#Come on motivation! Why you betray me? XD | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bleue-flora · 2 months ago

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See also: [previous reblog]. Right okay, so I didn't know op doesn't believe in staged finale [<>] before I originally wrote this, so I probably should not post it, because if we cannot even agree on facts of lore we can't really have a super productive discussion... However, I did take the time to write this all out so I might as well share lol XD other wise my procrastination goes to waste.

So, it's all good and well to have a view and opinion from the outside more audience perspective, but what if we look at this from more so Dream’s pov, keeping in mind his motivation of: "Always the goal has just been that it's all one united server, that everybody follows the same rules, there's no countries there's no, you know, any of this it's just one giant like family." - “I want everyone to live and be happy together” forever, “I just don’t want to ever be alone.” - “You just want things to be simple.”

(I should say here that when I am referring to Dream wanting peace, it is not like absolute peace or the absence of conflict - but the peace of a loving family where they bicker over small things for fun, but at the end of the day they all laugh about - like the squabbles at the beginning.)

1. Prior to the L'manberg war, Dream gives everyone enchanted golden apples, which seems to me to be a show that he wants to protect them. Then, from Eret's own mouth we know that he betrayed L’manberg to become king, but also because he wanted to instill peace and unity in the server. As is the defined role of the king - and because of this defined role Eret is dethroned because he joins the war of Pogtopia actively starting a war and picking sides, and George is dethroned as he takes sides on the politics but also I think more importantly, a lot of fighting broke out as a result of George being king and that goes against the whole point of the king (there is also the fact that he wanted to protect George but anyways).

There needed to be a recognized power over the server to keep the happiness, peace and promote a method of law without actually instilling laws. Because clearly no one was listening to Dream on the matter and having actual laws was ineffective. And because it is Dream as the authority people doubly wouldn’t listen because of their bias against Dream, however Eret was very likable, not one to cause chaos or start wars, therefore a good figurehead to promote unity and peace. But for him to have any power over the server, he had to be backed by people, hence Dream and his knights - “that’s where your power comes from” - but it’s not why he has power.

Given that, is it more likely that he did the control room in some sort of malicious way to hurt the L’manbergians and cause them to be afraid and set Eret up as the scape goat and enemy #1? Or by cornering them in a surprise attack, is it a, efficient, quick and safe way to end a war? - minimizing the carnage, loss of life and giving quick deaths. Plus then he offers Wilbur peace right afterwards, but Wilbur refuses to surrender so then they blow L’manberg up, but Dream gives their armor back when everything is said and done as a sign of good faith.

3. Schlatt does not do a hostile takeover, he is lawfully elected. Dream allows it because his agreement with L’manberg as set by the first war, is to respect the country and that goes for the politics as well, he didn’t make a deal to respect and uphold Wilbur, it was about a country. Additionally, he can’t get involved in public with Pogtopia, because then he is interfering with politics and choosing sides, which takes away from being an objective overseer. Which is also why he doesn’t get involved with Schlatt either.

4. He does however want Pogtopia to win especially as Schlatt starts oppressing people, and plans on expanding the borders, going against Dream’s goals of people to have happiness as one big family, so he does help Pogtopia with supplies, which includes Tommy and Techno (and yea he probably also helps Techno to foster a good relationship with him). He only gets involved with Schlatt until just before the war when he offers him the Revival Book, which Dream even openly discloses with Pogtopia about Schlatt giving him something more important (and yeah with people on their last lives with wars breaking out, a book that can bring people back is pretty damn important I’d say). (He was also likely more than aware that Schlatt was outnumbered, and an idiot and Wilbur was going to detonate the TNT anyways - he was going to win either way, because like Techno, he didn’t want Wilbur or Tommy on top of L’manberg (though he’d probably prefer them to Schlatt) he didn’t want L’manberg and the government dividing and oppressing people at all. Pogtopia also wanted Schlatt dead so if Dream had declined his offer and they had killed Schlatt without the need for a big war because of a lack of muscle, then Schlatt would be dead along with the Revival Book, which again seems pretty damn important and worth fighting a war for, especially if you know the outcome anyways. I doubt he promised Schlatt anything more than gear and fighting in the war, so Schlatt very much drove himself to the breaking point (probably other factors, but we aren’t here to talk about him).

5. As far as Wilbur goes, I mean yea if Wilbur wants to blow up the country he started, in the foundation of ‘SUCK IT GREEN BOY!’ Then of course Dream is going to hand him the TNT. Duh. Even better, everyone will hate Dream if he blows up the country, but if the founder wants to do it all the power to him. I don’t really think this counts as egging him on or being the cause of his insanity though, that’s all on Wilbur. Didn’t you say the characters had their own agency and choices? Wilbur chose to push that button and he chose to ask Philza to kill him. If we know anything about Wilbur from the first war, it’s that he doesn’t listen to Dream, more than pretty much any one else. He does what he wants and if he needs to create a whole nation just to break Dream’s rules then so be it. I don’t think Dream’s primary reason was him being jealous of Wilbur, I mean I’m sure he was jealous of the fact that people liked Wilbur and listened to him (including Tommy) while were inclined to just attack Dream, but I think it has less about taking what Wilbur had and more about taking out the biggest thorn in his side. Also, I’m not even sure whether we know that Dream even knew about Wilbur’s plan including suicide, so it’s hard to say whether Dream wanted him out of the picture or not. But again even if he did enable Wilbur’s suicide on purpose then I still hardly think that makes Dream some villainous manipulator. Let’s not forget, Wilbur turned people against him and defied him and is the reason for this whole war in the first place. I mean Wilbur repeatedly slanders and dehumanizes him, calling him a freaking snake and stuff so yeah - you wanna blow up your country and yourself (the banes of my existence), sure here ya go have some TNT.

And honestly the same with Techno, - hey man didn’t you say the whole point was you didn’t want a government, they are literally setting one up right now. - But anyways, I feel like the goal was more like - wait the founder is death and L’manberg is blown up and they still are trying to keep it alive wtf?! -. Like not about isolating Tommy or driving a wedge between Techno and his friends but the destruction of the country that keeps causing problems. Techno had wither skulls already, he was already planning on this in some capacity. To say Dream knew that they would be madder at Techno than Dream for what went down, when Techno at least helped them win the war to begin with is giving Dream too much credit. I don’t think he could predict who’d become enemy #1 which makes me doubt that as a motivation.

6. The reason Tommy got in trouble for his griefing was because of George - George wanted retribution and as the server figure head Dream can’t allow this to go unpunished as it sets a precedent for people to do whatever they want to the king and get away with it. “If it can’t keep a knife out of your back, respect is nothing.” To claim respect there had to be consequences, especially because Tommy is the vice president of a nation. If Tommy can get away from attacking the king, than anyone can and it might as well be free for all for trying to claim power and the throne. And yes, the consequences are doubly unfortunate since Tommy made things personal by going after Dream’s best friend. And then not helped by black mailing him. Honestly, had Tommy not been on his last life, his punishment might have just been execution, or had he not been the vice president of a nation, then his house blown up and griefed (more like they did in the past). But to do that to the nation (his now home) would be to punish everyone and going against the agreement they made back in the first war, which if Dream’s motivation is for everyone to be happy together then starting another war would not be the way to go about that (though I have no doubt that he would fight a war just for George, if he really had to). So as he couldn’t do the way they typically handled things in the past, they went for other options of comeuppance. I digress, Dream gave L’manberg the option to avoid another war and they were going to choose war, except Tubbo, having paid the consequences of the last war, took the logical way out to keep the peace. For Dream to have manipulated this whole situation, he would have set Tommy up for burning George’s house (not unlike he does with the community house actually) and then had a traitor in the inside (Like Ranboo) so he could impact their choice or at least Tubbo’s choice, but he didn’t even talk to Tubbo alone so how is he manipulating him.

And again if the goal is for one giant happy family, then keeping an eye on L’manberg and the guy who almost just started another war makes a lot of sense. (I’m not ever sure he knew where Techno was till he went looking for Tommy, so I don’t think we can say for sure if he was concerned about Techno, though if he was then it’d still make sense, since a government formed and Techno didn’t want that, which could end up in another war. (Not to mention, Techno attacked George, who is a government so doubling reasons to keep an eye out and be friendly))

7. For the same reason he could not interfere with L’manberg politics like Tubbo’s execution and Schlatt’s dictatorship as part of the agreement after the first war, he could not very directly interfere with L’manberg’s plans. Nevertheless, what did you want him to do? Camp out at Techno’s house waiting for them to show up? We don’t know how much info he had, Techno wasn’t exactly his friend to invite him to help or ask for it, and he can’t be everywhere all at once, certainly not in the middle of nowhere. He’s got a server to look after (or experiments to run...). Quackity even notes how he’s involved in everything. Plus, we don’t know if he knew when they’d attack so he could be there. But he did interrupt their speech to try and save Techno before the anvil, they just so happened to pull it prematurely. So, to say he wanted or allowed Techno’s death is pretty extreme to me. Saving Techno’s life could also have many reasons, yes he needed the favor as a backup plan for the prison, but Techno is also the enemy of his enemy so to make him a powerful ally (or friend) would be advantageous. (Personally, I also think Dream fights for the side he sees as the wronged party, because we see him do things like one minute protecting Tommy and the next hitting him, he's changing sides, first protecting Tommy who was robbed but then protecting Ponk who Tommy robbed right after (that’s also why I think he fought for the battle of the lake because Sapnap did kill Tommy’s cow and they did kidnap Niki.) So, here Techno had left them alone even after they formed a government and they came to his house, stole his horse and armor and intended to take his only life, so Dream helps out the wronged party, freeing the horse and giving him stuff to fight back. to get away.) But again not helping too much, because of politics (and likely the thought of not gaining an attachment that can be used against him or attacked especially as Techno has just revealed how vulnerable he is to that).

8. There are probably a few reason why Dream would watch Techno and Tommy. The first being that if Tommy leaves his exile and people know about it, he looks weak and unable to instill the sentence, therefore inviting other people to go against him because he can’t keep his word, losing that respect and the protection and peace that come with that respect. Dream is also probably trying to gauge the relationship between Tommy and Techno like you pointed out, as Tommy is a thorn in his side and Techno is powerful enough to take him out, and also to just keep Tommy in check as was the whole point of the exile. Could be other reasons but I’ll try not to speculate too far.

As you said he knew things were going to fall apart between them, but I’ll disagree with your reasons. Though Techno and Tommy were doomed to become enemies like you said, Dream didn’t really have to do much there. The main thing he wanted out of it was the disc. Tommy wanted to be friends with Tubbo and Techno, but with Tubbo as the president who tried to kill Techno, that was never going to happen, so Tommy chose his side.

9-10. Again, to give Dream credit for Techno’s isolation, and he and Tommy’s falling out is quite far fetched I think. And I’ve already talked about how Dream acts like a mad man in Doomsday as a clear set up for the staged finale (but if you don't believe in that then I suppose that doesn't matter much anyways). Still, this nation was born to spite Dream, just yesterday they were planning to stab him in the back when he was going to fully obey their laws for the first time. If there was a time to enjoy destruction and be pleased at leveling a country, it would be now. Like again, how malicious is it to destroy the nation that is plotting to kill you. There is also the point of, if he really gave a shit about using attachments to control people, if this obsessive and powerful (to the point of building elaborate prisons and grids to rain TNT) person was primarily motivated by controlling others with their attachments, then how come the items on the wall weren't even ones he really stole, and after prison, why not pick up where he left off? It doesn’t make sense.

So want to know why you are the only one who sees it? Sees even what Technoblade, the pretty self aware character, himself does not see? Because it doesn't seem true. Yes, Techno and Tommy could’ve been friends, if it weren’t for L'manberg that divided them, and isn’t that the irony? Wasn’t that Dream's point? - that Dream wanted "everyone to live and be happy together” and the nations and government prevented that...

To reduce Dream as a character and all that he did and the story itself down to all about manipulating and breaking Tommy, really does all the characters, especially Dream an injustice. Just because Tommy sees it as that way, doesn’t make it true. Sure, we the audience know what Tommy’s relationships are like, and what’s going on in Tommy’s head, because we get too see through his eyes, but Dream doesn’t. For him to be as malicious and well thought and planned out as you say, would be to have an insight that he doesn’t have. Sure we know how the pieces fit together as the audience and we see the effects things have on the characters, but the characters themselves don’t know that. They don’t get to see in each-others’ heads, they haven’t experienced everything the others have, they don’t know what we know. And to assume that a character, like Dream, does just because we don’t get his pov, so we don’t actually get to know what he knows, is pretty unfair to him. Dream may be manipulative, clever, thought out and smart, but if anything the prison, clingy duo killing him, the Las Nevadas finale, not noticing Tommy following him, Sapnap taking his armor, showed us that Dream is just a flawed human being. He doesn't have everything worked out, he doesn't have all the strings, he doesn't have all-knowing and all-seeing powers, he doesn't know how people think enough to predict their every move. He can fail and screw up and be betrayed, just like everybody else. He is no big mastermind playing with people's minds and constantly manipulating people to his bidding, with everyone under his thumb, he just has plans based on his view of the world and predictions, but he is also just improvising and surviving like everyone else is...

anyways, I never thought about the portal scene with Techno and Tommy being a test to see how strong their bond was but it makes sense :) and I think reading your breakdown made me realize just how planned out we all tend to think Dream is and how honestly I think maybe we are giving Dream too much credit. Like for example, he wasn't apart of all those conversations between Wilbur and Tommy or Tommy and Techno like we, the audience, were, he only has the few bits from briefer interactions, which makes me wonder what his perception of them is...

you want to see Real doomsday discourse?

"was tommy in the wrong or techno?" arguments completely overshadowed the fact that dream was intentionally manipulating every single party into doomsday, to the point that there are people who don't even realize that dream was actively manipulating techno and putting him at an intentional disadvantage while still using him as a human meat shield to absorb flack from new l'manberg

techno and tommy and tubbo and quackity all have agency and ultimately chose to make the choices that they did, but Also dream did all of that.

it's kind of ridiculous the sheer extent that people just refuse to point towards the main antagonist of the entire series as being at fault

#did someone order an essay?#one the house #see now I want to go through lore and watch just the parts with dream to pin together his pov without all the added stuff we know...#dsmp #dream smp #dsmp analysis #doomsday #c!dream #L'manberg #c!technoblade #*me thinking about which tags will not result in provoking people...*

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somanyfuckedupiftruebooks · 2 years ago

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Mag 17

The return of Mike! And evidence that he was an asshole long before he made a living throwing people off of towers. Knowingly setting Leitners loose into the world crosses the line from negligence into maliciousness.

I'm so interested in the relationship between Jared and Sebastian. Growing up as friends, despite how different they are. Then Jared feels betrayed when Sebastian leaves for uni and grows to resent him. So when he returns, Jared starts terrorising him, including showing up at his place of work, but is very careful to never do anything in front of witnesses. And Sebastian is still weirdly fond of Jared, despite things like getting hit over the back of the head with books.

