. 

“I would not wish to overstep any boundaries and forgo all rules of social engagement. Nor do I wish to ruin a perfectly pleasant evening, Denmother. Perhaps another time, Verin?” You earn the Denmother’s approval as she says something to Verin in Undercommon you do not understand but by the tone of her voice alone and Verin’s response you can tell it’s probably not positive. 

Essek sighs deeply next to you pinching the bridge of his nose as Deirta and Verin continue their argument. 

“Oh for the love of… Can you two please cease this useless fight. I’d much rather see Verin being put in his place than listen to this endless argument one more second. Thank you.” The two of them slowly quiet down when Essek speaks up. Verin gets up from his chair.

“It’s settled then, we’re all in agreement.” 

“We are not all in agreement but to cease this argument, very well. You have my permission.” Deirta concedes despite all better efforts.

“If you wish to take my son up on this fight you have my permission.” 

Before you know it you’re outside in what you can assume is Den Thelyss’ private gardens. It’s simple and large enough of an open space to not break anything in the near vicinity should things get ugly. Both of you drop the heavier and unnecessary layers of your outfits. You’re pulled aside by Essek before you walk into the fighting ring. 

“Not that I do not have full confidence you’ll win, but please do not get injured or I fear I might find my next cup of tea poisoned or my books desecrated.” Essek worries taking hold of your hands giving them a brief squeeze. 

“I’ll do my best to protect your precious books and keep any attempts of poisoning at bay. Now please excuse me while I go kick your brother’s ass.” You pat his cheek as you step back and into the makeshift fighting ring. Verin offers you a sword but you don’t take it. 

“I’ve brought my own.” You summon your trusty sword and earn a nod of approval from the drow.

“Nice trick.” The moment you’re ready Verin swings at you but you’ve lived this long thanks to your reflexes and step to the side with ease. You tap the blade of your sword against his to inch it out of your way as you go for a high strike giving Verin enough time to counter block. 

This isn’t a fight to the death and you’re not deliberately trying to seriously injure your opponent so you both hold back but you do get a glimpse of the soldier within Verin and see where he gets his reputation from. It’s earned. The ‘dance’ between you and Verin continues until it gets more competitive and the both of you come to a nonverbal understanding to find out who’s going to be the clear winner here. 

Verin summons his echo letting it come at you while putting some distance between you and him to give him the advantage. You’re quick to respond with a lightning lure. A satisfying grin visible as you pull Verin back within your range. You deflect a blow from the echo while kicking Verin’s wrist preventing his sword from striking you. Bringing your own sword around you cut the echo in half, turning it to wisps of shadow. You strike back with a hit directed at Verin. He dodges and comes around with a hit you use your blade to parry. Another echo comes in play but you pay it no mind having had enough of this back and forth. You grab the blade of Verin’s sword, not nearly tight enough to pierce your skin but just enough to hold it in place, drop your own sword and reach into your component pouch. 

You speak the familiar words and release the gold dust you re-summon your sword back to your hand and point it at Verin’s chest. Verin tries to pull the sword from the air but is unable to move it. 

“Do you concede?” Verin holds up his hands in surrender but you notice a glint in his eye. He quickly moves around the other side of the sword frozen in the air kicking at your leg. You toss your sword to the side, punch once to break his defence and another directly to the chest. Verin’s breath hitches and you kick his legs from under him. He groans, the air is knocked out of him as he lands on his back. You put your foot on his chest standing over him. He grabs it purely by instinct but loosens his grip quickly. 

“Very well. I concede.” Verin speaks out of breath. You remove your foot and offer him a hand pulling him back to his feet. From the stairs you hear a slow clap. Both of you look over to see Deirta standing next to an amused Essek. 

“Impressive. My son’s words have proven true. You have my approval.” The Denmother speaks rather indifferently but offers a smile no less before retreating back inside. 

“Perhaps one day we might fight side by side. I look forward to seeing you around more often.” Verin slaps a hand on your shoulder before he wanders off to clean up. Essek joins you, the two of you left alone in the gardens outside the building. 

“What just happened?” You ask confused about how you just gained the approval and respect of Verin and Deirta Thelyss. 

“They saw exactly why you have my affection.” You bump into Essek’s shoulder in a ‘shut up’ and he offers you a genuine smile. 

“I am that great, aren’t I?” You joke as the two of you begin making your way back inside. You’re still processing unsure of how to take and handle all of this. This was unexpected to say the least.

“And I’ve told you many times. I don’t plan to stop doing so either.” You give him a little side hug as you look around the abandoned remains of dinner being cleared off the table by the servants. 

“Is this how fancy dinners always go?” 

“Certainly not. Though, I can say watching my brother be put in his place certainly has been the highlight of my day, second to you showing off.” You both laugh as you’re ready to head back leaving the Thelyss estate behind you. Perhaps it’ll become a place you’ll visit more often. Though you’ll still always prefer the towers. And feeling some bruises form already, you have some books to protect from the wrath of a doodling tiefling. 

[mevekagvain]

Chapter 373 - Rael freaking out when he realises Grandia is 'complete'... Delicious.

- Frankenstein you didn't need to shout to get your point across :/

Chapter 374 - See I understand the words but my brain's computations call bullshit.

- You're right Tao, despite having the same genes Rael's much shorter than Rajak. That's 100% the difference you mean. No way you could mean something else.

- Okay but you going after Seira is creepy behaviour Rael. Incel moments. Rajak's 'no comment' when Rael asks about it is disapproval in my heart <3 Or at least he's aware Seira will never return his feelings.

- Interesting that Rajak would give up being a clan leader if Rael wanted the position in a heartbeat though. Something to chew on.

Chapter 375 - Kaiyo 🥺 Mount's happy to see her too :)

- Edi, if the drugs are wearing off you should consider going to Raskreia, not the empty noblesse estate. Not that she's in a good enough state of mind to realise that.

- Kinda weird to just stand there and stare at Raizel's back. Still love you though, Edi.

- Not accepting this lame ass building as the Tradio manor. Fountain's cool though.

- Claudia 🥺🥺🥺❣❣❣

- You know, it's funny that nobody's ever considered that maybe Claudia's just adopted. Like how nobility might take the son of some branching family and raise him as theirs since he has their bloodline and thus can be the heir. Not that I'm into this theory. For Philemon sure and maybe other ocs but otherwise no.

- I do wonder why Gradeus didn't let the scar Rajak inflicted on him heal since we know his healing ability is pretty decent and could get rid of it fairly quickly. Like from an outside perspective it's to leave an impact and remind ppl of Rajak's sacrifice, but what would his reasoning be? Can't be like Urokai's since Rajak's dead.