Yeah, I think they were exes.

Fun fact! On my very first listen this was my biggest scare of the series to date. Don't get me wrong, the recording from Lost Johns' Cave was creepy, but the sudden sound of the door opening ripped me out of the statement, and at this point I hadn't really been paying attention to the meta narrative so it was completely unexpected that anyone would interrupt Jon. Seems silly in hindsight, but it's very ironic that the first thing in the show to actually get my heart pounding with genuine fear was the arrival of Elias.

Haha, Archivist's in trouble!

As I said during Naomi's statement, this listen through has made realise that Elias is just using her compliant as an excuse to make Jon back off from annoying the Lukas family. I mean, I knew he didn't give a shit about Naomi, but I figured he was just doing this to be a dick and make Jon feel like he's being watched.

I still think he's doing both of those things, but the primary motivation is the fact that he got an annoyed phonecall from Peter and he's trying to hold off their next divorce another couple of weeks.

I'm confused by the line 'if Rose kept her equipment in better condition'. Obviously it's a reference to the fact that he's frustrated by needing to use the tape recorder, by why is that Rosie's fault? Wouldn't it be the recording software on the laptops in the Research and Archives departments that isn't working? What does Rosie have to do with that? Is she personally responsible for all the equipment in the Institute? I thought she was Elias's P.A.?

No idea what Jon means by that. But at least he's going to be more lovely! That should be good to see. XD

Another reason why Elias felt the need to come down here in person, because Jon hasn't flagged anything unusual about Martin being gone and maybe he was hoping that if he pointed Jon in the right direction it might lead to a Corruption mark. Unfortunately Jon is too busy enjoying Martin's absence from the Archives to want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Alternate caption: MARTIN!!! MARTIN MY BELOVED!!! WHERE ARE YOU???

Love that it's so completely out of character for Jared to read a book that Sebastian flags the entire interaction as weird.

Also a great detail that Jared was afriad even as he was captivated by the book. I will never get over the fact that an essential component of being an avatar is fearing your patron. It's so great that serving them grants power but not relief, not escape.

Poor Mrs Hopworth. She's really going through it. But this whole interaction makes me read her as the mother who disapproves of her son's boyfriend. The shifting of blame from Jared to the book to the man who 'gave him' the book, the way she silently throws the book to the ground and only interacts with Sebastian after he mentions Jared by name, her fury and disgust (she actually spits at him). To me it all reads as classic homophobic 'you've perverted my innocent son with your evil queerness' nonsense.

This might be a tenuous connection, but I've actually read Misery since the last time I listened to this episode, and I wonder if the reason it's included here is because all the fucked up stuff that happens to the protagonist's leg in that book is extremely evocative of boneturning.

#a mag a day #reeah reacts to tma #jared hopworth #mag 17

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doctorstethoscope · 3 years ago

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Couldn’t Wait || A. Hotchner x Fem Reader

summary: reader has a hard time waiting for Aaron to get home from a case

pairing: soft!hotch x reader

warnings: oral, m receiving, penetrative sex, praise kink, degradation kink if you squint, cursing

18+ CONTENT MINORS DNI

wordcount: 1.6k

Aaron was completing paperwork on the otherwise silent jet when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He smiled when he saw your name and picture on the screen.

“Hi sweetheart,” he whispered, and you felt butterflies flutter in your stomach, even after two years of being together.

“I miss you,” you whined by way of greeting.

“I miss you too. I’ll be home in about an hour.” He tells you.

“Why are you whispering?” You asked.

“Everyone else on the jet is asleep. Come to think of it, why are you awake?” He asked, a barely-perceptible air of concern floating around his question.

“The bed’s cold,” you said noncommittally, and though he couldn’t see it, you shrugged. “So, you’re the only one awake?” You confirmed.

“Uh, yeah,” Aaron said, distracted as he tried to quickly wrap up the paperwork so he could come home to you.

You smiled to yourself. “Hmm, then I think you should check out the picture I just sent you.”

“Baby--” he started, and the gravel in his tone shot right through you. But you were on a mission, and you couldn’t be distracted.

“It’ll be worth your while,” you promised. “Go ahead, stay on the line with me. I’ll wait.”

Rolling his eyes, he did as he was told, and opened up the text from you, revealing a picture of you in a lacy lilac corset with matching panties and garters. He cleared his throat audibly and you let out a little giggle. “Is that, um. Are you--”

“Yes, I’m wearing it now.” You answer the question he couldn’t ask, saving him from his stammering. Aaron closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Hurry home,” you told him in a sing-song voice.

“I’ll see you soon. I love you,” he told you, as he always did.

“Love you.”

Aaron was on his feet as soon as the wheels of the jet touched down. If anyone else on the team was making remarks about his hasty departure, he wasn’t sticking around to hear them. He didn’t have any way to defend himself, anyway.

The door is unlocked when he arrives. “Honey, you know I don’t like it when--” He calls into the house, not realizing you are right behind the door. You stop him in his tracks as soon as he crosses the threshold, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck and kissing him soundly. He drops his go bag and swings the door shut behind him in an instant, raising his recently-freed hands to the small of your back and the back of your head, deepening the kiss.

“Couldn’t wait another second for you,” you whispered against his skin as you moved your mouth from his lips down towards his jaw and his neck, deftly undoing the knot of his tie and making quick work of the buttons of his shirt to expose more skin.

“How’d I get this lucky?” He asked breathlessly, pulling back to gesture at your lingerie before leaning in to nip at your neck. Your hands scrambled for purchase against his back, the fabric of his shirt soft and surely wrinkling under your fingers.

“I’ve been thinking about you all day,” you confessed with a sigh as you tilted your head to give Aaron more access to the sensitive skin at the junction of your neck and shoulder.

“Good,” he whispers against your skin. “I want you to forget everything and everyone else but me.” he smirked, his voice dropping on the last word as reached around to give your ass a quick tap. You moaned into his ear and he groaned in response. “You weren’t joking, huh? You really have been waiting all day. What a good girl.” He asked as he took your ass in his hands, palming at your rear. “Are you wet for me already?” He asked, ghosting his finger over your panties.

“God, Aaron, yes.” you moaned out. “All day. I wasn’t joking,” you affirmed. “Please,” you begged, looking up at him innocently and batting your eyelashes. You pushed his unbuttoned shirt off of his shoulders and he crouched, bringing his strong hands down to your thighs. You jumped up, wrapping your legs around his waist so he could carry you to the bedroom. You could feel him, already hard against you, and you took advantage of your angle to run your hands through his hair and to leave marks all over the base of his throat.

He placed you gently against the bed, your hair fanning out around you. He stood over you, taking you in as you laid there, chest rising and falling heavily, eyes lidded with desire and a blush in your cheeks.

“You are so fucking sexy,” he tells you, pulling his undershirt over his head before climbing over you on the bed and leaning in to kiss and suck over the exposed skin of your chest. You brought your hands back to his hair, tugging and pulling in all the ways you knew he liked. He groaned, and you felt it radiate through you. Aaron moved his focus down, hooking two fingers into the sides of your panties and pulling them down, replacing them with open mouthed kisses to your inner thighs.

“Aaron, wait.” you gasped out.

“I think you’ve waited long enough, sweetheart. Don’t you?” He asked, still sitting poised at your entrance. He looked up at you tenderly and you could have come completely undone right then and there.

“I want to take care of you first,” you told him. “Stand up,” you commanded, climbing off the bed and slinking to the floor in front of him. The corset wasn’t the most comfortable of your sexy outfits, but when he raked his eyes over your chest, you were glad you kept it on.

“You look so pretty on your knees for me,” he says with a reverence that almost knocks you over. “So fucking sexy,” he adds in a low growl, and you blush as you look down towards the ground, smiling. You reached for his belt, ridding him of the piece of leather before taking care of his slacks and boxers. You put one hand at the base of him and looked up.

“Aaron,” you whispered.

“Yeah,” he hissed out.

“Don’t be gentle.” you told him before taking him into your throat. He groaned, throwing his head back in pleasure.

“So naughty,” he said with a wicked smile. “Such a dirty girl,” he moaned out as you bobbed up and down on his cock. He thrusted his hips as he took your hair in his hands, forcing himself further down your throat. “Such a good girl, you’re doing so good. Take it all.”

You continued, motivated by his praise, until he found his release in your mouth. You swallowed before standing up and tilting your chin toward him for a kiss, which he granted, bringing a tender hand up to cradle your face.

“That was one hell of a welcome home,” he murmured to you.

“There’s more where that came from,” you remind him, although you know he hasn’t forgotten. He’s never once left you unsatisfied. You climb back into bed, reaching behind you to release the clasp of the corset. You toss it off to the side of the room and collapse back into the mattress, letting out a deep breath.

“All this time you couldn’t breathe in that thing?” Aaron scolded you gently, shaking his head even as his fond smile betrayed him.

“Can we do the lecture on safe seduction practices later? I need you to fuck me,” you whined, looking up at him. That was all it took. His eyes darkened and he slipped into you in an instant, dropping his head to your shoulder and leaving delicate kisses there as he thrusted in and out of you.

“Shit, Aaron.” You moaned out, not sure if you could say anything more coherent.

“You feel so good, baby. You make me feel so good,” he said, nipping at your neck before snaking a hand in between the two of you so he could rub at your clit.

“Fuck. Aaron, if you keep doing that--” you started to warn, but he cut you off.

“I know, baby. Go ahead, you’ve earned it.” He kissed your forehead as you spasmed around him, riding you through your high. Once your breathing evened out, he rolled over.

“So, is now a good time for the lecture on safe seduction practices, or--”

“I didn’t hear you complaining when it was on.” You teased him.

“No, and you won’t. But I like you better when you can breathe, and you didn’t have to go to all that trouble just for me.”

“Trust me, hearing boss man SSA Hotchner tripping over his words because of one little picture was reward enough.”

“For the record, I also like you better when you leave the door locked. Especially when I’m not home.” He continued with his lecture.

You let out a little chuckle and rolled your eyes. “I heard you coming, worry wart. I promise you the door has been locked for all of the past three days except for when I was passing through it and when I heard you coming down the hall.”

“Three days?”

“Well, you left on Tuesday, and it’s… technically Friday morning, now.”

“Felt longer. Missed you,” he said, reaching out to take your hand in his, kissing your knuckles.

“Well, you have three nights of cuddling to make up for, and I intend to cash in.”

tagging: @bauhousewife @just-a-fangirl-xd @angelic-kisses13 @sleepyreaderreads @ssamorganhotchner @wolviesbbeslrblg @xyzhoneybee

@choppa-style @wanniiieeee @zheezs14

@ssavanessa22 @isthatme-thatsme @g-l-pierce @ssahotchie @infinite-tides

@itsmytimetoodream @hotforhotchner11 @hotchinkevlar

#hotchafterhourschallenge #aaron hotchner smut #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x y/n #aaron hotchner x you #hotch x reader #hotch x y/n #hotch x you #criminal minds #criminal minds fic

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ryoryeonggu · 4 years ago

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To begin with, I’ve never been related to any characters like Jang Han Seo. It was oblivious that he was suffering from depression, anxiety and PTSD resulting from the abuse that he had been endured at home, but it seemed like he had the sign of social phobia as well. As we could see in the drama, his life completely revolved around his brother, he had no friends, no interested in dating or attracting to anyone (if we can count Han Seung Hyuk as his “friend” since he might be closer to him than anyone other than Han Seok and before Vincenzo). It might be because of the tittle as The Chairman of Babel and being born in a wealthy family which make him aware that people wanted to get close to him only for money or taking advantage of him to get what they wanted. But the things is, he seemed to avoid any chance of building relationships that have the potential to be more intimate or more complex than basic communication, rejecting even the slightest touch, not just with Han Seok - the one he's afraid of but almost everyone else.

For example, back when Vincenzo (the one he became extremely close to later on) was only a stranger and he pretended to be a fan to approach Han Seo. He appeared to be extremely enthusiastic and just only showed the want of touching Han Seo, Han Seo immediately flinched away and made a clearly uncomfortable expression. He looked at his hand like a gun pointing at him.

Example 2, when Han Seung Hyuk - the one who had close relationship than anyone else besides his brother at that time, just about to go closer to him and he already gave the big “Don’t touch me bitch” energy and make a gesture for him to go away.

This is the first time he had met his sister-in-law (applying for both his blood and adopted brothers). It didn’t go well.

Han Seo himself had proven to be an extremely clingy person and liked to actively skinship towards the people he was close to, but for others, when being touched, his body will immediately generate rejection and fear as a reflex.

Jang Han Seo had another trait that he was completely used to people ignoring him, not taking him seriously, but if someone liked him, complimented him, spoke well of him, then he didn't know how to react naturally as if his brain was immediately shut down. I totally understand this, because I have the same problem, if someone insults me even with the most hurtful things, I'll be like "you say nothing that I don’t already know. I also insulted myself like that every day so we have the same opinion bro” xD But if people compliment me with kind words, I will be extremely surprised, even scared and panic. I will be worried sick about how to make people continue to think well of me and what if I do something wrong later that makes them no longer like me. But of course, when the anxiety reaches a certain level, my mood will turn into: "Nevermind, let's care about it later. Who give a f*ck if they like me or not" lol But Jang Han Seo wasn’t like that. He remembered and held on to the praises of others stubbornly. Many people think that Han Seo betrayed Han Seok just because of Vincenzo, but in fact, the first person to put that thought into Han Seo's head was Han Seung Hyuk. He did not convince him with the benefits, fame, and money of being the true chairman of Babel, but that how he, on behalf of Babel’s member and as an employee of the company, valued and needed him. He hyped him up as the "sharp, ambitious and not murderous" ideally chairman, the only hope of Babel’s bright future and the only person that the people in the company could depend on. Before that, although he was really angry that Han Seok constantly rejected his offers, Han Seo kept saying "Are you telling me to betray my brother? Do you even know what you are saying?" showed that he completely accepted that he wasn’t able to run the company and continued to live in Han Seok's shadow, until Mr. Han opened a new vision for him. Han Seung Hyuk's words couldn’t tell that he was really meant it or not, and maybe Han Seo already knew he was untrustworthy, but it sparked the thought that he could actually do better than his brother and be capable of turning Babel into something good. When negotiating with Vincenzo, he mentioned not only that he wanted Vincenzo to spare his life but also Babel (not just the company itself or its property, but also the employees whose life depended on the company’s survival) Then Vincenzo came. Before Vin hyung appeared, Jang Han Seok was completely Han Seo's ideal model for him to look up to and learn from. He yelled at people’s face and throw hockey balls to their stomach to show his authority (like how his brother beated the shit out of him with a hockey stick when he messed up in the previous episode), making people afraid so they could listen to him (but most of his efforts failed miserably because he just looked like an adorable bratty angry kitten). Then Vin hyung appeared, encouraged him to study harder and gave him a completely different role model, the man he wanted to become. And that's when he started to change, showing his true self, he let his hair down, started to wear clothes that looked comfortable and youthful, laughed more often and looked more alive. After his brother went to prison, he turned into a friendly, gentle and loving chairman and didn't shout at anyone anymore xD Continued to episode 19, when Vincenzo mentioned the possibility of Han Seok being released from prison early and would come to him first, advising him to fly away to a foreign country, Han Seo, although trying to hide it, clearly shows his fear (of course when you've been terrified of something all your life, fear can't disappear within a day or two), but still refuses to run away because "I made a promise to you." Even when Vincenzo made it clear that "you can keep your promise to me later" and still tried to convince him, Han Seo was still determined to stay and fight to the end. Simply because Vincenzo showed his belief in Han Seo, that he had potential, he could change and become a better person, a trustworthy person that could count on, and because of that, he would do it everything to live up to that expectation (which he has proven he could - or at least tried to - do everything, except murders xD). Others' faith in him is Han Seo's biggest motivation, because he's probably used to being seen as a useless person without any value, a piece of trash that doesn't deserve to exist, not only for his brother, but also for his parents, who see his birth as an accident, a mistake of a casual cheating hook up, not a miracle result of their desire to have a child. That is also the reason why Han Seok completely failed to convince his little brother to betray Vincenzo by promising to give him all of Babel, it could be seen in Han Seo's reaction that there was not a bit of greed or joy, but a complete shock at his brother’s brutal request, and he still didn't move at all. It was only when Vincenzo took the initiative to kneel and asked him to do what Han Seok told him to do, Han Seo finally was able to stand up, and when Vincenzo said "It's okay", implying that he would’ve fully understood if Han Seo had chose to kill him for survival, in that moment he already knew what he had to do, even at the cost of the life that he treasured the most. Because what Han Seo longed from the beginning was never Babel, but rather to become a kind of meaningful existence, not only for others but also for himself.

#jang han seo #jang han seok #vincenzo #jang brothers #the jang bros #kwak dong yeon #vincenzo kdrama #han seung hyuk #vincenzo cassano #jang hanseo #jang han seo best boy #jang han seo deserves better

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aannonn · 1 year ago

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That sounds fun tbh.. Btw! Long detailed responses.. lol I just don't really like to be sO direct with my answers. ;')

1 -> Favorite character!

"From the Hollowheads?"

honestly, I love them all, but...

-> We haven't seen much of Victim yet, so I think the love I feel for him is pretty little when compared to the others, but I still love him!

-> Dark and Chosen are the ones that I equally love. Though, in terms of headcanons; Dark is the one that I love the most! While in terms of canonicity; Chosen is the one that I love the most.

-> Despite all of this, out of all of them; The Second Coming/TSC is definitely the one that I love the most. Not only because he's the main protagonist and I tend to love the protagonist more than the other characters but He's pretty fun and interesting as a character - atleast to me. xD

"From The Fighting Stick Figures?"

I love them all pretty much equally, actually! But I think Red is probably the one that stand out to me the most.

"From The Mercenaries?"

Hmm.. We haven't seen much of them yet, so I think I'm just neutral about them in general.

-> The fandom does makes them stand out more to me but, since it's mostly just fanon things that didn't come from canon, I think I'll remain neutral about them. ;)

-> Though, I have to admit that Agent kinda stand out to me more than the others...

"From the characters that appear outside the main Animator vs Animation series? (such as AvM Shorts, etc.)"

I love Purple. Gold is so silly. King kinda reminds me of my dad. ;)

-> I probably love Purple the most, though.

"Overall?"

The ColorGang, most likely. ;D

-> Apart from the ColorGang, I probably love the HollowHeads the most, too.

2 -> Who is a character you want to know more about, such as their background, personality, and more?

Honestly, everyone who didn't got a proper development yet.

-> But if we are talking about the one that I most want to know more about.. Probably The Dark Lord and the Mercenaries! Oh, and Victim, too! =D

-> I'm really curious to see what Victim did through all of those years before being the owner of a very successfull company.

-> I would love to see TDL return, and get more in depth into his character! Like- Why does he wants to destroy the internet so much? What is his motives? If Victim survived from being deleted, does that mean that Dark also survived from all the amount of power Second threw at him? If yes, where he is now? Is he in a coma-? How does Chosen feel after all of this? Basically; Many questions about him. I want answers. I love him so much please come back-

-> And about the Mercenaries... I want to know who exactly are they. Like- How did they met Victim? What did they do before meeting Victim? Were they working with some other company? Or they were just normal StickMens before meeting Victim? Basically: They have so much potential as characters tbh- lol I would love to see more of them!

3 -> Which characters do you think should interact more? The possibilities are endless!

Oh yeah- The possibilities are definitely endless. So I'm kinda indecisive on this one, but...

-> Honestly, I would love to see Second and Dark & Second and Chosen interacting more. Mainly because I believe they are all siblings and I'm a sucker for some siblings bonding but also because I would love to see how would their dynamics be like.

-> Would Chosen be kind of resentful towards Second because of what he did to Dark? I mean- Yes, Chosen knows it was necessary, and he knows Second doesn't remember any of it, and he knows he basically saved the whole internet from being destroyed + saved him and revived his friends, and he knows he was the first one to betray Dark, and he knows Dark probably wasn't gonna listen to him anyway, but but- sTILL

-> Dark was his first friend. His best friend. His one and only equal. And now he's all... Gone. The memories. The time. The love and affection they shared towards each other; All gone.

-> Yes, I know Chosen have some kind of respect towards Second for saving him and the whole internet; But, that's it. Respect. That doesn't mean that Chosen wouldn't feel atleast some kind of resentment.... Maybe. Either way, I'm curious to see how their relationship will develop through out the series. ;D (Probably..)

-> I feel like Dark and Second would be absolutely terrified of each other. Second because Dark literally killed off his friends right infront of him and then proceeded to try to kill him too, and Dark because he literally got either killed or got into a coma because of Second.

-> The last thing they both saw was; Dark literally leaving him to die, and a big giant laser pointed directly at him. Both parts's last thing they felt was feeling absolutely endless and unbearable pain.

-> I wonder how would their relationship be like if they were in better terms, though... Or even; How would their relationship be like if Dark survived, got such an epik redemption arc (or maybe not one at all), then the reunion. The amount of angst there would be if this happened...

4 -> What gender/pronouns do you see the characters as? (Remember to be respectful of everyones headcanons!)

I see them all as GenderLess, to be honest. I don't actually believe that the drawn StickFigures are actually meant to have genders, so... (I respect people who think otherwise, though!)

-> I see them all with He/Him and They/Them pronouns! (I view Blue with She/Her pronouns too, though..) I still don't view them neither as boys nor girls nor any other gender, though. lol

-> But! I see Purple as a boy, or maybe GenderFluid with He/Him and She/Her pronouns!

5. Do you have ships? If so, what’s your favorite? (Remember to also be respectful when it comes to this!)

I don't really want to focus much on the shipping part of this community, nor do I want to actually ship any of the characters with each other, but I would be lying if PolySticks and SecGreen + SecRed didn't had me lying down in my bed just thinking about them...

-> But! That doesn't mean that I ship them, I just really like the ships and the potential it has! ;D

-> Kinda unrelated thing, but Yellow x Blue will always make me think they are actually canonically dating.. Even though they probably aren't and are just really rEALLY close

6 -> What is your favorite animation from Alan EVER? One that you will never forget?

I never forgot about Animation vs Minecraft (original) even after all of those years, and I still doubt I ever will.

-> But my favorite is probably Animation vs Minecraft ; The Rediscovery. ;)

7 -> What’s your favorite episode from all the AvM Shorts from its six years of episodes? How about your favorite from each season?

Hm.. Hard decision, really, since I love all of the episodes equally.... Some more, others less, but I still love them all a great amount. But...

-> The Note Block Universe episode and the Monster School episode + The Lush Caves episode are probably my favorites ones. ;)

-> Note Block Episode; Songs! Music! Character Development! Character BackStory! Tears! Plot Twists!

-> Top-tier episode, to be honest.

-> Monster School; A great come back of a very loved childhood favorite minecraft series. + HeroBrine and Red reunion! (Even though HeroBrine probably doesn't remember Red lol) Character Development! Red-centric! New characters! New friendships! Mobs' appreciation!

-> I love this episode, though I felt bad for Red the whole time. lol

-> Lush Caves; Broken Friendship! Aggressive and hearted fight! Friendship Development! Character Development! Relationship Development! Platonic SecRed for the heart! Bonding!

-> I love this episode so much because it shows more of SecRed's relationship and how their personalities contrast each other so much that they end up blaming each other for the situation they are in and then fighting, but they still manage to get through all of it, make up in the end and then work together to go back home and go save their friends.

8 -> What about your favorite installment from AvA 1-6?

Not actually sure what it meant as my main language isn't English, so I had to search it up, so-

-> Probably AvA IV(4), AvA V(5) and AvA VI(6)! ;D I love the suspense and terror (in a emotional way, not in an actual horror way) AvA 5 and AvA 6 bring us, while I love the silliness and angst AvA 4 bring us. ;)

9 -> What’s your favorite *Actual* Short?

Hmm.. I love them all equally, actually! But I think FireWorks, BackRooms and Autocorrect are the ones that stand out to me the most! ;D

10 -> What’s your favorite Av_ installment outside AvA/M?

...I.. I'm not quite sure If I understand this question.. But I think Animation vs Youtube..? ;'D I love it when Youtube become sentient, and the SecGreen bound(or bond?) in this episode was absolutely a pleasant to watch!

11 -> Bonus question! Do you like Reuben / Red’s pig? This is important. /j

A direct and no explanations needed, straight-forward and firm; Yes.

12 -> If you were to suggest the next episode (can be anything; AvM Shorts, AvA, etc.), what would you suggest?

Hm... Maybe an episode that focus on the AfterMath of things..? Like, how did they all dealt after all the things that happened to them? How did they come over it? What happened during this big timeskip?

-> I know it can be quite such an sensitive topic to touch on, and not everyone may be comfortable in watching it, but I still would love to watch an episode dedicated to the AfterMath of things.

13 -> What’s a scene from any animation you’ll never forget?

You know that one scene where the RYGB literally tackles Second to the ground just to hug him? Yea, never gonna forget that. (They are all so silly and loving and clingy and affectionate I love them sm)

-> ...I will probably never forget when they all got killed, too.

14 -> How did you first find Alan’s videos? What was your first?

I was just scrolling through the youtube trying to find some Minecraft videos (probably) until I found an animation about StickFigures playing with Minecraft and defying all the Minecraft logic (or maybe an animation about a big-head StickFigure coming to life and making friends all along the way!).

-> I don't remember if Animation vs Minecraft (original) was my first or if Animation vs Animator IV was. Either way, they were both pretty much the first animations that I have ever watched from Alan Becker. =)

-> Animation vs Animator V was definitely the one that brought me back to this fandom.. xD

15. How long have you been watching/following Alan’s videos?

If we count the year I watched Animation vs Minecraft and Animation vs Animator IV for the very first time, I would say probably around 7-6 years. But I never really made an attempt in trying to watch all the rest of Alan's videos and actually joining the fandom and following the episodes, so I don't think it counts.

-> I started to watch all of his AvA/AvM videos (+ the Actual Shorts and some other non-related AvA/AvM videos) this year, though... So I think- 2 and a half months so far..? lol I wasn't really counting the days, but I for sure did start actually watching Alan's videos this year, in october! ;D

Omg that took so long... But, at the same time, I had fun doing it! ;D

I'm going through some things right now, too, so this definitely cheered me up atleast a lil' bit.

Welp! I think that's it..? xD

Cya ~ !

Hey there, AvM/AvA fandom! I noticed the amount of traction I’ve been getting on my art lately, and I’ve never had this much attention on any of my Tumblr posts before! I’ve had this idea since last month, and I want to bring it to you guys!

The AvA/M Questions List!

Feel free to answer any of these questions in the reblogs!

(Questions below:)

1. Who is your favorite character:

From the Hollowheads?

From the Fighting Stick Figures?

From the Mercenaries?

From the characters that appear outside the main Animator vs Animation series? (such as AvM Shorts, etc.)

Overall?

2. Who is a character you want to know more about, such as their background, personality, and more?

3. Which characters do you think should interact more? The possibilities are endless!

4. What gender/pronouns do you see the characters as? (Remember to be respectful of everyones headcanons!)

5. Do you have ships? If so, what’s your favorite? (Remember to also be respectful when it comes to this!)

6. What is your favorite animation from Alan EVER? One that you will never forget?

7. What’s your favorite episode from all the AvM Shorts from its six years of episodes? How about your favorite from each season?

8. What about your favorite installment from AvA 1-6?

9. What’s your favorite *Actual* Short?

10. What’s your favorite Av_ installment outside AvA/M?

11. Bonus question! Do you like Reuben / Red’s pig? This is important. /j

12. If you were to suggest the next episode (can be anything; AvM Shorts, AvA, etc.), what would you suggest?

13. What’s a scene from any animation you’ll never forget?

14. How did you first find Alan’s videos? What was your first?

15. How long have you been watching/following Alan’s videos?

Have fun, everyone!

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aflamethatneverdies · 2 years ago

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3, 4, and 1 for Les Mis AND for Black Sails?:D

Ah! Thank you so much frand!!<3

1. which character do you relate to the most from your fandom?

1 is hard to answer because if relate means which character I am like the most, none of them at all, if I was I would instantly stop liking them and also it would be very boring, I don't want to read about people like me. I've never been able to identify with characters in terms of thinking that this character is exactly like me. I think of them as their own people, whereas I'm me. It's also more intriguing for me to then figure out what they are like in their own specific socio-political context and how they would behave in a situation. XD

So if I interpret it as which character I would love to spent more time with, I think, Prouvaire was the one I had a lot of initial idea about even though that was helped immensely knowing and reading about his real life inspiration whomst I love a lot. I have known people like Prouvaire (queer weirdo leftist poet-writer(s) irl) so he's always easier to write and understand for me and also a joy to write.

Currently, we have talked about it as well, I am relating to Bahorel's anger being a motivating factor and the constant heartbreak of political goings on and its like, I need it, everyday, every single day is just like that when you're deeply involved in politics from my experience, lol. I don't have his bravery or his extroversion, or the way he so readily makes connections or all the many many things I love him dearly for: his thoughtfulness, his Romantic sappiness/gentleness, but I admire him so, so much for always being ready to fight on the barricades and I think that stance is the one I relate to the most right now.

Last but not least Cosette, I love her bug adventures, her thoughts on ghosts not wearing round hats, and her wildness and bravery and relate to the endless patriarchal shit she has to navigate through. I would love to spend a lot of time with her. Also we are both perky goths, so we have that in common.