Chapter 376 - Ludis refers to his fellow young clan leaders with sir except for Seira and Rael and Regis ofc, but he simply refers to Gradeus by name. Interesting implications there. He just doesn't respect Gradeus anymore.

- All Rayga does is lean against vertical surfaces, pose, and appear out of nowhere. Stand normally.

- "I hope we meet again someday." Well that didn't happen now, did it? Should have scheduled it into a calendar guys.

Chapter 377 - Kei and his waterfall have entered the fight. Might be the prettiest scenery of Lukedonia in the manhwa unfortunately.

Chapter 378 - Don't agree with Gradeus thinking he can use his power however he wants but yeah forcing clan leaders to commit suicide isn't great. Maybe he's fucked in the head because of the knowledge that he's supposed to die with the lord. All the others are too, just that they're being religiously devout, and he's a heretic.

- Messad changing in appearance because Gradeus was suppressing his power is very cool. Makes sense too since the appearance it takes is a manifestation of the wielder so if he was suppressing the power he channelled than it would obviously not look as grand either. Like how Mevek and Shikoku and Artemis typically have extremely fancy ornate soul weapons or Acala's has food motifs when representing their true selves but if they limited the power they channeled they would just be simple weapons. So rather than it being a different appearance altogether, it's more like the true one is a decorated version of the suppressed one. So in that sense it's not really a different form. More like carving the wooden pole of a spear and adding tassels. Don't think clan leaders can make their weapons take actual different forms aside from this though. Except for Rousare. He's special.

Chapter 379 - Kaiyo immediately stepping in to save Mount,,, love her. Also she immediately says they should fight Kei together like yeah maybe they would have won if they did.

- Grandpa!! In the Landegre library, or maybe his own personal one?

- Grandpa on grandpa violence 😔 such a sad sight.

Sidenotes - Idc about a lot of 'canon' heights that aren't exact heights given in cm like with the household because of several reasons. One is that they're drawn very inconsistently. Two is that I think Ludis, Rael, and Gradeus should be shorter than all the female clan leaders and shorter than present day canon Seira. It's more fun that way. Three is that tbh ppl taller than 183 cm (6 ft) are not real to me though I'm reluctantly willing to accept ppl up to 200 cm. Irl euro heritage ppl are just really tall and it's weird. Where I'm from being that tall is more of an exception than normal even if in some countries it's the average height for men. Also men that tall are just scary idk how I'm supposed to exist easily around men a head or two taller than me.

- Just like how Kuharu was an Indian stereotype, I think Drakon is based off of something along the lines of vikings or spartans or cavemen. Pretty sure it's the first because of the braids though. The latter two suggestions is because of the loincloth esque fur clothing he wears.

[randomnameless]

Muhritocratic musings, since it's trendy, but regarding TS

does Aefrost suck because Gustadolf is at its head, or Gustadolf sucks because he is the leader of Aefrost?

Both, I’d want to say, but more importantly,

Aefrost is the only “nation” where Gustadolf could have risen through the ranks and achieved as much.

In a purely meritocratic country - ultra libertarian one - the only thing of value is the result.

It doesn’t matter where you come from (or who you come from) as long as you show enough merit, i.e. show results. So even if we want to diss on Gustadolf for appointing his siblings (rather, his brother) as his second in command - it doesn’t matter because Gustadolf sees them both as pawns he can and will use, just like his cousin.

Gustadolf gets striking results, under his tenure the Duchy remilitarized itself, managed to conquer Glenbrook and depending on the routes, he can even conquer Hyzante. He also managed to find rock salt to safely piss on Hyzante (before conquering them).

But to do so, Gustadolf had to off his cousin (something he planned since the beginning!), stage his death to prepare a surprise war/attack on Glenbrook, murder his way through the royal line to snag the Princess, use her as a puppet ruler to destroy the people’s faith and love (well...) for their previous regime and lords and, we discover later, when cornered, doesn’t hesitate to send his younger brother and sister(s, I’m pretty sure he gave no orders to spare Frederica) to death, along with the strongest General of his army to buy time to create his super mega canon.

As a result, Aefrost is a country which has no morals, no “code” of chivalry and, well, not even any loyalty to family members. Aefrost’s “liberty” is best seen through Gustadolf himself, he is free to do whatever he wants, even if it means killing his own siblings to further his ambitions (and we know Thalas and Erika really wanted to help him, they were even eager to do so!).

Gustadolf’s defeat in the Liberty ending is when he realises he never needed to kill his cousin, if they worked together he could have achieved his “perfect end” way earlier. But nope, that is not how Gustadolf operates - why talk with someone when you can use them as a pawn instead?

So yes, Aefrost is free from Glenbrook’s shackles of nobility. 

It is also free from the shackles of family, loyalty, love and everything that makes Cordelia, the random nobody who’s put in a Sansa situation, manage to sway Avlora - the devoted best General of Aefrost - to her side, by appealing to her sense of pride and honour - something Gustadolf discarded a long time ago to be “free”, a small “mean” to get to his “end”.

Tldr : muhritocracy sus

[adapembroke]

Icelandic Sagas and Norse Culture: A Conversation with Jared Juckiewicz

There are some people who are so interesting and knowledgeable about a fascinating subject that I wish it was culturally acceptable to hand them a lectern and microphone in social settings and ask them to give an impromptu lecture. My friend Jared Juckiewicz is one of those people.

Jared’s knowledge of Norse history and culture is legendary in our circle, and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to chat with him about the Icelandic Sagas, Jared's class on the Sagas for Nameless Academy, and why you shouldn't carry a magical banner with a raven on it into battle if you value your life.

Ada: For those who are new to the subject, what are the Sagas? 

Jared: So Merriam-Webster defines a saga as “a prose narrative recorded in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries of historic or legendary figures and events of the heroic age of Norway and Iceland” which is actually bang on for my definition of the historical Icelandic sagas. (I’d class things like Beowulf and the Nibelungenlied as sagas as well, but epic sagas rather than historical ones.) Most of them are attributed to one writer, an Icelandic gentleman by the name of Snorri Sturlisson, who took advantage of his position in the Icelandic Diocese to record as much of Iceland’s Oral History as he could. Each one is basically the history of one of the important families in Iceland at the time, typically going back a generation or two or three before the settlement of Iceland.   

Ada: I’m surprised that the dictionary defines “saga” as Icelandic specifically. I always thought “saga” was a synonym for “very long poem.” I’m learning something already! 

Was there something about the settlement of Iceland that inspired the Icelanders to write down all of these stories, or is it more that more of the oral tradition survived than it otherwise would have because of Snorri? 

Jared: I mean, I would definitely quibble with the definition being specific to Iceland myself. But then again, I don’t work for Merriam-Webster, so you know. Not my say.

So, it’s definitely a case that more of the oral tradition survived thanks to Snorri than it otherwise would have. Admittedly, he did impart a lot of his biases to them, given that he was Christian, in fact being heavily involved in Iceland’s organised Church, and a lot of his subject matter predates the Christianisation of Iceland. But it’s less of an issue in the historical sagas than in things like the Eddas. I suspect a part of his motivation is that the 13th Century was around the time we start to see the emergence of true national identities in northern europe, and a recorded history tends to be a large part of those. 

Ada: What sorts of challenges do readers have to be aware of accounting for Snorri’s biases, and why are those biases less of an issue with the sagas?

Jared: So the sagas are more of a historical account than the Eddas, which are a record of the icelandic forms of Norse myth. Being a historical account, there’s less room for interpretation, whereas most scholars agree that Snorris Eddas were revised, by him, to make them more palatable to the Church. So when reading the Eddas, it helps to be aware that the person recording them was a Christian, had been raised Christian, and so had certain views regarding morality and cosmology that may have (Read almost certainly did) differ significantly from how the Norse viewed things. Less of an issue with the historical sagas because history is less open to interpretation. His biases may have coloured his description of people’s motivations, but the events are likely accurate, as are the depictions of things like cultural mores and the like. 

Ada: What is your story with the sagas? How did you get interested, and what fascinates you about them?

Jared: So, I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with history. When I was at University, a friend dragged me along to a meeting of what became our local Historical Reenactment Society by dint of showing up to class with a wooden shield on his arm and a wooden sword in his belt. 

Ada: Best. Marketing. Ever.

Jared: I was hooked. Still am. Anyway, I’m like, 5’7” and am lucky if I weigh more than 120lbs. To be effective on the field of battle, I have to go for a mix of speed, savagery and complete disregard for my own personal safety. Four years of getting referred to as ‘The littlest Berserker that could’ lead to finding out everything I could about said Berserkers, which lead to the Icelandic sagas. They’re great stories. Dry reads, cause, you know, the 13th Century wasn’t known for popular fiction. But they’re very… human. Stories. Like you read them and it’s like “I can understand why that person would respond that way.” The culture is at enough of a remove that it feels fantastical, but because we’re talking about real people, and their emotions and their triumphs and their failings, it’s easy to emphasize with them, I find. 

Ada: How did you get from berserkers to the sagas?

Jared: There are a number of sagas where major characters are berserkers, or berserkers are mentioned. Viga-Glums Saga mentions a Berserker who made a living challenging farmers to Holmgangr (a sort of duel where the victor took the losers property. Given they were generally to the death, the loser didn’t tend to object). The eponymous Egil Skallagrimsson is also described as being a Berserker in some translations. As well as a Skald (poet), Sorceror, and what passed for Nobility in his period of Iceland. Part of it is also a dearth of other sources. You have some mention in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle and in similar Scots and Irish records from the time, but they mostly complain about the Norse being evil pagans come to destroy the Christians (When they aren’t complaining that the Vikings only bathe so they can get laid). There’s Adam of Bremen, but he didn’t talk much about the military side of things, which is where berserkers come in, and there’s Ibn Fadhlan, but until recently translations of his manuscripts were a bugger to get a hold of. 

Ada: What is it about the sagas that feels fantastical to you?

Jared: Everything is so much… MORE. If that makes sense? Like, there’s an account of a trial in Njall’s Saga where the defense witness perjures himself by libeling one of the victims, and the prosecuting attorney (Who happened to be related to said victim. No conflict of interest, it’s how things were done at the time) responded by impaling the witness, fatally, with a spear throw. And got away with it. They solve their disputes, when talk fails, with broadswords and battle axes. 

Ada: It’s like they actually do the things we’re all imagining doing when someone does something that’s completely out of line.

Jared: Certainly the things I imagine doing.  Although, I now realise I could explain it easier. Tolkien was a scholar of the Norse Sagas, and drew heavily on some of Snorri’s other works (particularly the Eddas) for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. So part of why they feel fantastical is that the definitive work for High Fantasy is based on them. 

Ada: Other than weapons, what Tolkienesque things can readers find in the sagas?

Jared: So the sagas are maybe less of an influence on his works than the Eddas, but he drew heavily on the mythology, and there are bits where that crops up in the sagas. There are also references to things like rune-carving as a means of casting spells, and at least one instance of a magic banner. Bear in mind that this was back when magic was an accepted fact of life (in fact at the time, the Catholic Church was heavily involved in magical research. There are guides on things like alchemy and necromancy and rune magic that were written in monasteries at the time). Poetry, I suppose. The Norse were big on poetry. 

Ada: I would love to dive into the intersection between history and mythology with you, but I’ll restrain myself. What’s an example of the intersection of history and myth in the sagas?

Jared: The above mentioned magic banner, actually. It crops up in Njall’s Saga and the Orkneyinga Saga, and belonged to the Jarl of Orkney. Jarl Sigurd of Orkney, to be precise. It was a Raven Banner, sewn by his mother, who was reputed to be a Volva, which was a Norse term for a female magic practitioner, particularly one who practiced fibre magics. It was, reputedly, enchanted to draw the attention of Odin and his aid, and whatever army carried it into battle would have victory, but the bearer of the banner would be slain. Well, the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 was particularly hard fought, and after he’d gone through several standard-bearers, none of Sigurd’s companions was willing to pick it up. He informed them that by spurning Odin’s gift, the battle was lost, tied it round his waist like a belt, and led his final charge. Sigurd’s side lost the battle, and the few of his immediate companions were hunted down shortly thereafter by Kari Solmundsson (admittedly for unrelated reasons).

Ada: One of the reasons I wanted to have this conversation with you is because you are going to be teaching a class on the sagas at the Nameless Academy in February. 

I’m really excited to have the chance to sit in on your class because you are a person who I regularly want to hand a lectern and microphone because you have so much knowledge and so many stories.

What is this class, and what will you be teaching?

Jared: So the class is called Íslendingasögur 101: Norse Polytheism and Medieval Culture in Icelandic Sagas.It’s a mouthful I know. Really, it’s just an introduction to pre-Christian Iceland. There’s a lot of misinformation floating about regarding the Norse. I’m not going to name any names. *Cough* Wagner *Cough* Victorian England *Cough* 

Ahem. Don’t worry, it’s not Covid, I promise. 

But no, there’s a lot of misinformation about the Norse out there, and it’s only in the past five or six decades that we’ve started to undo that. The thing is, the corrections started in Academia, and it took three or four decades before accurate information began to be easily available to the general public. So while we’re doing away with the popular image in peoples heads of the ravening barbarian with the horned helmet, it’s slow going. 