For Black Sails-- hands down Madi. I suspect it is also the case of I admire her so much, than I am like her. I am not like her, I wish I was. But I love her so much, I admire her and want to spend time with her and I want her to win in her fight against the British Colonial Empire.

3. what is your favorite ship?

Bahorel/Prouvaire. My favourite is definitely poetry smash and their hijinks and how they are both Romantic weirdos whomst I love very very much. There is so much to explore there that I never get tired of reading about them in many different iterations from werewolf Bahorel to reincarnation, to poetic spells, etc. Also it lets me indulge in my other main fandom of four people and a shoelace, and liberally blur the lines between fiction and reality when writing about them. I also really love how they give each other space in whatever relationship they have with each other: there is no pressure on them to stay in a romantic relationship, Bahorel understands Prouvaire's need to wander off for a while in his moods and then suddenly reappear again when he wants to. They do things separately too, yet still remain Romantic friends through it all. I love these kinds of relationships where the boundaries between friends and lovers are not very clear and they move between them.

For Black Sails:

Walrus, I cried when she went down. No other ship will ever come as close in my affections.

Lol, I don't know that I like Madi/Silver very much, I will never forgive Silver for betraying Madi, I get why she liked him and got together with him, but I'm not very keen on them as a couple. I like Anne/Max/Jack for what they are, though I'm not sure if they are my favourite ship. My disaster garbage on fire ship is Flint/Silver and the way that Silver keeps saying he will betray Flint and Flint doesn't take that seriously and then Silver betrays him. I am very invested, not in the romantic nature of this ship, not at all, but more in the mutual destructiveness of it, if that makes sense? They are bad for each other. Silver, the more he becomes like Flint, the less likeable he is, but it's still fascinating to watch.

4. what is your favorite CANON ship?

Is Bahorel/Prouvaire not canon? Bini definitely, I will always love them being together, they are uncomplicated in terms of how much it feels like they don't have petty misunderstandings/fights/breakup drama in their relationship. I also love bini a lot for how much they have worldly concerns but also are committed revolutionaries together and one without the other is the most evil timeline, and I don't want to think about that.

For Black Sails my answer is still Walrus, y'all, y'all I love that ship so much. She was so pretty and it broke my heart so much when she went down.

#pilferingapples #thank you so so much friend<3 #meme games

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years ago

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How much was azula and zuko blinded of the propaganda?I have seen someone say that" azula knew the propaganda was a lie and there evidence was the fire nation were willingly to burn ba sing sa to the ground so azula should have known better"

O_o um, no offense intended to that person but... where’s the evidence that Azula ever had any doubts about the Fire Nation’s supremacist views?

I can outright point at a key dialogue where Zuko blatantly proves he’s not blinded by his father’s propaganda: Book 1, episode 3. Zuko directly tells Zhao: “If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!”, quoted right out of the wikia. So... heh. Zuko seems to be critical of his father, of his conquest, of his colonialist pursuits...

... And yet he proceeds to continue chasing the Avatar, fighting against him, outright committing treason against his own nation by releasing Aang but ONLY so he could be the one to turn him in personally, still saying things like “My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all.” (Book 1, episode 13), telling Iroh “I want it back. I want the Avatar, I want my honor, my throne. I want my father not to think I'm worthless.” (Book 2, episode 1), introducing himself in this manner: “My name is Zuko. Son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne.” (Book 2, episode 7), and the list goes on :’) basically, insert everything nefarious or gray Zuko does through the three seasons, and factor in that Zuko has proven he doesn’t believe his father’s propaganda since early Book 1... you get the picture.

So... what that line in “The Southern Air Temple” ends up telling us is that all his actions are self-serving! :’D Which takes away from Zuko’s big speech to Ozai, namely when he says that the argument about the war spreading the Fire Nation’s greatness was an “amazing lie”. No, it wasn’t an amazing lie, and no, he didn’t believe it, at least he didn’t ever since the show began, as far as we saw. Therefore... I give no free passes to Zuko over any arguments that he was doing Ozai’s bidding or acting in his behalf. No one who says “my father is a fool” with such conviction in the show’s very THIRD EPISODE can pretend he was completely unaware of how wrong the Fire Nation’s direction was until he finally had his change of heart and awakening to the goodness of the world. He knew it was wrong. He did everything he did because it didn’t matter to him that it was, his throne and honor mattered more.

And considering I could quote at least three different instances where he talks about the throne as his own, or meant to be his own, I think it’s damn clear it was constantly on his mind. The only occasion when he says anything about wanting to do right by the Fire Nation itself is with Mai in the Boiling Rock... and by then he’s “redeemed”. Ergo, he’s supposed to know better at last. Before redemption? Zero signs that Zuko believes the Fire Nation needs new guidance and that he realizes the problem is Ozai’s propaganda and ideological indoctrination. That line in episode 3 suggests he KNOWS his father can and should be questioned, but later on he doesn’t betray any interest in doing so until he outright confronts him in The Eclipse. And that’s the thing: Zuko knows Ozai is bullshitting everyone, but it’s not his problem. That’s not why he’s doing what he’s doing. He’s not here to further spread Ozai’s gospel, he’s here to get the Avatar and earn his ticket back home, and he’ll do ANYTHING to achieve that.

Meanwhile, Azula... anyone can say she’s not blind to the horrors the Fire Nation has committed, that she’s an active participant of the war, that she’s her father’s enabler too... sure. But I don’t think ANYONE can say with any degree of certainty that Azula had broken out of the Fire Nation indoctrination on any level by the time we meet her in the show. Azula, as far as I’ve always seen her, is a product of her upbringing: she is sheltered, troubled, capable of dismissing any moral dilemmas in the face of any mission, absolutely unwilling to fail at anything she ever does. But really... where’s the evidence that she KNOWS the Fire Nation isn’t inherently superior to the others? Where’s the evidence that she knows Sozin’s doctrines are just excuses? I’m not saying she’s not smart enough to figure it out, I certainly write her that way myself... but I don’t think there’s anything you can point to in the show, the way there IS, objectively, with Zuko, to say “Yeah she’s 100% aware that the Fire Nation supremacist ideals are BS and she just follows fit with them because she wants a throne for herself.”

In contrast: how many times does Azula say the word “throne” in the show?:

“The fact is, they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne, and which one is going to be bowing down.” (Book 2, Episode 20) -- not the Fire Nation throne, but Ba Sing Se’s. Ergo, a throne she took via strategic prowess... that she then abandoned and left in Joo Dee’s hands SOMEHOW (why... Azula, just... why?? xD) before returning to the Fire Nation instead of merely relishing in having obtained MORE POWER!

... That’s literally it.

Where Zuko constantly talks about “his throne”, Azula only displays genuine, overt, blatant interest in becoming Fire Lord when Ozai directly offers her the position. She doesn’t shy away from it at all, of course, but when she’s seen talking about her alleged future as Fire Lord, her wording is... curiously different from Zuko’s:

“My father asked you to come here and talk to me, didn't he‌? He thinks I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord. But I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history.” (Book 3, Episode 20)

This isn’t even fully healthy Azula, so using her behavior here as representative for her genuine views is a tricky thing to do. And yet... she says she will be the greatest LEADER? She’s not looking at the throne as something she is owed, she’s looking at it as a challenge she needs to prove herself worthy of. She’s not looking at a crown or a throne exclusively: she’s looking at LEADERSHIP. She’s ambitious enough to think BEYOND obtaining the power, and instead she’s already thinking of how she’ll use it.

This is a fundamental difference between both Zuko and Azula. Azula’s motivation wasn’t the throne, or a crown, or anything like that until the finale. If she’d wanted more political power, like I always say, she would’ve stayed in the Earth Kingdom and ruled over Ba Sing Se herself, getting high on the thrill of finally controlling a nation of her own. She’s the main artificer of the take-over, the Dai Li literally answer to her, and yet she didn’t stick around: she left the city for other people to deal with rather than going wild over her newly acquired power. Doesn’t this speak lengths about Azula’s priorities? And once she’s finally being offered the throne she does value, her troubled mind is set on LEADERSHIP. And while of course someone can argue she’s just vain and wants to be remembered forever, kind of like Zhao did, the question of what kind of leadership Azula has in mind is still worth asking: if she didn’t want the Earth Kingdom throne, it suggests she actually cherishes the Fire Nation above all else, and another nation’s throne doesn’t suffice or particularly prove fulfilling for her beyond the initial conquest. Prioritizing the Fire Nation, WITHOUT being Fire Lord yet, above Ba Sing Se’s throne... strongly suggests a belief that the Fire Nation matters more than anything else. And that’s basically what the Ozai propaganda impresses upon his people.

For further evidence... I present to you the Fire Nation Oath:

“My life I give to my country, with my hands I fight for Fire Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet may our March of Civilization continue.” (Book 3, Episode 2)

Just one reading of this oath explains Azula’s actions and motivations immediately. Recapping her actions throughout the show:

She finds Iroh and Zuko under Ozai’s orders, attempts to take them home peacefully, then they rebel, she fights them and regards them as traitors, loses, still intends to continue chasing them after her defeat.

Gathers new allies for her quest, comes across the Avatar, decides to take him down, fails, decides she has two targets now.

Chases the Avatar, fights both him and Zuko, narrowly escapes before being defeated, all be it to fight another day.

Helps in the Drill’s operations in Ba Sing Se, nearly stops Team Avatar’s scheme, fails again once Aang finishes their plan perfectly.

Follows Appa, fights and defeats the Kyoshi Warriors, takes their uniforms, impersonates them and breaks into Ba Sing Se while no one’s the wiser.

Acquires crucial information about the enemies’ plans to attack her nation on the day of the Eclipse.

Acquires the support of the Dai Li, captures Katara, Zuko and Iroh, overthrows Kuei.

Offers Zuko one more chance to fight by her side, attempts to fight Aang and Katara by herself, then is shown willing to fight Zuko as well as those two until she joins forces safely with Zuko and they defeat Aang and Katara.

Takes Zuko home as a hero, he hides crucial information about the Avatar, Azula attempts to set up a trap so Zuko takes the fall if the Avatar isn’t dead.

Offers Zuko advice about not visiting Iroh so he stays out of trouble, which he disregards to no consequences.

Goes on a chaotic vacation with her friends.

Gives Zuko a history lesson with more than a few harsh burns.

Tells Zuko he should go to a war meeting, which he attends later to no consequences, and she was right to say he was expected to be in it.

Intervenes in the war meeting and cuts off Zuko before he says the wrong thing, Ozai extrapolates Azula’s suggestion into his perfect, megalomaniac villain plan, and she’s shown perfectly satisfied with supplying her father an idea he values.

Organizes and leads the resistance against the invasion, stalls the Avatar’s group, keeps her father safe.

Visits the Boiling Rock, presumably upon finding out her brother infiltrated the prison, and in all likelihood suspecting he didn’t do it alone, considering that she immediately barges into the interrogations about the escape attempts rather than appearing at Zuko’s holding cell.

Fights Sokka and Zuko, nearly dies when the Warden decides to cut the line but saves herself by flying off, loses her shit when Mai betrays her, gets chi-blocked, sends her friends to prison.

Attacks Team Avatar in the Western Air Temple, takes a near-fatal plummet but still manages to survive and return home while the enemies escape.

Intends to go with Ozai to set fire to the Earth Kingdom, loses her temper, Ozai loses his, he offers her the role of Fire Lord and becomes Phoenix King.

Loses herself to paranoia gradually, hallucinates her mother, pushes everyone away, agrees to fight an Agni Kai with Zuko instead of merely commanding to be crowned disregarding Zuko’s intrusion.

Loses the fight against Katara, is sent to an asylum.

I think there’s quite a lot in here that suggests Azula’s actions are meant to uphold the values and beliefs of the Fire Nation Oath. She gave herself completely to her missions, to the point of even facing deadly peril more than once. She fought many battles, lost a LOT of them, and yet she never backed down. She is by far the most strategic character in the Fire Nation side of the story, switching her tactics constantly while the show progresses... and what is she after? Victories. For whom? Herself? Why... again, if it were just for herself, why abandon Ba Sing Se, the crown jewel of the Earth Kingdom’s Ultimate Conqueror? Why allow Zuko to share in that big achievement, too, instead of merely locking him up someplace and taking all the credit for herself?

There’s seriously zero reason to believe Azula DOESN’T live by the Fire Nation Oath. I, personally, don’t see how any of her actions indicate she’s questioned her nation’s indoctrinated creed in any way. Do I think she’s smart enough to know that the war wasn’t about spreading “greatness”? Sure. Does this automatically mean she was doing everything she ever did for herself, and not for the Fire Nation AND her father? Absolutely not. And that’s where Zuko and Azula are crucially, fundamentally different: Zuko’s concerns are PERSONAL. Zuko’s battles are PERSONAL. Zuko wants HIS honor, HIS throne: Azula never says any similar words in the entire show. Azula’s biggest display of ambition is claiming she wants to be the Fire Nation’s greatest leader. Ambitious, yes, BUT... an ambition that is perfectly in line with the oath, again, especiall with this line: “may our march of civilization continue”. Whereas Zuko’s words and actions throughout the show honestly don’t strike any legitimate chords with the Oath, as far as I can tell?

And I’m relying on the Oath because it’s literally the only solid evidence we have of actual creed and speeches the Fire Nation people are taught. While we can make plenty of guesses as to what else their education includes, by judging Fire Nation people’s actions and behavior, the only solid things we have are the misinformation the teacher attempts to give the children in Aang’s classroom and the Oath she makes the children recite. I think it’s safe to guess most Fire Nation people would know that Oath by heart, and probably attempt to live by it, too.

But like I said, where Azula’s actions can easily be interpreted as morally awful ways of displaying the “values” present in the Fire Nation Oath, I don’t see how Zuko’s actions EVER had anything to do with those values. They plain didn’t. And that isn’t a bad thing, objectively speaking: it means Zuko wasn’t insanely attached to the Fire Nation to the point of valuing it above his own life, after all. And yet, it puts a spin on Zuko’s actions and behavior that definitely doesn’t do his character any favors: no, his actions aren’t motivated by the Fire Nation Oath or any similar creed, they’re motivated, above all else, by the hopes that his father will return his birthright and honor to him. And his redemption is, of course, coded as him realizing that Ozai doesn’t get to decide whether he has honor or not! Which... again... is a blatant way of saying that Zuko’s true motivation wasn’t “doing Ozai’s bidding and advancing the Fire Nation’s war”, it was his honor, his throne, and everything to do with what he’d lost after his banishment. The whole show is full of obvious signs that Zuko’s not motivated by any beliefs greater than this -- such as the fact that he returns home as a hero and it feels WRONG to him. It’s not only because his father now respects him under the false pretenses that he killed the Avatar, but also because he plain feels out of place and isn’t happy at all! Why? Because he “got everything back”, and it feels off. Why is it off? Because he wants honor and he doesn’t feel like he regained it at all in the first half of Book 3. Then he turns his back on his father and chooses a whole different path and he’s finally at peace with himself, so much he can’t even bend anymore :’D but the point is, simply, that there’s no evidence anywhere within the show that Zuko honest to gods was acting out of anything but his own, personal needs rather than a constant pursuit for the Fire Nation’s advancement.