I’m hoping in future semesters to do guided self-study of some of the Icelandic studies, but because I do not want to spend all my time correcting common misconceptions, I decided to teach this first, so that anyone looking into the sagas themselves, either under the aegis of the Nameless Academy, or by themselves, is doing so with at least a basic understanding of the culture those sagas concern. 

Ada: Other than the horned helmet ridiculousness, what is a common misconception that tends to trip up newbies to the sagas?

Law. The Norse had the greatest respect for their Laws, even if they didn’t always follow them. Because of how sparsely settled Iceland was, and given the lack of urbanisation, they didn’t have permanent courthouses like you find nowadays. Instead they all met up at regular intervals at what was known as a ‘Thing’. No that is not a typo, it was actually called a Thing. The big one in Iceland was held at Thingvellir or “Place of the Thing”. “Field of the Thing”? I do not (yet) speak Old Norse and I’ve seen multiple translations. It was sort of a combination of court and county fair, that was opened by a member of the community, the Lawspeaker, reciting a portion of the legal code to all assembled. It was a great honour to be chosen as the Lawspeaker, even if it also meant moderating all the suits. 

One of the most famous Sagas (and my personal favourite) actually focuses heavily on the Laws and Legal matters. In fact, more attention is paid in most sagas to legal nitty-gritty than to pitched battles. 

Ada: Other than an interest in history, why might people want to take your class?

Jared: Perspective. People don’t change, even if the places and laws and the cultures do. It’s also a conversation piece. I mean, you can back me up on this. I can relate almost anything to the Sagas.

Ada: That is absolutely true. I feel sometimes when you're talking like they're stories that are happening now.

If people wanted to read the Sagas, where do you suggest they start?

Jared: So, if you prefer Dead Tree Editions, most of my hardcopies were released by either Penguin Classics or Oxford University Press. They tend to be older translations, but still very good, and I’ve never had a problem finding them at good second-hand bookstores or my local library. Well. Never had a major problem. And in this time of Covid, if you don’t want to go out or have someone bring a copy to your door. 13th Century is pretty much Public Domain now, so there are a few of the sagas available as ebooks through Project Gutenberg. Alternately, there’s an Icelandic Non-Profit that hosts a website, sagadb.org which hosts all the extant Icelandic sagas in a variety of languages and formats (although not all of them are available in English). If I do manage to lead some guided self-study it’s likely to be the SagaDB translations I use. Amongst other things, they’re free. 

Ada: Thank you so much for talking with me, Jared. 

How can people who are interested in learning more about you and your class find you?

Jared: So I’m on Tumblr. At present I’m A-Krogan-Skald-And-Bearsark, and if that changes, only the article and the first identifier will change. Admittedly, I don’t curate my Tumblr AT ALL. So there’s a bit of everything on it. 

I’m also on Discord, and you can reach me there on the Nameless Academy server as Jared, or on Polytheists or Diviners Anonymous as JehanCriec. Mind you, my internet access can be sporadic, so if you don’t hear back from me right away, don’t take it as a slight, I’m just on a boat and will respond as soon as I get a chance. 

[imagine-loki]

Hiding in Plain Sight

TITLE: Hiding in Plain Sight CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Four AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE:

Imagine coming from a line of nobility or royalty and being in an arranged marriage with Loki in an attempt to strengthen your kingdom / alliance with Asgard. You’re not entirely on board with the idea but figured that the best you could do was to get to know your fiancé.

You form an agreement with Frigga for you to pose as Loki’s personal servant for a few months so you can get to know who Loki really is – beyond the veil of his responsibility to the Asgardian throne, behind all the masks he wears when facing the public, to really know who Loki is behind closed doors as you slowly fall for each other.

How long will you keep up the ruse with the God of Lies?

RATING: General Audience

When they returned to Loki’s rooms, Raven stood stoically still, her hands behind her back, fidgeting slightly and her head high. In many ways, she knew she was not great at playing a maid, she had been raised for a thousand years to be proud of her house and could not talk as one from a submissive position such as a maid. She may have been deemed lower in standing than her brothers but she was still a princess and the daughter of the king. She watched as he stood facing her silently for a few moments. 

“What is it you require of me, Your Highness? Was something not to your liking?”

Loki had to give it to the elf, she had more courage than most would have. “Actually, everything was quite satisfactory. That bath was the best I have had in the longest time.”

“Then what is required of me at this time? Forgive my bluntness however I was under the impression that this time of day is in fact, mine as per my work agreement whilst you do your own studying, so what is it that calls for my being here fourteen minutes prior to my return to work?”

If he was honest, Loki felt he should reprimand the Light Elf for her manner of speaking to him but her clipped tone and demeanour intrigued him more than he would care to admit. “I apologise, I had not realised….I wish to explain what happened earlier.”

“There is nothing to explain. You plan to have a mistress which I truly hope you tell your soon-to-be wife about as surely she will want to know as to not make a fool of herself in court, not to mention, she would then be free to seek her own happiness with a more fitting man and you loathe us Ljósáfar and think us ugly and dim.”

“I don’t think that.” 

“So that woman spewed lies in your name?” Loki did not answer. “So you said it but do not think it?” Loki nodded ever so slightly. “Then why say such things?”

“I was angry,” Loki explained. “I was venting at being pawned off to some creature I have never even met and who, from my limited information on, I am not likely to like.”

“Considering you get to remain on your realm while she is forced away from everything she ever knew and loved to play wife to a creature that has decided before ever meeting her that he cannot even bother to get to know her before making such assumptions, I feel you are somewhat not seeing how lucky you are in your position. What makes it all the more angering is your painting my entire realm’s people with this preconceived and entirely unfounded notion. Why say something you do not mean to your lover?”

“She’s not my...she was just someone that...I am sure Princess Raven is doing as she pleases while hoping her day to come here never comes considering...wait, you speak as though you know her?” Loki eyed Raven carefully. “Are you one of her maids?”

“No, I am not.” Raven looked him directly in the eye as she spoke, showing her honesty at that statement. “I have never served her, nor have I served as a maid in the Ljósáfar palace before you ask. I am not one of her ladies or anything similar to that either. I swear by a solemn oath on my life.”

With her conviction and her statement, Loki believed her. “But you know her, somewhat?” “I do, somewhat.” Raven did not think it wise to lie on that matter, it was entirely true and she knew he would smell her lie. 

“What is she like?”

“She does not suffer fools or people who think her one. She would be sickened at your comments on her, about how you speak of her and her people to some bed partner…” She shook her head. “What makes it worse is your following after me for fear I would reveal you to your mother. You know what you said was wrong.” She inhaled deeply. “I cannot do this. She removed the green sash she bore on the waist of her dress that permitted her to walk through the magic shields that protected different private halls only for those who served the Aesir royal family. “I quit.” She handed it to Loki and walked out of the room. 

She knew she would have to return to Asgard and marry him. She knew that it would be horrible and awkward but she could not face him any longer. She was too hurt for her people and for herself. She would endure the marriage as she knew she had to but she was relieved that if nothing else was achieved from her day in Asgard, she knew what to expect. That was something she was grateful for. She was not going to be blindsided. In the back of her mind, she hoped that Loki would rethink his opinions on the Ljósáfar and be a better being by then. She didn’t know if he would, she could only wait and see. 

She went to the room that she was supposed to stay in and prepared her belongings to return to Alfheim. It did not take long, she had sadly not even had the chance to unpack most of them and waited to be allowed permission to return home. 

When she heard a knock on her bedroom door, she was entirely certain that it would the guard with the consent to leave. On opening the door, she was startled to see Loki on the other side. She went to close the door in his face but his boot stopped her from doing so. “I am busy. I have nothing more to say to you.” 

“I need to apologise.” “I need to get ready to leave.”

“Please don’t. Not on my account.”

“Pray tell, your Highness, why would anyone remain to work for an individual who loathes their entire race?”

“I never meant that.”

“Whether you did or you did not, you said it, now excuse me.” Again, Raven went to close the door and again Loki prevented her from doing so. Annoyed, she looked at him expectantly. “I do not wish to dally too greatly, I will not be returning for any belongings that I leave behind any time soon.”

“I’m sorry. I am sorry for what I said, for how offensive it was and for how unfounded it was.” Loki blurted the words out as swiftly as he could.

“You’re a prince, why do you care if you insult a maid?” Raven asked curiously. 

“Because it was wrong.”

She opened the door more, eyeing him suspiciously and shaking her head slightly. “No, it’s more than that. You are Prince Loki of Asgard, you do not always care for right and wrong. I have heard much of your antics. Why?” 

Loki was both insulted and impressed that she did not fall for such words so easily. “Considering I am to marry a Light Elf in the near future, it does not bode well that I have one of her realm’s people rushing from the realm at the earliest opportunity.”

“So, this is because you do not want others talking about you? For your intended to hear what has been the experience of another here before her?” Loki did not nod but it was clear in his face he wanted to. “What if I were to ensure that she was informed of your thoughts on her and her people?”

“I can only hope that by the time that comes to pass, that you will see that I am not that sort of being.” He toyed with his fingers. “I was also hoping you could tell me more of Princess Raven, if you know much about her?”

Raven found herself pursing her lips. “Why, you clearly don’t care?” 

“Well, hopefully, we can see if there are manners in which she and I are suited before her coming here,” Loki explained. “I am aware my words were unkind but I truly do not feel that way and I am all too aware that I do not know of her dislikes and likes before I even meet her. I wish to rectify that.”

Raven did not know what to say. She knew to be careful listening to his words, he was, of course, the Liesmith, the Silver Tongue. He told you what you wanted to hear. “When is she due to arrive?”

“I have no idea. No one said anything and I did not ask.”

“Not the best start if you are not even interested in knowing when she will arrive.”

“I assume I will be told close to the date.” “Had you any intention on learning about her in advance?”

“Not particularly. I considered her nothing more than a duty. Alfheim needed our help and since they were somewhat flippant with their allegiances in the past, my father wished to secure it more for the future. Apparently, that was decided to include me. How I was chosen over Thor, I cannot tell. She is, after all, a princess, daughter of the reigning king, she would have made sense for him.”

“Perhaps it is considered that she is not of high enough standing for him. There is a considerable difference between the wife of the second-in-command and the Allmother, I would have thought.” 

Loki eyed her warily. “Is that an underhanded comment at me?”

“I did not even mention you, Your Highness.” Raven gave a smile that was more scathing than a glare. “I think it best if I continue to use my limited free this afternoon to prepare for the evening shift. Excuse me.” She used the fact that Loki had let his guard down in their talking to one another to seize the opportunity to take back the green sash in his hand and close the door again. 

For his part, Loki stood startled at being bested by his maid for a moment. Knowing that he would not get her to open her door again by knocking, he used his seidr to go back to his rooms, thinking of what to ask his maid on her return to them. 

* It took Raven more effort than she would have wished to return to Loki’s rooms. Part of her thought to rush off realm but she had been informed by a guard that there would be no further realm to realm movement for the rest of the evening. She decided to give Loki until the morning to show he was not merely some egotistical twit. 

Going to his rooms, she paused when she heard arguing from within. 

“And?” “What do you mean ‘and’? You are the heir to the throne.”

“This is not news, Loki. Father made it clear that I will have to marry soon also but for now, Princess Raven of Alfheim is to be brought here to marry you. You get to have all the attention you crave for a time. Then you and she can have little animal named children and I will get my turn to be strapped down by some boring droll creature.” 

Raven felt her body temperature increase at the mocking of her name. She was about to enter the room when there was a loud thud against the wall causing her to jump. 

“I may not be overly pleased with being forced to marry some elf but if you ever mock her or any of the children I am to be the father of again, I will end you, brother, or not.” Loki hissed. “And with regards to names, there would be no animal ones. They would, by virtue of being of Asgard, have normal Aesir names. Whatever of Princess Raven, her brothers and family all have normal Elvish names, whatever turn of fancy the King took to name his daughter after a bird, it is not commonplace to do so.”

Raven felt herself become conflicted. Loki defending her and the children she knew she would be obliged to have as his wife made her feel he was somewhat honourable. The fact he scoffed in his own way at her made her want to pack her belongings again. 

“If that is everything, I would ask you to go away and not bother me again, this evening or any other time, Brother.” The door opened and Loki pushed his brother out of it, causing Thor to crash into a startled Raven. “Oh, dear.” Loki’s bored voice told Raven and indeed Thor that he did not care about accidentally causing the pair to collide. “I suppose you better not injure my maid too much, I need her to fetch my dinner.” 

Thor looked down at the maid in front of him for a moment, apologising to her before pausing for a second, looking at her studiously. There was no denying the recognition in Thor’s face. “Your maid?” He asked curiously. 

Raven knew that the older Aesir prince knew who she was, it was plain to see. At that moment, she was fully convinced that he would reveal everything to his younger brother. 

[kakatenzo]

kkyam royalty au 1

okay I have two fic ideas that are centred around a royalty au and i wanted to post both on here and see which ones ppl preferred!

here’s royalty au 1 i’ll post the second one tomorrow

(ps this is un beta’d and it is 2:40am so i have not looked over it at all. just typed and hit send)

“You come here often?” Kakashi ask sleazily.