And like I said before, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It probably makes his redemption “easier”, to a fault, since there’s less to address. Do I like it? No. Do I think Zuko is fundamentally a better human being than Azula because he questioned Ozai and she didn’t? Considering how many awful things he still did while proving he could question his father, not a chance. Do I think Azula is fundamentally a better human being than Zuko since her actions do seem to follow fit with what Fire Nation indoctrination looks like? Considering what that indoctrination entails, and the deeds she proves capable of to uphold it, the answer would once again be “not a chance”.

In short: neither buying the Fire Nation indoctrination or questioning it makes either Azula or Zuko objectively better people. Both are capable of amoral deeds and actions that should never be supported, encouraged or excused :’D and while I absolutely will impress that they have different motivations, which codify their actions, I don’t think Azula’s deeds would be objectively any worse if someone SOMEHOW finds solid evidence that she truly didn’t believe in any of these doctrines, just as I don’t think Zuko’s would be any better if it’s proven (though... I’d be pretty sure it can’t be) that he’s just as brainwashed as everyone else in the Fire Nation.

On a final note, directly answering your final concern there: both Zuko and Azula are shown reacting to the notion of Ba Sing Se being burned to the ground. Heck, Ursa is shown reacting to it too. If we need a refresher...

If this is somehow proof that Azula “understands” the FIre Nation is evil (How? She’s laughing like it’s a perfectly happy revelation? So is her mother? So is her brother? How does someone watch this scene and interpret this as “this messed up family KNOWS they’re the BAD GUYS!”, rather than “this messed up family thinks burning a city down is GOOD?!”), then it’s also proof Zuko and Ursa do. And they still laugh just as she does.

If the person in question was talking about Azula’s intervention in the war meeting? Zuko’s reaction shows he thinks burning down a continent is evil. Zuko’s betrayal of the Fire Nation shows he didn’t want anything to do with that (his reluctance to share this information with Team Avatar, however, is highly illogical?). Azula’s behavior doesn’t suggest at all that she thinks burning an enemy nation is anything but a sign of superiority, something both Ursa and Zuko are totally fine with in the scene above, and her suggestion, yet again, is something that is perfectly in line with the Fire Nation’s morally reprehensible values. As such, it’s not something that proves Azula somehow was acting of her own accord and is immune to Fire Nation indoctrination and propaganda, by any means.

So.

I’d think that answers that. :’)

#thea-here #yikes this got long #but #hopefully as it's so late #it won't bother anyone's dashboards #if it does let me know #and I'll read-more it #:'D #but really #why do people try to make arguments that can be deflated in a heartbeat #like...#I rambled on and on because I love to?#but man #there's zero substance in that theory #zero logic #zero analysis #*shrug*#just the truth

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hello-nichya-here · 3 years ago

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Zucest - Is It Really Flirting?

(Originally posted on AO3 as chapter 43 of Defending and Analysing Zucest)

@azdaema-does-art asked: So I think a big stumbling block for me with this ship is that I very much adhere to the reading of the show that holds:

Quasi-Seducer!Azula (as seen virtually anytime) and Quasi-Seducer!Zuko (as seen in "The Waterbending Scroll") are not actually expressions of desire from them. Rather, this is Zuko and Azula trying to be intimidating by modeling their behavior off their father (circling, personal-space-invading, low seductive tones, etc)

When actually trying to flirt neither Zuko nor Azula acts anything like that. When Zuko goes on that date with a girl in the Earth Kingdom, or Azula flirting with that guy on Ember Island, they're both awkward disasters.

I'd be curious to hear you address this. (Or point me to some awkward disaster!zucest fanfic.)

***

That is a really good point and I'm glad you brought it up. While I understand that reading of the show, I disagree with it slightly for a few reasons (beyond my own bias).

Need to be in control: No one can argue against the fact that neither Zuko nor Azula know how to have "normal", healthy relationships with others, mainly due to how unequal 99% of the relationships in the Fire Nation are since imposing your own will over someone else's has become part of their culture. Both Zuko and Azula accepted being treated like mere tools/punching bags by their father, Zuko was constantly insulting Iroh over the smallest things and Azula full on threatened Ty Lee's life to make her join her on her chase after her brother and the Avatar - both were scenarios where desire wasn't a factor at all (thought I know many fans that would like to think otherwise XD)

However, during The Beach, we saw how both of them try (and fail) to deal with romance. Zuko was extremelly paranoid that Mai was interested in another guy, for no real reason, and was constantly trying to intimidate her into either admiting to it or into saying she disliked the guy, even though she had clearly said she was completely indifferent to him. And Azula, after her kiss with Chan, decided, on her own and not giving a damn about his feelings on the matter, that not only would they be officially a couple, but that they'd dominate the earth together. Control is, more often than not, a major factor in all of their actions and relationships, so Azula wanting to intimidate Zuko in the bedroom scene (which she very much tried to do and succeeded at) doesn't automatically rule out the possibility of atraction.

Mixed feelings: While "I wanna fight/kill my sibling" is sort of these two default state, there are moments that show that they do have at least some positive feelings for each other. Zuko doesn't give a shit that Aang is going to kill Ozai, but seeing Azula falling "to her death" and then chained up and defeated after their Agni Kai quite clearly made him emotional, even if he tried to control himself. Azula's positive feelings for Zuko are so obvious I had to do an in length discussion of it in chapter 12 "Is Zucest just about sex?" Combine all of the conflicting emotions they have for each other with their need to control the other, and some scenes end up getting some connotations the writers weren't planning them to have... supposedly (I'll get into that in a bit)

Awareness and familiarity: Don't get me wrong, Zuko and Azula are two extremelly traumatized, socially awkward teenagers who have no idea how to flirt (or how to fit in with people their age) but we also need to take context into consideration, especiall when it comes to Zuko's date with Jin and Azula's interactions with Chan.

In Ba Sing Se, Zuko was outside of his comfort zone, away from home, in enemy territory, and so paranoid that he assumed Jin came into the tea shop so often because she knew they were Fire Nation, not because she had a crush on him or simply enjoyed their tea. And while he liked her and the date was nice, Zuko was very "stiff" and even looked a bit uncomfortable (not to say very uncomfortable) at some points - which is oddly simmilar to how he was acting during the bedroom scene (hell, Azula was quite clearly looking at him just like Jin did, as I pointed out in "The most important parallel in Avatar"). Finally, we cannot forget that, even though he was awkward as fuck during 90% of the night, Zuko did manage to do something kinda romantic by lighting up the place, meaning he isn't completely oblivious to the concept of flirting (which is proved by his relationship with Mai).

Now, when it comes to Azula, the poor girl has almost no idea how to flirt. Almost. Talking about Chan's sharp outfit shows she's got some of the basis down, like "say something nice" - the problem is that her concept of "nice" is very different than that of most people. She did sort of know what to do once Ty Lee gave her some tips... but she quickly reversed back to her regular ways - which once again shows that flirting/seduction has an element of control and intimidation for her. She probably doesn't always mean to act in ways that could be considered flirty, but that doesn't mean she is completely oblivious to the implications of, let's say, invading her brother's personal space and talking to him in a low tone while wearing nothing but a robe.

And since I mentioned Azula going back to what she knows, that leads us to another thing to take into account: the fact that Zuko and Azula quite literally knew each other their whole lives - meaning if they were to ever flirt with each other, it would probably look at least somewhat different than when they were out of their element. Azula was the one in control, so she was far more comfortable and confident than she had been with Chan, and Zuko was the one being intimidated, which explains why he kept his guard up. Once again, that "theory" is sort of confirmed if we compare how Zuko acted while flirting with Mai on The Headband versus how he tried to interact with her in The Beach - when he used a non-traditional, but very Mai-esque "You're so beautiful when you hate the world" he got her equivalent of an "I love you" when she told him she didn't hate him, but he tried to do more "normal" things like getting her a pretty shell it blew up on his face. He knows Mai since they were both kids, meaning he usually knows how to deal with her, just like Azula usually knows how to deal with him.

Intensity: While a lot of Azula's behavior can be explained by her copying Ozai, we need to remember that there's only so much he could affect, especially since her way of "intimidating" Zuko was far more touchy and incestuous than his, and lasted a lot longer. Azula gets close to people when she's intimidating them (see how she toyed with Aang in The Drill), but not as close as she did with her brother. The sole exception to that being Sokka on The Day Of Black Sun - but that is on somewhat shaky ground despite the accidental sexual tension since the first time she got close to him she was being launched by the Dai Li and he just happened to be standing a little bellow the direction she was launched at, and the second time had him pinning her to the wall (which is in character since Sokka usually goes straight at his foes to intimidate them while fighting), and as soon as she had her firebending back she pushed him away. On top of that, she was trying to distract him, Aang and Toph, meaning he wasn't her focus at all, and she ignored him on all the other times their groups were facing each other.

With Zuko on the other hand, she was going full force, like I said on my analysis of the bedroom scene. She played coy, stared at him in a very intense, weird way, circled the pillar on her bed, stretched in front of him, got on his personal space touching his shoulder and chest, and bit her lip while talking basically purring her words. That is all a bit too much for me to believe it was just about intimidation. And the touching gets even more suspicious when you notice Azula does enjoy and is willing to give physical affection - she hugged both Mai and Ty Lee after seeing them again, pulled Ty Lee close while conforting her and apologizing for her harsh words at The Beach... and put her hand on Zuko's shoulder while saying he restored his own honor to reassure him after he was feeling bad for betraying his uncle.

Intention of the actors/writers/animators: Avatar is no stranger to parallels. It also isn't a stranger to adult themes/jokes, fanservice, and ship teasing. For instance, even thought they didn't end up together and were never canonically interested in each other, there was A LOT of hints/teases of Zutara - dude fucking took lightining to the heart for her.

Just like the writers and producers were aware of Zutara, Tokka and many, many other ships, they were also aware of Zucest and even jokingly shipped Azula and The Blue Spirit at a panel. The animators habit of sexualizing the characters speaks for itself, so I won't even go into that. Finally, Grey Delisle, Azula's voice actress is a Zucest shiper, has brought it up many times, asked people to send her fanart and fanfic of it, created the phrase "Zucest is best cest", and has full on said she voiced the scene as if Azula was trying to seduce Zuko, - which regardless of whether or not the writers intended for the character to be doing, means that there is a very strong incest subtext to the scene and that, in a weird way, "Azula" herself confirmed her motives to act the way she did.

#zucest #azuko #shipcest #meta #azula #zuko #fire siblings #atla #avatar

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darkpoisonouslove · 3 years ago

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2, 3 and 4 :)?

Thanks! :D

This one is from a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries AU that I haven't talked about yet because it's still a mess in my head and I don't particularly care about the murders if I'm being honest, just about the setup they provide. So if this ever gets written, it's only going to be the emotional scenes with character development and barely anything on the actual crime solving.

2. What’s your favorite relationship in your story? Could be the main one, one your characters shares with a friend, etc.

My favorite relationship is between Griffin (the main character) and Bloom, who she takes in at the end of the first episode since Bloom has nowhere to go (or that's what she tells her) and isn't quite of age yet. I love the way they rely on each other since both of them are loners of their own doing because they're both convinced they are dangerous to the people around them and keep their distance to keep everyone else safe from themselves. It turns out that Griffin was friends with Bloom's dead parents and the relationship between the two of them helps Griffin come to terms with her past and her involvement in the events that killed Bloom's parents. Griffin helps Bloom break away from her fear of herself and learn more about herself and her abilities. They just really make each other's lives livable and much more and I love how they bring out so much positive change in the other.

3. If you had to direct a scene from your fic, what would you choose? Why? What would it look like? What techniques would you use to convey certain emotions? What would the set look like?

I think I'd pick the scene where Griffin's best friend - Faragonda - is brought in for questioning on suspicion of murder. I choose this scene because it brings out the most emotions from Faragonda. She's a warm person but she has a lot of trauma and hurt buried deep down and this scene brings all of that to the surface. Her private life and her emotional state are undergoing scrutiny by a person who's a stranger to her and by her best friend and she has things she would like to keep private from both of them. There's a big moment in the scene where feelings of hurt and pain between Griffin and Faragonda come out and there's a very tense feeling because that is a big reveal that they need to deal with to keep their friendship going but in the current moment they need to push it down in order to be able to prove Faragonda's innocence and there are these opposing impulses that are both aimed at saving their friendship in completely different ways. There's a lot of unwillingness on Faragonda's part to admit the truth even when she knows that not admitting it could get her in jail for murder and there's a lot of desperation on Griffin's part to help her friend only to be slapped in the face with how detrimental her past decisions have been to their friendship. On top of that, there's also the matter of them both a) mourning their shared friend that was killed, b) find the killer in order to honor their friend and find justice for her murder and c) shame that neither of them knows their dead friend well enough to be of more use to the investigation. It's a very emotional scene and one that speaks volumes of their characters and friendship.

Now I don't know much about directing but the scene would take place in a room for questioning and I would keep it as decluttered as possible. Only a table and chairs and the characters inside. Both as a way of leaving them nowhere to hide from the truth and so that there won't be anything to distract from the emotions that are taking place. Even their clothing would probably be an idea plainer than usual for that purpose. There will be, of course, fidgeting with any part of their outfits and avoidance of eye contact. I would mostly focus the camera on Griffin and Faragonda with enough time for the words that are said to sink in for both of them. There will only be quick shots of Valtor to remind that he is there both as an outsider to their friendship (something that will annoy Faragonda) and as the new variable that they desperately need to get out of the mess they've made (since left to their own devices, they managed to end up with suspicions of murder and bitterness between them). I could see Griffin standing while Faragonda and Valtor are sitting and towering over them as the one with the highest drive to get everything resolved (since she doesn't have any notions that are holding her back like the other two do). There's definitely a distance between her and Faragonda and it doesn't grow when the reveals happen but it's there to show the way they are stuck at a certain distance from each other thanks to their choices. Valtor is very much the one directing the conversation, though, and handling the impact that the confessions make on the two of them. That's all I can think of for now. I tried my best but you tell me if you'd hire me as a director. XD

4. What are your main character(s)’ motivations? What do you consider their main drivers?

Griffin's motivation in coming back to Magix City and solving crimes is to make up for her past mistakes. She's done some bad things that she can't make her peace with despite the long time that's passed (over 17 years) and she is trying to do the right thing now. Or at least that's what she tells herself. In fact, she is trying to run away from the overwhelming guilt she feels about her mother's death and she's trying to protect her father from herself because she's making him suffer with her inability to let go of that as she's still hunting for the killer over two decades later. She feels that if she finds out who murdered her mother and finds firm evidence of the motive, it would help her put the past to rest (and maybe feel less guilty).