             It’s a cheap shot. He knows that, he’s sure he’s had better one liners at the tavern after one too many drinks but Kakashi can’t bring himself to care. The entire night has been occupied by stuck up nobility and empty conversations that carried across the ballroom. He’s just surprised he has managed to survive the entire night despite not coming from a royal lineage himself, it seems that all that condescending behaviour blocks all common sense and Kakashi tries not to be too smug about it. It’s a good thing he’s an excellent liar and charming if he really put his mind to it, and now he’s putting all his effort into trying to swoon this doe-eyed brunette. Kakashi hasn’t seen him before unlike the other parties of the monarchy who often were presented during ceremonies and announcements, so he assumes he is visiting from another kingdom. It’s perfect, Kakashi thinks, he’ll bag a noble for one night and never see them again.

             “Yes actually,” the brunette answers frowning and it catches Kakashi by surprise. “Konoha’s been my home since I was born. I suppose you are visiting?”

             Well, that’s one idea out the window so Kakashi replies dumbfoundedly, “Uh, yes.”

             It seems to jerk the brunette awake. “I apologise for I have misplaced my manners, good sir.” he says before straightening his shoulders and giving a bow. “I am Yamato, nobleman of Konoha.”

             Kakashi quickly dips into a bow. “Kakashi, crown prince of the Hatake kingdom.”

             Yamato raises a brow. “I don’t recall the Hatake family mentioning a visit to the kingdom.”

             The crown prince disguise had worked well the whole evening and if Kakashi is going to be honest with himself, it also gave his ego a small nudge but now his ego is deflating because it seems like he decided to try to court one of the only smart people in this ballroom.

             “It was all very last minute, so I apologise for the short notice.”

             The back of Kakashi’s neck prickles with heat and he resists the urge to ease the collar from his throat. The tavern is going to have a ball when they find out he got kicked out from the ball because he found a guy attractive.

             A small, almost bashful smile encompasses Yamato’s face instead and he amicably says. “I apologise I did not mean to doubt your presence. How are you finding the ball?”

             “Eh,” Kakashi says loosening up and his shoulders return to their usual hunched position. “Everyone here is on their high horse.”

             For a moment, Yamato looks horrified but then he laughs. Gentle and warm, and it invites Kakashi to relax further. “You’re very honest, do they allow the crown prince of your kingdom such brash honesty?”

             Kakashi returns a laugh because he is the opposite of honest. He is conning this poor man with his endless spindle of lies from the moment he had opened his mouth. “I’m only honest to people that I like,” he winks, “but I’m sure there are more honest people than me.”

             Yamato shakes his head. “I’ve been attending these royal balls since I was a child. Everybody treats you like you’re below them and make you feel small over the silliest things.”

             “Why do you keep attending them?” Kakashi asks and tries to ignore the sincerity that pools in his chest. “Can you not decline the invitation? It would save you from a lot of misery and hassle.”

             “I seldom do,” Yamato’s eyes slide to the side and breaks their eye contact. “My aunt she—she’s very high up and it’s pertinent I attend these events to create connections with other kingdoms.”

             Kakashi squashes the warmth of sincerity and replaces it with the hot rush of want. “Do you want to make a connection with me?” he offers haughtily and Yamato rewards him with a scandalised expression and a wonderful flush that disappears under his collar.

             His smile is timid but Yamato’s voice is firm when he says, “I’m not opposed to the idea of making connections with you.”

             “Let’s go make our connection somewhere less crowded.” Kakashi says and offers his arm.

             Yamato quietly latches onto the crook of Kakashi’s elbows and Kakashi escorts him out to the courtyard. They are greeted by the cool air of the evening and the luminescent glow of the moon who casts a soft spotlight on the shrubbery below her. The roses sleep gently under the calm glow of the moon, they rest because they are tired after dancing with the sun all morning. The rest of the greenery follows suit, all the branches hang low, the leaves don’t dance as they sleep to the orchestra of chirping crickets. The courtyard is large and paves a quarter of the unending garden, its stones are smooth and even unlike the rough cobbled pavements in the centre of town. The courtyard is fenced off by a low stone wall which Kakashi hops onto and pats the space next to him, offering Yamato to do the same.

             They’re both facing away from the large doors of the ballroom and Yamato tilts his head back as if he’s drinking in the light of the moon. “This is my favourite place in the palace.” He says quietly like a confession.

             “I can see why. It’s peaceful out here.” Kakashi says in agreement. “What do you like to do for fun, Yamato?”

             “What do you mean?” Yamato answers. His head snaps down to look at Kakashi and he almost looks baffled.

             Kakashi quirks a brow. “You know, when you’re not doing these parties or your duties? What do you do in your spare time?”

             Yamato bites his lip drawing Kakashi’s attention. “I like to tend this garden.” He decides after a moment.

             “Is that all?” Kakashi presses. He’s not a royal but he’s sure Yamato has at least some hobbies that don’t involve standing around and looking pretty all day.

             Even under the moonlight Kakashi can see the deep blush that spreads on Yamato’s face. “Well,” he starts. “I like sword fighting and I used to practice with the knights until they found—well, let’s just say nobody really liked to challenge me. The knights were all frightened they’d accidentally hurt me and then would get executed.”

             Kakashi can’t help the laugh that escapes his mouth. “Really?” he says gleefully. “I never expected you to be invested in combat.”

             Yamato looks away then. “I was interested in a lot of different things, but I had to whittle it down because it didn’t seem right, for someone like me to do them.”

             Someone like Yamato? “I thought noblemen could do whatever they wanted as long as it didn’t betray the kingdom.” Kakashi frowns. He’s sure he had seen the duke wandering around doing activities that Kakashi wouldn’t crown ‘duke-ly’.

             “I guess they just have high expectations,” Yamato shrugs. “Enough about me, you’re the crown prince! I’m sure you have much more exciting things to share than me.”

             “Where do I start?” Kakashi says coolly as he rapidly searches through all his memories. How the hell was he going to fabricate a royal story? He had many in the town and in the countryside, but they all consisted of him working or training and neither seemed princely. He then forces himself to remember all those conversations he had with those prudish Lords and Ladies in hopes of bringing up a hobby that was vaguely plausible.

             “If you don’t mind,” Yamato breaks his rapid-fire train of thought. “Can I ask how you received your scar?”

             Kakashi’s fingers find the line that staggers under his eye before it disappears into his mask. “It was from an attack,” he answers honestly for the first time that evening. “My friend and I were out where we weren’t meant to be, and we had been ambushed. This was from a knife.”

             He brushes his hair from his brow and slowly follows the ridge of his brow, over the curve of his eyelid and then over the soft fabric of the mask. Yamato’s eyes follow the path carefully, his eyes bright under the moonlight and his mouth slightly open in awe. “Is that why you wear the mask? For your safety?”

             Kakashi nods quickly in agreement.

             “You’re lucky to have survived, Prince Kakashi.” Yamato quips and hearing his name in Yamato’s mouth makes his heart jump.