The motivation of the other main character - Valtor - is actually a big twist so like MAJOR SPOILERS (I say like I'm confident this will definitely see the light of day and it might very well never see the light of day but still)). Valtor's main focus is finding a way out of the situation he's in where he's being blackmailed into working for the wrong side of the law. He did some things he shouldn't have (much like Griffin) and now they're being hung over his head by the big baddies and he needs to do what he's told which makes Griffin feel wildly betrayed when she learns about that in the last season. And I still haven't figured out what his cover-up motivation will be while he's hiding his true intentions because I haven't had time yet to consider all the characters individually while I'm piecing together the big picture.

There are several other characters who make appearances in almost every episode but I haven't yet figured out all of this AU so I'd rather not talk about them before I've decided what goes where.

Ask me fanfic questions

#winx club #winx griffin #winx bloom #winx faragonda #winx valtor #griffin and faragonda #griffin and bloom #ask #intothewickedwood #msmm #mfmm au #au #my wips

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dex-xe · 3 years ago

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I’ve made Spotify playlists inspired by each of the ghosts and I’ve made these little written pieces to talk about them. if you wanna read them, please go ahead - if not then enjoy the music!!

This is Humphrey’s playlist:

Body - Mother Mother

I wish I were sorry, but I’m honestly not. There’s no real consensus regarding what the song is actually about. I usually interpret it as being about body/gender dysphoria which isn’t really relevant here but I guess it links to the separation between body and soul and the idea that the body doesn’t define you which I think is quite relevant to Humphrey who relies on his soul for attention from others rather than his physical presence in a room.

Sign of the Times - Harry Styles

I feel like Humphrey probably has the most reasonable understanding of the passage of time of all the ghosts. He’s very down to earth compared to the rest of them. I know Robin has been there longer but I think he’s probably accepted the change of time without really considering it philosophically, whereas with Humphrey getting lost all the time he’s probably had more time to contemplate and I think he’d appreciate the song to listen to while he’s stuck various places. Also he’d like he piano, Humphrey’s a kinda piano man you can’t tell me otherwise (no Billy Joel fuck off).

Greensleeves - Ralph Vaughan Williams & Philharmonia Orchestra

This’ll come up a lot in various other ghosts’ playlists but I’ve tried to include some music from each of their time periods to try and capture what they would have heard so yeah, enjoy some Tudor music.

Tilted - Christine and the Queens

It’s been established that Humphrey’s wife was French so I felt the need to include at least a little bit of French which this song obviously captures. Also again it’s kinda the idea of not having total control over your body.

Abracadabra - Steve Miller Band

No idea why it’s just a Humphrey song I will take no criticism on this.

Don’t Look Back In Anger - Oasis

The scene with Fanny and Humphrey talking about their marriages is one of my favourite scenes and basically the whole “marriage went wrong but you can’t look back at it with contempt because it’s over now and time’s moved on” is what he was trying to say to Fanny and aid her recovery from her marriage trauma in the same way that Humphrey has healed from his.

High and Dry - Radiohead

I also see this song in reference to that scene with Fanny because it’s like no precise meaning to my knowledge but I interpret it as being about telling someone to let go of other people and what’s happening with them and focus on yourself and what you need.

My Iron Lung - Radiohead

Humphrey’s death is constrained by the decisions he made in life that brought about his death, which is kindaaaaa the meaning of the song like it’s a stretch. Like it’s actually about Radiohead being constrained by Creep as one of their most successful songs but like the idea of being stuck in a box and not being able to live freely. I really want to learn more about Humphrey’s life in the new series cause like, I want development to show how his beheading was brought about and what it’s like to live his… death completely restrained by his situation.

Body Terror Song - AJJ

“I’m so sorry that you have to have a body, one that will hurt you, and be the subject of so much of your fear, it will betray you, be used against you, then it'll fail on you my dear”. There we go!! Humphrey’s body wanders away - newsflash from me.

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles

“A ballad for the lonely”, catch me crying over Humphrey as usual. But yeah obvious reason is cause Humphrey is often left alone and unable to interact with the others. The other thing I like to think when listening to this song is about the idea of lonely people noticing the little details no one else does, in the song it’s clearly the little details about the protagonists lives (Eleanor Rigby picking up tiny grains of rice with no one to help, and Father McKenzie writing sermons no one will hear) but Humphrey - like I think many lonely people — notices little things like Francis writing the letter to Thomas etc.

Where Is My Mind? - Pixies

Idk this song is just trippy. I remember reading ages ago that it was about scuba diving. But yeah, I primarily think it’s a Humphrey song because I just like the image of his body wandering aimlessly about the house with this song looking for his head XD

Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

Again, I’ve said this a few times now but Humphrey being an observer of Button House and what takes place within it’s walls, just watching the others going about their days as he sits alone. I know the writer said he watched the world from the window of a hospital as a child and I think being able to watch over the city without being able to participate because of physical ailment is pretty telling.

O Lord, in Thy Wrath - Orlando Gibbons & Choir of Clare College, Cambridge

This is just a Tudor song. I grew up very very religious and, while I’m not sure I heard this exact song, I spent hours upon hours in church services every week with songs very similar to this and the music was the only thing I actually enjoyed about it. But yeah, I wanted to include at least a few religious songs in Humphrey’s because of my theory regarding his death which (given that we might find out about it in season 3 and I might be totally wrong) I’m gonna just briefly mention XD I basically think his death might’ve been religiously motivated because of the instability of state sanctioned religion in England at the time. Elizabeth I (monarch when Humphrey died) put 200 Catholics to death and given that Humphrey was married to a French woman and the French were under Catholic rule at the time it might not be too far outside the realm of possibility for Humphrey to have lost his head for being the ‘wrong’ denomination. Idk, probably miles off cause I’m really bad at theories but we’ll find out soon hopefully!!

Pantyhose and Roses - Echobelly

Just for the line “it could change but it never will”. Being a ghost must be such a difficult existence because there’s very little they can do to change what’s wrong because they obviously can’t leave where they die. But especially for Humphrey, nothing can change really for him because of his situation.

Waltz #2 (XO) - Elliott Smith

“I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow”. As far as we know Humphrey’s relationship with his wife obviously wasn’t the best and it seems as if he possible barely knew her cause of the language barrier and the fact it was an arranged marriage.

After Hours - The Velvet Underground

This song has such a feeling of isolation like wishing that you could be a part of everyone’s fun but you’ve yet to find the person with whom you can experience that fun with.

Out of Time - Blur

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again but the idea of noticing the small things around you and focussing on the bigger picture of the world rather than hyper fixating on the intricacies of our own existence. Also, this is totally irrelevant but there’s an episode of Torchwood called ‘Out of Time’ in which three people from the 1950s suddenly rock up in 2000s Cardiff and the Torchwood 3 team have to take care of them and try to teach them about the modern world (it’s one of my favourite episodes, like it’s genuinely really good) and I think that’s really cool.

Blackstar - David Bowie

The song is just sad and I put it on any playlist of a sad character, no further explanation.

Why do I use my paper, ink and pen? - William Byrd, Stile Antico & Fretwork

More Tudor music, Tudor musiccccc.

25 Minutes to Go - Johnny Cash

Obvious but yeah there we go: just basically a man waiting and being led to his death which, if the assassination theory is to be believed (which we shall soon find out I guess) then the idea of Humphrey being led to his death is potentially gonna be a sorrowful story to hear about in the show??

#bbc ghosts humphrey #bbc ghosts

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shintorikhazumi · 4 years ago

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A Warm Diana Chapter 6: Overheating

A/N: Seriously writing a couple of my story updates in the hospital since I’m watching my dad who got admitted. There’s no internet in his room so I post upon arriving at home. Finally having Christmas break after hellish exams haha. Sorry this took so long. I’m having a bit of writer’s block, tbh. One of the reasons I stopped writing for so long was because I lost the USB flashdrive with all the prepped plots and chapters and all that. It really was a huge blow to motivation. I legit cried over it. I also lost so much progress on other stories so… since some chapters had planned out info already in their files. I’m really trying to figure out how to move this story towards the end point. At this stage, it’s just full of Akko and Diana awkwardly trying to figure out their new dynamic, now that their relationship is clearly changing. Haha, I’m struggling with the plot. Still, trying my best. Btw, my headcanon is that Diana in love = OOC Diana so apologies in advance xD Not Beta read because I don’t have a beta reader now. I’ve been reading and correcting by myself, but I usually miss a few typos or mistakes, so again, sorry ‘bout that. Anyway.

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

A Warm Diana Chapter 6: Overheating

Relationships require balance.

At times, they are as if you were riding a seesaw, or maybe just tipping scales. At other times, they feel like a tug-o-war, and sometimes it’s more of a shoving and pushing motion.

Regardless of how you adjust the weights, you will find that it takes two sides to pull off that balance.

You may find that perfect balance now, or it may come millions of troubleshooting sessions later. It is different for everyone, it varies from person to person.

Your search may be painfully awkward, or incredibly sweet; filled with unspeakable joy, or unspeakable heartbreak. Just know, so long as you try, you’ll eventually stumble upon that sweet spot of balance tailor made for two.

Just keep working it out.

You’ll discover it soon.

And once you have it, a new chapter begins.

~0~0~0~0~

If you were to ask Akko for a list of her favorite things, broom rides and Diana would most probably top that list. She often related one with the other. There was just something about the heat of Diana’s back as they flew across the cooling horizon as the sun set, dropping the day’s temperature a few degrees down. While flying was one of the most magical experiences for Akko, she would easily argue that Diana was just as- if not, even more- magical than any spell that she could think of really.

Diana herself was magic.

With how her streaked blonde hair sparkled as the rays of the retreating sun hit it at just the right angle. How her eyes glimmered with mirth as she chanced a glance at Akko sitting behind her, arms encircling her waist. How her lips twitched upwards into a slight smile as their eyes met, how her body was soft to the touch, slender and felt really nice to hold- Akko should stop her train of thought right there.

Clearing her throat along with her mind, Akko silently urged Diana’s gaze forward with her hand gently pushing Diana’s cheek facing her away; slightly worried about the prodigy not looking where she was driving.

It only took her a few seconds to jump right back into her mental worship of the girl sitting in front of her. It wasn’t just a physical magnificence that Diana exuded. Her talent was far above and beyond a normal person’s, heck- even a normal witch’s. Despite this, she had the dedication to keep striving for more, to whole-heartedly pour her heart and will into improving, not for her own sake solely, but for others as well. Her mind was as attractive as her heart. Clever lines, smooth conversations, powerful words; Akko could listen to Diana go off all day. This was something she would never have imagined she’d think some time ago, remembering all the times she felt annoyed as Diana chided her, wishing the heiress would shut up.

It truly surprised her how she could change. How Diana could change. How they could change each other. What a wonder. What kind of spell had been cast on her? If love was a spell so powerful, no wonder so many tried to obtain it.

And at this moment, Akko thought Diana wielded it the best, casting her magic on Akko, making the brunette yearn and long for her, daily feeling her affections grow as she could only see more reasons to be in love with the Cavendish heiress.

Everything about her was just… magical.

And though magic and reality sometimes clashed in so many people’s opinions, Diana managed to make those two things work in a wondrous complement. Just another one of her many abilities, Akko admired.

“Akko.”

Ah… another thing she loved. Diana’s voice; the way she called out her name, the way her lips formed each syllable, how her tone caressed it in such a tender way it made her heart melt-

“Akko?”

“Ah- I… I-I just love your voice!” Realizing what she had just blurted out, Akko clapped her hands over her mouth, face a charming shade of red as, once more during their little broom ride, blue met red.

Diana blinked at the surprising confession, before her expression melted into one of teasing amusement. “Is that so?” Clearly, she was pleased. “Why thank you, Akko. I find myself quite fond of your voice as well.”

With her companion rendered speechless and unable to hold further conversation, Diana laughed quietly, turning her attention back to her task of manning the small broom they were on.

The reason as to why they were both on this peaceful flight was Diana’s suggestion to further secure their escape from their definitely angered dorm mother.

Never in her life had Diana imagined that she would be one to run away from authority. More often than not, she was the authority being run away from. She was that chasing, chastising figure who preserved the peace and discipline of the Academy.

…She was also the girl who screamed about just how much of a mess she was, prompted by her feelings for a witch quite familiar with the other end of the chasing game.

And she was in awe at the fact that she did not mind this change of pace one bit.

Diana almost jumped as she felt Akko’s arms tighten their hold around her waist, a weight- presumably Akko’s head- finding it’s purchase on her back. Akko had pressed her ear to the area, indulging in the sounds of Diana’s heart that did her no favors in hiding her emotions, betraying the calm she tried to show. It made the smaller witch smile giddily. It was the pleasure of knowing that she was the cause of such reactions from someone as amazing as Diana that filled her own heart with paramount joy.

The flight remained rather uneventful. It was tranquil, and the gentle breezes were almost enough to lull Akko to sleep, combined with the soothing scent of Diana’s shampoo, and the steady thrum of her heartbeat that served as her lullaby.

Almost, because Akko’s ever brilliant and excitable, yet sometimes anxious and doubtful mind had other ideas.

Ideas that may or may not be good, but nevertheless may be an adventure.

This time it was good, though! Akko swore! …maybe. She would admit that the notion slightly unnerved her, but it just felt right to challenge some things.

So, she decided to voice her idea to her partner in crime, thinking this was a good opportunity as any- scratch that- this was the perfect opportunity for her idea. It was the perfect moment, and all the cogs of this operation were aligned to allow this moment.

“Hey, Diana?”

“Hmm?” Akko loved how the hum vibrated against her ear, it was a pleasant feeling.

“So, like… I was thinking…” Diana gave her another hum to let her know she still had her attention. “Since we’re like… out here and together and all, already. And I don’t really know when we’d get another chance to do it since you might be busy, and I might be busy, and I guess we both can get very busy-“

“Akko, just say it.” Diana laughed lightly, one hand patting over Akko’s pair that rested on her stomach. She heard a deep intake of air, before the words,

“Can I drive?”

“Pardon?”

“Oh, uh,” Akko was beginning to make exaggerated gestures that were causing their little vehicle to swerve, and Diana got a tad bit nervous. “Y-you see, like, maybe I could drive and you could, like, tutor my flying again, y’know? Since we’re already out and flying, maybe you could, um, guide me as I drove and stuffandmaybenotIguessitwouldbesaferforyoutodrive-“

“Akko! Calm down!” Diana laughed a little louder. “Calm down.” She repeated much softer; and Akko now noticed that they both were making a slow descent onto a rather large tree branch. “It’s fine. I like the productive idea.” Diana threw her a nonchalant smile as they dismounted, holding the broom out for Akko to take.

“Th-thanks.”

“Still, I don’t think I’d ever be too busy to allow myself to spend some time with you.” Diana stepped a bit closer, effectively cutting Akko’s breaths a little short. “I’ll always make time for you.” Her face was even closer than her body, and Akko swore they could kiss if she leaned just an inch more- “And besides, we already have our usual tutoring sessions. Couldn’t we do it then?” Diana asked. “Actually, don’t we already have flying sessions from time-to-time? Silly, Akko.”

With those words, Diana had pulled away, leaving a flustered Akko staring at her for a few seconds. She giggled a beautiful tune, taking one of Akko’s hands and pressing the broom’s handle against it, closing calloused fingers around the rod.

“Come now, we don’t want to be having this lesson in complete darkness, now do we? The sooner we get to it, the sooner we finish and get back to the dorms.” Diana was seriously enjoying this too much. “I heard the dinner menu will include some Asian cuisine, and I’m rather excited for it. I’m sure neither of us would dare miss it.”

In a slight daze, but with her partner’s words registering in her shaken mind, Akko nodded her agreement. Straddling the broom, she waited as Diana situated herself comfortably behind her, feeling the warmness of her palms that lightly rested on her shoulders. It felt awkward for Akko, if she were to be honest; it also worried her that Diana might not be safe or secure behind her unless she held on slightly, um, tighter somewhere that was easier to hold on to? Not that Diana couldn’t easily take care of herself, but Akko still had her misgivings. Despite these beliefs, it proved difficult for the smaller witch to voice her concerns so she decided she might as well just kick off and trust that Diana would be alright.

But as if Diana had read her mind, feeling the tense muscles beneath her hands, she transferred her hold, arms snaking their way around Akko’s slim waist, thumbs brushing on a toned stomach over the brunette’s clothes, applying a certain amount of pressure for a small ounce of fun to get Akko to lighten up.

-Or so Diana claimed.

At the action, Akko found herself making an odd sound between a yelp and a squeal that made Diana uncharacteristically grin devilishly. Whipping her head around to glare at the perpetrator, Akko felt the slightest bit annoyed at the guiltless heiress wearing an innocent expression, but with a playful glint in her eyes.

“I swear,” Akko began. “Try that again, and we’re both falling to the ground; and it’s not even going to be my fault this time.” After keeping her gaze on Diana for just a few seconds more to ensure the girl didn’t pull anything funny, Akko looked forward, taking deep breaths and trying to focus her mind, chanting the spell that would get them up and flying once more.

And up they went.

…

At least, they were supposed to.

Albeit at her proposal, Akko found her feet rooted firmly on the ground, the phrase, Tia Freyre, dying on her lips.

She found her gaze flickering between the view of the horizon and the very far ground, and her will wavered.

Maybe it wasn’t as good an idea as she originally assumed.

“Akko?” Diana’s soft voice called for her attention, and she could only respond with a whimper. Upon hearing that, Diana felt the slightest panic begin to plant itself in her mind. Something was suddenly wrong. “Are you alright?”

Akko tried opening her mouth that suddenly felt very dry. She felt nauseous all of a sudden, and her vision swam. She considered giving in to the call of the darkness, but then she remembered that Diana was still behind her, still waiting for a response.

And if anything happened to Akko while they were out here, she’d surely feel responsible. Not to mention, Akko would be causing her extra trouble, dragging her unconscious Japanese weight back to campus.

She’d rather not leave Diana with a memory of her being such a burden again.

But at the same time, she’d also prefer not being the one to cause Diana harm should she make a fatal mistake. Ah yes, there was that too. Such a timely reminder that made her shake in her standard Luna Nova boots. What if she messed up and hurt Diana? That scared her more than anything else could. And that wasn’t something unexpected, at all. The fact that she herself could accept that she was a walking disaster only deflated Akko’s ego, and fed her monsters, more.

“Akko?”

But Diana was still waiting. Waiting so kindly, so patiently. She was still reaching for Akko’s heart, doing her best to clear out the clouds, and tell the girl that it was all okay. That they’d be okay. That she could do it.

Maybe it wasn’t true. Or maybe it was.

Nevertheless.

Maybe Akko could fake it ‘til she made it then. If it was for Diana, she could.

“I’m good.” She finally replied. With a heavy sigh, she braced herself, croaking out a shaky, “Tia Freyre”, and they were off.

At first, the take-off had its wobbly movements, and this fed Akko’s anxieties and lack of confidence in her abilities in magic, especially in flying which she had struggled the most with while learning. Maybe she was too apprehensive, so on edge and overthinking every little thing, and every possible bad situation, untrusting that she could fly both of them safely on course. Her hands were beginning to sweat and slide along the broom’s handle quite easily as she tried to steer them in the right direction. But before her mind could fall back irredeemably deep into the negatives and impact her performance significantly, she felt a squeeze to her waist and a nuzzle to her shoulder, yanking her out of the sinking sand that was her thoughts.

Fingers lightly walked their way to her shoulders, massaging the stiff muscles till the knots came slightly undone. Circular patterns were soon drawn on them, and it was as though she was being told, ‘It’s alright. Breathe. I believe in you, that you can do it’.

Still in doubt, Akko squeezed the wooden handle, eyes trying to remain trained to the scene in front of her. A tremor ran through her body as she coughed awkwardly, trying to trust in those words as Diana trusted in her.

Just then, she felt a hand placed on the center of her back, aligned with where her heart was, and she immediately understood.

‘I believe in your believing heart.’

Again, those words. They rung deep within her, gathering in a pool of hope and springing out into a fountain that allowed her actions to be filled with confidence and faith. If not faith in herself, then faith in Diana who believed in her.

Akko felt it blossom, the confidence she needed to try; to persevere. And it was all thanks to her companion. Her beautiful, all sorts of wonderful companion who knew Akko; who understood her.

Diana had spoken nothing, and yet she had successfully conveyed every word Akko needed to hear at the moment.

Readjusting her grip on the broom, Akko breathed in and out deeply, eyes closing momentarily, before revealing determined reds. No need for extra pressure on herself. She knew she had practiced; she knew she had studied. Diana knew that too. She had been with Akko every step of the way, and now it was time to see their sessions’ payoff.

As they ascended to a decent height, motions stabilizing, winds calm, with Akko only feeling the minimum magical usage drain from her body, she couldn’t help but be proud of herself. Her eyes widened as she felt the energy course through her veins, her body and the broom obeying her commands with relative ease. Realization hit her; she could personally tell that she had improved from her earlier days in Luna Nova, and she felt excitement bubble up within her, channeling into tiny bursts of happy laughter.

“Diana!” Akko exclaimed, daringly taking them into an upside-down loop in the air, speeding up at times, and slowing down smoothly with little struggle. “Diana, I can fly!”, she declared, going for a sudden drop before rising back high in the air. “I can fly!”. They zipped past trees and fields, headed down over a small pond where their feet barely grazed the water before Akko pulled upwards, spiraling into the sky gently.

“I can fly!” Akko repeated, again and again; each time serving as a reassurance, a confirmation of a truth she had longed for. “I can fly!”, she said as they traversed the Luna Nova skies, aiming for the setting sun.

“I can fly.” Akko’s proclamations were growing softer, yet more filled with emotion. Diana could have sworn she heard Akko choke up this time. Leaning to her side and over Akko’s shoulder to try to catch a glimpse of the brunette’s face, Diana’s conjecture had been confirmed.

She made it just in time to see a solitary tear escape the most gorgeous rubies Diana’s ever seen.

“I can fly… Diana. I can fly.” She spoke in a silent whisper, that last echo of joy.

And those words and the sparks in Akko’s eyes filled Diana’s heart with so much adoration, so much pride. She was genuinely happy for Akko. She knew for a fact that flying was one of Akko’s biggest dreams.

And witnessing the girl’s dreams come true firsthand, was Diana’s dream come true.

As they soared, twirled, giggled, and boisterously hollered their merriment, emotions only heightened- as high as the altitudes they so freely conquered.

And Diana slipped.

Overcome with all these intense emotions, senses filled with the sights of the world, and the scents of nature and of Akko, ears receiving the songs of the wind and Akko’s laughter; skin feeling the rushing cool, and Akko’s body pressed against her, and Akko filling her immediate visage, brown tresses and all; and Akko… and Akko, and Akko, Akko-

Diana kissed the back of her neck.

She’d lost control, and jumped on her impulses.

She’d lost control… and so did Akko.

With a loud yelp serving as the sole warning, the sound transformed into piercing screeches and wails as Akko shot out bullets of, “what do I do”s, while Diana tried her best to yell back the answers that fell on ears that could not focus on her voice at all, they spiraled down, and they spiraled down fast.

There was no time, Diana realized.

The ground was ready to catch them, and it was meeting up with them sooner than they’d like. Neither of those facts were very appealing.

What could she do, what could she do; what could she do- if only time would wait for them-!

“!!!” Diana’s memory and experienced served her well as she regained her calm and senses, a spell she had used before making its way to the forefront of her mind as she chanted a resounding, “Scrylla!” And immediately, time slowed down for them. This gave her the opportunity to shake Akko out of her panic, all but yelling at her to pull up immediately.

And Akko did.

~0~0~0~0~

After a few slow laps in the air to allow the shock to fade from their very bones, Akko guided them in an even slower descent until their feet were, once more, flat on the ground.

Moments of silence passed, both girls too frazzled to utter anything right away. All they did was begin their unrushed trek towards the main building, sun just about ready to disappear beneath the lining of trees.

They made it all the way to the cafeteria, no one having uttered a word still. Halting in their steps in front of the large, closed wooden doors, feet shuffled awkwardly, throats were cleared, and eyes darted all around.

…

Not being able to take the overwhelming tension, Akko took it upon herself to break it… though she was lost as to what to say in this kind of situation where they had most certainly almost died.

(Though if she thought about it, this wasn’t a rare occurrence either.)

“Um, so… right. Um… I’m-“ Where should she start? A greeting? With an apology? She did just almost kill them. It wasn’t quite on purpose, but- Okay. She’d apologize.

Akko inwardly groaned, words forming on her tongue, breathing in, ready to spew out strings of ‘I’m sorry. And I’m sorry.”

“I-“

“I’m sorry!”

“Huh?” That most certainly did not come from her.

“I… apologize for causing you distress.” Diana mumbled shyly, uncharacteristically. “Especially in that situation, and placing us in danger. I’m sorry.” Her body facing Akko, she had bent herself in a perfect bow.

“D-Diana! You- you don’t need to apologize! That was all me! I should’ve gotten a grip and-“ In her frantic state, Akko had reached over to grab Diana by both shoulders, trying to get her to straighten her posture once more, embarrassed to have someone like Diana in such a state in front of her. “It’s fine, really. You, You’re not at fault!”

At those words, Diana looked up, unease flashing in her eyes.

“Are you sure?” She whispered, Akko almost missing the words. The shorter girl nodded.

“I’m sure.” She replied, just as gently. “You didn’t really do anything wrong.” Akko offered one those smiles of hers that made Diana’s stomach do summersaults, flips, and run miles a minute.

It almost made Diana feel completely relieved. Until she remembered what she had done. Hanging her head ashamedly, she spoke again. “I would still like to offer my apologies. I may have crossed a line just then…”

“Huh? No, what are you, don’t apologize, Diana!” Feeling awkward at how Diana kept asking for her forgiveness, Akko rubbed the nape of her neck out of habit, and a recent vivid memory suddenly began replaying in her mind- the cause of their little “accident”.

Noticing the realization flash across Akko’s face, Diana looked to the side, a hand braced on the opposite arm, crossing her front, as if it were some form of comfort. Diana felt very shy, and very small at the moment.

And that look did not suit her at all, Akko thought. She’d be damned if their day ended on a sad note after all of this.

Reaching for both the heiress’ hands, she called, “Diana-“ And maybe she had gotten a little too excited, too close, as she the aforementioned girl jumped at the sudden proximity. “Ah! S-sorry.” Akko exclaimed, backing off.

Before she could release Diana’s hands, however, she was pulled right back in. “It’s alright.” It was a quiet statement, a simple one. Yet full of so much emotion and assurance.

Akko was entranced once more. Put under Diana’s spell, breathless and unable to pull her eyes away from those deep ocean blues. It was as if she was being reeled in. Caught by the other witch- hook, line, and sinker. She was getting so close. So, so close.

Blue eyes flickered down momentarily, and Akko was pretty sure she knew why.

Closer.

Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

The chime echoed through the halls, an intercom announcing that dinner would be over in the next ten minutes, and that students should hurry up and finish their meals.

Just like that, the spell was broken, two girls separating a safe distance from one another.

“I-I guess we should hurry now! Wow, we… we sure took our time, haha!” Akko was the first to turn away, pushing the door to the mess hall open, attempting to escape the situation; but before she could take another step forward, a hand clutched to one of her own.

She looked back in time to see a blush bloom on Diana’s face, and Akko thought that it was prettier than any flower.

She probably wasn’t any better.

Diana gave her an unsure smile, like a question, a request for permission. She looked so soft and cute; Akko couldn’t help herself. She responded with a relaxed smile of her own and a squeeze to Diana’s hand, pulling her into the room.

They shared one final look, admiring each other’s features; eyes now clear and full of strong emotion. Two faces burned a fiery red, but their hearts probably burned brighter.

Hands bashfully intertwining as they made their way to the counters, grabbing trays of food and choosing a free table. Trying to focus on the rare Asian cuisine served for tonight’s meal, both tried to erase any remaining embarrassment or lingering awkwardness in the air, but found themselves failing.

Should someone say something? Should they simply eat in peace?

Both sighed in unison, attention darting to each other as they shared a laugh, blushes searing hotly across their faces.

It was starting to get a little hot. But it wasn’t bad at all.

~0~0~0~0~

Another day of much dreaded dance practice. At least, on Akko’s part, she hated it. After all, it was so boring as she was stuck, simply observing everyone else. Her teacher hadn’t really paid her any mind the moment she stepped into the extra class, neither was she given the go-ahead to join everyone else. So, she now found herself seated once more at a corner of the room, watching everyone else practice.

She observed everyone’s motions, trying to get a sense of what dancing entailed, trying to maybe image-train herself. Understanding and picturing the steps out clearly might help her be able to do it once she started dancing.

If the teacher allowed her to take part, that is.

At this point, that prospect was looking a little vague.

A sigh.

“They say you lose a year of life with each sigh, you know?” A pleasant timbre tickled her ears; a hand was extended, entering her line of vision. “I certainly wouldn’t like that. I’d prefer to see you around for much longer.”

“…I didn’t know you could be such a tease.” Akko giggled, looking up into bright eyes that stared at her expectantly, a kind smile playing across Diana’s face.

“I can’t say I don’t share the sentiment. I didn’t know I could be one either.”

Rolling her eyes, Akko took the outstretched hand, a squeak of surprise escaping her as she was pulled up abruptly into comfortable arms.

“W-what are you doing?” Akko aggressively whispered, a shiver running down her spine as a hand made its way to the small of her back, the other taking her own hand. Reflexively, her free hand found purchase on Diana’s shoulder- had it always been this broad- and Akko felt herself led a step forward, onto the dancefloor.