             “It was a fair fight.” Kakashi says easily. “I won in the end anyway.”

             Yamato’s eyes widen and he sits up eagerly. “Do you get to train at your palace?”

             Kakashi thinks of the field. It is by no means a training room nor the mighty barracks that housed the knights. During winter, when the ground froze over, was when he would accumulate the most bruises after a spar and during summer, the soil would be so dry that it would kick up everywhere. It ended in his eyes, his hair, under his nails and he always came home dirty. He thinks of his makeshift targets and dummy, the way they’ve been branded with marks since he was a child and how they’re worn and yellowed with age. He wonders if Yamato had managed to brandish a shiny sword at all and practice his footing on even ground.

             “Yes, all the time.” Kakashi answers and he can’t look into Yamato’s eyes. “I begged my father so I could protect myself and it proved worthy.”

             Suddenly his hands are engulfed with Yamato’s own warm ones. “Could you teach me something?” he asks earnestly.

             Yamato is smiling so widely and Kakashi realises that Yamato may be the only genuine face he has encountered tonight. “Sure,” Kakashi says and leaps to his feet with Yamato following suit. “We have no swords, so we’ll focus on hand to hand combat.”

             Kakashi begins with stances, he notes the importance of the stance and how to make sure there are no openings that make Yamato vulnerable. He then moved onto basic attacks, how to disarm your opponent and the weakest points of the human body.

             “You’re a quick learner,” Kakashi comments nonchalantly and gently fixes Yamato’s arms by raising his elbow slightly.

             “Can I fight now?” Yamato asks with a glint in his eyes.

             Kakashi splutters. “I’m not going to fight you, Yamato.”

             The nobleman drops his stance. “How am I going to learn if I don’t fight someone?”

             “Your practice stances will kick in.” Kakashi lies. He had always made his students fight him.

             “Don’t lie to me. The knights spar all the time!” Yamato protests and Kakashi bites back on a grin.

             “I’ll go easy on you,” Kakashi offers. “I wouldn’t want to hurt your pretty face.”

             The deep flush invites itself again on Yamato’s face as he enters his first stance. They both move shift around in a circle, waiting for the other to make a move, arms and hands close to their face and chests, and their eyes locked onto each other intensely. Kakashi throws the first attack to which Yamato quickly parries and it leaves his neck exposed. Kakashi hooks his arm over the crook of Yamato’s neck but Yamato grabs his arm with both hands and throws Kakashi off. He stumbles back and Yamato follows with two quick punches, Kakashi ducks and before Yamato can throw a jab, he rises quickly, years of agility drilled into him and knocks Yamato back onto the grass.

             He lands with a soft ooft and leans back on his hands, he looks up at Kakashi with bright eyes, a ruddy face and a wide grin. His hair is ruffled but his shoulders are much more relaxed. “You’re very skilled, Kakashi.” Yamato compliments catching his breath.

             Kakashi stretches his arm out to offer a hand and pulls Yamato up. He jumps to his feet and ends up nearer to Kakashi than he had anticipated. “You’re a quick learner,” Kakashi parrots from earlier. He’s distracted by their vicinity. “You did well.”

             Their hands are still conjoined and Kakashi’s eyes drop to their clasped hands before dragging his eyes back up to Yamato’s dark gaze. Something snaps in the heavy silence between them, and Kakashi finds himself leaning in but Yamato stops him with a gentle press of his free hand to Kakashi’s chest.

             “Kakashi,” he says warily but his brows furrow with determination. “I have something to tell you.”

             Before either of them can get a word in the doors to the ballroom burst open and they both break apart from each other as if they’d been shocked. Queen Tsunade steps onto the courtyard and they both bow to greet her. Kakashi’s head swims as he straightens back up because Queen Tsunade is not a force to be reckoned with. He’s sure she’s caught him, she knows that he’s not a royal at all and has been parading around as a fraud all evening, and the mere thought of her punishment sends an awful bout of guttural anxiety.

             “Ah, there you are Tenzo!” Queen Tsunade bellows across the courtyard and approaches the duo. “I thought you had disappeared before the ceremony and I was getting worried. Come along now, you know we can’t start it without you and the people are waiting.”

             The relief that Queen Tsunade isn’t here for Kakashi doesn’t take the edge off his nerves. She’s even more powerful in person and this is the closest Kakashi has gotten to her. She’s shorter than he had expected, but her stoic glare and booming voice has commanded many rooms. Her blonde hair is loose over her shoulders, they fall gracefully frown the crown atop her head, and she places her hands on her hips, crinkling the jade green dress she’s often seen in. Kakashi is glad he no longer has Yamato’s hand in his grasp because he’s sure his hand would slip out with how much his palms are sweating.

             Yamato shoots him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry I’m afraid I have to go. Where can I find you later?”

             “Let’s meet here.” Kakashi says with the intention to bid Yamato goodbye before he returns to his regular civilian life. He had told enough lies tonight to last a lifetime.

             “I look forward to it.” Yamato says sweetly before turning to follow Queen Tsunade back inside.

             Kakashi lets out a sigh of relief and steals one long glance around the garden that Yamato had tended himself. He cranes his head to the moon, she had been the only audience to their dance, if you could call it such and turns on his heel to return to the ballroom.

             Gai is easy to find in the crowded ballroom because he is impressing a small crowd with handstands. Kakashi joins the crowd in watching Gai perform and remembers when he had challenged Kakashi to see who could hold a handstand for the longest. Unfortunately, it had been winter and the ground was damp with rain that left their hands muddy, cold and unmoveable.

             Towards the centre of the room, a servant calls for the audience’s attention so Kakashi steps forward. “I’m so sorry to interrupt the entertainment, but I believe there is a royal announcement.”

             Gai fixes himself back onto his feet with unyielding control and the small crowd reward him with a short round of applause before they all usher each other to the centre of the room.

             “Kakashi!” Gai booms. “It has been the most wonderful evening!”

             “I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it,” Kakashi says while Gai swings an arm around his shoulders. “Would you like to watch the ceremony?”

             “Why, of course!” Gai exclaims. “It would be of our best interest to make the most of our stay.”

             Truth be told, Kakashi really could not care for the ceremony because all he can think of is Yamato’s ruddy grinning face under the moonlight. How his eyes glittered even in the dark shawl of the night sky. (How dark his gaze had been when they were all but pressed close to each other with the moon as their only witness.)

             Although they are on the outskirts of the crowd, Queen Tsunade’s voice doesn’t fail to reach them from across the room. “Foremost, I would like to thank those who have attended today. It is always a pleasant sight to see, the unity of the kingdoms and our people, especially for an occasion such as this.” She pauses and the room waits with bated breath. “I am here tonight to proudly announce my heir and who will be next in line to the throne.”

             Her speech sends the room to a stifled but frenzied whisper. Heir? Queen Tsunade had no children. Her husband passed away before she could bear any heirs. Who is this heir? Has she passed the lineage of Konoha to a neighbouring kingdom’s prince? How are we to trust this new heir to rule Konoha?

             Queen Tsunade continues resiliently. “I apologise for hiding him from his people, he was too young to be exposed to the masses but I assure you he has been in this kingdom the entire time and I am confident that he will serve you, our people, very well. That’s why he is here today, because he has come of age and has grown into a splendid young man.” She smiles softly, pride shines in her eyes and she steps aside. “I would like to introduce my dear nephew, Prince Tenzo Senju, as your next ruler.”

             The room bursts into a cacophony of applause as Tenzo emerges and joins his aunt, Queen Tsunade, at the front of the crowd. He gives an obligatory bow, back straight as if he’s rehearsed it a lifetime and just like the one he gave Kakashi earlier that night. Except it’s not exact because his hair is ruffled from their short spar. Gai is clapping wildly next to him but it seems as if Kakashi can’t move his arms. The noise is far too loud—no, it is far too quiet and Kakashi drowns in the rushing noise of his thoughts filling his head. Realisation sinks in, like the first chill of winter that sinks deep into your bones, but you’ve not prepared a coat and you’re left shivering in the early rays of the sun.

             Then Tenzo turns and catches his eyes. He spares Kakashi a tight lipped smile, empty of the mirth from earlier that evening. No wonder why the knights didn’t allow Yamato to train, because they would have been fighting the crown prince of Konoha. He had little hobbies to do because he’s spent his entire life preparing to be the next ruler. With each piece that clicks into place the sinking feeling in his stomach only tightens.

             “—Kakashi,” Gai says and it shakes Kakashi out of his trance. There is a firm but grounding grip on his shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

             “Nothing. I’m just looking forward to meeting someone in the courtyard later tonight.”

[readerinsertfanfiction]

Hiya, I hope you’re having a lovely day, I’m not sure if you still do Ikemen Sengoku, but if you could, can you do angst for all the warlords where they cheat on their female s/o and then fix the situation before getting them back? Please? If not then just do Nobunaga, Shingen, Hideyoshi, Kenshin, Ieyasu and Masamune? Thanks!

Not gonna lie, I feel terrible and summer can’t end soon enough. lol

I still do Ikemen Sengoku, yes! Since I don’t think you will like the headcanons I’m about to serve I stuck to the few you have named. More about that in the introduction. 

Fandom: Ikemen Sengoku

I wish to preface this with some historical background. In the Sengoku era it was common for nobles to have more than one wife. They would often have a harem with several concubines and one main-wife. Marriage was often also not meant for pleasure and love, but a political gain, and if one wanted to have pleasure and leisure they would visit courtesans instead. The concept of ‘cheating’ isn’t really known to them, thus. However, to keep in line with the nature of the games I can amuse you with the following thoughts: 

Nobunaga Oda

Unless you have explained this concept to him, Nobunaga will not think of it much, see above explanation.

And even if you did explain the situation it is the question if he will just comply to you and your wishes. Of course, he wishes for you to be happy, but you also come from a different world, you will have to accept the different realities.

Now, if he realises how much it actually upsets you and he feels bad about it, Nobunaga wouldn’t outright fix it. He is a man of subtle manipulations and guarded gestures. You probably wouldn’t even notice his shift in behaviour until someone like Hideyoshi explains it to you.

And even then he would never outright ask you for forgiveness, for he believes he didn’t do anything wrong, per se.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi

As someone who comes from humble origins, where the luxury of holding a court was uncommon, Hideyoshi will be the most understanding of the warlords.

Hideyoshi will also be the most unlikely to cheat of the bunch, seeing his great loyalty and tendency to be quite narrow minded in his focus. So, if he would even cheat, why?

No matter, in this scenario he did and he feels immensely bad. So bad that he believes he doesn’t deserve you, or that he doesn’t deserve life even.

Will do everything to repent and beyond. You will have to stop him from going on a self-punishing crusade, because he will go down that road. 

Masamune Date

Masamune has said so in several of the routes, but he takes what he likes. Again, like Nobunaga and Ieyasu, Masamune as well grew up amongst nobility and with harems. He will have trouble understanding the things you speak of.

However, once he is loyal he is loyal and to a dramatic sense. He will admit his guilt, and he will give you the choice in the matter. How do you wish to punish him?

Masamune, being Masamune, will be willing to go every length to show his loyalty and love to you. This means he is also willing to lay down his life should you believe that is the way to proof he is serious.

Of course he knows it won’t go that far. He is confident that he will win back your affections and your forgiveness.

Ieyasu Tokugawa

He grew up in nobility, exiled, yes, but he has seen the flagrancy of the courts and the nobles and their harems. Just like Nobunaga the concept of marital loyalty is foreign to him.

Though, he will be a lot more receptive, for Ieyasu does wish to have something to call his own after all the years of wandering. He doesn’t want to have superficial relations, despite all of his own harsh words.

And thus, if he would even cheat, he would feel immensely guilty and perhaps in a rare instance lower his head to you, to let you know of his guilt.

Unlike Hideyoshi he wouldn’t go on a self-punishing crusade, but he would give you the room to think over how you wish to continue and forgive him, meaning that he is willing to let you go if that is your choice. In a way, this is his punishment, if he were to lose you.

Kenshin Uesugi

Now here we have a man who in history had no wives and no children to the point that there were rumours going around that he was a woman. We also have the same man here with possessive tendencies. The concept of cheating? He will immediately understand, though he will probably interpret it differently than you do.

For this man to cheat? Now, that is out of character and strange, but let’s say he did. How would he feel? He will most likely be miserable.

Like Masamune he would be willing to put down his life, but unlike Masamune this man is 100% serious about it. If he can’t keep to the simple concept of devotion towards you, what sort of man is he? One that will no longer blight this world.

You will have to stop this man, just like with Hideyoshi, because otherwise you will soon find that he will never be around anymore.

Shingen Takeda

When you explained ‘cheating’ to Shingen the man cracked a joke that went around the lines of: “this is worse than Yuki denying me my sweets!”

He did take it seriously, however, even if he was joking around about it. He knew how important it was to you and he doesn’t intend to make light of that.

However, he cheated, what now? Shingen will probably serve you the cold reality that your modern terms don’t really fit within his world, that marriage is meant to strengthen bonds, a play of politics. That pleasure was something you were expected to seek outside.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel bad, however! He does, and he wants you to forgive him, but he also wants you to realise that you can’t enforce and force all of your modern-day ideologies into this, for you, foreign era. That things are different and not likely to change soon.