“Why, I’m simply ensuring that all my classmates contribute to this event. Slacking off isn’t a very good thing to do, right now.” Diana responded with her no-nonsense face on, before it was replaced by an impish smirk. They took another step. And another.

Was the world going to end today? Were pigs about to fly? Would Finnelan suddenly become a sweet, kind teacher? All these impossible thoughts streaming through Akko’s head were prompted by the oddness of Diana’s behavior. The other girl certainly had been acting quite different as of late, at least around and towards her.

Before she could question such events further, she suddenly realized what the girl had implied. Eyes widening, but brows furrowing, her face must have been quite a spectacle. She could clearly see the taller witch holding back a laugh. “I’m not- I’m not slacking off!” That was all she could come up with as a reply in her flustered state.

Diana was clearly amused, if her toned-down chuckles were any indication. Akko braced herself for more teasing, wondering if it would end soon.

Contrary to what she was expecting, Diana became serious all of a sudden, smile much more sincere now.

“I know.” – was Diana’s only reply. They had stopped in the middle of the room, Diana adjusting her hold on Akko, allowing the girl time to get more comfortable in the starting position, and get used to their proximity.

“Wha-“

“Dance with me, Akko.”

And that was her only warning; the next thing she knew, Diana had taken the lead, and the ease at which she could follow those movements stunned her, in a good sense, she supposed. Diana never failed to amaze her in everything she did.

Still, regardless of Diana’s skill, it did not hide the fact that Akko was inexperienced and no amount of knowledge-less observation could help her. She soon found herself stumbling into ready arms, careful in catching her.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry, Diana! I can’t do this after all-“ She was unable to complete that statement as she was back in the original posture, Diana taking the lead, slower this time.

“The waltz, like any other dance, has its basics." Diana began to explain. “Take a step backward with your right foot,” Akko did as she was told without question. Diana nodded as if to say, ‘good’. “Step to the left with your left foot, then bring your right next to it.”

Akko clumsily tried to match Diana’s smoother actions, experiencing some difficulty with executing it in synch with Diana’s poised steps. She wanted to be as graceful as she her partner, but that was proving to be a challenge.

“Do not dwell on how you are performing, at the moment, Miss Kagari.” Diana instructed softly, as if she could hear Akko’s thoughts. “Focus on what you should do first. Now. Left foot forward, and right forward, but to the right; then bring your left foot to your right.” Diana hummed her approval as Akko was able to do as taught.

Akko would make a few random noises and squacks, but Diana paid them no mind. Her full attention was on guiding Akko, watching her every movement and correcting her accordingly until the girl got used to the motions, able to grasp the concept better, movements less rough and choppy.

“One, two, three; one, two, three.” Diana began counting to the music that had been playing in the room, picking up the pace of their movements to correspond to the sound. Her eyes remained staring into Akko’s intensely, yet gentle all the same. A paradox, much like Diana in her entirety was.

Similar to Diana’s concentrated state, Akko could only focus on her; everything not Diana fading out into nothingness. Only Diana remained. Her sweet voice, the way her hair swished about, the body that fit perfectly against her own, the scent she wore today: a bit of a vanilla-like fragrance, and fresh apples; and Akko thought she looked simply dashing, even if she was only in their school-issued jersey and shorts. The clothes did nothing to deter how absolutely gorgeous Diana was in her eyes.

And on that note of being an absolute beauty, Diana’s face was the kind you’d never get tired of staring at for as long as you could.

Eyes you could drown in, refreshing, gentle, and kind; a beautiful shade of blue. Then there was her nose, perfectly sculpted. Diana had fair skin, with a healthy tinge of pink on her cheeks. And of course, there were Diana’s lips- lips that Akko might have been staring at longer than necessary.

Lips. Full and plump. Inviting. Beautiful. Pink. Soft, they looked so soft… Warm.

Diana.

Diana’s lips. So close. If she’d only lean down the tiniest bit forward, maybe they could-

“One, two, three. One, two three. One, two- Miss O’Neill! I could have sworn I told you not to do that part like that-!”

The loud sounds of instruction, berating, and the clacks and squeaks of shoes returned to Akko’s hearing, reminding her of where she was and what she was doing.

“Miss Kagari, Miss Cavendish! Aren’t you a bit too close?” Their teacher’s voice completed the shattering of their own little world, reality seizing them back. With wide eyes, the pair disentangled themselves from one another, standing at a more decent distance away now.

This game of enchantment and being brought back to reality was becoming a dangerous habit of both, it seemed. It felt like playing with fire, and they were at the brink of something they did not know was about to take place; whether the consequences of that event be good or bad. They were both losing control. Over what? Akko felt she’d know soon.

Quietly, she made her way back to her corner of the room, picking up her towel and water bottle, taking long sips to help calm her nerves.

The last thing she registered before losing herself in thought was that she could barely hear Diana’s apologizing to the teacher; it was the only thing she was aware of at that moment… and maybe along with the fact that it was starting to get a little hotter.

~0~0~0~0~

In a corner of Luna Nova’s grand library, away from the prying eyes of other students, the temptations of any distractions, and the general noise of the school halls, was their spot.

A location in the wide chamber’s expanse that served as the standard meeting place of two witches. The top student, and the top problem of teachers- or so some professors and students labelled her. Diana would strongly beg to differ.

Here, in this little area, they’d often meet. To many people, two teens seemingly meeting secretly in a hidden corner of a building sounded like a scandalous affair waiting to be discovered. However, that was not the case for Akko and Diana. Most definitely not. Undoubtedly.

…maybe.

After all, this place was a sanctuary for them that would aid them in their dreams of becoming the greatest witches in the world. It was their place of focus and meditation, growth and dedication, progress and improvement.

It was their study spot.

“Dianaaa~” Akko whined, shattering the silence of the library momentarily. “I really don’t get this problemmmm~” She groaned, flopping face-first into her math book. “There’s just no way!”

Diana sighed, shutting her reading material with a soft clap. “Akko, have you ever heard the phrase, ‘When there’s a will, there’s a way’?” Diana addressed calmly, transferring from her seat by the window to the one next to Akko, adjacent to her initial position, and looking over the girl’s work.

“What if I don’t have a will…” Akko grumbled, glaring at the letters on the notebook she was solving on. “What does the alphabet have to do with math anyway! And what are these symbols and squiggles and lines! This isn’t art class!”

Diana wanted to laugh, finding Akko’s little exasperated tirade adorable, but she knew the girl would just pout at her even more, and possibly get annoyed. The initial response, she’d welcome, but if it meant Akko would ignore her again, she’d rather not.

She decided to give Akko a tip instead, seeing as the girl was relatively close to getting to the answer. She realized something that made her smile proudly at Akko, gaze warming over. “Well, at least you’ve gotten this far in your solution. On your own, might I add.” She gave praise as an encouragement, pleased at Akko’s apparent progressive improvement. She had yet to tutor Akko on this latest topic in their class, but the girl seemed to have been listening attentively in class, managing to understand this much of the material.

“N-not really.” Akko had become bashful as Diana commended her efforts. Despite feeling shy, Akko felt elated that all her hard work paid off in some way or form. Just like how she was able to fly the other day. Fly freely, fly happily with Diana by her side.

Ah. Right. She was reminded of a certain happening right away, but she decided against thinking about it, pushing it to the back of her mind. It would be best if she didn’t dwell on those memories if she wanted to continue concentrating in this study session, actually getting work done instead of dreaming of Diana at almost every moment, awake or asleep.

Opting to shift the attention away from herself to hide the blush that was definitely about to show, Akko turned to Diana. “I wouldn’t get to this point if it weren’t for you, Diana.” Akko admitted with a sincerity that made Diana’s heart flutter.

“Th-that was because of the effort and perseverance you put in.” She countered, her own cheeks taking on a pink hue.

“Not at all. Even with all the work I put in before, I never got far. But ever since you and Ursula-sensei began teaching me, I-“

“Well, you and sensei have been working hard together; I really haven’t done much.” Diana reasoned, ever the humble soul.

“No, you’ve done so much Diana! You’ve really helped me learn a lot, you’ve taught me a lot!” Akko exclaimed, lifting off her seat a few centimeters closer to Diana.

“If we are on the topic of learning from someone else, then you’ve certainly given me more life lessons than I’ve ever given you!” Diana countered, also rising from her seat.

With every return of praise, and/or compliment, the pair failed to notice the distance between them shrinking, too into their war of gratitude.

If she were being honest, this situation stressed Akko out somewhat. Today had been quite comfy; peaceful, friendly and homely. She was hoping it would stay that way. It had been a while since she could simply relax around Diana without worrying about how she should act towards the white-haired witch. Any awkwardness between them these past few weeks, courtesy of their changing relationship, had been forgotten… until this point. It was like she had returned to stepping around the eggshells that were her doubts and fears about this relationship, and the unending internal queries of how she should approach and act around Diana now. She thought she had become quite excited at the prospect of a more intimate relationship with Diana, but equal to that excitement was the amount of fear she had tried to push away these days.

Akko felt her tension rising again, an imaginary string representing her calmness, being pulled taut. What had started as one of their rare calm moments that they almost never had between them nowadays- in the form of a study session- transformed into a heated exchange between the pair, stored tension unravelling from the bundles kept within them.

“You-“

“No, You!”

“Akko!”

“Diana! It’s thanks to you, being so wonderful and amazing, and talented!”

“But Akko you’re the amazing one! You’re inspiring; full of hope, dreams, strength!”

“You’re the strong one! Doing your best for the sake of your family, and for the school, it’s one of the things I like about you!” Akko had now raised her voice, eyes squeezing shut at the intensity with which she expressed her emotions.

“Well, your outlook on life and the way you face your fears and goals head on is what I like about you!” Diana threw back.

“Aren’t you describing yourself? That’s what I admire about you! That and your ability to believe in me, and the people around you!” Akko returned the fiery compliments each time.

“You’ve embodied the phrase, ‘A believing heart is your magic’, and I’ve always admired that about you!” Was complimenting someone always this stressful? Diana wondered.

“Well, if you admire me, then I look up to you!”

“I wholeheartedly appreciate you, then!”

“I respect you!”

“I adore you!”

“I enjoy being around you!”

“I savor every moment I have together with you.”

“I find you very attractive!”

“I love everything about you!” Diana was sure she had never been as loud as this before, especially not while expressing her feelings towards someone else.

“Oh yeah?” Akko challenged, eyes now holding a staring contest with Diana, both waiting on the other to give in, feeling as if they’d explode otherwise.

“Yes.”

“Really now?”

“Yes!”

“Really, really?”

Diana took a deep breath, pushing the next words out, backed with a large volume. “Indeed, I DEEPLY cherish you! I-”

“WELL, I LOVE YOU-!”

Ah.

Two pairs of eyes went wide, Akko stuttering and fumbling out sounds, unable to form anything coherent. Diana felt the need to turn her head away, breaking their connected gazes, trying to look anywhere, at anything that wasn’t Akko to help her calm down.

Had the brunette meant what she said? Was it true? The words Diana had been longing to hear… had they finally been expressed?

Sure, she had a feeling- scratch that, she knew Akko loved her. She tried to trust in the girl and the feelings she was stirring within Diana herself.

Still, it came as a shock.

Diana knew she had said it to Akko before, and that the said girl likely returned her feelings; but she also knew that something was keeping Akko from committing to those feelings. There was always something keeping her from saying it.

Fanning her face, Diana tried to breathe in and out slowly.

The atmosphere was becoming too hot for either of them too handle.

Her eyes that had been darting every which way suddenly made a mistake, her gaze returning to where it had first been, and now they were locked with crimson pools, still wide, so large, so close yet again. Too close, once more.

Diana had forgotten how to breathe, and Akko seemed to struggle likewise.

It was a silent staring contest. A stark contrast to the moments of yelling prior to this. Their eyes saw nothing but the other’s, their breaths mingled due to their proximity. The shared heat between them becoming increasingly unbearable with each passing second that they held fast to their post.

Then it happened. So quick, Diana could have missed it, but it was obvious. Akko’s gaze had flicked to her lips, and in the split second it took for her eyes to meet Diana’s again, the distance was obliterated.

It was soft, yet intense. Hot, but refreshing. Full of mistakes, and absolutely perfect at the same time. Scary but then… they were each other’s reassurance. It felt like forever, but only lasted so few seconds.

Pulling apart breathless, Diana managed to comb a quivering hand into brown tresses, keeping Akko close as she bumped their foreheads together, shutting her eyes to allow her senses relief. In that single moment, Akko had managed to arrest all of her. Everything she felt, smelt, saw, tasted, heard… even thought. They were all Akko. Akko. Akko.

Her scent, the beat of her heart and clammy palms now resting on Diana’s lap; her shaky breaths, the taste of strawberry chapstick, and the red eyes that had tempted her so.

It was all Akko, Akko, Akko.

Akko and her smile. Akko and her whole being.

Akko and her lips.

“Again.”

It was not a request.

Diana would probably have to apologize for her greediness later, but right now, she had lost every chance of regaining her control any time soon.

As they separated after the second kiss, Diana felt the little wind she even had left in her get knocked out her lungs as Akko’s dazed expression did Diana no favors of keeping her sanity.

And as if to tip her over the edge,

“I love you… Diana.”

…

“I’m sorry, Akko.”

“H-huh? What do you…” Before Akko could even feel confusion or hurt, a loving hand cupped her face, body pulled ever closer by the opposite arm now clinging to her waist. And then came a command she was compelled to comply to, nodding at each repeat.

A single word.

“Again.”

Even if it was looped a thousand times, she wouldn’t say no.

“Again.”

“Yes.”

“Again.”

“Until you’re satisfied, Diana.”

“-!!”

Akko pouted as Diana had created some space between them, breaths heavy and eyes wide.

“Don’t act all taken aback now!” Akko sighed fondly, giggling at the destroyed tension, nuzzling Diana’s cheek sweetly before contrasting that action by fixing the girl with a heated stare, looping her arms over her shoulders, pulling the taller girl down to her level. She had been enjoying Diana’s initiative, but it seems she now needed a jumpstart.

She smirked at the audible gulp, offering a proposal to study something else other than math against swollen lips.

“Okay, Diana? …Now do it again.”

They’d finally overheated.

A/N: Anddd… done! Finally! I could cry!

I baked a frick ton of cookies yesterday and today. 100 fairly large ones hahaha for the holidays. That also took some of my updating time.u I hope I don’t take this long for the next chapter. Huhuhu. It is stressful to think that it takes so long for me to dish something out. Feedback if you would be so kind? Thank you for reading and Merry Christmas!

~Shintori Khazumi

#A Warm Diana #awd #dianakko #diakko #lwa #Little Witch Academia #fanfic #kagari akko #kagari atsuko #diana cavendish #this is overdue af

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